Today's Internets.

Researcher Proves Wertham Fabricated Evidence Against Comics | Comic Book Legal Defense Fund: "Frederic Wertham, the child psychologist whose 1954 book Seduction of the Innocent claimed that comics transformed innocent children into depraved juvenile delinquents, making Wertham almost single-handedly responsible for decades of comics censorship. Although it is already fairly obvious to most modern-day readers that Wertham’s conclusions were laughable and completely groundless, new research proves that even the “supporting evidence” in the book was largely fabricated. Carol Tilley, a University of Illinois professor of Library Science, compared Wertham’s notes to the final published version of Seduction and found that “the doctor revised children’s ages, distorted their quotes, omitted other causal factors and in general ‘played fast and loose with the data he gathered on comics.’”"

The premises and purposes of American exceptionalism | Glenn Greenwald | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk: "It's certainly true that Americans are justifiably proud of certain nationalistic attributes: class mobility, ethnic diversity, religious freedom, large immigrant populations, life-improving technological discoveries, a commitment to some basic liberties such as free speech and press, historical progress in correcting some of its worst crimes. But all of those virtues are found in equal if not, at this point, greater quantity in numerous other countries. Add to that mix America's shameful attributes - its historic crimes of land theft, genocide, slavery and racism, its sprawling penal state, the company it keeps on certain human rights abuses, the aggressive attack on Iraq, the creation of a worldwide torture regime, its pervasive support for the world's worst tyrannies - and it becomes not just untenable, but laughable, to lavish it with that title.

This is more than just an intellectual exercise. This belief in America's unparalleled greatness has immense impact. It is not hyperbole to say that the sentiment expressed by Cooke is the overarching belief system of the US political and media class, the primary premise shaping political discourse. Politicians of all types routinely recite the same claim, and Cooke's tweet was quickly re-tweeted by a variety of commentators and self-proclaimed foreign policy experts from across the spectrum.

Note that Cooke did not merely declare America's superiority, but rather used it to affirm a principle: as a result of its objective superiority, the US has the right to do things that other nations do not. This self-affirming belief - I can do X because I'm Good and you are barred from X because you are Bad - is the universally invoked justification for all aggression. It's the crux of hypocrisy. And most significantly of all, it is the violent enemy of law: the idea that everyone is bound by the same set of rules and restraints.

This eagerness to declare oneself exempt from the rules to which others are bound, on the grounds of one's own objective superiority, is always the animating sentiment behind nationalistic criminality."

Loath to label anything a disorder, but this makes a good point.  Counting calories is kind of insane -- Calorie Counting and Eating Disorders | DietDoctor.com: "Needing to count calories means something is wrong (the appetite regulation is disturbed) or the body weight goal is unnatural. We should try to fix what’s wrong and try to have healthy goals, if possible. Then there will be no need to starve. Calorie counting is an eating disorder."

  Why Calorie Counting is an Eating Disorder | DietDoctor.com: "A weight issue is not caused by a lack of counting calories. No more than constipation is caused by not counting… you know. They’re both caused by something disturbing the body’s natural regulatory systems. The real problem behind obesity? It could be many things. But today, by far the most likely problem is too much of the fat-storing hormone insulin. Usually caused by decades of ingesting too much sugar and too much processed, rapidly digested carbs. Which is what the Western diet is composed of today. It messes up our hunger and satiety systems, makes us want to eat too much. Voilá: An epidemic of obesity. Calorie counting will never cure this problem. It’s just a crutch. And the more we rely on it, the greater the likelihood of it turning into an eating disorder. We need to fix the problem, not pretend that it’s normal to be hungry."

That's just funny - York Arms - NY deliveries: "Based on the recent legislation in New York, we are prohibited from selling rifles and receivers to residents of New York. We have chosen to extend that prohibition to all governmental agencies associated with or located within New York. As a result we have halted sales of rifles, short barreled rifles, short barreled shotguns, machine guns, and silencers to New York governmental agencies. For "civilian" customers residing in New York: At your choice, we will: complete your order and ship to a dealer of your choice outside of NY refund your payment in full hold your items here for up to 6 months, at no charge - if you are in the process of leaving NY and taking residence in another state. For LE/Govt customers in New York: Your orders have been cancelled."

Man Of Tomorrow: Superman, Orson Scott Card And Me : NPR: "DC Comics has hired Orson Scott Card to write the first two issues of a new digital-first Superman comic. I won't be reading it...

