Live near one of these 10 nuclear power plants? They either have cracks in their control rod nozzles or are particularly "vulnerable" to cracking. An inspection at Ohio's Davis-Besse plant led to the completely unexpected discovery of "the most extensive corrosion ever found on top of an American nuclear plant reactor". Radioactive boric acid leaked out of the cracks and came within a half-inch of burning a hole through the steel containment dome. NRC officials say this kind of corrosion "was never considered a credible type of concern," but nuclear safety groups have been warning for years that NRC inaction on this issue was endangering the public. (more links inside)
posted by mediareport at 11:51 PM PST - 7 comments

time to park the SUV and ride your bike to work? or turn off the computer for the for the weekend?
posted by specialk420 at 10:01 PM PST - 17 comments

"The title of my talk tonight is How to Conquer Stupidity, which is actually a pretty stupid thing to attempt. For me, anyway. One, it's not possible. Two, maybe it's not even desirable. That's probably the premise of all of my work, that I embrace my stupidity wholeheartedly and celebrate it, as often as I can." And you can too, here.
posted by semmi at 8:48 PM PST - 6 comments

The Mailbox Bomber's band sucks, according to Pitchfork Media, one of the most intellectual and pretentious music review sites on the web. "Can you feel the pain?" Helder implores on "Back and Black," a passable stab at Incesticide-era Nirvana, albeit with horrendous lyrics and a gratuitous punk-rock stomp at the coda. "Stop the game!" Helder winces, as though squeezing out a fat one, and we really can feel the pain. Related issue: the band's webpage (also discussed here) has been taken by Angelfire down for "violation of terms of service." Still, Google's cache of the page reveals nothing objectionable. Is Angelfire right to take down the webpage of a nationally known criminal (the first time I can think of that the issue has arisen)? Or do their Terms of Service really have a "no domestic terrorism" clause?
posted by tweebiscuit at 5:37 PM PST - 28 comments

Renew! Renew! Just like people entering the carousel in Logan's Run, people who renew their domains with Verisign/Network Solutions aren't getting what they think they're getting. While the gentleman from scientium.com claims Verisign's domain renewal policy is out-and-out fraud, it seems to me that it's merely business-as-usual in Verisign's increasing predilection to screw their customers by preying on their ignorance. Is there no end to Verisign's deceptive practices? Is trust the foundation of every human relationship in this day and age?
posted by WolfDaddy at 5:06 PM PST - 27 comments

Bush wants to turn back the schoolclock to an eduational epoch sometime before 1972. Thirty years after educational gender bias became a legislative reality, Bush has announced that he's pushing for single sex schools, offering no specific reason for this backwards waltz. But what kind of message does this send to tomorrow's graduates about equal gender opportunity? Is there really any discernable advantage in a single sex educational institution? Or is Bush possibly intimidated by the overwhelming number of female graduates that are dominating males these days?
posted by ed at 4:57 PM PST - 36 comments

High Standards, High Expectations For the Select Few ""We have three or four kids that need to be under control when they do something wrong," Ruben said. "The pressure isn't coming from the coaches. It's self-induced. That should be gone by now. When they are 7 or 8, you can chalk it up and say they are only 7 or 8. 'They are 10' doesn't wash anymore."" Somehow, some of us used to have fun playing baseball.
posted by owillis at 4:42 PM PST - 4 comments

For all you rubberneckers. Now that there is a site for it do you think you can resist the urge to slow down and take a peek at every car wreck you pass?
posted by srboisvert at 3:34 PM PST - 18 comments

Canadian cross-country skier Beckie Scott, who won a bronze medal in the 5-km pursuit at the 2002 Winter Olympics, may have that bronze medal upgraded to silver. The current silver medallist, Larissa Lazutina, who later tested positive for darbopoetin after the 30-km classic and was stripped of her gold medal in that event, also tested positive for darbopoetin in a test administered in December 2001, which would nullify all of Lazutina's results since then.
posted by mcwetboy at 2:38 PM PST - 6 comments

Is this taking so-called morality too far? The Kyoto agreement's one thing ... but this? More here
posted by johnny7 at 1:52 PM PST - 64 comments

Guerrilla signage. What happens when an artist gets sick of being stuck in the wrong freeway lane. (With video.)
posted by crabwalk at 1:46 PM PST - 58 comments

The Butterfly Grid. A gaming platform using open-source software to connect far-flung computers and millions of players, bypassing the Internet. (More from Reuters.)
posted by liam at 1:34 PM PST - 5 comments

