Skeptical Response to Kony 2012

Hey good folks of the interwebs. You've probably already seen the viral video regarding Joseph Kony and the pleas for donations to the Invisible Children of Uganda. What you probably haven't seen are the critical and skeptical responses to the viral movement. I'd like to share some of them here.

Kony 2012 exploded so quickly through social media like Facebook and Twitter that it became enough of a meme to grant an entry in the Know Your Meme database. It's a good place to start, but here's a little graphic meme that illustrates the problem in an absurd and yet still serves as a primer to the issue. Here's a strangely astute response to the issue from a notable YouTuber, Skweezy Jibbs, know for his colorful rants:

I also enjoyed The Juice Media's most recent Rap News feature relating to the issue. If you haven't seen any of these, I highly recommend going back through their videos and watch a few. I think this is one of the most intelligent and entertaining independent news review sources available, after The Daily Show of course.

Finally, here are some words on a page that call into the question not only the validity of the Kony 2012 movement and the Invisible Children campaign, but also the skeptical responses and casual dismissal of it.

My suggestion, if you're inclined to take any action, would be to avoid the Invisible Children charity and instead donate to a more reputable organization like one supported by GiveWell or one of my favorite secular organizations, Doctors Without Borders.

Abe Lincoln, Vampires, & Space Nazis

"May you live in interesting times"

          - Curse of dubious origin...

We do indeed live in interesting times, if one were to judge by they subject matter of our media. In particular, here are a couple very interesting trailers for new films that I do plan on watching. That's all for now. Enjoy.

YaarrAahaahaaggrraahah!

Have you ever wanted to watch every single scream Arnold Schwarzenegger did during his acting career in one long solid cut? Well now you can.



Personally I think he did his best screaming in "Total Recall". After that I just don't think his heart was in it.

I'm drinking SunnyD & Rum tonight, how about you?

The Gregory Brothers have done it again. They've taken some unfortunate soul's ill-conceived video performance and created another pop-tune that you can't get out of your head once you've heard it. This one is a perfect mix of "oh god, gimme the eye-bleach!" and "hey, that sounds pretty good, actually". I fully expect to serve a few of these at my next party.



What brilliant honesty and courage to share her invention and inspiration with us all, complete with a heart-felt belch of satisfaction.

Have you tried it yet? Did you break into song? What concoctions inspire you to create art?

Fun with Fluid Dynamics

How It's Made: Pre-Cooked Bacon

Have you ever wondered how pre-cooked bacon was made? You know the stuff they put on fast-food burgers and sandwiches? Yeah, well here's the video for you:



It doesn't make me want to stop eating bacon, just the pre-cooked stuff. I mean that curing liquid looks pretty gross.

What cool bacon related things have you seen on the interwebs lately?

This is Why We Have the Internet...

..so we can share things like this:

What Exactly Are They Selling Again?

As I slog through the summer "offerings" from the networks (more on that later), I often catch the errant commercial before I can grab the remote to hit the skip button. Commercials have long pushed the envelope of taste and decorum in an attempt to get our attention, but recently I've seen a few that caught my eye for the wrong reasons.

Best Buy: Laptop & a Geek


Mom just bought her son a sex doll apparently.  Good luck getting him to video chat now.


Tiger Woods Nike Commercial


This takes some context explanation for those not familiar with professional athletics (Jefe), specifically golf. The voiceover is a recording of Tiger's late father Earl Woods, asked a decade ago what he would ask young Tiger about his career in Golf; now used here to ask him about his famous sexual scandals.

Oh, and to play emotionally on the notion that the audience should pity and forgive the first billionaire professional athlete.

KIA Hamster Soul


Anthropomorphic Rapping Hamsters mocking other hamsters who drive toasters and laundry machines? And we all know a hamster wouldn't be able to dunk with that low center of gravity.

Lastly, this one's creepy in a different way:


Sorry about that, here's a "softer" kind of creepy:

See anything delightfully creepy lately?

The Social Network

You all know by now my irrational hatred for Facebook runs deep. Well, I should just get over it since now it is being promoted from temporal internet phenomenon to part of our shared cultural mythology via film. Yes, a movie is being made about Facebook, or more correctly, about Mark Zuckerberg. The "creator" of Facebook, and anti-hero of this film, is played by Jesse Eisenberg, of Zombieland fame. Shenanigans describes him as a more serious Michael Cera and I think that fits precisely. Here is the first trailer I was exposed to.

I also encountered a second trailer via a GeekSpeak episode, which they describe as almost thriller-esque. See here.   Despite my detestation of Facebook, my curiosity is significantly piqued. I will watch this.


During the same episode of GeekSpeak I was turned on to this fake movie trailer advertising the JavaZone 2010 event. Very well done, and believable since they use all the same tropes of this genre and trailer techniques. I'd like to see this movie, even though it doesn't exist, but that's because I'm a Java programmer and it strikes close to home.


What do you think? Should we stick to posting about lolcats and nut-shots instead?

Just Plain Awsome: Improv Everywhere

Do you like the Funny?  Do you like your funny to blindside you when you least expect it, such as on a subway, walking out of a courthouse, sitting in a library, or possibly while eating lunch?  Then you should already know about the geniuses at Improv Everywhere, and you're like "thanks much there Shenanigans, got any news on what Michael Jackson's up to?".  For the rest of us that aren't mean jerks with jerk faces, check out their YouTube Channel, where you will find such brilliant vids as these below:

Star Wars Subway Car



My favorite element is Leia's "Galactic Rebellion for Dummies: Princess Edition".

Who you Gonna Call?



The guy playing Venkman should have announced "Relax folks, we're the Ghostbusters" when they first entered.

