Why would Paris Hilton be safe in a zombie apocalypse?

Answer: They want braiiiinnnns.

And she certainly doesn't have one. London's 'Metro' newspaper has a report detailing how, through legal documents filed as part of a court case, it has come to light just how air-headed the socialite really is.

Apparently she 'gets a new cell phone, like, every two weeks' and has never seen a phone bill in her life. She was a producer for the 2006 flop 'Pledge This!' (and it is this that the whole court case is about, according to the plaintiffs she failed to promote the film effectively), but when asked about this role, she didn't even know what a producer does! 'Help get cool people in the cast', apparently.

My main issue isn't really with morons like Hilton, if they want to stay stupid and aren't interested in the world around them, fine. However, what really annoys me is that they (either actively or passively) encourage young people to follow in their footsteps! 'Oh, I don't care about science or other subjects because I'll just become a socialite instead of getting a job!'. This is mainly girls, although footballers do exactly the same to teenage boys' brains.

I'm sure that when a new medical procedure or chemical (developed by scientists; those who do care) saves their lives or those of their family, they'll be singing a different tune.
Answer: They want <span style="font-style: italic;">braiiiinnnns</span>.<br /><br />And she <a href="http://www.metro.co.uk/fame/article.html?Files_reveal_Paris_Hiltons_secret_life&in_article_id=650665&in_page_id=7">certainly doesn't have one</a>. London's 'Metro' newspaper has a report detailing how, through legal documents filed as part of a court case, it has come to light just how air-headed the socialite really is.<br /><br />Apparently she 'gets a new cell phone, like, every two weeks' and has never seen a phone bill in her life. She was a producer for the 2006 flop 'Pledge This!' (and it is this that the whole court case is about, according to the plaintiffs she failed to promote the film effectively), but when asked about this role, she didn't even know what a producer <span style="font-style: italic;">does</span>! 'Help get cool people in the cast', apparently.<br /><br />My main issue isn't really with morons like Hilton, if they want to stay stupid and aren't interested in the world around them, fine. However, what really annoys me is that they (either actively or passively) encourage young people to follow in their footsteps! 'Oh, I don't care about science or other subjects because I'll just become a socialite instead of getting a job!'. This is mainly girls, although footballers do exactly the same to teenage boys' brains.<br /><br />I'm sure that when a new medical procedure or chemical (developed by scientists; those who do care) saves their lives or those of their family, they'll be singing a different tune.

A glimmer of hope...

Television is blamed for an awful lot these days: street violence, bad manners, bad eyesight, bad brains, etc. In some ways this is true, in accordance with Sturgeon's Law, 90% of TV programming is utter crap (Big Brother, [somewhere]'s Got Talent, soaps, any celebrity gossip shows).

However, TV can also be a force for good. There are (at least in the UK, I'm not sure about elsewhere) some truly brilliant science-based, informative shows. Last week I watched one of these, and finally thought 'we're making progress'. In the BBC's 'Professor Regan's Medicine Cabinet', the eponymous Imperial College professor puts various medical myths, from health checks to branded drugs, to the test. The show explains the placebo effect and other important scientific concepts in an easy-to-understand manner, and Regan certainly seems to have her head screwed on air-tight when it comes to scientific rigour (even sending off various homeopathy papers for a thorough statistical analysis).

For someone like me who always follows the science, and doesn't swallow anything (both literally and metaphorically) without seeing the proof, it felt good that proper scientific procedure had come to prime time TV. If at least one person watched the show and stopped using 'complementary' therapies, it did some good.

For those of you in the UK, you can watch the show (and the previous one about diets) on the BBC iPlayer. Those elsewhere with a bit of technical savvy could always google for 'uk proxy' and go from there.
Television is blamed for an awful lot these days: street violence, bad manners, bad eyesight, bad brains, etc. In some ways this is true, in accordance with <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sturgeon%27s_law">Sturgeon's Law</a>, 90% of TV programming is utter crap (Big Brother, [somewhere]'s Got Talent, soaps, any celebrity gossip shows).<br /><br />However, TV can also be a force for good. There are (at least in the UK, I'm not sure about elsewhere) some truly brilliant science-based, informative shows. Last week I watched one of these, and finally thought 'we're making progress'. In the BBC's 'Professor Regan's Medicine Cabinet', the eponymous Imperial College professor puts various medical myths, from health checks to branded drugs, to the test. The show explains the placebo effect and other important scientific concepts in an easy-to-understand manner, and Regan certainly seems to have her head screwed on air-tight when it comes to scientific rigour (even sending off various homeopathy papers for a thorough statistical analysis).<br /><br />For someone like me who always follows the science, and doesn't swallow anything (both literally and metaphorically) without seeing the proof, it felt good that proper scientific procedure had come to prime time TV. If at least one person watched the show and stopped using 'complementary' therapies, it did some good.<br /><br />For those of you in the UK, you can watch the show (and the previous one about diets) on <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/search/?q=Professor%20Regan%27s...">the BBC iPlayer</a>. Those elsewhere with a bit of technical savvy could always google for 'uk proxy' and go from there.