March 12, 2002

What the world needs now

What the world needs now is more plain talk from leaders like Kofi Annan, thinkers like Amos Oz, and soldiers like Yesh Gvul.
posted by subpixel at 10:15 PM PST - 34 comments

Japanese emperor breaks taboo, suggests mixed Korean bloodlines

Japanese emperor breaks taboo, suggests mixed Korean bloodlines Ahead of the World Cup to be jointly hosted by awkward neighbors Japan and Korea, Emperor Akihito claimed a Korean ancestor in his annual birthday address in December. However, most major news outlets did not print or broadcast his comments.
posted by planetkyoto at 9:44 PM PST - 3 comments

Ebay at it's best.

Ebay at it's best. I don't know, I think I'd buy the video . . .
posted by christian at 7:15 PM PST - 18 comments

The Ramones and the Talking heads to get rock and roll rocking chairs in Cleveland

The Ramones and the Talking heads to get rock and roll rocking chairs in Cleveland

The sparring, though, is as much a part of the Ramones' history as their baseball-bat-clutching American eagle logo. "They'd play for 40 minutes," recalls CBGB proprietor Hilly Kristal. "And 20 of them would just be the band yelling at each other." Danny Fields says that early on, they'd also come to blows after their sets. "Johnny would be strangling Dee Dee, and there'd be press or fans waiting to see them," he says. "I'd tell folks they were just toweling off, give them a couple of minutes, and by the time people saw them, they'd be sipping a beer."
posted by AsiaInsider at 6:13 PM PST - 18 comments

The inevitable seems imminent. Despite widespread condemnation of the election process, Robert Mugabe seems destined to win the Zimbabwe Presidency 'legitimately'*.

This is terrible, terrible news.

*please read posts here for explanation of ghost quotes.
posted by davehat at 6:07 PM PST - 9 comments

Scientists will tell you that Hydrogen is the most common element in all of nature. Me, I think the scientists have it all wrong. I think the universe is really made out of irony
posted by BentPenguin at 5:44 PM PST - 9 comments

Information Activism - Spring Clean the Internet Week.

Information Activism - Spring Clean the Internet Week.
"We aren't here to censor or judge information. We say publish what you want, useful or frivolous, but take care of it once you've created it. Keep it up to date, make sure it's still doing what you wanted it to do. And if it's not, get rid of it. It's that simple."
posted by jacobw at 5:37 PM PST - 7 comments

Andrea Yates convicted of capital murder.

Andrea Yates convicted of capital murder. "I'm not critiquing or criticizing the verdict," defense lawyer George Parnham said. "But it seems to me we are still back in the days of the Salem witch trials." -- Que?
posted by EngineBeak at 5:04 PM PST - 61 comments

Winona Ryder Tape exonerates her?

Winona Ryder Tape exonerates her? Apparently the tape shows nothing about Winona Ryder removing security tags, contrary to what police said about it. Also, her attourney makes a really cheesy Girl Interrupted joke.
posted by trioperative at 4:50 PM PST - 12 comments

Wow.

Wow. The little Afghani girl whose eyes captivated a nation back in 1985 (when her portrait graced the cover of a National Geographic magazine) has been located (alive!).
posted by silusGROK at 4:44 PM PST - 38 comments

Getting the Picture

Getting the Picture at the Smithsonian Archives. Sometimes a bit of doodling can make that note a little more special than the latest syrupy Hallmark design.
posted by Su at 4:28 PM PST - 4 comments

Light up a cigarette in your movie, get an "R" rating!

Light up a cigarette in your movie, get an "R" rating! Under a proposal from this UCSF professor/anti-smoking activist, any movie that shows someone lighting up a cigarette will automatically get an "R" rating.
posted by xochi at 4:13 PM PST - 36 comments

Business magazine editor sleeps with interviewee.

Business magazine editor sleeps with interviewee. Harvard Business Review editor Suzy Wetlaufer interviews retired GE CEO Jack Welch for HBR. They begin a torrid romance (Welch is, of course, still married to his second wife.) Other editors find out about the romance and Wetlaufer cancels her story. Other HBR editors call for her resignation and the managing editor merely reassigns her. 2 other HBR editors quit in disgust. You can't make this stuff up!
Additional coverage via Financial Times; Boston Globe; MSNBC.
posted by gen at 3:11 PM PST - 9 comments

Let's hear it for the Fighting Whities!