Why will I be giving Card's Superman a miss? Three reasons: First: Card isn't just a guy whose opinions I happen to disagree with. Trust me, the comics industry is rife with writers, artists and editors whose politics I don't share, who hold views they're quite public about in interviews and various internet forums, and I would defend — to the mild inconvenience — their right to hold those views.

This isn't about that. Card is different. Card is an activist. He sits on the board of the National Organization for Marriage, an entity entirely devoted to attacking and defeating marriage equality and spending millions of dollars lobbying to do so...

Second: If Card were writing any other character — Ant-Man, Matter-Eater Lad, Batroc the Leaper — even a high profile character like Iron Man, whom he did write for a while — you wouldn't see this reaction. Because Superman is different. Superman is not just a superhero. He's the superhero. He created the very concept of the superhero, and everything that's touched on that concept for the past 75 years — we are talking vast swaths of popular culture — exists because of him. 

...The third reason I'm skipping Card's Superman is to me the most central, and most personal, and it has less to do with how popular Superman is, and much more to do with who he is. And what he stands for. Superman is an ideal. He represents our best self. That's what he's for. 

...when we do see him for the very first time, these are the first words that appear directly below, the first epithet applied to this newly-minted creation as it was unleashed upon the world: Champion of the Oppressed. There it is, coded into his creative DNA from the very beginning: He fights for the little guy. And that's why this bugs me, and why I'm not the least bit curious about what Card's Superman might be like. DC Comics has handed the keys to the "Champion of the Oppressed" to a guy who has dedicated himself to oppress me, and my partner, and millions of people like us. It represents a fundamental misread of who the character is, and what he means. It is dispiriting. It is wearying. It is also, finally, not for me. One of the other nicknames that accrued to Superman right away – that predates "Man of Steel" by a good amount – is "The Man of Tomorrow." ...Because that's where he lives, Superman. And that's what he says to us: We can do better. We can be better, to ourselves, and to each other. Hey, DC Comics? Be better."

The Definitive Guide to Bacon | Nerd Fitness: 

"Unless it came from a pig, it ain’t bacon. 

I know most non-pig bacons will try to convince you that it’s a healthier alternative, but is that true?  Let’s take a look at the most common bacon impostor: Turkey bacon!  It turns out that turkey bacon is neither bacon nor turkey!  A quick look at the ingredients on a package of “healthy” turkey bacon reveals these ingredients:

“TURKEY, WATER, SALT, SUGAR, SODIUM LACTATE, CANOLA OIL, SODIUM DIACETATE, SODIUM PHOSPHATES, SMOKE FLAVOR, SODIUM ASCORBATE, AUTOLYZED YEAST EXTRACT, SODIUM NITRITE, DEXTROSE, SOY LECITHIN.”

When they say “turkey,” they’re essentially referring to the modified turkey bits they’ve combined to force into a bacon shape...

Soy bacon, veggie bacon, fake bacon, and any other type of bacon-substitute you stumble across are guilty of being HEAVILY processed as well.  Any bacon impostor that tells you it’s a “healthy alternative” is lying.  You’re better off with the real thing…and come on, why eat the less healthy, less delicious option when you can have the real thing?

That’s redoinkulous.  

Yeah, that word just happened.

...Bad bacon (think Evil Doctor Porkchop): heavily processed, from factory-farmed pigs, full of artificial ingredients and preservatives.  This is the type of bacon we want to avoid.  Fortunately, many types of bacon have already removed a lot of this stuff by law (pigs have to be raised without hormones). So don’t pay extra just because a label says “Hormone free!”

...

How do I find the good bacon?  Check the ingredients!  ”Good bacon” will list something like “pork, water, sea salt, brown sugar” for ingredients and not much else.  The more ingredients there are beyond that, the more processed it’ll tend to be. If there are any ingredients you can’t pronounce, you’ll want to be cautious about buying it!

Bill Burr Doesn't Buy Oprah's Holier-Than-Thou Lance Armstrong Interview - CONAN on TBS - YouTube:

Research!  Kind of fascinating, actually.  Huge infographic at the link - Deep Inside - A Study of 10,000 Porn Stars | Jon Millward - Blog: "For the first time, a massive data set of 10,000 porn stars has been extracted from the world’s largest database of adult films and performers. I’ve spent the last six months analyzing it to discover the truth about what the average performer looks like, what they do on film, and how their role has evolved over the last forty years."