THOUGHTBOX

Last week I wrote about a North Carolina pastor proposing a homosexual concentration camp . Thought I'd seen the worse of this kind of hate and ignorance for a while - but the Internet happened. Watch the video. Just...watch it. The short version is: a little church-goer in Greensburg, Indiana, went up to the mic to perform a little song for his fellow church-goers. What did he sing? He certainly didn't praise Jesus. To my shock and astonishment, he began to  sing  "Ain't No Homos Gonna Make It To Heaven" - to the roaring applause and cheer of the adult church-goers.  I don't think I've seen such an engrossing display of indoctrination, hatred and ignorance. And that is made all the more clear by juxtaposition: after all, the person that delivers this light, happy-sounding tune is a child, a budding human being we oft associate with innocence. And innocent this is not... It's not the poor kid's fault. However, I don't think I c...

Many of us are familiar with Star Wars' iconic Jedi Knights. Crusaders of peace and justice, part scholars, part knights, they roamed the galaxy seeking out evil and injustice, rooting out oppression and upholding the law of the Republic. What was really cool about them (besides lightsabers, of course!) was their ability to use the Force - the mystical energy field, created by all life, that gave Jedi the Star Wars equivalent of superpowers. And to be honest, what's more badass than sweeping away a battalion of battle droids with a gesture, telekinetically freeing your starfighter from a swampy trap, jumping great heights at no danger to yourself or influencing the minds of Stormtroopers? As a kid, I wanted to be Jedi. In fact, I'll be honest - I still want to be a Jedi, and wield the awesome power of the Force. It would be so cool to move things around with your mind - I'd often picture moving that pesky TV remote from the table directly intro my hands, or m...

Have you heard about the impressive popularity of the book called "Fifty Shades of Grey"? Though I haven't read it, it's an erotica book that sells well - very well (it sold a quarter of a million copies before it was even published as a hard copy). This e-reading sensation is the sensual story of a virginal college student and her rich and powerful lover, and it's ripe with sexually graphic narrative and romantic drama. This single sensation has sparked a notable rise in Erotica literature. I've asked myself, why is that? Indeed, technological advances that now allow you to read a book on your Kindle or iPad have the interesting side effect of making your read secret. Not carrying a physical book around means people can't see the cover and can't tell exactly what it is your reading. This is backed up by the sheer number of erotica e-books being sold as part of this trend, although one other feature that makes e-books generally popular is ...

Blizzard games has garnered yet another record in the gaming industry: since its launch on th 15th of May, Diablo III has become the world's fastest selling game on the PC platform, since ever .  To put it into numbers, the first 24 hour release period saw 3.5 million downloads of the game, and 6.3 million more purchases during the following week. This count refers only to direct purchases of the game. Blizzard had a pre-launch offer giving Diablo III bulk with a one-year subscription to World of Warcraft, which gathered an additional  1.2 million copies. South Korea has kept its reputation as an avid devourer of all things Blizzard. To quote the official press release: " The above figures also do not include players in Korean Internet game rooms, where Diablo III has become the top-played game, achieving a record share of more than 39% as of May 22." The official press release also makes room for an apology from Blizzard for the  massive flop ...

Following Obama's support of same-sex marriage, there has been quite the backlash across traditional communities in the States. But I haven't seen anything come close to this dogmatic tirade that reeks of bigotry. During a sermon, pastor Charles L. Worley interrupted his anti-Obama rant to present the "solution" to the homosexual "problem". Here's a snippet : I figured a way to get rid of all the lesbians and queers. Build a great, big, large fence — 150- or 100-mile-long — put all the lesbians in there… Do the same thing with the queers and the homosexuals and have that fence electrified so they can’t get out… And you know what, in a few years, they’ll die. After a few more jabs at homosexuals and lesbians, all of them enthusiastically approved with "Amens", he concluded: God have mercy. It makes me pukin’ sick to think about — I don’t even know whether or not to say this in the pulpit — can you imagine kissing some man? ...

People have waited for it for 12 years. Fans have anticipated it, prayed for it, performed heathen rituals to appease the gods and speed the delivery of Diablo 3 onto gaming shelves and online stores everywhere. Yet, the hype of Diablo 3’s launch has been marred by countless bugs, issues and errors preventing people from enjoying the product they just coughed up 64$ for. What are these problems with Diablo 3? Three User Agreement screens later(to sum it up: we can do what whatever we want, and nothing you do or say will give you the right to sue us - seriously, their EULA states they are not liable for damages or performance issues due to “acts of god”? How do you define that, legally? It goes without saying that a cunning enough argument can explain any occurrence as an act of god, and stating otherwise can cause a legal and religious shitstorm), you can still play the game, right? Nope. First of all, you have to log in online to play a sing...

If you've been alive and on the Internet this past April, then you've probably heard of the music video hailed as the next "Friday" by the Huff Post: Hot Problems. Well, it's   fake . The video has gathered 12 million views in the month since then, although its popularity stems from the inflammatory reactions most viewers experience ( the like/dislike bar on Youtube has looked like a red lightsaber since the day the video was posted). Interestingly enough, it appears that the Huffington Posts and other  websites   that posted the video and made comparisons to Rebecca Black's magnum opus had probably known it was a fabrication, but for some reason decided to go along with it. The YouTube channel that hosted the video, OldBaileyProductions, had videos related to Cal State-Northridge and connections to the university's film geeks. But as "Hot Problems" took off, all the other videos were removed and the channel changed to appear t...

All the Star Trek I’ve watched told me one simple yet sad fact: the first USS Enterprise would be built in 2245 (or 2151 if you go by crappy Enterprise canon). However, an american engineer has come up with an extremely elaborate proposal to built a real, working NCC-1701, powered by ion propulsion. The 536-meter-diameter saucer section even houses a centrifugal living space to provide 1G of gravity for its occupants. And here’s the real kicker - according to him, it could be done in the next 20 years! "We have the technological reach to build the first generation of the spaceship known as the USS Enterprise — so let's do it," writes the curator of the Build The Enterprise website , who calls himself BTE (BuildTheEnterprise) Dan. He envisions this starship Enterprise as a solar-system roamer, dropping off space probes, rovers and satellites as it does fly-bys of astronomical bodies. The ship can travel to Mars in 3 months (90 days), and can reach the...

There has been a long debate over marijuana and its status as a gateway drug. Namely, if you smoke marijuana, some legislators feel that you are then more likely to do hardcore drugs. Now, legislators in Tennessee have taken that mentality and applied it - of all the things - to sexual education. This new law ( link ) bans sexual education instructors and teachers from teaching “gateway” sexual activities, and are barred from condoning any genital contact. Besides talking about kissing and hugging (I imagine), all other subjects are considered “gateway” sexual activities that may lead to “hardcore” sexual practices (which include oral and anal sex, and other forms of non-vaginal sexual activities). These subjects include talking about genitals, breasts, ass or thigh, which are called “gateway parts”. They relate these gateway parts not only to teen pregnancy, but also to an increased risk of STD transmission. John Lundberg, state rep of Tennessee, explained this ...