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Leftover Lunch is an exploration of lunches way past their due date.
posted by arkine at 10:47 PM PST - 8 comments

Who were the Puritans? Being a life-long Christian who is deeply dissatisfied with the image of my faith presented by these kinds of people, I found myself thinking about what happens when one version of belief gains dominance in a particular political context... and thought perhaps there might be interesting things to learn in studying this group of politically radical Protestants... particularly considering that they are arguably the religious precursors of modern fundamentalism. The search is leading me to learning a great deal more about the early history of Christianity in the United States. You might be surprised by the depth of complexity and history represented by a word that is now largely just a one-dimensional perjorative
posted by nanojath at 9:39 PM PST - 52 comments

Rainbow Brite's fans are apparently more legion than I had known. Don't miss the fanfic or the gallery! With the help of her sidekick Twink, Rainbow Brite struggles on to defend Colorland from the forces of darkness.
posted by mwhybark at 9:35 PM PST - 15 comments

Leaving the left. "I departed with new clarity about the brilliance of liberal democracy and the value system it entails; the quest for freedom as an intrinsically human affair; and the dangers of demands for conformity and adherence to any point of view through silence, fear, or coercion." Keith Thompson
posted by semmi at 6:38 PM PST - 186 comments

Chautauquas, and (as early as the 1830's) Lyceums, were perhaps America's first experiments in a truly Mass Culture. Everyone from this guy to this guy took the stage.
These days? Budweiser and Home Depot continue this fine American tradition.
Hey, at least its not a Medicine Show.
posted by gilgamix at 4:55 PM PST - 9 comments

The Smallest, Coolest Apartment Contest
posted by jenleigh at 4:14 PM PST - 55 comments

Roadcasting is an idea bandied about for ages: create ad-hoc low power FM networks that let you share the mp3 music you're hearing in your car with those driving around you. It's basically a blueprint for shared pirate radio as you drive, surfing the dial for a variety of music from nearby motorists. They've got screenshots and source code and it looks just like the system imagined in Cory Doctorow's books. I can't wait to see where this project is headed. [via unmediated]
posted by mathowie at 1:42 PM PST - 37 comments

Czech and Armenian lacework [big PDFs]. From an amazing Digital Archive of books about lace, weaving, and textiles.
posted by Wolfdog at 11:58 AM PST - 3 comments

Fig-leaf-eating Velociraptor Scandal! Look, I've got nothing against religion but if you believe a word of it you are, in the words of Robert Burns, "a dumbass fuck".
posted by Pretty_Generic at 11:57 AM PST - 182 comments

How far do we go? Is there a place in "civilized" society for torture?
posted by leftcoastbob at 10:25 AM PST - 76 comments

It's exactly one week to The Referendum. Will there be a Europe this year or won't there? The European Union was more France's project than anyone else's; if the French suddenly say Non there's going to be lots of polyglot arm-waving and excitement. The media are all a-twitter, all the European ministers are breathing heavily, Libération, in the person of Jean Baudrillard, sees state fascism approaching (but then Libération always sees fascism approaching, it's their gig.) My magic 8 ball points to Oui. Oh wait, it changed its mind, now it says "reply hazy, ask again later."
posted by jfuller at 10:22 AM PST - 30 comments

'I haven't seen a porno film in 20 years or more. No need to. I got my wife'.
Harry Reems tells about his struggle to survive Deep Throat.
posted by matteo at 7:10 AM PST - 17 comments

Browstoner renovations. Watch a brownstown be renovated blog post by blog post.
posted by srboisvert at 6:18 AM PST - 9 comments

Sexy hard glistening hot miners bringing us clean coal technologies and liberating us from our friends in the mid-east. GE greenwashing at its best.
posted by tarantula at 6:12 AM PST - 28 comments

Paul Ricoeur dies. A sketch of his life's work can be found here. (Warning, somewhat dense, NSF-sunday mornings). Here's a little on phenomenology, Ricoeur's philosophical paradigm.
posted by blindsam at 6:07 AM PST - 6 comments

Rats fed GM corn develop abnormalities A new study reveals that rats fed on a diet rich in genetically modified corn develop abnormalities to internal organs and changes to their blood, raising fears that human health could be affected by eating GM food.
posted by Lanark at 2:09 AM PST - 73 comments