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mefi
A
jury in Georgia this week awarded a woman $150,000 after she sued her fiancé for breaking off their engagement three days before the wedding....Adding insult to injury, the groom-to-be, Wayne Gibbs, informed his intended, RoseMary Shell, of his decision by leaving her a note in the bathroom." Shell
sued for breach of contract ..."[She] said she has suffered emotionally since their breakup." "Gibbs testified that
he paid $30,000 of Shell's debt while they were engaged" and "argues he got cold feet after he found out Shell hid [other] debts from him." [
video | 0:50] She refutes Gibbs's claim that she was swimming in debt. [
video | 03:33].
posted to MetaFilter by ericb
at 8:23 AM on July 25, 2008
(69 comments)
"It's not just the American dollar that's losing value. The Environmental Protection Agency has decided that an American life isn't worth what it used to be. The
value of a statistical life is $6.9 million in today's dollars, the [EPA] reckoned in May -- a drop of nearly $1 million from just five years ago."
posted to MetaFilter by ericb
at 10:48 PM on July 10, 2008
(31 comments)
"Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) was in Denver, CO, today for a town hall meeting. The event, at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts, was billed as '
open to the public.' Yet Carole Kreck, a 61-year-old librarian carrying a 'McCain=Bush' sign,
was taken away by police [on orders from McCain's security detail] for trespassing. A police officer told Kreck:
'You have two choices. You can keep your sign here and receive a ticket for trespassing, or you can remove the sign and stay in line and attend this town hall meeting.'
Kreck received a ticket for trespassing and her court date is July 23."
*.
Video of Kreck's encounter with the police.
posted to MetaFilter by ericb
at 5:24 PM on July 7, 2008
(171 comments)
Jezebel.com editor on
why she hasn't been raped: "I think it has to do with the fact that I'm like smart. I don't hang around with frat guys" -- a quote from
Jezebelism: Lizz Winstead's interview with
Moe Tkacik and
Tracie Egan (aka
Slut Machine). Winstead's intent was "to have a conversation about Hillary and sexism, women’s magazines and if they feel any obligation to write about responsibility and safety when they write graphically about their sex lives." After the interview Winstead stated: "I don’t know if they came to the show drunk, or just ended up drunk by the time they hit the stage, but what I do know is that the discussion that ensued was deeply disturbing to me..."
posted to MetaFilter by ericb
at 1:56 PM on July 6, 2008
(183 comments)
"One in five U.S. workers regularly attends after-work drinks with co-workers, where the most common mishaps range from bad-mouthing another worker to kissing a colleague and drinking too much, according to
a study released on Tuesday."
* And "why do workers go to happy hour? The majority (82 percent) of workers report that they attend happy hour to bond with their co-workers, while another 20 percent find it to be a great way to network. Fifteen percent of workers said they attend to hear the latest office gossip, while 13 percent only go because they feel obligated to be there. One-in-ten workers (11 percent) use happy hour as a way to bond with their boss"
posted to MetaFilter by ericb
at 4:03 PM on June 24, 2008
(76 comments)
"On a Monday morning last month, highway patrol officers visited 20 classrooms at El Camino High School
[Oceanside, California] to announce some horrible news: Several students had been killed in car wrecks over the weekend. Classmates wept. Some became hysterical. A few hours and many tears later, though, the pain turned to fury when the teenagers learned that it was all a hoax — a scared-straight exercise designed by school officials to dramatize the consequences of drinking and driving." While the school defends its actions, some students are protesting: "
Death is real. Don't play with our emotions."
posted to MetaFilter by ericb
at 5:13 PM on June 12, 2008
(138 comments)
This past weekend the St. Paul Saints, Minnesota's minor league baseball team, did away with the traditional "bobblehead" giveaway day. Instead they handed out "
bobble foot"
dolls in honor of Idaho Senator Larry "I am not gay" Craig who was busted for soliciting sex in an MSP International airport bathroom while waiting to change planes for Idaho. "The
baseball team [
said] the promotion, which coincide[d] with National Tap Dance Day, is 'in tribute to all their toe-tapping friends and fans from around the nation who may ever have set foot in Minneapolis-St. Paul… even for just a change of planes." As
reported on CNN [video | 2:18], people were lined up at 10 a.m. for a 7p.m. game so they could get one of these unique mementos.
