Let us tell you why this video works. This video works because it’s the closest thing we’ve seen of its kind to a B. Kliban drawing. That is why this video works.

[via Know Your Meme]

Title: “The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History”

Author: Elizabeth Kolbert

Rank: 6

Blurb: “Over the last half a billion years, there have been five mass extinctions, when the diversity of life on earth suddenly and dramatically contracted. Scientists around the world are currently monitoring the sixth extinction, predicted to be the most devastating extinction event since the asteroid impact that wiped out the dinosaurs. This time around, the cataclysm is us.”

Review: “Humans pushing other species off the brink is nothing new.”

Customers Also Bought: “Jonathan Swift: His Life and His World”

Footnote: Meanwhile, as Pareene observes, Meet the Press this morning features a “debate” over climate change between “a professional children’s entertainer and a Republican member of Congress.” The world is Rome, and we are all Nero.

The Sixth Extinction [Amazon]

Buy or Die [Stinque@Amazon Kickback Link]

One moment you’re touching the sky, the next moment you’re wallowing in a pigsty. If you’ve ever wondered what a fall from grace really looks like, wonder no more.

[via Know Your Meme]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DG5YcGSE1qI

We suppose we should be Distressed! at the (apparent) danger this freewheeling Russian daddy subjects his child to, although given the limited dashcam view, for all we know they’re alone in an empty parking lot the size of Siberia.

But watch the kid’s face. We haven’t looked like that since we rode the Hamster Wheel at Belmont Park with a fellow Stinquer last summer.

[via Know Your Meme]

Title: “Man’s Search for Meaning”

Author: Viktor E. Frankl

Rank: 91

Blurb: “Psychiatrist Viktor Frankl’s memoir has riveted generations of readers with its descriptions of life in Nazi death camps and its lessons for spiritual survival. Between 1942 and 1945 Frankl labored in four different camps, including Auschwitz, while his parents, brother, and pregnant wife perished. Based on his own experience and the experiences of others he treated later in his practice, Frankl argues that we cannot avoid suffering but we can choose how to cope with it, find meaning in it, and move forward with renewed purpose. Frankl’s theory — known as logotherapy, from the Greek word logos (‘meaning’) — holds that our primary drive in life is not pleasure, as Freud maintained, but the discovery and pursuit of what we personally find meaningful.”

Review: “I am not familiar with this book. Did I order it? I cannot make an accurate assessment of this book.” (Amazon Verified Purchase)

Customers Also Bought: “The Stranger”, by Albert Camus

Read more »

Title: “Happy Valentine’s Day, Mouse!”

Authors: Laura Numeroff and Felicia Bond

Rank: 40

Blurb: “Join Mouse from If You Give a Mouse a Cookie as he celebrates Valentine’s Day with all the friends he loves.”

Reviews:

“No storyline. Waste of money.”

“The story is overly simplistic, with barely one sentence per page.”

“I’m sorry, but this story is stupid.”

“I felt it was purely a way to make money.”

“Highly discourage anyone from buying this book.”

“I am really surprised at how many negative reviews there are for this book.”

Customers Also Bought: “Happy St. Patrick’s Day, Curious George”

Footnote: Children’s books are festering like Hallmark cards.

Happy Valentine’s Day, Mouse! [Amazon]

Buy or Die [Stinque@Amazon Kickback Link]

[Daily Mail]