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Bush's Speech on the Spreading of Democracy This is a massive and difficult undertaking -- it is worth our effort, it is worth our sacrifice, because we know the stakes. The failure of Iraqi democracy would embolden terrorists around the world, increase dangers to the American people, and extinguish the hopes of millions in the region. Iraqi democracy will succeed -- and that success will send forth the news, from Damascus to Teheran -- that freedom can be the future of every nation. (Applause.) The establishment of a free Iraq at the heart of the Middle East will be a watershed event in the global democratic revolution.

Since this speech was posted earlier, I just thought it would be good if we are exposed to ideas from both sides.
posted by VeGiTo at 9:22 PM PST - 88 comments

701 78s. A huge set of "old-time" music recordings from 1924-1946, made available in RealAudio format by honkingduck.com. Not high sound quality, but an invaluable collection for anyone with any interest in early recorded bluegrass, folk, country, blues, etc.
posted by staggernation at 7:38 PM PST - 23 comments

An attempt by developing countries to put management of the Internet under United Nations auspices is likely to be shelved at next month's world information summit in Geneva - but the issue is now firmly on the international agenda.
posted by Mick at 7:29 PM PST - 14 comments

Breasts on men — most people's only knowledge of this stems from Fight Club (his name was Robert Paulson), but Gynecomastia is a very real medical condition, often a side effect of Klienfelter Syndrome. This person's experiences with their gender identity (raised primarily as a girl, then switching to being publicly masculine when older) while growing up with Gynecomastia in a small town fascinated me. (First FPP!)
posted by djwudi at 7:21 PM PST - 23 comments

"Hi Jerks! Bender here. I just got back from the drinkin'est town in the known Universe: Las Vegas, Nevada- Earth. Check out these photos and you will see what I mean!" from Bender's Las Vegas Scrapbook. (Tons of pictures, big download alert) [via waxpancake]
posted by riffola at 7:05 PM PST - 18 comments

Face blind: Imagine living in a world in which you are surrounded by blank faces. You see people all around you, but you can't recognize them by their faces, only by context, clothing, and hair. You don't recognize your neighbors when you see them in the grocery store, and you couldn't pick your co-workers' faces out of a line-up. You have to learn special coping methods to get through your daily social activities. This is what it is like to have prosopagnosia, or face blindness.
posted by litlnemo at 6:17 PM PST - 7 comments

Why We Should Fear The Matrix. No, not the movie, the Multistate Anti-Terrorism Information Exchange program. It's a new version of the Total Information Awareness program for participating states which is run by a private corporation, Seisint Inc. Needless to say, privacy advocates are concerned.
posted by homunculus at 5:44 PM PST - 12 comments

Fundrace. Innovative rankings and maps about presidential candidates. The maps are especially cool.
posted by monju_bosatsu at 5:20 PM PST - 14 comments

30,000 bombs were dropped on Iraq during the war. This is the story of just one. (RealVideo, 1h14m) While filming at a cross-roads in northern Iraq on April 6, a US Navy jet launched a bomb into a crowd of US and Kurdish soldiers who a BBC team were accompanying. In the seconds that followed, BBC cameraman Fred Scott began to film the disaster as it unfolded, footage which was heavily censored when shown on US news.
posted by Mwongozi at 4:40 PM PST - 13 comments

IN AFGHAN PROVINCE, POPPY PLANTING HAS STRONG APPEAL It isa good to be freed from the constraits of the Taliban and to engage in capitalism at the global level. Chhers for the family farmers.
posted by Postroad at 3:59 PM PST - 14 comments

Free online music lessons from the Berklee College of Music, licensed under the Creative Commons and suitable for file sharing networks. Via Larry Lessig's weblog.
posted by turbodog at 3:20 PM PST - 6 comments

D'you know about the Georgia and Carolinas' sea island culture of the Gullah? Mostly known for their crafts which can fetch a pretty penny, the Gullah way of life (which may be endangered) is an interesting synthesis of American and African culture. They speak a unique dialect of English, which you can hear with Aunt Pearlie-Sue's folktales. Of course, there's the food... check out the recipies for Frogmore Stew and other classic island cuisine.
posted by moonbird at 2:34 PM PST - 10 comments

This guy has hit the nail on the head. I've been marveling at how it was possible to completely screw up the sequels to what I consider the greatest action movie of all time. Matt Feeney has precisely and eloquently pinpointed everything wrong with the Matrix sequels.
posted by aznblader at 2:05 PM PST - 49 comments

“Prescott Bush, George W's grandfather, and a band of Bonesmen, robbed the grave of Geronimo." Grandpa Prescott brought the skull of the Apache leader back to Yale in 1919, where they were kept in a glass case in the Skull and Bones House. Today the Mescalero Apaches are not amused. Meanwhile, the Skull and Bones initiation ceremonies are finally revealed! Eating clubs are nothing compared to this...
posted by zaelic at 1:18 PM PST - 15 comments

Jason Salavon is an artist who creates images (and video) by averaging data to create seemingly complex amalgamations. From the mundane to the more exotic (and nsfw) his work shows the regularity inherent in almost all media.
posted by PenDevil at 1:12 PM PST - 9 comments

