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Entered on: February 18, 2005 12:00 AM by Swerb

So, I'm about a year behind everybody else, and I'm finally watching Penn and Teller's Bullshit on DVD. One of the DVD bonus features included outtakes, one of which featured an interview with this guy, who believed the government was covering up a UFO conspiracy. I think his teeth automatically make him a credible source. Stacy pointed out, "And he's not even British!"

PHOTO 173 - 16 Comments
From: Swerb Entered on: February 18, 2005 6:26 PM
I need to add that, the first time I saw this guy, I laughed so hard, I almost fell off my chair. This picture does zero justice to just how fucking disgusting this guy's mouth is.
From: Ross Entered on: February 19, 2005 8:51 AM
That's classic. Incidentally, the guy who was actually in the episode "in disguise" was a plant, there to fuck with Penn and Teller. I heard him on Stern talking about it. Pretty amusing that no one is exempt from being fucked with.
From: Swerb Entered on: February 19, 2005 11:29 AM
It is a pretty sweet show, although I don't think it's always 100% on the money. I mean, I just watched the "war on drugs" episode, and they talked to the guy who gets pot from the government and has smoked it every day for 20 years for medicinal reasons, and while I think it's certainly ironic and makes a good point, I kept thinking, what effect does inhaling all that smoke have on the guy's lungs? Obviously it's a trade-off compared to his fucked-up bone ailment, but still... and doesn't smoking still impair his judgement? He's a stock trader, for crying out loud, and he smokes during his breaks. Has he ever made a stupid decision because he's high?     I think the whole point of the show is that there are always two sides to an argument, but the truth usually lies somewhere in between.
From: Ross Entered on: February 19, 2005 2:12 PM
Spoken like a true reporter, Swerb. While your last sentence may GENERALLY be accurate, the news media takes it to an extreme. This is why they give so much attention to what creationists have to say. They figure it's just a case of "2 sides to every argument" - but in this case the truth is nowhere near the middle. In science at least, it doesn't work that way.     Anyway, with the drug episode, I think the general point was that outlawing drugs is a waste of time and money. And I agree. But yeah, of course there are drawbacks, just like for legal drugs like alcohol - which isn't outlawed but we all know it impairs you so you shouldn't allow people to operate machinery on either one. Or trade stocks. Not my stocks, anyway.
From: The Bone Entered on: February 19, 2005 4:28 PM
Obviously the "War on Drugs" is a huge debacle. It's an ironclad truth that you must diminish DEMAND that is the only thing which will seriously affect SUPPLY. How do you do this? Legalize drugs and use the billions of dollars previously used to fight the drug cartells to educate and inform people of the serious health and social problems caused by drug addiction. Think education won't work? Look at the anti-smoking campaign. It's gotten a shit ton of people to quick or not start in the first place.     Also, you can use the money on medical research to help break addiction. You'll never get everyone to stop using drugs so you enforce rules like driving under the influence. Businesses will self regulate drug abuse in the workplace just like they don't allow forklift operators a Costco to show up drunk.     I honestly think you will be able make the situation much better overall if you legalize drugs.
From: Swerb Entered on: February 19, 2005 5:00 PM
Bert, you'll note that my statement said the truth USUALLY lies in-between. I think you know where I stand on the creationist argument, or on ouija boards and chiropractors and mind-readers (it's all the same thing, when you get down to it). But with the environment issue, for example, there are doomsayers and naysayers, and I'm not sure if either argument is convincing, although I will lean towards a scientific conclusion every time, because it's still open to be criticized for inaccuracies.     I agree, the news media takes it to the extreme. In fact, the point of several Bullshit episodes is that the more extreme the story, the bigger the headlines, the more people pay attention, and that's how misinformation spreads. And I agree that the war on drugs is complete bunk, because it makes no sense to say alcohol and tobacco are OK, and these drugs over here are bad and evil, and therefore illegal. It's totally arbitrary. Ban 'em all, or don't ban any of 'em, as far as I'm concerned. Of course, with the former, you're getting dangerously close to fascism...
From: Swerb Entered on: February 23, 2005 2:17 PM
So here's a question: Those of you who have seen the Bullshit episode about recycling - have you stopped recycling since watching it? It was a very convincing argument, but I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around the idea of dumping my newspapers in a landfill...