Let's hear it for the Fighting Whities! Solomon Little Owl, director of Native American Student Services at the University of Northern Colorado, is a member of an intramural basketball team that has adopted the name "The Fighting Whities." Team members say they want to raise awareness of the issue of painful cultural stereotypes. The team, made up of American Indian, Anglo and Hispanic players, is protesting nearby Eaton's use of the team name "Fightin' Reds" and an Indian caricature as a mascot. Little Owl said, "The Fighting Whities" issue is "to make people understand what it's like to be on the other side of the fence. If people get offended by it, then they know how I feel, and we've made our point." Curiously, I'm not offended. Are any of you? link via yil daily net buzz
posted by David Dark at 2:09 PM PST - 107 comments

Web/TV, apparently

Web/TV, apparently The CBC gives the Web/TV interface another go with Zed. Instead of collateral materials from a TV show posted on the Web (a begrudging old-media conceit), you post on the Web and it’s all voted onto a TV show. Details skimpy at present, but quite possibly viable.
posted by joeclark at 1:50 PM PST - 0 comments - Post a Comment

Police officers and FBI agents find cyanide in a Chicago subway.

Police officers and FBI agents find cyanide in a Chicago subway. A Wisconsin computer worker who dubbed himself Dr. Chaos was charged Monday with possessing a chemical weapon. The suspect was wanted on several warrants from Wisconsin for allegedly staging attacks on a television station transmitter, electric power substations and natural gas pipelines. When police shut down the subway tunnels for three hours Saturday night, they publicly said they were searching for the possessions of a homeless man who had been living in the tunnel.
posted by andre_111 at 1:37 PM PST - 8 comments

Good news on the pollution front. Town in Northern California finds a way to turn its sewage into non-polluting water and make a wildlife refuge. If you live in Arcata, you can flush your toilet with pride! Quick overview here or the full flush.
posted by keithl at 12:39 PM PST - 8 comments

Should creation of intellectual property

Should creation of intellectual property be taxable? The City of Seattle wants to tax the development of software, not the sale, the development. Across the country state and local governments are starting to consider taxing this. The question is, is software development taxable? If so, is writing a book taxable, painting a picture? People pay sales tax on the software, and businesses pay income, use, and B&O taxes already. Why is this different? via /.
posted by patrickje at 12:21 PM PST - 28 comments

In the not too distant future, somewhere in time and space...

In the not too distant future, somewhere in time and space... Many alumni performers (sans the 'bots) from the star-crossed tv series Mystery Science Theater 3000 have briefly reunited. Though MST3K is slowly fading away into rerun limbo hell and obscurity, the brains that once made the 'bots possible are still managing to find work. [more]
posted by ZachsMind at 11:24 AM PST - 8 comments

Was Britney Spears attacked with...um...buckets of urine? Here's another article on the alleged incident. And a pic.
posted by Reggie452 at 10:43 AM PST - 48 comments

All your favorite news

All your favorite news can be found at Stereotypography -- or, at least, the news from 18 distinct weblogs. Condensed into three frames, you can read the news from three of those sites and switch between them with drop-down boxes. Resize the font or refresh the news feeds at will. (found via alt.sense.)
posted by moz at 8:59 AM PST - 10 comments

Obesity Harder on Health Than Smoking

Obesity Harder on Health Than Smoking according to a RAND study of 10,000 adults released today. "The study found that obesity -- linked to health complications including diabetes, arthritis, heart disease, strokes and certain cancers -- raises a person's healthcare costs by 36 percent and medication costs by 77 percent. [...] In terms of dollar amounts, the study found that obesity raised healthcare costs by an average of $395 a year, while smoking increased costs by $230 and heavy drinking is associated with a $150 annual increase."
posted by NortonDC at 8:44 AM PST - 48 comments

White house announces more silly and vague schema

White house announces more silly and vague schema for defining terrorist threat. Ok, so how does going from the total unclear status of "everybody lookout, it's coming" to Yellow Alert which means "a significant risk of terrorist attacks" make things more clear? For that matter what's the point of Red Alert anyhow? Is that for when the Pentagon is already on fire?
posted by shagoth at 8:41 AM PST - 39 comments

Not a hoax!?

