This year’s list of the 50 Most Loathsome People is in equal measures riotous and dead-on. To quote one would undermine the uniform hilarity, but I do have to pick out this one from numero uno:
Is it a civil rights milestone to have a retarded president?
I might have added Pervez Musharraf, though, or is that too obvious?
[found via freakgirl]
So, uh… happy belated whatever. (I didn’t realize I left off with such an upbeat link.)
I’m in Northern Virginia with family until Saturday, when I and my nuclear family (including the dog) will drive thirteen-plus hours in a Prius back to Alabama. It’s a cozy drive. Not much to report here— I got some kitchen stuff like a peeler, salt and pepper mills, and a serrated utility knife, along with Hugh Laurie’s book The Gun Seller and Lego Star Wars for Wii.
(Speaking of Lego Star Wars, it seems like the “story” mode is really easy, though fun— is the difficult part finding all the hidden pieces and getting “True Jedi” on all the levels and stuff?)
Staying in Auburn for about a week then flying back to Philadelphia after skipping three days of work.
Happy gnu ear in case I don’t get around to posting again.
Another link only described as “wow”: a guy waterboards himself and calls it worse that any type of pain, a hundred times worse than any discomfort anyone could tolerate, “infinitely terrible”, and that “it felt like dying”.
A scary read, and even a third party report should be enough to convince just about anyone.
It might be blasphemy, but I liked Extras more than the original Office. (I think I’ve mentioned it in passing before.)
Anyway, I just watched the 90-minute Extras Christmas Special (contains spoilers) that’s currently airing on HBO. It’s actually… very good, much better than anticipated. It’s not like Office’s special, which is sort of a viewing-optional epilogue; it gives some sense of release, and (unlike Office’s special) it’s great. Depressing as hell, but very very good. Okay, maybe a little syrupy, but after that much punishment, he’s due.
So if you watched the two series, make sure you catch this. No hilarious celebrity appearances (be warned, Clive Owen is a mega-douche in it), but it’s still a don’t-miss.
This is so stupid. Before, I was just using this insipid second-pregnant-Spears story with the punchline, “Ha ha, guess this is another example of how money — especially in this family — can’t chase away the white trashiness. Add it to the pile.”
But after reading the NYT article linked above, I realize that it’s a perfect example for kids of how this can happen to anyone. Trying to hide it away — all the parents who say, I don’t want my kids exposed to this trash! — is how this happens in the first place! It’s the perfect opportunity for parents to say, Don’t be stupid like Spears Jr.— use birth control. Of course, they can temper that with, Don’t have sex, but if you are…
(But expecting them to definitely pay attention is even stupider. Of all the reasons teenagers don’t have sex, I’m sure Because Dad said not to is not way up there. For males, I’d say it’s roughly, Number one: No willing partner, 95%. Number two: Parents too hawk-eyed, 4%. Number three: Church says I’ll go to hell, 0.99%. You get the idea.)
Argh. It makes me so angry. Sex education in schools should consist of two things: (1) Be smart, because this (this = STDs, pregnancy) can happen if you don’t, and (2) this is how to be smart. Abstinence should have no part in it. Save that for church and overbearing parents. I mean yeah, one can’t stop parents from saying stuff like this (though it is terribly naïve), but it has to come along with real information from somewhere!
Angry.
(Even though I should have a shiny 24″ iMac with 4 GB of RAM sitting on my desk when I get back from vacation.)
Look, look! I keep telling you people. He’s not harmless— he’s crazy!
Pick that up, why don’t you, New Yorker?
Update:
And he also tries way too hard. Asked his favorite gadget, he says, “Probably my laptop. Or my bass guitar and amplifier.”
I hate him. Though he should be easy to beat.
If you haven’t already heard, The Hobbit is getting made (plus a sequel), with Peter Jackson at the helm.
There’s mention of Martin Freeman as Bilbo (via GitM)… I can definitely see that.
An atheist writes an op-ed commentary in the NYT regarding nonbelief, politics, and Pascal’s wager.
In my view, however, the biggest flaw in Pascal’s argument is that it understates the costs of belief. Because believing, it seems to me, is not free.
Belief in God too often spawns reasons to punish sinners — “adulterers†in Saudi Arabia, gays for some Republican presidential candidates. Through the ages, it has provided people of all sorts of creeds a great argument to kill and maim the people from the next creed over. If it turns out that God doesn’t exist — having bought into the notion, it seems to me, would prove a pretty bad wager indeed.
So I guess I’m stuck with the other bet. Hopefully, one day my fellow citizens will come to accept nonbelievers as O.K. people. Luckily, I have no ambition to run for public office.
Sounds about right to me.
