April 6
He
needed it to cut an onion. Under normal circumstances I would have shook my
head and said, "Oh, those silly americans". This story, however, is about my
12-year old brother who's facing a 1 year expulsion after bringing a (small)
kitchen knife to school for a science assignment. Zero tolerance - or zero
interest in what's best for the kid?
posted by mschmidt at 12:55 AM PST -
6 comments
April 5
One Sweet Campaign To
Fight Global Warming officially launched this month with a press conference
a few days ago. Every day, human beings put 16 million tons of carbon dioxide
into the atmostphere. The campaign is a joint effort between
DMB and
Ben
& Jerry's which uses the new, previously discussed
ice cream flavor as its
vehicle, and asks you to pledge to lose 2000 pounds of CO2 this year through
reasonable modifications to your daily routine. Help make the world a healthier
place. [warning: flash/music]
posted by tomorama at 8:28 PM PST - 8 comments
Battle for the
Holyland : A very interesting Frontline episode that outlines the tactics
used by both the Israelis and the Palestinians in fighting their war. (Most PBS
affiliates will rebroadcast the special soon.) Does anyone who saw the special
have a reaction?
posted by yevge at 3:55 PM PST - 7 comments
In
case you still thought there was still anything even slightly rational,
even-handed and non-ideological about the Nobel Peace Prize: Members of the
NPP committee that gave Shimon Peres the Prize in 1994 are now attacking him for
not singlehandedly putting a stop to Israeli reoccupation of Palestinian
territory, even though here's only a member of the cabinet, not the leader of
the country. (Alternatively, they say, he should have quit.) Which would be
okay, since what's going on now isn't very peaceful ... except that they've said
not a peep about about the actions of one of the other two men that shared the
prize that year, one Yassir Arafat. (The third, Yitzhak Rabin, apparently gets
off the hook since he's already dead.)
posted by aaron at 2:52 PM PST - 9 comments
The
Flag of the Internet (net.flag) and other interesting web-only interactive
works of art via the
guggenheim museum. i thought this was a
really interesting flash project that contains quite a few flags of the world,
then dissects them and explains the meaning behind every element, then allows
you to add that element and others to create your own customized flag. (click on
the "net.flag" link, then go to "change net.flag" to customize)
posted by sixtwenty3dc at 12:22 PM
PST - 3 comments
Our
great grandkids are toast! A one kilometre-wide chunk of space rock could
strike the Earth in 2880, say astronomers... "This is not something to worry
about," said Jon Giorgini, a senior engineer at the American space agency's Jet
Propulsion Laboratory... "That's plenty of time to consider the options - 35
generations, in fact."
posted by y0mbo at 12:10 PM PST - 12 comments
The new oddtodd
cartoon I don't think that anyone has posted this yet. Oddtodd has released
his newest cartoon. Man, I love that guy. He is da tits. (For those of you
unfamiliar with that saying that means he is good/great/cool... you know, da
tits.)
posted by aj100 at 11:50 AM PST - 16 comments
Men as an
endangered species. A woman taking part in a controversial human cloning
programme is eight weeks pregnant. Are we heading to an all-female
society?
posted by semmi at 11:11 AM PST - 25 comments
Robert Jr. Lockwood
is alive , well and still playing and recording.
He learned
guitar from Robert Johnson when the latter was hanging with Robert Jr’s
mom—hence the Jr—and cut his first 78 in 1941. Yet he’s just
2nd generation. From the
first,
Henry Townsend is
still alive and
playing, but at 91,
doesn't travel that much anymore. Then there is
David
"Honeyboy" Edwards —and
he knew Robert Johnson as
well--and Tommy McClennan and Robert Petway, too, which is way more impressive
to me. He still plays and records, too, in very recent times in the
company of Lockwood and Townsend.
And in the third generation, you have
Johnny Otis , still
alive and kicking, complete with
virtual mall.
