Ian David
Ian David's Journal
Fuck Me, Ray Bradbury - Rachel Bloom (NSFW)
&feature=relatedThis song is stupid. It should be, "Fuck me, Isaac Asimov." Duh!
Beef processor files for bankruptcy over 'pink slime' uproar
Source: Reuters
(Reuters) - Ground beef processor AFA Foods filed for bankruptcy protection on Monday and said it plans to sell some or all of its assets, citing the impact of media coverage related to a meat filler critics have dubbed "pink slime."
Meat processors have faced a backlash over the use of an ammonia-treated beef filler they call "finely textured beef." Food activists have campaigned to have it banned arguing the product was unappetizing, but supporters say the product is safe to eat.
AFA is one of the largest ground beef processors in the United States and produces more than 500 million pounds of ground beef products annually, the company said in documents filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Delaware.
The company sells its retail products, which include frozen hamburgers, ready ground beef and beef skillet mix, under the brand names "Moran's" and "Miller Quality Meats."
Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/04/02/us-afafoods-bankruptcy-idUSBRE8310HX20120402
What Mega Millions Can Teach Us About Trayvon Martin Backlash
What Mega Millions Can Teach Us About Trayvon Martin Backlash
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Now, what does this have to do with the Trayvon Martin case, you ask? Take a look at Pat Buchanan’s column. Now this column is stupid for a number of reasons that many others can make much stronger arguments about than I. But I’d like to focus on the stupidity of his statistical logic. Essentially, his thesis is that, because African-American and Latino men are responsible for more crimes than other Americans, it is only logical that they be profiled. This is not a new argument, and while it is certainly offensive, it is actually quite compelling to people’s poor understanding of probability. We see Pat Buchanan cite that black males between 16 and 36 are only 3 percent of the population but commit 33 percent of crime and think: Oh my god! That’s 10 times more! No wonder we profile! If I see a black person on the street there’s a good chance they might try to murder me!
But we’re not thinking about what these numbers actually mean. If you bought 10 Mega Millions tickets instead of just 1, you were 10 times more likely to win! And your chance of winning was still ZERO.
So lets look at some crime numbers closer and think about what they ACTUALLY mean. First of all, according to 2010’s crime statistics, 22.2% of homicide victims were killed by people they’d never met. 22.2! That’s a lot higher than I would have thought, seeing as how I’m always hearing how much more likely you are to be killed by someone you know. But then I thought about what that means. There were 12,996 murder victims reported in America in 2010. If 22.2% of these victims were killed by a stranger, that would give us 2,859 random murders The US census reported a 2010 population of 308,745,538. That means that in 2010, as an American citizen you had a 0.0009% chance of being murdered by a stranger. Virtually ZERO.
Now let me ask you this: What sounds scarier? That you are virtually assured of not being murdered by a stranger in America, and you’re even more assured to not be murdered by a black stranger. Or that you are one thousand six hundred and thirty times more likely to be murdered by a stranger than win the lottery! I assume you’ll agree it’s the latter that sounds worse, but it doesn’t matter, because NEITHER ONE is going to happen to you.
More:
http://www.twitlonger.com/show/gosak0
Listen to Dearly Departed Authors Read Their Work
We admit, we’ve been on a bit of a literary audio kick lately (we suggest listening to The Hunger Games at the gym). Last week, we thought about which books we wished would be read to us by famous actors, but this week we felt an urge to get a little closer to the source, and see if we could listen to some of our favorite dearly departed authors reading from their own work. There’s something very satisfying about hearing an author read their work aloud — it’s probably as close we’ll ever get to being inside their heads. Intonation, emphasis, when they giggle to themselves, when they sigh — all of these small details can enthrall literary geeks like us, and perhaps enhance our understanding. We’ve collected audio recordings of fifteen famous authors reading their own work aloud from around the web, so lean back, take a listen, and let yourself be just a little bit transported.
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A recording (done by the man himself, no less) of T.S. Eliot reading The Wasteland.
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Jack Kerouac reading the last page of On the Road, to the smooth jams of some jazz.
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J.R.R. Tolkien reading “Chapter V: Riddles in the Dark,” from The Hobbit.
More:
http://flavorwire.com/269289/listen-to-dearly-departed-authors-reading-their-work-aloud?all=1
I'm shocked that Keith Olbermann is difficult to work with. He always seems so mellow and laid-back.
Al Gore knew what they were getting when they hired Keith.
Hell, even we, his fans, knew it.
Mr. Gore should have been prepared to deal with it, if he was going to hire Keith in the first place.
Are you going to tell me that he expected Keith Olbermann to just do what his bosses told him to, and not make a fuss? That he expected him to show-up for work every day, just because he was supposed to?
We love Keith Olbermann because he is unpredictable and confrontational.
And he was confrontational at a time when nobody on the left was allowed to be confrontational on television.
Am I alone in saying that we expected, and even looked forward, to Mr. Olbermann raising hell not just against Conservatives, but also against his own bosses, in the hopes that he would help make Current TV a better network, and also provide some excitement in the process?
I mean, since they canceled the fictional show Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, where else are we going to get drama about in-fighting at a TV network? (30 Rock doesn't count).
Current should have accepted it and incorporated it into their programming, instead of firing Keith.
"Hi, I'm Eliot Spitzer, sitting-in for Keith Olbermann today. He couldn't be here because he's protesting against Current for not providing wireless lapel microphones in the studio. Which brings us to tonight's edition of, 'What's Keith Mad About Today?'"
Correct me if I am wrong, but did you ever notice that while Keith was at MSNBC, The Worst Person in The World was never Chris Matthews, Joe Scarborrough or even Pat Buchannan? I always found that disheartening. Maybe Current should have let Keith have a segment called, "Worst Person at Current," to inform us about whoever it was he was fighting with.
Tell me that this would not have been Ratings Gold.
I want Keith to get a new show.
And I want him to have his show someplace where he either has complete control, or where they're willing to accommodate his eccentricities.
FWIW,, Chris Matthews was at the Human Rights Campaign gala with Stephanie Miller.
I don't think Chris understands the difference between hate speech and free speech, and the difference between censorship versus giving someone a microphone.
Or, if I was going to be less generous and more cynical, I would say that Tweety knows his paycheck depends on sensationalism, confrontation, discord and pitting one side against another.
If I was going to be even MORE cynical, I'd say Tweety gets off on it.
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