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An intriguing article on the worst North American Football team of all time.
posted by ttrendel at 11:34 PM PST - 15 comments

How willing are you to whore yourself? City buses have been doing it for years. Now an ad company is willing to give you a free car for two years if you're willing to drive a mobile billboard for them. Ideal candidates live in busy urban and suburban areas, park on the street, and get stuck in traffic all the time. You pay for insurance and gas, and they take care of the rest (including maintenance). Or have your current car wrapped with advertisements and get up to $400 a month. The company will also entice you with free concert tickets if you'll drive the vehicle to the show.

Through a long application process, they try to match ideal candidates with advertisers. They even let you suggest 5 companies you'd be willing to whore yourself for. But if you do decide to sign up, be aware: Not only are there 70,000 + applications ahead of you, and no guarantee that you'll be selected, according to the privacy policy, the ad company will use your detailed profile to sell more stuff to you.
posted by crunchland at 10:16 PM PST - 32 comments

Season 11 of the Real World started tonight! Among guitly pleasures, this one's gonna be good: 2 person showers! lifeguarding! conflicting interests! I'm hooked.
posted by adrober at 8:11 PM PST - 38 comments

"You may not know it yet..... but the Enron scandal died over the weekend" John Podhoretz of the New York Post figures the Bush administration is not going to be damaged in any meaningful way by the collapse of the ill fated energy company, and makes some thought-provoking points explaining why he feels that way.
posted by BGM at 8:11 PM PST - 59 comments

Arthur Anderson checking up on the FBI! "The consulting firm Arthur Andersen LLP is currently conducting a review of the FBI’s management practices, including recordkeeping, technology and human resources issues." Their checking on the FBI, the FBI is checking on them, whew....
posted by bas67 at 7:38 PM PST - 3 comments

Genetic engineering leaves mice impervious to pain. By removing a protein called "DREAM", scientists were able to create rodents that didn't mind extreme heat, pressure and inflammation. This could provide hope for those suffering, or a strange removal from the experience of living, and classic human traits like bravery, strength, volition, and empathy, depending on your view.
posted by mdn at 7:18 PM PST - 23 comments

Ph.d computer science professor fired for supporting palestinian cause and verbally attacking Israel That happened in Tampa,FL. You can find more details here and here and here(local newspaper) and his homepage here. Comments and more links regarding this guy welcome.
posted by elpapacito at 6:23 PM PST - 7 comments

Catch up on your reading of the classics in just 5 minutes a day. Classic Novels serializes classic literature and sends it to you via e-mail in bite-sized little chunks. Of course many people are probably aware of sites like Project Gutenberg where you can get the full thing, but for those on a time crunch, this seems like a nice way to break it down into easy bite sized chunks.
posted by willnot at 5:08 PM PST - 11 comments

Carlyle's way: the Red Herring digs into the X-Files-esque Carlyle Group, that connects the Bushes, bin Ladens, Saudi Arabia, North Korea, and on and on. How serious is the conflict of interest? And does this investigation by a business magazine make the conspiracy nuts seem any less nutty?
posted by D at 4:08 PM PST - 6 comments

Semi-famous Seattle artist Jim Woodring, author of Frank (zipped pdf comic), has created some nifty toys for Japanese vending machines (flash, click red sphere -> products -> jim woodring).
posted by skwm at 4:01 PM PST - 5 comments

It's official... Kids at Paddock Elementary School love hugging!!
posted by KLAX at 3:54 PM PST - 5 comments

So now the Al Qaeda prisoners in Cuba want human rights. Ha! Tell that to the victims of WTC etc etc
posted by lagado at 3:26 PM PST - 59 comments

Kiwi EH Calling all NZers .. Lord of the Rings fans may enjoy it too.
posted by johnny7 at 3:23 PM PST - 20 comments

