May 28, 2010
I'm selling these fine leather jackets...
Bangers + SMASH
Bzzzzzz......
amazingly old trees
Bad Postcards
GaGa Studies 101
Gaga Stigmata: Critical Writings and Art About Lady Gaga is a new (begun in March), heavily "theory" laden, online journal that takes the much-discussed pop phenomena of the Lady very seriously (or tongue-in-cheek, it's hard to tell).
"No matter what ideas the human mind generates, they must never be quashed."
New Scientist Special Report: Living in Denial. Includes articles by Michael Shermer, founding publisher of Skeptic Magazine [more inside]
These bastards let your brother die
Lego Building Lego (again) (SLYT)
A giant lego machine which builds a small lego airplane. A 10 min video of lego building lego... I couldn't make it through without fast-forwarding, but as a lego enthusiast, I was intrigued by the way the assorted pieces were provided to the machine and moved along to the final creation.
Friends of the Pleistocene
YouCut
House Minority Whip Eric Cantor
(R-VA) has set up YouCut, a website where users can suggest and vote on potential cuts in federal spending, which will be put up to be voted on by the House. Cuts selected by the website include a freeze on federal non-military employees raises (pending a vote), and a cut in Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF, a welfare service of the stimulus fund. The cut failed in a vote). The House Democrats have proposed that America Speaking Out (previously) be offered as an option to cut for the next round.
whatchu talkin bout willis...? Gary Coleman dead at 42
Child actor, former California gubernatorial candidate, and former security guard Gary Coleman passed away today.
Cards of Wu
Cards of Wu. A series of woodcuts in the form of a fictitious deck of divination cards by Ellis Nadler. They're available to buy online as high quality digital prints. [Via]
Caped Crusader against Corruption
He's a philosopher; wore a super hero cape to premote civic values; mooned at students and admits he has Pakinsons disease.
Colombians, tired of corruption and human rights violations, could be about to bring in a radical new leader: Antanas Mockus, the green candidate whose super citizen’s past could help make him president.
One view of what is at stake.
Colombians, tired of corruption and human rights violations, could be about to bring in a radical new leader: Antanas Mockus, the green candidate whose super citizen’s past could help make him president.
One view of what is at stake.
And this is the first time we are really deciding over matters of national interest and not matters of fear. Issues such as health, education, international affairs. These are the central points of this election.
The First Decoration Day
The First Decoration Day was held by freed slaves on May 1, 1865 at the Washington Race Track in Charleston, South Carolina to honor "The Martyrs of the Race Course": Union POWs who had died in a Confederate prison camp there. Decoration Day later became known as Memorial Day. [more inside]
None of them ever came home.
In 2008, The Nation Institute published a lengthy expose (single page) by Sydney H. Schanberg about the role of John McCain in supressing evidence of American prisoners of war who never left Vietnam.
Despite the fact that John McCain based a significant part of his campaign on his military service, the story never attracted any significant media attention. [more inside]
Despite the fact that John McCain based a significant part of his campaign on his military service, the story never attracted any significant media attention. [more inside]
A Ring and a Promise Given
A Love Letter to a G.I. "This is in memory of an anniversary – the anniversary of October 27th, 1943, when I first heard you singing in North Africa. That song brings memories of the happiest times I’ve ever known." The most romantic argument against Don't Ask, Don't Tell yet.
Maximum Zeuhl
Magma perform a tribute to Otis Redding, 28/7/81 Not sure what Christian Vander is singing? Don't worry, he's singing in Kobaian.
Active Shooter Protocols - Remain Calm, Stay Low, Be Quiet (Don't Forget to Silence Your Phone)
With a deep rift between people they can effectively train and people who can get into the country, jihadi terrorist groups are increasingly suggesting that grass-roots sympathizers plan simple attacks with readily available items. To a large extent this means mimicking tactics with which we're all too familiar. Recall that for Mumbai in 2008, this amounted to nine men holding the city hostage for four days, while killing or wounding almost 500 people. So what should you do [pdf] if you find yourself in an area that is under fire? What can you expect Law Enforcement to do?
Opera Web Browser: Faster Than A Potato
SLYT: Opera Web Browser. Faster than cooking a potato. And without all that ugly Chrome.
No Grading, More Learning
"It would take a lot to get me back to a conventional form of grading ever again." Cathy Davidson, an English professor at Duke, teaches a seminar in which final grades are determined by fellow students. She writes about the experience in Inside Higher Ed.
(Thoughts by Duke faculty about the philosophy of grading previously on MetaFilter.)
Lori Berenson paroled
Putting Race in a Box
Racebox.org A history of racial classification on the U.S. Census from 1790 to 2010.
What's good for America is bad for GM.
How The U.S. Government Built, Then Killed The Safest Car Ever Built. Thirty-five years ago, the U.S. government built a fleet of cars that were safer than anything on the road. Twenty-five years ago, the government shredded them in secret.
Care for some beef, old chap?
I say! Professor Elemental, pith helmeted explorer of the outer reaches of steam-punk hip-hop feels moved to write a letter - deploring the behaviour of a young fellow named Mr B. [more inside]
Say it in Shanghai
Learn a bit of Shanghainese for the World Expo: Say it in Shanghai is a short series of videos from the China Daily newspaper. Very simple, but actually kinda useful and funny. Direct links to lessons: Part one | Part two | Part three | Part four | Part five | Part six.
25 Cent
Rapper and actor 50 Cent has slimmed down to 160 lbs. for his role in an upcoming film in which he plays a cancer patient. Here, a gallery of other actors who notably lost or gained weight for their craft.
If the past is a palimpsest, what are we?
Ten days ago, Slate Magazine conducted an experiment modeled on the Ministry of Truth in George Orwell's 1984: they asked readers to look at eight photographs of notable political moments from the past decade and share their memories about each. Over 5,000 people participated in the first three days, but what they didn’t know was that four of the pictures were significantly doctored, and one was totally fabricated. [more inside]
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