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Big Brother dances with joy.
posted by Beholder at 8:40 PM PST - 34 comments

Is NPR losing out to Christian radio? It's that time of year again, our local NPR station is running their pledge campaign and they're not doing very well. His Radio and K-LOVE are on the rise and they don't have to suckle the government sow to run their businesses.
posted by jasontromm at 7:09 PM PST - 56 comments

www.blackpeopleloveus.com From memepool, but I just couldn't resist and I thought it deserved your attention and discussion. Oh that Sally and Johnny, fo shizzle my nizzle!
posted by Stan Chin at 6:29 PM PST - 35 comments

Who's destined to be a millionaire? A little Friday night Calvinism from the people at Marketplace.
posted by condour75 at 4:11 PM PST - 12 comments

Go Google! People continually invent new games to play with Google and Amazon.com to find curious content and excercise the system. First there was Google Whacking (here and here). Then there was Google fighting, Google sets, Google image whacking, Google Bombing, Google Grokking, Amazon whacking, and Google poetry. What similar games have you played, invented, or enjoyed?
posted by Morphic at 3:56 PM PST - 15 comments

A "spiritual perspective frappé" for the war weary. Some things are perfect, just as they are. Go now and refresh your weary soul with wisdom and a wry smile or two.
posted by Tiger_Lily at 2:51 PM PST - 23 comments

The male species has it easy. Feminist magazine Amp meditates on whether women should hover or plonk when they go to the bathroom. "It's like learning how to whistle. You have to learn how to position your lips for the best results." This article isn't work safe. In fact I'm not sure if it's safe at all.
posted by feelinglistless at 2:22 PM PST - 30 comments

Why Do Marriages Last? Amidst all the psychobabble and religious dogmatics you find on this subject, I found Robyn Parker's review of the relevant literature to be useful, wise and true. After all, aren't the rules of a lasting relationship, whatever your gender or sexuality, the same that govern friendship, loyalty, companionship and fun? Is marriage the secretive exception it's made out to be? Are there really any rules we don't instinctively, from about the age of seven, already know? As some Rabbi once said, the three words that most often save a marriage are not I love you. They are, in fact: I was wrong. Not that easy; but not that difficult either...
posted by MiguelCardoso at 2:05 PM PST - 36 comments

Hubbert's Peak: the impending oil shortage Is this the REAL reason behind the push to invade Iraq? In 1956. M. King Hubbert, a respected petroleum geologist, predicted - to within a year! - the peak in US oil production: 1970. US oil production has declined every year since. Using the same statistical methods, others now predict a world peak in oil production within a decade or even as early as 2006.
posted by troutfishing at 1:38 PM PST - 21 comments

Smart artists benefit from "piracy". Jane Magazine recently completed their "Reader-Produced CD". The songs were chosen from reader submissions and final selections were made by Jill Cunniff (of Luscious Jackson) and Kendall Jane Meade (of Mascott). All of the songs can be downloaded, which will most likely lead these bands to greater commercial [and financial] success than they would have had without the Jane CD. These artists are smart, and the music is good. Jane shares music all the time, and it's usually good. Kind of an example of the ideas presented in this post in action. Apologies in advance to all the manly men who look at a girly magazine.
posted by valval22 at 1:33 PM PST - 8 comments

Boris Artzybasheff -- the master of the Anthropomorphic who made men out of machines and machines out of men. a master craftsman, with a wide array of techniques at his command, as Alexei Panshin put it. And here is his letter Q contribution to Peter Piper's Practical Principles of Plain and Perfect Pronunciation. Submitted for your approval from...
posted by y2karl at 1:13 PM PST - 6 comments

The PowerPoint Anthology of Literature from Daniel Radosh, formerly of Modern Humorist. This collection is a little uneven, but the ones I think are lame you'll probably like, and vice versa. The first slide alone is pure genius.
posted by soyjoy at 1:11 PM PST - 11 comments

The Pocket President. Want an enormous tax cut for the wealthy? Need a pesky environmental regulation indefinitely "reviewed"? With the Pocket President, all this and much more is within your grasp. 7 inches tall, printed on sturdy cardboard, and free shipping! You can even download a sample.
posted by josephtate at 12:36 PM PST - 21 comments

Terrorist Financing is a new report by the Council on Foreign Relations on al Qaeda's financial network. It claims that the Bush administration "appears to have made a policy decision not to use the full power of U.S. influence and legal authorities to pressure or compel other governments to combat terrorist financing more effectively." The most important source of al Qaeda's funds are charities and wealthy individuals from Saudi Arabia. But while the Bush administration may be unwilling to confront the Saudis directly, they are seeking to have their financial assets in Europe frozen.
posted by homunculus at 12:21 PM PST - 2 comments

