I’ve tried to catch the news on broadcast and cable TV, off and on, lately, and it always ends up being far more off than on, despite certain dramatic events going on in the world. American news is dead, it seems. What I’ve done instead is tune in to Al Jazeera on the internet, which is doing a phenomenally good job of covering Egypt.

To my cable company: you’d make me very happy if you had an option to switch Al Jazeera English for the awful Fox News you offer now. And as long as you’re doing that, can we switch out CNN for the BBC?

At least they’re going in the right direction: Taco Bell is being sued because their meat is mostly non-meat.

The “seasoned ground beef” contains less than 35 percent beef – the other 65 percent of the meat-like mixture is: water, isolated oat product, salt, chili pepper, onion powder, tomato powder, oats (wheat), soy lecithin, sugar, spices, maltodextrin, soybean oil (anti-dusting agent), garlic powder, autolyzed yeast extract, citric acid, caramel color, cocoa powder (processed with alkali), silicon dioxide (anti-caking agent), natural flavors, yeast, modified corn starch, natural smoke flavor, salt, sodium phosphate, less than 2% of beef broth, potassium phosphate and potassium lactate.

The only thing I find objectionable about that is the 35% beef — if they could get that down to 0% I might be tempted to try their food someday.

And doesn’t this just show, since people were happily eating that stuff before, that vegetarian foods aren’t necessarily objectionable?

Alright already, enough with the claims that Jared Loughner was a lefty because he read Marx. Does his voting record mean anything?

My eyes are getting a little old. Does it say “SOCIALIST” for political affiliation?

Of course, this does not imply that all Republicans are deranged assassins, or that Loughner’s primary affiliation wasn’t “MENTALLY ILL”.

---

This is fake? Other evidence says he was registered as an Independent.

I’m a little mystified about why anyone would forge a record like this, though. This kind of crap all gets caught out in the end.

It’s about time someone updated that Charlie Brown treacle.

His father, John Dawkins, has died at the age of 95. He led an interesting life!

---

There’s a better link here, with pictures.

The Guardian is running a series on the Heroes and Villains of 2010, and Richard Dawkins writes up Christopher Hitchens. As a hero, of course.

How odd: Leslie Nielsen has died, and everyone is talking about the silly comedies he made late in life. Doesn’t anyone remember Forbidden Planet? What’s the matter with you people?

Here’s a fine collection of photos from Skepticon, including several of us in a lovely leather top hat. I think I need to get one for myself.

I’d like to see hats come back into style anyway. It seems like only Texans and their Stetsons that have kept up the practice.

It was a rough night—roads in Minneapolis were clear, so I managed to drive halfway home, but then they turned into glassy sheets of frozen slickness, so I stopped for the late night at a cheap motel. Now the journey resumes by daylight, at least. It’s still icy, but at least I’ll be able to see.

I’m relieved that there will be no more travel this semester.