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"I'd rather use the nuclear bomb," Nixon responded. "That, I think, would just be too much," Kissinger replied. "The nuclear bomb. Does that bother you?" Nixon asked. "I just want you to think big."
posted by aaronshaf at 11:42 PM PST - 13 comments

"It's really like rape" say lawyers for a college student who sued Arco Media (makers of "Wild Party Girls Video") and won 5 million dollars. From what I was able to find, alcohol was not forced down her throat (she used intoxication as part of her defense) so I am having a difficult time seeing where the "rape" part comes in.
posted by KevinSkomsvold at 11:14 PM PST - 53 comments

1/20th the size of 5k: the 256b competition
Most won't work on anything but Win/IE5+, and you have to download the (65.2Kb) .zip file, but ... wow.
posted by sylloge at 10:28 PM PST - 11 comments

Old times there are not forgotten. From NPR: elderly white folks from Louisiana are asked to reminisce about life before the end of racial segregation. On the whole, they seem to have preferred it. Some insist that everyone was happier, and others simply claim that we should just move on. (Note that the last two links here are to brief Real Audio files.)
posted by BT at 8:33 PM PST - 9 comments

Another decade, another network jump for Letterman? Dave is very seriously considering an offer from ABC for its 11:35 slot, for reasons not unlike the ones he gave for jumping to CBS from NBC in the first place: little network support. More distressingly, the article strongly implies that Nightline is doomed in its present form regardless of whether Dave decides to join ABC or stay at CBS.
posted by aaron at 7:55 PM PST - 37 comments

I dunno, if you're like me you're probably discontented with the state of lamp art nowadays. Too slick, too soulless, all that perspective and shading and whatnot. Am I right? So you'd probably like to see some poorly drawn lamps. Well...here. Part of Shoebox World; via Librarian Avengers. The web is a weird place.
posted by rodii at 7:09 PM PST - 11 comments

Apple's iPod used in stealing software. Not only is it an mp3 player or a portable 5 gig harddrive, but now it's being used to steal software!
posted by dilok at 6:33 PM PST - 18 comments

The US may have killed 15,000 of it's own with nuclear tests. Somewhere around 100,000 people died as a result of the bombs dropped by the US over Hiroshima and Nagasaki. A new study shows that back home in the heart of the U.S., fallout from Cold-War nuclear tests may have killed as many as 15,000 people. This would be front page news everywhere if it had happened all at once - but since it took years for these people to die - it will barely be a blip in the history books.
posted by stevengarrity at 6:04 PM PST - 8 comments

The Hendrix of The Accordion, the Stevie Ray of the banjo,and even Tubas are producing some rockin' stuff. I see something of a small trend here an I think it's a good one. These artists take the insturments you hated to be stuck with in the high school band and turn them into something astounding. If anyone knows of other examples, I'd love to hear about 'em. (some sites require Flash)
posted by jonmc at 5:41 PM PST - 17 comments

F1 2002 is go! The Formula 1 circus hit the track a couple of minutes back and officially kicked off the 2002 season.
posted by riffola at 4:46 PM PST - 14 comments

Remember Schwa? You know, the enigmatic graphic design project featuring that smiley-face of the nineties: the almond-eyed alien head? Bill Barker's sinister alien art project used to reside at www.theschwacorporation.com, but I'm not making that URL into a link for a very good reason: it's now a porn site devoted to wife-swapping. What happened?
posted by Zettai at 4:12 PM PST - 13 comments

Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack received a bill Wednesday that would make English the official language of the state May be in violation of US law, but that aside for the moment, is this a good or bad idea?
posted by Postroad at 3:37 PM PST - 48 comments

Public shaming is in order. It's bad enough to rip off a design. But this person ripped off BABY PICTURES from Hoopla without credit, along with layouts, bits of text, and who-knows-what-else. Also compare: Leslie's status, Enurv's status. The "personal" part of personal publishing means you do it yourself. Argh.
posted by lucius at 3:19 PM PST - 41 comments

IBM gives Moore's Law a punch in the face by developing a 110GHz silicon germanium microchip. Only for use in ultra hi-tech environments right now (network infrastructure, military, etc.), of course. What other things could these processors be useful for? Finding vaccines? Genome mapping? SETI? And how many years before they're mass-producible and inexpensive enough for consumer use?
posted by andnbsp at 1:55 PM PST - 11 comments

