Evening roundup

• Warren Ellis continues to recommend Brew Dog beer. I wonder if there's any in New Zealand. Latest iteration: Brew Dog somehow manages to brew an 18.2% alcohol beer, then lets the wowsers do the marketing for them. Brew Dog responds. If you don't know what to get me for Christmas...


• Patri Friedman uses D&D dice to help combat procrastination. Faced with distraction, rolls a saving throw. If he passes, he keeps working. Awesome.


• Megan McArdle points out some of the problems with healthism (HT: Cheryl Cline):

  Fat people are a problem! They’re killing themselves, and our budget! We must stop them! And what if people won’t do it voluntarily? Because let’s face it, so far, they won’t. Making information, or fresh vegetables, available, hasn’t worked–every intervention you can imagine on the voluntary front, and several involuntary ones, has already been tried either in supermarkets or public schools. Americans are getting fat because they’re eating fattening foods, and not exercising. How far are we willing to go beyond calorie labelling on menus to get people to slim down?
  
  These aren’t just a way to save on health care; they’re a way to extend and expand the cultural hegemony of wealthy white elites. No, seriously. Living a fit, active life is correlated with being healthier. But then, as an economist recently pointed out to me, so is being religious, being married, and living in a small town; how come we don’t have any programs to promote these “healthy lifestyles”?

  Just wait, it will come.


• What can happen when content owners don't rush for the lawyers when somebody uses their song on YouTube