A Special Place in Hell

I'm not sure I feel sorry for the 5000 people that got kicked off of the site Beautiful People. I mean, it is, after all, the most shallow dating site I've ever seen...even worse than SugarDaddie.com ("where the classy, attractive, and affluent people meet), and that's saying something pretty profound. Of course, the latter got rid of the "I Am A: Sugar Daddy searching for a: Perfect Princess" thing, which helps.

But still...kicking people off of a site right after the holidays? That's cold. I'm sure there's a special place in hell for the creators of these sites, and another, slightly less special place for the people that use them. At least I hope so.

Hi all! Check out this post from alternet about how many people are living with their parents after high school. And college. And their first few jobs. It's actually 1 in every 3 person under 35! Craziness.

Why is Linda Sanchez such a....bad word?

Welcome to another attempt to kill the internet as we know it. This time it's not threats from gay people, threats from pedophiles, or threats from hackers. This time it's not to "keep our children safe" (from themselves...). Oh wait...yes it is. Check out this recent article from Wired about Rep Linda Sanchez's new legislation to censor the internet. Can anyone say "Tipper Gore"? Or maybe, Tipper 2.0? Sorry...perish the thought.

Oh, and just for the record, Tipper and Linda are BOTH "Democrats." Just to remind everyone that idiocy and insanity comes in both red AND blue varieties.

Fox News just Warms my Heart

Here's a great in-depth study that demonstrates how Fox News uses "creative" cropping of comments and speeches given by those on the Left (or those they dislike) to suggest a false impression of what was actually said. There's also a YouTube clip on it, but the examples in the report are better. Yikes.

Why I Hate Cable TV

Here's a great article from smartmoney.com about how we're continuously getting screwed by cable companies. Not to mention advertisers. Or the people who make 95% of all mainstream media productions out there. Blech.

I Love Assassinations. But only if we don't tell anyone about it. Shhhh...

Not much to say to this, except for something that doesn't surprise me it certainly makes me sick to my stomach.

Seymour Hersh: "Executive Assassination Ring" Answered to Cheney, Had No Congressional Oversight

T & A & Red America

This is a fascinating story about how the states with the most anti-sex rhetoric in schools (and in legislature) are actually the states with the highest rate of pornography consumption. Not too surprising, to tell you the truth, but crazy nonetheless. Two things come to mind: one, that pornography is our biggest (illegal) export, and makes the U.S. billions of dollars a year. Two, that although conservative and reactionary interests always say they're hard on sex (no pun intended), they seem to have the most sex scandals. Hmmmm....

Unions meet PR's "Dr. Evil"

Union-busting in the U.S. is not unusual, and there's a ton of evidence to suggest that anti-anti-corporate activism (meaning expensive ad and PR campaigns and governmental lobbies) has until recently been far more effective than grass-roots organizing by people without tons of money. This article's a pretty fascinating look at the new war on organized labor, and the man behind it all.

You can see my parents car from the street...

Here's a great update on Google Maps and Google Earth, which successfully combines creepiness and coolness. Check out the photos of the dead deer and the hidden marijuana fields in Switzerland. Yikes.

OUTRAGED! But not really...

Fresh off the glories of our anti-pot Phelps-bashing, here's a great article on media fabricated outrage. 

As Magritte loved to say, this is most definitely NOT about a pipe. Or something like that.

Wow that's cool....

Wirelessly charge your cell phone?  Never need another laptop battery?  Maybe charge your electric car while it's driving on the highway?  Check out this post from fastcompany.com and see the new ways electricity is becoming wireless.  Now if only I can get my hoverboard....which somehow doesn't seem as cool as it did when I was a kid.  :-(  

I'm lying...yes it does.

Torture on TV, Torture in Real Life

Here's a really interesting film called Primetime Torture about the portrayal of torture in contemporary film and TV.  Specifically, it talks about instances of torture in popular culture multiplying rapidly during the Bush administration (and especially after 9/11).  We've all seen it in films like the Scream franchise, the Saw franchise, etc etc etc, but it's pretty interesting to see it laid out in terms of its impact on contemporary interrogation techniques in Iraq and Afghanistan.  Here's the article from Alternet.org in which I found the film.

Broccolli sex? Seriously?

What has PETA come to? I mean, what happened to the good ol' days of throwing fake blood on fur coats?

Although you've got to love that NBC censored these advertisements. Actually, there's a big history of ads being censored by the superbowl networks, particularly political or protest ads. MoveOn.org and adbusters both have had several ads rejected, and for no cause other than that they are "too political." I prefer the sex with vegetables angle, though.

ProPublica

Here's another online news / watchdog site you might be interested in, called ProPublica.  Very cool...I especially like their "scandal watch" sections.

AlterNet

Here's a great alternative news and culture blog.  This post is a great discussion of the changing of roadsigns saying "Bush" to roadsigns saying "Obama" in San Francisco.

RIAA vs. Filesharing vs. Reality

Here's an interesting story from Wired Magazine about the upcoming trial of a Boston U student against the Recording Industry Association of America, who sued him for tons of money for sharing music.  They're losing their battle against file sharing, as is the MPAA, because it's an impossible battle and they're too shortsighted to actually work with the technology or, you know, CHARGE LESS FOR THEIR BAD MOVIES.  Seems they're trying to block the broadcasting of pre-trial arguments on the web, which a judge has allowed.  They don't want anyone to know what's going on...like the MPAA, they fear transparency in the process, which is why we should fight for it...

Twitter + Yahoo Search = Cool

Hey, check out this story that talks about a combination between the website Twitter and the Yahoo search engine.  It's made to make it easy to hear breaking information about new news stories.  Pretty cool.

here's the site link

Top Culture Trends of 2009

Check out this news article from Yahoo Finance on culture in the recession.  Pretty interesting.  Don't think I buy much of it, but interesting nonetheless...