Engineers have explained how the four-ton bluestones of Stonehenge were transported to the Salisbury Plain from the Preseli hills of south Wales. Why they were transported has been the subject of intense research and speculation over thousands of years. Professors Geoff Wainwright and Timothy Darvill have come up with a new and compelling theory: Stonehenge was a hospital.

Stonehenge was distinct among British henges - in its scale and spacious setting, and in the exceptional number of burial mounds round it. As Darvill says, it was “constantly being remodelled and changed over a period of perhaps a thousand years … getting larger, more grand and more complicated”. True its architecture is dominated by astronomical calculations, implying a priesthood and time-related rituals. But this would have meant nothing to ordinary mortals. What drew them to Stonehenge from across Europe must have been specific, a reputation for relief from disease and disability.

What makes this theory so convincing is the deformities in the skeletons in burial mounds that surround Stonehenge. I’ve read many of the theories about Stonehenge over the course of my life, but this one makes the most sense. Click on the Guardian Unlimited article link below to read a more indepth and fascinating account of this latest theory.

Source: Guardian Unlimited

Deborah Blum has written about a group scientests who, at the turn of the 20th century, endured scorn and ridicule because they believed that science should explore and test the supernatural. This book is another example of how religion and science have always clashed.

For a more indepth analysis from the Washington Post, visit Amazon.

The remake of The Omen has received mixed reviews, which you can read about at Rotten Tomatoes. Personally, the more the critics complain, the more I want to see the film because their idea of what a good film is usually doesn’t match what the general public thinks.

Quoted from user review at Yahoo! Movies:

The remake was an entertaining and suspenseful film. It was BY FAR the best suspense film that I have seen since The Sixth Sense. This movie doesn’t just tease with promises of a little fright and suspense, IT DELIVERS.

I saw the original and the first sequel when they came out on cable years and years ago. One thing I have to agree with, after seeing the movie trailers, is that the new Damien (played by Seamus Davey-Fitzpatrick) doesn’t look nearly as creepy as the original. Still, the special effects look very good. Have you seen the movie yet?

Other than the primary election for our state governor, 6/6/06 has been very unremarkable in my area, as far as I know. The day isn’t over yet, though. Bill Gates could very well reveal himself as the Anti-Christ if Harry Potter refuses to step up to the plate.

Seriously. No one knows who the Anti-Christ is or if he/she is real. Jeff Pearlman (quoted below) wrote a great article about 666 and its power over the course of our history since 1666.

Quoted from Nation:

By “the beast,” is the Bible referring to a three-headed, red-eyed ogre? Unlikely. Instead, most scholars interpret 666 to be the numerical code for Nero, the fifth Roman Emperor (54-68 AD) of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, who ruthlessly persecuted Christians. “The legend of the anti-Christ is that of an agent of Satan empowered to pave the way for the end of times,” says Phil Stevens, a professor of anthropology at University at Buffalo and an expert on religious symbolism. “The myth of the anti-Christ has been passed down through the generations. But to start with, it appeared to be simply a very disliked man.”

Not everyone shares the same doomsday attitude, as you will see with the snippets below.

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Hell, Michigan: Screams Ice Cream is selling cones for 66 cents and the Damned Site Inn’s dinner special will cost $6.66. So far, they have received over 1,000 tourists.

Hundreds of couples in Malaysia are rushing to get married because they feel that 666 represents a good omen. The Hokkien dialect pronounces the number six to sound like the word “luck.” Therefore, these couples are hoping for triple the luck.

The 666 Man: Peter Spyche’s unusual association with the number 6.

Ann Coulter is launching her book, Godless: The Church of Liberalism, much to the delight of liberals everywhere.

An online gambling site has come up with odds (which stand 10-to-1) on whether 6/6/06 will be the start of the apocalypse. So far, so good.

Last but not least, the remake of The Omen opens today in theaters.