Yesterday, it was hot dogs.  Today, it's movies.

I don't go out of my way to find this kind of nonsense, I swear.  Somehow, it just keeps fucking finding me!

Film characters disappear into thin air, travel through time, and know how to fly. They're all scientific impossibilities, but since they take place on the silver screen, we suspend our disbelief and go along for the ride.

But one scientist has had enough and is calling on filmmakers to temper their creativity by obeying the rules of science.

At a recent meeting of American scientists, physicist Professor Sidney Perkowitz suggested a new rule: every film should be allowed just one major suspension of belief for the sake of the story.

In other words, films shouldn't repeatedly violate scientific laws. And they definitely should avoid internal inconsistencies - breaking scientific rules established in earlier scenes.

"If it's scene after scene, it becomes greater than I can stand," says Prof Perkowitz. "I understand the dramatic impulse behind it. The natural tendency is to hype things up."

Others in the scientific community agree.

In order to emphasise a sense of "impending doom", filmmakers often ignore realities like time, says Dr David Kirby, a lecturer in science communications at University of Manchester. After all, if the asteroid in Armageddon was spotted years before it threatened to hit Earth, the story would lack tension.

Okay, so it's just some jackass physicist who apparently has no concept of fun, but still, people, please.  The article goes on to mention the three "worst" movies for science - among them, one of my all-time favorite bad movies, The Core.  Frankly, if you think the American people are so fucking uneducated that they think the vast majority of a flick like The Core could actually fucking happen, then the issue isn't with science.

It's with the education system.

And if you can't put aside your disbelief long enough to enjoy a movie, then you really need to score some hookers and blow and have a night out on the town.  Maybe while we're at it, we should ban such literature as Azimov's Foundation Series - after all, it's obviously scientifically impossible to predict the fucking future.  Or Burroughs' Martian Tales - really, folks, active life on Mars? teleportation? atmosphere on Mars?  And, fuck, while we're at it, World War Z might convince the poor stupid American public that the zombie apocalypse is coming right now.  (Okay, strike World War Z.  We all know teh zombies are coming.)

Lighten the fuck up and enjoy a bad damn movie.

Posted by: Ember at 06:52 PM | Comments (7) | Add Comment
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Oh, for fuck's sake, can't we even fucking enjoy hot dogs any more?  In case you've had your head up your ass for fuck knows how long, giving your toddler a hot dog that hasn't been cut into tiny pieces may pose a choking hazard.  As such, it is imperative that the government step in and tell us that we should redesign the "shape" of hot dogs so that kids don't choke on them, or at least affix grapes, hot dogs, peanuts, and who knows what else with warning labels.

Seriously.

"Any food that has a cylindrical or round shape poses a risk," he pointed out. Smith said that hot dogs were high on the list of foods that could be redesigned -- perhaps the shape, although he said it would be up to the manufacturers to figure out the specifics.

Hard candies, on the other hand, could be designed so they're flat rather than round, said Smith, who is also director of the Center for Injury Research & Policy at Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus, Ohio.

The AAP policy statement appears in the March issue of Pediatrics and is the first such guidance on the subject from that group.

[...]

The policy statement called for the government to establish a "mandatory system . . . to label foods with appropriate warnings according to their choking risk, to conduct detailed surveillance and investigate food-related choking incidents, and to warn the public about emerging food-related choking hazards."

Manufacturers' responsibility would be to affix "choking hazard" labels to high-risk products and to consider shapes, sizes and textures when designing products.

"I think there should be a commitment from the entire industry to label not only hot dogs but all high-risk foods with some type of informational label that allows consumers to make informed decisions," Smith said, adding that he thought companies would figure out that "safety sells."

My daughter likes hot dogs.  Without any government intervention, my husband and I had the completely unoriginal thought to cut them into small pieces that are easy for her to chew and swallow.  It's a fucking miracle that she's still alive, isn't it?