Think the RIAA is doing something new by threatening and suing? Think again... it's all part of a 4-step process.
posted by clevershark at 1:05 PM PST - 13 comments

Pax TV. Salam Pax is diversifying; moving into TV. His first report will be shown on the BBC's Newsnight programme. Newsnight broadcasts at 10:30pm GMT, and can be watched here by clicking on the "latest programme" link during or after the show.
posted by Blue Stone at 12:33 PM PST - 6 comments

The New DJ Revolution? "You are a DJ but you don't have any bulky gear. You don't need to drive to a gig, the subway/underground will do just fine. You don't need an assistant to carry milk crates of heavy vinyl. Everything you need is in your pockets and the size of a cigarette pack. You only have 2 iPods, but they together hold enough music to play for several months straight, 24-7, without a single repeat. You are a mp3j." [thank you, iPodLounge.]
posted by grabbingsand at 12:00 PM PST - 27 comments

Dirty Bombs
Federal investigators have documented 1,300 cases of lost, stolen or abandoned radioactive material inside the United States over the past five years and have concluded there is a significant risk that terrorists could cobble enough together for a dirty bomb. (warning - Salon link)
posted by Irontom at 11:22 AM PST - 13 comments

This page is about past, present and future of the german autobahn system. Discover the changing history, take a look at abandoned roads or get informed about new transportation plans. Have fun! [via Travelers Diagram]
posted by soundofsuburbia at 11:04 AM PST - 7 comments

But There's No Oil You Say? The humanitarian situation in northern Uganda is worse than in Iraq, or anywhere else in the world, a senior United Nations official has said. It is a moral outrage" that the world is doing so little for the victims of the war, especially children, says UN Under Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs, Jan Egeland. The rebels routinely abduct children to serve as sex slaves and fighters. Thousands of children leave their houses in northern Uganda to sleep rough in the major towns, where they feel more safe from the threat of abduction by the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA). The United Nations [should] play a great role in scaling down the violence The LRA, under shadowy leader Joseph Kony, says it wants to rule Uganda according to the Biblical Ten Commandments. They often mutilate their victims, by cutting off their lips, noses or ears.
posted by turbanhead at 10:56 AM PST - 15 comments

Roadies. They've got their own lingo, rules, and even recipes. Obviously, they've also got their own website, which has much more to be explored.
posted by Ufez Jones at 10:51 AM PST - 4 comments

Paperplane.org : Ken Blackburn holds the World Record for time aloft for a paper airplane. Visit his site to read how he did it, the history of paper airplanes, read some competitive airplane flying rules, and learn to fold some new airplane designs of your own.
posted by anastasiav at 10:09 AM PST - 6 comments

"He's not in this for the paycheck. He really takes the 'defender-of-humanity' thing seriously." Gary Kasparov faces another, still-tougher computer opponent, but this time in VR! "For the first time the man will meet the machine on its own turf, the virtual world," is the spin on this latest twist on the Kasparov-vs-Computer tradition. You can watch the match online starting tomorrow, but note that ESPN (!) will cover the entire match - "nearly 18 thrilling hours of live chess," Wired notes wryly.
posted by soyjoy at 10:02 AM PST - 30 comments

marbles [note: Java] ... and there are other addictive games in java from the same site, too.
posted by crunchland at 8:39 AM PST - 5 comments

Did you think about buying tickets to the one day showing of all three LOTR movies? It would have been a good investment.
posted by alms at 8:11 AM PST - 15 comments

Daredevil and Captain America Hang Out... at the Quickstop.
(Warning: Flash --and geekfare!-- follow.)
posted by Shane at 7:41 AM PST - 7 comments

"Media Carta is the human-rights battle of our information age. It is about us, the people, singing the songs and telling the stories and generating culture from the bottom up, instead of having it spoon-fed from the top down."

Kalle Lasn and the gang at Adbusters are at it again.
posted by Quartermass at 7:22 AM PST - 9 comments

Begun the microseries has... in a very interesting format. Star Wars: Clone Wars will be shown in two sets of ten installments, each three minutes long, which can be viewed on the Cartoon Network's website the day after they are aired. Director Genndy Tartakovsky (of Samurai Jack fame) seems to be doing a good job, based on my impressions of the first episode. Can this series help redeem the Star Wars franchise for the thousands (millions?) who feel cheated by the shoddy prequels?
posted by UKnowForKids at 5:03 AM PST - 18 comments

Hill of Crosses, Siauliai, Lithuania [via boingboing]
posted by srboisvert at 4:47 AM PST - 10 comments

"Now we know that no other President of the United States has ever lied so baldly and so often and so demonstrably... The presumption now has to be that he's lying any time that he's saying anything." So says Ray McGovern, who worked as a CIA analyst for 27 years. Now, who still believes the P(L)OTUS?
posted by acrobat at 3:42 AM PST - 50 comments

The Beast of Bodmin. 'Photographs and even films had been taken of these beasts, but there has been little physical evidence to support the sightings. That was until recently when a 14-year-old boy discovered a skull with large fangs, in the River Fowey on Bodmin Moor in Cornwall. '
'This is the story of how The Natural History Museum tracked down this beast... '
More at the British Big Cats Society.
posted by plep at 1:50 AM PST - 8 comments