Anna Nicole! Britney! Idiots! Copernicus!

Hello,
A little warmer here, but with some more snow now. This weekend is giving a little warmth that is starting to hint at spring. (Maybe that groundhog was right after all!)

Anna Nicole, Anna Nicole, Anna Nicole. Argh! I ran across this article about how television is failing the public because of the obsession on non-news disguised as important news. I could not agree with this more. It is unbelievable how her death has taken more air time than President Ford's death, or even the North Korean six party talks, the "Scooter" Lewis Libby trial, Iranian nuclear news, bombs in Thailand, or anything else that is, well, news.

I just saw the movie Idiocracy this weekend. It deals with a man frozen until the year 2505 where he wakes to find society is so dumbed down due to celebrity worship, commercialization, mass media/entertainment, and larger number of children from lower intelligence families. While it was mainly a dumb comedy (and a pretty funny one at that), there was a hint of horror there because you can really see things moving that way. I recommend the movie, but be aware there is a high amount of very bad language and sexual and bathroom humor. But it fits in with the analysis of...

...oh wait! There's new Britney news! Hooray! Let's see what top celebrity psychiatrists say about her bald headed, rehabbin', tattooin', partying like she's crazy lifestyle! We need a replacement when this Anna Nicole stuff dies down anyway!

Other bits:

• A different kind of crazy: Texas Republican Chairman Warren Chisum believes the earth stands still and the sun rotates around it. And he's distributing memos to legislators pitching this knowledge.
• A bit of fun: the Line Rider is a fun little online diversion. Give it a try and check out some of the saved movies.

Books and other links

Hi,
I'm giving an online site called LibraryThing a try. It is essentially a tag-based online cataloging tool for your books. You can then share links, review, get recommendations, and so forth. I've been plugging in my books (far from over) before realizing there is a 200 book limit for free accounts. If I like it enough, the lifetime membership only costs 25 bucks, so that's a pretty good deal. You can find my library by following this link.


Other stories:

• The big story today is Anna Nicole Smith's death, I guess. It's sad, but I'm not quite sure if I'm watching a soap opera or not at this point.
• The CSPI picks the best and worst fast foods. Bad news, Burger King. Not only is your mascot creepy, your food is dangerous too.
• Now that the Super Bowl is over, what happens to all those losing team championship shirts and hats? I've actually wondered about this in the past, so I was pleased to run across this article about it.
• And finally, for you deep thinkers, the 11 most important philosophical questions. Why eleven? Good question... think on that.
  

Boston police work, oil profits, shared spelling

Hello!

More ranting by Boston on the Aqua Teen Hunger Force publicity stunt. They've been talking about suing them for the "hoax" (which there is no hoax that I can see. The devices aren't intended to look like bombs.) If these devices looked to be a threat, then I think the people of Boston should sue their city for not reacting until three weeks after these things were placed. That's some top notch policing. But, I also don't see how the Lite-Brite like devices would be thought of as a terrorist threat. What terrorist puts colorful LEDs in the shapes of cartoon characters on their bombs? Is Boston more used to dealing with the Joker and the Riddler instead of Al Qaida?

Other stuff:

• Exxon Mobil posts the biggest profit ever in US history. Whew! I was so worried that those fluctuating oil prices would hurt them!
• Tonight, I spent way too much time on WannaSpell.com, which is a shared whiteboard with "magnetic" letters you can drag around. It was fun and frustrating. There were bits of collective comedy laughs, but you are also always fighting everyone else's agenda on it (and then eventually a group of people start dragging all the letters into a corner). Check it out to see what I mean.