Only five years or so late, RedLetterMedia has finally released its critique of the final installment of the Star Wars prequels. And it was actually worth the wait.

Our population doesn’t sound so massive when it’s in those terms, does it? Nor when it is explained that, shoulder to shoulder, the world’s population could fit in Los Angeles. If only we didn’t eat, burn, and crap so much, we could totally sustain this species.

Another TheraminTrees piece, this one on conformity studies. Particularly of note, was the Weaver study, which established that hearing something multiple times makes it more convincing even if you are hearing it repeated by the same source. Could Fox News and friends have incorporated this bit of social engineering into their broadcasting style any more obviously?

Greg Gets a Mortgage (and Becomes an Adult), Russ Gets a Bear (and Becomes a Psychic), Storey Gets a Twin (and Becomes a Skeptic), Kobe Bryant and Jimmy Kimmel Destroy Society One Video Game at a Time, The Meppers Get Immersed, and Everything is Awesome In Sloooooowwww-Moooooo.

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An old Fry and Laurie sketch that may be more prophetic than they anticipated.

Scientists at the California Institute of Technology claim to be one step closer to mimicking plant-like energy production in the lab. Apparently using a Cesium-Oxygen-Nitrogen mixture, they can create a potent fuel from scratch using concentrated sunlight as the only catalyst.

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A clear and thorough explanation of what is meant by ‘austerity’ measures to make an economy more competitive. In a phrase, it is to intentionally lower the standard of living of a populace, to convince people to accept lower wages, less benefits, and less job security in the interests of maximizing corporate profits. A valuable companion article to this video can be found on The Daily Kos.

Here’s some needed Monday fare. It’s an Alan Watts lecture snippet about nothingness. I’ve read a fair amount of Watts since college, and I find him to be the most effective philosopher at temporarily separating the reader from his or her daily routine, and allowing for some metaphysical reflection. Of course, just as nothingness exists in balance with existence, Alan Watts readings should exist in balance with more concrete studies, applicable to the real world. But, for a rainy, Christmas Angst-filled, consumerist Monday, a little Wattsian etherealism may be in order.

Though it isn’t quite a tricorder, Patrick Stewart’s life is now dependent on his iPhone. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got to get a block of cheese from the replicator.

And--scene.

Admittedly, my non-Celtic fan Mep friends may disagree…but this picture, taken right after Paul Pierce’s game winning shot against the resurgent but still not rival New York Knicks, is priceless.  (Not pictured: Nate Robinson almost killing himself jumping over Pierce, and Spike Lee almost killing himself in an apoplectic fury off camera as Kevin Garnett bows to him.  Who says civility is dead?)