posted to MetaFilter by ericb
at 5:09 PM on May 29, 2008
(20 comments)
Emory University English Professor
Mark Bauerlein's
new book,
The Dumbest Generation:
How the Digital Age Stupefies Young Americans and Jeopardizes Our Future posits that "[t]he dawn of the digital age once aroused our hopes: the Internet, e-mail, blogs, and interactive and ultra-realistic video games promised to yield a generation of sharper, more aware, and intellectually sophisticated children....we assumed that teens would use their know-how and understanding of technology to form the vanguard of this new, hyper-informed era. That was the promise. But the enlightenment didn’t happen. The technology that was supposed to make young adults more astute, diversify their tastes, and improve their minds had the opposite effect."
Some beg to differ. An
interview with Mark Bauerlein; Bauerlein on
CBS News.
posted to MetaFilter by ericb
at 9:09 AM on May 14, 2008
(112 comments)
NASA invites you to join this autumn's lunar exploration with the opportunity to send your name to the moon. Your name will be included in a database contained on a microchip and placed aboard the
Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (
LRO) spacecraft. Submit your name
here.
posted to MetaFilter by ericb
at 5:43 PM on May 9, 2008
(29 comments)
"We Nathaniel Mulliken, Philip Russell, [and 32 other men], All of lawful age, and inhabitants of Lexington, in the County of Middlesex...do testify and declare, that on the nineteenth [of April] in the morning,
being informed that...
a body of regulars were marching from Boston towards Concord...and soon found
that a large body of troops were marching towards us...whilst our backs were turned on the troops,
we were fired on by them, and a number of our men were instantly killed and wounded..."
* Thus "
the shot heard around the world"
[video | 10:01] led American colonialists (eventually with
the help of the French)
on the path to founding a new nation [video | 54:04].
posted to MetaFilter by ericb
at 11:41 AM on April 19, 2008
(43 comments)
What’s for Dinner? The Pollster Wants to Know"If there’s butter and white wine in your refrigerator and Fig Newtons in the cookie jar, you’re likely to vote for Hillary Clinton. Prefer olive oil, Bear Naked granola and a latte to go? You probably like Barack Obama, too. And if you’re leaning toward John McCain, it’s all about kicking back with a bourbon and a stuffed crust pizza while you watch the Democrats fight it out next week in Pennsylvania."
posted to MetaFilter by ericb
at 8:10 AM on April 18, 2008
(74 comments)
"Some Florida teens believe drinking Mountain Dew or smoking marijuana will prevent pregnancy and that swallowing a capful of bleach will prevent HIV/AIDS."
* As a result, lawmakers are pushing "for an overhaul of sex education in the state. State lawmakers said the myths are spreading because of Florida's
abstinence-only sex education"
* "On Tuesday, a bill that would 'require a more comprehensive approach' to sex education narrowly won approval from a state Senate committee."
*
posted to MetaFilter by ericb
at 9:34 PM on April 4, 2008
(62 comments)
51-year-old
Brad Williams, a radio anchor in La Crosse, Wisconsin, can “recall the most trifling dates and details about his life….[n]ame a date from the last 40 years and, after a few moments, he can typically tell you what he did that day and what was in the news.” Brad has
Hyperthymesia, a condition where the affected person has incredible recall of the most trivial events in his/her life. Neuroscientist
James McGaugh and
others at the University of California, Irvine, are studying Williams for clues as to his remarkable abilities [
video]. Williams (aka '
Google Man' |
video)
vs. The Internet [video]. His brother, Eric, is working on a documentary about Brad –
Unforgettable [
trailer].
posted to MetaFilter by ericb
at 4:54 PM on March 17, 2008
(19 comments)
"On Web sites touting the mind-blowing powers of
salvia divinorum, come-ons
to buy the hallucinogenic herb are accompanied by warnings: 'Time is running out! ... stock up while you still can.' That's because
salvia is being targeted by lawmakers concerned that the inexpensive and easy-to-obtain plant could become the next marijuana....Among those who believe the commotion over the drug is overblown is
Rick Doblin of the
Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies, a nonprofit group that does research on psychedelic drugs and whose goal is to develop psychedelics and marijuana into prescription medication."
