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People who sit in the disability seats when I'm standing on my crutches. People who abuse accessible parking spots. CaughtYa! exposes people who park illegally in disabled spots. [this site is inaccessible - link is to the archive]
posted by desjardins at 9:57 PM PST - 142 comments

Baby owl trying to swallow rat. [youtube] [gif]
posted by 31d1 at 8:48 PM PST - 61 comments

With so many of our citizens in prison compared with the rest of the world, there are only two possibilities: Either we are home to the most evil people on earth or we are doing something different--and vastly counterproductive. Obviously, the answer is the latter.

Sen. Jim Webb takes on the real third rail in American politics, the entire criminal justice system.
posted by empath at 5:58 PM PST - 112 comments

Why do mummies scream? Are screaming mummies really testaments to horrific deaths? Or are they the result of natural processes, botched or ad hoc mummification jobs, or the depredations of tomb robbers? Archaeology Online examines the science and history behind the gape-mouthed "masks of agony" seen on some mummies, and explores their portrayal in entertainment and pop culture. The article includes lots of interesting and informative additional links.
posted by amyms at 5:26 PM PST - 33 comments

Learn Hebrew with Pictures and Audio.
posted by Effigy2000 at 4:45 PM PST - 21 comments

Mixology Monday is blog dedicated to hosting a monthly cocktail party. Contestants are given a theme and week to submit their best creations. February's competition was Hard Drinks for Hard Times. [more inside]
posted by mrzarquon at 4:37 PM PST - 15 comments

The art of Jason Courtney takes a personal tour on some of the moments of Margaret Atwood's dystopia Oryx & Crake - a visit to the pigoons or Snowman's morning view, pausing to reflect on the enigmatic beauty of Oryx. [more inside]
posted by panboi at 4:05 PM PST - 42 comments

Dabke (in Arabic the "stomping of the feet") is a folk line dance, performed by either just men, just women or both together. A national dance of Lebanon, Palestine, Syria, Jordan and Iraq the Dabke is danced with different steps and rhythms in different areas of the Middle East.
posted by Lanark at 3:50 PM PST - 9 comments

Excited for the upcoming Seinfeld reunion on Curb Your Enthusiasm? Well, until then you can practise your Seinfeld knowledge by trying to identify all of the references in this picture. [more inside]
posted by Midnight Rambler at 3:22 PM PST - 49 comments

Blatantly jumping on the opportunity to create yet another thread on The Wire, I'd like to remind you that starting tonight, BBC 2 will air the entire series start to finish, an episode every weekday. First episode starts in a moment, at 11:20 PM UK time. Watch! [more inside]
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane at 3:15 PM PST - 64 comments

To promote his upcoming album Together Through Life, Bob Dylan offers a free download (today and tomorrow only) of the song Beyond Here Lies Nothin'.
posted by ornate insect at 2:55 PM PST - 33 comments

From the team that previously brought you War on Terror, the board game, comes CRUNCH - the game for utter bankers.
posted by fay at 2:46 PM PST - 2 comments

Syria Calling: The Obama Administration’s chance to engage in a Middle East peace.
posted by homunculus at 2:36 PM PST - 17 comments

Don't listen to 'economists', its all about the Cave of Wealth and Death, the Godess of Inflation and Derivatives Beast. In an astonishing 3 parts (so far).
posted by Damienmce at 2:22 PM PST - 8 comments

On jetlag, and how to beat it. Reconfiguring your body clock. There and back again.
posted by feelinglistless at 2:16 PM PST - 17 comments

My Manhattan Project: How I helped build the bomb that blew up Wall Street. [print version]
posted by blasdelf at 2:09 PM PST - 34 comments

Whose Father Was He? The soldier’s body was found near the center of Gettysburg with no identification — no regimental numbers on his cap, no corps badge on his jacket, no letters, no diary. Nothing save for an ambrotype (an early type of photograph popular in the late 1850s and 1860s) of three small children clutched in his hand. Errol Morris presents the Civil War-era mystery of a fallen soldier and a found photograph. [via]
posted by teamparka at 1:26 PM PST - 21 comments

