MetaFilter

Between Abuse and Worms is Soldat
posted by holloway at 11:09 PM PST - 11 comments

A blip on the radar, or a sign of shifting opinions? Can recent events in the Republic of Korea be taken as an indication that the special relationship between the US and South Korea is changing, and that public sentiment amongst Koreans is turning against America? [more inside]
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 10:55 PM PST - 43 comments

A Tribute to Ray Harryhausen - Stop-motion skeletons... Flash... and Fridays.
posted by Stuart_R at 9:35 PM PST - 9 comments

When was the last time we bombed Iraq? 1991? 1992? How about 4 days ago. And again six days before that to name just a few. The US Bombing Watch page keeps detailed tabs on all bombing attacks by allied forces since March 9, 2000, but the bombing has continued since the end of the Gulf War [via rc3.org].
posted by mathowie at 9:33 PM PST - 81 comments

Magnificent Obscessions II. In the original post, we had a blast exploring odd sites in which people displayed eccentric talents. MOs walk a thin line between genius and madness. These are people with "too much time on their hands." How I envy their crackpot devotion, energy and perfectionism. These are the True Geeks! (Fresh examples inside...)
posted by grumblebee at 9:27 PM PST - 14 comments

Meanwhile in the world of sports, two idiots attacked a Royals coach during a game tonight. At least it wasn't on Fan Appreciation night. Still, what a dark night for Comiskey.
posted by RobbieFal at 8:46 PM PST - 18 comments

How sick are we as a nation when this is done is public and no one notices. Of course, the coast was clear, as the mom checked before she launched this attack. But then, to read that the family, seeing the videotape of the beating, still protects their daughter, I have to come close to burning rage inside. Enough to make me wish she gets caught and prosecuted in Texas, where she has some links.
posted by Busithoth at 8:19 PM PST - 50 comments

Rally monkey time! Happy early Friday folks!

Warning: Pulse pounding music and hot monkey action.
posted by gwong at 8:03 PM PST - 9 comments

US threat to [wait for it..] stop Iraq inspections
Ri-iiiight. What was that about giving clear and determined leadership to the world? About the need for "Mr Saddam Hussein ... to let inspectors back in his country to show us that he is not developing weapons of mass destruction"? That man is making a fool of his government, policies and his own people. What next?
posted by dash_slot- at 6:01 PM PST - 98 comments

The grayest of gray Republican eminences weigh in on the Iraq Debate. Brent Scowcroft, an ex-general with the prejudices and proclivities of his scholarly peers --the nattering nabobs of negativism-- proposes that the United States forget about invading Iraq. Henry Kissinger, one of the great American opportunists, has positioned himself as a kind of stealth critic, a loyal oppositionist who is doing his darnedest to nudge Bush in a multilateral direction. James Baker, who is intimately tied to a wide range of allegedly satanic forces and has an incredibly long and distinguished record of public service, to chasten George W. Bush's hawkish impulses on Iraq, proposes that the administration sponsor "a simple and straightforward resolution requiring that Iraq submit to intrusive inspections anytime, anywhere, with no exceptions, and authorizing all necessary means to enforce it."
posted by semmi at 4:31 PM PST - 11 comments

Multiple Sclerosis could be sexually transmitted! Not only that, your risk of developping the disease can double if you own a bird, but if you own a cat or a dog, your risk decreases...
posted by titboy at 4:17 PM PST - 28 comments

Davis signs $9.95 billion bond bill to boost high-speed rail
"Gov. Gray Davis signed a $9.95 billion bond measure Thursday that would clear the way for a high-speed rail system linking California's major cities."
this may be the first step in getting a decent rail-system going in the states. what do folks think about high-speed rail in general, do you think acela's recent problems are indicative of what we have to look forward to?
do those of you who have direct experience with existing high-speed rail systems have insights about the kind of obstacles this project might run into? will it revolutionize travel in the united states, or turn into a massive boondoggle?
posted by dolface at 3:31 PM PST - 34 comments

"One of the marshals said something like, 'We didn't like the way you looked,' " Rajcoomar recalled. "They also said something like, 'We didn't like the way you looked at us.'"
posted by artifex at 3:30 PM PST - 31 comments

Picture yourself says it was inspired by the Mirror Project. Both are repositories of photographic self-portraits. As much as MeFi readers like photo art, I thought I'd add to the genre.
posted by tbc at 2:57 PM PST - 4 comments

Snow White and the Seven Shao Lin Monks
Picture Snow White, frozen in motion, arms outstretched and her legs prepared for a kick (a la The Matrix). Just can't see it? Well the Folks at Disney can, and according to this CNN article. It seems that Disney is in negotiations with Yuen Wo Ping to direct a live-action martial arts remake of the classic Snow White film. This time Snow White seeks solace with seven Shao Lin monks who, in turn, come to believe the woman holds the fate of the world in her hands and protect her. I'm not much of a Snow White fan, but there are several Disney films that I think would benefit from some ass-kicking! Any other Disney films come to mind?
posted by DragonBoy at 2:06 PM PST - 18 comments

Cassius Marcellus Coolidge's body of work has been commented on before. I've been to the Met. and looked at this and it would never fit in a game room or above the urinal at the local trendy bar, but the works of C.M. Coolidge will. I also ran across another great American artist, Art Frahm but the link had already been discussed a couple years ago here. If you have not seen it its worth the visit. Art at it's best.
posted by mss at 1:41 PM PST - 4 comments

A solution to the world's terrorism problems? Mo Mowlam (formerly responsible for the UK government's drugs policy) suggests that terrorist activity is funded by drug trafficking and the best way to combat this is to legalise all drugs. Everywhere. Go Mo!
posted by hnnrs at 12:25 PM PST - 17 comments

