somehow . . . missing the *point*

Peccavi, I know, but I found myself with an ever-broadening grin as I read the report in the Beeb tonight:

Aceh outrage over Miss Indonesia

By Karishma Vaswani
BBC News, Jakarta

Clerics in Indonesia's conservative Muslim province of Aceh say they are outraged that an Acehnese woman has won the title of Miss Indonesia.

Qori Sandioriva, 18, won the Miss Indonesia title on Friday, beating 37 other contestants for the crown.

The clerics say that by failing to wear a veil during the competition she has betrayed her Acehnese roots and brought shame to the province. [. . .]

They say she should have worn a veil during the competition, in keeping with the traditions of her mother's province. [. . .]

The controversy is likely to return next year when she goes on to compete in the Miss Universe contest where she will have to don a swimsuit as part of the pageant.

What next? Playing golf without aiming for the hole, playing pinball without putting the coin in, getting a university degree without learning to read . . .? Oh, I forgot. These backward bozoes don't believe in women getting university degrees . . .

FREEEEEEEE OFFERRRRRRRR !!!!!

How could you (or anyone else) refuse?

Very soon now, and quite possibly on November 3, my book Bogus Science: Some People Really Believe These Things is to be launched in the US with a fanfare of trumpets and an online blurb that bears little or no resemblance to the actual contents. (It's one of those cases where the blurbist worked from a long out of date proposal, and no one bothered to actually check with the editor or myself.)

Whatever, although structurally quite a lot different, it's a companion vol to my books Corrupted Science and Discarded Science. Subjects include such delights as flat earthism, geocentrism, hollow earthism, psychic physics, pyramidology, perpetual motion, cryptozoology . . . A feast of delights, in other words.

My kindly publisher has said I may offer LJ members a FREEEEEEE PDF of the penultimate proof of the book, complete with pix but with the (very) occasional ballsup in situ, so long as they tell me they'll do their best to write a blog/LJ review of the book -- you don't have to promise, because I know that can be a millstone, but I'd be grateful if, having got your copy, you thought about maybe one day someday ya know . . .

If you want to take advantage of this OFFER OF THE CENTURY, please contact me via LJ's service with your e-address (or, of course, direct if you know my own e-address), and I'll send you the PDF pronto. Well, pronto-ish. You know how these things go . . .