Javabeans!

In the next couple of years there'll be remakes of Death Wish and Karate Kid!

Actually, the Karate Kid remake ("Kung Fu Kid") should be pretty good. It's got Jackie Chan as the teacher, and Will Smith's son as the lead. It's being coproduced in Hollywood and China. Somebody's making an effort for this one!

Is waterboarding "torture"?

Most people reading this will likely think, "Java has been smoking his coffee instead of drinking it" -- but hear me out.

First, I'll say up front that waterboarding is certainly excessive torment, abhorrent, inexcusable, and should be illegal. I'm strictly talking definitions here, not morality. With the moral issue, we're probably in agreement here.

The problem is this: The basic definition of torture is the causing of extreme physical pain. Common usage goes beyond this to include doing pretty much anything extremely bad to someone. Expressions that were originally hyperbole (such as "This math exam is torture!") have become common to the point of acceptance, rather than exageration. The word has changed in some people's minds to mean any level of discomfort (physical or otherwise) inflicted on another.

The mental/emotional version of torture is torment, though it's my understanding that torment is not necessarily extreme.

So waterboarding may qualify as "torture" in common usage, but by the root definition, it doesn't qualify because the aim of waterboarding is fear, not pain. Language loophole.

Still, whether or not it's "torture," it's barbaric, eh?

I read a Sci-Fi convention group here on good'ol'LJ, and a recent post indicated that Patrick Stewart will be attending an upcoming con. If you want a picture with him, he'll charge you $200. WTH?

I have never understood the idea of charging for autographs. Maybe you could argue that it limits the length of the line, that only true fans would get the autograph if there was a fee involved, while those who only want to sell it on e-bay would abstain. So what you do is punish the loyal fanbase?

Feel free to ignore or discuss.

Last night one of Disney's monorail trains hit another, leaving on monorail driver dead. Five passengers were treated at the scene.

article from MSN

It seems a guy was selling pot in chicken mcnugget boxes.

wtopnews article

It seems that any review of a board game, movie, or book has to talk about the tropes used. This is a word that goes back to ancient Greece, but until about a year ago, I'd never heard of it. Have I been oblivious, or has "trope" only recently become *the* buzzword needed to get a review published?

I know as much about soccer as I do about raising chickens. But even *I* know that it's a BIG DEAL when the USA is up 2-0 over Brazil early in the game.

From a math group I read, it0376 has the following text icon:

"the number you have dialed is imaginary. Please rotate your phone by 90 degrees and try again."

I snorttled.

Apparently Michael Jackson was rushed to the hospital in Los Angeles. He was not breathing, and the paramedics performed CPR before transporting him. No details yet.

brief article clicky

After her long and much publicized struggle with cancer, Farrah Fawcett has passed away at age 62.

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