In his new book, 'The Way of the World' "Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Ron Suskind claims that, after the Iraq war began, the White House ordered the CIA to forge a back-dated, handwritten letter from the head of Iraqi intelligence to Saddam Hussein, in an attempt to tie Hussein to the 9/11 attacks."^* Suskind writes: "'It said that 9/11 ringleader Mohammad Atta had actually trained for his mission in Iraq' and that Iraq bought yellowcake uranium from Niger with the help of al Qaeda. Suskind also claims that the Bush administration had information from a top Iraqi intelligence official "that there were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq – intelligence they received in plenty of time to stop an invasion." After the fake letter was released in late 2003, press outlets reported it as evidence of a Saddam/al Qaeda link. "Now, if this is true, that blows the lid off al Qaeda—Saddam," said Bill O’Reilly at the time.
posted to MetaFilter by ericb at 8:04 AM on August 5, 2008 (127 comments)

A graphic yet poignantly written first-person account of what it is like to weigh 530 pounds. The author of this account is unflinchingly brutal in her candor, which, although it makes some graphic moments in her narrative difficult to read, also brings you deeply into her world and her perspective. (A July 2008 update.)
posted to MetaFilter by WCityMike at 1:13 PM on July 14, 2008 (333 comments)

Listen to the Newmarket Police try to deal with "Outstanding Elephants". Elephants from the circus escape. They wander through Newmarket, Ontario, munching on people's landscaping. Some people out for a late night walk happen upon them and (mp3) call into the York regional police to report the errant elephants. Then the police (mp3) deal with getting them back to their home. "Police said no one was hurt, no property was damaged and that the two well-behaved animals spent their free time snacking on plants and trees as they wandered the quiet downtown streets." Sounds like a good way to spend a summer evening to me!
posted to MetaFilter by Salmonberry at 6:38 PM on July 12, 2007 (41 comments)

Michael Moore's Sicko on Google Video
posted to MetaFilter by petsounds at 5:56 PM on June 17, 2007 (283 comments)

Fingerjig is a six minute typing game that pulls random words from a large dictionary (and during one section, random letters). I like it because it plays cool percussion hits when you make a mistake, and because sections of it test your left hand and right hand separately. (via)
posted to MetaFilter by Kwine at 11:02 AM on June 17, 2007 (50 comments)

Another casualty in the War on Drugs "I think we're dying," he said in the 5-minute tape, obtained under the Michigan Freedom of Information Act.
posted to MetaFilter by Kirth Gerson at 12:20 PM on May 10, 2007 (152 comments)

In The Air Tonight. Acapella R&B group Naturally 7 perform their version of the Phil Collins classic on a Paris Metro.
posted to MetaFilter by empath at 2:09 PM on February 17, 2007 (77 comments)

Mind Games. "She speaks about her situation calmly, occasionally laughing at her own predicament and her struggle with what she originally thought was mental illness....Like Girard, Naylor describes what she calls "street theater" -- incidents that might be dismissed by others as coincidental, but which Naylor believes were set up. She noticed suspicious cars driving by her isolated vacation home. On an airplane, fellow passengers mimicked her every movement -- like mimes on a street." Link goes to a Washington Post story - reg. may be required.
posted to MetaFilter by Sticherbeast at 6:23 PM on February 5, 2007 (63 comments)

An autistic woman "speaks" her language, then ours. (YouTube) "My language is not about designing words or even visual symbols for people to interpret. It is about being in a constant conversation with every aspect of my environment, reacting physically to all parts of my surroundings." [more inside]
posted to MetaFilter by maudlin at 9:13 AM on January 25, 2007 (171 comments)

How to make your writing simple, clear, and compelling. (And a little on getting published.)
posted to MetaFilter by serazin at 7:43 PM on January 10, 2007 (81 comments)

(to the tune of “My Country ‘Tis of Thee”) My country used to be/ Sweet land of liberty/ That once was true/ Until the FCC/ Chose what we hear and see/ On radio and on TV/ FCC FU!
Choral and heavy metal versions also available for download.
posted to MetaFilter by CCBC at 4:33 PM on December 3, 2006 (4 comments)

Today's Election Day in the United States. Political Wire provides a list of all poll closing times.(The first closings will be at 6:00 PM EST) CNN and Fox News both have up their websites where you can start tracking all state and localized races as results come in. Exit polls are being conducted, but have been quarantined until polls close. And if you want to put any money on this, you're short on time. Good luck following the winners both in your state and on MetaFilter.
posted to MetaFilter by XQUZYPHYR at 12:44 PM on November 7, 2006 (969 comments)

Whether it's mislabeling his affiliation, or starting conspiracy theories, the party of responsible government (and their right-wing media organizations) are doing all they can to downplay the Foley scandal.
posted to MetaFilter by jpburns at 5:37 AM on October 4, 2006 (521 comments)

You Jackin' It? The Daily Show's Jason Jones gets an interview with Carl Monday, CLEVELAND'S INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER, discussed here previously.
posted to MetaFilter by BeerFilter at 6:05 PM on September 29, 2006 (38 comments)

UCLA's Awaken A Capella does some strange, beautiful things with the power of combined human voices. From Ave Maria to Mr Roboto, their oeuvre spans the spectrum. More clips, including Like a Prayer and Walk Like an Egyptian, available on their MySpace page. Their version of Imogen Heap's "Hide and Seek," available through KCRW's daily podcast, is sublime.
posted to MetaFilter by gottabefunky at 11:17 AM on September 14, 2006 (42 comments)

George Galloway is interviewed on Sky News about Lebanon.
posted to MetaFilter by bobbyelliott at 11:50 AM on August 8, 2006 (80 comments)

The Hanging Monastery of Xuankong is is one of China’s unique and remarkable feats of architectural engineering. It is built about a third of the way up a vertical cliff in Golden Dragon Canyon. The temple consists of forty caves, or rooms, including six main halls, but its characteristic feature is the elaborate wooden façade of pavilions and walkways precariously resting on timbers jutting out horizontally and vertically from the cliff.
posted to MetaFilter by jonson at 10:10 PM on June 21, 2006 (25 comments)

You're a single mother, with no living relatives except your twin daughters, who are both dying of kidney failure. You have one kidney to donate. Is there a moral/ethical philosophy that deals with such rock/hard place dilemmas?
posted to Ask Metafilter by grumblebee at 10:06 AM on June 2, 2006 (24 comments)

What is the best (preferably online) tutorial for teaching the basics of HTML (and CSS, although that's not as necessary)?
posted to Ask Metafilter by stefnet at 7:25 PM on May 26, 2006 (10 comments)