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[Sung to the tune of My Favorite Things]

Trilobite, burrows, and Cephalopoda,
Corals and worms and lamellibranchiata,
Echinoderm skeletons made out of rings -
These are a few of my favorite things.

Asteroid impact and classification,
Isotope dating and bioturbation;
In the Triassic the birds got their wings -
These are a few of my favorite things.

When the clam bites, when the shells sink,
When I'm feeling sad,
I simply remember that most are extinct
And then I don't feel so bad.

Darwin, Lamarck and genetic mutation,
Gradual changes and quick punctuation;
DNA bases all bound up in strings -
These are a few of my favorite things.

Protista and Ediacara fauna,
Eukaryota, Pangaea, Gondwana;
Vema, a monoplacophoan, clings -
These are a few of my favorite things.

When the sharks bite, when the polyps sting,
When I'm feeling sad,
I simply remember that most are extinct
These are a few of my favorite things.

By Alexander Volokh This poem appeared under the title Song of the Young Paleontologist, in Science (3 December 1993; vol. 262, p. 1551).

Ten Reasons Why Beer is Better than Religion....sent to us by a thoughtful freethinker.

Hopefully, everyone will see the humor in this and not go ballistic!

10. No one will kill you for not drinking beer.
9. Beer doesn't tell you how to have sex.
8. Beer has never caused a major war.
7. They don't force Beer on minors who can't think for themselves.
6. When you have a Beer, you don't knock on people's doors trying to give it away.
5. Nobody's ever been burned at the stake, hanged, or tortured for his brand of Beer.
4. You don't have to wait 2000+ years for a second Beer.
3. There are laws saying Beer labels can't lie to you.
2. You can prove you have a Beer.
1. If you've devoted your life to Beer, there are groups to help you stop.

What questions would you like us to answer?
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Last updated: Ides of September, 2002