Ike Turner was Howlin’
Wolf’s A&R and piano player when the Wolf cut his first sides for Sam
Phillips’ company before Sun, RPM. A helluva a piano player
coughAudionotfarfromherecough—apart from the
sordid
details of his
personal life,
Ike Turner is, as the aforementioned, a
giant in the history of that nearly dead style—the Blues. Alive, playing and
recording. Hell, writing, autobiographies, too—
Edwards and
Turner,
at least. (and whew, Turner’s is, well,
explicit…)
If this were Japan, these guys would be registered as cultural treasures. So
why’s everybody wasting their money on some overproduced, overhyped mere
johnnyonenote journeyman (if not hack) like R.L. Burnside? Not an obituary, by
any means, but a heads up and props to the surviving masters—and you may have a
chance to see the real thing someday soon. But note that, all in all, offer
ends... sometime.
posted by y2karl at 11:10 AM PST - 19 comments
Arab world has to
change or wither away Today's editorial from the Daily Star newspaper
(Lebanon). "Arab countries are governed by systems and structures designed in
another era, one that is never coming back ... It is a recipe for disaster whose
results are on display for all to see." Is this just grass-is-greener longing,
or a real argument for political and economic reforms?
posted by skyboy at 10:20 AM PST - 17 comments
The ThreeRing Web Mapping
project adds a dot to a blank canvas showing your geographic location (or
that of your ISP, as best it can guess based on your IP address). They've also
got a code snippet to put on your own site that automagically adds your visitors
to the map. The US is already clearly defined, Europe is getting there, and
Oceania is coming into view. (They've also got one of them
Tag-Board thingies, which is painful to
read for any length of time.)
posted by gleuschk at 9:10 AM PST - 24 comments
Oprah ends book club.
According to
Publishers Weekly: "Today Oprah Winfrey announced on her
program that she is ending Oprah's Book Club as it currently exists." (Sorry -
only news so far is in email, no direct link to story yet.)
In other
news, American publishing collapses. Jonathan Franzen abducted by angry horde of
struggling novelists, is strung up by his genitals in Times Square.
posted by busbyism at 8:46 AM PST -
48 comments
bring out your
clips! a decent website where it is possible to get hold of some of the very
best of british humour including a large dollop of monty python, not bad
eh!
posted by johnnyboy at 7:34 AM PST -
5 comments
Panda
Dog! I don't know what kind of dog it is (and I thought I was a dog-knowing
expert) but I want one. If anyone can help me out with the breed (if it isn't a
bizarre dog-panda hybrid) I would be really quite grateful...
posted by rikabel at 7:31 AM PST - 18 comments
Is the
hiptop (flash w/
sound) by
Danger Inc. the technogeek holy
grail?
It
might just
be. If it
indeed costs $200, has unlimited internet for $25 a month, the separate GSM
based cell phone plan has coverage in my area, and it ships in two months, color
me sold. (more inside)
posted by machaus at 6:49 AM PST - 24 comments
Skeletor and
Gang: What is it about the combination of stop-motion animation, He-Man
action figures, and sped-up heavy metal that makes me laugh until I hurt?
"Skeletor, Mantenna and Grizzlor are having a party! Oh no! Moss-Man attacks!
Defend us Squeeze!"posted by emptybowl at 6:24 AM PST -
7 comments
WebLogs bring
less traffic than major media sites. There isn't any surprize there, but
what
kind of traffic does each bring?
...those Google/Scientology articles I wrote didn't get nearly as
many links from blogs... but they were of much broader interest to readers
than the blog articles, so when a few major media sites linked to them, they
got a ton of traffic.
Major media sites have to appeal to a common
denominator, while smaller sites (MeFi) can focus on quality and thought
provoking content. Is there any wonder there's less people interested in the
specifics?
posted by KnitWit at 6:22 AM PST - 12 comments
Utah
Judge Rules Medical Pot is In via the Utahns for Compassionate Use. "During
a preliminary hearing for three patients in Cedar City on Wednesday March 27,
2002 Judge Braithwaite bound patients over for trial and ruled that their
medical marijuana arguments do count in a Utah Courtroom even though Utah has
different laws than California." My question, of course, is: do you really spell
it "Utahns?"
posted by massless at 2:43 AM PST - 2 comments
New US
paper aims at Afghan war truth What do you do when you are fed up with the
biased and slanted coverage that the major news organizations are giving the
"war on terroirsm"? Start your own newspaper of course.
