An astounding journey. By Divine Providence, I have forgotten from where I stole this link. (Oh, it was mimismartypants, so my Safari history reveals.)

Resistance is futile

For those of you who played the first Freedom Force and loved the cartoony feel and the classic Silver Age characters, Irrational Games put forth its own money making another episode guaranteed to thrill and chill.

Other draws of this game include improved multiplayer, the feeling of joy that your money goes directly to the developers who clearly love putting these games out, the complete lack of kill-stealing lollerskates and run-by roflcopters from CoH people who never even try to keep the atmosphere in place, and a fun, engaging storyline.

Buy it now, for America!

Freedom Force vs The Third Reich

Czeltic Girl gives me more reason to love my friendly neighborhood…

I am doing this for charity. Organize one at your workplace today!

The only way I’d ever watch Punk’d.

And another hilarious list.

Headless Hollow is a superb blog. Well-written, well-informed, well-designed and well…fun.

This link is the ultimate link. It is as though Homestarrunner were multiplied by Homestarrunner. Anyone who’s anyone is clicking it.

Also, this:

Thanks, Czeltic Girl.

Despite the comments of a few people up front, this MetaFilter thread about torture holds all kinds of interesting and volatile questions. As often is the case, jonmc, the former cockeyed absurdist, sums the true question up nicely in a couple of his comments:

“Art can often provide catharsis, when the protagonist or hero does what we would like to do to a wrongdoer but can’t because of legal or moral restrictions. Escape valve or tacit approval?”

“Art isn’t obliged to provide us with role models, merely reflect reality, right? Big questions.”

I hate to be paranoid, but I am. This whole scenario of torture appearing on major TV shows, torture not as evil but as necessary and in the hands of the heroes, is to me an obvious ploy by media to get us to slowly accept the horrors of some of our actions since 9/11. To be certain, torture has been used throughout our bloody history, but never were we expected to accept it. It was hidden and, when discovered, severely punished even if the person was “just doing their duty.”

Now, instead of angry letters condemning the glorification of torture, we hear more about (even today) whether Janet Jackson’s strangely unarousing nipple indicates moral decay. It’s an argument that has never died, only become more ludicrous: is sex (which harms none when properly applied) somehow more corrupting than violence?

My feelings on the matter are obvious. Opinions of the masses to be found in that thread above. Read.

P.S. I’ve just recently joined MeFi. Combine that with my lack of real work to do this week, and Buddha’s Bellyaching may as well be called MetaFilterFilter.

P.P.S. By bizarre providence, the one-a-day George Carlin calendar I have at work is also about torture.