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Great Leap Forward
With the Chinese minister of extreme sports in attendance, American skateboarder
Danny Way cleared a 61-foot gap at nearly 50 mph, crossing the Great Wall of China. "I'm not a fan of heights," said Way, 31, who made five successive jumps. "The sooner I can get down from the top in one piece, the better." Daredevil sports have taken off in China, where
Flying Over the Wall events began 10 years ago, but this was the first skateboarder to make an attempt. In 2002, a Chinese bicyclist died attempting to
jump the wall when he landed outside the safety area.
posted to MetaFilter by rcade
at 7:05 AM on July 10, 2005
(21 comments)
Numbered Among the Dead
The life's work of Marla Ruzicka, a 28-year-old American activist, had become door-to-door polling in Iraq to assess the number of civilian casualties of the war. She became one on Sunday, dying in a
suicide bomb attack. "The Marines have nicknamed me Cluster Bomb Girl because I would hear of places where they had gone off," she said in a
2003 interview, "and I would ask them to help me clear the area."
posted to MetaFilter by rcade
at 6:03 AM on April 18, 2005
(55 comments)
Two weeks from today, John Kerry will win the popular vote by "23% or more" over George W. Bush, according to
5 Star Psychic Advice. See if you can do better than the spirit world by predicting the electoral and popular vote totals in the
second quadrennial MetaFilter Presidential Contest ...
posted to MetaFilter by rcade
at 9:56 AM on October 19, 2004
(129 comments)
A longtime Jacksonville weblogger normally devoted to wonky subjects like his
blogging software made a
frank public admission on his weblog recently: "I had an affair with another woman. My wife was a severe depressive and I was uncaring and unfeeling towards her when she needed me the most."
posted to MetaFilter by rcade
at 6:52 AM on July 29, 2004
(55 comments)
Let's have a moment of silence to remember
Creed, the
widely reviled band whose attorney once offered this
inspired defense to a fan lawsuit: "You can't bring a lawsuit against a band for sucking."
posted to MetaFilter by rcade
at 10:51 AM on June 6, 2004
(142 comments)
California voters recall Gov. Gray Davis
55-45 percent and elect Arnold Schwarzenegger with
45 percent of the replacement vote. That's where the money is in the
Iowa Political Markets for tomorrow's recall election. To see how well MetaFilter's pundits fare in predicting the results, I'm offering a bribe ...
posted to MetaFilter by rcade
at 9:54 AM on October 6, 2003
(117 comments)
A
trademark infringement lawsuit has been filed by the owners of the
Dewey Decimal System against New York's
Library Hotel, which numbers and fills rooms based on the system: "Each of the 10 guestrooms floors honors one of the 10 categories of the DDC and each of the 60 rooms is uniquely adorned with a collection of books and art exploring a distinctive topic within the category or floor it belongs to." Call early to book Room
800.001.
posted to MetaFilter by rcade
at 6:22 AM on September 21, 2003
(53 comments)
The
cover of the Sept. 4, 2003,
Rolling Stone declares Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen "
America's favorite fantasy," joining the publisher of
Olsen Twins Countdown and
Howard Stern in celebration of jailbait. "What were once adorable pre-pubescent girls on the hit series
Full House are now the forbidden fruits of blossoming teenage sexuality." (Via
Eschaton.)
posted to MetaFilter by rcade
at 6:34 AM on August 14, 2003
(137 comments)
"Twenty-two years ago, late in the evening one night in March of 1981, to be specific, my mother was killed in an auto accident on Foothill Boulevard in a town called Claremont." Talking Points Memo author Joshua Marshall, one of the best-known political webloggers, takes an
unexpected personal detour.
posted to MetaFilter by rcade
at 7:56 AM on June 14, 2003
(4 comments)
One of the more interesting Senate races in 2004 is shaping up in Florida, where
everyone but the electorate appears to know that Republican U.S. Rep. Mark Foley is gay. This open secret -- which would help explain how a "dream come true" right-wing politician has a strong gay-rights voting record -- calls into question whether respecting a person's right to "stay in the closet"
perpetuates the idea that homosexuality is abnormal. (Via
Eschaton).