"A newspaper aimed at
providing news of the war in Afghanistan is to be launched this month. Its
editors argue that the mainstream media in the US are not providing a full
picture of the war and its effects. "
posted by futureproof at 1:17 AM PST -
19 comments
April 4
A Refreshing
Change of Pace for everyone with an opinion about Isreal/Palestine. The
Middle East Conflict - Has it Been Engineered by Extremist Rightwing Christians
and Zionists Hoping to "Force" the "Rapture"? Sounds crazy, looks
crazy...but the suggestions are not made on the basis of paranoia alone,
unfortunately. The fact that the Americans involved are very religious (and
Isreal being the location of a few scheduled divine appearances) is an obviously
important but consistantly avoided side of this pile of conflict. So how crazy
is this article? Isn't it just a bit naïve to think this is just a big property
argument with some jewish/muslim tension thrown in? Hey, as long as we can't
decide whether Arafat or Sharon is worse than the other, we may as well discuss
something else in the meantime...or discuss something
totally
unrelated in this thread, for a
refreshing
change of pace.
(From the reputable, extensive and fascinating news
website, unknownnews.net)posted by Settle at 8:18 PM PST - 49 comments
As the violence in the Middle East escalates, and Arab anger
grows over American support of Israel (especially among the masses), is
another
oil embargo possible?
Oil may be the Arab world's daily bread, but it's
also its only weapon — if, say, Arafat is killed or Israel goes too far in its
incursions into Palestinian territories, popular sentiment in the already-shaky
local regimes could force Arab governments to put up a show of defiance to calm
their constituencies. posted by Rastafari at 8:10 PM PST -
13 comments
Capital
Wars! The US Defense Department wants all large foreign acquisitions of
American companies to be approved by a secretive national security committee, a
move designed to restrict access to sensitive US technology. Valid measure to
protect national security or a return to mercantilism? (via
drudge :)
posted by kliuless at 8:06 PM PST - 3 comments
"He's
not gay, and the judge so ruled," says Bert Fields, attorney for Tom Cruise.
Yes folks, Tom Cruise is now the world's only
legal heterosexual. While
this is old news, I've always been fascinated with how much zeal Cruise
prosecutes these allegations. This case, though, is unique in that the ruling in
favor of Cruise contains a stipulation which states that Cruise is not, nor ever
has he ever been, gay. In other words, Tom's heterosexuality is now enforced by
the courts. Should we, the moviegoing public, now file a class-action lawsuit to
force Cruise to publicly prove his unique legal status as a compulsory
heterosexual? Would Tom being a backdoor boy
really damage your enjoyment
of his movies, as Cruise seems to think? Just how stupid do Hollywood stars and
their publicists think we are? Discuss.
posted by WolfDaddy at 6:14 PM PST -
50 comments
Yuri's Night is more
than 100 parties on the same night around the world, on every continent
including Antarctica, April 12, 2002. What's to celebrate? The 41st anniversary
of the
suborbital
flight of Yuri Gagarin, and the 21st anniversary of the
first
space shuttle flight, a fitting tribute to two great space milestones. Is
there a party in your city? Set one up! I only read about last year's (initiated
for the 40th/20th), but I'm going to try to go this year. There are, of course,
even moe 40th anniversaries of significant space events to come. [tip o' the hat
to
Rand Simberg, who
has even more provocative stuff in his FoxNews.com column -- like relocating
Israel to the Moon. And he's serious.]
posted by dhartung at 6:08 PM PST - 9 comments
Where
Is The Other Half ? An intriguing analysis of what Prime Minister Sharon
said and didnt, in his latest speech, and wether thats all he can say because of
his background.
What does "winning" mean? What will happen after we
"win"? What kind of plan does he have for the day after? This performance of
Arik, King of Israel, was like shouting: Remember the emperor without clothes?
