Hand Me That Hammer, Will You, Princess?

I noticed a new headline today having to do with the infamous incest slavery case going on in Austria: "Fritzl kept sex slave daughter chained up with a dog lead in the dungeon that SHE helped to build." Talk about adding insult to injury. Thankfully my uncle and I never finished building that tree fort when I was 9. God knows what could have happened.

Naturally this also reminded me of something from YouTube, in this case Barats and Bereta in "So Smooth." Key line: "I'm so deck, my father should hire me in the summer of 1993 for $5 an hour to build myself." The Slugworth reference was also pretty fine.



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The Simpleton's Guide to the Unintended Consequences of Environmental Policy

Inspired by my colleague Iain Murray's new book, The Really Inconvenient Truths: Seven Environmental Catastrophes Liberals Don't Want You to Know About - Because They Helped Cause Them, the current Simpleton's Guide is about misguided environmental laws and regulations.



By the way, you can buy Iain's book at Amazon for only $18.45 - that's 34% off the retail hardcover price!

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New Video Series: Skeptics Speak Out

I interviewed several scientists and researchers about global warming recently, and the first five edited video segments are now finished. The series is called "Skeptics Speak Out," and the press release is here. Dr. Marlo Lewis hosts and Erin Wildermuth did the videography and editing.

Dr. Cal Beisner:



Dr. Joe D'Aleo:



Dr. Jim O'Brien:



Dr. Kesten Green:



Dr. Howard Hayden:



You can read the first news story on the video series, "Scientists Plead For Better Climate Research And Less Alarmism," here.

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The Simpleton's Guide to the DEA and Pain Relief



Find out more at The Pain Relief Network and The Abigail Alliance.

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New Ad Campaign on Global Warming

The National Press Club press conference this morning which announced this ad went pretty well. Now we just have to sit back and wait to see how the viewers of CNN, CNBC and Fox News respond to it.



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Today Was a Good Day

And Eliot Spitzer fell, in a way I couldn't possibly have imagined. I would prefer if had been taken to account for his evil ways as attorney general of New York, but I'll take what I can get.

Many moons ago, my friends and I filmed a parody of the opening scene from The Godfather, with a Spitzer character as the Don. Little did we know it would eventually pay off so well. It starred Mr. O and was filmed and edited brilliantly by Mr. S. Since I love fancy-pants Hollywood titles, I'll even say that I was, in effect "co-producer." Hooray for me.

Watch it and love it:



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Philosophy + Metal

My favorite philosopher has many YouTube encomia; here is a fine one, featuring some of Eric Hoffer's best aphorisms.



Courtesy of XOmniverse.

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WFB, RIP

I hear a lot these days about the dumbing down of public discourse, and a general decline in civic involvement. I generally chalk these up to oldsters giving vent to their frustrations over their own lost youth. But the recent death of William F. Buckley, Jr. reminds me that perhaps there is something to those complaints. Buckley's long lived interview program Firing Line was the very model of restrained, intelligent debate. And sadly, I suspect that its like will never be seen again. Watching a FL episode and then viewing the evening's offering of Bill O'Reilley is enough to cause any thinking person to cry tears of blood. Firing Line makes Hannity & Colmes look like The Jerry Springer Show. Or worse.

So take a moment to view this classic debate from 1969 between WFB and Noam Chomsky. Spirited, but never uncivil. May your God love you and keep you, Bill.



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What Madness Is This?

The world has turned upside down, and suddenly nothing makes sense. Only the bitter taste of ashes remains.


All Is Destroyed

Tom Brady, you broke my heart. It lies in pieces, and I fear it may never heal.

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Super Bowl Ad in Engrish

How many minutes do you think it'll be before someone posts a protest about the Sales Genie commercial about the pandas who run the furniture store and talk like Charlie Chan? I assume the first one is being written even now (8:34pm ET). Remember when the same thing happened to Abercrombie?



By the way, Giants, you had too many men on the field. Way to use that challenge flag, Coach.

UPDATE: Well, it took until this morning, but someone has registered their (qualified) displeasure here.

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