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Just in time for the holidays, a good ol' fashioned rip-off of whatever's big. This year: Harry Potter.
posted by noisemartyr at 10:46 PM PST - 7 comments

The World Food Program announces that it has been able to ship in more food to Afghanistan than it needs: 52,000 metric tons this month. Distribution problems still remain (and are being solved), but it could be a whole lot worse, and it looks like there will be no mass starvation.
posted by Steven Den Beste at 7:22 PM PST - 43 comments

At the risk of reopening this recount thread - The Economist is running this rather sarcastic correction in their current edition, along with this strange little 'What if Gore Was President' article. Does this signal that the Age of Irony is not, in fact, dead - or did someone at The Economist just not get the memo?
posted by anastasiav at 4:52 PM PST - 10 comments

In U.S. Success, Anti-War Faction's Worst Fears Realized writes our own James Lileks. Noam Chomsky, our own little Quisling, popped up in India to denounce the United States and describe the attacks on Afghanistan as "a bigger terrorist act than what happened on Sept. 11." It takes tremendous energy to maintain these hideous delusions. Chomsky must be exhausted. He must also be surprised every time he lands back in America and is not arrested; the nation he describes would surely clap him in chains and leave him in a basement to devolve to rat food and bones.
posted by ericost at 3:59 PM PST - 43 comments

Trouble for Pakistan? It looks like the Pakistanis have really managed to piss of their Afghan neighbors with their imperialist ambitions. The foreigners who so eagerly rushed to help the Taliban are getting shot for their troubles, some have wised up and are refusing to surrender. Should we be trying to stop such behavior, or is this a case of If you can't stand the heat, stay out of the kitchen?
posted by jaek at 3:43 PM PST - 2 comments

Beware the white van: (scroll down a bit for the content that matters) I've never been scammed before, but these guys were brilliant. The details of my sad story are inside.
posted by aladfar at 3:18 PM PST - 49 comments

Justice Rejects Microsoft Penalty (yahoo news) The government considered but rejected penalties against Microsoft Corp. in its antitrust case that would have required the company to reveal the secret blueprints to its flagship Windows software and to distribute products from its fiercest rivals, court records show. The Justice Department also set up an e-mail address where consumers and companies may send their comments about the antitrust settlement. That address is: microsoft.atr@usdoj.gov Whether or not you're pro-Microsoft, anti-Microsoft, or on the fence... I encourage everyone to send their thoughts along.
posted by SilentSalamander at 3:02 PM PST - 9 comments

Bruce Lee to star in new movie 28 years after his death. The Hong King film legend will be recreated using computer technology, with the blessing of the Lee estate. ACIN has links to some of the early modelling the studio did last year.
posted by tranquileye at 1:39 PM PST - 20 comments

Cool. I found out from thewebtoday that Xerxes reputedly built a canal in Greece and now there may be some evidence of it (much more inside).
posted by Sean Meade at 1:18 PM PST - 5 comments

c2it to be free; PayPal raising fees. Will this spell the end of PayPal? Free c2it from Citibank can be used the same way the "old" PayPal could (for friends and roommates to settle up bills) as well cutting deeply into PayPal's core on-line auction settlement business (well over half its revenue), already under attack by eBay's Billpoint.
posted by MattD at 1:09 PM PST - 8 comments

22 y-o University of Miami Iranian medical technician fired for uttering: ''Some birthday gift from Osama bin Laden!'' after Nine Eleven. To my knowledge he wasn't insulting anyone but just expressing his State given right to be sarcastic. (Lol, I will mock the State every chance I happen upon.) [Encore via DR.]
posted by HoldenCaulfield at 12:55 PM PST - 22 comments