That's me! posted by adnanbwp at 4:45 PM PST -
4 comments
Meet
the Athens Olympics mascots. I'm not sure when Olympics sites started
adopting cartoony mascots, but I'm sure of this much: This pair is the worst
I've ever seen. They're supposed to represent Greek gods? Please. They look like
they were drawn in about five minutes.
posted by diddlegnome at 4:16 PM PST
- 36 comments
Bush
plays peacemaker. Having refused to honor several international treaties
since taking office, the Bush administration sees itself as a legitimate peace
broker. Opinions solicited, is this likely to improve the situation or cause it
to deteriorate further?
posted by jack-o at 3:11 PM PST - 32 comments
Harmful to Minors
In the introduction to her
book she
writes that " 'Harmful to Minors' launches from two negatives: Sex is not ipso
facto harmful to minors; and America's drive to protect kids from sex is
protecting them from nothing. Instead, often it is harming them." Is she right,
some think she is just evil.
posted by onegoodmove at 2:59 PM PST
- 24 comments
Another trip into TV
Hell. In the UK we're much kinder to bad television -- shows will go on for
weeks without an audience and often get comissioned for second series before
someone releases they're awful (yes you 'Let Them Eat Cake' -- if that French
and Saunder monstrosity had been on UStv it would have been cancelled after two
episodes -- if it had been comissioned at all). 'Off The Telly' considers all
the things prospective television producers need to avoid if they're going to
create something they're proud of. Does anyone else have any bad
examples?
posted by feelinglistless at 1:47 PM
PST - 18 comments
What's
grosser than gross? Ask a nurse. On this nursing bulletin board, nurses who
have to deal with really disgusting stuff in the course of their day-to-day work
reveal what even
they have difficulty handling. Sputum and stinky feet
are both more popular choices than I would have guessed. If you're brave, read
the whole thread, including such gems as extremely overweight folks who hide
foot items in the folds of their flesh. [WARNING: not for the faint of stomach,
even though it's all text, no pictures.] I won't mention details of the dog
story...
posted by beth at 1:24 PM PST - 29 comments
Indiana woman sues
doctor for cost of raising her daughter. She says the doctor botched the
operation to sterilize her, so he should pay up. A lower court has already ruled
for her, and it is now in front of the Indiana Supreme Court. I did not know
this, but California, New Mexico, Oregon and Wisconsin already have given people
the right to costs of child rearing in these circumstances. The first this that
comes to my mind is: do you think a child put in this situation would feel
unwanted?
posted by internal at 12:53 PM PST -
21 comments
A
soundtrack to MTV's The Osbournes is in the making starting with
this...
Ozzy Osbourne's youngest daughter, Kelly Osbourne, will sing Madonna's
"Papa Don't Preach," with Incubus guitarist Mike Einzinger and drummer Jose
Pasillas as her backing band.What other songs would you put on
there?
posted by BarneyFifesBullet at 11:42
AM PST - 16 comments
Antidote
to the Liberal Monotone: Blogging After reading MetaFilter for a while, I
would assume that blogging ticks off all people, left and right, equally. Does
exposure like this on a major Op-Ed page show that blogging is on the verge of
becoming something big?
posted by dewelch at 11:33 AM PST -
40 comments
Why Are
Ventriloquists' Dummies So Damn Scary? Their annual Convention is this July.
Don't go there! Their
web site
reads like a nightmare. The kind that makes
Night of the Living Dead look
like
Rebecca From Sunnybrook Farm. But why? I'm curious and can't find an
answer anywhere. Why
are ventriloquists and their dummies so damn scary?
Someone please tell me what's
wrong with this monkey! He's...he's only
wood...
right?[
Via Bonny Burton's guest weblog over on Boing Boing]
posted by MiguelCardoso at 11:17 AM
PST - 37 comments
Understanding what
makes America tick "
The belief that America is exceptional, in the double
sense that it is superior and that it is different...The United States had a
mission, a manifest destiny, to change the world in its image. This conviction
echoes down through American history....Other countries—France, Britain,
Russia—have from time to time in their history felt a sense of mission, of
carrying their civilisation to other peoples and territories. But in their cases
it has been episodic and not deeply rooted—usually limited to when their power
was at its zenith and usually clearly recognisable as a rationalisation for what
they were doing for other reasons. In the case of the United States, it has been
constant and central." [
Centre of
Independent Studies in Sydney via
aldaily] American Exceptionalism. Mix it with
sole super power status and massive military might. Should make it quite an
intoxicating ride these next few years.
posted by Voyageman at 11:16 AM PST -
26 comments
Kalakala.org:
World-famous art-deco Seattle ferry (most recently an abandoned Alaskan
shrimp factory) rescued from rusty oblivion. Gutenberg's earlier
post about "ghost pictures" on
the old ferry Kalakala sent me looking for more info on the vessel, which I now
know was once the second most photographed object in the world, next to the
Eiffel tower. Volunteers are now slowly restoring it near Gas Works Park.