The New Transatlantic Project "Ultimately, Europeans, precisely because they share our values, are likely to be the most dependable allies we have..." An attempt at exploring (no, overcoming) the US-Europe divide by Ronald Asmus (Council of Foreign Relations) and Kenneth Pollack (Brookings Institution) in the Hoover Institution's latest Policy Review. Anyone taken by prior discussion re Robert Kagan's "Power and Weakness" in prior Policy Review should find this worth a read.
posted by Voyageman at 12:04 PM PST - 2 comments

The West Wing debunker. I have grown to hate this show even though I agree with its politics. The show occasionally brings up interesting topics but it is so goddamned sanctimonious. I worry that people think this is how our executive branch works. I hope this isn't a double post.
posted by McBain at 11:20 AM PST - 46 comments

Mayonnaise. It spawned the discovery of the Casimir effect, which proves that the universe will always expand. Invented in 1756, George Washington Carver seemed to have his hand in it. Not to be confused with its more-disgusting knockoff, mayonnaise has a lot going for it. A favorite Spelling Bee word, a racial litmus test, a hair conditioner--is there anything mayonnaise can't do? Mefi says you can even win prizes with it! What other condiments have spawned theories? Sunday school kids learn about faith and mustard seeds, but is there anything out there for ketchup?
posted by TheManWhoKnowsMostThings at 10:23 AM PST - 100 comments

Our Way: The trouble with being the world's only superpower, by Fareed Zakaria, discusses the U.S.'s role as the world's sole superpower, and gives a historyof the U.S.'s relationships with global institutions. Great reading.
posted by Ty Webb at 10:09 AM PST - 15 comments

kiddie art If you work in an office with lots of people, chances are that you work with a person who hangs pictures up that their kids have drawn. The pictures are always of some stupid flower or a tree with wheels. These pictures suck; I could draw pictures much better. In fact, I can spell, do math and run faster than your kids.
posted by batboy at 9:18 AM PST - 40 comments

"What is lower than a child molester?" asked Alex and Derek King's prosecutor: the author has a couple suggestions. Despite his efforts -- or because of them -- the conviction for the murder of their father is overturned. The jury's forewoman calls for a new trial. Others in Florida doubt that children should be tried as adults at all.
posted by RJ Reynolds at 9:18 AM PST - 5 comments

Hello Kitty remakes "The Blair Witch Project." This is either the most clever or most inane Yahoo! Greeting I've ever seen...wait, is "inane Yahoo! Greeting" redundant? Happy pre-Halloween Friday...does anyone remember TBWP fondly these days, as the nights grow spooky? Going to see "The Ring" tonight?
posted by serafinapekkala at 8:16 AM PST - 33 comments

The Cacophony Society "In a sense, we never create anything new at all. We never claim to come into a town and teach people how to be amusingly subversive. They're already doing it! We just raise the bogus flag, and see who will gather under the flagpole for further mischief."
posted by bunktone at 8:14 AM PST - 8 comments

Wall hangings for your peace loving sims. I've only logged about three sim hours, but this inspires me to boot up my little sim family. When the Sims online comes out, can we have sim protests at the sim white house, or sim mefi protests at mathowie's sim house?
posted by djacobs at 8:11 AM PST - 13 comments

The Melting Snows of Kilimanjaro. Lonnie Thompson, a professor of geology at Ohio State University, writes in the latest issue of Science magazine that the icepack on Mt. Kilimanjaro may disappear within 20 years. Aside from the fact that most of the recent activity could be pegged to global warming, ice cores indicate that a deep drought 4,000 years ago halted the original growth of the icepack. Interesting info on this also available via OSU's research news area here.
posted by PeteyStock at 7:53 AM PST - 13 comments

Braingirl - she's brainy, she's bizarre, she's curiously compelling and she has a sidekick named Bag Boy. See all 8 episodes. Flash & sound effects alert, and not safe for work unless you work at a pretty funkified place.
posted by madamjujujive at 6:48 AM PST - 13 comments

France provided Iraq with aircraft to launch AMDs [arms of mass destruction] And they gave me (I bought it) the Renault Dauphine! Looks like the U.S. is not the only country that our home boys can complain about as far as foreign policy matters.
posted by Postroad at 5:10 AM PST - 25 comments

Enter the peculiar world of Glasgow-based artist David Shrigley. (10 links)
posted by misteraitch at 4:37 AM PST - 15 comments

French Spiderman does it again! Alain Robert has just sucessfully made it two-thirds of the way up the 50 storey 1 Canada Sq in London's Canary Wharf before being arrested by police in a window-cleaning cart. It's like a war zone down there. As soon as any news links appear i'll post them here.
posted by andyHollister at 2:12 AM PST - 39 comments