via the Kenyan birth certificate generator

Scientists believe the Earth could one day collide with Mars or Venus, because of the unpredictable orbits of planets.

Experts say there is only a tiny chance of it happening and it would be unlikely to happen for billions of years.

Steve Albini’s 1980s powerhouse band “Big Black,” was badass and also very nerdy.

They used a drum machine. A Roland TR-606.  Oh and all of Big Black’s recordings credit “Roland” as if “he” were a member of the band. Hats off to ya.

They were also “controversial.” How annoying do you find controversy for controversy’s sake? Albini seems to pull it off just fine in my book, probably better than anyone else. Oh, the meta humor of it all. Wikipedia, tell us more:

Some listeners did not understand that their songs were either social commentary or sarcastic jokes (often both), and assumed that the band was sexist and racist. Albini responded to these accusations by making his lyrics even more offensive than before… To Albini, irritating “squares” was no challenge, but offending “hipsters” was more intriguing.

And they did it looking like this:

Here is a clip from a concert with songs played from Big Black’s 1987 album “Songs about Fucking.”

More from the concert is below the fold.

The great insight of the Palin VP choice is that huge chunks of American voters no longer even demand that their candidates actually have policy positions; they simply consume them as media entertainment, rooting for or against them according to the reflexive prejudices of their demographic, as they would for reality-show contestants or sitcom characters. Hicks root for hicks, moms for moms, born-agains for born-agains. Sure, there was politics in the Palin speech, but it was all either silly lies or merely incidental fluffery buttressing the theatrical performance. A classic example of what was at work here came when Palin proudly introduced her Down syndrome baby, Trig, then stared into the camera and somberly promised parents of special-needs kids that they would “have a friend and advocate in the White House.” This was about a half-hour before she raised her hands in triumph with McCain, a man who voted against increasing funding for special-needs education.

Behemoth and I just read his book “The Great Derangement,” which is worth picking up. Its certainly a quick read, as its juicy and moves fast. With some self-indulgent cheerleading for common sense and critical thinking in deranged times, it may annoy some readers as mean-spirited preaching to the choir.

However, in contrast to other boring hack jobs that scatter the non-fiction market right now, Taibbi admits the problem of such a position. Instead of just bashing morons from on high, the book includes the intelligent and often humble curiosity and confusion, of someone trying to make sense of the complicated and diverse mess we are a part of. He readily admits the bias of his sneering, liberal and detached, pseudo-nihilistic position as well as his subsequent failure to contribute to solutions or thoughts, that might get us the fuck out of this chaos.

Its also good for some smart political analysis as he blueprints some of the systemic problems of our contemporary American “political establishment.” Its obvious at times but also often quite educational. He calls out the blatant and boring corruption that is often passed over by a public disenfranchised into general apathy or turning to fanatic conspiracy (such as with Evangelical fantatics or 9-11 Truthers).

He also wanders the sad swamp of politics in the Bush and post-Bush congress. Taibbi highlights the transition from obvious back door corruption in Republican legislative committees, to the embarrassing political maneuvers of the following Democratic Congress. When actually confronted with an opportunity to end the war, the war they were elected to end, the Dems quickly abandoned their responsibility. Instead of binding funding and a timeline to withdrawal, they instead went for a Veto-guaranteed political stunt and passed the budget no strings attached. Fearing the political fallout of “not funding the troops” rhetoric in the next election cycle, they were empty of identity beyond cowardice. Endless earmarks in ironic earkmarkless titled legislation; endless political maneuvering with no actual results; and absolutely pure  self-indulgence, aptly giving Congress lower approval ratings than Bush himself.

With plenty of fodder for sad hopeless confusion its a gamble in your spare time, but Taibbi’s humble, humorous, and honest attitude was certainly refreshing to me.

Republican smackdown:

Politics + humour = humolitics.

And then get off his plane.

Devo is suing McDonalds over their “New Wave Nigel” happy meal toy. Just look at the damn thing and its easy to see why. “Orange jumpsuit, pink shades, and Devo’s “Energy Dome” hat.”

Bassist Gerald Casale says:

“This New Wave Nigel doll that they’ve created is just a complete Devo rip-off and the red hat is exactly the red hat that I designed, and it’s copyrighted and trademarked.

“They didn’t ask us anything. Plus, we don’t like McDonald’s, and we don’t like American Idol, so we’re doubly offended.”

What a wonderfully dark commercial choice, though:

The name Devo comes from “de-evolution” – the idea that instead of evolving, mankind has actually regressed.

Casale said it was ironic the world’s largest fast food chain should appropriate the image of a band known for taking aim at the dysfunction and herd mentality of American society.

(Via Boing-Boing, via stuff.co.nz)