MetaFilter

Some call FEMA's administration of federal flood insurance and disaster relief illogical and illegal, although you won't find that in FEMA's recent summary of Katrina, which reveals that $15.3 billion dollars in federal flood insurance claims have been paid. That's quite a bit more than the National Flood Insurance Fund's budget, and you may recall that payouts didn't go smoothly. Still, having federal flood insurance, as opposed to relying on disaster relief, has proven its worth during the rebuilding process. Certainly Katrina was an extraordinary phenomenon, unlikely to be repeated any time soon. Perhaps that's why the annual disaster relief budget is smaller this year.
posted by owhydididoit at 10:52 PM PST - 11 comments

Pablo Lobato is an Argentinian graphic artist who uses color and geometric shape to create witty portraits and caricatures. More works are available at his website (sound & flash alert). His site's select links to other caricaturists are great, including David Cowles who he names as an influence and the brilliant Hannoch Piven.
posted by madamjujujive at 9:41 PM PST - 15 comments

Keep driving your Hummer guilt free, thanks to BP BP announced today a new program that will allow drivers to maintain carbon-neutral without changing their driving habits or make of car. The program, called "Target Neutral" is a web-initiative that allows drivers to cancel out their carbon emissions by funding renewable energy and green technology ventures out of their own pockets -- carbon credit offsets in their simplest form. Interesting to note that BP's big announcement is on the heels of news reports out of Washington yesterday that the Environmental Protection Agency along with two other federal departments will be involved in an investigation into BP's Alaskan operations and it's Aug.9th oil pipe leak.
posted by jacob hauser at 9:12 PM PST - 35 comments

Cardoso? Cardoso?
Loronix: Ultimate Bossanova Blog.
posted by hama7 at 6:58 PM PST - 12 comments

Being a little overweight can kill you.
posted by The Jesse Helms at 3:28 PM PST - 89 comments

Nancy, the best comic strip ever? Close but no cigar. Pogo? Peanuts? Calvin? Good choices all, but still wrong. Krazy Kat you say? Again I shake my head sadly, friend. For Mr. Dave Astor has finally stepped forward to settle this debate once and for all. The greatest comic strip ever appearing on newsprint? Why, it's For Better or For Worse of course. Let the debate begin.
posted by ktoad at 3:02 PM PST - 202 comments

Toribash is a turn-based fighting game where, during a turn, you set-up, articulate, and execute fighting moves with rag-doll characters. Looks like a pretty cool idea. Windows based executable, Linux based server software. I've been doing this for hours, and hours now. I... I... can't stop. Via (and description courtesy of )Negatendo
posted by boo_radley at 2:49 PM PST - 9 comments

This was bound to happen.
posted by allkindsoftime at 2:28 PM PST - 38 comments

We've discussed the omnipresent nature of Hello Kitty before. She has aliens for allies, her own MMORPG, and even a banking empire. But what about the havoc that can be wreaked when fandoms collide? If Sanrio-meets-Star-Wars doesn't make your brain hurt, how about the thought of packing some Hello Kitty heat? Or maybe...maybe you're a fan. Maybe visiting Puroland--Hello Kitty's theme park--appeals to you. Oh, it does? Then you'll be happy to hear that Puroland does weddings, too[Youtube].
posted by Vervain at 1:44 PM PST - 31 comments

Silly name, but fun all the same ... Free web (2.0, natch) chat site that allows users to search for chat rooms based on tags or to set up their own room(s) that are either public or private.
posted by terrapin at 1:32 PM PST - 21 comments

Confronting the New Misanthropy. "The big question is not whether humans will survive this century, but whether our faith in humanity will survive it"
posted by stbalbach at 1:03 PM PST - 51 comments

Ten thousand reasons the world is doomed.
posted by keswick at 12:33 PM PST - 51 comments

The International Networks Archive is an effort by a group of sociologists to understand 2,000 years of globalization through mapping the network of transactions that link the world, rather than geography. The project is still ongoing, but you can see some of the results: an interactive map that uses travel time to visualize the world; a graphic of the growth of Starbucks and McDonalds; the distribution of government jobs (apparently the 3,412 postal inspectors can carry firearms); the cashflows of movies and tobacco; and, of course, the world at night. There is also access to a lot of detailed data, as well as more maps and information at the Mapping Globalization wiki.
posted by blahblahblah at 12:12 PM PST - 5 comments

Dirty Car Art
posted by mattbucher at 11:57 AM PST - 28 comments

La Compania Rebelde: Understanding American Apparel A long and detailed look at American Apparel. [via mefi projects]
posted by chunking express at 11:45 AM PST - 24 comments

Homestar Runner is 10 years old. (flash)
posted by Ufez Jones at 11:37 AM PST - 28 comments

2 heads are better than 1 Ever heard of diphallus? Well, now you have. See here as well
posted by bmpetow at 11:14 AM PST - 31 comments

