Poll: 90% Believe in God (Sondage : 90% croient en Dieu)

Fair enough. However, here is the really scary part:

Nearly half (48 percent) of the public rejects the scientific theory of evolution; one-third (34 percent) of college graduates say they accept the Biblical account of creation as fact. Seventy-three percent of Evangelical Protestants say they believe that God created humans in their present form within the last 10,000 years; 39 percent of non-Evangelical Protestants and 41 percent of Catholics agree with that view.

Wow!
In the meantime, scientists in Great Britain criticize French research (in the famous journal Nature), claiming that life sciences have been discarded by the French government, being now "less than competitive" after years of decline*... At least, even if the original Darwinian theory of evolution has evolved, we still consider it as valid and we're not plagued by creationists and other science revisionists...

At the end of the poll, one can also read that 62% of American would not vote for an atheist. Religion still plays a huge role in American politics.
God bless America...

[source : Newsweek]

Pearls Before Breakfast (Des perles avant le petit-déjeuner)

What happen if you put incognito a real music genius in a subway station, playing one of the greatest classical masterpieces on one of the finest violin ever? He quickly gathers a huge crowd and gets plenty of money.

No? Well... not exactly:

In the three-quarters of an hour that Joshua Bell played, seven people stopped what they were doing to hang around and take in the performance, at least for a minute. Twenty-seven gave money, most of them on the run -- for a total of $32 and change. That leaves the 1,070 people who hurried by, oblivious, many only three feet away, few even turning to look.

As W.H. Davies said in his "Leisure":

What is this life if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.

However, not sure on this point that the result would have been better in Europe...

[source : Washington Post]

Americans are NOT stupid (Les Américains ne sont PAS stupides !)

An empiric demonstration of the great american culture.

Best-of :

Q: How many sides does a triangle have?
(a portorican) Damn. Four.
(a blond lady) There's no sides... One?

Q: What is the currency used in the United Kingdom?
(a quite old lady) What is the United Kingdom? I don't know.
(a black man) Possibly American money.

Q: In terms of the war on terror, who do you think should be the next country to invade?
(a black man) I'm thinking... Italy.
(a Hindu, at the end of a long list) Canada.
(a man, with his wife) Iran.
Q: Put a number 1 on Iran then. (show a planisphere from the Earth)
(same guy) South... south south south... Where are we?
(... and finally put the flag for Iran on top of Australia without any hesitation!)
(a black man) Probably France.
Q: Put a number 2 on France. Why do say France?
(the guy put the flag for France on top of... Australia!) It just seems to be friction between France and the United States.

Q: Who was the first man on the moon?
(young lady) Armstrong walked on the moon but... I think it was a Russian, I'm not sure.

Not mentioning the list of the countries of the Devil Axis, Al-Quaeda or the Berlin wall... Frankly, these guys are the ones who vote, not really a surprise that Georges W. Bush is in the White House since 6 years...
(by the way, I would be Australian, I would worry about getting a bomb in my garden one day or the other...)

* Actually, seen from the UK, France seems to be a third world country:

The country is plagued with high unemployment, strained public finances and a faltering economy. Its overall scientific effort has stagnated for more than a decade. Yet meaningful reform of either French society or its research system have proved elusive, with a vicious spiral of inept attempted change and spirited, usually successful, resistance making reform seem almost impossible.

I really wonder how come I still receive my salary, month after month...