Web of Distraction. Does the web cause you to lose time, having a hard time stopping browsing, and starting working? I know for me, the sheer inertia of browsing, it's hard to start working.
posted by patrickje at 12:41 PM PST - 12 comments

Saddam's oil scam....and other tidbits of interest about Iraq versus US. oops. I almost said "and the world," but the world seems indifferent or annoyed at the American threat to Iraq.
posted by Postroad at 9:53 AM PST - 24 comments

Chelsea Clinton = The New J.F.K. Jr. ?? in Vanity Fair, courtesy Page Six of the NY Post. You are no JFK. [NB LLoyd Bentsen where are you when we need you.]
posted by Voyageman at 9:32 AM PST - 38 comments

'"Would you state your name for the record?'' the man whose visage has now graced the cover of every national newsweekly was asked at the start of yesterday's session. 'Yes,'' the cardinal said. ''My name is Bernard Francis Law.'' Wonderfully written analysis on yesterday's deposition from my favorite paper.
posted by luser at 9:24 AM PST - 5 comments

Those free weekly alternative-press newspapers in your city? They suck. On the anniversary of Baltimore's City Paper, a writer celebrates by calling for change. Not just at Baltimore's paper, but at all alt-weeklies. That means you, Austin Chronicle, and Riverfront Times, and...
posted by conquistador at 9:23 AM PST - 31 comments

Bumfights.com. There's been alot of talk about this site in the news the last couple of days. To me, it makes me a little sick to my stomach seeing some of this stuff, could this really be legal? It seems almost like kidnapping to me.
posted by jonah at 8:29 AM PST - 68 comments

"Enough with the petting, I'm trying to lick myself here."
Introducing the Bowlingual, the doggie emotion translator. As if dogs are coy and hard to figure out. It just became Friday in Japan.
posted by planetkyoto at 8:20 AM PST - 7 comments

Gentlemen, start your lawyers! The Segway claims its first victim in Atlanta.
posted by Dirjy at 7:33 AM PST - 33 comments

Media Silent on Pipe Bomber's Leftism So newsmax says The same media establishment that is quick to label right-wing extremists refuses to call admitted pipe bomber Luke John Helder a left-wing extremist.
I did a little (very little) digging, and they might have something there, more below.
posted by Blake at 7:07 AM PST - 55 comments

Remember how some of us joked that the mailbox bomber was placing his bombs in a smiley face pattern? Well, we were right.
posted by Reggie452 at 7:03 AM PST - 9 comments

Rich Man's Castle - A Guardian piece which suggests the introduction of land-zoning to ensure that all the prime pieces of land aren't snapped up for luxury, new build homes and are instead designated for affordable housing. With UK house prices on an ever-upward trajectory, it's unlikely that developers would embrace such a move. At least, not when there are masterpieces to construct.
posted by jonathanbell at 7:00 AM PST - 5 comments

Controversial new bill to lay out reproductive technology guidelines. Canadian version of this battle doesn't seem to feature as many religious wackos. It's just not as fun without them.
posted by Leonard at 6:37 AM PST - 0 comments - Post a Comment

Conspiracy...Theory. A string of scientists working on similar projects all over the world are found dead. (via cursor)
posted by bittennails at 5:46 AM PST - 19 comments

the grave of the unknown rapist. does the brutality of war result in man sinking to the depths of depravity
posted by johnnyboy at 5:07 AM PST - 25 comments

Pepsi to release blue soda. Now we know what they've used in those diaper and maxipad commercials all these years.
posted by plinth at 4:22 AM PST - 65 comments

England squad Goalkeepers: David Seaman, David James, Nigel Martyn, Defenders: Rio Ferdinand, Sol Campbell, Gareth Southgate, Wes Brown, Danny Mills, Ashley Cole, Wayne Bridge, Martin Keown, Midfielders: David Beckham, Steven Gerrard, Paul Scholes, Kieron Dyer, Nicky Butt, Owen Hargreaves, Joe Cole, Strikers: Michael Owen, Emile Heskey, Teddy Sheringham, Robbie Fowler, Darius Vassell Well?
posted by Cobbler at 3:53 AM PST - 41 comments

Since 1996, The Osprey Project has been re-introducing the osprey into the United Kingdom, and since 1999 has been tracking its migrations, which stretch as far south as Senegal, and can include marathon stretches of open-ocean flight.

Oh, and sometimes they even make it Back.
posted by apostasy at 3:31 AM PST - 1 comments