Not that this in any precludes discussion of the issues at stake, but the PRD and allied lawmakers ended their takeover of Congress today. Bloomberg. Reuters. AP. El Universal (Spanish).... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by donpedro at 6:19 PM on April 25, 2008

Oh, they agreed to 71 days of debate. Still not clear what that will look like though.
posted to MetaFilter by donpedro at 6:21 PM on April 25, 2008

They walked out sometime this afternoon, I believe.
posted to MetaFilter by donpedro at 7:04 PM on April 25, 2008

Related: [59-year-old Sul Ross State football player Mike] Flynt is giving new meaning to being a college senior. After all, he's a grandfather and a card-carrying member of AARP. He's eight years older than his coach and has two kids older than any of his teammates.

More coverage on ESPN.com.
posted to MetaFilter by donpedro at 10:59 PM on April 24, 2008

Removed in the face of a copyright threat?
posted to MetaFilter by donpedro at 10:10 PM on March 18, 2008

Actually, never mind. I'm an idiot.
posted to MetaFilter by donpedro at 10:17 PM on March 18, 2008

*Goes off to type 'Kevin Johnson political aspirations' into Google News.*
posted to MetaFilter by donpedro at 9:48 PM on March 18, 2008

This one, which i don't think was linked, is strange. The guy gets up, waves his chair to taunt the bull, sits down face-to-face with the charging bull, and immediately gets plowed under.
posted to MetaFilter by donpedro at 7:17 PM on February 16, 2008

Thrilling news. My first destination: rereading Mark Bowden's fascinating profile of Saddam Hussein from several years ago.
posted to MetaFilter by donpedro at 1:50 PM on January 22, 2008

I live about three blocks away from a NaCo store here, but never stopped in to check it out. For non-Spanish speakers, the name is a pun on the Mexican (Mexico City?) slang "naco," best translated as "tacky."

My guess is that the T-shirts are probably pricey, given the target demographic and the store's location in the tony Condesa neighborhood. If it's true that the company originated the "estar guars" shirt, by now it's been pirated and is... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by donpedro at 2:08 PM on January 15, 2008

best translated as "tacky."

... which the Trib explains, of course. Missed that on first read, sorry folks.
posted to MetaFilter by donpedro at 2:11 PM on January 15, 2008

If you type in "so it goes," the first part of the translation sounds a little like "poo-tee-weet."
posted to MetaFilter by donpedro at 1:28 PM on January 15, 2008

This map is especially cool: click play or use the slider at bottom, and watch most countries trend upward and to the right as they boost per-capita income and life expectancy -- and keep an eye out countries like the blue dot that plummets downward and then rockets to the left around the late '80s. That would be Rwanda.
posted to MetaFilter by donpedro at 7:23 PM on January 6, 2008

KJC was also responsible for putting down a coup attempt in 1981 when the military tried to put a stop to the transition to democracy underway since Franco's death. I have friends who recall tanks on the streets of Madrid and the king going on the airwaves to quash the putsch. His anti-fascism cred is pretty solid.
posted to MetaFilter by donpedro at 6:43 PM on November 13, 2007

Interesting that the paper named as purportedly sitting on the story would be the L.A. Times, which printed en exhaustive investigative report detailing serious sexual harassment allegations against Arnold Schwarzenegger just days before the California recall election four years ago.
posted to MetaFilter by donpedro at 9:43 PM on October 31, 2007

Scheisse. Let's see if I can get this in before the thread gets deleted (rightfully so). Report from my parents in lower East Bay is that it was strong-ish and lasted a long time. My mom dove underneath the table. But yeah, 5.6 is strong if you're near but usually doesn't do any damage anywhere, even the epicenter, unless you're talking a poorly constructed town in the developing world.
posted to MetaFilter by donpedro at 11:52 PM on October 30, 2007

The thing is, close to half the players on a (U.S.-rules) football field are linemen -- who are prized for their height, bulk and ability to push other people out of the way, in order to

1) get to the quarterback or running back and knock him senseless (defense), or

2) protect the quarterback from getting knocked senseless, or open up holes for the back to exploit (offense).

These positions are getting faster, as... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by donpedro at 1:08 AM on October 29, 2007

Huzzah, I win on MetaFilter! That's going on my resume!

