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Speaking of butts, here's a little game that challenges you to wash a couple of "fag ends" down the hole at the end of the trough. Good luck, this is my Friday Flash challenge to you!
posted by RevGreg at 12:57 PM PST - 35 comments

No butts about it... Bloomberg plans to ban smoking in small bars and restaurants in NYC. Why not? The pope took it even further. And after all, it won't hurt business owners. Perhaps a better plan would be to limit food portions instead. How do NYC smokers feel about this? I know Carrie Bradshaw will not be too thrilled.
posted by bmxGirl at 12:51 PM PST - 125 comments

This guy apparently doesn't like Gary Busey. I disagree, but I generally avoid movies with Kevin Costner or Will Smith...Who's on your Axis of Evil?
posted by octavius at 12:42 PM PST - 122 comments

You did what on an MRI machine?? [pdf]. Also included is the transcript of one of the 'participants' in this experiment.
(Friday fun - possibly NSFW)
posted by patrickje at 12:42 PM PST - 20 comments

Mighty Wurlitzer Talking Points. Get used to hearing these repeated over and over again.

"The volume covers defense, the environment, taxes, Medicare and other campaign issues. Each chapter includes a section entitled "Answering liberal critics" with suggested answers to potentially troubling questions."

...and how to lie and obfuscate effectively perhaps? There's clearly a lot of worry about being on the wrong side of many issues. I've reported, you decide.
posted by nofundy at 12:16 PM PST - 16 comments

Charton Heston has symptoms consistent with Alzheimer's But he plans to continue to hold the position of NRA President, at least until the dementia means he can no long aim effectively.
posted by djfiander at 11:51 AM PST - 81 comments

"I have been an accomplice to the murders of untold numbers of human beings..." One of Hollywood's most notorious screenwriters claims he and Hollywood are partly responsible for the cancer deaths of smokers. Doesn't Hollywood usually claim they are not responsible for their viewers' actions?
posted by Fabulon7 at 11:45 AM PST - 30 comments

ICKY!
Sometimes I think I made the right Career move. People complain about having to write papers, study, and do too much home work, but, how would you like to hold your hand in a cage full of mosquitoes to determine if they are ready to feed in order to get your degree (in entomology)?
Don't worry, the mosquitoes used in the tests are raised in captivity and do carry not any diseases suchas the West Nile Virus.
If you're like me, you asked yourself, What do entomologists do?
posted by Blake at 11:16 AM PST - 6 comments

"A Contrarian View of Open Source" - Bruce Sterling on the open source attitutude: "Don't like it? Hey, just reconfigure it yourself, don't bother me!" It's the Hippie Squat Model of software architecture. "If I want to paint the doors and floors bright blue and put the toilet right into the kitchen, why not?"
posted by GriffX at 10:48 AM PST - 12 comments

The Illustrated History of the Roman Empire claims to be the leading on-line resource for Roman history, with over 70mb of content. They have many short essays and lots of graphics and interactive maps. The UI could be better (especially for the maps), but it's a good time sink just the same.
posted by ewagoner at 10:45 AM PST - 9 comments

A Kick Butt Political Ad. "WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT TO ME, BOB?" download. I can imagine a lot of politicians with exposure on this issue. Will this hurt them? If so, who will use them more, Libertarians or Greens?
posted by kablam at 10:12 AM PST - 25 comments

Fragx returns. 200 words or less with a 3-word title: one of the earliest and most interesting writing experiments on the web is finally back, and the slate is clean. John Casler's Fragx (short for fragments) challenges the most verbose of us to strip it down, distill it to its most basic elements, then put it up for a healthy flogging by other writers. Sounds like good practice.
posted by frykitty at 7:36 AM PST - 33 comments

Crows better than chimps at making tools? British scientists were reportedly "astonished" when a captive crow named Betty "spontaneously bent a straight piece of wire and used it to retrieve a snack." But another scientist says crows have been seen making two kinds of hook tools in the wild, although he's not sure we should say they have "insight." It's clear that there are lots of different kinds of animal intelligences, so why are humans so surprised when dolphins recognize themselves in mirrors, chimps demonstrate culture and lions engage in social problem-solving? What explains the reluctance to admit that animal "consciousness" exists?
posted by mediareport at 7:35 AM PST - 72 comments

So if bigfoot can be used as an insanity defense when on trial for triple homicide, what does that say for those who actually believe?

Well, at least the incarcerated can do some light reading while waiting for trial.
posted by Kellydamnit at 7:27 AM PST - 5 comments

Not your ordinary collection. Sure, you could collect stamps or butterflies, but wouldn't you like to collect antique surgical instruments and amputation sets instead? Or how about some nice dental and bloodletting antiques?. If that's too gory for you, perhaps antique stethoscopes are more your speed? Having problems looking at these links? Then hurry to Eye Antiques and the Antique Spectacles Page to clear things up!
posted by headspace at 7:16 AM PST - 8 comments

British Film Institute Top Ten Poll for 2002 is out. Compiled every 10 years by the folks who publish the Sight and Sound magazine, it asks 145 critics and 108 directors for their top 10 films ever. Both top 10s are filled with the usual suspects - yes, we all know who always wins. It's more interesting to browse the full list of films voted for. Or read the individual top 10s and occasional comments by directors who voted, such as Michael Mann, Jim Jarmusch, and Roger Corman.
posted by shortfuse at 7:03 AM PST - 28 comments

Who does your favorite baseball team root for? Democrats or Republicans?
posted by mooseindian at 6:45 AM PST - 16 comments

Becketts Bounce A great bit of Flash art for those with literary tastes (words but no pictures) and a soft spot for Sam Beckett.
posted by rolo at 6:31 AM PST - 10 comments

Life Is A Magazine, Chum... Come to the Magazine! A lot of us grew up with Life Magazine and there's a certain nostalgic/narcissistic pleasure in looking at the cover of the week you (if you're over 30, that is) or your parents were born in. Their wacky and classic covers are also worth checking out, even though there are some inevitable repeats. Oh - and never forgetting their astonishing classic photographs, of course.
posted by MiguelCardoso at 1:05 AM PST - 18 comments