Skip this one if you're sick of posts about Iraq or comment threads containing the word "Heckuva", but what would happen if Mosul's "Saddam Dam" ("Sadd Saddam" in Arabic) collapsed?

it could lead to as many as 500,000 civilian deaths by drowning Mosul under 65 feet of water and parts of Baghdad under 15 feet

Good, because the US Army Corps of Engineers rates chances of collapse "exceptionally high". Top that, God.
posted by paul_smatatoes at 11:18 PM PST - 88 comments

Mick Turner: The melodies stagger and dance and swing and fall like events, emotions and thoughts. For me this...is a celebration of life, all of it, good or bad, for me it's a way to understand things I can't say with words.
posted by carsonb at 10:47 PM PST - 9 comments

Disney doesn't have a stranglehold on jazz and animation. Michal Levy has, using geometric shapes, created animation to John Coltrane's Giant Steps.
posted by ashbury at 9:13 PM PST - 22 comments

How do regional clusters of economic activity get started? For example, why is Dalton, a town in northern Georgia, the center of the American carpet industry? It started with a farm girl named Catherine Evans, who made a tufted bedspread as a wedding present in 1900. Via Paul Krugman.
posted by russilwvong at 8:44 PM PST - 9 comments

AEROTONE. | Hello!
posted by hama7 at 7:33 PM PST - 20 comments

As the Writer's Guild of America strike wears on into its second week, it seems appropriate to remember why they're striking in the first place. If you ask me, the terms seem almost too reasonable. But in the defense of the studios, I'm sure the businessmen involved have gotten used to spending those millions of dollars, and wouldn't want to see them go. Now that Broadway has shut down in allegiance to their Hollywood compatriots, things are looking grim for anything to be resolved without more financial bloodshed.
posted by GoodAaron at 7:10 PM PST - 90 comments

The only interactive Zelda overworld map you'll ever need. (Flash)
unless you're doing the second quest. Found at the ever-useful vgmaps.com
posted by BlackLeotardFront at 7:09 PM PST - 26 comments

"Together they panhandled with Nam Vet Needs Help signs at the highway entrance, converted their proceeds into Icehouse beer and Rich & Rare whiskey, and shared their nights in the perpetual dusk beneath the elevated highway, taking turns seeking the full sleep that never came, so loud was the traffic above, so naked were they below, in addled vulnerability.

Every Sunday Dan Barry writes about America in his This Land column for the New York Times.
posted by four panels at 6:47 PM PST - 13 comments

Find that going to work is a drag, and nothing seems to make you want to go? Well how about being deciding to refuse to sit around at home and keeping working just because you're 'bored'. I reckon that is an unusual reason to work your life away. Especially if it happens to be your birthday. Oh, and even more so if you just happen to be 100 years old.
posted by Brockles at 5:31 PM PST - 20 comments

The guys get shirts (NSFW).
posted by sy at 5:07 PM PST - 52 comments

On November 11, 1880, Ned Kelly, Australia's most famous bushranger, was hanged at the Melbourne Gaol with the last words "Such is life." And so today, on the anniversary of his death and as his gun is due to go under the hammer, now is an excellent time to look at the history of the man sometime referred to as Australia's answer to Robin Hood. Many more Ned Kelly resources are to be found inside.
posted by Effigy2000 at 2:39 PM PST - 12 comments

More Cowbell
posted by y2karl at 1:24 PM PST - 52 comments

Flock 1.0 is finally out.
posted by chunking express at 11:49 AM PST - 47 comments

Vintage [album covers nsfw] and contemporary, Rashid Sales Co, music of the Middle East, packed with mp3s and links.
posted by nickyskye at 11:27 AM PST - 16 comments

"As with any healthy relationship, the first thing the young couple must do is hide the body." Ran across the most entertaining description of a rather common beetle today. Enjoy!
posted by TeatimeGrommit at 10:13 AM PST - 19 comments

Supreme Master TV. As advertised on the very back page of this week's Economist Newspaper. It's great when spiritual leaders just come right out and say it. Check out the awesome paintings.
posted by parmanparman at 9:38 AM PST - 27 comments

When the town of Excelsior Springs, Mo. decided in the 1930's to create a shrine to its renowned mineral waters, they turned to the WPA, which built an Art Deco masterpiece, the Hall of Waters.
posted by Horace Rumpole at 9:32 AM PST - 17 comments

A 68 year old. 145 lb. man with a neurological condition was tasered by Royal Canadian Mounted Police officers following a dispute over double parking. The man was picking up his wife, who was delivering newspapers. This happened less than a month after the RCMP tasered a Polish man who had spent 10 frustrating hours trying to find his mother in the Vancouver International Airport following 15 hours of travel. He died on the scene.
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 9:11 AM PST - 320 comments

My favorite piece of music is Stravinsky's "Petrouchka." (Scroll down to the 2002-2003 Season for mp3s.) Today, I was blown away by this recording (CD for purchase, alas) of parts of the piece played on accordion. (If you're a Stravinsky fan, please do yourself a favor and acquire this CD!). I've always associated accordions with polkas (and Ennio Morricone music ... and, of course, the Doctor Who theme). I never knew they were rich enough to stand in for a whole orchestra! And I didn't know much about accordions used in classical music. Anyway, back to Petrouchka: here are videos of the ballet: bit, I II, III, IV.
posted by grumblebee at 7:41 AM PST - 14 comments

Darin Morgan wrote some of the most highly aclaimed TV scripts of the '90's. So the question is, "Where is he now?"
posted by oh pollo! at 7:13 AM PST - 33 comments

Garry's Mod + Team Fortress 2. Obvious but brilliant.
posted by arnold at 6:36 AM PST - 15 comments

Mineral of the Day photos.
posted by Wolfdog at 5:58 AM PST - 16 comments

Norman Mailer Dies at 84
posted by muddylemon at 4:43 AM PST - 105 comments

Ninjatune podcasts including Coldcut and Big Dada podcasts, a Ninjacast which delves into the record crates of various ninja artists, and of course a Solid Steel podcast with 60-odd mixes available.
posted by nthdegx at 3:13 AM PST - 16 comments