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Did Arafat actually finance suicide bombers? Media gadfly Ali Abunimah has posted a dissection of the document produced by Sharon: "On initial inspection, at least five of the names...were not suicide bombers, but rather people assassinated by Israeli death squads." The alleged smoking gun hasn't been independently corroborated, but commentators like Chris Matthews uncritically accept its validity and state the connection as fact: "[Arafat] pays for the dynamite and the bullets and relief benefits for their families." Does the mainstream media check its skepticism at the door when it comes to statements by Israeli government officials or what?
posted by mediareport at 11:01 PM PST - 15 comments

Win a Trip to Bellegarde, Saskatchewan! No joke. And thousands of people will enter this contest. They're ingenious, these prairie farmers. PRIZE INCLUDES: Round-trip airfare for two to Regina from a major Canadian airport. Three nights' hotel accommodation in Regina. Limousine ride to Bellegarde. An official tour of the hamlet by the president of the Bellegarde Rural Development Council. $250 spending money. All you have to do? Predict when a rusted out old car will crash through the ice and cause a local, and very minor, environmental catastrophe.
posted by Salmonberry at 8:42 PM PST - 21 comments

Two men arrested for handing out anti-Mormon literature. "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' and Salt Lake City's restrictions on behavior they deem "offensive" on the plaza are now the subject of an American Civil Liberties Union lawsuit before the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver." ... "The deed made it clear it [the plaza] was not a First Amendment forum..." Does the ACLU have a good case?
posted by aaronshaf at 8:32 PM PST - 45 comments

In other news, Humpty Dumpty put back together again.
posted by rushmc at 5:30 PM PST - 22 comments

Jay Mohr sells Pete Rose's chewed gum on eBay. There's no satire like self-satire, is there? ESPN talk-show host Jay Mohr had Pete Rose chew a piece on air, took it from him ("I have to touch it so I can tell the story," he said (more or less)), put it in a beaker that Rose then signed, and is now selling it on eBay to raise money for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. It's currently at -- no kidding -- US $1,050.00.
posted by mattpfeff at 3:46 PM PST - 11 comments

Yeah, but will Madonna sing the theme as well as Shirley Bassey? In a surprising turn of events, it looks like the third Austin Powers movie will indeed get to use the name "Goldmember", a spoof of the 1964 007 flick named "Goldfinger" (follow-up to this thread).
posted by WolfDaddy at 3:42 PM PST - 20 comments

Drug War Roundup II. An Indian in South Dakota tried to grow hemp on the rez for the last two years. The DEA comes around harvest time with the weed whackers. He’s going to try again. A Colorado Supreme Court ruling issued Monday gives booksellers the toughest First Amendment rights in the country. The case started when Tattered Cover fliers were found at a meth lab. Also on Monday, the San Francisco appeals court heard a government lawyer argue that "there’s no way of knowing" if someone can get high eating foods containg hemp oil, like potato chips and soda. NORML is using a Mike Bloomberg quote about smoking marijuana, "You bet I did. And I enjoyed it," in a campaign to legalize the weed, man.
posted by raaka at 3:10 PM PST - 24 comments

Industrial Light and Magic has released a new plugin to After Effects that may finally bridge the gap between DV post production and film post production. Of course, DV Cameras are just the less expensive counterpart of their film brethren. With such technology at the hands of amateurs, does this mean the home camcorder will no longer be used for just remembering birthday parties? Will amateurs be able to finally express themselves in ways only professionals have done in the past? This is certainly being set up as much a revolution for the amateur artist as the web was.
posted by geoff. at 2:28 PM PST - 31 comments

Scammer has thousands of dollars practically handed to her. "She says she needs money, then claims she knows the manager or store owner and suggests the clerk call the boss. The woman talks on the phone for a time, then hangs up, saying that she has permission to take the money." Clever.
posted by Kevin Sanders at 2:09 PM PST - 14 comments

US Space Command! Bruce Sterling talks about the militarization of space, citing "The more people learn how dependent we are on space, the more likely they are to figure out, as the Chinese and Russians have, that being able to interfere with our satellites is essential to their strategic interest. The threat to space assets is real and growing." Does the rest of the world suffer from a minesatellite gap with the US? Plus, some scenario planning :) and a sensible missile defense program?
posted by kliuless at 1:57 PM PST - 7 comments

Have you read Dave Gorman? In the spirit of Gorman's original quest (to meet 54 namesakes), two of his fans are searching for 676 people who have read the book, 'Are You Dave Gorman?', this number arrived at by a suitably complex equation which includes Scrabble letters and a grid. The site itself is wonderful stuff and you wonder what Dave himself thinks of it. Sadly my initials have gone, but I'm sure some of you out there could help ... [via Miles Mendoza's Website of the Day]
posted by feelinglistless at 1:54 PM PST - 2 comments

Attack Of The 50ft. Website! How do you kill a monster that never sleeps?! The monster created by atoms gone wild! All New! Thrills! Shock! Suspense! For your own good, we urge you not to see it alone! See the ghastly ghouls in flaming color! The greatest collection of classic science fiction and horror poster art on the net! Now showing in a browser near you.
This website has not been rated.
posted by riffola at 12:08 PM PST - 12 comments

August 3, 2002 - Time travel becomes a reality. Or not. Still, some people are concerned about it.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 12:04 PM PST - 43 comments