* "Salvia Divinorum is a small leafy green plant found primarily in the Mazateca region of Mexico. Sometimes called '
diviner's sage' the plant was traditionally used by indigenous peoples as a healing and divinatory aid due to its unique properties when chewed or smoked. When consumed in this manner, the active ingredient,
Salvinorin-A produces psychedelic effects in the body ranging from mild to extreme."
* [previously - 1, 2]
posted to MetaFilter by ericb
at 2:42 PM on March 11, 2008
(95 comments)
What Would Jesus Drink? -- “A rabbi, a priest and a minister walk into a bar.
The bartender looks at them and says, ‘What is this, a joke?’
In one Pennsylvania bar, it's no laughing matter.
On the last Friday of every month, teams of chaplains...set up camp in the
Market Cross Pub in Carlisle, Penn. for a few hours to lend a sympathetic, non-judgmental ear to patrons looking for someone to listen to their tales of woe.”
posted to MetaFilter by ericb
at 8:36 AM on February 19, 2008
(42 comments)
On Saturday police in Virginia Beach (VA)
seized two promotional posters from an Abercrombie & Fitch store and have cited the manager of the store with an obscenity charge. "One [of the posters]
shows a group of shirtless male models and one has his jeans low enough to show a part of his buttocks." "The other image is of a woman who is topless and whose 'breast is displayed with her hand covering just the nipple portion.'" Police spokesman
Adam Bernstein: "An officer went and looked at them, and thought himself that they were pretty racy." The obscenity charge was issued under City Code Section 22.31 which makes it a crime to display "
obscene materials in a business that is open to juveniles."
posted to MetaFilter by ericb
at 9:49 AM on February 4, 2008
(71 comments)
Hey George, Timmy was right! A new
study [PDF] by the Department of Food Science & Nutrition at Clemson University confirms that
double dipping is just plain gross. “The way I would put it is, before you have some dip at a party, look around and ask yourself, would I be willing to kiss everyone here? Because you don’t know who might be double dipping, and those who do are sharing their saliva with you,” food microbiologist Prof. Paul L. Dawson says.
posted to MetaFilter by ericb
at 8:51 AM on February 2, 2008
(39 comments)
Erika Gunderson got into a taxicab in New York City this past New Year's Eve and found a digital camera on the back seat. The cab driver had no information or interest in which previous passenger might be the rightful owner. Bringing the camera home, Gunderson's fiancé, Brian Ascher,
took on the task of trying to find the owner. Using clues from 350 photos and two videos stored on the camera he was able to track down the owner, Irishman Alan Murphy in Sydney, Australia and return the camera to him.
posted to MetaFilter by ericb
at 4:30 PM on January 27, 2008
(36 comments)
"In a rebellion shaking the Sicilian Mafia to its centuries-old roots, businesses are joining forces in refusing to submit to demands for protection money called 'pizzo.' And they're getting away with it, threatening to sap an already weakened crime syndicate of one of its steadiest sources of revenue." The rebellion is fueled by a Web site "where businessmen are finding safety in numbers to say no to the mob." Called
Addiopizzo (
Goodbye Pizzo) "it brings together businesses in the Sicilian capital that are resisting extortion."
The campaign was launched in 2004 by a group of youths thinking of opening a pub. "They started off by plastering Palermo with anti-pizzo fliers, reading 'AN ENTIRE PEOPLE WHO PAYS THE PIZZO IS A PEOPLE WITHOUT DIGNITY,' and eventually brought their campaign online where it struck a profound chord with Sicilians fed up with Mafia bullying."
*
posted to MetaFilter by ericb
at 4:37 PM on January 13, 2008
(58 comments)
Today at CES,
Taser International unveiled a "handy new holster that holds not only your stun gun but a music player too." "The TASER MPH (Music Player Holster) is a combination MP3 player and TASER C2 holster."
* The
C2 Personal Protector is available to consumers "
in four designer colors," including leopard print, red-hot red and fashion pink. It's what they call "Fashion with a Bite."
posted to MetaFilter by ericb
at 2:36 PM on January 7, 2008
(54 comments)
Ho
[over]! Ho
[over]!Ho
[over]!