Cool.
posted by Tubes at 11:10 AM PST - 12 comments
E Street Band guitarist and erstwhile
Sopranos star
Little Steven is launching a syndicated
radio show to
be centered around garage rock of the '60's plus latter day punk as well
according to this
story.
Steve's own site includes some great
live reviews and excellent
garage rock
links .
I, for one, am really looking forward to hearing this show. Good luck, Steve.
posted by jonmc at 9:13 AM PST - 11 comments
end
of the worlds forests? are there other very important issues for the world
that are slipping by us while the we are caught up with the problems in the
middle east the the "war on terror"? should there be US leadership in this
area?
posted by specialk420 at 7:45 AM PST
- 33 comments
The
Death of Saturday Morning Cartoons. Old news? Kind of, as the decline of Big
Network cartoons has been happening for a while. However, as a Generation X-er,
I'm wondering if it's possible to have a comparable shared-common-experience
these days as digital cable and the internet widen our options into smaller,
hyper-specific choices.
Roots, Shooting JR, the last
MASH,
Live
Aid: would these still have the same impact today?
posted by FreezBoy at 7:25 AM PST -
40 comments
Japanese
Devils is a documentary featuring 14 veterans of the Imperial Army
testifying to their brutal participation in Japan's 15-year war against China.
Director Matsui Minoru presents a powerful historical record of these soldiers'
individual crimes, helping to break Japan's long silence about its wartime
atrocities in China.
Please also see
Iris
Chang's "The Rape of Nanking'' and be aware that the Japanese government is
still
whitewashing
their brutal WWII history via
school textbooks.
We must understand the truth of history so that we are not doomed to repeat
it.
posted by gen at 6:23 AM PST - 5 comments
Lego Serious Play "is
the first application of Lego for the serious world of adults at work. The
method combines 'play' and Lego bricks for the purpose of enhancing business
performance." Cute.
posted by ubique at 4:52 AM PST - 8 comments
They see
dead people. Seattle's own floating monument to a bygone era, the ferryboat
Kalakala, is rumored to be haunted. The members of A.G.H.O.S.T. investigated
earlier this year and claim they caught spectral images on film. Are those hazy
orbs actually visitors from the spirit realm or does someone just need a new
camera? Go on, tell us—do you believe in ghosts?
posted
by gutenberg at 2:11 AM
PST - 26 comments
April 3
Things Fall Apart.
Particularly in urban environments. Individually, the moments of
entropy-in-action caught here may not mean much; collectively, they recite a
visual poem about decay. A slightly melancholy site for you insomniacs out
there. (By the way, you have to scroll
right to get to the
thumbnails.)
posted by BT at 8:53 PM PST - 8 comments
NYT: Cousin
Marriage A'OK, Says Study
A new article in the
Journal
of Genetic Counseling reviewing recent studies on incidence of birth defects
among children of cousins finds that the increaed risk is so slight as to not
warrant discouraging cousin marriage. Discouraging marriage and conception
between first cousins is common in the US although in many societies, the first
(cross) cousin is the preferred spouse. (
1,
2)
posted by rschram at 4:10 PM PST - 13 comments
Gay
Life in Kandahar, Afghanistan. This is an interesting article in the LA
Times about a phenomenon that I noticed 20 years ago when I had a bunch of
Iranian teenage boys in a school I worked in for awhile. It seems that every
society has its constraints, and ways of getting around these
constraints.
