May 27, 2011
"Save The World" by Swedish House Mafia
SLYT: Either "Save The World" by Swedish House Mafia is one of the most incredibly moving music videos ever or I just have insanely weepy-with-joy PMS hormones right now. I link, you decide!
Vicious Cycles, and HTML text adventure
Vicious Cycles is a text adventure converted into HTML, and the results are pretty great. [more inside]
Cold Steel
Cold Steel is a company that produces and sells weapons to the mass market. This is a revealing promotional video focusing on its founder, Lynn Thompson, who describes the philosophy behind his business..
"You will not be able to stay home, brother..."
War Pigs. Live. Heavy.
But Not All the Live-Long Day
Grand Rapids to Newsweek: We A'int Dying!
This past January Newsweek magazine deemed Grand Rapids, Michigan as one of the top 10 'dying cities' in the United States. Mayor George Heartwell refuted the 'dying city' label in letter [PDF] to Newsweek editor Tina Brown. The designation inspired the citizens of the city to raise $40,000 and pull together to create a lip-dub to Don McLean's 'American Pie.'
The curious case of the Amazonian Chernobyl
High-Stakes Seismology
In a chilling development, six Italian scientists (and one government official) are facing manslaughter charges for failing to predict the April 6, 2009 earthquake that killed 309 people.
I have some extremely distressing news.
A long time ago (1987) in a slightly parallel galaxy not so far away, an aspiring filmmaker named George Lucas teamed up with thespian Richard E. Grant to create the epic tale of a frustrated thespidroid trying to find fame on the desolate planet of Tatooine. Withnail and O is the result.
Sarah Palin for Primetime Host
No Blood, No Foul
Inside the Detainee Abuse Task Force
On 28 Jul 2004, the Detainee Abuse Task Force, was formed by USACIDC to investigate all allegations of Iraqi Detainee abuse involving Coalition Forces.
One of the special agents in charge describes the task force as under-resourced and hampered by a bureaucracy unable or unwilling to facilitate its investigations.
PBS and The Nation investigating journalist states “One thing that shocked me was that the ID/DATF agents that I interviewed said there could be hundreds, if not thousands, of allegations of detainee abuse and torture that likely didn’t reach them.”
In 2009 President Obama stated “Individuals who violated standards of behavior in these photos have been investigated and held accountable.” and concluded
"I ran for President because I believe that we cannot solve the challenges of our time unless we solve them together."
On 28 Jul 2004, the Detainee Abuse Task Force, was formed by USACIDC to investigate all allegations of Iraqi Detainee abuse involving Coalition Forces.
One of the special agents in charge describes the task force as under-resourced and hampered by a bureaucracy unable or unwilling to facilitate its investigations.
PBS and The Nation investigating journalist states “One thing that shocked me was that the ID/DATF agents that I interviewed said there could be hundreds, if not thousands, of allegations of detainee abuse and torture that likely didn’t reach them.”
In 2009 President Obama stated “Individuals who violated standards of behavior in these photos have been investigated and held accountable.” and concluded
"I ran for President because I believe that we cannot solve the challenges of our time unless we solve them together."
Here's a picture of me when I was younger
The website of the late comedian Mitch Hedberg has been revamped and relaunched by his widow Lynn Shawcroft, with photos, videos, and selections from Mitch's notebooks. (via) (previously) (sadly)
cat I have no idea how you got into these places cat or why
The end of the end of polio?
With the help of Bill Gates, the World's efforts to eradicate polio (PDF) have over the last few years gained a great deal of new hope (TED) [more inside]
What's a few hundred million between 24 friends?
The most powerful presidential position in the world is having its election soon, and the incumbent has just been brought up before an ethics committee for investigation. The USA's best attempt at a candidate was shut out and couldn't even be nominated. The person who is supposed to be representing the US region has been found guilty of corruption several times. Could this result in a historic revote for the 2022 World Cup location? [more inside]
What Proof Does a Woman Have to Have?
"The woman, 29, testified, she woke up naked except for a bra, in a puddle of vomit, and believing that she had been raped the night before by a police officer." An East Village video system "recorded two police officers as they arrived at the apartment building above the bar four times in four hours — once on official business, then sneaking back three more times in secret..." What Proof Does a Woman Have to Have? (NYT) [more inside]
Canuck court claims consciousness-less consent clearly crap.
The Supreme Court of Canada ruled today, in a 6-3 decision, that a person cannot give advance consent to sexual activity while unconscious. [more inside]
Tyranny is helpful, especially when voting against tyranny
On May 23, 1861, Spotsylvania County, Virginia voted 1323 - 0 in favor of succession from the Union. Historian John Hennessy provides an explanation of how that vote came to be a perfect 100% in favor of succession. So people rebelling against "Northern tyranny" themselves used tyranny to rig a vote that was undoubtedly going to go overwhelmingly in their favor anyway?
