pres.umptuo.us

• The ‘Marching Morons’ show prescience of science fiction. Not only a good message about the way things are today, but also about most people’s ignorance of science fiction as a legit source of literature.

  Monday March 12, 2007

• The greatest story ever sold is a fantasy covered in blood. I’m not gonna stop harping on the evils of diamonds until everyone understands what a sham they are. Start thinking for yourself.

  Monday February 12, 2007

• How to Talk to a Climate Skeptic. Mmmmm science.

  Tuesday November 7, 2006

• You Can Learn a Lot From a Rich Girl. I know so many people like this (the vast majority women). I’m convinced that everyone should have to take a class on financial planning and learn the value of money.

  Tuesday November 7, 2006

• Branson commits $3 bln to fight global warming. Hurray for global warming.

  Thursday September 21, 2006

I came across this long, yet great, article entitled, “The World’s Most Toxic Value System“, essentially harping on honor and it’s effects on creating an effective society. There’s a lot of really good stuff, but this point in particular stuck out:

Nothing better illustrates the thar mentality better than the fury directed by Islamic militants against Danish and Norwegian cartoons of Mohammed. Sacrilegious art in other cultures can offend and get people angry but the lunatic response of radical Islamists is in a class by itself. It’s the shrieking, out of control petulance of a three-year old throwing a tantrum. People infected with this attitude will be utterly incapable of recognizing wrongdoing by their own society, utterly incapable of taking criticism or recognizing the need for correction.

The points on the degradation of women are also of note. It’s funny that you’d think after so many centuries of lasting civilizations, issues like these wouldn’t be a problem. But it looks like tradition, religion, and pride have a way of their own.

The News

Pluto is no longer a planet. Honestly I’m sure nobody really cared, but this line in the article drew my attention:

However, the first definition of a planet approved after a heated debate among some 2,500 scientists and astronomers drew a clear distinction between Pluto and the other eight planets.

I would have loved to be in the room with all those astronomers debating heatedly over the status of Pluto as a planet. I imagine some would be holding their astrolabes and telescopes, shouting “Not a planet!” and someone else would interject with, “Copernicus would never stand for this!” Those crazy astronomers.

The Music

I’m loving the Magnetic Fields right now. I’d link to some music samples, unfortunately I can’t seem to find any. Just trust me that they’re good.

Regina Spektor has a funky way of singing that grows on me. Audrey said she sounds like a retarded person singing. Oddly enough that’s very accurate.

It’s a shame Asia was a one-hit wonder with “Heat of the Moment.” I would have enjoyed more of their cheesy rock.

The Food

Richard stumbled upon an Alberto’s in Temple City which we checked out yesterday. To our surprise they served the hard-to-find Carne Asada Fries. Not quite as good as the ones we’ve had at Alerto’s in Fountain Valley, but a good enough LA alternative. Anyone else know of places in LA that serve Carne Asada fries?

• Packard Jennings. I’m a sucker for these guerilla anti-consumerism tactics. Found from a livejournal post about his job pamphlet.

  Tuesday July 11, 2006

• Clever ad campaign for Amnesty International

  Monday June 5, 2006

I saw An Inconvenient Truth last night, and as aware as I thought I was of Global Warming and its effects on the Earth, the movie laid all the facts out in front of me, and we’re really in a lot more trouble than I thought.

I wholeheartedly agree with Roger Ebert, as he says in his review:

In 39 years, I have never written these words in a movie review, but here they are: You owe it to yourself to see this film. If you do not, and you have grandchildren, you should explain to them why you decided not to.

Watch this movie. If you still don’t care about Global Warming after you’ve seen the film, then I’ll no longer think of you as a human being.

• Rolling Stone : Was the 2004 Election Stolen?. The stats the article provides make a really good point.

  Thursday June 1, 2006

• German ‘Robin Hoods’ give poor a taste of the high life.
  “…dress as superheroes and steal expensive food from exclusive restaurants and delicatessens to give to the poor…presented the cashier with a bouquet of flowers before making their getaway.”

  Tuesday May 9, 2006

• Carfree Cities. I’m such a nerd that I have the urge to load up SimCity and try to build one of these.

  Thursday April 27, 2006

The death toll is now up to 20,000 on this magnitude-7.6 earthquake that hit Kashmir on October 8.