posted by Danf at 3:17 PM PST - 4 comments
Five
Pillars of Islam Bradley County, one of several Tennessee counties to vote
recently to post the
Ten Commandments, has been asked to extend its
endorsement of religious documents in public places to include the
Five
Pillars of Islam. Smith (the commission chairman) said he respects Cate's
beliefs but believes that, particularly since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks
that have been blamed on extreme factions of Islam, it would be inappropriate to
post the Five Pillars. Would it be appropriate to post if there had been no 9-11
or is it just inappropriate.
posted by onegoodmove at 2:22 PM PST
- 42 comments
Ever since installing the latest version of the Flash Player,
I've been having problems with the sound continuing if I exit the movie, or
close the browser window, until I completely kill the program by closing ALL
open browser windows. Well, the problem has been
formally
acknowledged, though Macromedia is being weird about doing something about
it.
posted by Su at 1:20 PM PST - 22 comments
The God
Squad Christopher Hitchens gives (another) one to organized religion, and
reminds us of the important role that the Islamic world played in preserving
Western Civilization.
posted by Ty Webb at 1:00 PM PST - 7 comments
West
Wing is Fictional??? Just in case our friends in New Mexico are concerned,
what happens on the West Wing this week cannot happen in New Mexico. "New Mexico
has no tunnels" a press release, approved by state governor Gary Johnson,
states. Whew...a load off my mind. Is this an example of government being very
pro-active, or just plain insulting to the people of NM?
posted by JaxJaggywires at 12:29 PM
PST - 14 comments
Nicotine
Lollipops: Next up on the list of products to help you quit smoking but not
the addiction. NicoStop, NicoPop and Likatine are some of the brand names these
laced suckers carry, but the interesting thing here is that it's not a giant
pharmaceutical company making them -- it's
your neighborhood pharmacy, and they're doing it
below the radar of the FDA.
(more inside.)posted by me3dia at 10:35 AM PST - 22 comments
Is
"Gourmet" The Best American Food Magazine? Lookit all the nominations it's
got! It's certainly got a lot better since
Ruth Reichl started editing
it. Reading about its history one gets to know what American foodies were
cooking, eating or just drooling over in the
40s,
50s,
60s,
70s,
80s
and
90s(Let
no one pretend, after reading this potted history, that food used to be better
in the old days). Still, for my money, the best food magazine in the world,
better even than the French
Saveurs, is the scrumptious, San
Francisco-based upstart
Saveur, whose
online version has recently become extremely generous. Like most people I rarely
try out a recipe - I just read it as virtual
gastroporn. In fact, it's
the only magazine I actually collect.
posted by MiguelCardoso at 10:11 AM
PST - 34 comments
"We're press! Don't
shoot!" Isn't PRESS on a flak jacket like painting bullseyes on your butt?
The Israel Defense Forces have declared Bethlehem, Qalqiliya and Ramallah
officially off-limits, and journalists will either be forcibly removed or in
some cases shot on sight.
The Committee to Protect Journalists is just
one of many organizations speaking out against the unethical treatment of First
Ammendment fighters throughout the world. Like this is gonna help. Should
enemies of freedom be expected to 'play fair' or should we just accept that some
journalists are going to die? Is it possible to investigate the truth right now
in the West Bank, or are journalists needlessly putting their lives on the line
for nothing?
posted by ZachsMind at 10:08 AM PST -
37 comments
Rioters
complain about tear gas. [Bloominton Hearald-Times, link expires after a
week] After Indiana University lost to Maryland in the NCAA finals, drunken fans
rioted in the streets forcing police to use tear gas. It was stupid enough to
start a riot, but rioters complained that the police offered no warning before
deploying tear gas after rioters pelted the police with beer bottles and
prevented the fire department from putting out fires in the middle of the
street.
"They could have easily done that," Raggs said. "If they would have
said, 'You have 10 minutes, then we are going to use the tear gas,' people would
have gone away." Personally, I think the police showed an amazing level of
restraint considering that about half of the state troopers on the scene got hit
by flying glass.
posted by KirkJobSluder at 8:45 AM
PST - 23 comments
9:05 Remember back in
the heyday of
Infocom when you
would routinely spend four or five days straight (subsisting on RC cola and beef
jerky, only taking breaks to visit the john) trying to crack all the puzzles in
Zork II or Suspended? Yeah, those were the days. Now, of course, you're a busy
guy -- you can no longer devote entire weekends to the joys of text adventuring.
