Always look on the bright side of life

Christianity has this two-pronged system to try to keep you within the fold. There is the reward of heaven but also the threat of hell if heaven is not sufficient. There is god as the good cop who cares about you and wants to save but also the devil as the bad cop who just wants the chance to fry you for eternity.

But according to a Gallup poll, Americans are ‘the glass is half full’ kind of people, believing slightly more in god than in the devil, and in heaven more than hell.

Richard Adams’ live blog of Monday’s debate

This Thursday will see Republican primary debate number 19, if you can believe it. Who has the time, or the patience for that matter, to sit through them all? But apparently enough people other than total political junkies watch them to make it worthwhile for the cable news outfits to show them.

I myself have not watched a single one, preferring to read The Guardian‘s funny live blogs by Richard Adams. Here is his report on last Monday’s debate.

More informative, more fun, far less time.

Watching The Daily Show and The Colbert Report clips in other countries

I am aware that the embedded clips that I put of The Daily Show and The Colbert Report are not viewable in some other countries.

It seems like you can watch them though, at least in Canada, via this site and this site.

Another site suggests ways of viewing them in the UK.

This website (suggested by commenter freetheworld) seems to show an easy way of watching those two shows as well as Real Time with Bill Maher, though I am not sure if it works only for the UK.

Reader F in a comment to an earlier post has one suggestion for getting around national boundary restrictions:

Using a proxy address can help. One geo-associated with the U.S., in this case. You can even get browser extensions or small programs that make this really easy if you have occasion to proxy much.

I use proxies occasionally to watch AU, NZ, or UK items. Oddly, I don’t think I’ve ever needed one for content from any other country.

If there are readers of this blog in other countries who have yet other ways of seeing these clips, please let me know in the comments so that I can at least compile a list to help other readers.

Thanks.

Update 1: Josh Andrews in the comments adds:

All you have to do is modify the X-forwarded-For header field to a US ip address. I use the modify headers extension for firefox to do this.

For full instructions
http://ohryan.ca/blog/2009/08/15/how-to-watch-comedy-central-videos-from-canada/

Update 2: Jeremy in the comments adds:

If you search “hotspot shield” and use the free version, you will have access to a US-based VPN that allows you to access anything as if you were in the US. I use it to watch The Daily Show and Colbert, as well as Pandora, Netflix, etc.

Update 3: Danielle in the comments adds:

TunnelBear has made my life a lot easier. It’d be very difficult for me to get my Daily Show fix, otherwise.

Update 4: Watching in Canada

The Daily Show can be seen here and The Colbert Report can be seen here.

Update 5:: Synfandel gives a strong recommendation for Proxmate which can be downloaded here.

February 11, 2012: A Day to Defend Free Expression

As religious beliefs come under siege from science and reason, and believers increasingly realize that they have no effective counter to these critiques that are resulting in nonbelievers becoming the fastest growing group in the world, there will be increasing attempts to stifle any speech that criticizes religion. These will come under different guises such as [Read more…]

Film review: The Ides of March (no spoilers)

There was a time when I would have absolutely loved a film like this: a political drama that showed the backstage maneuverings of politicians and their campaigns. I would have thought that I was getting a look at what ‘real’ politics was all about, as opposed to what was reported in the newspapers and on TV.

You can read about the film at the official website. Here’s the trailer.

The film deals with a crucial Democratic primary election in Ohio and [Read more…]