The Huffington Post just announced that it is launching a new initiative to produce a wide range of investigative journalism — The Huffington Post Investigative Fund. [more inside]
posted by Potomac Avenue at 1:12 PM PST - 27 comments

Talk to strangers! "When you use Omegle, we pick another user at random and let you have a one-on-one chat with each other." [via waxy]
posted by Lush at 1:10 PM PST - 147 comments

Photographer Helen Levitt, known mostly for her New York street scenes, has died at 95. [more inside]
posted by mudpuppie at 11:52 AM PST - 13 comments

Make your own Choco Taco. (kind of previously)
posted by spec80 at 11:40 AM PST - 28 comments

A high-level Spanish court has taken the first steps toward opening a criminal investigation against six former Bush administration officials, on whether they violated international law. The officials named in this present case include the most senior legal minds in the Bush administration. They are: Alberto Gonzales, a former White House counsel and attorney general; David Addington, former vice-president Dick Cheney’s chief of staff; Douglas Feith, who was under-secretary of defence; William Haynes, formerly the Pentagon’s general counsel; and John Yoo and Jay Bybee, who were both senior justice department legal advisers. If America won’t have a Truth Commission maybe someone else will have to kick start it for them.
posted by adamvasco at 11:27 AM PST - 200 comments

Microscope Imaging Station opens a door to the wonder of the microscopic world and allows the layman to explore it. They seek to recreate some of the excitement and wonder that the earliest biological researchers found. Features include cells with potential as well as bad oogy. The microscopic Galleries are inhabited by zygotes and organelles.
posted by netbros at 11:00 AM PST - 3 comments

Alison Bechdel's book review (comic book style) of "A Pocket History of Sex in the Twentieth Century.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 10:35 AM PST - 20 comments

Sheril Kirshenbaum's brilliant ranting about sexism in science. Contains many links within that continue the discussion. Thankfully, sexism has gone down significantly in recent years. At the same time, it still exists in some amount - even a small handful of Nobel Laureates have acted sexist (or other -ist - Watson?). (For my part, I'm glad that I haven't encountered any sexism myself in neuroscience.)
posted by kldickson at 9:18 AM PST - 129 comments

Two musical masters impart their knowledge: Stephen Sondheim teaches students from the Guildhall School of Music: "Send in the Clowns" from A Little Night Music (more), "My Friends" from Sweeney Todd, "Later" from A Little Night Music, and "Not Getting Married" from Company. Leonard Bernstein gives his lectures titled "The Unanswered Question" at Harvard (the full series on DVD here), speaks about Mahler's 9th, rehearses "Rite of Spring" with a youth orchestra (2, 3, 4, 5, 6), and performs "Journey into Jazz" (a "Peter and the Wolf" kind of story, but for jazz instead of classical music).
posted by ocherdraco at 9:06 AM PST - 5 comments

United Airlines settles suit over hidden porn United Airlines has settled a federal sexual-harassment lawsuit filed by a former pilot who grounded herself after repeatedly finding pornography hidden in the cockpits of domestic airline flights. Before settling, the airline appeared to equate art nudes and porn as part of its defense. The idea of cockpit-as-boyzone has been shot down before. [more inside]
posted by Kirth Gerson at 8:37 AM PST - 175 comments

Reuben Margolin uses everything from wood to cardboard to make incredible kinetic sculptures.
posted by rageagainsttherobots at 8:25 AM PST - 26 comments

Maurice Jarre (September 13, 1924 – March 29, 2009) was a French composer and conductor. Although he composed several concert works, he is best known for his film scores for motion pictures, particularly those of David Lean: Lawrence of Arabia (1962), Doctor Zhivago (1965), and A Passage to India (1984). All three of these scores won Academy Awards. - Wikipedia
posted by Joe Beese at 5:32 AM PST - 21 comments