According to a document that was
one of many declassified [PDF] by The State Department yesterday, “Former FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover had a plan to suspend the rules against illegal detention and arrest up to 12,000 Americans he suspected of being disloyal....The plan called for the FBI to apprehend all potentially dangerous individuals whose names were on a list Hoover had been compiling for years. ‘The index now contains approximately twelve thousand individuals, of which approximately ninety-seven percent are citizens of the United States,’
Hoover wrote in the now-declassified document. ‘In order to make effective these apprehensions, the proclamation suspends the writ of
habeas corpus.’” [
habeas corpus previously -- 1, 2, 3, 4, 5.]
posted to MetaFilter by ericb
at 2:46 PM on December 22, 2007
(58 comments)
Like
Victor, the Wild Boy of Aveyron (made famous through François Truffaut's film
L'Enfant Sauvage), a modern-day
feral child, known as '
werewolf boy ' "who snarls and bites [has] escaped from a Moscow clinic just a day after being rescued from the wild." "The boy, who looks about ten, moves around with his legs half bent and 'was running with wolves and searching for food with them.' Police, who named him Lyokha, said villagers found him in a lair made of leaves and sticks in freezing temperatures."
* [Feral Children previously on MeFi -
1,
2]
posted to MetaFilter by ericb
at 2:30 PM on December 21, 2007
(15 comments)
American Icons from Public Radio International's
Studio 360 is host/author
Kurt Andersen's "...survey into the books, movies, art, and architecture that have come to represent American culture and character."
* For example, in the episode on '
Moby-Dick,' listen to Ray Bradbury, Tony Kushner and Frank Stella talk about Melville and his literary masterpiece. Listen to Laurie Anderson compare 'Moby Dick' to 'Star Trek.' In a segment on '
The Great Gatsby,' listen to the only known recording of F. Scott Fitzgerald. Then witness Salman Rushdie as he credits '
The Wizard of Oz' as his first literary influence while Bobby McFerrin performs snippets from his eight-minute medley condensing the entire movie.
*
posted to MetaFilter by ericb
at 3:48 PM on December 10, 2007
(10 comments)
Austin Gutwein first became aware of the devastating impact of HIV/AIDS
from a pen pal in Africa.“‘My
pen pal [2006 video - 2:48]*...was the first one to open my eyes to the world outside of my own backyard,’ Austin says. One of the harsh realities that struck a chord with Austin was the fact that many kids become orphaned as a result of a parent contracting HIV. ‘I started to think about what it would be like if I lost my parents,’ says Austin. ‘I just felt called to help.’...On
World AIDS Day [
December 1] 2004, at age 10, Austin shot 2,057 free throws to represent the number of children who would be orphaned because of AIDS during that school day....Austin approached individuals in his community to sponsor his endeavor. That year [he] raised $3,000, which he gave to
World Vision to be used to help eight orphans in Africa.” Three years later his non-profit,
Hoops of Hope,
raised $100,000 [2007 video - 2:32] which was used to build a residential school in Zambia for those orphaned -- and many infected -- by HIV/AIDS. Next year's goal -- to build a hospital.
posted to MetaFilter by ericb
at 6:42 PM on November 30, 2007
(18 comments)
Bank Intern Busted by Facebook
-- Kevin Colvin e-mailed his boss to say that he'd miss work due to what colleagues took to be a 'family emergency.' His boss turned to
Facebook and found a photo of Colvin,
dressed as a fairy at a Halloween party -- one which he apparently missed work to attend. The boss attached the image to his reply, copying the rest of the office as he did it. An Internet star/meme is born in this '
Age of Global Viral Embarrassment.'
posted to MetaFilter by ericb
at 1:59 PM on November 13, 2007
(89 comments)
Two executives of the alternative newspaper chain
Village Voice Media were arrested last night after running a story about
grand jury subpoenas [PDF] they received seeking reporters' notes and information on who visits their
Phoenix New Times Web site. The article, titled "
Breathtaking Abuse of the Constitution," claims that the grand jury investigation stems from a long-running feud with controversial county sheriff
Joe Arpaio (who calls himself "America's toughest sheriff"). The subpoenas demand New Times turn over all notes, tapes and records of the reporters who have ever written about Arpaio. The subpoenas also seek online profiles of anyone who read four specific articles about Arpaio and profiles of anyone who visited the paper's Web site since Jan. 1, 2004. Also sought is information on what Web users did while on the site.
posted to MetaFilter by ericb
at 2:12 PM on October 19, 2007
(59 comments)
