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POPSAsimov's 30 Laws of Robotics Par 1 (#4-11) If you know Asimov's first Three Laws of Robotics then you either are a scifi fan or a Will Smith Super-Fan (it was a better than average movie and for Will a better than average Will Smith movie which says a lot as I am NOT a Will Smith Super-Fan, He just makes smart movies.) But if you are in the dark about the first 3 laws of robotics here they are: 1. A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm. 2. A robot must obey the orders given it by human beings, except where such orders would conflict with the First Law. 3. A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Laws. OK Now that we are all on the same web page, enjoy the wonderful witticisms...
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POPSDenver's Convention And "South Park's" Playbook C'mon, Barack's refined sensibilities are such that he feels unclean in the presence of non-bilinguals; surely he can't be asked to suffer close proximity to the destitute. In the "South Park" episode Night Of the Living Homeless, the Colorado mountain town is overrun by its panhandling population and nearly destroyed, until someone has the bright idea to bus them all off to California. Night of the Living Homeless http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night_of_the_Living_Homeless "Southpark" video at site. 2:10 minutes
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POPSThe Last Supper??? Stumbled Upon this blog site and loved the reworking of Da Vinci's Magnum Opus. No disrespect to anyone but look at it in the light of Pop Culture as many of the various artists did. Da Vinci (and other Artists of the Renaissance) were painting the Pop Culture of their day when there was an Inquisition or three going on, the Protestant Reformation, the Age of Exploration and the Enlightenment... OK, Popeye is no Christ but it is interesting, n'est ce pas?
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POPSWhy The Silence on This Dictator?
Peter Maass writes on why we rarely hear U.S. criticism of Teodoro Obiang, the draconian ruler of Equatorial Guinea -- when we hear so much about Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe. Maass posits that it's because of U.S. oil investments in the West African nation. There's no doubt some truth to that notion. But it could also have to do with the strange ebbs and flows of the media. Britain's BBC has gone to extraordinary lengths to cover Zimbabwe, in part because it was a former British colony, which Equatorial Guinea was not. But more importantly, perhaps, is the fact that just about every news organization in the world that covers Africa on the ground has a correspondent in South Africa. Call it the Jerusalem effect: Sure, it's newsworthy. But there are more foreign correspondents per capita in Jerusalem than anywhere else in the world. So closer things get covered more, farther things not so much. And Equatorial Guinea is a long, long way away from the foreign press.
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POPSNow Hindus are Offended Oh dear. Now the world's Hindus had their feeling hurt by a Mike Myers's movie. From all accounts it boomed at the box office but none the less Hindus are claiming that teens... Never mind. This is so stupid that I can't even muster outrage over it. These nut jobs have surpassed themselves.
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POPSJonathan Coulton plays the Brooklyn Ikea opening If you don't already know Jonathan Coulton, go take a listen at http://jonathancoulton.com His song "Ikea" is a fantastic parody / send up / love letter to the swedish flat-pack furniture giant, and apparently they had him play it at the opening of the store in Red Hook! Awesome.
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POPSWhy Americans Are Shunning Hollywood’s Wares
aside to make movies that embody traditional values, it often scores big with the public. Consider 2004’s Spider-Man 2, a sequel far better than the original. The movie is a fable about duty and heroism. The movie resonated powerfully with the public, grossing a whopping $374 million domestically, and it took in another $400 million or so overseas. Factor in DVD sales, and you’re getting close to a billion-dollar movie. The Incredibles affectionately embraces the bourgeois family, flaws and all. The Parrs have their difficulties: teenager Violet is sullen, the kids fight, Mom and Dad bicker, Bob hates his drab insurance job, but for the Parr kids, the family bond is all-important. Pixar’s 2003 runaway winner Finding Nemo, the movie shows children “what adults are supposed to do,” writes author Frederica Mathewes-Green on National Review Online—“to be brave and self-sacrificing, to defend children even at risk to themselves, to give, even in the face of ingratitude.”
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POPSAssociated Press Jumps the Recessionist Shark A decline in economic activity :⇔ economic contraction. You don't have to use the two quarters of negative GDP growth as your criterion, but you do need to find contraction somehow. The AP helpfully notes you can look for economic declines not only in GDP (i.e. output), but also in income or "other measures." Output and income aren't quite semantic equivalents (though in theory they're equal). It's not clear what they mean by "other measures" but I think it's safe to assume they mean "whatever numbers we need to gin up once we get called out on this steaming load." In suggesting that the economy can fall into recession (and presumably, by their gauge, already has) without ever receding, the AP hasn't just moved the goalposts. They've picked up the ball, declared a new score, and gone home.
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