Heartbeat. Sung by Sano Motoharu. SLYT [more inside]
posted by growabrain at 11:22 PM PST - 28 comments

"We are under obligation to A. S. Partridge of Depeyster, who obtained the following incidents last summer from N. F. Swain, his neighbor. Mr. Swain is now upwards of ninety years old, and his memory of what transpired in his younger days is especially good, and the incidents, together with the dates, places and names were so impressed on his mind that they may be relied upon as authentic."
From the History of Hammond, New York, one of about 1500 Town Histories, courtesy of Ray's Place. [more inside]
posted by Devils Rancher at 9:10 PM PST - 12 comments

"I never was one to like to be intimidated. So I just take it off the table. If it's not on the table they can't use it." Charlie, not a man for small gestures, took his secret off the table and put it on the front page of the Houston Post, whose October 7, 1988, edition carried the headline "Transvestite Now Claims Probe Linked to Lifestyle" and a color photograph of McGuire in full drag. [more inside]
posted by rtha at 8:36 PM PST - 25 comments

The last Japanese man remaining in Kazakhstan: A Kafkian tale of the plight of a Japanese POW in the Soviet Union. This is the story of Tetsuro Ahiko, a Japanese national who was living on Sakhalin Island during WWII, and was sent to gulags after the war instead of being repatriated to Japan. Ahiko has turned down multiple offers to be resettled in Japan and has spent 60+ years in Kazakhstan (what was then the Soviet Union.)
posted by gen at 6:43 PM PST - 38 comments

Isaac Kehimkar's entire Flickr photostream is devoted to butterflies, because he's an "ardent butterfly lover".
posted by bwg at 5:24 PM PST - 20 comments

Since last fall central Arkansas has experienced a mysterious swarm of earthquakes. It's clear that Arkansas has shaken in the past. But the sheer numbers are largely unprecedented and have been dubbed an earthquake swarm by the USGS. The Arkansas Geological Survey says that the quakes have nothing to do with hydraulic fracturing of the Fayetteville Shale. So do energy companies. Not everyone is convinced. [more inside]
posted by IvoShandor at 5:02 PM PST - 52 comments

Egypt is about to enter its third consecutive week of mass protests. Why hasn’t Tahrir Square turned into Tiananmen? Why isn’t this man this man? Why do the Egyptian public and the army appear so close, and why hasn’t the military turned its arms on the protestors, nor pushed Mubarak out? One possible reason has been largely ignored by the media: it is bad business to kill your own customers. An inside report from NPR’s Planet Money, aided by this Wikileak diplomatic cable and an insightful piece by Robert Springborg.
posted by Bora Horza Gobuchul at 4:39 PM PST - 42 comments

'Analysis: Texas vs California: A tale of two budget deficits'. 'Texas Governor Rick Perry treated guests to a barbecue lunch paid for by a wealthy businessman. Supporters of California Governor Jerry Brown munched on hot dogs at a union-sponsored picnic. The stark contrast in inaugural menus last month highlights the different approaches the two most populous U.S. states are taking to deal with massive budget deficits. Perry, a Republican, campaigned on the strength of the Texas economy and made political hay of the fact the Lone Star state had avoided California's massive deficit, pegged at $25.4 billion through the upcoming budget year. Now Texas faces a budget deficit estimated as high as $27 billion for the upcoming two-year cycle of 2012-2013. To close the gap, state legislators have proposed steep cuts in funding to education and welfare programs.' [more inside]
posted by VikingSword at 3:29 PM PST - 74 comments

Brad Bird accepts the prestigous Winsor McCay Award from the 2011 Annie Awards at an undisclosed location where he's directing the not-animated "Mission: Impossible IV". A Brad Bird career retrospective immediately preceded. (Double Link Single You Tube)
posted by oneswellfoop at 3:28 PM PST - 28 comments

Neon Genesis Evangelion was an anime series created by Hideaki Anno, a rather mysterious and reclusive director who has declined most interviews and has been likened to Alan Moore in his attempt to up-end a major genre. Where Moore doesn't want to work on anything Watchmen-related, Anno has returned to NGE in a very major way with Rebuild of Evangelion, a tetralogy of films to re-tell the original story and present a new ending (again). [more inside]
posted by filthy light thief at 1:50 PM PST - 111 comments

“No, no,” J.D. Salinger said. “Please don’t go. Please stay and have another drink. Don’t go now.” He was shaking his head... Salinger began walking, then running, alongside, still asking us to change our minds. He hit the cab—with his fist, I supposed—and the driver braked. Joe said, “Drive on!” Salinger was looking in through the window beside me. “Stop. Please come back!” He was shouting now in the quiet street. The cab moved and got through the intersection. Joe said angrily, “He’s absolutely crazy.”
posted by Scoop at 1:17 PM PST - 51 comments

