Apparently our nation still acknowledges Labor Day despite the fact that Scott Walker is considered a viable candidate for President. I really think we're in an era when workers are considered unimportant and expendable, which seems like pretty much the opposite of what the labor movement was trying to accomplish. Businesses aren't afraid to fire ( Read more... )

Penn & Teller's Bullshit: Vaccinations - When I first heard about this episode, I was afraid they were going to go the more controversial route and come out AGAINST vaccinations, which would have been pretty hypocritical given their usual pro-science stance (except with global warming, for some reason). Fortunately, they came out in favor of ( Read more... )

Penn & Teller's Bullshit!: Self Esteem - The point basically seemed to be that the obsession with self-esteem has led to ridiculousness and narcissism. In a way I agree, because I'm sick of people asking each other if they're happy. Maybe they were before you forced them to THINK about it! And yes, the life coaches and hypnotherapists are ( Read more... )

We watched two new Bullshit! episodes last night, specifically the ones about martial arts and teen sex. The martial arts one didn't really tell me anything new. I took Tae Kwon Do when I was in high school, and I pretty much realized even then that it was bullshit. I mean, it was good exercise, and much more fun than weight lifting or aerobics ( Read more... )

All right, here's another television report. First, the new Futurama episode, which was largely an extended parody of Twitter and YouTube. It started out pretty well, giving us futuristic versions of the iPhone and social networking. I think it touched upon a few elements that weren't really explored, though. I thought, for instance, that they' ( Read more... )

Penn and Teller's Bullshit! has started its eighth season, and while I'll probably continue to watch it as long as it's on, I have to think it might have overstayed its welcome a bit. The first episode of this season was about cheerleading, and how dangerous it is. Their complaint seemed to be that cheerleading isn't regulated enough because it ( Read more... )

Today is the first Thursday in May, which makes it the National Day of Prayer. I can't say I've ever really been into the prayer thing, but hey, to each his or her own. I've seen it suggested that prayer is really a way for people to work through things and build themselves up to face challenges. It's sort of like what I suggested in this post ( Read more... )

( Read more... )

I don't have much to say about tonight's Simpsons and American Dad episodes, but they were decent enough. The friendship that developed between Homer and Chief Wiggum was interesting, but nothing really came of the subplot. The Battleballs themselves were an amusing concept, but the mistakes that led the school and Marge to think Bart was dealing ( Read more... )

Today, I once again heard someone complaining that we shouldn't be treating terrorists like "common criminals," this time with regards to trying them in civilian courts. Putting in the word "common" seems like a trick to make it sound silly, like, "You can't prosecute terrorists the same way you do some bozo who holds up a liquor store!" Aren't ( Read more... )