As efficient and functional as one can be alone, sometimes you just need someone else’s help to break through.

This ingenious Venn diagram aside, think about it. They are on the opposite side of the power hierarchy from you than are prostitutes. They sexually force themselves upon for no money. And they are the least fun people on the planet. TSA agents are Bizarro Prostitutes.

In this Russia Today snippet, financial muckraker Max Keiser is scratching the surface of something very interesting. In discussing societies that engage in ‘financial repression’ Keiser sees a US in which saving money is not only considered passe, but is actively discouraged. And while it could be argued that we’ve already been doing this for over a decade, imagine a future in which more draconian penalties are associated with those who refuse to live paycheck to paycheck. It’s not much of a stretch to imagine a government that would seek to punish the un-patriotic activity of selfishly holding back one’s savings rather than dumping it into our economy of debt.

Call me crazy, but there is something about the leisurely pace of baseball that lends itself to a profound level of goofiness. Yet another reason why it is the finest sport ever invented.

Was surprised to learn that Keith Olberman is yet another Bill Hicks disciple. I suppose it shouldn’t come as a surprise, given the anti-authoritarian, silly streak in both of them. Yet, this was a pleasant and totally unexpected convergence. Happy to have attended the LA premiere of this.

I heard it bandied about in a YouTube comment thread that there is a growing belief that Bill O’Reilly invites Jon Stewart to his show so much because he is, in fact, a double agent working to destroy Fox News from the inside. I support his efforts.

I don’t know how I missed it in its original go-round, and am a little bit irritated at my digital arts media fare for not calling attention to it sooner, but Synecdoche, New York, may be the finest film I’ve ever seen. This piece is almost completely indescribable. It is an Escher-ian meta story that swallows its own tail. The glut of surrealism contained within can cause temporary psychosis, though – so fair warning. Anyway, have a monologue:

Want to play. Badly. Mao. MAO! MAO! MAO! (BLAM)

Ever think to yourself, boy, I really hated the execution of Gaspar Noe’s Enter the Void, but loved the concept. Could you maybe find a Native American version based on an ancient Sanskrit epic without the gratuitous sex and violence? Yes, says the internets, I believe we have that.

Lecturer of MoveOn.org fame, Eli Pariser, delineates the newest threat to information freedom – taste algorithms. This is an automated ‘service’ provided by the likes of Facebook and Google that shield you from things you’re less likely to be interested in, while facilitating your access to all sorts of useless drivel that you may spend the better part of your wasted existence ingesting. And this taste algorithm will ensure that you never break out of your Bieber-addled nonsense consumption. Because even if you want to look for things outside your usual circle of uselessness, the taste algorithms will prevent you from finding them. Frightening.