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Hopkin Green Frog sadly explained.
posted by vaportrail at 11:56 PM PST - 26 comments

The Book of Kells is one of the most beautiful illuminated manuscripts ever made, a fusion of Celtic motifs, Germanic forms and Christian themes. We can view the image gallerys, or even visit in person, but it's a soulfully thin experience compared to actually holding its weight and turning the pages. Enter the world of Facsimile Books, a faithful re-creation of the original to the extent that it is virtually indistinguishable from the original, where price is no concern, editions are limited, and can cost $20,000 or more and often sell-out quickly. Finns Fine Books is a leading distributor. A list of publishers, mostly European fine arts craftsmen.
posted by stbalbach at 9:52 PM PST - 16 comments

Bad girls and Octopi, from some Russian LiveJournal Octopus Blog. (Some odd stuff inside, beware)
posted by growabrain at 9:24 PM PST - 29 comments

Science explores 125 big questions that face scientific inquiry over the next quarter-century. [via]
posted by Gyan at 6:57 PM PST - 23 comments

"The stars are veiled. Something stirs in the East. A sleepless malice. The eye of the enemy is moving. He is HERE."
posted by keswick at 6:12 PM PST - 15 comments

Smart ass blogger employed at law firm this summer. Humorous reflections on the institutions of law school and the summer clerkship.
posted by fatllama at 6:12 PM PST - 15 comments

Apropos Comics. "Hulk's movie not so bad! Had innovative directorial style! And Jennifer Connelly!"
posted by brain_drain at 4:55 PM PST - 22 comments

Governments seize 50 million dollars worth of pirated material on a raid against alleged "net pirates". Hundreds of computers were seized and 4 arrests were made total. The Justice Department “is striking at the top of the copyright piracy supply chain — a distribution chain that provides the vast majority of illegal digital content now available online,” Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said. Anyone who knows how it really works knows that statement is far from the truth.
posted by Dean Keaton at 2:55 PM PST - 69 comments

Steffen Jahn photography - A Flash site with a wide variety of photos: commercial work for exotic cars, flowers, planes and landscapes. Personal favorites are 'motorsport' in the 'stills' section and the 'little white things' section.
posted by swordfishtrombones at 1:45 PM PST - 9 comments

This game rated JC for eternal salvation, curing of the sick, and excessive scourging at the pillar. Ok, this is getting ridiculous...a Christian videogame about the rapture and the tribulations? WTF? I guess I know which side I'd be on. Seriously, though, do these people realize that every single new Christian-centric product is nothing more than a honeypot for harvesting names, addresses, and email addresses? Just like the GOP, people realize there's money to be made in marketing to Christians. But, the second you sign up, I'm sure you get added to one of the GOP's spam farms direct mail providers and sold to the appropriate politicrit or ideological demagogue. Just to show you I'm not full of it, look at who's in the databases of the Omega List and Response Unlimited...Advance Ticket Buyers for the Passion of the Christ, Peace Frogs (what?), Y2K Preparedness Buyers, the current (68k) and former (19m) subscribers to the Washington Times (aka Moonie Times), and of course, the Terri Schiavo Donor List. Take a look at who else is in there - Limbaugh, Newsmax, Fortune Magazine, Human Events, Guns and Ammo Magazine, Oliver North, the Heritage Foundation, Linda Tripp donors, G. Gordon Liddy's Toughguy Database, and the buyers of the Left Behind Video Series. No wonder we always lose...every single rightwing entity is in there! Via BoingBoing.
posted by rzklkng at 11:54 AM PST - 53 comments

Time to name names in Plame affair. Time Magazine has announced that they will hand over the full notes and emails of their reporter to federal investigators, revealing the identity of the White House official(s) who leaked the identity of Valerie Plame, a CIA officer. Will Joseph Wilson finally get his frog march?
posted by insomnia_lj at 11:42 AM PST - 80 comments

As a follow up to this earlier thread, the BBC has just posted the final installment of their Beethoven Experience, free mp3s of Beethoven's symphonies 6 through 9. Get them while you can, they're only up for a week (Number 6 goes down on Monday).
posted by soplerfo at 11:24 AM PST - 27 comments

Why does the National Council of Churches hate America? The NCC -- a coalition of 36 Christian denominations -- makes a firm statement against the war in Iraq: "This year our nation is at war as we observe the 4th of July, a day that honors those founders who spoke out for independence from tyranny. Today in Iraq a cruel dictator has been deposed, yet the suffering of the Iraqi people continues. Mandated elections have been held, yet the future of Iraq remains as uncertain as ever. Day by day the cost of this war for the United States, for Iraq, for peace grows clearer. No weapons of mass destruction have been found; no link to the attacks on September 11, 2001 has been shown. It has become clear that the rationale for invasion was at best a tragic mistake, at worst a clever deception." Mainstream Christians are starting to take back Christianity from the theocrats.
posted by digaman at 10:59 AM PST - 74 comments

Detached a gorgeous comic based on the author's experiences with having a detached retina and going through eye surgery.
posted by mathowie at 10:40 AM PST - 24 comments