We live in a time of sweeping change and as an example of this for the 1st time in living memory ambassadors from almost all 260 U.S. embassies, consulates and other posts in more than 180 countries are expected to convene at the State Department for what’s being billed as the first meeting of its kind. [more inside]
posted by rough ashlar at 12:11 PM PST - 37 comments

Nas & Damian Marley (Distant Relatives): Patience. We sure have come a long way since Graffiti Rock.
posted by cashman at 11:46 AM PST - 10 comments

Aaron Barr, of security company HBGary, claimed in the Financial Times to have infiltrated Anonymous and to be collecting information on members of the group. Predictably, Anonymous responded by hacking HBGary's website and replacing its front page, as well as by stealing Barr's research documents on Anonymous (and social networking accounts) and releasing them to the public, along with thousands of internal HBGary emails.
posted by Pope Guilty at 11:40 AM PST - 199 comments

Brian Jacques, author of many children's books about heroic small furry creatures, has died. Jacques, who grew up in Liverpool, England, was 71. [more inside]
posted by gusandrews at 11:11 AM PST - 133 comments

George Bush cancels a trip to Switzerland citing “threat of demonstrations” . However two victims of torture in U.S. detention have prepared a criminal complaint against Bush backed by a coalition of international human rights groups, two former United Nations rapporteurs, and two Nobel Peace Prize laureates. His legacy continues with the death in Guantanamo of Abdul Gul held without trial for 9 years. The official cause of Mr Gul's death is "Heart attack during exercise". The Obama administration has decided to continue to imprison without trial nearly 50 detainees at Guantanamo.
posted by adamvasco at 11:01 AM PST - 85 comments

Evolution Made Us All
posted by brundlefly at 10:48 AM PST - 52 comments

How 'The Fridge' lost his way. A profile of William 'The Refrigerator' Perry.
posted by zarq at 9:48 AM PST - 37 comments

Several months ago, Bill Rankin of Radical Cartography (previously and previouslier) created an astronomical calendar of events for New Haven, Connecticut, where he lives, featuring all of the inexorable rhythms of the Solar System in one handy PNG file. Now you can create such a calendar for any location on the planet, with information as basic as the hours of daylight or as esoteric as the tilt of Saturn's rings, all lovingly rendered in soothing translucent pastels. [more inside]
posted by theodolite at 9:40 AM PST - 18 comments

Rising food prices and a shortage of critical crops is fueling political instability in numerous regions worldwide. Food prices hit a record high in January, for the seventh consecutive month, the food price index was up 3.4% from December to the highest level since the UN started measuring food prices in 1990. In response some countries are stockpiling ("hoarding") making the problem worse. "If people don't have enough to eat they only have three options: they can revolt, they can migrate or they can die."
posted by stbalbach at 9:35 AM PST - 49 comments

Princess the Hamster gets a robot walking suit. (SLYT)
posted by loquacious at 7:39 AM PST - 90 comments

That sure was a pretty OK game last night! When will the next NFL games be? Let's talk about the impending NFL lockout. The CBA expires in 2013 but the owners have exercised their right to opt out of the agreement two years early. The National Football League Players Association and the owners haven't agreed to a new one, and neither side is very optimistic about the chances for a deal to be reached before March 2011. Among many other terms, the two sides cannot agree on the number of games in a season to be played or the amount of revenue to be shared. Players have been mentioning the impending lockout during interviews. What's at stake? The NFL is very big business.
posted by Michael Pemulis at 7:37 AM PST - 158 comments

Like the GPS features of your smartphone? Like your high speed wireless internet connection? You may not be able to have both. A company called Lightsquared has proposed a service to provide high speed internet using satellite feeds. However, some tests show that the the signal from Lightsquared's system may interfere with GPS. The FCC has granted a waiver allowing Lightsquared to proceed, with the caution that issues with GPS must be resolved. The GPS world is concerned.
posted by cptspalding at 7:37 AM PST - 42 comments

The Mutato Archive is a collection of non-standard fruits, roots and vegetables, displaying a dazzling variety of forms, colours and textures, that only reveal themselves when lawfully enforced standards cease to exist.
posted by twoleftfeet at 4:18 AM PST - 38 comments

Egyptian artist and musician Ahmed Basiony died on January 28 from asphyxiation while participating in the popular uprising. 100radiostation.com has been playing his music continuously ever since. [more inside]
posted by artof.mulata at 4:14 AM PST - 13 comments

A mixtape of tracks by North African hip hop artists from Algeria, Egypt, Libya and Tunisia, music which reflects the current zeitgeist in the region. To listen and/or download (zip): enoughgaddafi.com
posted by Mister Bijou at 3:18 AM PST - 15 comments

American academic Frances Fox Piven has been heavily criticised by Glenn Beck as a threat to the American way of life. She is not for turning.
posted by Grinder at 12:50 AM PST - 154 comments