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It was bound to happen. Danger Porn is a site made exclusively for the Danger Sidekick and the browsing of porn.
posted by suprfli at 10:43 PM PST - 24 comments

What is Dick Rutan up to now? The reigning master of innovation in aerospace is up to something, as shown in the linked photo. But what is it? Rutan is also helping to bring us rocket powered airplanes and, of course, flew Voyager around the world not so long ago.
posted by billsaysthis at 8:09 PM PST - 22 comments

NeXTCube going up in flames. A photo shoot from 1993 that mirrored the companies history or just really cool. Too bad there is only one picture.
posted by riffola at 8:05 PM PST - 12 comments

Pavarotti: not enough food in world!
Luciano "If it weren't for singing I'd never stop eating" Pavarotti (who was once a UN 'messenger of peace') is now an official spokesman for the UN FAO's Anti-Hunger campaign. Yeah... Pavarotti => food => war on hunger??? Isn't that sorta like making Gene Simmons official spokesman for the 'War on De-Flowered Virgins'? [FYI: tomorrow is World Food Day].
posted by blackholebrain at 7:27 PM PST - 19 comments

Nuke Not Nuke Not News? *I do not endorse the source* However, one should consider the implications if this time it's not a fantasy. Are nuclear weapons now a poor-man's weapon? Is it time to call James Bond?
posted by kablam at 5:10 PM PST - 42 comments

Military may take part in DC Sniper Hunt The Pentagon is making some noise about possibly using military personnel and equipment in the hunt for the DC area sniper. I am normally not a paranoid conspiracy type but... Would it be unthinkable that the government could be behind the whole thing. First they put out trained snipers to kill random victims and scare the hell out of the public. Then the military come in and save the day. At the same time they set a precedent for using the military to "fight crime" in the country. While I don't think this is the case, would you put it past the current administration?
posted by Blubble at 3:51 PM PST - 76 comments

AOL kills the pop-up? "By ending third-party pop-ups and merchandise sales we are giving our members what they want," says Chief Executive Jon Miller. Clever strategy. Since there's now hardly any new users to attract to their service, they're trying to appeal to slightly more experienced net users. Are you annoyed by pop-ups? Would you sign up to AOL?
posted by tapeguy at 2:40 PM PST - 48 comments

Dear Friends: American Photgraphs of Men Together Partially inspired by the male imagery I found when reading this MeTa thread, I went looking for imagery of men expressing affection in non-pornographic photography, and was extremely affected by this particular exhibition. We would classify these images today as homoerotic. But are they truly such, or merely our interpretation of how men "should" behave toward one another in the 21st century projected onto 19th and early 20th century imagery? And why aren't men allowed to be as touchingly affectionate toward one another today as they were more than 100 years ago?
posted by WolfDaddy at 1:32 PM PST - 63 comments

MAAD: Muslims Against Advertising. In the spirit of Adbusters and other such organizations, a group of inner city Muslims living in the UK (Birmingham) have decided to fight back against "sleazy posters" that clutter their neighborhoods. MAAD will "improve" posters (advertising) with strategic attacks. Check out their comprehensive guide to the alteration of outdoor advertising.
posted by jacknose at 12:37 PM PST - 27 comments

Beer + Bums = Free Housing. Being a bum isn't easy. You have to panhandle lots of money, go Dumpster diving for treasure and hit up the friendly neighborhood liquor store a few times a day. Luckily, Seattle is finally recognizing how tough it is to bum for booze. Fat Tire with that free apartment, anyone? (Via The Raven)
posted by Happydaz at 11:23 AM PST - 46 comments

If you can't stand the heat, better stick to the kitchen of your dreams... Reading about the new industrial home chic in last week's Time and The Wall Street Journal, with its Viking and SubZero worship, how couldn't one be reminded of Mark Shatzker's now classic "My Dream Kitchen" piece for McSweeney's? In the light of all this fetichism, it deserves to be read afresh. For a sobering dessert, may I propose a look at Julia Child's kitchen, now in the Smithsonian?
posted by MiguelCardoso at 11:02 AM PST - 34 comments