Stephen Downing, aged 17, was arrested and interrogated for 8 hours by the police without caution and without legal counsel. Despite having the reading age of an 11 year old, he was allowed to sign a confession to the brutal slaughter of typist Wendy Sewell. 27 years later at the UK Court of Appeal, he became today the victim of the longest miscarriage of justice in the Britain's history.
posted by dlewis at 2:57 PM PST - 7 comments

It's official... Utah loves Jell-O!!
posted by o2b at 2:53 PM PST - 21 comments

Bank Robbing Granny at Large! Germany must have a SUPERB police force, eh?
posted by kingmissile at 2:38 PM PST - 7 comments

U.S. Will Seek Life in Prison for John Walker: The Bush administration will charge American Taliban John Walker Lindh with conspiracy to kill U.S. citizens in Afghanistan and will ask for life imprisonment rather than the death penalty, Attorney General John Ashcroft said Tuesday . . .
posted by ryanshepard at 2:00 PM PST - 22 comments

"Tooonight, we're going to have A TERRRRIBLE time! Boo ha ha ha ha," Sammy Terry used to say, and he was usually right, because he'd then show a movie like "The Monolith Monsters" or "The Tingler." Unless you grew up in Southern Indiana, you probably never heard of Sammy Terry. He was the local host of all B-horror movies, like Elvira only cornier (if that's possible!). His "cohost" was a rubber spider, dangling on a string. And his costume included dishwasher gloves (look closely at the picture). Of course, this being the Internet, someone has a created a Sammy Terry fan site: here. Did anyone else grow up with wacky local shows? I'm not even gonna talk about "Cowboy Bob" and "Janie."
posted by grumblebee at 1:42 PM PST - 33 comments

How long before all animal rights groups go from extremist, to being classified as Terrorist groups? Are they acting on behalf of animals, or just acting like animals? And how long before their methods and actions become downright un-American? One of PeTA's favourite punching bags, Ringling Bros., has started hitting back. Coming after a win in the recent court case involving trainer Mark Gebel, Kenneth Feld, Chairman and Producer of Ringling Bros., issues an open letter to animal rights groups in an attempt to appeal to them to stop attacking what he says are responsible animal care providers. In it, he alledges some of PeTA's own cruelty, as well as making the connection to the Animal Liberation Front, which is classifed as a domestic terrorist threat by the FBI (see opening link). PeTA isn't backing down and has just launched their latest campaign against Ringling Bros. which cites cruelties no more recent than 1999. I was also surprised to hear about companies finding it easier to buy off activists by donating money, which just continues to allow them to flourish. Is it time to start ignoring the good intentions of these groups and really scrutinizing their actions? Should animal rights groups which engage in and support extremist/terrorist activities be shut down and broken up by governments? How far is too far when it comes to activism?
posted by mikhail at 1:28 PM PST - 45 comments

Phew! It's okay to drive stoned in Idaho now. Assuming you can pass a field sobriety test, that is. To quote the attorney, "just having smoked marijuana doesn't give somebody cause to arrest you for that when driving." This seems to be a technicality, and you have to assume it's going to be overturned. If not, anyone up for a road trip to Boise?
posted by emptyage at 12:25 PM PST - 10 comments

MTV sets Powell for global meeting. "So, like, um, Mr. Powell, the U.S. is the coolest right?" I can't wait to see this one on TV. Maybe he'll explain to these kids that since Bin Laden escaped, we have an excuse to keep fighting.
posted by insomnyuk at 11:36 AM PST - 10 comments

BROZAC Another new drug? Not really. It's all fun and games. This commercial spoof shows us that one day there may be a drug for just about everything.
posted by chokersandwich at 11:29 AM PST - 10 comments

The Science of Getting Schnockered The "New Scientist" directory of articles relating to drunkenness. Some of my favorites: why drunk people tend to stagger more to one side than another, drunks can control their behavior if they really want to, and girls can match boys drink for drink, so long as they stick to beer.
posted by Shadowkeeper at 10:50 AM PST - 7 comments

