Come From Away

Across our nation for the past few weeks, children and their families’ have been crowding into school gymnasiums to honour veterans of past and present wars and conflicts. The children read poems that they wrote themselves, acted out skits, and sang Flanders Field. Their friends and family sat respectfully through it all; straining their ears in a futile effort to understand “little Jimmy’s” mumbled little voice as it was inadequately amplified by the school’s thirty year old “state of the art” sound equipment.

Was it worth all the time and energy spent by students, teachers and school administrators organising and performing? Was it worth the efforts of the parents to not look bored and impatient while listening and sharing false smiles with the other parent (whose kids are fat, stupid and obviously inbred – Not like our sweet little Sally)?

Sadly, no.

Veterans have been dropping like flies from the incredibly high germ count of these poorly ventilated events. With swine flu on the rise, we need to rethink this before there are no veterans left at all. I say next year that we all have our moment of silence at 11:00 on 11/11, but save the veterans. Please think hard before you organise another veteran massacre for next year.

Originally broadcast on Britain’s Channel 4 in 1996, Break the Science Barrier follows the Oxford Biologist Richard Dawkins as he meets with people who have experienced the wonders of science first-hand. We meet the astronomer who first discovered pulsars, the geneticist who invented DNA fingerprinting, a scientist who discovered a protein that causes cancer, and others. Dawkins interviews famous admirers of science such as Douglas Adams and David Attenborough, and asks them why science means so much to them. We also see how dangerous ignorance of science can be in classrooms, courts, and beyond. With so many expressing paranormal beliefs and ignorance of science, Dawkins encourages viewers to contrast these ancient superstitions with the power and beauty of our scientific achievements and understanding.

Watch it free online!

Part 1: Google Video | Quicktime
Part 2: Google Video | Quicktime
Part 3: Google Video | Quicktime

or

Order it now on DVD! $15

Penn & Teller have a great show called BULLSHIT! I highly recommend it!

It is described as follows:

Veteran producer Mark Wolper, Executive Producer Star Price and renowned master showmen Penn & Teller deliver a high-octane, weird, wacky, entertaining journey through some bizarre territory that no one else is brave enough to touch, with this Showtime reality series.

By their own admission, Penn & Teller have been dying to do a show like this. Confirmed skeptics and pro-science atheists (they refer to God as “an imaginary friend”), these magicians are big fans of the art of debunking.

Whether demonstrating how history’s most perplexing magic acts are performed in their sell-out Las Vegas show and TV specials, or producing their own series that pulls the wool off the public’s eyes, Penn & Teller’s mission is to expose the truth to an otherwise desperate and gullible public.

In Penn & Teller: Bullshit!, the crusaders utilize principles of magic and trickery, as well as good old fashioned “hidden camera” sting operations, to smoke out these nonsense peddlers and reveal how they operate.

They also call upon the scientific community for back-up. Penn & Teller have discovered that the evidence debunking bogus operatives exists in countless books, scientific papers and government-sponsored exposés – research that nobody else has presented to the public with such zeal, passion, and conviction.

As our increasingly anti-intellectual, anti-science culture moves on each day to new crackpot subject matters, Penn & Teller are there to aggressively shoot down whack-jobs and fuzzy thinkers, no matter where they originate.

Their attitude of serious, sober contemplation can be summed up in this quote about their current Las Vegas stage program: “We have been doing magic together for 25 years and are so sick of it we could spit. So, in the new show, we are moving into the field of religion and will be performing real miracles!”

No matter how popular a form of bullshit is – and regardless of what deep pockets or beloved figures support it – Penn & Teller are pit bulls for the truth, poised to tear down these myths in the most jaw-dropping fashion possible with their trademark wit and off-center comic sensibilities.

Beware faux miracle workers, yogis, dervishes, televangelists, zealots and cult leaders. Penn & Teller have you in their cross-hairs with a new series that strives to spark controversy, headlines and water cooler fisticuffs!