Charlie The Unicorn: 16 million hits, not ever on MeFi as far as I can tell, and UNICORNS! Don't we all LOVE THEM SO MUCH?! (Where's the interrobang when you really need it?)
posted on Nov 28, 2007 - View this thread

"Reflections on White Privilege" by Tad Lawrence, dean of faculty, Cambridge School of Weston "That white Americans would send cards such as the ones I will show you for the most ordinary of purposes indicates the frightening extent to which they had internalized, accepted and condoned the presentation of African Americans that were the public face of the cards they sent."
posted on Nov 13, 2007 - View this thread

Evan M. O'Dorney, a 13-year-old speller from Danville, Calif., won the 2007 Scripps National Spelling Bee, with the final word "serrefine". Here is an interesting interview with the winner. Did you say my name wrong?
posted on Jun 7, 2007 - View this thread

Guess who's building nuclear power plants. Short memories or hypocrisy ?
posted on Apr 3, 2007 - View this thread

"In a new documentary, Producer Cameron and his director, Simcha Jacobovici, make the starting claim that Jesus wasn't resurrected --the cornerstone of Christian faith-- and that his burial cave was discovered near Jerusalem. And, get this, Jesus sired a son with Mary Magdelene."
posted on Feb 24, 2007 - View this thread

Criminals and Scoundrels: The Top 25 Most Corrupt Officials of the Bush Administration. Maybe we could make playing cards for them? (found via del.ici.ous)
posted on Feb 13, 2007 - View this thread

The sport and hobby of Falconry, or hunting small game with raptors has been around since ~600 bce. What you might not have known is that there is a small industry to provide your hawk or falcon with a jaunty chapeau, often necessary to keep the bird calm. More here, here, and here. And then there's the crazy. All you need... is five-hundred geepee...
posted on Jan 11, 2007 - View this thread

It's all about the tree. (YouTube)
posted on Dec 16, 2006 - View this thread

The Six Thousand: 6000 [well, at least twenty or so right now] intriguing people you want to meet online before you die, edited by Cliff Pickover. My fave right now? Asya Schween.
posted on Feb 27, 2006 - View this thread

Seeing Only Evil: An Interview with Retired CIA Agent Robert Baer, Author of See No Evil: The True Story of a Ground Soldier in the CIA's War Against Terrorism.
posted on Feb 5, 2006 - View this thread

y.ah.oo Del.icio.us bought by Yahoo. Another one bites the dust? I miss the days when del.icio.us was largely undocumented and was a somewhat underground, community-based project. What will the corporate buyout mean for everyone's favourite link sharing site?
posted on Dec 9, 2005 - View this thread

The administration's latest innovation in its effort to export democracy: Soviet-style gulags, a network of secret C.I.A. prisons known as "black sites." [From the Washington Post]. Meanwhile, SecDef Rumsfeld says no thanks to the idea of U.N. inspectors talking to detainees in Guantanamo Bay.
posted on Nov 2, 2005 - View this thread

It just keeps unravelling ...Colonel Lawrence Wilkerson, chief of staff to Mr Powell until last January, said: “What I saw was a cabal between the vice-president of the United States, Richard Cheney, and the secretary of defense, Donald Rumsfeld, on critical issues that made decisions that the bureaucracy did not know were being made". I suppose now we have extra proof of the bumbling and fumbling of GWB, but now it's almost overkill.
posted on Oct 19, 2005 - View this thread

The Iraq Coalition Casualty Count has breakdowns of the casualties of the Iraq War and Occupation, by home city of record, name, branch of service, rank, and cause of death, and other statistics such as ethnicity, as well as a printable list of all fatalities to date. [previously mentioned here,here,here, and here.]
posted on Aug 10, 2005 - View this thread

The Amnesty International Report 2005 was released recently, detailing both the abuses and positive changes for 149 countries, including the Americas. Meanwhile...
posted on May 31, 2005 - View this thread

Most people want to have group sex, but more or less conscious mental barriers stop them. Help them. (no images or anything, but may not be safe for work if your boss doesn't want you organizing an orgy. your co-workers, on the other hand...)
posted on May 1, 2005 - View this thread

This post got me thinking about a couple of places on Long Island, NY, that are pretty scary. The Kings Park Psychiatric Center, for example. I've been there at night, and I tell you, knowing some of the history, it's terrifying. It's also strangely beautiful.
posted on Apr 16, 2005 - View this thread

Poetry-Chaikhana: Selections of Spiritual and Sacred poetry from around the world, categorized by Tradition and Author.
posted on Feb 24, 2005 - View this thread

It used to be that there were four basic tastes- Sour, Sweet, Salty, and Bitter. Now there are five. Umami is the fifth. More commonly thought of as "Savory", the taste is connected to receptors that sense Glutamic acid. In fact, the first taste receptor ever discovered was one that interacts with glutamate. While Monosodium Glutamate has gotten a bad reputation, most sources agree that it's relatively harmless, and in fact, does add the "more-ish" type of flavor that is ascribed to umami foods. Foods like mushrooms are high in glutamate, and therefore taste more "umami". Pass the Parmesan cheese, please.
posted on Jan 7, 2005 - View this thread

Educating Wesley: a photo essay.
posted on Jan 1, 2005 - View this thread

Known in part for their semi-corny jokes and vaudeville style while performing, The Society for the Preservation and Encouragement of Barbershop Quartet Singing in America is a not-for-profit fraternal and charitable organization that has one primary goal: to get people singing. Aren't familiar with Barbershop Quartet singing? Have a listen. There is also a Sister affiliate, Sweet Adelines Int'l., for women who want to sing four-part harmony as well.
I grew up listening to this stuff, and only really started to appreciate it recently.
posted on Dec 20, 2004 - View this thread

"Students in tax-supported schools are being taught that evolution is a fact. We are convinced that evolution is a religion masquerading as science and should not be part of any science curriculum." Dr. Kent Hovind is offering $250,000 to anyone who can prove evolution. Dr. Hovind is also known for his 17-hour award-winning seminar series. While you're there, you can buy all sorts of goodies like fossil replicas! And if that's not enough, there's a great FAQ. [MI]
posted on Dec 7, 2004 - View this thread

"I'm having a little get together with some of my friends...." I found this bizarre and disturbing little flash-movie a few months ago. The first link is actually the second installment in what is now five episodes. There's more (including the first through the fifth) on his site. The music is phenomenal- bits of spookiness from sigur ros and aphex twin. When you're all done, there's an interview with the author regarding Salad Fingers here. People are still trying to figure out exactly who the character is and where he's from. If you look and listen carefully, there are literary references, anagrammed names, etc. If you liked Salad, you might also like "Hell"(non-flash)
posted on Nov 27, 2004 - View this thread

The 'Phantom Patriot' wearing a skeleton mask, body armor and a costume emblazoned with the words "Phantom Patriot," infiltrated the 2,700-acre (1,090 hectare) Bohemian Grove, site of a secretive annual retreat featuring some of the most powerful men in the United States. He was arrested after a brief stand-off with police, and later told investigators he was prompted to act after hearing a Texas-based radio talk-show host discuss possible child sacrifice at the site.
posted on Apr 18, 2002 - View this thread

Plot to undermine global pollution controls revealed
"A secret group of developed nations conspired to limit the effectiveness of the UN's first conference on the environment, held in Stockholm in 1972. "
posted on Jan 3, 2002 - View this thread