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You should stop what you’re doing right now and go read Kurt Anderson’s think piece on American Democracy — touching on everything from Sarah Palin and the teabag movement, to the never-ending bifurcation of Federalism vs. States Rights, or more specifically, populism versus elitism.

Ugh, why does everything internet service have to be “social” or 2.o or provide some sort of constant update as to whether or not I am reading a book while pooing.  No thanks, Gmail.  Honestly, sometimes email is just email and a phone is a phone and every internet company should try to remember this as their customers try to sort out the fraying threads of their digital life.

Well, this is intriguing.  An animated zombie movie that looks as though it was created with adults in mind.  Slashfilm has more.

No joke.  I’m from Barcelona’s latest LP, 27 Songs from Barcelona, is being made available online in full, for free, one song at a time.

The album features one song from each member of the 27-strong pop group and was inspired by Kiss’s 1978 release of four solo albums simultaneously.  Again, no joke.  As of this writing, the band has released fourteen of the twenty-seven songs. [via]

As anyone who’s read my blog knows, I’m a big fan of a certain long-running British SF TV series. One that started watching — from behind the sofa — when I was three. And while I know it’s cruel to make you wait for things, in about 14 months from now, which is to say, NOT in the upcoming season but early in the one after that, it’s quite possible that I might have written an episode. And if I had, it would originally have been called “The House of Nothing”. But it definitely isn’t called that any more.

Countdown. You’ve got about 14 months.”

Though I’m not the most dedicated Doctor Who fan, really it’s more of a passing fancy, this is pretty great.

Noted and with only two comments: one, this is a tragic story and two, the source is the right-leaning British Daily Mail.  “U.S. Army soldier Joshua Tabor has admitted to waterboarding his 4-year-old daughter because she couldn’t recite the alphabet, according to police. Tabor, stationed at Ft. Lewis, Washington, was arrested after being seen walking around his neighborhood wearing a military-issue Kevlar helmet and threatening to break windows. Cops went to Tabor’s home and spoke with his girlfriend, who told them she found the girl hiding in a closet with bruises and scratches on her back and neck. “Daddy did it,” the girl told the woman. Police say Tabor admitted to the torture because he was so angry the girl could not recite the alphabet. He chose waterboarding—the CIA torture technique that simulates drowning and has been banned by the Obama administration—because he knew the girl was terrified of water. He had won custody of his daughter only four weeks earlier. Police have not given details about Tabor’s military service.”

Here’s hoping Tabor gets the help and treatment he obviously needs. [via]

There’s a special issue of Hamish Hamilton’s literary magazine, Five Dials, which is “a celebration of the life of David Foster Wallace with contributions by Don DeLillo, Jonathan Franzen, Zadie Smith, George Saunders and others.”

It is designed by Dean Allen and just look at that contributors list!  Look! Look again!  So good — do yourself a favor, print it out and stash it above the toilet or next to your bed.  You’re going to want to savor this one. [via]

Despite the willingness of the media to play along, and the study coordinators to champion the results of their abstinence-only sex education as being the first sign this approach works, I’m not necessarily sold or convinced this is the way to go.

First, I should say, in this particular study it was a relief to read “the instructors did not take a moralistic tone, did not disparage condom use and encouraged students to wait to begin sexual activity until they were ready — but not necessarily to wait until marriage.”

That’s the good, and many people would have you believe the results of the study were also good.  In a sample of 662 sixth and seventh graders, “33% of the students from the abstinence-only program, 52% from the safer-sex course, 42% from the comprehensive program and 47% from the control group had started having sex.”

And so yes, the results are promising, however, what strikes me as curious is the follow up was only two years after the study was conducted.

So at most, the kids were in 8th or 9th grade.  Just before the cusp of real sexual activity (seems like 10th grade is when everything explodes).  In other words, regardless of sex education, at that age only a small sample of students will be truly sexually active anyways.  It would be different if there results were applicable to 12th graders, etc.

So my question is what happens when those abstinence-only students begin having sex in 10th or 11th grade?  The goal of having them delay having sex seems disingenuous to me because at some point they will have sex. Will that sex be safe? Loving? Tender? Will it be meaningful? Will it result in teenage pregnancy because they don’t know how or are uncomfortable using birth control?

And none of those things ever seem to be addressed by sex education in this country, but particularly in abstinence-only education.

“I don’t know what I’m allowed to say about Inception,” Leonardo DiCaprio recently told a journalist for the Philippine Inquirer.  “It’s Chris [Nolan] delving into dream psychoanalysis and, at the same time, making a high-octane, surreal film that came from his mind. He wrote the entire thing, and it all made sense to him. [But] it didn’t make sense to many of us when we were doing it. We had to do a lot of detective work to figure out what the movie was about.”

Now there are two ways to look at that quote: the first, is that Nolan has crafted a sci-fi film in the mold of his previous mindfuck movies like Memento or The Prestige. The second, is that this could be Nolan’s vanity clusterfuck we all suspect he has inside him somewhere.

As a Nolan fan since little seen first film, The Following, I’m hoping for the former.

These two separate stories about General Motor’s new robot and the Pentagon breeding immortal “synthetic organisms” with a molecular kill switch have nothing to do with one another, per say, but it’s just more evidence to the contrary that the inevitable robot take over is going to happen sooner, rather than later.

“As part of its budget for the next year, Darpa is investing $6 million into a project called BioDesign, with the goal of eliminating ‘the randomness of natural evolutionary advancement.’ The plan would assemble the latest bio-tech knowledge to come up with living, breathing creatures that are genetically engineered to ‘produce the intended biological effect.’ Darpa wants the organisms to be fortified with molecules that bolster cell resistance to death, so that the lab-monsters can ‘ultimately be programmed to live indefinitely.’”

That plus limber robots plus artificial intelligence equals a scary notion. No, just kidding.  I honestly am looking forward to the day when all of these things fall into place.

From the Press Release:

STAR WARS AT-AT (Approximate Retail Value: $99.99; Ages: 5 & up; Available: August 1, 2010) In space, size does matter, and Hasbro certainly kept that in mind when creating its all-new, highly detailed STAR WARS AT-AT. The AT-AT (All Terrain Armored Transport) played a significant role in the Empire’s military assault in THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK, and it will play an equally important role in every fan’s toy collection this year! Measuring more than 24 inches tall, nearly 28 inches long, and 12 inches wide, this colossal vehicle holds up to 20 STAR WARS figures – 6 of which can fit in its head alone! – and includes so many play and electronic features true to its on-screen counterpart that it’s hard to believe! From the zip-line in its body and articulated legs for superb poseability, to its LED lights and authentic movie sounds and phrases, this is the must-have addition for STAR WARS fans of all ages. Includes a 3 ¾ inch AT-AT driver action figure and a pop-out speeder bike.

I don’t collect toys, but damn I wish I had a five-year-old son as an excuse to buy this.  Not sure why Hasbro doesn’t do this for more Star Wars vehicles, like the X-Wing or Tie-Fighter.  Between this, and the newly redesigned Millennium Falcon, Hasbro is bringing it. [via]

“Parisian Love,” the Google ad that aired during Super Bowl XLIV, is part of their series of “Search Stories”.  According to Eric Schmidt, it wasn’t originally intended to be an ad.  I don’t know a single girl that wasn’t brought to tears or gave a rousing, “awwwww” for this commercial.  And by “single girl” I mean me. [via]

Still undecided about the new Spoon album, or rather where it fits into the hierarchy of their discography.  It is, by no means, disappointing.  Here’s the video for “Written in Reverse,” which in some respects is the most Spoon-y of songs on Transference. [via]