Water baptism by fire . . . hose. I have heard of water baptism, and baptism by fire, but never water baptism by fire hose. The United House of Prayer congregation recently held an outdoor baptism in the streets of Los Angeles where they baptized participants from the church and community by fire hose. The service was meant as a symbol of prayer for healing for the community rather than as an actual baptism.

Judas go home. I am getting a little tired of people releasing books and movies attacking the Christian faith in the weeks just prior to or following Easter. The latest offering? “The Gospel According to Judas Written by Benjamin Iscariot.” This is a fictional work rewriting the gospels from the narrative viewpoint of Judas’ son.

Preschool admissions wars. Never mind getting into the college of your choice. It’s hard enough getting into preschool these days. Slate Magazine addresses the hurdles and hassles of getting your two year old through the admissions process at high stake preschools.

Please don’t wash my sneakers! This girl won $2,500 in the 32nd annual national Odor Eaters Rotten Sneaker Contest. Now she can afford to buy a new pair. The prize-winning sneakers will be enshrined in the Odor Eaters’ “Hall of Fumes” in Montpelier, VT.

Unidentified Flying Snowflakes. For over a century people have reported seeing giant snowflakes, some as large as frisbees. Scientists are interested in the stories and have begun collecting data. The largest snowflake ever reported was during a storm in January, 1887, when a Montana rancher claims he measured one 15 inches wide.

$1 million dollars only goes so far. More and more people are becoming millionaires, and yet some still worry about whether they will have enough money for the future. These people should pay a visit to the Global Rich List.

Rolling in the dough. People in New York are paying chef Nino Selimaj $1,000 for a single 12-inch lobster tail and caviar pizza. Granted, each pizza costs Selimaj $720 to make, but that is still a pretty good profit margin.

No brains, no sweat. A new study links regular exercise with improved memory. So if you can’t remember the last time you exercised, maybe that’s why.

Watch out for killer frogs! I don’t know. First we had killer bees, now we have killer frogs. The city of San Francisco is having trouble with African clawed frogs in Golden State Park. These 5-inch long amphibians have voracious appetites and are eating up the other wildlife. Now they are eating themselves . . . which should take care of the problem.

Science girl. Congratulations to Mary Masterman, a senior at Westmoore High School in Oklahoma City, who won a $100,000 scholarship in the 66th annual Intel Science Talent Search. I can hear parents all over the nation telling their teens to break out their science books.

Captain America is dead. I am not sure what the political ramifications are of this, but Marvel Comics killed off Captain America in the most recent (and I’m guessing final) issue of Captain America. I am not a comic book reader. Is this the first time a super hero has been killed off?

No cake for Osama. Osama Bin Laden turns 50 today, but he won’t be celebrating. According to Sharia Law, birthdays are forbidden in Islam. They are considered an example of “Western contamination.”

Climate change or diet change? PETA has written an open letter to Al Gore urging him to become a vegetarian in order to reduce global warming. PETA claims that because “animals raised for food generate more greenhouse gases than all cars and trucks combined . . . switching to a vegan diet is more effective in countering global warming than switching from a standard American car to a Prius.” I don’t have a problem if Al Gore eats meat. I just think he should purchase carbon offsets each time he orders a burger.

Shades of Japanese horror movies! Fisherman captures a 990-lb, 33-foot long colossal squid off the coast of New Zealand. “It really didn’t put up much of a fight,” said one of the observers. “Its tentacles were moving back and forth, but that’s about it. It certainly wasn’t grabbing crew members and pulling them back into the sea.”

Whoops! Apparently the U.S. Mint left out the (fairly important) words “In God We Trust” on an unknown number of new George Washington dollar coins. “The first one sold for $600 before everyone knew how common they actually were,” coin expert Ron Guth said. “They’re going for around $40 to $60 on eBay now, and they’ll probably settle in the $50 range.”