In reading about trusted computing and censorship, I came across The Fishman Affidavit, which exposes a lot of documents concerning the upper levels of Scientology. Naturally, the Church of Scientology wants the information suppressed, but after almost 10 years of litigation, was ultimately unsuccessful. Fascinating and disturbing, it even includes Hubbard implying that Jesus was a homosexual and pedophile (in a passage that the Church itself first claimed a forgery, then asserted copyright ownership of): “the historic Jesus was not nearly the sainted figure [sic] has been made out to be. In addition to being a lover of young boys and men, he was given to uncontrollable bursts of temper and hatred”. Alrighty then…

Described on YouTube as “coverage of a sci-fi ceremony in a galaxy far, far away”, A New Pope is the Pope’s funeral from last year with a Star Wars-style soundtrack.

Also from the author’s blog, the “Bin Laden press release” is quite funny, especially if you’re a fan of Ali G.

Everyone expected House Republicans to give up efforts to kill NPR and PBS after a massive public outcry stopped them last year. But they’ve just voted to eliminate funding for NPR and PBS—unbelievably, starting with programs like “Sesame Street.”

Public broadcasting would lose nearly a quarter of its federal funding this year. Even worse, all funding would be eliminated in two years–threatening one of the last remaining sources of watchdog journalism.

Sign the petition telling Congress to save NPR and PBS again this year:

http://civic.moveon.org/publicbroadcasting/

Read the Boston Globe story on the threat to NPR and PBS:

GOP takes aim at PBS funding

I met up with the guys for some beers last week, and I learned of a fascinating phenomenon and the web site that chronicles it, the Urbancougar. No young man should go out drinking without consulting this site, paying special attention to the classifications.

Never able to get quite enough cowbell, I’m very thankful to Paul Frank and UrbanOutfitters.com for selling this More Cowbell T-shirt. Bruce Dickinson would be very pleased indeed.

Speaking of “the cymbal’s evil third cousin”, Wikipedia has impressed once again with its very thorough coverage of this topic.

Despite the recent struggles of 40s@5, such as the recruitment failure in Seattle, and Casey and Kelley departing Austin, the new 40s@5 blog emits a glimmer of hope.

I’ve been keeping up with this blog about as well as I’ve been keeping up with approximating a healthy lifestyle, but I must share some news with anyone bored enough to read it:

• Maddox has written a book, The Alphabet of Manliness, that comes out June 6. I could be wrong, but this could one day be viewed as a seminal work in the underdeveloped field of Men’s Studies. (Pun contemptuously intended.) You can pre-order on Amazon for only $9.57!


• Browsing related books on Amazon led me to Tucker Max, author of I Hope They Serve Beer In Hell. I read his story about The Austin Road Trip and was instantly impressed. There aren’t a lot of literate assholes out there, so we must cherish the window these gifted few provide us into their world.
• I’m returning to Austin next weekend for a visit. I don’t think I’ll have time for a road trip up to Baby Dolls, but hopefully it will be a rewarding visit nonetheless.

My love of spicy food has been justified once more: The American Association for Cancer Research released a report today claiming that capsaicin drives prostate cancer cells to kill themselves.

According to a team of researchers from the Samuel Oschin Comprehensive Cancer Institute at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, in collaboration with colleagues from UCLA, the pepper component caused human prostate cancer cells to undergo programmed cell death or apoptosis.

Capsaicin induced approximately 80 percent of prostate cancer cells growing in mice to follow the molecular pathways leading to apoptosis. Prostate cancer tumors treated with capsaicin were about one-fifth the size of tumors in non-treated mice.

Of course, this isn’t just a matter of sprinkling a few red pepper flakes on your pizza; the mice in the study were fed an amount of capsaicin equivalent to a 200 pound man eating 3-8 habaneros 3 times a week! ¡Muy picante!

They’re right, it is “the most technologically advanced piece of clothing since the Hypercolor t-shirt”: The Electronic Scrolling LED Belt Buckle!

Work today involved yet another seemingly futile confrontation with the apathy and limited vision of members of another team. Then I was reminded that, like alcohol, apathy is itself a solution to the problems it causes, as summed up by this excellent quote from the movie Seven (aka Se7en):

William Somerset: I just don’t think I can continue to live in a place that embraces and nurtures apathy as if it was virtue.

David Mills: You’re no different. You’re no better.

William Somerset: I didn’t say I was different or better. I’m not. Hell, I sympathize; I sympathize completely. Apathy is the solution. I mean, it’s easier to lose yourself in drugs than it is to cope with life. It’s easier to steal what you want than it is to earn it. It’s easier to beat a child than it is to raise it. Hell, love costs: it takes effort and work.

Bartender, another Apathy & Tonic, right here…