Out on Cape Cod, a man checked out a wallet at Wal-Mart for possible purchase. And he found 10 teeth inside–one with a filling. This is a story we'll probably never know, but wouldn't you like to know what led to someone storing teeth in Wal-Mart's wallet stock? A disgruntled employee, perhaps, who wanted all the tooth fairy money at once, but then had to dump his toothy haul when a supervisor walked by. Whatever happened, somebody at the Falmouth Wal-Mart ain't right in the head. We'll just have to stay tuned for more. (If the cops walk in and the greeter is lisping, however, I'd say start there.)
And in other less strange but still unusual news, the Vatican is hosting a conference to mark the publication of Darwin's Origin of the Species. Thank, so to speak, heavens. I'm the son of a minister who, unusually enough, taught me to simultaneously entertain the concept of a creator and the very good science that argues for evolution. I've never understood why, even if you believe in an inerrant Bible, you have to believe evolution is somehow evil. Natural selection is one of the most elegantly simple and readily observed mechanisms of nature. It must make heads explode to try to deny it.
It's potentially very big news for the tempering of the Religious Right that even the Vatican is getting in on the act. Of course, the Baptist fundamentalists won't buy it, because the Pope is all Catholic and everything. But it's a promising start anyway.