Domestic Terrorism? One makes you wonder that, while our country is so adamant at fighting terrorism, they are turning a blind eye to what's going on in our own country. Here's another site with a lot more articles about parents who are hoodwinked into giving these people carte blanche over their kids and then have to fight to get them back.
posted by bkdelong at 12:01 PM PST - 11 comments

Is American "Roots Music" here to stay, or will it peter out like the "folk revival" of the 1960's? The recent PBS series, as well as re-issues of classic bluegrass sets, portend well for those of us who love bluegrass. But is it just a flash-in-the-pan? What was the magic behind O Brother, Where Art Thou? Does anyone remember the old masters like Doc Watson, Merle Travis, or Vassar Clements? (Not to mention the Queen of the genre, Mother Maybelle Carter.) Or maybe you prefer the newcomers like Alison Krauss/Union Station.
posted by mrmanley at 11:39 AM PST - 21 comments

The Asian Elephant Art and Conservation Project was founded by artists Vitaly Komar and Alex Melamid to teach domesticated elephants to paint so their works could be sold to support the elephants and their human masters.
posted by homunculus at 11:10 AM PST - 5 comments

Rio Blames It On The Simpsons. 'The Simpsons...visited Brazil last week (and) made some offbeat observations. (They) found that Rio de Janeiro is a city where all men are bisexual, where fearsome monkeys roam the streets, and tourists are kidnapped by taxi drivers and mugged by children. Unfortunately, the Rio tourist board did not see the funny side and is preparing to sue the producers, Fox, for damage to its international image and loss of revenue. The issue threatens to become a diplomatic incident.'.

How something so obviously ripping the shit out of stereotyping can be so misinterpreted is beyond me, but now 'The Brazilian president, Fernando Henrique Cardoso, has entered the fray claiming that the cartoon "brought a distorted vision of Brazilian reality."' Surely the shows makers were trying to do a service to Rio by rubbishing the stereotypes? Apologies, I ain't seen the show, but if you did, what did you think?
posted by boneybaloney at 10:50 AM PST - 38 comments

Thank God for Police hypocrisy for keeping me so amused. Seriously though, this is one of the best articles I've read in a long time. It's a five part series regarding the controversy of redlight cameras, and the evidence that those that administer them are in it for the $$$. For one, they seem to be placed on high-traffic / short yellow light intersections instead of the high-accident intersections. Oh, and it's made D.C. alone over $15 million in two years. Read it to find out how the researchers stretched numbers to get " tiny 3 percent increase in rear-enders" from a 767% increase.
posted by LuxFX at 10:21 AM PST - 35 comments

Why Suicide Bombing Is Now All The Rage Among Palestinians, it has become normal--noble, even--for promising men and women to slaughter themselves in pursuit of revenge and the dignity it is thought to bring. "What was once more of an individual decision by a small group is becoming much more mainstream," says Jerrold Post, an American psychiatrist who has studied suicide bombings in the West Bank. The suicide-homicides have come to be seen by most Palestinians as their last, best hope.
posted by Rastafari at 10:14 AM PST - 47 comments

I'm curious, isn't this exactly opposite of what we're being told? I'm always hearing the wealthy are benefitting somehow from GWB's new tax plan. I'm certainly no-where near the top 5%, and now I don't want to be.
posted by the_0ne at 10:01 AM PST - 54 comments

"You can't professionalize unless you federalize", we were told. So, this is a professional case of giardia, I guess. Still, the kid COULD have mentioned that the muck was a project, and not his favorite tonic.
posted by dwivian at 9:53 AM PST - 4 comments

Shred Session is an addictive online game based on the real-life sport of footbag freestyle. Think of it as extreme Hacky Sack. Try to hit as many huge trick combinations as you can without dropping the footbag. Try to pull off the Nemisis, the Paradox Torque or the elusive Bedwetter.
posted by neuroshred at 9:49 AM PST - 1 comments

Weird Paul Petroskey has been writing songs for 15 years, and has a lo-fi catalog rivaling Lou Barlow (over 400 songs). While everyone else is arguing who the savior of rock is (Andrew W.K.? Please....), I argue that Weird Paul is the savior of music itself. Pop culture classics such as "Piece of Meat in the Tang" and "Please Don't Break My Atari" are available for download here. Listen and enjoy.
posted by emptybowl at 9:00 AM PST - 7 comments

The World is a giant cruise liner on which ultra-rich loonballs can buy (smallish) apartments, compare fortunes with their ilk, and never again have to mingle with the plebs. Judging by the assorted wacky residents (a knitwear magnate???) interviewed on Britain's Channel 4 news last night it promises to be a fascinating social experiment. How long before they are ripping out each others throats in psychotic orgies, like some crazy JG Ballard novel? I sense an excellent docusoap opportunity...
posted by rikabel at 8:34 AM PST - 33 comments

The Penis May Be Interesting But The Vagina Is Downright Fascinating! Or is it the other way round? In Spring a young (wo)man's fancy turns to love. So you decide. Potato, potaeto; tomato; tomaeto? What's it to be? Oh let's call the whole thing off...![2nd link from Bifurcated Rivets]
posted by MiguelCardoso at 7:21 AM PST - 20 comments

You bad bad con, open you mouth and eat the disciplinary loaf
posted by magullo at 6:08 AM PST - 18 comments

http://www.digitank3001.de It's oh so eighties... nice retro design and a quite inspiring graphic design portfolio.
posted by heimkonsole at 4:24 AM PST - 19 comments

Kissing Hank's Ass. My favourite parable. Not in fact about donkeys.
posted by i_am_joe's_spleen at 2:42 AM PST - 12 comments