What's Up Wednesdays: Evolution

As has become a tradition around these parts for the better part of eight years, it’s time for another speedlink here on Beyond the Rhetoric. We start off with Buzz Bishop describing how his 8-year-old son recently got into a heated debate over evolution and religion with one of his best friends. The conversation wasn’t prompted at all, though it may have been partly inspired by the upcoming release of Jurassic World. I loved dinosaurs as a kid and I still do now.

From the evolution of the animal kingdom to some culinary evolution, Stacey Robinsmith offers up a recipe for wheat-free pizza that he found using Minute Rice in place of the traditional crust. Considering that plain white rice is naturally gluten-free, many people who are looking that way for their diets may find some appeal in this pizza recipe too. I’m not sure I’m sold on the idea, but it is something you might consider.

For the first time in three years, Carol Browne actually had to work during regular business hours. Keeping regular hours has become such a foreign concept for me and, with the noted exception of trade shows and special events, I don’t keep much of a regular schedule myself. And while Carol finds that “regular commuting is hard,” she says that “working in Gastown is exciting.” Going to bed at a regular hour is awfully strange too.

With the recent news of tourists posing for nude photos in Malaysia, Steffani Cameron reminds all travelers to respect the local customs. “You are a guest in a foreign country,” she writes, “and you are privileged to visit.” Indeed, whether you find yourself in Tokyo or Paris or anywhere else in the world, the onus is on you to be respectful, not on the locals to accommodate your language and cultural beliefs.

And finally, Oscar Gonzalez offers us some perspective on the history of Father’s Day and how the holiday came into existence in the first place. Perhaps it isn’t that surprising that Father’s Day wasn’t created until some time after Mother’s Day and, even then, it didn’t become an official national holiday until Lyndon B. Johnson signed his presidential proclamation in 1966 and Richard Nixon signed it into law six years later.