What makes a serial killer? America has 6% of the world's population, but 75% of the serial killers (30-50 in total). And why are most killers male while most victims are female? Would you rather go to a thrill seeker or an angel of death? Can you reform one when you catch one?
posted by twine42 at 10:01 AM PST - 37 comments

Elephant in the living room: A radical Islamic Nuclear Pakistan (NYT reg. : name-metafilter password-metafilter) "Hard-line Islamic parties did unexpectedly well in Pakistan's election last week, and Pervez Musharraf's hold on power may be slipping. Do I need to point out that Pakistan is a lot bigger than Iraq, and already has nuclear weapons?...These guys [Bush Adm]want to fight a conventional war; since Al Qaeda won't oblige, they'll attack someone else who will [Iraq]. And watching from the alley, the terrorists are pleased. " -Paul Krugman, once again forced to state the obvious; the US is, effectively, helping with Al Qaeda's goal of radicalizing Islamic populations. In parts of Pakistan, they call Musharaff "Busharaff", and Nick Kristoff notes "Even in Kuwait, where Yankees have the best possible claim on Arab gratitude, a significant minority of men and women regard us as worms" and that "The most common name given to Pakistani boys born after 9/11 in Pakistan's Northwest Frontier Province reportedly was Osama." What does this have to do with a war in Iraq? Well.........
posted by troutfishing at 9:19 AM PST - 36 comments

Joni Mitchell on the state of the music business:
I just think it's a cesspool. I hope it all goes down the crapper. I would never take another deal in the record business, which means I may not record again . . . But I'll be damned if I'll line their pockets.
Also, Janis Ian on the effect of the internet on music sales.
posted by mikrophon at 9:07 AM PST - 42 comments

Mother Teresa fingered This is actually a rather shocking story because the criteria for a miracle at Lourdes, for example, are very strict. That's why there are so few of them.
posted by alloneword at 7:54 AM PST - 48 comments

Playing Chicken with Politics. What do you do when a defecting party from your coalition ends up in another coalition with your opposition (and thereby removing you from power in the local legislature)? Why you get a giant chicken to follow the defecting party's chairman around for two weeks! Is this just political grandstanding? And even if so would it be effective? Would it work anywhere else?
posted by PenDevil at 7:20 AM PST - 6 comments

The Fighting Sixties. "In 1962, faced with a resurgent fascist movement, young Jewish men and women came together to oppose them." Searchlight magazine, through a comprehensive guide to the Jewish 1962 Committee (62 Group) presents a thorough historical rundown of anti-fascist activity in London. Eye witness accounts of London Battlegrounds, intelligence led actions, multi-racial, anti-fascist gangs and local heroes fighting back - stories to remember but also to warm the cockles of the heart.
posted by niceness at 4:00 AM PST - 4 comments

Wallace and Gromit fans can now download one of ten short films from the BBC website. There are low (1.38 meg), medium (2.59 meg) and high (4.3 meg) quality versions available. To save, right click on the links and select "save as".
posted by ralawrence at 3:39 AM PST - 17 comments

In 1924 George Antheil caused a riot with his ballet score for 'percussion orchestra, two pianists, seven electric bells, 3 airplane propellors, a siren, and 16 synchronized player pianos'. In 1933, Hedy Lamarr caused a sensation by appearing nude on film. In 1942, Antheil and Lamarr jointly filed a patent for a secret communications system, having thought up 'an interesting scheme to control armed torpedoes over long distances without the enemy detecting them or jamming their transmissions' over dinner.
posted by misteraitch at 3:31 AM PST - 12 comments

Bush Doubted on 9/11 Panel Angry lawmakers accused the White House yesterday of secretly trying to derail creation of an independent commission to investigate the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks while professing to support the idea. The White House responded by renewing its pledge of support for the proposal and suggesting an agreement was near.
posted by tranceformer at 3:15 AM PST - 38 comments