That's why, today on your coffee break, you should play Adam Cadre's
9:05. Playing the entire game, from
start to finish, should take you no longer than 10 minutes. But set aside a bit
more time, because you'll probably want to play it again.
posted by Shadowkeeper at 7:50 AM PST
- 27 comments
On
average people laugh 18 times a day "
It makes us less stressed, lowers
our blood pressure and reduces anxiety. It's more common than sex, eating or
singing." Still 18 times a day doesn't sound like its enough. Simple
solution. "
Tickle, the most ancient and reliable stimulus of laughter, is
undervalued..."
posted by Voyageman at 6:42 AM PST -
17 comments
'Over-newsed' and
disconnected by thousands of miles: Will there reach a point where we
are intellectually drowned by news from a 'distant' and deepening war? I myself
listen to Talk of The Nation daily, read the news hourly (when I can that
frequently) and yet I cannot, or better yet, am having a hard time feeling the
insane tragedy that has befallen our planet. Will complacence set in as those of
us who are concerned feel more and more powerless to even possibly exact the
smallest amount of change that each of our voices can in our respective
countries? It is painful to not be particulary 'moved' by this link's eyewitness
accounts of the battle underway in Ramallah. Is it simply too much to
vicariously behold for the mortal human?
posted by crasspastor at 1:24 AM PST -
30 comments
April 2
The best CD I've purchased so far this year is the
latest from the
Blind Boys of Alabama. this record
features superb vocalizing, great bluesy guitar, and a Sones(!) and Tom
Waits(!!) cover. In an age where "gospel music" has sunk into the quagmire of
"Contemporary Christian", its easy to forget that
old-school gospel both
black and
white were
huge influences
on rock and roll. Little Richard, for one, took his trademark "Whoo!" from
Marion Williams and countless rockers from Aretha to Elvis learned to sing in
church. Now, can I get an Amen?!
posted by jonmc at 6:48 PM PST - 25 comments
Debka - given the current
situation in the middle east, I thought this might be a good time to remind some
of, and acquaint others to, this drudge-like source.
posted by Why at 6:38 PM PST - 7 comments
Will Amman
cut off diplomatic relations with Israel? Jordan in turmoil over mideast
chaos. I knew the U.S. gave some 3 billion to Israel yearly, and 2 billion to
Egypt, but I had known we are also generous to Jordan too, though the total
amount unknown. to me. It was of course Jordan who had the West Bank under their
control but gave it up after the '67war, while also absorbing many Palestinians.
Now it seems the chickens are coming home to roost. Thus another country that
may soon topple its rulers in this volatile area of the world.
posted by Postroad at 5:55 PM PST - 1 comments
Everybody Vogue.
Well, really just the thin people. Vogue Magazine gets a tongue-lashing from
Slate. Seems the fashion mag attempted a "body diversity" issue, but their idea
of a large-size model is a size 8. Excerpt: "If "tall" and "short" and
"pregnant" are body types, and Minnie Driver is "curvy," there's no need to
admit the existence of the bottom-heavy, let alone try to dress the poor
bastards."
posted by GaelFC at 5:36 PM PST - 21 comments
The
Falkland Islands are ours and we'll get them back, says Argentina. Argentina
celebrates the twenty-year anniversary of their invasion of the Falkland
Islands. Britain won the Falkland War in 1982, but Argentina now boasts that
they'll definitely conquer the islands in the future. Since the majority of
islanders are of British descent, does Argentina stand a chance? And shouldn't
Argentina be focusing on rebuilding its own economy instead of whining about
some insignificant islands in the Atlantic ocean?
posted by wackybrit at 3:44 PM PST -
38 comments
Eight
peace activists were shot and wounded by Israeli soldiers. The soldiers
apparently (and I could be wrong) fired without provocation -- the activists
were unarmed, and were marching peacefully. Israel's Justice Minister was quoted
in the Miami Herald today (no web link available, sorry) as saying,
"A person
playing with fire should not yell when he gets burned." Essentially, what is
being said here is that being a protestor is sufficient reason to be shot. The
Israeli army claims to be hunting down "terrorists", but if this is how they
define the word I don't feel too inclined to trust them.