Not a hoax!? 'We are in Mrs. Lentz's Computer Class at Clara Bolen Elementary in Tawa City, MI. We are doing an experiment for the art and science fair to be held in April at our school. We are trying to see where our email can travel in the space of one month.'
posted by asok at 7:10 AM PST - 19 comments

Kurzweil teleports to nanotech conference. Well, nearly... it looks like an oversized teleprompter - but according to those who were there, a lifesized 3D image of ace tech-visionary Ray Kurzweil did indeed appear at a conference in Richardson, Texas, March 7, 2002. "I thought it worked really well," said Steve T. Jurvetson, Managing Director, Draper Fisher Jurvetson. "I thought it was at least 95% of the real thing. In fact, the person that followed strangely enough seemed pale and flat. In comparison Ray almost was more realistic and three-dimensional." But will it share a Bud in the after-meet schmooze? In any case, we always knew that, in terms of the tech-spec, The Force Was With Us.
posted by theplayethic at 7:05 AM PST - 19 comments

The Decay of Manners

If you would, please, I'd like to politely invite you to consider The Decay Of Manners: "We rush through life in such a hurry these days, that there is little or no time or thought for the refinements and courtesies that in the good old days of our grandparents were considered necessary to good manners." Minnetonka Record, November 21, 1902. Thank you very much for your time.
posted by ColdChef at 6:53 AM PST - 110 comments

Here’s a nice addition

Here’s a nice addition to your movie memorabilia collection. Would that I had the spare £15,000 lying around. If you could owe one little piece of a favorite cult film, what would it be?
posted by Fenriss at 6:43 AM PST - 51 comments

"Dude, Where's My Lawyer?"

"Dude, Where's My Lawyer?" Note to self: Leave 3,600 grams of opium (allegedly) at home.
posted by KevinSkomsvold at 6:32 AM PST - 13 comments

Don’t call them terrorist

Don’t call them terrorist – call them "Koran Preservationist." Bob Jones III, writing on BJU’s website, says that his university & Christians in general should move away from the word "fundamentalist" because of it’s negative connotations since the September 11th terrorist attacks.

"Bob Jones University is unashamedly Fundamentalist, but the term is beginning to carry an onerous connotation with the world at large because of the media's penchant for lumping Christian Fundamentalists in the same heap as Islamic Fundamentalists. Instead of "Fundamentalism" defining us as steadfast Bible believers, the term now carries overtones of radicalism and terrorism. "Fundamentalist" evokes fear, suspicion, and other repulsive connotations in its current usage."

Is Bob Jones III right to lay blame solely on the media? Or is the public at large simply fed up with religious zealots, young earthers, fundies, anti-abortion bombers and terrorist?
posted by wfrgms at 6:32 AM PST - 25 comments

The Integrator.

The Integrator. Mostly for math/science/engineering people, this is a web based free Mathematica integrator. It can do indefinite integration on every integrable function (over one variable). It is a blessing for students and a great web resource. Anyone seen anything as scientifically handy on the web recently?
posted by talos at 6:28 AM PST - 7 comments

Does extradition serve any purpose?

Does extradition serve any purpose? A few weeks ago there was some talk of extraditing Omar in the US press, but since then the story seems to have died down, or rather lost momentum. I wonder why there hasn't been a louder clamoring for his extradition? I am sure his wife cares about the outcome of this case.
posted by bittennails at 5:46 AM PST - 11 comments

50 Cents, Please.

50 Cents, Please. Remember When A Call Cost a Dime? Soon: the 50 cent NYC local phone call. The poor state of payphones in NYC has long fascinated me. Supposedly, most don't work because of vandalism (often, the dial tone works, but the you lose your coins), but I suspect Verizon just wants to maximize cell phone sales. And I suspect the payphone is an endangered species for health reasons. What's the state of the pay phone in your city?
posted by ParisParamus at 4:50 AM PST - 38 comments

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