My Outside Reading Choice/Blog of the Week

The Last Testament: A Memoir by God by David Javerbaum looks hilarious. I was a little concerned with what the next book I was going to read, but I believe that this is it. I have been a regular viewer of The Daily Show and The Colbert Report since freshman year, so I am very excited to read this, but enough about me. Javerbaum seems like a great guy from this interview. I'm glad that he doesn't see his show as a news program. I particularly like what he says about people that strcitly watch the Daily Show for news, "If people are tuning into “The Daily Show” for news, it’s like an alcoholic drinking shampoo because there’s nothing else in the house." He believes that the show should only be seen as comedy and the only reason that it would be considered news is because of all the news programs that fail to deliver. 

The interview of Javerbaum is funny and insightful. It touches on the major aspects of the book and gets the reader excited.It got me excited at least. He talks about not only the book but also Javerbaums other job (Executive producer of the Daily Show). Javerbaum is funny but also speaks the truth in the interview. I can't wait for the book to come out November first. I will blog my thoughts as I read the book.

Article:God’s comic: “Daily Show” veteran takes on religion

"In Time." Not the Best Movie Ever

I recently went to see the movie "In Time" starring Justin Timberlake. Now for a little back story. I am a big Cillian Murphy fan, so naturally when I stumbled on to a trailer of "In Time" on YouTube I could barely wait for it's release. Fast forward a couple months and yours truly is walking out of the theater a disappointed man. I was not disappointed in Cillian Murphy, but my guy JT just couldn't cut the mustard. He is definitely not cut out to be an action hero. He tried to cry in one scene and I kid you not, the theater laughed at him. It felt like the supports were perfect for their roles and then JT was just thrown in there to give the film more appeal. I won't say I didn't like the film, but I will say that it didn't come close to my expectations. From my initial YouTube preview I had faith that this movie would be excellent, but it just misses the mark for me. 


This article gives one writers opinion on the movie. He makes a nice link to the current Occupy Wall Street movement, but says that the movie is based more off of the 1970's than present day. I agree with what he says about the acting and plot. I was especially excited to see that he gave a shout-out to Cillian Murphy who, "nearly steals the show as a moody, conflicted Timekeeper, one of the currency cops who maintains order - so much so that I wish the movie were about him." O'Hehir sums up the movie in a nice sentence. "So yeah - even if "In Time descends from its gripping and thought provoking premise into a mediocre chase thriller before it's over, it's still pretty damn satisfying to watch in the current climate," which is exactly how I feel.


Article:“In Time”: Justin Timberlake’s OWS sci-fi thriller

The Origin of "Drinking the Kool-Aid"

This has to be the craziest story I have ever read. I know about those Midwestern polygamy camps, but this blows them out of the water. A man by the name of Jim Jones gathered a following, brought them to Guyana, tortured them, and finally had the over nine hundred followers drink the poisoned Kool-Aid in the largest recorded mass suicide. I'm definitely going out and buying this as my next book. Maybe I'll even recommend it to my teacher. I'm sure we could learn something from Jim Jones' rhetoric that he used to persuade the masses to his People's Temple. If not that then I bet it would be an interesting read. The whole story of Jonestown sounds like a movie. I can not even fathom how something as insane as this could have happened. I'm surprised that an event like this can fall into obscurity. I have never seen anything about "the largest number of American civilians in a single non-natural disaster until 9/11," in my history books. Maybe Americans just want to erase this black spot in our history as much as they can. Jones fooled a whole bunch of big public figures. At the risk of sounding like a conspiracy theorist perhaps all of the big time politicians that were sucked into the People's Temple tried to cover up their foolishness by covering up the entire event itself. Maybe it is just because as Americans we move on to a new interesting story every week. The story of Jonestown is just too far back in the news archives for it to be an interesting story for the public. Obviously the event received coverage when the story first broke , but to forget the 909 people lost seems wrong. Cultists or not they still deserve our respect. Especially considering the torture they had to endure in Jonestown.


Laura Miller writes an interesting article on what happened at Jonestown. It is in the form of a book review, but she does little to review the book. Instead she tells her readers of the events leading up to that final night in Jonestown. So technically this isn't to great of a review as I have no idea how good or bad Julia Scheeres' book actually is. The story of Jonestown is interesting on its own. I wonder how well Scheeres does to bring a new light to an old tale.


