MetaFilter

What is a hobo? Hoboes is a name coined for men and women, but almost exclusive men that travel as migrant workers or left their friends and family in the depression or after wars when there was no work for them in their home cities. What do hoboes do nowadays? Apparently, they travel. And blog about it.
posted by owhydididoit at 11:31 PM PST - 18 comments

True stories, told in one sentence [via Projects]. More single sentence stories (and such) at Scrine [truthiness not guaranteed]. They have a kind of lame contest on right now, but check out some of the older entries: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5.
posted by Urban Hermit at 8:43 PM PST - 10 comments

For most musicians, it's difficult to pinpoint a particular event that forever sullied their image and destroyed their popularity. For 80's rocker Billy Squier, however, the reason is clear. [YouTube]
posted by starkeffect at 8:41 PM PST - 79 comments

Not just another news blip; UN Security Council passes Lebanon cease-fire resolution. The resolution calls for a "full cessation of hostilities" and tells Hezbollah to stop all attacks immediately and Israel to end "all offensive operations". Let's hope this brings about an end to all the madness.
posted by Second Account For Making Jokey Comments at 6:06 PM PST - 77 comments

icdiss.org looks, at first glance, like your run-of-the-mill think tank website. Two recent articles, one in The Economist and another on economist.com, say that the International Council for Democratic Institutions and State Sovereignty is, in reality, geopolitical astroturf for the Kremlin and the rulers of Transdniestria. Both of these articles are by journalist Edward Lucas (his blog).

The organization even has a wikipedia entry. The entry has a fascinating talk page, with Edward Lucas contributing additional research he's done since the articles were published.

So... want to become a member? Before deciding, maybe you want to read an interview with the program director. It's in the Transdniestrian English-language publication The Tiraspol Times & Weekly Review (slogans: "daily news, independent and objective" and "Get the Facts!").
posted by Kattullus at 5:06 PM PST - 10 comments

The Interweb Medley!! What happens when you mix up some of the more well-known Internet memes around? Madness.
posted by divabat at 4:33 PM PST - 25 comments

2 years ago I FPP'd FlavorPill, a company that sends out permission-based emails for books (Boldtype), music (Earplug), and fashion (the JC Report). They've since added ArtKrush (it's art, stupid! - nsfw) and Activate (world events) to their aresenal. In addition to the topic-specific mailing lists, they offer city-specific lists for London, New York, SF, LA, and Chicago. Sample issues are archived on the site.
posted by dobbs at 4:21 PM PST - 6 comments

Why I helped my wife kill herself. When Michael Graham's wife Elizabeth was diagnosed with motor neurone disease, she made up her mind to die before she became completely immobile. Michael knew he would have to help her - even though it could land him in jail. (note: unless you're unlucky, this is quite likely the saddest story you'll read today)
posted by jonson at 4:09 PM PST - 32 comments

Artist Dan Bergeron likes to muck around with billboard adverts. His recent doctoring of a billboard featuring Bush in Toronto has earned him some press in the Globe and Mail.
posted by chunking express at 1:55 PM PST - 43 comments

Government Releases Detailed Information on 9/11 Crashes Complete Air-Ground Transcripts of Hijacked 9/11 Flight Recordings Declassified Washington, DC - August 11, 2006 - The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) this week released full transcripts of the air traffic control recordings from the four flights hijacked on September 11, 2001, and meticulous Flight Path Studies for three of the flights, in response to a Freedom of Information request by the National Security Archive. The studies provide the most detailed technical information available to date related to the hijackings, and the transcripts of the aircraft-to-ground communications are the first complete government disclosure of each flight's air traffic control recordings.
posted by Unregistered User at 1:51 PM PST - 59 comments

"Animals are on the run. Plants are migrating too. The Earth's creatures, save for one species, do not have thermostats in their living rooms that they can adjust for an optimum environment. Animals and plants are adapted to specific climate zones, and they can survive only when they are in those zones...Gardeners and bird watchers are well aware of this, and their handbooks contain maps of the zones in which a tree or flower can survive and the range of each bird species. Those maps will have to be redrawn." Jim Hansen on the global impact of global warming. Meanwhile, the National Association of manufacturers is happy to tell you everything you really need to know on the subject. (More from NAM here.)
posted by alms at 1:47 PM PST - 12 comments

