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January 21, 2002
English amnesiac may be porn star. "Philip Staufen" tried to convince Canadian authorities that he was an English citizen who suffered from amnesia as a result of a beating. As it turns out, he
may be George Lecheit, a French gay porn star. Authorities aren't ready to close the case yet, but even his lawyer doubts the amnesia theory. In a
previous MeFi thread, a few people took the Canadian government to task for not helping Staufen return to the UK. In light of recent developments, did Ottawa make the right decision?
posted by likorish at 11:20 PM PST - 8 comments
A New Vision for America. It's time, says the UPI editor-at-large. He calls for a presidential commission. Who should be on it? Do you have a new vision for America?
posted by sheauga at 9:57 PM PST - 6 comments
Cyber gripers arise! In response to the trend of big corporations successfully taking 'sucks' domains away from the owners (vivendiuniversalsucks.com is an example in the article), the
Free Speech Center will be offering 'sucks' domains for free for the taking (and presumably first amendment/article 19 exercising).
posted by o2b at 5:31 PM PST - 10 comments
"Kill duck before cooking" and other chortle-worthy corrections from The New York Times. If newspapers were smart, they'd recognize that their corrections columns are a potential gold mine in terms of entertainment value, and promote them accordingly. But, alas, newspapers are not smart. (NY Times link, naturally, so the usual warnings apply.)
posted by nathanstack at 3:58 PM PST - 4 comments
Limbaugh gets hearing back. Love him or hate him, it is great to know that technology has enabled someone to get some hearing back. However, to implant the device requires doctors to "destory the inner ear". But it seems to have worked.
posted by ericdano at 2:08 PM PST - 44 comments
The worst banner design ever? I've seen some tasteless advertising in my day, but this simple animation leaves me speechless. Is there any depth to which advertisers will go to hawk their services?
posted by mathowie at 1:39 PM PST - 56 comments
Human Rights Watch 2002 Report There will undoubtedly be (deserved) criticism of any report that seeks to take both West and East to task for human rights violations, often seemingly judging one far more harshly than the other and perpetuating a victim and agressor view of the world. That being said, this report is still highly relevant and interesting, and deserves your attention for its data and its primary agenda: to expose violations of human rights around the world.
posted by cell divide at 11:50 AM PST - 3 comments
Is intelligence hereditary or environment? A
new theory sees the brain as a plastic mold of potential with the more neuron connections the better [hereditary] and environment stimulation shapes the mold untill maturity.
"You could present a person with an IQ of 200 with the appropriate phenomena when they are 20 years old, after the critical learning period, and they would not have the capacity to adapt their brains to the new phenomena". People of low IQ perform poorly because their brains do not adapt well to environmental stimulation.
posted by stbalbach at 10:29 AM PST - 15 comments
In bigot versus bigot, white racist is winner : "Hey, when you find a black bigot, feel free to censure and ostracize him or her as the circumstance warrants. I don't care. Just don't pretend the transgression is what it is not. Don't claim it represents a significant threat to the quality of life of white Americans at large." (via
a2g2)
posted by owillis at 10:24 AM PST - 41 comments
US Agency Says El Nino Pattern Emerging
Vanuatu decided this a few days earlier, and told its residents to start conserving water (
1).
In 1997, a major El Nino pattern created droughts in the Pacific followed by floods toward the end of the year (
1,
2). I think one can reasonably attribute fires in Australia to El Nino influenced dry spells and high temperatures (
1). If you care to make your own predictions, the number to watch is the
SOI.
posted by rschram at 9:15 AM PST - 4 comments
Thank Mahalia Jackson for King's "I have a dream." "On August 28, 1963, under a nearly cloudless sky, more than 250,000 people, a fifth of them white, gathered near the Lincoln Memorial in Washington to rally for 'jobs and freedom.'... Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. had originally prepared a short and somewhat formal recitation of the sufferings of African Americans attempting to realize their freedom in a society chained by discrimination. He was about to sit down when gospel singer
Mahalia Jackson called out, 'Tell them about your dream, Martin! Tell them about the dream!' Encouraged by shouts from the audience, King drew upon some of his past talks, and the result became the landmark statement of civil rights in America--a dream of all people, of all races and colors and backgrounds, sharing in an America marked by freedom and democracy."
posted by Carol Anne at 9:14 AM PST - 16 comments
