February 11, 2006

Best of the logical web

Fallacy Files
posted by Gyan at 11:21 PM PST - 16 comments

cartoons of the prophet.. not ok. turning his house into a parking lot.. ok.

paved prophets house, put up a parking lot.. “What makes this demolition worse is the fact that the home of the Prophet is to make way for a parking lot, two 50-storey hotel towers and seven 35-storey apartment blocks; a project known as the Jabal Omar Scheme, all within a stone’s throw of the Grand Mosque. Yet despite this outrage, not a single Muslim country, no ayatollah, no mufti, no king, not even a Muslim Canadian imam has dared utter a word in protest. Such is the power of Saudi influence on the Muslim narrative.”
posted by zog at 9:07 PM PST - 36 comments

Mapping Sex Offenders

A map of sex offenders in YOUR neighborhood. People can change, and mistakes can be redeemed, but then again, looking at map of colored dots in my own neighborhood kind of gives me the creeps.
posted by JWright at 8:24 PM PST - 68 comments

"My farts are incensed with genius"

The strange story of Billy Yeager aka Jimmy Story the lost son of Jimi Hendrix aka independent film-maker extraordinaire.
I was wearing wigs and disguising myself as different kinds of people or sons of dead rock stars since 7th grade. I ran away at 13 years old. I lived in a tree house. I lost my virginity to a big fat girl who raped me on a hit of acid when I was 14 while her parents were in the living room watching All in the Family.

He's casting for a new film - albeit in a strange manner [swearing, violence, threats - maybe NSFW].
posted by strawberryviagra at 7:54 PM PST - 16 comments

Touch Me Baby

This very cool multi-input touchscreen is an amazing example of potential human-computer interfaces and is not the same thing as the very cool Lemur device marketed in the US by Cycling 74. It really makes you realize that there's a whole new level of graphics, animation, 3D, music and control technology yet to be explored. Fascinating stuff.
posted by dbiedny at 6:58 PM PST - 30 comments

Woman with osteogenesis imperfecta delivers baby

Eloysa Vasquez, a 37-pound woman with osteogenesis imperfecta (the "brittle bone disease"), has given birth to a premature, but otherwise healthy, son. OI is the disease affecting the actor Michael J. Anderson, most famous for his roles as "The Little Man from Another Place" in Twin Peaks and Samson in Carnivale. Children with OI experience so many broken bones that their parents are frequently suspected of child abuse.
posted by feathermeat at 6:02 PM PST - 58 comments

The Angina Chronicles

"We can't do anything about it. We just have to obey." Fulton (Mo.) High School drama students learn that resistance is futile.
posted by Saucy Intruder at 3:15 PM PST - 87 comments

Ski. Shoot. Repeat.

Biathlon! Biathletes! History! Primitive style? Proudly an Olympic sport since 1960.
posted by bardic at 2:15 PM PST - 4 comments

Mars Mystery

Mars Spirit rover finds something strange. Scientists are puzzled. I'm no scientist, but when I saw the photo, "natural phenomenon" wasn't the first thing to enter my mind.
posted by davebush at 2:13 PM PST - 62 comments

But they have nothing on Hieronymus Bosch.

The links between some neurological disorders and increased artistic abilities are well documented. Some with decreased abilities elsewhere, such as those with semantic dementia, use it as a coping mechanism, whereas those with synaesthesia combine multiple senses to enhance their works. While some drugs, specifically LSD, can artificially produce synesthesia, that probably isn't a good muse.
posted by duende at 1:04 PM PST - 9 comments

Those darn kids again. I think it's time to hold them up and see how shiny they are.

This week we had the the Sphinx Competition (old article) here in Detroit. Following on the heels of rampant consumerism and willy-nilly football, The Sphinx Organization brings urban diversity to classical music - Latino and African American students between 12 and 22 years old are challenging their elders with talent and enthusiasm.
posted by Slap Incognito at 12:01 PM PST - 3 comments

But Main Street's still all cracked and broken... Sorry, Mom, the mob has spoken!

Ray Bradbury proposes monorail-bulding in LA.
via
posted by Afroblanco at 11:43 AM PST - 73 comments

My Private Eyes (hand clap) they're watching you...

