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Live from Omaha, here's a terrible pitch for a conservative Saturday Night Live
comment posted at 6:09 AM on Jun-9-18

Poet, author, director, actor, cultural icon... Leonard Nimoy has passed away at age 83 from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Rest well, Spock, you will be missed.
comment posted at 11:16 AM on Feb-27-15

On the night of 13/14 February 1945, RAF Bomber Command carried out a raid on the city of Dresden, the capital of Saxony, Germany. For all intents and purposes, this was a standard mission undertaken in much the same way as any other sortie... Warning - some graphic images inside
comment posted at 7:46 PM on Feb-14-15
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comment posted at 8:39 PM on Feb-15-15

An Oral History of Shoegaze In this oral history, Wondering Sound speaks with the bands and other figures on the margins of “the scene that celebrates itself” to discover from whence this distinctive sound sprung, and why it has stood the test of time.
comment posted at 3:16 AM on Feb-13-15
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comment posted at 7:07 PM on Feb-13-15

Kate Aurthur has put together an entirely subjective list ranking all 86 Best Picture Oscar winners from worst to best.
comment posted at 1:39 AM on Feb-13-15
comment posted at 1:49 AM on Feb-13-15

The Complete Works: Ranking All 121 Billy Joel Songs Vulture.com music critic Cristopher Bonanos spent the last three months immersed in Billy Joel's back catalogue. Here are his observations, along with links to many of the songs. As he says in the article, "Let the arguments begin".
comment posted at 4:47 AM on Feb-4-15

Will Self takes responsibility ...
comment posted at 7:04 PM on Sep-15-14

According to Kathy Griffin, when she expressed interest in hosting The Late Late Show, she was told they were "not considering females at this time." This is especially ironic considering that the current Late Late Show host, Craig Ferguson, stated that he thought the next host should "unquestionably be a female." Even worse, there was some talk about David Letterman's Late Show hosting spot going to a woman after he stepped down, but no dice.
comment posted at 3:11 AM on Sep-14-14

I am on the western edge of the United States-Mexico border to understand more about the most publicised and most crossed border in the world. Ben Stubbs visits one of the most notorious borders in the world and reflects on Australia's frontier issues.
comment posted at 3:32 AM on Sep-14-14

In December, the Philadelphia police department released a csv database of major crimes (murder, rape, burglary, etc) since 2006. Since then, community software developers have been mapping the data. The community involvement is hoped to spur the future release of large city data sets.
comment posted at 4:14 AM on Feb-12-13

Pope Benedict resigns
comment posted at 3:34 AM on Feb-11-13
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comment posted at 6:56 AM on Feb-11-13

So, you own a Penis Cake Pan, but the Bachelorette Party is over , I'm sure you're thinking, "What am I going to do with this penis pan?" Well, I'll show you! Here at Penis Pans.com, I've put together some examples of other cakes you can make with your penis pan.
comment posted at 10:59 PM on Feb-4-13

A confidential Justice Department memo concludes that the U.S. government can order the killing of American citizens if they are believed to be “senior operational leaders” of al-Qaida or “an associated force” -- even if there is no intelligence indicating they are engaged in an active plot to attack the U.S.
comment posted at 11:02 PM on Feb-4-13
comment posted at 11:38 PM on Feb-4-13

President Obama to make important announcement regarding Osama Bin Laden imminently
comment posted at 5:25 AM on May-2-11

Republican Scott Brown has defeated Democrat Martha Coakley in the special election to fill Ted Kennedy's former senate seat.
comment posted at 4:28 AM on Jan-20-10

Taibbi-filter: Obama's Big Sellout
comment posted at 2:49 AM on Dec-11-09

Blackwater (now known as Xe) has had a rough few years. The company, and its former CEO Erik Prince, have been the subject of allegations including murder, arms smuggling, child prostitution and wholesale massacre. Erik Prince has told Vanity Fair that he was a CIA operative and that someone has turned against him and "thrown him under a bus" by leaking his CIA associations to the public. He even compared his public outing to that of Valerie Plame. Mr. Prince has also been an outspoken and generous contributor to mostly-Republican political candidates. Previously on MeFi: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and many more.
comment posted at 2:45 AM on Dec-5-09

