Pointless Man

Guilt is useful only if we act on it. Otherwise, it is either misguided or a poor excuse for the unethical to feign morality. Broadly, if something you do makes you feel guilty, you should either stop it, or get over your sense of shame. You generally shouldn't feel guilty pleasure, unless that itself is the basis for your enjoyment. Especially when it comes to entertainment, you probably shouldn't feel guilty about most things you like. You can enjoy Britney Spears' music, 'Grease', or 'Plan 9 From Outer Space' all you want. If you're not wasting your life away on these things, what does it matter? Even if you think they're aesthetically bad, that's alright. Campy, schmaltzy ridiculous, or just dumb material can still be fun. Don't feel guilty for liking harmless garbage. I t's harmless. --Please note this is not an excuse for subjecting others to your bad taste. That is unquestionably wrong.-- If your entertainment involves peo...

"'Can I get a witness to all this poverty?' There's no need to, brother. Everybody can see," Joe Strummer sang, but I think he was sadly mistaken.  As I used to argue in non-defense of the G. W. Bush administration, the rich and powerful are so generally and fully ensconced in their rarefied territory, they are mostly unaware of the underclasses. Thus, actions which, with greater understanding, might be seen as intentionally evil, are merely ignorant (though arguably still evil). This helps to explain Bush's approach to Katrina, black people, the poor, public schools, and those foreigners he tried to help free with two wars in their homes; Catherine the Great's inability to tell that her tours of supposed Russian towns involved the same actors, playing the same roles, and using the same set over and over; Marie Antionette's "Let them eat cake;" the casual cruelty of roving gangs in Fist of the North Star 1 ; and Republican efforts to someho...

In Mixed Martial Arts' current unified rules (used by almost all promotions and athletic commissions in the United States and Canada), fighters are scored on are effective striking, grappling, aggression, and cage control.  I would suggest dropping 'aggression', and instead focusing on penalizing fighters who stall. Points should not be given for effort, but for effectiveness. This would encourage competitors to fight smarter and more technically, while discouraging them from merely defending themselves or finding a position to rest in and staying there.  This would make for better fights and easier judging.

So the NCAA national wrestling championships take place at 4PM today, PST. There are no college basketball games scheduled around that time. You know what is on cable and satellite television? Bowling's Weber Cup, reruns of the 2005 World Series of Poker, Mike Tyson's greatest hits, and ESPN's SportsCenter. In order to get the national wrestling championships, you have to subscribe to some alternate ESPN channel. Yay. This is why people think wrestling is all about guys in a boxing ring hitting eachother with chairs. In other areas of ignorance, my 12 year old brother just said the Stone Temple Pilots' Core is "like Nickleback. Nickleback does this."