Out Of This World
Out Of This World: Science Fiction But Not As You Know It is an exhibition at the British Library exploring the origins of Science Fiction, running until September. China Mieville takes a look at the exhibition for the BBC. (Out Of This World postcards - images from the exhibition) [more inside]
Captured
Elizabeth Eckford. Paul Cole. Lt. Colonel Robert L. Stirm. Juan Romero. The unfamiliar names have one thing in common: because of a split second in time with a camera pointing towards them, they will always be remembered as “the person in that photograph.” This list includes 10 such individuals, and how a single picture can change some people’s lives. [NSFW for one photo]
The Happy Warrior
Vice President and Minnesota Senator Hubert Humphrey is remembered by "Nixonland" author Rick Perlstein in today's New York Times as "America's Forgotten Liberal" on this, the 100th anniversary of Humphrey's birth. A significant political figure in his own right as a champion of civil rights, a front-runner in the 1960 Democratic primaries and the Democratic nominee for president in 1968, Humphrey's political and personal humiliations at the hands of Lyndon Johnson hindered him at what should have been the very pinnacle of his career and the success of the 30-year liberal majority in Washington. A four-part series at MinnPost.com by writer Iric Nathanson (pt.1, pt.2, pt.3, pt.4) looks at his career. Humphrey died of cancer in 1978 while still serving in the Senate.
Insider trading laws do not apply to members of US Congress
Insider trading laws do not apply to members of US Congress. And it shows, an academic study found members of House beat the market by 6% annually from 1985 to 2001, outperforming hedge funds, not to mention Raj Rajaratnam and Martha Stewart. [more inside]
Paper Cuts
Paper Cuts. Paper-cut silhouettes of famous characters. Can you name them all? (Warning: Single page with a lot of inline images. One slightly NSFW.)
Chicken Vanishes, Heartbreak Ensues
Chicken Vanishes, Heartbreak Ensues: A front-yard chicken in Brooklyn is stolen, and a neighborhood rallies. (SLNYT)
"The only horses in the arena were in this bucket."
You're a (sleepy) kitty!
sweet dreams, small kitty (slytp).
Not only can't you get an abortion, but no one knows how to perform one, anyway.
On Wednesday, the House approved an amendment from Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.) that would prevent a federal healthcare education fund from being used for abortion or to provide for training for abortion procedures. [more inside]
Celebrity Lecture Series at MSU
Web artifact made of solid gold CELEBRITY LECTURES SERIES from Michigan State University. Ten years worth of lectures were posted in 1998. They are all still there-- awaiting your return.
Edward Albee ,Isabel Allende, Maya Angelou, Margaret Atwood, Pat Conroy, Jacques d'Amboise, E.L. Doctorow, Richard Ford, Carlos Fuentes, David Halberstam, Joseph Heller,
John Irving, Judith Jamison, William Kennedy, Norman Mailer, David McCullough, Terry McMillan, Arthur Miller, Joyce Carol Oates, Philip Roth, Jane Smiley, Susan Sontag, Amy Tan,
Paul Theroux, John Updike,Kurt Vonnegut Jr., Derek Walcott, Garry Wills, August Wilson and
Tom Wolfe.
I listened to the Vonnegut lecture. Imagine-- a whole hour and a half (Well, I skipped the first 9 minutes of introductions.) with my favorite author wheezing and sputtering. How refreshing to hear him declaim in his own voice and reveal the happiest day of his life and his own favorite from among his works -"The Sirens of Titan".
Sean Young's Polaroids
FEMA Gets its Groove Back
FEMA Administrator W. Craig Fugate has what he describes as a "Waffle House" theory of emergency management to assess how bad a situation is after a disaster. "If the Waffle House is open and serving food and has got a full menu, then it's green," he said during an interview inside a FEMA mobile home parked outside a fire station in Joplin. "If the Waffle House is open but has a limited menu, it's yellow, and if the Waffle House isn't open, that's red." - FEMA Gets its Groove Back
The Fiction Liberation Front
The Fiction Liberation Front: cyberpunk/slipstream/transreal author Lewis Shiner has released his collected writings under a Creative Commons license, including his award novels Frontera, Deserted Cities of the Heart, and Glimpses. Shiner may be best known for his inclusion in the seminal 1986 cyberpunk anthology Mirrorshades, alongside the likes of William Gibson, Bruce Sterling, and Rudy Rucker. A few years later he was pronouncing the movement dead.
Early to Ripe, Early to Rot
Why did William James Sidis - the reclusive boy genius fluent in Latin at 2, accepted to MIT at 8, conceptual physicist at 11 - spend so much time thinking about public transit transfers? [more inside]
And you thought me slain? Lionheart is immortal! He can never be destroyed, never!
Ah, "Diorama-Rama", my favorite school event next to "Hearing-test Thurday!"
The Greatest LEGO Diorama in the Galaxy! Imperial Employee of the Month Jay Hoff has been hard at work building the greatest LEGO Diorama in this or any other Galaxy. An impressive, most impressive 37,000 pieces of LEGO (as well as, presumably, a scary amount of time and money), including 388 mini-figurines, went into this custom commemoration of the Emperor's arrival on the second Death Star. This great moment in Imperial history was made in 2011 for Science Discovery Day at Berkeley Preparatory School in Tampa. It uses an Imperial Shuttle Kit with custom designed Death Star hangar. [Via Death Star PR]
Click "continue"
The EU has just rolled out a new law requiring websites to request permission before installing any cookies in a user's web browser. In the UK, businesses have been given a one year deferral on implementation by the Information Commissioner's Office. The ICO have brought their own website into compliance with the law though, showing other websites the way forward. There's a notice at the top of the page requesting permission to set a cookie, as legally required. Click "continue" without agreeing
Kaydara
Kaydara is a French-made Matrix fan film, released on the 21st of May 2011, which has been noted for the high quality of its special effects. The entire 55-minute film is now available to stream for free from its site. [more inside]
Ppl just litarally kill me!
Literally Unbelievable is a blog dedicated to Facebook users who don't understand that The Onion is a satire news site.
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