...the Apple store called and informed me that due to the computer having been used in a house where there was smoking, that has voided the warranty and they refuse to work on the machine, due to "health risks of second hand smoke".
comment posted at 8:31 AM on Nov-21-09

Behind the growing Steven Pinker vs. Malcolm Gladwell feud (Pinker criticizes Gladwell, Gladwell snarkily replies) is a debate over the value of IQ, specifically, and intelligence, broadly, in success. Recent research has generally shown little link between intelligence and success within fields, and that there are multiple kinds of intelligences that drive achievement. On the other hand, scholars of psychometrics claim the opposite, showing that IQ at an early age can predict achievement, and no amount of study will help. Maybe everyone is right, with enough caveats.
comment posted at 3:49 AM on Nov-17-09

By order of the Principal, all students are forbidden to say the word "meep". That is all.
comment posted at 4:29 AM on Nov-13-09

Homeopathy has been discussed on the Blue before, but you've never heard it explained so well as this. You'll learn lessmore about physics than you've ever believed possible, and see how Einstein's Theory of Special Relativity ties in to homeopathic medicine, and Stephen Hawking's String Theory makes it all happen.
comment posted at 6:17 AM on Nov-10-09

Representative Alan Grayson (Dem- Florida) has recently been supporting the Democrats health care plan. Well, 'support' is an understatement. His first speech on the subject outlined the Republicans plan: "Don't get sick. And if you do, die quickly." After mass outrage from the GOP, Grayson made an apology, but not to the GOP. Instead, he apologized to the 44,000 Americans who die each year due to lack of insurance. Yesterday, Grayson took the floor and named the number of people expected to die in each Republican representative district. This time, the Republicans tried to stop him.
comment posted at 6:25 PM on Nov-5-09

The number of refugees from Iraq and Afghanistan seeking asylum in Europe continues to grow. Recently, despite criticism from the UN, deportations have begun. Most of those on a recent flight to Iraq were forced to return to the UK (the nationalities of some remains unclear, as does their fate). Furthermore, the move to deport has meant denying that Iraq and Afghanistan are each in a state of war.
comment posted at 2:54 PM on Oct-29-09
comment posted at 2:56 PM on Oct-29-09

Terry Gross interviews Tracy Morgan (via)
comment posted at 2:56 PM on Oct-29-09

Fox News's bent on the news is well known, but recently the White House has begun actively excluding the network, including skipping Fox's Chris Wallace on a recent round of Sunday morning news shows. “We simply decided to stop abiding by the fiction ... that Fox is a traditional news organization.” says White House Depty Communications Director Pfeiffer (as has Press Secretary Gibbs and others). The responses range from concern about an attempt to control the media to a feeling that it's about time. Is it just about Fox's anti-Obama pundits, or is it also about Fox's consistent errors and misinformed viewership? Or is the White House attempting containment so that Fox's ratings-gold style and ideas don't take over the rest of the press?
comment posted at 2:09 PM on Oct-23-09
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comment posted at 5:21 PM on Oct-23-09

"Porn films are not about sex. Sex is airbrushed and digitally washed out of the films There is no acting because none of the women are permitted to have what amounts to a personality.The one emotion they are allowed to display is an unquenchable desire to satisfy men, especially if that desire involves the women’s physical and emotional degradation." In his most recent book, Chris Hedges navigates our culture of narcissim, from porn (in the linked segment), to the WWE, to Ivy League graduation ceremonies and reality tv — exposing, according to his publisher "an age of terrifying decline and heightened self-delusion". Hedges is a former foreign correspondent for the New York times, has previously gone to war with Christian Fundamentalists, The New Atheists, War itself and his own employer, resigning from his job rather than submit to the Times's reprimand over his outspoken opposition to the Iraq War and the press "cheerleading" that preceded it.
comment posted at 10:32 AM on Oct-16-09
comment posted at 11:05 AM on Oct-16-09