Philip Morris changing name to...Altria? According to this SF Chronicle story, Philip Morris is trying to distance itself from tobacco by changing its name to Altria Group. Rumor has it the name is short for "Alternate Reality," which is where PM executives think they're living. (link via NextDraft.)
posted by me3dia at 12:52 PM PST - 22 comments

urban coffee opportunities according to this map, there are 38 starbucks within my area code alone. and right down the block, there are 2 out of 4 storefronts, of which this map only notes one: meaning there are more coffee opportunities available. this is the full link, since i think the first one got cut off.

idea from adbusters, but i did the work myself!
posted by whoshotwho at 12:44 PM PST - 40 comments

Gaza Diary by Chris Hedges It's generally not the best idea to post links about the Palestine/Israel conflict, as each day's news can be debated ad infitum by various sides. However this Gaza Diary is a stunning personal look into the ravages of war and occupation. Written by the New York Times Mideast Bureau Chief, and published in Harper's in October, it's a meditative reflection on the ways the human spirit can be twisted by conflict, and how a reporter (even a seasoned one) responds to the demons of war. Well worth your time.
posted by cell divide at 12:38 PM PST - 6 comments

blair postpones freedom of information act until 2005, despite being a labour party pledge for 25 years...... after the undemocratic anti-terrorism legislation forced through parliament on monday, what hope for real civil liberties in the uk?
posted by quarsan at 11:40 AM PST - 5 comments

Barbie's Hot! Though they claim they have no interest in mass production, I can say right now that I'd buy this Barbie. Woo!
posted by dwivian at 9:23 AM PST - 24 comments

Hot damn! An Episode II trailer that actually gives us plot details! And the only sign of Jar Jar seems to be a shot of him falling from a building on Coruscant.
posted by silusGROK at 9:14 AM PST - 38 comments

Most lawmakers want bin Laden dead. Is that a good idea, or should he have a public trial if captured? Also, Pakistan dismisses the idea that bin Laden has crossed over and hiding there somewhere. Given the strong support he and the Taliban have in Pakistan, would they turn him over if he is there?
posted by Rastafari at 8:54 AM PST - 20 comments

(NYT) It is not just the poverty, the illiteracy and the absence of any commonly accepted social contract that define our sense of wretchedness; it is, rather, the increasing awareness among us that we have failed as a civil society by not confronting the historical, social and political demons within us. . .
posted by semmi at 8:49 AM PST - 8 comments

A keyboardless keyboard, a keyboard that constructs characters in any language, and a thing that does everything else. New gizmos on display at Comdex.
posted by liam at 8:45 AM PST - 14 comments

Subway Navigator lets you plan your route all over the world.
posted by mmm at 7:52 AM PST - 12 comments

Bush signed an executive order on Nov. 1 limiting the public's access to past presidents' papers. Many of Ronald Reagan's documents were set to go public, but the release was delayed while the current White House reviewed the policy for nine months. Now, records don't go public until after 12 years, and once a request is made, the current president and the president in question have to approve access. The only place I saw this reported was in a NYT editorial. Is there something to hide? Is the timing of this order improper?
posted by panopticon at 7:37 AM PST - 30 comments

Earth from satellite. Something kind of neat for the astronomy geek is us all.
posted by goto11 at 7:15 AM PST - 12 comments

I've been burned with FPPosting before, but this story has made my Friday. Bring on the weekend!
posted by Frasermoo at 7:10 AM PST - 8 comments

From the first hijack to the WTC. The U.S. Department of State Historian gives brief description of significant terrorist incidents from 1961 through 2001. Bush vomiting on the Japanese not included, FYI.
posted by geronimo_rex at 6:47 AM PST - 11 comments

This is fascism.
posted by magullo at 6:36 AM PST - 86 comments

I am too Krusty the Clown Robert DeNiro!
posted by plinth at 4:00 AM PST - 40 comments

Please...Tell me you're joking....We all went to school with someone who had... shall we say... an odd name. But who in their right minds would call their child this. or this. or this ? any more? oh come on there must be.... Spoon
posted by Spoon at 2:01 AM PST - 74 comments