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Since Fox News wrongly identified a La Habra home as that of a terrorist, its five- member family has faced an angry backlash. A FOX correspondent named an alleged terrorist connected with the July London bombings, and went so far as to provide the man's address (deep in the heart of the O.C.) "to help local police". Unfortunately, the address was three years out of date, and the current residents who have no connection whatsoever with the former occupant are being threatened, harassed by people driving by & yelling threats at them, and have had their home vandalized by a spectacular moron with a spray can. Full story here (LA Times, use bugmenot).
posted by jonson at 11:39 PM PST - 142 comments

I encountered The Queen James Bible recently while searching for something else completely on Google. Since then, I have been looking for parodies of the Bible and have encountered several. Some are older and filled with conspiracy theories. Some are just plain bad. Some are effectively vaporware (with it's contemporary commercial sibling). And then some are just really funny. (Be sure to check out the Begat Tree.)

Of course, looking for this sort of thing will always bring up random bits and pieces, most notably the Bible according to Cheese (kind of like the Brick Testament) and Don't Dis Ejisha (flash).
posted by Hactar at 4:19 PM PST - 12 comments

Satellite photos of airplanes in flight. This is a great time-waster, but for some reason I keep looking for more (you may need to adjust the zoom bar on the page to maximum). These are all at the Atlanta airport, and I was surprised how close they were to each other.... check out the one that left before, and the one before that, and the one before that... Those are all taking off, here's one that's landing. Can anybody find any more? Or does anyone care?
posted by centerpunch at 3:36 PM PST - 55 comments

The Benedictine Vivarium "In the Benedictine tradition of reverence for human thought and creativity, the Hill Museum & Manuscript Library preserves manuscripts, printed books and art at Saint John's University and undertakes photographic projects in regions throughout the world." -- "Nearly half of HMML's holdings derive from libraries in Austria and Germany, but HMML also houses significant collections from Spain, Portugal, Switzerland, England, and Ethiopia. It holds archival materials, and of particular importance are the Archives of the Knights of Malta, housed in the National Library in Valletta, and the Archives of the Roman Inquisition, located at the Cathedral Museum in Mdina."
EXAMPLE PAGES -- Illustrations, Photographs , Paintings/Iconography, Pottery/Sculptures, Artifacts, Manuscripts and more - if this kind of thing interests you, then search around - I've only begun scratching the surface. Nb. See browser setup info at bottom of page in main link. [via]
posted by peacay at 12:28 PM PST - 9 comments

Live Local Coverage Of Hurricane Katrina New Orleans television stations WWL and WDSU are providing nonstop live coverage of Hurricane Katrina. The Mississippi Department Of Transportation has live cams along the major highways which show the massive evacuation of the coastal areas of Louisiana and Mississippi including the metropolitan areas of New Orleans and the Mississippi Gulf Coast. With gusts of 207 MPH this could set a new record for the largest hurricane to ever hit the United States.
posted by robliberal at 12:25 PM PST - 625 comments

Placebos Trigger Opioids. New research indicates that the placebo effect is physical, not merely "psychological." Brain scans show that people who believe they are getting a medication to control pain trigger the release of opioids in their brains. Those natural endorphins reduce pain.
When Karl Marx said that religion in the opiate of the masses, he may have been literally correct. If faith in an useless medication can release natural painkillers, won't faith that God will make your life less painful do the same? This might also help explain why religion is so addictive, and why many people like the POTUS pass through the gateway drugs of alcohol and cocaine only to migrate to religion and jogging, which also releases endorphins.
posted by MonkeyC at 10:27 AM PST - 66 comments

In Defense of Uncommon Sense. The Edge Reality Club responds to an op-ed by John Horgan (previously discussed here.) (Via)
posted by homunculus at 9:59 AM PST - 19 comments

Gas Money (mp3) Time for somebody to remake this novelty surf/car tune into a top 40 hit again.. ? JAN & ARNIE'S rocker from 1958. A perennial favorite covered by goofball/ garage bands like the Rip Chords, the Skeletons (a.k.a the Morrells), Cousin Al and the Relatives, and the Inner City Unit Above. ... to commemorate the new Gas Crisis. It must suck to be a Hummer Owner. ... unless it's the "Hydrogen Hummer". More covers of the song listed here.
posted by celerystick at 8:19 AM PST - 4 comments

Upon trying to find out how long it takes to bake a potato, I stumble across how to bake a potato dot com. In great detail, with pictures and explanations, the web master takes us through the process of baking a spud.

Of course, there are loads of other resources out there, on baking in the microwave, in the oven, on the barbie or by using potatoes in a variety of other ways. And if that doesn't satisfy your curiosity, Google should (2).
posted by SharQ at 8:06 AM PST - 21 comments

Gas prices too high? Try Europe. $7 a gallon? That's what drivers in Amsterdam pay. But Europeans have long adapted to high prices.
posted by Postroad at 7:18 AM PST - 118 comments

The BBC announces plans to make its TV channels available on the internet. As you already know, you can already listen to all BBC radio channels live and view news clips and some news programmes. Now the BBC has ambitions to expand its internet offer even further. Starting next year, on demand radio and tv content will be available through MyBBCPlayer, with the past seven days of programmes, along with live streaming of BBC tv channels (apparently to be restricted to UK viewers only) and access to the archives. Plans also include the ability to purchase music downloads.
posted by funambulist at 3:44 AM PST - 26 comments

Recording Industry vs. The People
I just got so aggravated about how threatening they were. I didn't do anything wrong. Why should I pay them? Patricia Santangelo looks to be the first person to take a file-sharing lawsuit to trial instead of settling with the RIAA. Now, with the help of the EFF, her lawyers have started a blog where you can track the case's progress. Is the RIAA making any friends these days?
posted by TunnelArmr at 2:38 AM PST - 32 comments

Paraphilias manifest themselves in a remarkably wide variety of behaviours; some folks like to watch, others take a more active role, and sometimes those old guys wearing trenchcoat want to show you something. Well, if you like to share, it's best not to involve a blogging gal carrying a camera phone.
posted by Mutant at 2:16 AM PST - 21 comments