Building A Better Soldier

This article describes the Pentagon's latest brainstorm: drugging soldiers. Apparently, this "desensitizes them to the horrendous aspect of war, but also maximizes soldiers' lethality by bypassing their moral autonomy. " I mean, I guess dehumanized killing machines is cool and all, but it's so Africa 2007. And there they didn't need big marines to get the job done; their killing machines are all too young to vote. Come on, Pentagon. I won't be impressed with your drugged out killers until they're under 4' 11".

Stunning Chickens

This will probably sound weird coming from a vegetarian, but well done killing that chicken, Jamie.

I get that not everyone is meant to be a vegetarian. However, I bet most people are all for the animals they eat being killed as humanely as possible. On his cooking show, Jamie Oliver demonstrated the correct way to stun and kill a chicken and stated, “It only costs a bit more to give a chicken a natural life and a reasonably pleasant death.” I couldn't agree more. Well done.

Human Kindness

I think we all know that nothing says class quite like picketing a funeral. A group of religious people with interesting morality are planning on picketing Heath Ledger's funeral because he was in Brokeback Mountain. Sigh. If we just made digital cable television free, wouldn't all these problems go away? "Let's go beat up the gays!" "Naw, American Gladiators is on."

Yikes.

And hello to you, creepiest ad ever.

Source.

39

So I've been pretty lazy about the whole posting thing, yes. However, I feel I have a good reason. Well, a couple good reasons. First, the holidays and all that comes with them (specifically, illness, I always get sick in December). Secondly, I threw a birthday party for my mom and a birthday party for me. On the same day. I like to keep things simple and mellow, so I thought two parties for 50 four hours apart was the way to go. Finally, I'm closing on my first apartment tomorrow. Yay!

And, while I should be cleaning for showing my apartment Saturday or packing for moving Sunday, instead I thought I'd list the 39 books with which I broke the record last year. As a nod to the fact that I really should be doing other things, I won't hyperlink them. You all are big kids, you can work google. Enjoy, and feel free to leave a comment if you've read any on the list or want a recommendation. Here we go:

1) The Year of Magical Thinking
2) Bel Canto
3) Fast Food Nation
4) Buddhism Without Belief
5) The Washingtonienne
6) Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
7) Love Is A Mix Tape
8) One Hundred Years of Solitude
9) Siddartha
10) The Notebook
11) White Noise
12) Salt
13) Start Where You Are
14) Up From Slavery
15) Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
16) Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
17) Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
18) Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs
19) How the Irish Saved Civilization
20) Tristan and Iseult
21) Their Eyes Were Watching God
22) The Namesake
23) Plato and a Platypus Walk Into A Bar . . .
24) On Violence
25) Shadows on the Wasteland
26) A Dog's Life
27) Twilight
28) Eat, Pray, Love
29) The Pact
30) The Bell Jar
31) The Compassionate Life
32) The Measure of A Man
33) Water for Elephants
34) Invisible Man
35) The Golden Compass
36) The Subtle Knife
37) The Amber Spyglass
38) Too Soon to Say Goodbye
39) Vendetta

I know, I know, some of these are questionable. Don't be all judgey.

Sweeney Todd

Just say no, it was terrible.

And I say this having been this musical's biggest fan since I was eight. Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter were truly, truly atrocious singers. Still heart you both, though.