But you do have a point, and I mean it when I say that even as these positions are filled by bigger and bigger men, they're also better and better athletes who are called upon to do more and think faster. Especially the linebackers, the best of whom have startling speed and have to read complex offensive sets. In 2002, this guy did indeed intercept a bunch of passes, and returned a few for touchdowns.... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by donpedro at 1:47 AM on October 29, 2007

Er ... please mentally add "in the recent World Cup" to that last sentence.
posted to MetaFilter by donpedro at 1:48 AM on October 29, 2007

This reminds me of Fernando Traverso's work in Argentina on people who disappeared during the military junta. His Web site and the project itself (last two links in Spanish).
posted to MetaFilter by donpedro at 7:03 PM on October 7, 2007

Actually this link gives a better idea of what I'm referring to.
posted to MetaFilter by donpedro at 7:06 PM on October 7, 2007

Target market: people obsessed with keeping up with the Blofelds.
posted to MetaFilter by donpedro at 4:59 PM on October 3, 2007

Nice observation, crash.
posted to MetaFilter by donpedro at 5:31 PM on August 26, 2007

A week or so after reading that New Yorker article I was walking near Union Square and stopped to listen to an amazing violinist for about 20 minutes. Best $2 I've ever spent. A few other people also hung out for a long time, and I wondered at the time whether they, like me, had seen the Bell story and had it very much in mind.

Afterward confirmed that she plays violin for a living, and I don't mean as a professional busker.
posted to MetaFilter by donpedro at 4:34 PM on August 15, 2007

Byline: Ben Paynter.

Heh.
posted to MetaFilter by donpedro at 8:00 PM on May 23, 2007

Andrew Sullivan writes:

I wish I'd taped the phone conversation I had today with the editor of the Sunday Times in London when I had to explain exactly what "nappy-headed hos" were. He had images of garden tools crowned with diapers.
posted to MetaFilter by donpedro at 5:10 PM on April 12, 2007

Thank you for this!
posted to MetaFilter by donpedro at 8:47 PM on November 14, 2006

Jesus, p&c, that image of the humping, puking, and licking-it-up dog has got to be one of the most disturbing but completely SFW things I've ever seen inline here.
posted to MetaFilter by donpedro at 11:14 PM on June 1, 2006

Short answer: "While My Ukelele Weeps" wins hands down. Missed that the first time around, but ... holy shit.
posted to MetaFilter by donpedro at 11:47 PM on May 24, 2006

Echoing the "great post" comments. At about 7 min. in when the "luckiest" sinks that slop, it's a priceless moment. And then about 10 min. in, when he gulps and you can see the anxiousness on his face ... Yeah, great post. Thanks!
posted to MetaFilter by donpedro at 11:15 PM on May 17, 2006

So that Ronnie O'Sullivan, he's something I guess. I'm wondering if there's an "almost" schadenfreude out there, where someone gets all the way through and then bolloxes the last ball.
posted to MetaFilter by donpedro at 11:26 PM on May 17, 2006

Chávez was the direct and immediate victim of a coup. His policy cannot be considered without taking this into account.

Chavez was also the direct and immediate mastermind of a failed military coup. His policy cannot be considered without taking this, too, into account.

Honestly, I don't understand how people can defend him without even a shred of skepticism, simply because he stands up to the United States and the Bush... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by donpedro at 11:41 AM on May 8, 2006

I think a lot of people like him because he has been a positive force in South America, not just because he talks a lot of smack. And I think most people in this thread who support him would agree that his getting a 25 year term wouldn't be a good thing.

I've been around a bunch of Chavez threads, and they always degenerate into talk of "the enemy of my enemy" and "standing up to U.S. imperialism." But reading back through the... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by donpedro at 11:57 AM on May 8, 2006

I just think it's simple and stupid to assume that because he's very anti-American he is by default bad for his country.

I'm not sure if I've given the impression that I believe this to be true, but I most definitely do not.

He has done a lot of things that I find questionable, and a lot of things that I think are very good. I can say that about a lot of leaders around the globe.... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by donpedro at 12:34 PM on May 8, 2006

... his term's not due to be over for quite a while.