posted to MetaFilter by rcade
at 7:20 AM on May 9, 2003
(80 comments)
The denizens of
Fark are having a crisis of conscience after one of their members
died in a car accident. There are only a few holdouts against the
outpouring of sympathy from the biliously sarcastic community. "Farkers, seriously - where's your irreverence?" asked Labberdasher. "Not one 'he should have gone for a Darwin award' ... ?"
posted to MetaFilter by rcade
at 5:31 AM on February 5, 2003
(60 comments)
The
inventor of the term blog is giving up his verb. "I've gotta do something else with this site," says
Peter Merholz, who began one of the first 25 weblogs in May 1998. "More essays. No blogging."
posted to MetaFilter by rcade
at 3:52 PM on February 3, 2003
(25 comments)
"Sometimes I question the wisdom of continuing on in a profession that is under siege and under valued. I am aging, I am tired and some days I don’t know how I can continue to teach the newest and brightest of our profession." Part of an
essay written last year by
Cheryl McGaffic, one of the nursing professors
killed by a disgruntled student at the University of Arizona yesterday.
posted to MetaFilter by rcade
at 6:02 AM on October 29, 2002
(13 comments)
"While many intelligent people read the site and are not seduced by its methods, the overall effect is to build a self-reinforcing community of aggrieved partisans and to help break down taboos ... against the rhetorical viciousness promoted. The editors' claim that their actions are a justified response to the tactics used by others is both insufficient and, ultimately, circular."
Spinsanity describes
MediaWhoresOnline, or
FreeRepublic, or
WarBlogger Watch, or
Lucianne.Com, or
Smirking Chimp, or
Little Green Footballs, or ...
posted to MetaFilter by rcade
at 9:35 AM on August 15, 2002
(27 comments)
"The
Associated Press, which usually does not report names of sexual assault victims, stopped identifying the girls by name after authorities said they had been raped. The AP resumed reporting Marris' name Friday after she came forward and used Brooks' name after she appeared on national television Monday."
Richard Roeper and the
Los Angeles Times cover the media decision to cover rape differently than other crimes.
posted to MetaFilter by rcade
at 10:46 AM on August 5, 2002
(41 comments)
"What are we to make of the fact that the Fearless Leader of the Free World, a man brave enough to challenge terrorists in 80 nations to worldwide war, requires a general anesthetic for a routine colonoscopy?"
Spectator magazine columnist David Steinberg
raises a stink. (Found on
Flutterby!)
posted to MetaFilter by rcade
at 11:12 AM on July 20, 2002
(21 comments)
At Si Tanka Huron University, a school of 400 in South Dakota, as many as 50 people may have been exposed to HIV by having sex with an HIV-positive basketball player or two of the women he slept with, according to today's
New York Times.
posted to MetaFilter by rcade
at 8:51 AM on May 1, 2002
(22 comments)
During Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah's visit to Crawford, Texas, this week, his representatives asked the FAA for his flights to be worked
only by male air traffic controllers, according to today's
Dallas Morning News.
posted to MetaFilter by rcade
at 11:21 AM on April 27, 2002
(13 comments)
Chris Pirillo abruptly
shut down LockerGnome's Usenet discussion groups because of the volume of criticism he was receiving over a new project,
GnomeTomes. "Shout your hatred for all things 'me' from the rooftops," he writes. "but don't do it on my damn roof." Would you provide a
forum where people are free to slag you?
posted to MetaFilter by rcade
at 4:44 AM on April 5, 2002
(17 comments)
In what can only be described as top-notch hit-whoring,
Shift magazine has compiled a list of the Web's
25 most interesting personalities. Let the thinly veiled resentment commence.
posted to MetaFilter by rcade
at 7:11 AM on February 6, 2002
(18 comments)
May
auld grievance be forgot: "I'm sorry I haven't spoken to you in 10 years," Mark Pilgrim wrote
today to fellow weblogger
Eric Soroos. "I forgive you. Please forgive me."
