Jul
16
2008

URLs du Jour

2008-07-16

  • Iowahawk is very perceptive about current financial news:
    It's useful to think of our current economic situation as a spirited game of nude Twister, with Fannie Mae as an extremely fat drunk chick.
    This seems to be more honest and accurate analysis than the recent writings of Paul Krugman or J. Bradford DeLong.

  • To match some right-wing gripes about WALL·E being anti-capitalistic eco-propaganda, here is Daniel Engber in Slate griping that it buys into myths about obesity:
    Wall·E is an innovative and visually stunning film, but the "satire" it draws is simple-minded. It plays off the easy analogy between obesity and ecological catastrophe, pushing the notion that Western culture has sickened both our bodies and our planet with the same disease of affluence. According to this lazy logic, a fat body stands in for a distended culture: We gain weight and the Earth suffers. If only society could get off its big, fat ass and go on a diet!
    Whether or not you read Engber, I recommend you read the response from trivia hero Ken Jennings.

    Very slowly now, plus-sizers; it’s not hard. Wall·E says nothing about the percentage of American obesity currently caused by genetics vs. other causes. Wall·E is completely silent on whether or not high fructose corn syrup will somehow lead to environmental disaster. Wall·E doesn’t care whether or not fat people will cause health-care costs to skyrocket. Most of all, Wall·E isn’t about the kids who called you “Jabba” in ninth grade.

    You'll also want read Ken to find what WALL·E has in common with Katherine Hepburn and (soon) Clint Eastwood.

  • Shawn Macomber suggests a new Pun Salad Official Motto:
    The red light goes on and the puddles of drool start accumulating.
    Well, he's actually talking about another thing entirely, which you should check out. Nevertheless, I'm adding it to the rotation.

  • I'm probably way too late to be considered contrarian on this, but nevertheless: Cracked is consistently funnier than the slicker, trendier Onion. On their front page as I type:

    And if you're like me, you've already clicked over. You're welcome.