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Looper, a time travel thriller from Rian Johnson, comes out this Friday. It is being hailed as an "uncommonly smart, bravely original blend of futuristic sci-fi and good old-fashioned action." [more inside]
posted by mysticreferee at 11:45 PM PST - 83 comments

Is the GOP still a national party?
posted by latkes at 10:39 PM PST - 100 comments

"Zhang Yue, founder and chairman of Broad Sustainable Building, is not a particularly humble man. A humble man would not have erected, on his firm’s corporate campus in the Chinese province of Hunan, a classical palace and a 130-foot replica of an Egyptian pyramid. A humble man, for that matter, would not have redirected Broad from its core business—manufacturing industrial air-conditioning units—to invent a new method of building skyscrapers. And a humble man certainly wouldn’t be putting up those skyscrapers at a pace never achieved in history." [Meet the Man Who Built a 30-Story Building in 15 Days]
posted by vidur at 10:29 PM PST - 13 comments

US calls Assange 'enemy of state'. The US military has designated Julian Assange and WikiLeaks as enemies of the United States - the same legal category as the al-Qaeda terrorist network and the Taliban insurgency. Declassified US Air Force counter-intelligence documents, released under US freedom-of-information laws, reveal that military personnel who contact WikiLeaks or WikiLeaks supporters may be at risk of being charged with "communicating with the enemy", a military crime that carries a maximum sentence of death.
posted by jaduncan at 8:40 PM PST - 242 comments

The First Hero is a very short (~10 minutes) but wonderful point-and-click game set in the realm of the Greek gods, with lovely artwork and music.
posted by jbickers at 8:27 PM PST - 5 comments

A controversial replacement cast has been selected for one of FX's long running comedy hits. Has the Sun Finally Set in Philadelphia?
posted by codacorolla at 8:00 PM PST - 42 comments

"Does Tesla's Supercharger answer the road trip question for EVs?" Tesla announces plans to rollout a network of supercharger stations that will generate more solar power than the Tesla S series cars draw, leading to a net input into the grid. Yahoofinance says "...the first six Supercharger stations, which will allow the Model S to travel long distances with ultra fast charging throughout California, parts of Nevada and Arizona."
posted by BillW at 7:37 PM PST - 57 comments

cashcats.biz [more inside]
posted by azarbayejani at 6:54 PM PST - 36 comments

AAAAAAHHHHHHH (SLYT) [more inside]
posted by NoraReed at 6:27 PM PST - 37 comments

In 1992, Carole Simpson was the first woman and first minority to moderate a presidential debate. Twenty years later, as Candy Crowley is about to become only the 2nd woman to moderate, Carole Simpson writes a compelling look back on why it's taken 20 more years, and why both women have moderated "town hall" style debates, rather than asking the questions outright.
posted by nakedmolerats at 6:04 PM PST - 12 comments

EconoTrolls: An Illustrated Bestiary [more inside]
posted by Jakey at 4:54 PM PST - 35 comments

The shady players in Myanmar's drugs trade: Drug exports from Myanmar continue to escalate, as distinctions between the illicit trade and the 'legal' economy blur.
posted by Cloud King at 4:19 PM PST - 3 comments

The Swedish Vallhund is an ancient dog, believed to have been brought to Sweden with the Vikings and used as an all-purpose farm dog, cattle herder, and pest controller. It was close to extinction by the mid-twentieth century, when a Swedish Count and a school teacher worked together to revive the breed from one male with only one testicle and three female dogs. [more inside]
posted by filthy light thief at 3:35 PM PST - 29 comments

One and One Story, a romantic little platformer. [more inside]
posted by mikoroshi at 3:31 PM PST - 13 comments

Urban miniaturist Alan Wolfson (previously) unveils his latest masterpiece: Katz's Delicatessen (related) [more inside]
posted by Egg Shen at 3:08 PM PST - 27 comments

Balpreet Kaur is a (female) sophomore at Ohio State who follows the Sikh tenet of kesh (uncut hair). Choosing to leave her facial hair in its natural state, however, led to her candid picture drawing negative attention in Reddit's "funny" section. Her clear, friendly and smart response has now gone viral, changing the opinion of at least one european douchebag.
posted by Madamina at 1:54 PM PST - 140 comments

Popular US crooner Andy Williams, best known for singing the bittersweet "Moon River" (YouTube link), is dead at age 84. [more inside]
posted by Sidhedevil at 1:34 PM PST - 52 comments

Korean eunuchs outlived uncastrated peers - "The average lifespan of eunuchs was 70.0 ± 1.76 years, which was 14.4–19.1 years longer than the lifespan of non-castrated men of similar socio-economic status." The study made use of the Yang-Se-Gye-Bo (養世系譜, 양세계보), a genealogy record of Korean eunuchs, and cross referenced the Annals of the Chosun Dynasty and Diary of the Royal Secretariat. The Annals and the Diary are official records of the daily activities of the Chosun government and the King.
posted by needled at 1:19 PM PST - 82 comments

Life's actual supervillains....if they were enshrined in comic book form, of course.
posted by St. Alia of the Bunnies at 12:32 PM PST - 29 comments

Design Principles Behind the Firefox OS UX - An interesting look at the design philosophy of a modern smart-device interface, this one being developed as Free Software by the Mozilla Foundation.
posted by Slap*Happy at 11:48 AM PST - 51 comments

Witness the excitement of Iron Man repairing a spaceship for twenty minutes! Watch Batman and his ongoing battle with throat cancer! In a dystopian future the rich dress like second-rate Lady Gagas! More honest trailers.
posted by Foci for Analysis at 8:54 AM PST - 235 comments

Google Maps Street View Collections now includes Heron Island, a coral cay in Australia's Great Barrier Reef.
posted by capricorn at 8:47 AM PST - 12 comments

Clay Shirky: How the Internet will (one day) transform government [1,2,3] [more inside]
posted by kliuless at 7:42 AM PST - 47 comments

History Of [US] TV Theme Songs (slyt / Jimmy Fallon & "Guys With Kids" Cast)
posted by zarq at 6:53 AM PST - 30 comments

The Lesbian & Gay Peace Officers Association produced a video comprising of LGBT officers and civilian members of the Austin Police Department to send a message to LGBTQ youth that it does get better... (SLYT)
posted by jim in austin at 5:09 AM PST - 36 comments