Links of the Week

Daily Show Smacks GOP for Blocking 9/11 Bill
When Jon Stewart gets angry, that is usually when the Daily Show is at its finest. Thursday's episode is an example of that as the laid a smack down on the GOP who, in a quest to add $900 billion in debt so the rich can get richer, continues to filibuster the 9/11 First Responders bill. The bill would help provide healthcare coverage to the brave men and woman who searched day and night searching for lost loved ones after that tragic day. As Stewart points out, you would think the party that gets outraged, with a huge assist from Fox News, on any little 9/11 related slight would be all over this bill but nope. This is a no brainer. This bill, more than any other, shows beyond doubt that the GOP has only one priority - get the rich richer. If not rich, then you can frankly just go to hell as far as they care. Not much better is the press which continues to show indifference, I guess because it isn't "sexy" enough but more than likely because they can't handle more than one major story in a 24 hour period. Anything then that and their on air talent gets lost. The entire episode should be watched as it begins with Stewart’s outrage, goes into an interview with a few 1st responders and then has Stewart correct so-called religious Mike Huckabee who manufactured excuses for the GOP's behavior but corrected every step of the way by Stewart. Why anyone supports a party that makes it clear that if you don't belong in the top 2% they could give two craps about you is something I will never understand.

Watching Fox News Makes You Stupid
As the graph shows, the more you watch Fox News, the less you know. Since Fox makes its bread and butter by essentially selling the same lie over and over until people believe it is true, can't really say the results are surprising. Still, having a scientific study back it up does not hurt. The study was based on polling 616 voters, finding how much they watched each network and what they knew about certain facts. Emphasis on facts. Not opinion, not policy but actually proven facts. The result is all there on the graph. You watch Fox News, you risk becoming stupid. Need more proof, go chat up a random Tea Partier.

R.I.P. Stargate 1994 - 2010
It is official, SyFy announced that Stargate Universe has been cancelled. Once that last 10 episodes of season 2 air next year, this will be the first time in 16 years that a Stargate wasn't on TV. Historically, SyFy likes to delay cancellation and renewal decisions as long as possible. As a result, the fans typically get screwed as often the decision comes down after the season has wrapped so no closure existing story arcs. To be fair, SGU has been very slow and not terribly interesting so the cancellation is no surprise just the timing sucks. It is a sad day for SyFy as it is unlikely that the franchise will come return as SyFy is now copying the USA Network playbook with light hearted shows combined with a lot of cheap reality shows.

Fringe - Friday Night Re-Animation
Fox takes a tongue in cheek approach to the recent news that Fringe was moving to the Friday 9PM "Death Slot." That slot was made famous by The X-Files but after that it became the place where great shows go to die (think Firefox, Brisco County Jr, and many more). The commercial is an amusing take on the doom talk but the reality is this is likely the shows last season unless the ratings just kick the Friday competition's rear.


Fast Five Teaser Trailer
First look at the fifth movie of the Fast and Furious franchise that brings back most of the principle characters from the previous four films.