06 Aug 2004
In the Midst of a Witch Hunt

The link below leads to a great column by Paul Campos.

While the column itself concerns the current hysteria over "fat", it's relevence cuts across a broad range of issues, from gay marriage to drug policy. As a society, we've simply got to learn to come to grips with the "demon of the week" syndrome, and stop running off on these wild goose chases, declaring "war" on ideas and conditions that are a natural part of the human experience. If we don't, we'll find ourselves eternally distracted from the real issues that we need to be dealing with, like, oh, say, survival of the species.

Witch hunts are easy to recognize in retrospect, but much harder to spot when you're in the middle of one. Today, we look back on claims that marijuana turned African-American men into sex-crazed maniacs, or that the State Department employed 205 communist agents, or that America's preschools were havens for satanic ritual abuse, and recognize the irrationality of those beliefs.

(link) [Rocky Mountain News]

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The Age of Doom

This is a must buy for me: I've been a major Doomhead since the original. Even have a Doom II level that I made still on my site, based on an old employer. But this one sounds totally, well:

...the game is populated by a gallery of fascinating grotesques and gargoyles created by Kenneth Scott, id's soft-spoken lead artist, whose work references Francis Bacon and cheesy fantasy artist Frank Frazetta with equal reverence. The ghouls are excruciatingly detailed. As you're being devoured by a swarm of demonic cherubs, you can admire the iridescent patina on their insect wings. To play Doom 3 is to feel your skin prickle with atavistic fear. It's a bit too lifelike for comfort.

Let's see, if I sell thirty chickens tomorrow night at the market, I should have enough left over to blow $40 on D3, so maybe I'll splurge. I must admit, however, that it's kinda weird when your life get framed by chickens and cows.

In 1993 six geeks had a digital nightmare that changed the culture. It's about to get far creepier

(link) [Time]

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Alcohol sharpens your brain, say researchers

News I've been waiting on for many years ...

Research to be published tomorrow by academics at University College London has found that those who even drink only one glass of wine a week have significantly sharper thought processes than teetotallers.

(link) [The Telegraph]

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