Well, I didn't like boys anyway. Small loss.
posted by Steven Den Beste at 11:53 PM PST - 4 comments

Pete's Compendium of Knowledge "It was then that a large number of ducks (each with their own special little bar-coded death-ray machine) swarmed the supermarket, their eyes burning with the fury of sweet, sweet love. They knocked over the Post Toasties display, sending fruit-filled pastry wannabes flying everywhere. The TV newscaster commenting on the event blew chunks of roast beef around with an old run-down snowblower. Go figure."
from Attack of Torvas the Terrible.
This site has lots of fun literary toys to play with. The above quote comes from a collaborative story writer in which anyone can contribute a few words at a time.
posted by lagado at 9:56 PM PST - 1 comments

How Culture Molds Habits is a fascinating article. Read this article, tally another point for nurture. I've long thought this was true, but Nisbett's supposedly gathered rather a lot of data proving it is so. The article raises some interesting parts of the study, but I think the ramifications bear some considering. I'd be interested in reading the full study when it's published, but I haven't a clue where to get the Psychological Review. And can you imagine what the advertising execs will do with this stuff? Ads tailored to the way you think. Wheee. It does, of course, raise some fun questions about religion and politics.
posted by fable at 9:37 PM PST - 4 comments

Cecil Adams on the pros and cons of municipal recycling programs.
posted by skallas at 9:03 PM PST - 2 comments

The Surrealist Compliment Generator is one of the better computerized sentence generators. It produces weird compliments which are nearly always funny. Link courtesy of tbtf log.
posted by lagado at 7:21 PM PST - 2 comments

Trust me. She's good. And depending on where you are in the world, she might be in your area very soon. [more]
posted by ZachsMind at 7:11 PM PST - 5 comments

There have been some, uh, interesting remarks made by people regarding the rights of protestors and the rights of police in Philladelphia. Bijan Parsia has written an informative piece on Monkeyfist about what exactly is happening there, from a legal standpoint.
posted by queequeg at 4:19 PM PST - 11 comments

A retarded man in Texas is set to be executed tomorrow. Is this what "compassionate conservatism" is all about? Bush does not support laws that prohibit the execution of retarded people, even though such laws exist currently in 12 other states. Oliver Cruz commited a heinous crime, but isn't killing him tomorrow pre-meditated murder? Are we a better society after we kill Oliver Cruz? Does it send a message to other would be mentally-retarded killers that they will hear and will it convince them not to commit similar crimes?
posted by mathowie at 3:47 PM PST - 50 comments

28 states have filed suit against the five big record companies and two music retailers for conspiring to fix CD prices. Perhaps sometime in the near future I will actually be able to afford new compact discs. Until then, I'll have to amuse myself by laughing at the RIAA.
posted by sixfoot6 at 3:02 PM PST - 6 comments

Rewriting of history. Now, I don't really approve of what Pinochet did, but in the same process, those in charge are raising up Allende as some sort of great humanistic leader. All in all, I consider what happened to be part of war. IT has to be looked at in context. If Pinochet didn't do something about Allende, what would have happened to the people of Chile? It's not so black and white.
posted by rich at 1:41 PM PST - 16 comments

Apophallation and you - The ex Mrs. Bobbit has nothing on the garden slug, who sometimes must preform apophallation to end the reproduction ritual. Movies like 'Lair of the White Worm' used the imagery of apophallation to scare the crap out of me when I was 14.
posted by DragonBoy at 1:05 PM PST - 0 comments - Post a Comment

I have one, and so does Marky Mark Finally there is a support group for all who have a supernumerary nipple. Most of us are still getting over Chandler's removal of his on Friends, so we need all the support we can find as a group. Please visit this page and see just what 1.5% of the population is experiencing.
posted by DragonBoy at 12:38 PM PST - 2 comments

Old time hockey, eh? I always wondered what companies are targeting me as a market. Well, Spawn nailed me good for Hanson brother and Dr. Evil dolls^H^H^H^H^Haction figures. Their site's a wee bit pokey, but it makes me drool over their offerings. Of course the true Hansonites already know where to go, right?
posted by plinth at 11:27 AM PST - 5 comments

In the UK, it seems marrying the wrong guy strips you of political expression. Cherie Blair, Tony Blair's wife, apparently had the nerve -- the nerve! -- to write an article about her professional field, which is employment law. Jeez, next thing you know, she'll be asking for UK citizenship, or the vote, or something.
posted by aurelian at 9:34 AM PST - 5 comments

Network Solutions has denied Amazon.com's request for the renewal of their domain. Read the letter to Jeff Bezos here.
posted by DragonBoy at 8:25 AM PST - 5 comments

Malasia's attitude to sodomy and politics is brought into graphic focus by this bizarre news story in which an ex leader of the country has been sentenced to nine years in prison for sodomy. His brother has been sentenced to six years and four lashes with a rattan cane. Human rights violations literally up the wazoo...
posted by barbelith at 4:10 AM PST - 3 comments

Ethnologue Languages of the World is a comprehensive online resource detailing all of the languages spoken in the world today. It has indexes based on language name, language family and country as well as a search facility. Also covered are creoles and deaf sign languages.
posted by lagado at 12:48 AM PST - 10 comments