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The diary of Iseema bin Laden, the secret account of Osama's half brother. This link via muslimpundit, which along with the occasional hilarity, includes excellent critiques of Islamism, including one about the fundamentalist disdain for democracy.
posted by insomnyuk at 10:47 PM PST - 2 comments

CONELRAD "Control of Electronic Radiation" US invasion early warning system. Before Bush's Color Coded Alert System and before Kennedy's Emergency Broadcast System. Relive that special 50's feeling [Real Player req]
posted by Voyageman at 9:38 PM PST - 1 comments

What rough peep, its hour come round at last, [cache]
Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?
posted by eilatan at 8:11 PM PST - 13 comments

"Arrr, matey, insecure transaction off the port bow!" Data can be stolen as it is transferred by recording and interpreting the flashing of LED lights on your equipment. Theoretically, then, your data isn't safe within viewing distance of a telescope, unless some engineer comes up with an ingenious workaround.
posted by Hildago at 7:01 PM PST - 20 comments

Photos Show Plane Hitting Pentagon A sequence of five government photos shows the moment the hijacked American Airlines plane slammed into the Pentagon last Sept. 11.
Enough proof for you?
posted by Blake at 6:10 PM PST - 61 comments

Why does it take so long to mend an escalator? Incisive article which seems to be metaphorically demonstrating the difficulties in repairing society's ills through the voices of mechanical engineering. "The chinks in an escalator's armour are the spaces between step and step, step and wall, and comb plate and step. That is where a shoelace, a scarf, a child's finger or a foot can get caught - which is bad for travellers - and where small hard objects, dragged along and forced between cleats and comb plate, can chew up the aluminium steps, which is punishing for the machine."
posted by feelinglistless at 5:01 PM PST - 21 comments

Charting the unchurched in America "Americans almost all say religion matters, yet more people than ever are opting out. " I thought the trend was in the other direction What's Up
posted by onegoodmove at 4:53 PM PST - 35 comments

Solvent Paranoia. A roomful of nothing. Except bungee babies, eating tapeworms and foreign tears. "Too much thoughts for such a small head. Which way should I go?" (via artkrush)
posted by liam at 4:49 PM PST - 6 comments

"Beige. I think I'll paint the universe beige." Remember those arguments we had about the exact shade of turquoise the universe was supposed to be? Umm, computer glitch, sorry. "Fairchild realized the software Glazebrook was using actually took a slightly pinky looking colour as white. 'There was a huge green shift due to the erroneous white point,' he says."
posted by maudlin at 4:49 PM PST - 8 comments

Puzzling X-rays from Jupiter "We weren't surprised to find x-rays coming from Jupiter." Other observatories had done that years ago. The surprise is what Chandra has revealed for the very first time: the location of the beacon -- surprisingly close the planet's pole -- and the regular way it pulses. (Via Fark.)
posted by Mwongozi at 4:29 PM PST - 8 comments

Correct Currency I haven't seen any of these quarters yet, despite their apparent circulation of over two months, but I can't believe that they couldn't do enough QA to realize that they were making one obvious error and another one that most might not pick up on, but is incorrect nonetheless.
posted by whoshotwho at 3:34 PM PST - 28 comments

so which "officials" do we believe? is this a final salvo from the "now disbanded" office of military misinformation? i don't know which is spookier the thought of the threat, or the folks in charge getting their "credible" info from some clown in las vegas??
posted by specialk420 at 2:31 PM PST - 4 comments

Amazing collection of information on Folklife in Florida between 1937-1942. Audio files are stunning. They were originally recorded (with a portable acetate cutter!) by Zora Neal Hurston and Stetson Kennedy, working for the WPA. Does anyone else have other favorite Library of Congress sites? first heard about on npr last week.
posted by anathema at 2:25 PM PST - 12 comments

Carry Nation: Extreme Temperance Advocate "A female figure dressed in black appeared on Topeka's streets on January 26, 1901. A dark veil shrouded the woman's face but couldn't disguise her from the city's populace, who immediately recognized her as one of the country's foremost temperance advocates. Carry Nation had arrived in Topeka. For the next three weeks she and her followers smashed saloons in an effort to close all the city's illegal "joints." She was threatened by howling mobs, beaten by wives of saloon owners, and repeatedly arrested and jailed. The violence she initiated quickly spread all over the state, and had a lasting effect that endured for many years."
posted by owillis at 1:47 PM PST - 15 comments

