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Iraq: In all but name, the war's on How do you tell a war has begun? This is not the 17th or 18th century. There are no highfalutin' declarations. Troops don't line up in eyesight of each other. There are no drum rolls and bugle calls, no calls of "Chaaa...rge!". When did the Vietnam War begin? When, for that matter, World War I? When mobilizations were ordered setting in motion irreversible chains of events or at the time of the formal declarations of war?
posted by bas67 at 8:44 PM PST - 24 comments

Ask Ah-nold how to pump up your puny little girly legs and ahms. Hear him now and call me later, I tell you to watch out, because he's gone completely nuts. Maybe it IS a tumor. (qt clip from japander.com)
posted by Stan Chin at 8:26 PM PST - 6 comments

Living in the Blog-osphere MSNBC Science and Technology takes blogs more and more seriously. First, they created their own blogs, including some which were already discussed here from the start, for example a Science and Technology Weblog Cosmic Log by Alan Boyle, now articles in the upcoming Newsweek print issue. Are they really onto something here? Are blogs going to be good official forums to present news fast?
posted by neu at 7:15 PM PST - 8 comments

Apple is at work on the iPhone, if you believe John Markoff of the New York Times. Do you?
posted by alms at 5:39 PM PST - 38 comments

Dasht-e-Leili. Is it a remote desert site where the Taliban buried their massacre victims? Or is it where the United States' allies buried theirs? Or is no one to blame?
posted by mr_crash_davis at 4:01 PM PST - 2 comments

Harry Stephen Keeler has been called one of the strangest writers who ever lived. He has also been called the Ed Wood of Mystery Writers. His plots are labyrinthine, convoluted, insane, built on coincidences. There's a Harry Stephen Keeler Society. His works are now being re-printed. And, if you're feeling brave, you can read many of his works on-line. Keeler created, and was seemingly the sole practitioner of, a genre he called the "webwork novel." This is a story in which diverse characters and events are connected by a strings of wholly implausible coincidences
posted by vacapinta at 3:47 PM PST - 20 comments

"Do loose numbers do more harm than good?" That's the question asked by Norimitsu Onishi in a thought-provoking article in today's NY Times (reg req). Inflated numbers have often had an impact on policy and people's thinking, but when the truth comes out it can make a difference, for good or ill. (More inside.)
posted by languagehat at 3:08 PM PST - 8 comments

Cigarette vending machines put to a good use. The Artomat project makes local art available in cigarette box size packages for a mere $5 a pop. Find out the location of a machine near you.
posted by machaus at 2:42 PM PST - 12 comments

Ah, inspiring food and good writing. Recounting "first taste" experiences of Sea Urchin, Hearts of Artichokes à la Isman Bavaldy, and Cock in Wine, the perfect Pastrami sandwich, the sweet memory of honey and green mangoes, and about the late-onset cook, THE DOMESTIC MALE.
posted by semmi at 2:34 PM PST - 11 comments

The president of a counterterrorism consulting firm has been charged with possessing 2,352 unregistered small military missiles. Investigators also found 4,000 pounds of explosives at High Energy Access Tools (HEAT), an anti-terrorism and police training company that was conducting classes for students from the United Arab Emirates and Yemen. More....
posted by Steve_at_Linnwood at 1:23 PM PST - 13 comments

"Are you ready to experience the future of digital pleasure?"' That link hit my inbox closely on the heels of my perusing this thread. From a 'moral standpoint', better than/worse than/same as inducing something internally?
posted by JettSuperior at 12:26 PM PST - 23 comments

There has been alot in the news about Slave Reperations lately. Friday while at the store, the register clerk started to ask me about my family history and then accused me of being a descendant of her ancestor's slave master and told me i owed her. What type of scam is this?
posted by crackheadmatt at 11:30 AM PST - 135 comments

Northern Alliance commander asphyxiated "hundreds" of surrendered Taliban in shipping containers "The benefit in fighting a proxy-style war in Afghanistan was victory on the cheap—cheap, at any rate, in American blood. The cost, NEWSWEEK’s investigation has established, is that American forces were working intimately with “allies” who committed what could well qualify as war crimes." (via drudge)
posted by Gilbert at 11:25 AM PST - 21 comments

Noitnetta Setiretlifatem [NYTimes] The French are now even more confusing. Verlan [2] [3] is the modern Pig Latin of France.
posted by srboisvert at 9:04 AM PST - 11 comments

As Jack G. Grubman explains in his letter of resignation (pdf), he is a victim. He made $20 million a year shilling WorldCom and other plunging telecom stocks, he now has Salomon Smith Barney’s $32 million severance package in his back pocket; but, feel sorry for him. The NY Times calls his letter "a whinefest worthy of a 6-year old."
posted by found missing at 8:15 AM PST - 20 comments