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Judge rules same-sex marriage ban in Maryland unconstitutional. The progression towards equal rights moves ever on--NPR offers further coverage and an overview of current gay rights cases in the US. Meanwhile, in Oklahoma a reminder of why this fight must be won.
posted by Anonymous at 11:16 PM PST - 72 comments

The Idiotarod is NYC's version of the Iditarod. (check spelling closely, idiot) - seen here last year. This year's route will be released on Monday. Happy drinking / sabotaging / racing. But maybe that's not your thing. Or maybe you just can't wait to do something a little crazy in NYC. Ok, well, this weekend you can take your pants off on the subway.
posted by allkindsoftime at 11:06 PM PST - 18 comments

The Museum of Scientifically Accurate Fabric Brain Art. Another view of a fabric brain.
posted by kenko at 8:59 PM PST - 12 comments

Reefer Madness Redux. One man's story about how cannabis will RUIN YOUR LIFE. Despite the fact that there's, you know, tons of scientific evidence to the contrary.
posted by borkingchikapa at 6:33 PM PST - 70 comments

Nefarious deeds in Haiti by the Consultants Advisory Group. Kathryn Cramer exposes n'er do wells acting in Haiti, operating out of Panama. Given the recent goings on in Haiti, one can only speculate as to the extent of their involvement...
posted by pucklermuskau at 5:46 PM PST - 10 comments

Protrude, Flow uses magnetic fluid, sound, and moving images. Affected by the sounds and spectators' voices in the exhibition place, the three-dimensional patterns of magnetic fluid transform in various ways, and are simultaneously projected on the wide screen. (note: Japanese site with WMV files) Related MeFi post. [via]
posted by dhruva at 5:08 PM PST - 21 comments

What is "12 S of the Z?" Hell I don't know. Try this Mensa Test.
posted by snsranch at 4:47 PM PST - 124 comments

NSA,FISA, and Privacy It is of course the president who finally approves of actions that may or may not be deemed legal but before 9/11, this is what he had been advised to consider "The largest U.S. spy agency warned the incoming Bush administration in its "Transition 2001" report that the Information Age required rethinking the policies and authorities that kept the National Security Agency in compliance with the Constitution's 4th Amendment prohibition on "unreasonable searches and seizures" without warrant and "probable cause," according to an updated briefing book of declassified NSA documents posted today on the World Wide Web. If this is the sort of reading you enjoy, then by all means dig about here: But then Windows allowed NSA to have a sure access to your machine . And by now we all know that Google will fight the government on making its search data base available in order to protect your privacy.(Reality: to protect Google stuff). And if you worry about search engines tracking you and making data available, then here is a workaround
posted by Postroad at 3:31 PM PST - 16 comments

As of today, world oil reserves are five percent lower than previously thought. Well informed early toppers like Jeremy Leggett (previously discussed here) won't be surprised by the news, though they may be disappointed that it didn't make bigger headlines.
posted by alms at 2:05 PM PST - 42 comments

Wikipedia wrangling once more: the entire German edition was shut down this week over the contents of a single entry. The parents of the article's subject, a German hacker who died in 1998 under mysterious circumstances, are displeased with his real name being disclosed in the encyclopedia. It is now back online; however, the future of the family's efforts is currently unclear, not only due to the German order's debatable validity in the US - but also because the order was, initially at least, mistakenly addressed to St. Petersburg, Russia, instead of St. Petersburg, Florida.
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane at 1:35 PM PST - 18 comments

Genocide in Slow Motion. "[For every Genocide this century], we have wrung our hands afterward and offered the lame excuse that it all happened too fast, or that we didn't fully comprehend the carnage when it was still under way. And now the same tragedy is unfolding in Darfur, but this time we don't even have any sort of excuse. In Darfur genocide is taking place in slow motion, and there is vast documentary proof of the atrocities."
posted by dgaicun at 1:15 PM PST - 25 comments

Dan Hsu's interview of Microsoft's Home Entertainment VP about the XBox 360 is far from the usual "Tell us how great everything is" found in games journalism. Hsu hammers the startled marketing exec with serious questions about the 360's build quality and heat issues, lack of quality launch games and backwards compatibility, questionable "next generation content," and more. Good to see at least ONE journalist with a little hair on his chest, even if it is just regarding games. Via Penny Arcade (today's comic... and yesterday's cause it was funny)
posted by BlackLeotardFront at 1:07 PM PST - 40 comments

U.S. Congress Votes Database The Washington Post's U.S. Congress Votes Database has every vote in the U.S. Congress since 1991. The votes are sliced and diced in a variety of ways, including late-night votes in the House and Senate, and lists of congresspeople and senators who've missed votes. Each member of Congress has a web page and RSS feed. There's also an RSS feed of the 10 most recent votes. (More info, and details from the developers).
posted by kirkaracha at 12:45 PM PST - 17 comments