Article:“A Thousand Lives”: What really happened in Jonestown?

A Battle for the Stone Ages

Why is it cool to be a Conservative Christian nutjob again? We were making such great strides these past years. With the presidential election coming up I find it infuriating that we as Americans would even consider a president that doesn't believe in evolution or global warming. Republicans are looking more and more like an anti science party rather than a political party. It seems that whoever can be the biggest evangelist will get the number one spot. On top of that there is a big to do about whether or not Mitt Romney can call himself a Christian. A: Yes he can it is a fact that Mormons are Christians thanks for playing though, and B: That shouldn't enter into a PRESIDENTIAL campaign. Sure we aren't where we thought we would be, but that doesn't mean we should go jump into the arms of the Republicans again.

Kevin Canfield interviews Jonathan D Moreno, a professor of science and medical ethics at the University of Pennsylvania and a member of Obama's transition team. Canfield interviews Moreno, but Moreno is the one that has the most to say. He talks about why Americans are where they are now in terms of biotech research and other things. The article is not a shot at religion. It is simply Moreno's opinion that it is a hindrance to the progress of scientific research in America and I agree.

Article: The Republican war on science is un-American

My New Idol

I am no artist nor do I claim to be one, but those are some seriously cool paintings and sculptures. Pedro Friedeberg seems like he would be a real hoot to hang out with. His paintings may have meaning but I'm not quite seeing it. I would go to see a Friedeberg exhibit simply because it would be cool not because I want to find out what the artist meant when painting these. I would love to know why he likes hands so much. All of his sculptures are made of hands and some feet. They look awesome and I want one for my house, but why so many hands?

The author says he thought he knew Pedro until he  read his biography and then he puts in a quote from Friedeberg himself. He doesn't say much at all. He lets the pictures speak for themselves. If a picture says a thousand words I have to say that these painting are worth far more than a thousand.

Article: The Work of a Surreal Designer

A Rant About Cartoon Network

Ah the good old days. When men were men and a mallet in the head was hilarious. I never knew that Cartoon Network had only been around since '92. Being born in 1994 I just assumed that it had always been around. This article really makes me miss when shows were funny on CN like Dexter's Lab, Cow & Chicken, Tom and Jerry, and  Johnny Bravo. That was good programming. Nowadays Cartoon Network has the audacity to try and put live action shows in the line-up. I know that I'm the umptee-seventh person to talk about how cartoon network used to be good, but for real man what the heck. All there is on now is cookie cutter crap with the same exact plot in each show. What ever happened to experimental shows like Sheep in the Big City and Courage the Cowardly Dog? With my childhood slipping away day by day I can only take solace in the fact that CN still has Adult Swim (My favorite channel, if you can even call it that). Adult Swim has stayed strong with weird shows that appeal to a certain audience of awesome people since it's inception. If only Cartoon Network could have been as steadfast with their line up.


The author talks about the beginning of CN and give basically a behind the scenes look at what went on for this show to start. He shows pictures of a card box that was sent out to show the marketability of Cartoon Network. He isn't trying to say anything about the downfall of CN he gives the reader a little known story about something that we all know and love (Sort of).

Article: When Cartoon Network Was Born

Euphemisms

I had to check this article simply because the title made me "LOL" by myself. Famous political flip-flopper Mitt Romney hits it out of the park again with partnership agreements. Do you guys remember when it was cool to be liberal? Why is the Christian Right taking over the United States again? All I could think of as I read this article was the famous George Carlin routine on euphemisms. A video which I have placed down yonder (you're welcome). A partnership agreement sounds like something the NBA needs to make to end the lockout. It doesn't sound like a happy marriage.


Alex Pareene writes a very funny article on Mitt's new proposal for gay marriage. He writes very sarcastically and makes fun of the cold robotic term "partnership agreement" by finishing up his article with a paragraph so politically correct you can hardly understand what is going on.

