A homeless man trying to support two children surely knows the meaning of being under pressure.

This week, TED, offered up a fascinating lecture by game designer and futurist, Jane McGonigal. Particularly interesting is the bit starting around 12:30 where she relays Herodotus’s tales of gaming in the Lydian empire (circa the 12th century BC).

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Fantastic round table lead by Stephen Fry on the out of control incarceration rate in this country. We imprison more people, per capita, than any nation in the history of the world. Fortunately for the Prison Industrial Complex, the coming double-dip recession will surely provide ample opportunity to sweep thousands more into our penal/human chattel holding cells, that we may create more wards of the state and more productive slave labor. Huzzah for free societies.

Forgive the recent spate of inactivity. The Meppers are just recovering from our quasi-annual Mep Conference and Retreat in the bowels of Beverly Hills, California. While the Wilsons had to be tele-conferenced in at the last moment, we were able to cover many pressing Mep-issues of the day, not limited to setting appearance dates for various upcoming nerd-culture conferences and determining a winner in the Outdated Version of FIFA Soccer Challenge.

And now, a mostly unrelated hip hop video entitled “First World Problems,” which should make all of you feel terrible about yourselves — or at least about your griping.

The Greatest American Five Fingers, The Teabag Doesn’t Fall Far From the Tree for Rand Paul, We Like Ice Cream Because It’s ICE CREAM!, What if We Just Lightly Sear Them?, Lakers Fail at Immigration, Invading Arizona for Fun, Profit, and Golf Courses, Greg Roots For the Insurance Company to Win the Bet, and the BuddhaFather.

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Pardon the lack of activity recently. I’m currently adjusting to a sub-human sleep schedule as I try to adjust to the demands of “new media.” Speaking of how we prioritize things and motivate ourselves, here’s a neat piece on some old economist-derived misconceptions.

For Gulf Coast residents concerned about the massive, floating blob of toxins headed towards their shores, President Obama’s Sunday assurances may have rang a bit hollow.

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The thought that Congress serves not the interests of its constituents, but those of its corporate benefactors, used to be reserved for cynics and conspiracy theorists. Now this line of thinking is so banal, so obvious, that it goes without saying. A huge majority (roughly 4 out of 5 Americans) now believes that the game is rigged, and there is virtually no real institutional reform possible without the complete overhaul of our campaign finance system.

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Given the coming political kerfuffle over financial regulations, our former Brandeis Professor, Robert Reich is as relevant a commentator as ever. Here’s a recent piece of his on the unholy relationship between Congress and the Giant Vampire Squids of our times.

And here’s an unrelated video of Reich taking his tough talk to the streets with partner in crime, Coco.

As a self-proclaimed Pacifist Socialist, I was wildly excited to see CNN finally acknowledge how distant from Socialism our President is. Now if only the rest of the country could get on board…

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