Posted by: Ember at 07:13 PM | Comments (10) | Add Comment
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Okay, look, I get annoyed by an unruly kid as much as the next guy.  Even my kid.  Actually, come to think of it, especially my kid.  However, if I move in next to a daycare, or an elementary school, I better expect that kids are going to be kids and are therefore going to be noisy while they learn and play.  Apparently, that was not the case in Germany:

In Berlin alone, hundreds of complaints are made each year about noise levels in kindergartens and children's playgrounds.

Some day-care facilities have even been forced to close after local residents have gone to court in search of a quiet life.

Now Berlin's local government, the senate, has passed a law giving children the right to be noisy, the first law of its kind in Germany.

Axel Strohbusch, from Berlin's Department of Noise Protection, said it was "the first time we have it written in law that we have to consider the rights of children to shout and make noise while they are growing up and this must be considered by all the neighbours".

Oh, Nanny State, how do I love thee.  Let me count the ways.

Posted by: Ember at 08:04 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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I bet this guy REALLY does.

A farmer who built a castle hidden behind a stack of straw bales has lost a High Court bid to save it from being demolished.

Posted by: Moron Pundit at 11:52 AM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
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Government control of health care will ensure adequate medical coverage for us all.  If by adequate, you mean "can't get access to an essential medication for months".  There's something to be said for a private insurance company that can be sued into oblivion if you have coverage but aren't allowed to use your benefits - it seems to make customer service pay just a little more attention to little details like whether you have prescription drug coverage.

Posted by: Alice H at 11:47 AM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
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Which, of course, shocks the cocks off nanny-state law makers:

Laws banning cellphone use while driving apparently haven’t reduced crashes, according to a study released on Friday that compared the number of total crashes before the ban with the number after. The study found virtually no difference in the numbers, a finding that had the researchers scratching their heads.

Posted by: Moron Pundit at 03:59 PM | Comments (7) | Add Comment
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The geniuses in New York have decided that, since they've defeated food that tastes good by banning trans fat, now it's time to defeat food that tastes kind of good by attacking salt.

On Monday, the Bloomberg administration plans to unveil a broad new health initiative aimed at encouraging food manufacturers and restaurant chains across the country to curtail the amount of salt in their products.

The plan, for which the city claims support from health agencies in other cities and states, sets a goal of reducing the amount of salt in packaged and restaurant food by 25 percent over the next five years.

Public health experts say that would reduce the incidence of high blood pressure and should help prevent some of the strokes and heart attacks associated with that condition. The plan is voluntary for food companies and involves no legislation. It allows companies to cut salt gradually over five years so the change is not so noticeable to consumers.

“We all consume way too much salt, and most of the salt we consume is in the food when we buy it,” said Dr. Thomas Farley, the city health commissioner, whose department is leading the effort. Eighty percent of the salt in Americans’ diets comes from packaged or restaurant food. Dr. Farley said reducing salt from those sources would save lives.

Sure, it's voluntary now, but do any of us really believe that it'll stay voluntary?  After all, once upon a time, they were just nicely asking retaurants to cut back on trans fat. 

I fucking hate this kind of bullshit.  It drives me up the goddamn wall; it's my body, I'll eat what the fuck I want, and if I get high cholesterol or blood pressure or whatever the fuck problem, then it's my own damn fault for not thinking, "Hmm, this can of processed fucking cow fat mixed with pig lard covered in salt might not be the best thing I've ever put in my fucking mouth."  If you can't fucking control yourself as an eater, I shouldn't have to give up my damn occassional indulgences just because this "should help" reduce fucking heart attacks and strokes.  Stay the fuck out of my food, damnit.  If I want to kill myself on Big Macs, that's my mother-fucking business.

Posted by: Ember at 06:51 PM | Comments (10) | Add Comment
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I sent this to my cobloggers earlier in hopes that one of them would post it, as I'm supposed to be working madly toward a deadline, but apparently none of them has the cojones to start a full-on slapfight here.

Go read this, then meditate for a while on healthcare and welfare in Massachusetts, and then tell me how a disabled mother of nine kids got a tubal ligation during a C-section without signing a consent. 