"You awaken from an uneasy dream.You are in a small, bare apartment. You are alone. You have no idea how you got there. You don’t even know who you are." Fans of Franz Kafka may appreciate Kafkamesto, a bleak and bizarre point-and-click Flash game.
posted by Gator at 12:24 PM PST - 27 comments

A conservative Metafilter loves to hate weighs in on the issue of intelligent design being incorporated into the classroom. Some of Orson Scott Card's views have been linked to before (see here; here; and most notably here.) This time, he seems to be less reactionary and more thoughtful. This is related to many prior Mefi threads on this issue some of which include this; this; and this.
posted by bove at 11:10 AM PST - 177 comments

OK, so some professional sports players have less-than-usual first names. Certainly not ones that are likely to appear on the top ten list. But if you really want weirdness in names (and, quite possibly, other things) you need to head over to Utah. (Frameset page; click on 'The Cream of The Crop'.) Personal favorite: VulvaMae
posted by littleme at 9:29 AM PST - 144 comments

"Were there U.K. publications?" Hilton responded: "No... there is stuff in London." Hilton's lawyer, Larry Stein, jumped in: "London is a U.K. publication." Her retort: "Right. U.K. Whatever."
posted by The Jesse Helms at 9:21 AM PST - 58 comments

Many of you have probably heard of "Superfly" with its classic poster, and iconic soundtrack by Curtis Mayfield. However, you might not have heard of some other Blaxploitation films. For Instance "The Black Gestapo" which mixes NAZI aesthetics with the roving bass of a tight funk beat, or perhaps even more ludicrously the 1992 underground Blaxploitation tribute film "Gayniggers From Outer Space".
posted by sourbrew at 8:49 AM PST - 26 comments

Bush is cutting the reconstruction funds for Iraq. After wasting 20 billion in reconstruction money with little to show for it Bush is going to "cut and run." The worst part is that Bush now wants the coalition of the willing suckers to pick up the bill. Even though Bush promised to make the infrastructure the "best in the region" and has said in recent speeches that "On the economic side, we will continue reconstruction efforts and help Iraq's new government implement difficult reforms that are necessary to build a modern economy and a better life." So we went to war on false intelligence, and now that we have bombed the country into the ground, we are not even going to try and rebuild it? Guess the national debt is just getting a bit too large for Bush and Co to handle. Or maybe, just maybe, we never cared that much, and it was all lies.
posted by stilgar at 8:10 AM PST - 109 comments

Rick Moranis - Alt Country Balladeer. Whatever happened to Rick? The former SCTV star and 80s/90s movie comedian apparently doesn't miss "acting." His new album of humorous country songs is nominated for a Grammy.
posted by Parlour Tricks at 7:43 AM PST - 49 comments

Ron Kovic writes about returning wounded vets There are things here you can never forget, images and sounds and smells that you will never see on TV or read about in the newspapers.
posted by Kirth Gerson at 6:58 AM PST - 47 comments

Hollywood fights back: is this the year Hollywood finally nails its political colours to the mast, or are we seeing just the latest salvo in a battle for the political heart of the industry? [NYT registration required.] In the red corner, "uninformed, misleading, money-hungry, two-faced, elitists" making films about gays, feminists and commies. In the blue corner, "towering intellectuals, hard-core conservatives, supermen and superwomen, and just good common people" making films about god, democracy and family values. And if you wonder what difference it makes anyway, just ask eBay founder Jeff Skoll. He thinks films have the power to shape public opinion, and has launched a website to galvanise support for social change.
posted by londonmark at 5:32 AM PST - 41 comments

"I saw it blow..." Whale spotted near Westminster Bridge
posted by atticus at 4:22 AM PST - 64 comments

Geru Geru Panic (Gel Gel Panic) - the Japanese flash game where you must fend off attacking (wait for it) jellies. Also by the same author: about a billion more flash games featuring Panzo the panda. Note: first link is to a game with background music.
posted by whir at 3:58 AM PST - 14 comments

Last night in my rock pub of choice I heard a girl get overly excited about "the hottest thing, ever"; Whole sites dedicated to Emo boys kissing Emo boys. This is totally a MySpace thing I (gladly) missed out on.
posted by 13twelve at 3:45 AM PST - 120 comments

Tin foil hats no longer required! Apparently mobile phone use *doesn't* cause cancer. We'd like to thank the MMF and the GSMA for funding this study along with the EU. I'll still not get one though...
posted by Dio at 2:19 AM PST - 12 comments

MC Jelly D freestyle rapping donut. (video inside)
posted by mitocan at 2:13 AM PST - 7 comments

I, for one, welcome our new jellyfish overlords.
posted by mr.marx at 12:39 AM PST - 35 comments