Actually he's up for re-election later this year. Assuming he wins (he will, and easily), he would be constitutionally barred from running again when the new term expires in 2012.
posted to MetaFilter by donpedro at 12:36 PM on May 8, 2006

I also hope you are correct, graymouser.
posted to MetaFilter by donpedro at 1:10 PM on May 8, 2006

"tvjunkie" indeed. Thanks for this. Really, fantastic.
posted to MetaFilter by donpedro at 4:15 PM on May 7, 2006

birdherder: Calderon has overtaken AMLO in the polls this week & holds a statistically significant (i.e. larger than 2x the margin of error) lead. Some have credited AMLO's fall to his spats with Fox and not participating in the first debate last week, which Calderon and Madrazo spun as his arrogance.
posted to MetaFilter by donpedro at 12:08 PM on May 4, 2006

You're welcome. Calderon's surge in the polls is very recent. Reuters, from yesterday. Doesn't mention the margin of error, but it was 2.3 percentage points. In case it's relevant, the poll was conducted by Reforma, considered to lean center-left and be one of Mexico's more respected newspapers along with center-right El Universal. Also I should amend my previous comment to say that while all the polls give Calderon an edge these days, they disagree over how much. In a... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by donpedro at 2:22 PM on May 4, 2006

telstar, do we know each other?
posted to MetaFilter by donpedro at 7:08 PM on May 4, 2006

Huh. And here I thought Reggie Bush was a no-brainer. Guess that's why NFL execs get paid the big bucks to be ... well paid but just as clueless as the average Joe or Jane as to who's going to be a star.
posted to MetaFilter by donpedro at 12:46 AM on April 29, 2006

Yo, just to emphasize, what birdherder said.

Dood, you in DF? meetup?
posted to MetaFilter by donpedro at 12:33 AM on April 29, 2006

Jeebus, police state. I don't even like pot (anymore) but this sucks. Agreed that it would be prohibitively difficult to prove in court. Fight it, young Colorado stoners!
posted to MetaFilter by donpedro at 12:13 AM on April 29, 2006

Still remember well when I was a high school senior and went to visit my older brother to check out his college. My visit coincided with a biology professor's infamous once-a-year lecture and slideshow on nematode worms, which apparently was always packed with people not even enrolled in the course, but looking for the kind of gross-out that campus cinema couldn't provide. A Google image search on filariasis gives you more pictures (including several that stemlot links to) that probably won't... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by donpedro at 1:26 PM on April 28, 2006

Here's a Google aerial view. Awesome post, thanks!
posted to MetaFilter by donpedro at 12:42 PM on April 27, 2006

bardic: Thanks for sharing your obsession; it's now mine too. Remarkable how all those tours are virtually identical. Shuttled from one highlight to the next by the handlers.
posted to MetaFilter by donpedro at 2:38 PM on April 27, 2006

Had to click through to #134 to find out the most expensive ZIP code I've in which I've ever claimed an address.

Funny thing, I was really unhappy during that six months.
posted to MetaFilter by donpedro at 11:56 PM on April 25, 2006

Dear Mexican,
What is the deal with Mexicans and Tweety Bird? I don’t understand why Tweety is so appealing to Mexicans and shows up on their trucks, cars and tattoos. Was it because the Tasmanian Devil was taken by dumb rednecks?
Speedy González

Dear Pocho,
You’ve got the wrong cartoon character, Speedy—we prefer to decorate our automobiles with Calvin, of the legendary comic strip “Calvin and Hobbes,” pissing... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by donpedro at 6:47 PM on April 21, 2006

Chavez was by most accounts elected fairly, and his presidency is a legitimate expression of the electorate's will. This is not to say that it's certain that elections will be fair the next time he runs, nor am I suggesting people should forget that he attempted a military coup several years before he was elected, nor am I suggesting it's not wise to view with skepticism many moves that smell a lot like attempts to consolidate power in his presidency, harrass opposition, and impose limits on the... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by donpedro at 9:29 AM on April 19, 2006

Before I WTFMA, I read:
284 comments in the blue
119 comments in the grey
87 comments in the grey
-------------------------------
=400 comments

After I WTFMA:
Jesus Fucking Christ on a popsicle stick, best FPP ever. Funny as all hell, and worth the whole mess. Kudos to doc.
posted to MetaFilter by donpedro at 12:43 AM on April 19, 2006