Sporadic Public Relations

Under the motto “Love with your heart, use you head for everything else”, Captain Disillusion is a superhero for the 21st Century. With a devoted following on YouTube, this admirable crusader is dedicated to debunking fake videos and pictures. The internet, where bogus media is ubiquitous and gullible people even more so, has long supplied him with ample material. But he has now begun to take on fallacious and fanciful news stories.

In the two videos below, Captain Disillusion blasts the London Evening Standard and CNN (the pillar of respectable journalism that it is); if you enjoy these videos, make sure you go on to watch his other videos.

WARNING: This post has yet to receive a rating from the proper authorities.

A recent Xinhua article on the subject of China’s refusal to implement a films rating system includes some very entertaining remarks by a government official. Imagethief took the opportunity to chime in with the appropriate amount of snark the comments deserve; his post, Movie ratings will put China on the express train to pornoville: Official, is very entertaining and definitely worth reading if you haven’t already. From Xinhua:

China won’t adopt a film rating system for the moment, the publications watchdog said.

Liu Binjie, General Administration of Press and Publications (GAPP) director, told reporters here on Tuesday that the country will not take the measure until “the market has been completely standardized”, the New Express report.

There were two major concerns for the decision, he said. First, film rating was still a topic “too sensitive” for the general public. Secondly, China had yet to build a mature and orderly film market.

“Under the current circumstances, a film rating system equals legalizing the mass production of pornographic publications,” Liu said.

While the official’s reasons for opposing a film rating system are nonsensical, it appears that there is still legitimate motivation (from the government’s point of view) for rejecting such a system.

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It never takes long on CNN.com to find something truly offensive to the intellect, most often found in the site’s “Living” section. Today, however, it came straight from the King himself. From Larry King Live:

Do childhood vaccinations cause or contribute to autism? That’s the question at the center of a case involving an Atlanta girl. The answer may come today. Meet the 9-year-old and her family who are challenging medical and government experts. A Larry King Exclusive!

I was going to sit this one out, thinking that any rational adult would be able to make up their mind. I mean, it is wild speculation versus peer-reviewed science; which would you trust your child’s life to? But at the time of this writing, the CNN.com Live Poll showed that 80% of roughly 9,700 people stated they believed vaccinations cause or contribute to autism*. Below the poll was the necessary disclaimer “This is not a scientific poll”. Damn straight it isn’t.

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WARNING: Post awash in asinine nautical puns.

I know that I really missed the boat on this one, but I thought it was worth mentioning even if I am a few months behind. A new company specialising in kites for ships has started making waves in the shipping industry. From Reuters:

…two fast-growing German companies have worked together developing a high-tech kite system to pull enormous ships across the oceans — and save enormous amounts of money.

The 132 meter (433 ft) long MV “Beluga SkySails” will make its maiden voyage in January across the Atlantic to Venezuela, up to Boston and back to Europe. It will be pulled by a giant computer-guided 500,000-euro ($725,000) kite tethered to a 15-metre high mast.

Reading this, I can’t help but believe that this is exactly where the future of environmentalism needs to go.

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