Side bets will be taken on whether the ensuing settlement requires the state to pay for egg harvesting and implantation so that this gal can have one more kid with the father of three of her rugrats.

Posted by: Alice H at 06:44 PM | Comments (15) | Add Comment
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If these people take over health care, they're going to begin imposing more and more restrictions on personal behavior, until we have a tyrannical Nanny State like the UK.  Part of how they want to hike taxes to feed the bureaucratic leviathan is to impose a 10% tax on indoor tanning booths,

Will be hardest hit by 10% tax hike

Now, I know what you're thinking, okay, this will only hurt guidos and bleached out leather skinned bimbos, and you're right, but think about the entertainment we're gonna miss out on without the excess tanning these brain-dead idjits subject themselves to.  Sure, orange-y liquid tanning is funny on its own, but on top of a well done (as in thoroughly cooked) tanning booth tan? Magnifique! 

And it isn't going to stop there, the sin taxes are gonna keep piling up, they're going to try to make all of life's joys too expensive for people to enjoy, then America will resemble the UK, and then it'll be fucking Demolition Man.  It's all fun and games until the vice of your choice is banned/taxed/regulated into oblivion.

They opted for a 10% tax on tanning booths in lieu of a 5% tax on cosmetic surgery, my guess is this swap out was a personal favor to Speaker of the House Pelosi.

If you make over $200K, expect a payroll tax hike, if you have a health insurance policy, it's time to put aside some funds for a 55 gallon drum of Astroglide, because your rates are about to go up, bigtime. 

The latest legislation softens the immediate impact of taxes on health insurers like Wellpoint Inc. (WLP) and Humana Inc. (HUM). Insurers would have been hit with a $6.7 billion annual tax starting next year under an earlier version of the bill; now that tax starts in 2011 at $2 billion a year, and ratcheting it up to $10 billion by 2017.

And you know who that'll get passed on to.  If this happens this is gonna put health insurance out of the reach of more working and middle class people, and that'll be the excuse needed for a government seizure of health care, and health care will be the excuse to seize control of everything else.

Posted by: doubleplusundead at 10:34 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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I want to come up with something silly to say, but I think the words speak for themselves.

Among some off the new agencies, the list cites a Health Insurance Exchange; the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation; the Public Health Investment Fund; the Public Health Workforce Corps; an Assistant Secretary for Health Information; the Food and Drug Administration Office of Women's Health; grant programs for alternative medical liability laws, infant mortality programs and other issues; and about 100 other government-sponsored creations.

Folks, this is why fight. We need to stop this shit in its tracks.

Posted by: eddiebear at 05:10 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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...but I kind of doubt that he is:

I keep getting e-mails saying, "People will reach a tipping point and they'll no longer put up with this stuff." I doubt it. Right now the way to bet is that once free societies will retreat incrementally, one trivial step after another, into a totalitarian hell.

Posted by: Sean M. at 12:07 AM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
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Can the White House say that a picture cannot be manipulated for political reasons and expect that it's legally binding?

As with all photos posted to the stream, however, users should be aware of the restrictions placed on their use: “This official White House photograph is being made available only for publication by news organizations and/or for personal use printing by the subject(s) of the photograph. The photograph may not be manipulated in any way and may not be used in commercial or political materials, advertisements, emails, products, promotions that in any way suggests approval or endorsement of the President, the First Family, or the White House.”

Posted by: Alice H at 08:06 PM | Comments (6) | Add Comment
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Seriously, I should not be surprised at this development.

A version used on the CBeebies channel was altered so rather than "couldn't put Humpty together again" all the King's horses "made Humpty happy again".

The broadcaster said the change was made purely for creative reasons rather than trying to give a soft version of the rhyme for children.

A spokeswoman said: "We play nursery rhymes with their original lyrics all the time and the small change to Humpty Dumpty was done for no other reason than being creative and entertaining."

