Stripped for Parts Although the blogging community has had a hunch for some time, director Robert Fiveson has just confirmed that he's considering an injunction against the further distribution of The Island, as it, ahem, very closely mirrors his own film, Parts: The Clonus Horror. Michael Bay's film doesn't credit anyone who worked on Clonus, and press materials tout its "original screenplay". I suppose, though, Bay can always claim that he's being so deliciously meta by doing a clone of a clone picture... [A sideways-update to this post]
posted by Rev. Syung Myung Me at 11:55 PM PST - 45 comments

Truthmapping: The Ultimate Attempt to Rationalize Debate? From lofty ontological arguments for the existence of God and for the self-contradictory nature of determinism to relatively more down to earth propositions about the unconstitutionality of abortion and the justice of the war in Iraq: can many significant debates be reduced to simple sets of premises and conclusions? Should they be?
posted by shivohum at 11:01 PM PST - 49 comments

Music Hurts is a new online music magazine that looks to examine the impact of music on society and culture. The articles cover topics such as band logos, female drummers, baile funk, Old Dirty Bastard (RIP!), Heavy Metal and Rap around the globe, and Iggy Pop. Lots of great stuff here, that is if you can get past the arty flash layout. Via OneLouder.
posted by Quartermass at 10:51 PM PST - 7 comments

Real Ads of Genius. Horrible "beer", great commercials. Here they are, all the Bud Light Real Men of Genius and Real American Heroes radio spots on one site ready to laugh with on mp3.
posted by tsarfan at 9:36 PM PST - 18 comments

TED UK
(click through to What is Ted : About Ted : Highlights. You'd think a conference with Freemon Dyson speaking could afford a decent web designer)
posted by Tlogmer at 9:19 PM PST - 5 comments

The pork butts seem to actually slump upon themselves as if they can no longer support their own weight. Got a Weber Smokey Mountain? Before you waste another afternoon or cut of meat, follow the professor's five-step program. I have never been lucky enough to partake of his fare, but those who have swear he is the master. He smokes more meat than you have ever seen, unless you work in a slaughterhouse. Check out the forums for advanced techniques and further study.
posted by mzurer at 9:12 PM PST - 19 comments

Saturn's Eerie Radio Emissions and other space sounds.
posted by dhruva at 7:56 PM PST - 24 comments

"In 1970, archaeologists discovered the site of Fort Orange in Albany, New York. This fort was built by Dutch fur-traders around 1624 and was later surrounded by a growing community. " Among the findings were three human skeletons from a Lutheran cemetery. One skeleton had a skull with enough bone to attempt a facial reconstruction. Say hello to Pearl.
posted by DeepFriedTwinkies at 7:13 PM PST - 20 comments

A news release by the american institute of physics details the "unprecedented" bullying by republican senators of scientists studying climate change. The committee's letter asks for private and public sources of Mann's research funding, location of his data, computer codes, and his response to critical reviews of his work, including "Did you calculate the R2 statistic for the temperature reconstruction, particularly for the 15th Century proxy record calculations and what were the results?" The House web site has a collection of related materials and news articles.
posted by about_time at 7:06 PM PST - 46 comments

"The biggest downside to the war in Iraq is what you could do with the money," he said. "What does the war in Iraq cost a week? A billion? Maybe a billion a day? The budget for the National Cancer Institute is four billion. That has to change... Polls say people are much more afraid of cancer than of a plane flying into their house or a bomb or any other form of terrorism. It is a priority for the American people." Does this sound like the next governor of Texas to you?
posted by docgonzo at 1:01 PM PST - 108 comments

The Shitty Tipper Database. Ever undertip, for whatever reason? Did you use a credit card? You could be famous! Or infamous. (via)
posted by frykitty at 12:25 PM PST - 200 comments

"We must remain faithful to the established principles of the scientific method and not allow theological beliefs and dogma to interfere," Pedro Chequer, director of the Brazilian government's AIDS program, said in an interview in Brasilía. [NYT link] Earlier this year Brazil was the first country to reject US aid for fighting HIV/Aids because of the provision in The Leadership Against AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria Act of 2003 which would have required Brazil, where prositution is regulated and legal, to condemn commercial sex work. Along with the global gag rule, which prevents NGOs receiving US aid from discussing abortion with their clients (or even from advocating for safe and legal abortions with their own governments), US policies based on theological imperatives are endangering women worldwide. "Using a conservative estimate, U.S. assistance could have helped prevent 10 percent of the over 2 million deaths in developing countries from unsafe abortion over the past 30 years." Also: The Global Gag Rule Impact Project.
posted by OmieWise at 12:21 PM PST - 11 comments