Article: Mitt Romney proposes “partnership agreements” for gay couples who happen to be emotionless cyborgs

What's Your Occupation? Part Deux [Boston Edition]

I never thought I'd see the day that my own fair city would fight the Occupy Wall Street Movement. This article makes you wonder. What were those hundred peaceful protesters doing that made them more serious threats than others during the raid? I was actually in Boston this past Saturday. I jumped in the protester's parade as they walked by the public garden. I saw the nice little camp that the protesters had set up. It hardly seemed like a place that required a force of 200 riot geared officers to clear out at 1:30 in the morning. Maybe I'm just a child with pipe dreams of a Government that actually listens to the people, but When the President sees the future of the United States in the streets protesting you would think that he would do something.


The author writes a quick snippet of what is going on in the city. He shows no bias, but he does call the people, "peaceful protesters," which could be taken as a biased phrase. There is little background information about the actual movement. The article just tells of the raid that occurred. 

Article:Boston’s mayor: “Civil disobedience will not be tolerated”

The question was, "Do you believe that a homemaker who has never been a wage  earner should be entitled to a Social Security death benefit for her survivors?" The answer is in the title. Sure if a mother is a hard worker she deserves recognition and the respect of her peers, but if she never pays into the system. Why would she be entitled to anything back? That's like Wesley Snipes being upset with the police force of his town. It's not like Blade pays his taxes, so what right does he have to be upset? Bonnie Smith-Yackel's mother never worked in the literal sense, so I'm sorry but there is nothing more to be said.

What's Your Occupation?

– “Occupy! Bring instruments, food, blankets, bedding, rain gear, and a sense of justice”

– “Spread the word” via nycga.net, Twitter, and Facebook

–”Donate” either money or food or clothes

–”Follow the occupation”

–”Educate yourself”

These are the things you must do to continue the occupation of Wall Street. The occupation has moved to the Brooklyn Bridge and beyond sine it's start on September 17th. However the protesters were stopped by some not so sympathetic police officers and hundreds of occupiers were arrested. It seems that in any case of uprising the more outrageous the police riot control tactics become the more momentum the uprising has gained. If that is true then Occupy Wall Street is going strong. It is a promising sight to see a gathering of more than a hundred people for an important cause other than legalizing marijuana, and I would say I'm all for the Occupy Wall Street movement. However I have no idea what they stand for, and neither do they from what I've read. I'm all for sticking it to the man and hating every "Joe big business" out there, but I wish the protesters would think of something to protest for already.

Justin Eliott writes an un-biased piece about the ongoing occupation of Wall Street. There is no intent other than letting the reader know what is going on in the world around them. He uses a picture of an arrest to grab the reader's attention. He uses a quote from the recently created newspaper "The Occupied Wall Street Journal." This article is for anyone that wants to learn more about the movement. There is no bias and the author does a great job of delivering the facts.

Article: Busted on Brooklyn Bridge

Magic Mushrooms for the Terminal Soul

I had to go for this article right when I saw it. Alexander Zaitchik writes about experimental psilocybin treatments for terminally ill cancer patients, and I think it's a fantastic idea. So many cancer victims spend their last days even weeks in a hospital paralyzed by the fear of their encroaching death. From the article it is obvious that there have been promising results, but I don't see this being more than an experiment. If this starts to gain any momentum it will have a serious battle ahead of them. Every anti-drug crusader and their mother will be out campaigning against the treatment without any consideration for the cancer patients themselves. No human should lives their lives in fear especially someone that is terminally ill. Hospitals already get patients into experimental chemo treatments which can be very dangerous. Why not try something experimental that won't hurt the patient. Now I'm not saying that everyone needs to run out and get some 'shrooms, but if you were in a terminal patient's shoes.. Wouldn't you want to at least be at peace with the life you have if nothing else?


Zaitchik is obviously on the side of the doctors in this article. He kicks off the article by taking the reader on an adventure with Kristof Kossut, a terminally ill man going into the Bluestone Center for Clinical Research. After the Kossut story the author quotes different doctors that vouch for this experimental treatment. He also takes a look at the expensive treatments that take place in the last moments of one's life. He says that if we just helped the person cope with what was coming rather than spending so much on useless treatments a lot of money could be saved. This article definitely isn't trying to pull anyone on his side. The article is more of a look into the psychedelic side of things for someone that is alright with it in the first place.


Article: Flashback! Psychedelic Research Returns