The worst jobs in America? Wiping butts in nursing homes, shovelling horse manure, pathologists' assistants... but do they compare to customer service? Did any of them look at the rigors of collecting bull semen?
posted by headspace at 8:55 AM PST - 11 comments

Oil pipeline? What oil pipeline? It appears we have been snookered. We fought this war for Unocal, and now they don't want the place! (Or perhaps the motivations for current events are more complex than convenient slogans -- or less complex than elaborate conspiracy theories.)
posted by dhartung at 8:53 AM PST - 28 comments

Thank God there are still mad Geniuses Out There Aqua Team Hunger Force and Sealab 2021 always make me cry with laughter. Makes me a little less afraid of the TV. I think the kicker is their stuff is funnier than I could ever be. Want the songs? Never a problem. Fan site that has the scoops and skinny? That too can be arranged.
posted by Dagobert at 8:46 AM PST - 13 comments

Ginger (or Segway) was invented in Japan first. "TOKYO--A self-balancing scooter billed as heralding a revolution in the way people travel could run into an obstacle in Japan, where a robotics professor wants recognition for inventing a nearly identical machine 15 years ago. "
posted by sadie01221975 at 8:38 AM PST - 6 comments

Wen Ho Lee - his own country versus him. On the Today show on NBC, Wen Ho Lee made his first public appearence along with the release of his new book My Country vs. Me. It was such a sad and disturbing moment in seeing how a person's life can be shattered in such a brief moment. On the show, he remarks how "your freedom can be so capricious. It can be taken away at any moment" (not an exact quote). My heart really sank to see how the government, the media, and the general US public quickly jumped the gun in villifying this one person, who by the way, was originally from Taiwan, NOT China. What's sad is that Wen Ho Lee's coworkers, who were mostly Caucasian, would also download files to take home and as for the one Asian in the lab, he goes home with FBI on his trail. Here's one more kicker, even the federal judge, James Parker, apologizes for the erroneous witchhunt...
posted by dkhong at 8:36 AM PST - 26 comments

So lots of people hate links to news sites. How about an olds(?) site? Wrote reports the news of the past, and I don't mean last year.
posted by Su at 8:33 AM PST - 2 comments

"Observing" other dimensions. The existence of tiny black holes, produced by cosmic rays in the Earth's atmosphere, if confirmed by the Auger cosmic ray observatory, might provide evidence for other dimensions beyond Space and Time.
Amazing how theories considered untestable by experiment a few years ago are turning into "real" science.
posted by talos at 8:32 AM PST - 11 comments

So lots of people hate links to news sites. How about an olds(?) site? Wrote reports the news of the past, and I don't mean last year.
posted by Su at 8:31 AM PST - 8 comments

The Michael Jackson Real Beer Tour. Rock.
posted by lostbyanecho at 8:14 AM PST - 9 comments

This may be too New England-centric for some but it's kept me amused all morning. Comic strips that are about the Red Sox, Fidel Castro and rampaging monsters. There's also a truly bizarre Billy Bragg fan fiction page.
posted by Harry Hopkins' Hat at 7:15 AM PST - 9 comments

"Today's heroes don't have to do anything; they just need to be noble victims" The people who lost their lives on September 11 -- office workers, firefighters, airline pilots -- have almost unanimously been labeled "hereos." Were they really, or were they "just" victims who tragically died while "doing their jobs"? According to this article, we should be hesitant to loosen the requirements for heroism: "Heroes often end up as role models, a task not well suited for victims. Moreover, by lowering the bar for heroism, we cheapen the word and, in some ways, the exploits of people who have earned the right to be called that in the past. " (via a & l daily).
posted by pardonyou? at 6:18 AM PST - 58 comments

The sky is falling, the sky is falling! -- never mind, it's just cremated human remains.
posted by nathan_teske at 4:50 AM PST - 6 comments