This is a site that seriously called the famous Marina City complex in Chicago "The Wilco Towers" because they were once featured on an album cover. Basically pop culture references overshadow real life significance here.

I suppose, but I've only seen "Bride of Pinbot" and it seemed to be basically soft-core porn themed, with the bride gasping suggestively when various targets get hit.

I enjoyed classic 2D computer pinball, starting with 1981's Raster Blaster on the Apple ][ (yes, I'm old), but modern 3D pinball simulates not just the playing field but the machine itself. It's particularly effective in Pinball Arcade as actual classic machines from the 1960s to the 1990s have been recreated, with…

Well, there have been several pinball games themed after The Who's Tommy — 1975's Wizard!, and 1994's The Who's Tommy Pinball Wizard, so they come close to this.

Perhaps we're "so thoroughly convinced of the absolute integrity of their position" because we actually have doctorates in molecular genetics and the like and are tired of people with absolutely no training in biology constantly thinking that their own opinions on genetic engineering or evolution or vaccines are of…

There's no just evidence that medieval people worked in such a rational way. That's why the scientific revolution was such a big deal.

To me, the whole point about Mad Men is the story it tells about society, not so much about the characters other than that they are useful in telling the societal study. It is basically how the world of 1970 is kind of like our society today while the world of 1960 was practically as alien as the 19th century. As a…

No. Medieval agriculture wasn't science in any meaningful way. And no, "long term testing" for no reason isn't science either. The problem with the "organic"/anti-GMO world view is that they don't get that there is no such thing as "natural" and if a GMO tomato can be criticized for not having long term studies done…

That the only food regulations that should have any legal authority should be based on science, not superstition or fetishism of medieval agricultural practices.

No, they avoided that by simply ignoring the *actual* work (by Angel Roffo and others in the 1930s) that showed a direct carcinogenic effect of benzopyrene (a component of "tar"). The point is cancer and tobacco story was never just a facile correlation story — the importance of mechanism was there from the start.

There are regulatory certifications for kosher and halal food as well. Making arbitrary certifications is human nature.

The problem is that there really aren't different contexts here. Like Deepak Chopra and his "quantum healing", I suspect "organic farmers" are purposely hoping that the scientific credibility of the word lends authority to their claims.

Yes, anything based on carbon compounds is organic. Take an organic chemistry class. Like "quantum", "organic" is one of those words with a real scientific meaning that New Agers with liberal arts degrees like to throw around.

What non-scientists don't get is that science isn't just about random empirical testing of correlations— it is about *reasoning* and plausible mechanism. This isn't helped by the crap pop science that gets in the newspapers where, say, coffee is said to be good or bad for you depending on the latest correlation study.…

This is what I think of people who claim to enjoy cooking, making soap and other such "hobbies"

How can you not have seen Jaws? That's just weird. You'd have to purposely go out of your way to avoid it.

No, they are triplets, as The Onion explained

Or maybe he could hire somebody to write a book and call it "Ghostwritten" to confuse fans of yet another David Mitchell…

The average American isn't exactly something to aspire to in any way.

Well, among trailer park folk, no. Educated people tend not to have kids until their thirties…