Morpheus is broken. The Netherlands-based provider of the technology used by Kazaa and Grokster upgrades their system, but leaves out Streamcast Networks' (formerly Music City) Morpheus network, and suddenly, everyone is locked out. Kinda punches a giant hole in their EFF-backed battle with the RIAA, which hinges on the assertion that their network is 'decentralized' and impossible to stop.
posted by pzarquon at 1:44 PM PST - 12 comments

Fuzu has a hodgepodge of things such as Steev's what we talk about when we talk about wrestling, some unique movie reviews, and Douglas's adventures with whores in Mexico. A strange brew. Enjoy.
posted by dig_duggler at 1:21 PM PST - 3 comments

a war on the environment? along with his threats to open up ANWAR this appears to be stinging evidence - this quote is too good: "His dad should talk to him."
posted by specialk420 at 1:00 PM PST - 16 comments

Fatmouse is coming and he has a message and you are not going to like it. Tubcat, beware.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 11:38 AM PST - 17 comments

The lasting legacy of Daniel Pearl. By William L. Winter, Ph.D. President & Executive Director American Press Institute.
posted by RobertLoch at 10:03 AM PST - 3 comments

MNF: Miller out, Madden in? After two years of sinking ratings, is ABC and Monday Night Football ready to concede that Dennis Miller was not really good pick for a football commentator? Fox has released John Madden from his contract, making an Al Michaels-Madden booth a likelihood next fall.
posted by mattpusateri at 9:35 AM PST - 40 comments

It's easy to think of lawyers as greedy, overpaid blood-sucking pigs. But do we have any clue what lawyers earn? Yes we do, thanks to American Lawyer Media's (via law.com) annual roundup of lawyer compensation. Not all of which is surprising. For example, partners at the top corporate firms like Wachtell Lipton, or Cravath, Swaine & Moore or Davis Polk each averaged millions in 2001 ($3,285,000, $2,245,000 and $1,740,000, respectively). Even piddly little first year associates at those firms got $125,000 to start. (We're talking 24-year-old law school grads with precisely zero professional experience and know-how. Zero.) But most newbie lawyers don't win those jobs. Also difficult to land are entry-level positions at district attorneys' offices, but they're not nearly as lucrative. A junior Manhattan D.A. earned $45,000 last year (up from $42,000 in 2000). But locking up criminals beats toiling for civil rights at a not-for-profit like the New York Civil Liberties Union, which paid entry-level lawyers only $35,000 last year. Over all, best off are lawyers who work for big companies. Top counsel at IBM last year earned a measly $506,000 in cash (salary & bonus), but throw in stocks & options and his compensation totaled $7,795,613. Compared to that, you have to worry about the Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court whose family in 2001 had to struggle along on $192,600.
posted by jellybuzz at 9:25 AM PST - 36 comments

A federal appeals court in New York has overturned the convictions of three of the police officers in the Abner Louima torture case.
posted by hob at 8:58 AM PST - 29 comments

Men become more irritable as testosterone levels decrease. I am confused.
posted by costas at 8:36 AM PST - 5 comments

on a budget madame, well incarceration is our cheaper plan. Yes it seeems that the economics suggest that life imprisonment is the prudent option rather than the wanton excess of execution.
posted by johnnyboy at 7:36 AM PST - 17 comments

Attorney General John Ashcroft sings (sort of) "U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft ended a speech at a Charlotte, North Carolina seminary with a rousing rendition of a song he wrote called 'Let The Eagles Soar'' (Not safe for work unless you really want to annoy your coworkers)
posted by tippiedog at 7:11 AM PST - 25 comments

Sigh. In case all this talk of foreign crazies was stealing the spotlight from our homegrown malcontents.
posted by donkeyschlong at 7:10 AM PST - 9 comments

Shoplifters Of The World, Unite And Take Over! An interesting NYT article(reg.req.)says stealing from restaurants is increasing. But it's still only 3% of tableware costs and allegedly doesn't contribute to higher prices. I confess I often lift the odd item from hotel rooms. Not just as "souvenirs" - that would be hypocritical. As booty. So, what ethical constraints and liberties do MetaFilterians think should be taken into consideration when stealing? Does it matter whom you're stealing from and how much money you've previously spent on them? And, for the more immoral fellow members, what are the best strategies for liberating certain objects?
posted by MiguelCardoso at 7:06 AM PST - 259 comments

Maine man escapes from prison by having another man trade places with him while out on work-release. The next night he gets into a bar fight and is arrested, by some rather confused cops.
posted by damn yankee at 7:03 AM PST - 7 comments