High theatre

Best five-act play EVER. John Scalzi has won a convert for life. I never saw that twist ending coming.

Some "movement" this is

Some days I wonder if I was too hasty in detaching myself from "movement" skepticism. I still think skepticism is important, after all, and it's introduced me to so many wonderful people. Maybe if I go back slightly less wide-eyed but just as eager to help promote science and critical thinking, things will work out this time.

Then along comes Mark Oppenheimer to write an article that reminds me of all the reasons I walked away in the first place. That reminds me of how blinkered and oafish otherwise intelligent people can be. That reminds me that some privileged white men so enjoy the feeling of intellectual superiority that they would rather revel in mocking those who believe in Bigfoot and reiki than use their critical thinking skills to affect some meaningful change in the world.

Thought for the day

One of the more underrated feelings in life is the mix of surprise and dread when someone sums up your situation in a worryingly short span of time. It does tend to definitely puncture any inflated sense of importance you have about yourself or your problems.

The most recent episode of Welcome to Night Vale, one of my favorite podcasts, did that for me. In it, Cecil Baldwin -- the voice of Night Vale community radio -- was summing up the plight of retired Night Vale mayor Pamela Winchell when he struck squarely on the head the feelings I have over my impending departure from newspapers. (It will happen one of these days. Honest! This charade can't go on forever.)

I know I've wrapped up too much of my self-identity in being a Newspaper Guy -- the ennui and alienation I felt during my year of Funemployment brought that home with all the subtlety of a sledgehammer. It's something I need to address before I get out of the industry for good. How? I'm working on that.

Cecil's summation starts at 28:25 in the audio from the first link. A transcript is below the fold.

Gaysdidit

For a group that makes up such a small percentage of the population, homosexuals wield a shocking amount of power. In addition to all the uncomfortable, tingly feelings Good, God-Fearing People get when they see two people of the same gender in a loving embrace, apparently t3h gayz are also responsible for bringing a vast array of divine punishments down on society's head.

Consider this story out of Liberia, where church leaders have agreed amongst themselves that the outbreak of Ebola is the fault of -- you guessed it -- the gays.

Religious leaders in Liberia are claiming God has unleashed the deadly Ebola virus as a plague upon the country to punish “immoral acts” taking place there, such as homosexuality. 

Various church leaders from the Liberia Council of Churches (LCC) reportedly attended a meeting to discuss "an spiritual response" to the outbreak of Ebola, which has claimed 932 lives across West Africa.

It comes as the Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf announced a 90-day state of emergency in the country as she warned "ignorance and poverty, as well as entrenched religious and cultural practices”, are continuing to exacerbate the spread of the disease.

But that's just the tip of the big, gay iceberg, friends. Head below the fold -- if you dare -- to see what other horrors the gays have inflicted on the world.

Repurposed bovine waste

This is the business I've chosen. Make sure to watch the whole thing.