From: Jackzilla Entered on: February 23, 2005 3:52 PM
Swerb, I have a feeling that episode was pretty much on the mark. They DO grow trees for paper. And paper DOES rot efficiently enough in nature. So why are we pushed to recycle it? Is it scientists behind it or soccer moms?     Wasn't tin about the only thing they said was worth the cost of recycling?     Ross - Dig up some facts..
From: Ross Entered on: February 23, 2005 4:48 PM
I was just talking about this yesterday to guys at work, and on Saturday when a friend asked me if I wanted to recycle his beer bottle.     I flat out refuse to recycle paper. It's a net loss of energy, and paper is highly biodegradable and highly renewable. Like Jack said, they have paper farms so it's not like they're cutting down rainforests or something to generate paper.     Glass? It's made out of sand. I don't see us running out of sand anytime soon or much in the way of glass harming the environment.     And yeah, the only thing that seems to make sense is aluminum, only because it's not renewable. I think it's still costs more to recycle it than to get fresh stuff (which is certainly true for paper, plastic, and glass as well) but the difference is it's actually conceivable that we could run out of it someday.     In some cases, it's still worth it to recycle if you live in an area where it's subsidized by your local government and you are already paying taxes to fund it, so you in a sense save money to use the provided bins. But in Chicago, I get none of that, so everything goes in the TRASH.     That's one of my favorite episodes, by the way. Watching those turkeys sort out dirty diapers and whatnot on their front lawns was a howler!     That reminds me, I recently got my hands on Season 2 on DVD, it will undoubtedly cause me to re-watch them all. Great show.
From: The Bone Entered on: February 23, 2005 8:05 PM
I haven't seen a single episode of Bullshit so it sounds like I need to do something about it. I was curious about recycling as it seems like a great idea but when you look at things like energy required to recycle, maybe you do more harm than good. Here's an article by one of the guys Penn and Teller interviewed:     http://www.wasteage.com/mag/waste_bullshit/     He basically states that P and T distorted the truth a little and that, like Swerb has pointed out before, the truth lies somewhere in the middle.     I don't really make an effort to recycle because I'm lazy, but I sure as hell don't try to create any more waste than I have to. Additionally, I'm contemplating purchasing a hybrid for my next vehicle. Either that or a bad ass sports car. Not sure yet.
From: Ross Entered on: February 24, 2005 8:57 AM
Interesting article. I didn't try too hard, but I didn't find out one way or another whether that guy has a vested interest in recycling. Still, I can't help but wonder how much it's ingrained in the American psyche at this point, to the extent that to challenge it is considered crazy.
From: Swerb Entered on: February 24, 2005 9:18 AM
The interesting thing about that episode is that products made from recycled paper just don't seem to be very good, so is it really worth the expense and hassle?     If you live in the city of Grand Rapids, recycling is a service funded by taxes, so I do recycle stuff, and yes, it does save me money because I'm not constantly filling up expensive trash bags. I'm thinking of the big picture here, but I feel obligated to use the service, because I'll pay for it either way.     And yeah, I laughed my ass off when they explained that one of the bins was for "slightly used toilet paper." And those people bought it! Man, I'd like to think, if that was me, I'd laugh those assholes off my lawn... just goes to show, people are willing to do crazy stuff as long as they think they're being environmentally conscious.
From: John Entered on: February 28, 2005 8:31 AM
This is an interesting topic but you've lost sight of the teeth that started it all.
From: Ross Entered on: March 17, 2005 9:22 AM
Good article on recycling (I believe the Bullshit guys used the Cato institute - and possibly this paper) when making their show:     http://www.cato.org/research/articles/taylor-920224 .html
From: Jackzilla Entered on: March 17, 2005 10:02 AM
Bert - that article is from 1992!     "Recycling 50 percent of the solid waste stream by the year 2000" comes off sounding like that Conan skit.     I'd love to read more recent articles on recycling... :)       I do like this excerpt: Acting to "conserve trees" through paper recycling is like acting to "conserve wheat" by cutting back on bread consumption.
From: Ross Entered on: March 17, 2005 10:28 AM
I realize that, but I don't think that much has changed to make this article's message fundamentally any different.