Next Act Won't Be as Easy as the First. Gates once conceded: "Google is still perfect, the bubble is floating and they can do everything. You should buy their stock at any price.” And just this week they affirmed this statement with their release of Google Earth, showing the world that their scope is beyond just websites. But is google growing too ambitious? is this desire to "search all of the world's information" signaling doom?
posted by merc at 10:06 AM PST - 22 comments

Gangsta Gadgets
Yes friends, your life has been woefully incomplete if you aren't surfing the web with a Ba-Donka-Donk Mouse on your Laptop Lowrider grooving to the latest R. Kelly love ballad on your iPod Spinner serving up the bass to your bitchin' Boombox Hightops and working your digi-photos over with the Redman Redeye filter.
Speaking of R. Kelly, after you're done working, go and have a shower under the R. Kelly 24k Gold showerhead with built-in 5 megapixel camera to capture those special moments under the suds.
Also, be sure to check out Not Coming to an Xbox near you and the Smartphone Showdown.
posted by fenriq at 9:55 AM PST - 12 comments

Got Beer? Which came first, the Stella Artois or the Ostrich? Does this makes sense after I drink a few Stellas?
posted by spicynuts at 9:06 AM PST - 30 comments

Michael Jackson is guilty of being totally excellent in this fantastic whirlwind tour of NES games (a la Sega Fantasy VI); MJ herein imposes his 16-bit self on a huge amount of games including but not limited to Megaman, Kung Fu, Ice Climber, Super Mario Brothers 1 and 3, Dragon Warrior, Arkanoid, Track and Field, Spelunker, Final Fantasy and more. If you know the Japanese language + games, clue us in. (Flash and hardcore midi dance music warning)
posted by BlackLeotardFront at 8:55 AM PST - 24 comments

Kinky for governor!
posted by xowie at 7:43 AM PST - 24 comments

Free Latin grammars and Texts are available for budding Latin scholars as well as Law and Med students who want a jump on all the professional lingo. Forum Romanorum provides very readable texts on Roman culture, life and history. Finally this better than average latin quotes page is available for the Mefites who just want to be able to spout Latin quotes (or who want to know what Latin quote gasbags are going on about)
posted by BeerGrin at 6:53 AM PST - 29 comments

To be successful, an occupation such as that contemplated after any hostilities in Iraq requires much detailed interagency planning, many forces, multi-year military commitment, and a national commitment to nation-building... To conduct their share of the essential tasks that must be accomplished to reconstruct an Iraqi state, military forces will be severely taxed in military police, civil affairs, engineer, and transportation units, in addition to possible severe security difficulties. The administration of an Iraqi occupation will be complicated by deep religious, ethnic, and tribal differences which dominate Iraqi society. U.S. forces may have to manage and adjudicate conflicts among Iraqis that they can barely comprehend. An exit strategy will require the establishment of political stability, which will be difficult to achieve given Iraq's fragmented population, weak political institutions, and propensity for rule by violence.

From the US Army War College in February 2003: Reconstructing Iraq: Insights, Challenges, and Missions for Military Forces in a Post-Conflict Scenario  (PDF). From June 2005, Anthony Cordesman's analysis of factual misstatements in the President's recent address: Truth and spin on Iraq. Foresight is 20/20. Irresponsibility and mendacity are timeless.
posted by y2karl at 6:29 AM PST - 44 comments

Legitimate Job Test or Something Wacky? H.J. Cummins of the Minneapolis Star Tribune writes about personality tests--never meant to screen job applicants--being used or misused by employers. Test sample items: "I see things or animals or people around me that others do not see." "My soul sometimes leaves my body." "I have a habit of counting things that are not important, such as bulbs on electric signs, and so forth."
posted by etaoin at 5:26 AM PST - 38 comments

The New Yorker has an article about AIPAC ( the American Israel Public Affairs Commision ) and the ongoing spy investigation into Larry Franklin and his passing of classified information to AIPAC who then passed it on to Israel. The article points to the question of whether AIPAC should be forced to register as the agent of a foreign power and whether there is undue influence over American policy by Israel's Likud party.
posted by sien at 4:17 AM PST - 14 comments

Spain legalizes gay marriage. Warm-climate-loving gay people rejoice! You now have warm beaches to share with your spouse. Yesterday it was Canada; which country will be tomorrow? [link to La Vanguardia article]
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 4:04 AM PST - 47 comments

Republicans are threatening to revoke Major League Baseball's antitrust exemption. Not because of the steroid scandals, or the numerous abuses of the monopoly to shakedown cities for publicly financed stadiums. No, the GOP is attacking baseball because George Soros, a liberal, might buy a team and he would be a "polarizing figure." Oh yeah, Fred Malek, a non-polarizing, competing bidder is a GOP fundraiser and a aide who compiled a list of members of the "Jewish Cabal" at the Bureau of Labor Statistics for Nixon. This injection of politics into baseball seems eerily familiar to me...
posted by hipnerd at 1:12 AM PST - 44 comments