The New York Times finally justified asking for my email address: you can specify a list of words and phrases and have the Times email you whenever an article containing one of them appears. (My list: 'aphex, autechre, squarepusher, "warp records"')
posted by lbergstr at 12:55 PM PST - 17 comments

The Internet Classics Archive. Along with the Perseus Project, part of an expanding effort to put all the wisdom of ages gone by online. After all, it's all in the public domain, right? There are so many translations of the ancient texts, so many onlne analyses by lunatics...when you search online for that quote from the Iliad, how much discretion do you use in determining how good the translation and commentary is? What are the most legitimate online sources for accessing apocryphal knowledge?
posted by bingo at 12:31 PM PST - 12 comments

Why wait for Malcolm, when you can get a sneak peek at the new Star Wars movie now? Mind you, you might have to use your imagination a little. Still, these are not like the Lego sets of my youth.
posted by piskycritters at 11:19 AM PST - 3 comments

I'm Alan Greenspan, And I'll Be Here All Week.
posted by solistrato at 10:02 AM PST - 83 comments

Designer Drugs and Raves - Second Edition (PDF). A Royal Canadian Mounted Police document designed to educate and inform police officers and social workers alike, complete with helpful photos of "The Candy Raver".

The result of a three-year 'intelligence probe' into the rave scene, it's an interesting read, and a fairly good indication of the Canadian government's attitude towards increasing drug use at raves and nightclubs.
posted by Jairus at 8:20 AM PST - 33 comments

Myths Over Miami.
Captured on South Beach, Satan later escaped. His demons and the horrible Bloody Mary are now killing people. God has fled. Avenging angels hide out in the Everglades. And other tales from children in Dade's homeless shelters.
posted by Spoon at 7:49 AM PST - 8 comments

Hit-and-run victim left for dead - Not your typical hit and run either... this might be the most messed up thing i've heard in awhile. "Maybe we've just redefined inhumanity here."
posted by clang at 7:32 AM PST - 113 comments

Environmental Hypocrites? Jennifer Lopez: black Lincoln Navigator. Meg Ryan: black Ford Explorer. Dustin Hoffman: dark green Land Rover Range Rover…I don't begrudge these individuals their choice in automotive transportation…I just can't stomach so-called "environmentalists" who are about as green as Clifford the Big Red Dog."
posted by nobody_knose at 5:37 AM PST - 59 comments

"We recognise that for many clubbers, taking drugs is an integral part of their night out," said a Home Office spokesman. The government has produced a booklet advising club owners on how to deal with drug use rather than prevent it. A realistic attitude to (inevitable) drug taking?
posted by Summer at 5:23 AM PST - 18 comments

Hi-tech webserver platfrom unveiled! Seriously though, a webserver running on a Commodore 64... what will people think of next?
posted by robzster1977 at 4:11 AM PST - 9 comments

Can some people intuitively find order in chaos? Scientists discover that certain people are likely to predict chaotic time series, such as the weather or the stock market.
posted by costas at 3:38 AM PST - 13 comments

Syria on Brink of Conflict Over Lebanon For reasons unkown to me, the Liberals (the Znetters) fail to mention this 30 thousand man troop occupation of Lebanon and focus on Israeli occupation of land taken in war; conservatives never mention this occupation. American political figures ignore or push this aside; and Arabs, about to meet in Beirut for their summit brush this aside, but for the Lebanese, a sore issue.
posted by Postroad at 2:57 AM PST - 6 comments

Corporate Law Inhibits Social Responsibility. Chainsaw Al saw maximizing shareholder profit as the primary, if not only goal of a corporation. Does your employer or favorite company take part in corporate philanthropy? Isn't it about time you found out about socially responsible investing, anyways? What do you feel is the role and/or goal of corporate management?
posted by jacobw at 12:57 AM PST - 7 comments

Best google logo?
posted by magullo at 12:54 AM PST - 28 comments