I Love Lunch! The Musical



"That looks delicious, wish I could eat lunch twice!".  Ann Curry?!

How do you like your funny?

VSS Enterprise Makes First Crewed Flight

Two pilots made a six hour flight over the Mojave desert Thursday. Starting the first maned flights of the VSS Enterprise. Virgin Galactic estimates beginning commercial flights as early as 2012.

We are heading in the right direction again, finally. Only took 51 years. Imagine what we would have now if we had continued down this line.



P.S. NASA SUCKS.

The Mindblowing, Orgasmic Power of Simple Physics (when on drugs)

Ever seen a rainbow?  Ever seen a rainbow ON WEED?  This apparently simple soul seems to have just discovered the awesome, spirit bursting, orgasmic power that seeing a rainbow literally for the first time.



I'm all for appreciating even the most mundane aspects of Nature's Glory, I've been there myself; you're finally at the mountaintop you've been struggling to climb all morning, you're dizzy with exertion and jacked up on adrenaline, Nature Valley granola bars, and the sense of superiority that comes from thinking that you're one with Gaea.  You look out over the horizon to see the full expression of light refraction from ambient water vapor along the focal plane of the curvature of the Earth known as a Rainbow and you think to yourself, "That's Effing Beautiful!", but the cinematographer of this vid takes it right through to creepy.  I like to imagine that after the clear sweet release he attained from this mystical connection, he turns around to face the horrified stares of dozens of people standing behind him in the parking lot, many of them children and the elderly.

Don't do drugs you can't handle kids.

Happy 5th of July!

I hope ya'll 'Mericans had a great fourth of July and blowed some stuff up real good. If'n you didn't set fire to anything yesterday then yer doin' it wrong. Here's how to do it right next year.

First we've got the solution to those hard to light fireworks. Once again, beer is the solution to all life's problems.

Next we have these guys who put together a "how-to" PSA on the proper way to celebrate the 4th.

Good stuff. Looks like some folks around these parts must have seen that last video and taken notes. Local news covered the following fire related stories: American Legion destroyed, South Eugene Home Burned, and Washington Wild Fire.

Where were you during the fourth of July? Did you set anything on fire? What's your alibi?

Cannibal Troll

I'm a big fan of the stuff they do over at Rocketboom Institute, in particular the Know Your Meme series. No longer do you have to pretend to "get it" when someone posts an image macro on your forum. Now you can discern the masters of the art from the copy-cats. Also, Elspeth Rountree is a peach and always entertaining.

I got my morning lolz watching their most recent video, Troll Bait. I particularly enjoyed the troll family tree on the white board at the end of the video. This is a common comic gag they use to wrap up a meme which never fails to illicit a chuckle from this nerd. Bravo.

There's even a skeptical lesson buried in this video. Enjoy, and I recommend digging through the KYM archives and see how many you recognize. What are some of your favorites?

Ninja Wedding Drummer

I've been encouraged to post something, anything, regardless of how inane and random it may seem rather than wait until a complete article formulates itself in my jumbled mind. Here then I submit this unfiltered wad of internet goofery.

Nothing short of brilliant. As Shenanigans sagely observed on his first viewing, "I bet his band mates hate him. He probably picked up doing this because they play the same sterile numbers all the time". I too cannot help but imagine what this man's life must be like. Is he a frustrated artist trying to transcend the mundanity and monotony of playing the wedding and county fair circuit? Did he once study an ancient martial art at the feet of Tibetan monks on some remote temple on a snow covered peak in order to improve his drumming technique? Is he overcompensating for some soul crushing day job and the only release is completely "rawking out" to tired anthems from the early 80s? I am intrigued, and I hope you are too.

What do you think his story is?

Yob's Steaming Pile of Awesome!

Why, hello there! And welcome to the inaugural edition of Yob's Steaming Pile of Awesome!

I'm your host... Yob. ...get how this works?

In my little corner of Emp-Ego, I pledge to bring you the internet.

No, not the WHOLE internet, that would be absurd! No, just the really funny parts. And not just the old, crusty, used-up funny from yesterday. I'm talking Grade A, Prime Cut, Top Shelf, Freshly-Shat, Steaming Piles of Awesome!

In honor of those who've come before me, I may, from time to time, highlight some of their work here as well, but only when they really deserve it. After all, even the greats can't make funny all the time, and I don't aim to just regurgitate crap from the big boys. I can make funny all on my own, dammit.

Soooo.... off we go!

Steamer #1 comes to us from, hell, God knows where. Looks like some Canadian guy named Frankie. Now, to be fair, Frankie is probably a really sweet kid, but damn if this isn't the funniest freakin' thing I've seen in at LEAST 2 days. (Hey, the net moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you might miss it.)

Anyway, I'll let Frankie do the *ahem* talking:

#2 has been making the rounds on the old intertubers today, and I conclude it might very well be the most honest, compelling and accurate account of the BP Gulf of Mexico oil spill to date. I mean, the attention to detail, the way the actors get inside the heads of the key players involved, hell the overall production value here is incredible. Truly a work of art. ...Oh, who the hell am I kidding?

And finally, #3 comes to us from Tosh.0. Now, like I said, normally I don't regurgitate shit from the big boys. I only make exceptions when it's particularly funny. Why is this funny? I really have no idea! It's an enigma. I just giggled my ass off when I saw it, so now I'm subjecting you to it too. Ain't life grand?!


To quote their original write-up, "I'm not sure where this image originally came from, but if I had to guess, I would guess somewhere fucking awesome."

And that does it for today's Steaming Pile of Awesome! Tune in... whenever I damn well feel like it... for more hard-hitting journa-.... ugh. To hell with that. I bring the funny. You laugh. Deal?