Blue Pill Red Pill This site just launched recently, by the looks of it. It bills itself as a "national database of all news critical, independent, and investigative this side of the galaxy." Seems to be a way of introducing people to verified and rated independent media sources, rather than aggregating content or providing articles itself. I haven't seen much like it out there.
posted by tb0n3 at 12:39 PM PST - 26 comments

Mike Douglas dead.
posted by KevinSkomsvold at 12:31 PM PST - 42 comments

Here's a cute dress that doesn't need a pattern, has only one seam, can be worn in about a bzillion different ways, looks great on various body types, and takes only an hour to make.
posted by ottereroticist at 11:47 AM PST - 38 comments

"I heard the hammer cock," John said. Let's say somebody breaks into your apartment at gunpoint. Let's say that they seem likely to kill you or your roommate. Let's say you happen to have a samurai sword on hand. Here's what it looks like when you're done. (Caution: Blood pretty much everywhere.)
posted by Astro Zombie at 11:28 AM PST - 70 comments

Lifestraw: From surface water to drinking water.
posted by davehat at 9:53 AM PST - 24 comments

The art film at the bike shop: praise is building for Roam, a 16mm film shot by Vancouver area filmmakers, the Collective. Roam and the Collective's eponymous first film are credited for taking bike films to a wider more mature audience. Sophisticated camera work, a compelling narrative and an appropriate soundtrack take the place of the gnar factor and loud hip-hop/metal soundtrack that are the defining factors of most bike films. Comparisons are already being made to the 1966 surf film Endless Summer.
Google Video clip of ROAM
posted by [expletive deleted] at 9:39 AM PST - 38 comments

BULLSHIT! Penn & Teller present their rational, libertarian bent views on diverse subjects, now available for free download on Google Video ::: profanity; creationism; alien abductions; conspiracy theories; recycling; gun control; endangered species; religion; the bible; family values; the apocalypse; signs from heaven; the occult; 12-step recovery programs; exercise v. genetics; environmentalism; hypnosis; ghosts; the war on drugs; feng shui / bottled water; college; PETA; and abstinence.
posted by crunchland at 9:22 AM PST - 114 comments

Need to know the future? Try a little haruspicy. Full details, including a script in Greek, here (don't worry, they use an egg). For the animal rights activist, there's a cruelty-free method.
posted by JanetLand at 8:17 AM PST - 16 comments

Thanks to Peace Moonbeam's weblog, I now truly understand my liberal friends. And for those willing to reciprocate, Shelley the Republican is a similar blog from the opposite end of the spectrum.
posted by CodeBaloo at 4:52 AM PST - 77 comments

Wikiwords is a collaborative project to create a dictionary of all terms in all languages.
posted by anjamu at 1:18 AM PST - 18 comments

I've always lumped musician Eugene Chadbourne in with the likes of Wesley Willis and Daniel Johnston, but I may have been mistaken. While his songs are often absurd, experimental, and silly, he's much less eccentric than I'd always thought. In addition to having an incredible output (full discography with notes here and in-depth review here), he has worked with everyone from John Zorn to Jello Biafra, even fronting the band Camper Van Beethoven as Camper Van Chadbourne. He has also been a writer for MaximumRocknRoll and AMG and is the inventor of the electric rake (a musical instrument that would certainly annoy your neighbors). YouTube has two awesome Chadbourne finds: THIS is a 19-minute documentary about him and THIS is a cable access show he appeared on called I'm Going to Make a Drug with My Mind (if you like cable access television, this is awesome, but please note that this video is 31-minutes long, including 60 seconds of color bars. Eugene comes on a little after the 17-minute mark). [WARNING: YouTube. A lot of YouTube in this post]
posted by elr at 12:28 AM PST - 34 comments

A virtual tour of Alcazaba, Nasrid Palaces and Generalife. [flash]
posted by tellurian at 12:23 AM PST - 10 comments