Thanks Brad.

Brad Pitt announced Wednesday that he would donate $100,000 to support gay marriage equality in California. Celebrity opinion on social and political issues is markedly more important when it involves money. You can donate to "No on 8", an organization against Proposition 8 in CA:

"Prop 8 would re-write our California Constitution to provide that only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California -- denying gays and lesbians the respect, dignity and responsibility that come with marriage."

So say no to 8. If we lose California other states don't have a chance---supporting civil rights in CA right now means supporting civil rights across the nation for years to come.

This Quorn Quontains...

Ew.

This is totally not new to news, but something I've never heard before. I love me some vegetarian meat substitutes--I used to be really into Morningstar Products, and now mostly Boca. I've never tried Quorn, but I've heard quite a lot about its deliciousness over the years.

The widely held belief has been that Quorn was a mushroom based burger (mushrooms and soy being very common bases for meatless products), but it came out a couple years ago that the "mushroom base" was actually a shroom imposter.

The base of the product is a processed mold. Yeah. I said it. Sick, right?

Below, a savvy customer did some research after getting sick from the product:

"The mycoprotein that is in Quorn is called “Fusarium Venenatum”. It is a moldy fungus that is grown in large fermentation tanks by the Quorn corporation. Under certain conditions, “Fusarium venenatum” can morph into toxins known as trichothecene mycotoxins, causing nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. Quorn products have sickened hundreds of people. CSPI has been gathering their sickening stories and sharing them on their website. They also are pushing for the removal of Quorn products from store shelves."

Um. Not only are those words I can't pronounce, but they are definitely words I don't want to eat. From their website, Quorn seems to be up and running...but I certainly won't be venturing into their meatless lands any time soon.

A little short on rent?

Just check your piggy bank and you might be as lucky as these folks.

Pretty awesome.

Green Screen on John McCain?

Last night, John McCain spoke at the RNC, and aside from his unsurprisingly boring speech and inanimate robot face, there was a mysterious green screen behind his head... as visible in this video, part one of the borefest:



I thought it was a little odd when I was watching it. Strange to shoot on a green screen like a movie set, strange to make yourself look more mechanical by removing all reminders of reality from the shot. Just strange.

But this afternoon I read something that converts that strangeness into absolute hilarity. Talking Points Memo notes that McCain wasn't talking in front of a green screen...it was just a bad close up on the grassy knoll of a large mansion-like building. Was McCain speaking in front of a photo of one of his very own mansions? At, first no one was sure. This building was recently identified as "Walter Reed Middle School, in North Hollywood, California. Wow. Thats even stranger.

Unless...someone was trying to place a picture of Walter Reed Army Hospital and just failed in their google search? I dont know...but its a pretty hilarious theory. Check out the full article (with pictures) here.