Tuesday Linkpunch: Robots, Punk Superhero Villains, Jews, and Viagra Poppin' Major Leaguers

I'll have a couple more blog posts today, but here are some supplemental topics

• All jokes about Roger Clemens and erections aside, the issue of athletes taking Viagra and other anti-E.D. medicines is actually quite prescient. It was originally developed as a cardiovascular and endurance medicine before it was discovered to have a more marketable secondary effect. Of course, I don't think any drug should be banned unless it has destructive effects on the body (like say, analbolic steroids or heroin). This only shows the ridiculous of the other argument: Viagra may taint many things, but not the competitive balance (hey-o!)
• Richard Silverstein, the man who helped break what is now a somewhat regrettable #2 result on Google for "Ethan Stanislawski", has an excellent post on the Guardian's Comment is Free blog on the trial of Naveed Haq, a mentally disturbed Pakistani-American who open fired on a synagogue, and how it is a model display of the Jewish value placement on justice and tolerance (and how a community of Jews can treat Jewish-Muslim relationships like an adult). The case raises a rather interesting ethical dilemma. American homegrown terrorism is quite rare, and in this case, the man committing a much less systematic attack clearly fits the description of a mentally disturbed individual unaware of the full impact of his actions. But how many terrorists in the Middle East or Europe would also meet this standard in America?
• Rob Horning Talks Shop in the role of evaluative criticism in academia, and he makes a fair case against it, which I mostly agree with. I will reserve further judgment, however until I read the book that inspired the post, Ronan McDonald's The Death of the Critic
• The New Hold Steady album Stay Positive is up and streaming. Snap judgment: not their best, but still pretty damn good.
• Heath Ledger's Joker in The Dark Knight is based in part on Johnny Rotten. Interesting to note that Ledger's costar Gary Oldman, of course, immortalized Sid Vicious in Sid and Nancy. Chris Nolan is arguably my favorite contemporary director, and his taste in music is only helping him earn that title. (h/t: Spinner)
• More Jay Mariotti hate, this time from within the Sun-Times. Mariotti bashing has gotten too easy at this point, but I've done my part by stopping watching Around the Horn.
• An awesome new clip of Wall-E has been posted online, after it premiered during an ABC showing of Finding Nemo. I am totally geeking out over Pixar doing a sci-fi movie, so I apologize: