MetaFilter

Non-blacks expelled from anti-racism conference. Delegates at an anti-racism conference voted last Wednesday to expel non-blacks from the meeting, saying it was too traumatic to discuss slavery in front of them. Ironic? Hypocritical? Justified?
posted by swank6 at 11:49 PM PST - 39 comments

Bush's "war on terrorism" may be fine and all, but shouldn't he be attacking something more pressing? In times of elevated terrorism threat levels, your leader has yet to do much about the situation, except promising federal help and sending his "thoughts and prayers" to the families of the victims. Isn't this domestic terrorism? When will we see similar pro-active measures taken against this terrorist just as Bush is taking against Saddam? And where's that gosh-darned knee-jerk reaction from the media that we've come to expect?
posted by manero at 11:15 PM PST - 47 comments

Do you love rubber duckies? Do you love Mr. T? Would you love the bastard offspring of a rubber ducky and Mr. T? How about Carmen Miranda? All this and more at Celebriducks.com. via memepool
posted by mr_crash_davis at 9:02 PM PST - 15 comments

Ya, know... life just keeps becoming more interesting.
posted by Kodel at 7:23 PM PST - 16 comments

"Suppose you're devising a logo for a new wing of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, an office charged with developing intelligence tools and integrating the government's existing surveillance networks. Suppose that it has a vaguely sinister name—say, the Information Awareness Office—and that it's to be run by a former Iran-contra conspirator. What would your design be?"
posted by zztzed at 7:05 PM PST - 17 comments

Taticular Nucyoular Weapons Dubya mispronounced the word "nuclear" "\nu"cle*ar\" in his speech 17 times this evening (take your own tally here). Wait. That's not a simple mispronunciation. It's a "folk etymology." Thanks, Ike. (Thanks, Homer.) Thanks also to Merriam-Webster. Apparently, this scourge of English is in the dictionary.
posted by NedKoppel at 7:00 PM PST - 105 comments

Take your pick, Mr. Hussein. You have two choices: War or peace pumpkins.
posted by insomnyuk at 5:45 PM PST - 31 comments

'Mais Non, Mais Non?'... Well, there goes the neighbourhood. You go for nigh on a quarter of a century crediting The Muppets with an all time classic, when you find out that it was someone elses - Italian soundtrack composer Piero Umiliani. Not only that, but used as part of the score for an oh-so-dodgy a Swedish porn film!?!?. But no, that's not the end of it, as it transpires (see bottom of page) that 'Mahna Mahna' was originally performed by a Frenchman, Henri Salvador, and was called 'Mais Non Mais Non'. Still, in any of these forms, it's one of the few songs that still makes me smile every time I hear it, especially so when accompanied by the visuals.
posted by boneybaloney at 5:26 PM PST - 19 comments

Who is Sergei Konovalov? Healer or crook? This email came through a mailing list I subscribe to. I found it fascinating but was unable to dig up any more information about this guy. It sounds like what he is doing is similar to the faith healers in America, however there seems to be no reports of him online or in any newspapers that I can find. Perhaps the MeFi collective can debunk (or authenticate!) this guy.
posted by camworld at 5:10 PM PST - 5 comments

M.C. Escher + Lego = ? I used to make spaceships and houses with my Lego not 3D representations of famous optical illusions! [via Filepile]
posted by bhell13 at 4:57 PM PST - 29 comments

"Dell 129 is also a 'mapback'. Dell published hundreds of paperbacks in this manner, the back of the book featuring a colorful map of the scene of the crime or events in the story. They were very popular in their day and are popular today with collectors as well." -From Gary Lovisi's essay about collecting paperbacks.
posted by interrobang at 4:32 PM PST - 5 comments

A Left-wing European human-rights activist's take on Iraq. No, not what you'd come to expect by now. Far from the pro-forma accepted perspective of the Left, Thomas von der Osten-Sacken, a German human rights activist makes a case for the war in Iraq in this insightful interview. He mentions plenty of things I haven't read about before in regards to Kurds and has quite a few strong words to say about Germany and the recent fashions of the European Left.
posted by bokononito at 3:37 PM PST - 24 comments

"Worst case is modern Armaggedon" Dick Cheney reportedly has ambitious plans to chop Iraq into little pieces but Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Bob Graham worries that terrorist attacks against Americans were "highly likely" in the event of a war with Iraq, which Graham thinks could escalate into "modern Armaggedon". Also worried or unimpressed by the Bush Adminstration's rational for war (flash) a few Americans protested . The NYT and the Washington Post ignored the large protests in Britain, but nobody could ignore it when 1.5 million Italians hit the streets. Guess it's war anyway, eh?
posted by troutfishing at 2:41 PM PST - 30 comments

Bugs. They're what's for dinner. BABES may love 'em, but for all their purported nutritional value, I have no desire to eat maggots. Ever.
posted by mikhail at 2:03 PM PST - 8 comments

pickupyourowndamnsocks.com. What would you do if you found out that your significant other was keeping an anonymous, but very public, journal of things about you that drive them crazy?
posted by jonah at 1:31 PM PST - 151 comments

Guts and Glory. While the rest of south Louisiana recovered from hurricane Lili, we decided to check out a Louisiana tradition. Angola is the nation's largest maximum security prison, it has held many men, including famous, controversial, and their death row boasts a pro wrassler as a guard. The Angola Prison Rodeo is held every Sunday in October. Convict Poker says it all. Check out their newspaper, museum, music and films.
posted by puddsharp at 1:12 PM PST - 15 comments

The carnage continues
Israel killed 14 Palestinians and wounded some 80 others when a missile was fired into a crowd of civilians in Gaza City. And please, spare us your lectures.
posted by mapalm at 1:02 PM PST - 31 comments

Frank Keating, one of the UK's finest ever sports writers has retired from the Guardian. Mathew Engels appreciation concludes with links to ten of his finest pieces. This is brilliant writing which happens to concern itself with sport, so there is no need for any "doesn't this belong on Sportfilter" type snideness.
posted by Fat Buddha at 11:26 AM PST - 4 comments

Most of us were expecting that astronomers would discover a tenth planet and name it Persephone. A mostly harmless author preferred Rupert. One clique of New Age doomsayers claims that it is "Nibiru," or "Planet X,", which will come in 2003 to wreak havoc and usher in a new era under (I kid you not) our new alien overlords. Well, hang it all. Planet #9.5 has been discovered, and they called it "Quaoar." And I think Pluto is pissed.
posted by brownpau at 11:11 AM PST - 41 comments

Yemen, France Probe Tanker Blast Although Yemen claims the oil spill to be an accident, French autorities and others (DEBKA) believe this may be part of terror network acting up in oil route, driving up prices and fears.
posted by Postroad at 11:07 AM PST - 13 comments

The greatest bit of sports commentary ever, according to the Guardian, is Norwegian TV's Bjørge Lillelien's response to Norway beating England 2-1 in a World Cup qualifier in Sept 1981: "Lord Nelson! Lord Beaverbrook! Sir Winston Churchill! Sir Anthony Eden! Clement Attlee! Henry Cooper! Lady Diana! Maggie Thatcher - can you hear me, Maggie Thatcher! Your boys took one hell of a beating! Your boys took one hell of a beating!" (Listen to it as Windows Media Audio) Is your favorite on the list, and if not, what is it?
posted by dagny at 10:56 AM PST - 37 comments

Space Shuttle Atlantis is about to be launched from Cape Canaveral. Watch it live. Blast off at 3:45pm EDT 07/10/02.
posted by JonnyX at 10:29 AM PST - 16 comments

Advertising and Idealism Clash at Colorado University. Most schools have pro-advertising courses(which are offered in the Business School) and those that take an anti-advertising approach(which are typically offered in Media Studies or Communication). Given the complex nature of the advertising world, is there room for both types of courses? By cutting departments with a more practical bent, are academics further weakening MBAs?
posted by SandeepKrishnamurthy at 10:15 AM PST - 7 comments

In 1972 the librarians were revolting. Now they're at it again. Katia Roberto and Jessamyn West are compiling a sequel to the famous (or infamous) classic of radical librarianship. [more inside]
posted by IshmaelGraves at 9:49 AM PST - 12 comments

Scramble bands. The Ivy League (as well as other U.S. universities, typically with bad football teams) have a notorious tradition of marching bands that don't march. Columbia's band recently got in hot water (again) for a swipe at the Catholic church during a Fordham game. Did you play in the marching band at your college? More importantly, did you play a real instrument? Me, I blew bubbles and played the squeegee mop at Columbia.
posted by mkultra at 9:23 AM PST - 28 comments

A self-organising electronic circuit has stunned engineers by turning itself into a radio receiver. It was supposed to evolve into an oscillator (through a genetic algorithm). This is astonishing and shows the power of evolutionary algorithms... [via missing matter]
posted by talos at 8:38 AM PST - 32 comments

You cannot take pictures of a ghost with a digital camera. And if you're not careful with that 35mm, you might mistake dust, sunlight, or fog for ghosts. Then again, maybe there are no ghosts on film at all, especially since there's a handy guide to faking ghost pictures right on the Internet. I guess when it comes to the paranormal, it pays to be objective and balanced. Boo.
posted by headspace at 7:25 AM PST - 31 comments

One big happy family Ottawa granted permission for three wives of a polygamist to stay in Canada permanently and an immigration official has warned that several more applications from polygamists' wives are likely on the way, according to internal government documents obtained by The Globe and Mail. The report says the women filled in "housewife" as their occupation on their applications for immigration. They stated they would receive financial assistance from Mr. Blackmore. Under marriage information, they wrote "not available."
posted by orange swan at 7:24 AM PST - 39 comments

The Red On The Blue (And On The Button): Terry Eagleton's description of T.S. Eliot's politics is easily the best definition of traditional Conservatism written by an untraditional Marxist I've ever read.[More Inside]
posted by MiguelCardoso at 7:12 AM PST - 25 comments

this childs game (java applet) is so complex you could use it to construct a computer. the original paper (postscript), is heavy going - if you're not a compter science student but would like to understand more try this wonderful book by one of the authors (example pictures).
posted by andrew cooke at 7:00 AM PST - 7 comments

Memories of a dead friend, posted bit by bit: this obituary for Milon Buneta (who died when he was 20, 20 years ago) is a weblog. His friend is writing it as a weblog because it's not a story newspapers would carry, yet the posts seem so poignant, brief, concentrated that it seems the weblog form is perfect for gathering the fragments we remember about our dead. Do you know of any other weblog obituaries?
posted by jill at 6:35 AM PST - 8 comments

New York company designs and produces 65% [bottom of page] of the worlds stamps. Their job includes making and promoting tacky "topicals" that will earn a few bucks for countries cashing in on the desire for collectibles. But thank god really because now we can enjoy Baywatch and David Copperfield stamps as well as the country of Mordovia's view on Clinton's impeachment plus many more. Here's the story of how Seattle writer Charles Johnson ended up on a stamp in Ghana.
posted by meech at 3:17 AM PST - 16 comments