Sweden's faultering population. Sweden has a population problem and it's effecting the economy. One women has come up with a brilliant solution.
posted by Grod at 12:09 PM PST - 25 comments

CNN.com Redesigned. "CNN.com has launched a new design that provides better navigation, larger photos, personalized weather, a new 'User Picks' feature, and more depth in specific subject areas, including technology, entertainment and world news." Is it really any better? I think it looks more cluttered than ever. What's the most usable news site?
posted by dayvin at 11:46 AM PST - 44 comments

Joyce Slaton takes the blame (or some of it) for over-hyped dot com boom reporting (maybe she read this thread). Journalists flog themselves and their inexperienced peers: "There were a lot of lifestyle editors that ended up on the business desk because that's where the pages were being added," says John Battelle, co-founder of Wired and founder and publisher of The Industry Standard." Will we ever again be so gullible?
posted by akmonday at 11:14 AM PST - 4 comments

Masaoka Shiki, the Japanese poet who revived the haiku, died one hundred years ago today, at the age of 34.
posted by Silune at 10:28 AM PST - 21 comments

Freeh's misplaced priorities. "The threat level grew so high that by December 1998, the director of central intelligence, George J. Tenet, issued a "declaration of war" on Al Qaeda, in a memorandum circulated in the intelligence community. Yet, Ms. Hill said, the intelligence agencies failed to adequately follow up on the declaration, and by Sept. 10, 2001, the F.B.I. still had only one analyst assigned full time to Al Qaeda. "

Whereas Freeh had 85 agents assigned to the continous microscopic inspection of Clinton's zipper. Politics trumps national security?
posted by nofundy at 10:14 AM PST - 21 comments

Life imitates "art" as the singer for Brazilian rockers ACC storms the studio, so to speak, and forces a DJ to play his band's record over and over for an hour. Are things really this desperate?
posted by mikrophon at 10:00 AM PST - 12 comments

The Ideal Prepuce. Enter the posthe and the akroposthion.
posted by plexi at 10:00 AM PST - 9 comments

Scrabble, as the experts play it. Review various championship scrabble games -- play by play, word by word. The board at the end of the final game of the 2001 World Championship includes such oddities as GAJO, DARG, and VOZHD, but also WITTIEST and PADDLERS. (You can follow that game from the beginning. Looks like the 2002 tournament doesn't happen for another few months.)
posted by Tin Man at 9:36 AM PST - 25 comments

Germany slips on its jack boots to keep in step with the USA In the wake of september 11th Most supposedly enlightened "western" countries have curtailed or outright forbidden free speech to groups suspected to be sympathetic to "terror". The question in my mind is how long until just being part of a political organization that opposes first use of violence and criticizes government policy (libertarians, Greens, CUSPA) will get you on the FBI "hit" list here at home?
posted by hoopyfrood at 9:34 AM PST - 27 comments

Before the Berlin Wall, there was Hadrian's Wall, one of the most successful attempts ever to keep noisy neighbours at bay. It's still an impressive sight, even though most of its stone has been recycled over the centuries. Nothing beats walking it in person, but thanks to the web you can see a 3D VRML model of one of its forts, read about the digital imaging of thousands of written documents unearthed at another, and even read a 2000-year-old request to "send me some cash as soon as possible".
posted by rory at 9:01 AM PST - 9 comments

Project Censored "Some of the stories on the list may deserve wider and more thorough coverage. But to label any of the subjects "censored" is either flat-out deception or an admission of astonishing ignorance. A quick stroll through the Nexis database reveals that nine of this year's top-10 "most censored" stories have already turned up in the New York Times, many of them with prominent placement, considerable depth, and angles not far off from Project Censored's leftist slant." Related article in Mother Jones.
posted by owillis at 8:51 AM PST - 30 comments

An annotated bibliography on weblogs & blogging A l blog site on blogging. History, uses, development, articles etc. with a very large list of links to all aspects of blogging.
posted by Postroad at 7:48 AM PST - 4 comments

The Son of God and Mexican wrestler El Santos team up to fight evil in Jesus Christ: Vampire Hunter!
posted by the biscuit man at 6:33 AM PST - 18 comments

Have you got your boots on, Jack? Do you collar this jive? Listen all you righteous cats and canaries, it's copacetic. Don't be a hincty Jeff. Put on your cogs, get in there and focus on how to speak hip so you can dig what I am laying my racket about.
posted by madamjujujive at 5:51 AM PST - 12 comments

Win yourself life after death New Scientist are offering the chance of free cryonics in their latest issue; Arthur C. Clarke and Steve Jones react on BBC Radio 4. (scroll down for the realaudio)
posted by peterkins at 5:42 AM PST - 8 comments

WarChalkers are thieves Phone maker Nokia has come down strongly against warchalking. "This is theft, plain and simple."
posted by Mwongozi at 5:32 AM PST - 27 comments

Mayan Stairway reveals a longer chapter of missing history. New glyphs revealed by a hurricane at Dos Pilas, Guatemala, tell of "the attack on Dos Pilas by Calakmul in this powerful kingdom’s strategy to control the river trade routes between the Maya Lowlands and the Highlands of Guatemala in the Southwestern Petén and the resulting Dos Pilas’ acceptance of a subservient role in this affair." Same report in Spanish. There is also a weak New York Times report.
posted by Mo Nickels at 5:27 AM PST - 5 comments

Feeling Peckish? Like a big bald eagle? Order one now! Humour might be one way of trying to protect endangered animals but the bushmeat trade is no joke and fighting it is damn difficult, probably as difficult as fighting world poverty. Does anyone else feel that these jokes just aren't funny anymore?
posted by MiguelCardoso at 4:52 AM PST - 9 comments