Now This Is News

Okay, so this definitely doesn't happen every day:

A pair of German physicists claim to have broken the speed of light - an achievement that would undermine our entire understanding of space and time.

"....For the time being, this is the only violation of special relativity that [we] know of."

Thanks to LRC for the link.

No End in Sight

I saw No End in Sight at my favorite movie theater last night, and I can't recommend this film enough. Even if you've been following the Iraq War controversy as much as I have, this documentary will give you several more reasons to be upset about about what the neocons in the Bush Administration did to a nation that had already been suffering thanks in great part to US foreign policy.

The angle the movie takes is a bit different from what you might expect, in that instead of focusing on how we were lied in to war, or how the US government created Saddam Hussein, it is almost entirely concerned with--in great detail--how the nation was completely mismanaged after Bush declared that major combat operations were over.

You Too Can Fight Terrorism

Remember to report any suspicious activities to people with badges or important-sounding titles. You can start by checking for terrorists behind the bushes (my God, was that a pun?).

Through Being Cool

Occasionally, there's a real choice cut in the "best-of" section of craigslist, but this was the first time I had enjoyed a posting that was genuinely thought-provoking instead of merely hilarious.

The author calls into question the way we as Americans view and use friendships, and contrasts the American idea of "friend" with the Australian idea of "mate". I could go on explaining, but why don't you just read the post?

Bourne-ucopia

Saw The Bourne Ultimatum yesterday, and while waiting for the start of the movie my siblings and I came up with some titles for a (possible? presumable?) fourth movie in the series:

• Bourne Again ("Matt Damon is...")
• Bourne Yesterday ("Matt Damon was...")
• Aurora Bourne-ealis (soundtrack by The Magnetic Fields)
  
• Bourne to Death ("This summer you'll be...")
• Bourne in the USA (actually a new show on the Travel Channel)
  
• Bourne Today, Gone Tomorrow (or Bourne There, Durn That)
• B. Ourne You Can Be (I hear it's going to be super-inspiring)
• Bourne to Be Wild (on E!)
• Hardcore Bourne ("You want action?!!")
  
• High-Fructose Bourne Syrup (sponsored by ADM)
  
• Jesus Christ Is Bourne (destined to be a holiday classic)
  
• Bourne, Baby, Bourne (Disco Purgatorio)
• Children of the Bourne (oddly creepy family-friendly fare)
  
• Bourne Pops (or Bourne Flakes)
• We Are Bourne. You Will Be Assimilated. (Star Trek 12? 14? 23?)
  
• Bourne on the Fourth of July ("Tom Cruise as Matt Damon in...")
• What, Were You Bourne in a Barn? (The Laura Ingalls Wilder Story)
  

Regarding Pat Tillman

If you aren't highly suspicious about the circumstances surrounding the death of Pat Tillman, you haven't been paying attention. Justin Raimondo talks about why he might be dead here.

Raimondo thinks there might be a connection between Tillman's death and what Tillman was going to open his mouth about when he came back to the States.

However, an equally plausible scenario has been suggested to me (I've barely begun as a blogger and I already have an unnamed source. Whee!). Remembering that Tillman was basically a marketing tool for the U.S. military and the folks running the Global War on Terrorism, one could also surmise that he was murdered by his fellow soldiers for incompetence. If he was not the same caliber of soldier as his fellows--if he could not be relied upon, he would have been putting everyone else in danger. If you've seen A Few Good Men, you might have some idea of what I'm talking about: extrajudicial punishment.

Black Bush

I just felt like linking to my favorite Chappelle sketch.

In Case You Can't Get Enough of the Antichrist...

Here's a vid of our lovable VP back in '94...just in case you need to be reminded what a stand-up guy he is.

Go here to see the Bill Moyers panel where both a right-winger and a left-winger call for the impeachment of Bush and Cheney.

Heroism and the Language of Fascism

Check out this piece from Rosa Brooks, a welcome respite from the usual popular rhetoric about cops, firemen, soldiers, etc.

Thanks to LRC for linking to this.

Stand-up Economics

If you're not familiar with Yoram Bauman, check him out. He earned his Ph.D. in econ, and then went into comedy. Check out his Principles of Economics, Translated. Not only is it hilarious (and you certainly don't need an econ degree to find it funny), but it's a wonderful critique of mainstream economic teaching.

P.S. Check out this site if you're inspired to learn some real economic theory.

Changed Comment Setting

Now--presuming everything's working as it should--you don't have to be a registered user to post a comment.

Lewis Lapham's New Thing

Lewis Lapham, who used to edit Harper's Magazine, has what appears to be a smashing new periodical coming out (premiere issue: October 2007).

Lapham gave the commencement address at my SJC graduation, and it was so much better than any of those worthless airheaded addresses you see more well-known speakers giving at big universities (C-SPAN airs a lot of them). It was one of the most wonderful experiences I've had listening to someone speak publicly in any context, and--notably--his speech was simply a class above the attempt made by the neocon historian Victor Davis Hanson at the previous year's commencement ceremony. The speech included this quote from T.H. White's The Once and Future King, which I'd had to read for a high school British Lit. class:

"The best thing for being sad is to learn something. That is the only thing that never fails. You may grow old and trembling in your anatomies, you may lie awake at night listening to the disorder of your veins, you may miss your only love, you may see the world about you devastated by evil lunatics, or know your honour trampled in the sewers of baser minds. There is only one thing for it then-to learn. Learn why the world wags and what wags it. That is the only thing which the mind can never exhaust, never alienate, never dream of regretting."

On Bergman and Antonioni

As you may have heard by now, two extraordinary film directors have just passed on. I'm a great lover of Ingmar Bergman's work, and if you haven't seen any of his films, you must at least see Wild Strawberries and The Seventh Seal (with the famous chess match with Death scene).

As for Michelangelo Antonioni, I'm kicking myself for not being more familiar with his work: I haven't even seen L'Avventura! What have I been doing with my life?

Random Thought

I wonder how much the belief in UFOs and encounters with extraterrestrial beings has to do with loneliness.