I believe The Onion says it best in a situation like this.

Network for Good has a page set up with links to ways to help out. I’ll probably hold up until some more organized stuff starts showing up.

After two days (It’s only been two?) of indecision, I’ve staved off the lure of the iPod nano and won out against the temptation of an impulse buy. I let my logic and rational thought do its talking, and realized there’s no real point in me getting a nano at this time. My 15 gig iPod still works just fine, and it’d be best to just wait it out and get a nano later on when it gets updated. With more storage space. And colors. And coolness.

And so instead I donated to the Red Cross Hurrican Relief. Not a whole $250, mind you, but a generous amount for me. Normally I’m someone who doesn’t believe in donating, and would much rather have preferred to do something that actually counted, like loaded up supplies or helped pass out food to the survivors, but this will have to do for now.

I might not have the newest, hottest fad, but at least my conscience feels a lot better.

Step two of my plan to make the world a better place.

Did anybody else not realize how bad this was going to get until it finally happened?

Having never experienced a hurricane first-hand and not having any real knowledge of the geography of New Orleans, I just kind of figured, “Eh.” Florida seems like it gets hit by a hurricane every year, and they just appear so routine and like nothing all that special.

But then you get the swamplands. And the beneath-sea-level thing going on. First everyone’s just evacuating and you figure it won’t be such a big deal. And then you realize the poor have no way of leaving.

Then the hurricane passes over, and the looting and fighting and pushing and shoving and all the other great aspects of human nature surface from the flood waters.

It’s feeling a lot like the carjacking mob scene from War of the Worlds.

A few links:

Former Clinton Advisor: “No One Can Say they Didn’t See it Coming.”

Donate to the American Red Cross

I’m too busy to keep posting follow-ups on the reported four bombings in London today, but kottke’s got a good roundup of the news, Lifehacker has their own roundup, and Londonist is on top of things.

It’s a bit odd, being awake at 2 in the morning and reading about an 8.9 magnitude earthquake hitting way out in the ocean near Indonesia, only to go to sleep and wake up 9 hours later to find out massive tidal waves have hit several countries.

I’ve heard the death toll is anywhere from 10,000 to 40,000, although I’m sure the number will be leaning towards the high end. I’m not gonna try to keep up with any of the coverage that’s been going on, but Wikipedia has very comprehensive coverage of it, and Boing Boing has been doing a good job of it too.

The Real Reason We’re In Iraq. Nothing really new here, just some more of the good ol’ “Why are we in Iraq” stuff we’re so used to. Just kinda good to read an article every now and then to refresh my mind as to how jacked up things are. Link from everyone’s favorite socialist, Abdul.

How much sense does that make? Saddam has enough weaponry to attack the western world, and we can’t lead the UN inspectors to it because we don’t want Saddam to know how we got the information? Give me a break!

So we invaded Iraq not to save ourselves from weapons of mass destruction, not to rid the world of a brutal dictator and not to avenge the murders of Sept. 11. We invaded Iraq because Bush and his pals think America should rule the world.

Now that the Olympics are over (Damn judging discrepancies), primetime television has returned. Not that I really watch anything other than Simpsons (On three times a day) and Seinfeld (On two times a day) anyway.

Scrubs returned tonight, with Heather Graham now in as what I assume to be a long-term character, probably something like what Tara Reid did. She was surprisingly a lot better than I had expected, not the big ditz I had thought she would be, and had some funny lines of her own, especially the Chicken Sandwich bit.

I kept flipping back and forth from Scrubs and Extreme Makeover: Home Edition (I think I need Tivo. But just for two shows? Nah.). I find myself oddly drawn to EM:HE just because of the whole home remodeling aspect, despite the fact that I absolutely loathe the crew (Except for the one straight guy. You figure it out.) and the whole Oprah “Making lives better and doing it for what it counts” stuff they throw in. This show fills my void since KCET stopped showing This Old House for who knows why.

Don’t get me wrong though, it is pretty sweet how they totally remodel (Rebuild is more like it) a house in seven days and really make a family’s lives a whole lot better. Least they’re doing something about it and actively showing the results to the public. Can’t argue with something like that, even if they do have to layer on the sappiness factor. I’m just saying I watch it mainly for the do-it-yourself parts.