posted to MetaFilter by rcade
at 9:16 AM on January 1, 2002
(10 comments)
The world of
annoying advertising mascots took a hit yesterday with the
death of Carrie Donovan, the goggle-eyed fashion doyenne who appeared in 42 Old Navy commercials. I'll remember the performance fleece jingle on my deathbed. Were those ads the
worst commercials ever?
posted to MetaFilter by rcade
at 6:14 AM on November 13, 2001
(62 comments)
Monday is the last day to declare your intention to write a 50,000-word novel during
National Novel Writing Month (Nov. 1-30). "Dubious fiction writers from all nations are invited to participate," says organizer Chris Baty. So far, around 3,000 writers have pledged to bring 150 million new words into the world.
posted to MetaFilter by rcade
at 7:15 AM on October 28, 2001
(103 comments)
Yahoo made a subtle change to its site today to
raise awareness about a cancer that will be diagnosed in 192,000 women in the U.S. this year.
posted to MetaFilter by rcade
at 8:01 AM on October 2, 2001
(20 comments)
Joshua Marshall, a liberal pundit who publishes the
Talking Points weblog, makes a spirited attempt in the
New York Post to defend President Bush's statement that "our terrorist enemies attacked because they hate freedom and democracy."
posted to MetaFilter by rcade
at 5:56 AM on September 22, 2001
(22 comments)
"We should invade their countries, kill their leaders and convert them to Christianity."
Ann Coulter, as always an island of calm reflection.
posted to MetaFilter by rcade
at 8:21 AM on September 13, 2001
(96 comments)
'Oh my God they are jumping.' The British press covers the attacks with an emphasis on the people who jumped [
graphic photo advisory]. I noticed the same thing watching BBC World on cable Tuesday -- is the U.S. press showing restraint with images like this?
posted to MetaFilter by rcade
at 8:23 PM on September 12, 2001
(39 comments)
The Bush White House spent up to $250,000 on a fireworks show last night without publicizing it beforehand to keep the public away, according to
Matt Drudge. (Check out the fireworks this is generating among a few
surprisingly irate members of FreeRepublic.Com.)
posted to MetaFilter by rcade
at 7:04 AM on September 6, 2001
(21 comments)
"I am not a Bush Republican," Alan Keyes wrote Saturday for
WorldNetDaily. "The Bush administration is skillfully lobotomizing the moral conservative cause in America because it is unwilling or afraid to take the positions that are best for America."
posted to MetaFilter by rcade
at 6:10 AM on September 2, 2001
(24 comments)
Atlantic Monthly has dubbed
Joe Clark "the king of closed captions" for 25 years of volunteer work to improve the quality of
captioned TV programming and other accessible media. Who else on MetaFilter has a double life as an altruistic hobbyist?
posted to MetaFilter by rcade
at 5:56 AM on August 24, 2001
(4 comments)
Slate's Mickey Kaus and the
Washington Post ask the question: For all the claims of illegal monopolies and unfair advantage, is the tech industry counting on Microsoft and Windows XP's Oct. 25 release to save its bacon?
posted to MetaFilter by rcade
at 8:30 AM on July 30, 2001
(19 comments)
See Summer Swing Dance is dedicated to the art and spirit of Summer Brannin, a remarkable 21-year-old woman who died of cancer. And before anyone
asks ...
posted to MetaFilter by rcade
at 12:00 PM on May 22, 2001
(3 comments)
The plot sickens. The last thread on the
Kaycee Nicole hoax appears to be throttling MetaFilter, so I'm publishing this link for those who are still playing along at home.
posted to MetaFilter by rcade
at 9:43 AM on May 21, 2001
(227 comments)
A Jacksonville aviation company and others are making daily prayer meetings, chaplains and burning frankincense a
permanent part of the workplace. Should we thank God, or pray this doesn't happen where we work?
posted to MetaFilter by rcade
at 9:16 AM on May 9, 2001
(29 comments)