New airline security regulations in the UK have taken their toll on the touring musicians who used to be able to take their delicate and/or rare instruments as carry-on luggage. Many are forced to either take their chances in the cargo hold or take ferries to countries with less restrictive security guidelines. Others contemplate staying home from touring completely. (via BBC)
posted by dr_dank at 11:12 AM PST - 40 comments

Color of My Sound. Choose a color of a sound or song and see how others have voted with their comments. Add your own audio files. (more)
posted by nickyskye at 10:33 AM PST - 7 comments

Keep Bush away from the press. Joe Scarborough (in the news lately for asking rude questions about the President's intelligence) opines that "If George Bush has lost his ability to give a commanding presser, then stage manage him differently. Play to his strengths... Show him only in settings where he is in control." Curiously, while Bush's press conferences have become unsetllingly less coherent in recent days -- even for him -- the so-called liberal media and even the blogosphere have barely mentioned it (perhaps in the spirit of preserving the dignity of the office, like FDR's wheelchair?) Example: watch this video -- what happens at 1:34 or so, right before the President abruptly terminates the questioning? Will Bush in his twilight years, as Foxborough advises, become like Ronald Reagan, protected from public humiliation by his faithful staff?
posted by digaman at 10:10 AM PST - 156 comments

17 year old kid gets 2 years for selling 20 dollars of pot, enough for 1 joint. The entire town is basically a "No Drug Zone" so they used federal law to give the kid the mandatory 2 years. The Drug Policy Alliance has put together a video that really hits home on the war against the American people.
posted by IronWolve at 9:05 AM PST - 234 comments

The life and times of the British seaside holiday. The BBC explore the Victorian beginings of this British cultural export, its history and heyday, and the slow decline into genteel decay - and not so genteel - decay.Perhaps buoyed by nostalgia for childhood memories of lemonade ice lollies, sticky gobs of tar underfoot, and sand sandwiches, there's a move to promote regeneration and reinvention. Especially now that the beaches are cleaner than ever, although some still occasionally subject to unpleasant bobbing objects.

Although any regeneration might play on icons like the piers, beach huts, grand hotels, architecture, and classic cafes, it's perhaps less likely to feature traditional and dubious delights like Punch and Judy, end of the pier shows, fearsome landladies and holiday camps. The builders of new sandcastles have grander plans, whether that be the Las Vegas of the northwest, the artist's paradise of St Ives, the surfer's paradise of Newquay, or Hove's multi-coloured pleasure dome. Anyway, would you like this open or wrapped?
posted by reynir at 8:57 AM PST - 6 comments

One small german army and a train. (large pageload of photographs). Also: a flash slideshow of the same army (parent site) [via]
posted by peacay at 8:52 AM PST - 18 comments

Federal Court to FBI: Learn To Use Google A federal court ordered the FBI to use Google. Apparently they didn't already know about it.
posted by expriest at 8:26 AM PST - 24 comments

Red-Hot and Filthy Library Smut. Scanned photos of the insides of some of the world's hottest, youngest and dirtiest libraries. Some of the best from the book by Candida Hofer.
posted by geoff. at 7:50 AM PST - 40 comments

4-Block World: simple diagrams about life, &c. The full list. via information aesthetics
posted by signal at 6:19 AM PST - 16 comments

Turner Broadcasting to cut smoking scenes out of 'Tom & Jerry.'
posted by MarshallPoe at 6:14 AM PST - 71 comments

Grigory Perelman becomes first to reject Fields Medal: "I do not think anything that I say can be of the slightest public interest. I have published all my calculations. This is what I can offer the public." Perelman was to be awarded the medal due to his solution of the Poincaré Conjecture. More on the other winners. Via.
posted by Captaintripps at 5:13 AM PST - 31 comments

Observed Trials is arguably the most skilful and spectacular of all motorcycle sports, but party due to the outdoor, occasionally remote locations of most competitions, remains very much out of the public eye. Historically it has been dominated by European riders and although the US had a world champion in 1979, international success has eluded American riders in recent years.Recently, trials has become somewhat fragmented with indoor events becoming increasingly popular with non-afficionado spectators and extreme (NSFW soundtrack) freeriding taking off, particuarly in France although to purists real trials only take place "in the wild".
posted by NeonSurge at 4:52 AM PST - 13 comments

Okay, here it is in all it's glory: googlyeyesoncock.com is once again filled with googly-eyed cock. (seriously NSFW!)
posted by TheCoug at 1:58 AM PST - 55 comments

If you've ever felt that yet another vacation in other beachfront paradise would be a waste of your precious leisure time, the Unusual Hotels of the World website is for you. From Treehouse Hotels to mountain Inns carved directly into (out of?) the rock face to Ice Hotels to Undersea lodgings, there's no shortage of vacation spots worldwide that you'll remember far longer than the traditional spa/swim up bar combo.
posted by jonson at 12:19 AM PST - 12 comments

Second of two pieces. Scary. For real? Do pedophiles really wear special jewelry?
posted by ClaudiaCenter at 12:06 AM PST - 47 comments