Link roundup

1. From an article at Grantland about WWE wrestlers not having union protection:

Jesse Ventura tried to organize a union in the 1980s6 but, according to the New York Times, "found it hard to find wrestlers willing to join him." When he later sued the WWF to reclaim royalties he thought were owed him (Ventura eventually won a more than $800,000 judgment), it was revealed in the proceedings that Hulk Hogan ratted out his union scheme to Vince McMahon. It's hard to imagine a more blatant example of a top star protecting his status by sabotaging collective action.

2. Two interesting articles by Walter Russell Mead: politics in Thailand (which has an Office of Prevention and Suppression of Information Technology Crimes); China's trouble in Burma.

3. NPR:

It's 1940. The Nazis have taken Copenhagen. They are literally marching through the streets, and physicist Niels Bohr has just hours, maybe minutes, to make two Nobel Prize medals disappear.

These medals are made of 23-karat gold. They are heavy to handle, and being shiny and inscribed, they are noticeable. The Nazis have declared no gold shall leave Germany, but two Nobel laureates, one of Jewish descent, the other an opponent of the National Socialists, have quietly sent their medals to Bohr's Institute of Theoretical Physics, for protection. Their act is probably a capital offense — if the Gestapo can find the evidence.

Read on. Via.

4. And speaking of science, "Daniel Shechtman, who has won the chemistry Nobel for discovering quasicrystals, was initially lambasted for 'bringing disgrace' on his research group." "He recalled how Linus Pauling, a colossus of science and a double Nobel laureate, mounted a frightening 'crusade; against him."

Two sides of the video game violence debate

First, Penn and Teller speak against video game violence. They certainly have a point, but I think it might be more about the wisdom of banning football (via):



Jon Stewart had the better view several weeks ago:

The Daily Show - Moral Kombat
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(When I saw the new Mortal Kombat fatalities, I called them snuff films.)

Link roundup

1. Some interesting predictions about the future of the legal profession. Via.

2. Apple not only censors emails sent by Me.com users, but doesn't even tell the users that their emails have been blocked?

3. The keys to finding a job in Hollywood.

Link roundup

1. FYI, you're a sucker if you got to the Borders liquidation "sale."

2. Interesting article about how painful it was to design games for the NES (sounds like the same article could be written about designing for Apple's app store). Via.

3. Computers are taking over a lot of the work lawyers used to do. (Doctors are next.) Via.

Link roundup

1. Supposedly scandalous behavior by New York Jets players toward a female reporter.

2. The Brazilian government is the country that sends the most content removal requests to Google.

3. Major redesign to the entrance of Disney California Adventure. Via.

*Buy Disneyland collectibles at eBay.

Bizarre NASA badges (link roundup)

Vitruvian Woman and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - - actual NASA patches, and there are many more bizarre NASA patches on display here. Hard to believe we haven't accomplished more in space. Via these sites.

And a few more links:

1. A look at the various ways coaches pressure NFL players to play when injured.

2. You probably saw the Obama/Joker/Socialism image and may have heard that Flickr took the original image down in response to a DMCA takedown request. But did you know that indications are that the takedown was blatantly bogus? Via.

3. New York magazine is designed to feel like being in Manhattan - - "The design has lots of cramped spaces and small type, it's like being on the subway." Via.

*Previously: An astronaut patch that actually reminds the viewer of science.

*Buy NASA patches at eBay.

Obama as Big Brother (link roundup)

Another clever headline/image juxtaposition by Drudge. Regardless of what you think of his politics, Drudge is simply incredible at finding the right image and headline.

And a few more links:

1. Good news for anyone in Seattle: "Something in the Sea continues in Seattle on September 4."

2. Ted Kennedy enjoyed jokes about Chappaquiddick?

3. Oh how times change - - the early 90's Spider-Man cartoon featured the "Insidious Six" because the "Sinister Six" sounded too scary. "[T]he outrage over the violence on shows like Power Rangers made the networks skittish."

(Meanwhile, we don't have toy guns at my house. But the other day, my two-year-old bit a cracker into the shape of a gun and proceeded to "shoot" his brother.)

*Previously: Photos from the Bioshock 2 beach event.

*Buy Big Brother Is Watching collectibles at eBay.

New logo for the Hugo Awards (link roundup)

This rocketship by Jeremy Kratz won a contest to redesign the Hugo Awards logo. Relatedly, here are the 2009 Hugo winners. Via.

And a few more links:

1. Funny gallery of original and censored Nick Fury comic book illustrations.

2. Want to discourage people from making a mess of a communal kitchen? Try out the hat of shame.

3. Giselle Bundchen shows how to hide a trench coat.

*Previously: The matador of shame.

*Buy spaceships at eBay.

Space Kook by Rich Page (link roundup)

Rich Page's entry in my Villains of Scooby Doo art contest is Space Kook. If you missed the announcement, go here to find out how you can win a $100 Threadless credit.

And a few more links:

1. "Television programs such as “The Simpsons” and “CSI” are for the first time commanding higher advertising rates at Web sites including Hulu.com and TV.com than on prime-time TV." Via these sites.