posted by tweebiscuit at 12:35 PM PST
- 48 comments
Brillian Digital has
quietly attached its software to Kazaa and plans to remotely "turn on"
people’s PCs, welding them into a new network. CEO sez a pop-up box will give
people a chance to turn it off. Users who've accept "terms of service" already
distributed with Brilliant’s and Kazaa’s software are already agreeing to let
their computers be used without any payment at all.
posted by ao4047 at 12:19 PM PST - 27 comments
Pornografux has
launched, ya perverts. Not really porn, actually, and nearly worksafe,
though a couple of the pieces have grating some audio. The initial offering asks
what the connections are between our "sexual" and "social" bodies.
posted by Su at 10:33 AM PST - 11 comments
Literary
lynching, the practice of attacking authors who make statements against the
U.S. government or engage in dissent, gets a comprehensive overview with
a book in
progress. As 72 year old author Dorothy Bryant
puts it,
"More than ever, we need free exchange of facts and opinions. I hope that
looking back on a few cases that have had time to cool off will help us to
understand the psychology of literary lynching, and to resist it — not only in
others but in ourselves." But in today's world, is there any distinction between
a thoughtful response and a downright ugly rejoinder anymore? (via
Moby Lives)
posted
by ed at 10:21 AM PST -
7 comments
Islamic
nations dodge defining terrorism. The Organisation of the Islamic Conference
is divided over whether Palestinian suicide bombers should be classified as
terrorists. On the other hand, there's no question that Israel practises terror.
Rather than stick their necks out and commit to something, they'll leave it to
the good ole UN to decide who is a terrorist. That'll solve everything.
More depth here.posted by badstone at 10:15 AM PST -
14 comments
Jesus!
In The Raisin Bread? What Kinda Holy Communion Is That?! Better read
Helen Hull Hitchcock's fascinating column on
Catholic.net to find
out: "
In recent months Catholics from around the country have been reporting
with increasing frequency that their parishes are using "real" bread (i.e. table
bread) instead of Communion hosts. Many are concerned that the validity of the
Mass is affected. "Have I really received Christ?" is a frequent
question. Are they right to be concerned? You bet...So, have
progressive Catholics gone
too far? And what does the
Institutio
Generalis Missalis Romani, known to all as
IGMR, have to say about
that?
posted by MiguelCardoso at 9:22 AM
PST - 53 comments
Canadian
faces jail in U.S. for trade with Cuba. James Sabzali faces trial on 77
accounts of of conspiracy and of trading with the enemy, nearly half of which
relate to buisness conducted when Sabzali was working in Canada. Assistant U.S.
Attorney Joseph Poluka concedes that while living in Hamilton the defendant was
"technically not subject to jurisdiction.", but maintains that "foreign
nationals cannot aid and abet violations of U.S. law." Does this mean the United
States has an open licence to prosecute foreigners for acts committed against
American laws on foriegn soil?
posted by astirling at 8:53 AM PST -
15 comments
Teoma takes on
Google?
Ask Jeves launched its new search engine yesterday aimed at
challenging Google for the best search engine on the web. Teoma offers options
to narrow your search using "subject-specific popularity." For example, if
someone searched for the name "
Bill Clinton," Teoma
offers ways to refine your search, showing links to topics related to your
search, such as "Clinton Scandal" and "Monica Lewinsky." Will this search engine
replace Google as the SE of choice for the Internet savvy? Also, what other
search engines do you use?
posted by DragonBoy at 8:36 AM PST -
36 comments
A PC with a
sprayed-on case Yes you read that right, this PC has no aluminium case but a
spray-foamed one instead. Weird? Gross? Ugly? Certainly all those at once, but
it seems rather as an improvement over cookie-cutter lifeless PC clone cases.
posted by betobeto at 8:25 AM PST - 29 comments
AOL
Time Warner Was A Mistake. The stock price is in the toilet (relatively
speaking), and analysts are proclaiming the Biggest Merger Ever to be a
thundering dud. Are huge mergers like this unsustainable?
posted by sjc at 6:47 AM PST - 22 comments
