From the dept. of tangible costs of intangibles...

How Much Does It Cost You in Wages if You “Sound Black?” (h/t Oliver Willis)

QOTD

The end result of global warming will be Rush Limbaugh on a Colorado mountain peak surrounded by oceans blaming the entire situation on Al Gore.

Smiley Faces

Smiley Faces by Gnarls Barkley. This is a fun video. See if you can spot all of the 'historical' appearances in the photos.

Remind Me

Remind Me, by Royksopp. This is one of the best videos I have ever seen. Visually enchanting.

Our current climate is stupid...

Global warming denialist denies that summer is warmer than winter.

Frontier Psychiatrist

Frontier Psychiatrist, by The Avalanches. This was from an interesting album, composed entirely by sampling and scratching. Apparently it took over 6 months to obtain legal clearances once the album was in the can.

Drop the pressure

Drop the pressure, by Mylo.

TSA considering shock-bracelets for air passengers

Want some torture with your peanuts?

You can watch the promotional video here. (Relevant info starts around the 3:00 mark)

Wherein I make a point...

but I worry that I might be too nuanced:

Actors and Musicians are brands. They have to advertise themselves in order to sell their work.

Scientists have to sell themselves too, but only to other scientists. But instead of spending a currency of celebrity, they tend to sell ideas and elegant experimental designs (also, scientists don't always have good people skills).

On the one hand it is absurd. But celebrity journalism reflects the values of our society.

On the other hand, celebrity journalism is an important business tool for actors and musicians. Don't think of them, then, as people, when they show up in the gossip sheets. Think of them as Tide, Tums, and Huggies. Only... with a human face.

This was written in response to this, which is terribly clever (and which I've already linked to today).

Sunscreen...

Sunscreen may not be all that safe:

Oxybenzone and similar cancer-causing chemicals in sunscreens contribute to the minority view that sunscreens actually cause more and deadlier cancers than they prevent. Several small studies have found an increased risk of malignant melanoma, by far the deadliest form of skin cancer, among regular users of sunscreens.

An online sunscreen guide.

And finally a bit of snark:

Total UV protection is within reach and has been used for millennia. It's called clothing.

Your thoughtful laugh of the day.

What if scientists were treated like celebrities? (h/t Pharyngula)

Well, duh.

I will nonetheless bet my neighbor's cat's bad habits that editorialists will endlessly recycle this story as a measure of the severity of the housing bust.

Crazy

Crazy, by Gnarls Barkley.

The original video for this song is visually fantastic, just fyi.

Update: Link wuz borken. Now fixxed.

Lincoln says...

I believe it is an established maxim in morals that he who makes an assertion without knowing whether it is true or false, is guilty of falsehood . . . .

(h/t Glenn Greenwald)

Woof, I say.

An Alsatian went to a telegram office, took out a blank form and wrote:
“Woof. Woof. Woof. Woof. Woof. Woof. Woof. Woof. Woof.”
The clerk examined the paper and politely told the dog: “There are only nine words here. You could send another ‘Woof’ for the same price.”
“But,” the dog replied, “that would make no sense at all.”

From: LaughLab.

Horizons

Horizons by LTJ Bukem

Free

Free by Ultra Nate. Not sure what's up with the surgical chic... but the song is a club classic nonetheless.