2. I've always been under the impression that the people who make it onto the sexiest lists in magazines made it there thanks to aggressive work by their agents and promises of access to the magazine. Turns out, sometimes the magazine just messes up. For example, one year, Rich Gannon was supposed to be People's sexiest athlete. But the photographer messed up and took photos of Elvis Grbac instead. They didn't have the heart to break the news to Elvis, so...

3. I was just wondering the other day what was going on with the diaper-wearing astronaut - - she apparently goes on trial December 7. Via.

4. Tucker Stone's weekly summary of the Economist includes this gem:

But then you read Chris Lowsley's anecdote letter, about how he went to pick up a copy of The Economist in the Shanghai airport during the first week of June, looking to read about the 20th anniversary of Tianmen Square. And guess what? By hand, someone had removed the pages. From every copy. He even got a 5% refund, just to see if he could.

*Previously: Alex Pardee paints the Scooby Doo villains.

*Buy Scooby Doo toys at eBay.

Kill Bill in one minute (link roundup)

Kill Bill 1 and 2 in one minute by the University of York Filmmaking Society. Via.

And a few more links:

1. Here's one way to get business, promise to refund a certain amount of money if the stock market drops. Of course, you'd have a better chance at making a sale if people could, you know, figure out where the link is to your product gallery. Via.

2. First step in building a successful website? "[B]uild a relationship of trust and give the reader what he/she wants."

3. Australia wants to censor websites and keep the list of those sites a secret.

4. "The Lorax Was Wrong: Skyscrapers Are Green." Via.

*Previously: Bloody Kill Bill billboard.

*Buy Kill Bill toys at eBay.

Kill Bill in one minute (link roundup)

Kill Bill 1 and 2 in one minute by the University of York Filmmaking Society. Via.

And a few more links:

1. Here's one way to get business, promise to refund a certain amount of money if the stock market drops. Of course, you'd have a better chance at making a sale if people could, you know, figure out where the link is to your product gallery. Via.

2. First step in building a successful website? "[B]uild a relationship of trust and give the reader what he/she wants."

3. Australia wants to censor websites and keep the list of those sites a secret.

4. "The Lorax Was Wrong: Skyscrapers Are Green." Via.

*Previously: Bloody Kill Bill billboard.

*Buy Kill Bill toys at eBay.

Vatican sponsors conference on evolution, excludes creationists, plus two other articles on religion

1. The Vatican is sponsoring a conference on evolution to mark the 150th anniversary of the publication of Charles Darwin’s "The Origin of Species." Proponents of creationism and intelligent design were not invited to speak because organizers "wanted to create a conference that was strictly scientific." Link. Via.

Here's the website for the Pontifical Council for Culture, which is organizing the conference to be held in Rome.

(Darwin's Gym t-shirt previously posted here.)


2. An adviser to the Chinese Central Committee contends that Christianity and the ethical system based upon its teachings are the reason that Western countries dominate the global economy. Link. Via.



3. Forget Sarah Palin, here's real censorship occurring right now. Via.

*Previously: The Unicorn Museum.

*Buy Dan Simmons' excellent sci-fi series about the Catholic Church.

"Censored" sticky tape

"Censored" sticky tape by Art. Lebedev Studio on sale here.

*Previously: Steinbeck's Grapes of Wrath was banned and burned in California.

*Buy books about censorship at Amazon.

John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath was banned and burned in California

Rick Wartzman's new book Obscene in the Extreme: The Burning and Banning of John Steinbeck's the Grapes of Wrath sounds intriguing:

During May of 1939, as the Nazis were burning books throughout Germany, the people of Bakersfield Calif., did exactly the same thing with John Steinbeck's new bestseller, The Grapes of Wrath. As Wartzman (The King of California) shows in this intriguing account, the banning of Steinbeck's masterpiece throughout California's Kern County was orchestrated by rich local growers: men who were busy exploiting scores of Joad families, the very men Steinbeck exposed in his novel. As a pretext, the growers cited, among other things, Steinbeck's use of foul language (bastard, bitch) and vivid scenes such as Rose of Sharon, having lost her baby, offering her milk-filled breast to a starving man. One lone librarian, Gretchen Knief, led the charge against the censors, but the book—by then a Pulitzer Prize winner—remained banned a year later. While all this was happening, Steinbeck was suffering the strains of his collapsing first marriage. In telling this unique tale, Wartzman artfully weaves the personal and the political in a book that readers will find engaging on more than one level.

34% off at Amazon.

(I liked The Grapes of Wrath, but my favorite Steinbeck novel is The Moon Is Down.)

*Previously: Banned Red Bull television commercial.

Court of Appeal reverses fine against CBS for Janet Jackson's wardrobe malfunction

The FCC had imposed a $550,000 indecency fine against CBS, but the federal appellate court determined that the FCC "acted arbitrarily and capriciously" in issuing the fine. Congratulations to CBS and the federal court for striking a blow against censorship. It's been so long, I wonder if the clowns that imposed the fine are even still working at the FCC.

Details here.