The New York Nerd

This was too funny, if you watched the State of The Union Address last night, you undoubtedly saw John McCain sleeping while W spoke about Iraq. In case you missed it, here’s video.

These Americans sure are stupid! What % of this country do you suppose is this dumb and uneducated?

Did McDonalds pay to have this single frame spliced into Iron Chef?

Andy Griffith would be so mad…

This was released in Australia in the 1980’s. The graphic artist put it in as a joke, and it ran until somebody noticed it on a delivery truck. The artist was fired and sued and all promo material with this image was recalled. Verified by Snopes

Mike Judge’s hilarious new movie, Idiocracy, is available complete and uncut on Google Video. This movie was great, it’s about how evolution is taking a turn for the worse and humans become dumber and dumber. It’s really well done, check it out

Who was Harry Bingham and why is he on a postage stamp?

A few months ago, Secretary of State Colin Powell gave a posthumous award for “constructive dissent” to Hiram (or Harry) Bingham, IV. For over fifty years, the State Department resisted any attempt to honor Bingham. For them he was an insubordinate member of the US diplomatic service, a dangerous maverick who was eventually demoted. Now, after his death, he has been officially recognized as a hero.

Bingham came from an illustrious family. His father (on whom the fictional character Indiana Jones was based) was the archeologist who unearthed the Inca City of Machu Picchu, Peru, in 1911. Harry entered the US diplomatic service and, in 1939, was posted to Marseilles, France, as American Vice-Consul.

The USA was then neutral and, not wishing to annoy Marshal Petain’s puppet Vichy regime, President Roosevelt’s government ordered its representatives in Marseilles not to grant visas to any Jews. Bingham found this policy immoral and, risking his career, did all in his power to undermine it.

In defiance of his bosses in Washington, he granted over 2,500 USA visas to Jewish and other refugees, including the artists Marc Chagall and Max Ernst and the family of the writer Thomas Mann. He also sheltered Jews in his Marseilles home, and obtained forged identity papers to help Jews in their dangerous journeys across Europe. He worked with the French underground to smuggle Jews out of France into Franco’s Spain or across the Mediterranean and even contributed to their expenses out of his own pocket. In 1941, Washington lost patience with him. He was sent to Argentina, where later he continued to annoy his superiors by reporting on the movements of Nazi war criminals.

Eventually, he was forced out of the American diplomatic service completely. Bingham died almost penniless in 1988. Little was known of his extraordinary activities until his son found some letters in his belongings after his death. He has now been honored by many groups and organizations including the United Nations and the State of Israel.

This is the guy who does Trend Spotting on The Daily Show, his standup is real funny

This was a great show, funny stuff…