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Tucker Max produces evidence of encounters with Miss Vermont. Remember Tucker Max? Found earlier in this MeFi thread, Max was sued by Miss Vermont Katy Johnson for allegedly lying that he slept with her (she's a champion for abstinence) and then writing the gory details of her getting sozzled at a wedding. A judge forbade him from writing about her or linking to her. But now Tucker posts pictures and a video to back up his story. Will he now counter-sue? (Oh, and please think twice before clicking the Katy Johnson link. I beg you.)
posted by madman at 10:49 PM PST - 40 comments

The White House has a new system for email from the public. Dashing off a rant, a rave or a question to president@whitehouse.gov won't cut it anymore. Now it takes a maze of forms and clicks and filters. The first question: is this a supportive message or a differing opinion? Then you have to pick your topic from various menu lists. And list a name and address and email. And reply to an automated message making sure it's really your email. White House tech guy tells the NYTimes: "When it comes to a Web site, it's a bit like a movie. Some will say it's a tour de force; some will say it fell flat." Fun Fact: all emails are saved and must be publicly disclosed in 12 years.
posted by CunningLinguist at 8:44 PM PST - 26 comments

Lunar gardening is the oldest form of gardening known to man, the practice centers on the moon's gravitational effect on the flow of moisture in soil and plants and, to a lesser degree, the effect of moonlight on seed germination. "I've got a large area in potatoes. We've got some planted at the right time of the moon and some crops at the wrong time of the moon. The difference is so obvious and there for everybody to see"
posted by stbalbach at 7:43 PM PST - 11 comments

Meet Alabama Attorney General Bill Pryor, whose nomination to a federal appeals court may be running into trouble.
posted by stonerose at 6:43 PM PST - 12 comments

The Hasidic Rebel. A blogger from inside the Hasidic community provides some insight into a lifestyle few are familiar with.
posted by srboisvert at 6:30 PM PST - 11 comments

In france, neo-nazis and extremist jews unite against arabs -- so says left-leaning anti-racist group MRAP (view machine-translated page) in a new report. Yeah, the conspiracy theorists sure need more ammo...
posted by Tlogmer at 6:25 PM PST - 17 comments

Hipster Bingo is coming to your favorite rock club or coffee shop. [via boingboing]
posted by turbodog at 4:58 PM PST - 25 comments

Sir Mix-A-Lot is a very smart cat. An Onion link, I suppose - but their AV Club interviews are missed more often than they should be. In this one, Sir Mix-A-Lot shows that he is a very thoughtful man, who has been handling the lot of a 'one-hit-wonder' very well, thank you.
posted by GriffX at 3:48 PM PST - 12 comments

The other shoe is dropping for the Bush administration. Yes it's old news, but relevant to recent events. Cheney ordered to name members of energy panel. Ken Lay, pack your bags!
posted by CrazyJub at 2:57 PM PST - 21 comments

Honku : haiku poems about cars and traffic (from NPR)
posted by ColdChef at 2:21 PM PST - 19 comments

Tv Licenses do not infringe people's human rights. Journalist and broadcaster Jonathan Miller refused to pay his license because it seemed as though the BBC had license to charge what they like raise the charge when they like; and that it didn't take into account the gulf between someone only receiving an Analogue service as opposed to digital. He lost the case. Serious implications.
posted by feelinglistless at 2:03 PM PST - 51 comments

While shaft-driven motorcycles have been around for nearly a hundred years (and in bicycles even longer), they've only recently been re-introduced to bicycles. Chainless.com is a company promoting a new shaft drive system for use in low-end bicycles (looks like mountain, road, and bmx are offered). Without chains, it's easier to repair, safer, and they claim it is more efficient, though gearing is limited to a few hubs that feature up to 7 internal gears. If it really is more efficient, how long until Lance Armstrong is sporting a shaft-driven Trek?
posted by mathowie at 1:20 PM PST - 40 comments

On June 8, 1967, Israel attacked the USS Liberty, killing 34 American citizens. Was it a tragic error or was it coldblooded attack on an ally?

The National Security Agency has recently released redacted transcripts and recordings of intercepted Israeli communications just after the attack. Fascinating reading, but will it clear up the controversy?
posted by ptermit at 12:59 PM PST - 12 comments

Payback? How did Bush officials get back at Ambassador Joseph Wilson for talking publicly two weeks ago about his trip to Niger to investigate claims of an Iraqi uranium deal? By outing his wife as an undercover CIA operative. As David Corn of The Nation says, "...the Bush administration has screwed one of its own top-secret operatives in order to punish Wilson or to send a message to others who might challenge it..... a pair of top Bush officials told a reporter the name of a CIA operative who apparently has worked under what's known as 'nonofficial cover' and who has had the dicey and difficult mission of tracking parties trying to buy or sell weapons of mass destruction or WMD material. If Wilson's wife is such a person--and the CIA is unlikely to have many employees like her--her career has been destroyed by the Bush administration." The exposure of an undercover CIA agent is in fact a federal crime.
posted by Artifice_Eternity at 11:34 AM PST - 160 comments