A wise Mefite once said "I cannot fathom the stress of multiple spouses," and I'm sure it only gets more stressful if your loved ones don't know about each other. As Valentines Day approaches, let us take a moment to ponder the difficulties that two-timing scumbags of either gender will have trying to please everyone at once, on this holiday that was created by a greeting card company, yet ultimately benefits private detectives more than any other holiday of the year.
posted by jonson at 10:57 AM PST - 36 comments

They might give birth in mid-air

Ski Jumping - the only Olympic discipline to ban women. [thanks occhiblu]
posted by Protocols of the Elders of Awesome at 10:03 AM PST - 35 comments

Old, bold, and flying for Gold

The greatest Hollywood stunt pilots of them all, Frank Tallman and Paul Mantz not only looked the part, but flew camera ships, raced planes, and performed amazing aerial stunts in films for over 40 years. Not long after forming Tallmantz Aviation, Mantz was killed on location in the excellent 1965 version of Flight of the Phoenix. Tallman, grounded on FOTP due to a go-cart accident, lost his leg as a result but flew in movies for another 13 years until crashing in 1978.
posted by cenoxo at 9:45 AM PST - 6 comments

having new eyes - the photography of Scott Stulberg

Scott Stulberg takes beautiful photography of people and places in southeast Asia. Also, some fantastic nature and wildlife work. (flash, sound alert)
posted by madamjujujive at 9:31 AM PST - 14 comments

Burn her, she's a witch

Witches. Who they are, how to tell, what to do. One example.
posted by caddis at 9:20 AM PST - 24 comments

for ATARI

So it's you, ninja-endo! I'll be Atari, I'll be back!!. From this thread, but I felt it needed an FPP of it's own
posted by delmoi at 9:05 AM PST - 11 comments

Poor He-Man

Where are the toons now? Friday Saturday Flash Fun. Probably NSFW.
posted by armoured-ant at 8:34 AM PST - 5 comments

Guitar Lessons with Olga Toy Doll

From Nellie the Elephant to his arrangement of Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D Minor, Michael 'Olga' Algar shows you how to play your favorite songs by The Toy Dolls. [First two links are embedded video. And, unfortunately, the guitar lessons are in .rm format.]
posted by milquetoast at 8:18 AM PST - 3 comments

"And I think to myself... I see my true love on a Rimmel advert."

"I see paint-cracked walls stained with shite. Long long lock-up days, cold lonely nights. And I think to myself... what a wonderful world." Pete Doherty's prison diary.
posted by creeky at 7:21 AM PST - 29 comments

Did You Know?

Did you know that Marilyn Monroe was colorblind? Me neither. How about November being national gingivitis awareness month? No? Well, I'm sure I'm the last person to find out that the standard 52-card deck was originally used as a calendar before it was used for gaming purposes. And that Gershwin is the only composer to have written an orchestral part for the conch shell. Oh, oh, and you know why you close your eyes when you sneeze? Turns out it's because otherwise the pressure behind them would be sufficient to pop them out of their sockets. Don't believe me?
posted by Gator at 6:16 AM PST - 41 comments

Draw one to get one

Draw one to get one Nice little site that lets you exchange online drawings with anonymous people.
posted by jeremias at 5:38 AM PST - 22 comments

What's that smell?

Bollywood is remaking Fight Club. It seems there wasn't enough dancing and singing. Trailers here [Windows media]. No mention of soap.
posted by tellurian at 5:23 AM PST - 30 comments

Prescription for the American left

A Letter to the American Left By Bernard-Henri Lévy. "Nothing made a more lasting impression during my journey through America than the semi-comatose state in which I found the American left. I know, of course, that the term "left" does not have the same meaning and ramifications here that it does in France. And I cannot count how many times I was told there has never been an authentic "left" in the United States, in the European sense.

But at the end of the day, my progressive friends, you may coin ideas in whichever way you like. The fact is: You do have a right. This right, in large part thanks to its neoconservative battalion, has brought about an ideological transformation that is both substantial and striking. "

posted by mountainmambo at 5:16 AM PST - 84 comments

Royal Flush

Fired by New York's Mayor for playing a game of solitaire, former $29,000 a year clerk Edward Greenwood IX is sure to become the new parton saint of office politics. Whether one views Greenwood as a hapless Everyman or another poster boy for workplace diversions, the question still remains: what would Ricky Gervais do?
posted by Smart Dalek at 4:59 AM PST - 15 comments

Handwritten Real-World Cryptogram?

Linda Rayburn and her son Michael Berry were brutally murdered by her husband, David Rayburn, on February 3rd, 2004. Rayburn then hanged himself in the basement of their home, leaving behind a handwritten cryptogram.
posted by tranquileye at 4:44 AM PST - 11 comments

Country life

Neverland Amerika. "I don't know if I'm comfortable saying there's some great theory behind the pictures ..."
posted by johnny7 at 2:25 AM PST - 10 comments

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