The power of acting

The comment threads, especially on highly popular sites) can rapidly degenerate into ugly name-calling. But in this funny sketch (via Neetzan Zimmerman), two actors give a dramatic reading of a comment war between two people in which the topic of discussion is whether Harry, whom I’m guessing is a member of the singing group One Direction, is gay. They actually manage to elevate to something that could have been written by David Mamet. (Language advisory) [Read more…]

That’s democracy, baby!

In the light of all that we have learned in the last few months, let’s recap where we are: We have a government that collects everyone’s communications data in secret and stores them, justifying the practice by using secret interpretations of the law and getting authorization to do so from a secret court that issues secret rulings, telling a handful of congresspersons in secret just a little of what they are doing, and putting people on secret kill lists and secret no-fly lists on the basis of criteria that are secret. [Read more…]

Eddie Izzard on Stonehenge

I can’t believe that while I was writing recently about how ancient civilizations managed to figure out how to move massive stones over large distances to create monuments such as the Pyramids of Egypt and the palaces and temples of the Forbidden City in China, I completely forgot to inform readers of Eddie Izzard’s reflections on how Stonehenge came to be built in England. (Language advisory) [Read more…]