A great free, Flash browser-based game, Tower of Heaven is a brutal little platformer that would have found a nifty home on the original Game Boy. Your little sprite is subject to shifting rules and gory eight-bit endings as he tries to climb the eponymous tower. It’s tough stuff, but great for a 20-minute diversion.
Anti-Mosque Protest Turns Ugly
File that in the “who’d have thought” category. The bigots protesting the construction of a Muslim community center in lower Manhattan start an nasty scene with a bystander.
Apparently their “Mus-dar” is triggered by anyone who happens to have dark skin and wear a skullcap. (Makes you question their ability to sniff out terrorists, huh?)
Bonus points to the prick in the hardhat, who apparently grew up fantasizing about attacking war protesters as part of the Silent Majority.
Daily Show: Mosque-Erade
“What Newt Gingrich is saying is that Islam, like every religion, has to be responsible for its biggest assholes.”
-John Oliver
A great piece from the Daily Show on the controversy surrounding the construction of a Muslim community center in Lower Manhattan. As Jon Stewart points out, all opposition to the project is rooted in attempts to shamefully equate Muslims with terrorists.
| The Daily Show With Jon Stewart | Mon – Thurs 11p / 10c | |||
| Mosque-Erade | ||||
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Edit: The New Yorker also has an excellent take on the issue in their latest Talk of the Town.
Edit Two: Frank Rich knocks it out of the park in the New York Times.
And They Wonder Why There’s No Loyalty
“He said we’re a commodity like soybeans and oil, and the price of commodities go up and down,” Mr. Budd recalled. “He said there are thousands of people in this area out of jobs, and they could hire any one of them for $14 an hour. It made me sick to have someone sit across the table and say I’m not worth the money I make.”
With their article, “In Mott’s Strike, More Than Pay at Stake,” the New York Times details the efforts of Dr Pepper Snapple Group to squeeze its workers to increase already-rising corporate profits.
The workers are doing the right thing in organizing for their own self-interest. I think it’s crucial for consumers to pressure manufacturers and stores to favor workers. I’m not sure what the best path for action is, though. I try to patronize local businesses, but maybe they just apply the same squeeze, with a friendly face.
Facing the End
Atual Gawande has an excellent article in the New Yorker about end-of-life decisions. “Letting Go” explores how medicine should engage people who are going to die. It explores the successes of hospice care, which, surprisingly, is shown to extend lifespan even as it reduces suffering. It also highlights the changing role of doctors, who are being encouraged to extend a more realistic view of the time that remains instead of fighting a series of scorched-earth battles against new, compounding ailments.
Most importantly, the article is a strong prompt to consider and share your own end-of-life plans. Toward that end, I publicly plead: please don’t have me stuffed or place my brain in a monkey.