Operation: Air Conditioner
It's about dropping our differences and getting together to support our troops and keep them cool.
Should I feel terribly guilty about giggling at some of the things on this web page? Like: "Together We Are: An Army of One" (Say what?) and "Here are some of the items that I buy and send besides air conditioners: Baby Wipes, Powder... Liquid Soap (I heard the bar melts)... Tiki Torches. Check out the Baghdad Weather Report near the bottom, and... wait a minute... "I’ve organized people to begin “Operation Christmas” and we need to start planning that in August." (So we aren't leaving anytime soon?)
And, while they seem to have enough power to run the A/C at the Army camp, electricity for the rest of Iraq is still gonna take some more money.
posted by wendell at 11:22 AM PST - 31 comments

Soy Luke Skywalker, vengo a rescatarla! [geocities... unfortunately]
posted by Witty at 10:50 AM PST - 14 comments

Salam Pax and the Book Deal Not much info, but I thought some might be interested in the followup on ole Salam Pax.
posted by eatdonuts at 10:15 AM PST - 4 comments

Is high voter turnout due to Jerry Springer's celebrity status a good thing? Jonah Goldberg of the NRO says "Whores should have as much say as nurses, according to a worldview which says nobody can be judged, all citizens are equal, all views valid." Jerry says he's an example of media elitism and that the elitists are "afraid" of real Americans voting in large numbers. Opinions of Springer as a potential Senator aside, the issue of voter turnout is interesting.
posted by john1800 at 9:55 AM PST - 26 comments

America's Army wants you, Mac users. The recruitment tool game has been out for some time now, available only for Windows, but as of this week Mac users can get in on the action. Broadband and robust Mac horsepower required, but for $6 somebody hands you an M-16 and tells to go shoot stuff. Why not?
posted by emelenjr at 9:39 AM PST - 26 comments

Skinema. It's not what you think.
posted by gottabefunky at 9:10 AM PST - 7 comments

Taking the Long View: Panoramic Photographs, 1851-1991 ~ 4000+ images archived, courtesy of they US Library of Congress.
posted by crunchland at 8:39 AM PST - 10 comments

The Mystery Spot in Santa Cruz, California is one of many places in the US that challenge the theory of relativity. Berkeley psychologists have a theory about these mystery spots. Another Berkeleyan visited the spot and documented his tour. Some have done their own comprehensive tests and came to a different conclusion. A book was written to describe these gravitational anomalies, skeptics and believers all have an opinion ... but where does the truth lie?
posted by jasonspaceman at 8:29 AM PST - 32 comments

With violent crime rates on the rise, a police chief under fire for his department's inefficiencies and a city that seems powerless to stop the trend, one Senator has a brilliant solution to all of Washington, DC's crime woes!
posted by Pollomacho at 6:47 AM PST - 90 comments

The New Yorker's James Surowiecki writes about patent creep. With eBay losing one court case and being threatened by another, Spike Lee trying to stop his first name being used, Amazon owning the concept of threaded discussions, the never-ending Un*x wars, and bands trying to protect certain chord progressions (OK that one's a hoax), is this a worrying pattern that needs to be reversed, and is it just the beginning of an anti-competitive trend that will see our own genes being patented?
posted by cbrody at 6:15 AM PST - 10 comments

Olaudah Equiano, or, Gustavus Vassa, the African. 'According to his famous autobiography, written in 1789, Olaudah Equiano (c.1745-1797) was born in what is now Nigeria. Kidnapped and sold into slavery in childhood, he was taken as a slave to the New World. As a slave to a captain in the Royal Navy, and later to a Quaker merchant, he eventually earned the price of his own freedom by careful trading and saving. As a seaman, he travelled the world, from the Mediterranean to the North Pole. Coming to London, he became involved in the movement to abolish the slave trade, an involvement which led to him writing and publishing The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa the African (1789) a strongly abolitionist autobiography ... '
Of interest :- Ignatius Sancho: African Man of Letters; Quobna Ottabah Cugoano: a Former Slave Speaks Out; American Slave Narratives ('From 1936 to 1938, over 2,300 former slaves from across the American South were interviewed by writers and journalists under the aegis of the Works Progress Administration'); Born in Slavery: Slave Narratives from the Federal Writers' Project, 1936-1938; Excerpts from Slave Narratives.
posted by plep at 6:09 AM PST - 8 comments

Bill Would Put Internet Song Swappers in Jail. This is the story of the middle man that doesn't want to die.
posted by the fire you left me at 5:43 AM PST - 22 comments

Tenet tells all! "Sen. Dick Durbin, who was present for a 4 1/2-hour appearance by Tenet behind closed doors with Intelligence Committee members Wednesday, said Tenet named the official. But the Illinois Democrat said that person's identity could not be revealed because of the confidentiality of the proceedings." Alright, politically savvy mefites, who is it? Register your guesses now, and get the grand prize (umm, a sense of accomplishment?) when the info gets leaked!
posted by hank_14 at 5:33 AM PST - 54 comments

Swedish pixeldesign guy goes on vacation to Italy and England and makes Flash animation scrapbook more fun than most TV shows I've seen lately. via JeanSnow.net
posted by planetkyoto at 3:30 AM PST - 13 comments

Metallica sues over use of E, F chords. No, it's not an Onion article. Really. They're completely serious. No exaggerating is taking place here. Honestly, they really are suing another band for using the E and F chords. It's on their website, for god's sake. All I know is, I'm getting drunk tonight.
posted by tweebiscuit at 1:12 AM PST - 39 comments