The NYPD is searching passengers' bags, supposedly at random and with no racial profiling involved. Setting aside the very real question of how this makes us safer, is this legal? [more inside]
posted by Vidiot at 12:17 PM PST - 116 comments

Dr Pepper Clones
posted by the_bone at 11:10 AM PST - 52 comments

New research concludes that cats lack a functional sweet taste receptor, as reported in the new, free-access journal PLoS Genetics. Also: WaPo coverage, and the new family of Public Library of Science journals.
posted by rxrfrx at 11:05 AM PST - 40 comments

EMBO's report on Time and Aging (free access) contains an essay wherein the author, Karin Knorr Cetina, from the University of Konstanz, Germany, argues that death and aging used to be major issues that defined what it means to be human and helped us find our place in society by showing us the limits of what is possible to achieve as a human. With the advances in science, particularly biological advances in slowing aging and technological advances in extending human function, we no longer accept our fate. Instead of accepting that we all grow old and die so we should take our place in society, with the expectation that if we contribute, society will take care of us, too, we now have promises being made by science that death and aging are no longer inevitable. Where are we headed, then? If we can no longer find our place by finding the limits of achievement and accepting our place within them, how do we work as a collective?
posted by Mr. Gunn at 10:42 AM PST - 15 comments

Yahoo! acquires Konfabulator. [via] Previously trial-ware accompanied by a $19.95 fee, Konfabulator Yahoo! Widgets will now be offered as a free download. What if you purchased it? They're offering a refund. (Get your widgets right here. Konfabulator previously discussed.)
posted by blendor at 10:16 AM PST - 57 comments

What is really going on?
posted by jeffburdges at 9:11 AM PST - 57 comments

Boss Hogg’s Blog agrees: Jessica Simpson ain’t no Daisy Duke. Cooter tends to agree. Daisy Duke, Rosco, and Boss Hogg soundboards as well. ..Can’t wait for the prank call recordings:) Who needs a new movie anyway?
posted by thisisdrew at 9:04 AM PST - 11 comments

Canadian phone company and ISP, Telus, has blocked access to the website of the striking union. Here's what Telus, the phone company/ISP, has to say.
posted by theora55 at 8:05 AM PST - 35 comments

youngman, there's no need to feel down.

Originally rejecting a ghetto-tag of 'gay writer', John Rechy's early work describes aspects of US gay subculture, pre-Stonewall, and pre-HIV, that was necessarily a closed book to outsiders at that point in time

Rechy is still writing, and today, his website features blog-like commentary and interesting thoughts on writing.
posted by PeterMcDermott at 8:02 AM PST - 11 comments

He broke all the rules... because there was nowhere to run, nowhere to hide and no way out... He's a one-man army... He's the voice over king Don LaFontaine. [link to MP3 interview in case you want to skip all the text]
posted by KevinSkomsvold at 7:05 AM PST - 11 comments

Sci-fi writer and Marine Biologist Peter Watts puts his first two novels, Starfish and Maelstrom online under Creative Commons license. Behemoth to follow shortly. The most original and starkly vivid account of a dystopian future that I have read for years, made all the more enthralling by Watt's scientific background and knowledge. You will find some of his short stories at the link as well. Via BoingBoing
posted by lucien at 4:05 AM PST - 29 comments

"It has always been as if I carry chaos with me the way others carry typhoid. My purpose in writing is to transcend my existence by illuminating it."
Crime novelist Edward Bunker, who died last Tuesday at age 71 (LATimes obit), became at 17 the youngest inmate at San Quentin after he stabbed a prison guard at a youth detention facility. It was during his 18 years of incarceration for robbery, check forgery and other crimes that Bunker learned to write. In 1973, while still in prison, he made his literary debut with "No Beast So Fierce", a novel about a paroled thief James Ellroy called "quite simply one of the great crime novels of the past 30 years" and that was made into the movie "Straight Time" starring Dustin Hoffman. Also a screenwriter ("Runaway Train"), Bunker appeared as an actor in nearly two dozen roles, most notably as Mr. Blue in "Reservoir Dogs." (more inside)
posted by matteo at 3:05 AM PST - 9 comments