Posted by: eddiebear at 11:53 AM | Comments (9) | Add Comment
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It's an incentive to try to get TB patients to receive treatments.

He said the agency is currently evaluating the program and considering healthier eateries.

Over the past 10 fiscal years, the city has spent $3.3 million on the TB giveaways, which also include coupons for variety stores and bookstores, but less than $300,000 of that total came from tax dollars, said agency spokeswoman Jessica Scaperotti.

The amount given to each patient differs depending on individual progress, but the average patient receives $130 worth of free food and $580 in MetroCards, Scaperotti said.

Posted by: doubleplusundead at 11:07 AM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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Yup. Euroland is looking to start charging TV Licence Fees to cell ohone owners.

Responding to a query from a concerned citizen, the agency said it would not rule out obliging cell phone users to pay a TV licence fee if public service television providers make all their programmes available for mobile phone viewing.

"All equipment displaying a channel's entire output requires the payment of a television licence," Radiotjänst spokeswoman Anna Pettersson told newspaper Dagens Nyheter. 

I want to get worked up over this, but really, it does not surprise me. My only question is how long before  this silliness comes to America?

Posted by: eddiebear at 09:27 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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Of course, the real answer is to forgo the permission slips and let the government act like the parents they want to be.

They tried to inoculate an entire school for H1N1. Instead they inoculated one-fifth of a school because not enough permission forms had been lined up. We've now reached the point where it's a demonstrable fact that the federal government can't even handle stage-managed health care correctly.

Posted by: Alice H at 09:35 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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In addition to this being a stupid idea and a likely waste of money, it may very well be the first time that the word "whilst" has been used when referring to The Simpsons.

Posted by: Sean M. at 01:20 AM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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I can't stand people who talk on their cell phones or send text messages while they're driving, but do we need to make a Federal case out of the issue?

Apparently, yes...

Democratic Sens. Charles E. Schumer of New York and Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota spoke at the event to promote a bill they are co-sponsoring that would require states to implement a ban on texting while driving or lose 25% of their federal highway funds.

"We need every state to put safety first," Schumer said. "We need a ban on texting while driving in every state across the country and we need it now."

Posted by: Sean M. at 08:45 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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(Sort of updating Plebian's post where he notes they're messing with fast food in the NHS)
So some food nazis want to get local gov'ts to zone fast food places out of poor neighborhoods.
Some group called The National Research Council (under the auspices of the National Academy of Sciences, they are a committee of health care professionals, academics, and policy makers) put out the report about how we have to save poor people from White Castle.

It's mostly what you would expect, idiocy.
that studies show that fast food restaurants are disproportionately located in low-income and minority neighborhoods.

Wait, you mean that there aren't a bunch of Benihanas and Ruth's Chris Steak Houses in poor neighborhoods? And there are places where you can feed a family of 4 dinner for $20 or less?
Whodathunkit?

So great idea, make it illegal to have fast food joints in poor neighborhoods.
Of course that doesn't mean Lawry's is going to move in. Or even Chili's.

If their good deed-ism makes it harder for poor people to eat out and more expensive for them to eat period?
Well, that's a price these rich liberals are willing to pay.
h/t Neal Boortz

Posted by: Veeshir at 04:41 PM | Comments (6) | Add Comment
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Here are some interesting tales of the UK's NHS for you to ponder as you think about universal, single-payer coverage:

NHS urged to cut 1 in 10 staff to meet savings targets.

NHS medication errors double in two years.

To save NHS money, we should stop making ourselves ill (this one's a hoot if you care at all about individual freedom).

Fattening food banned from school canteens (and you thought Obama was going to lean on children!)

Here's the thing: those last two are perfectly logical responses if I'm being heavily taxed to provide you with health care.  In fact, if I have to pay for it, I don't want you to be able to smoke, or drink, or even drive a car over the speed limit.

The ultimate end of universal health-care is a return to prohibition-era restrictions on everything, because we can't very well have people costing more than their fair share, now, can we?

Posted by: plebian at 03:57 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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