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The Indiana Department of Homeland Security revealed its newest tool for protecting Hoosiers today: a brand new 53-foot mobile command center. It's the EM-50 Urban Assault Vehicle!
posted by augustweed at 12:43 PM - 34 comments

Xenu's chariot. Gentlemen, ignite your potential start your Thetans.
posted by caddis at 12:41 PM - 18 comments

Can your lawnmower do this? MowZilla, born a garden-variety (so to speak) Craftsman mower, is now a nitrous-oxide injected, vastly overpowered engine of destruction! (Google Video link) [previous tales of lawnmower abuse: Lawnmower Racing, German style or American style]
posted by arto at 11:50 AM - 24 comments

Sir David Attenborough, naturalist and pioneer of the nature documentary, turned 80 last month. To mark the occasion, Britons were asked to choose their favorite Attenborough moment and of all the memorable scenes, his recording of the lyrebird came out on top. In this clip the bird mimics neighboring birds, several cameras, car alarms, and perhaps most impressively, loggers with chainsaws. (wmv, qt)
posted by ewagoner at 11:10 AM - 47 comments

The Language of Noncombatant Death - Perhaps, however, what the "incidents" have in common -- and what they really tell us about the war in Iraq (as in Vietnam long ago) -- is this: In both Haditha and Ishaqi, the dead were largely or all civilian noncombatants: an aged amputee in a wheelchair holding a Koran, small children, grandparents, students, women, and a random taxi driver all died... In modern wars, especially those conducted in part from the air (as both Iraq and Afghanistan have been), there's nothing "collateral" about civilian deaths. If anything, the "collateral deaths" are those of the combatants on any side. Civilian deaths are now the central fact, the very essence of war. Not seeing that means not seeing war.

Collateral Damage: The "Incident at Haditha"
The Power Point version: Why Did We Lose In Iraq ?
posted by y2karl at 9:51 AM - 63 comments

Memento Mori : both in Europe and The United States, post-mortem photography [pdf] was both reminder of and coping mechanism for death in the 19th century.
posted by grapefruitmoon at 8:34 AM - 11 comments

Bukowski. Complementary to previous Hank.
posted by liam at 7:39 AM - 41 comments

Michigan National Guard Gets a Hummer Apparently, even the Michigan National Guard can't protect their vehicles from thieves in Detroit...
posted by risk at 7:17 AM - 10 comments

Jugadas Espectaculares WorldCupfilter: clipshow of some staggeringly fancy footwork. Even non-fans should love this. (youtube)
posted by CunningLinguist at 7:06 AM - 25 comments

Sorry, But Only One Of These Countries Can Win The World Cup. But which one will it be? And what are the odds? The Guardian's Fiver can be as funny about it as it likes, but this is no laughing matter, not anymore, as we will soon be surrounded by 31 unmistakable, irredeemable, inconsolable losers. Anyway, whatever happens, I'm sure everyone here at MetaFilter will join me in wishing it's one of the countries that speak Portuguese.
posted by MiguelCardoso at 7:02 AM - 108 comments

Hilton Ruiz is dead. The wonderful pianist Hilton Ruiz, who "had been in a coma since May 19, when he was found outside a French Quarter bar with severe head injuries," has died in a New Orleans hospital. He'd played with everyone from Freddie Hubbard and Rahsaan Roland Kirk to Charles Mingus, Betty Carter, Archie Shepp, and Clark Terry. Sad news, especially coming hard on the heels of the loss of Billy Preston.
posted by languagehat at 6:56 AM - 16 comments

xkcd: A sketchpad webcomic about love, science and love and science. Plus some other treats.
posted by Serial Killer Slumber Party at 5:22 AM - 23 comments

Windows Vista. Microsoft has released a public Beta of Windows Vista. Get your free copy with 2 activation keys that will let you install on 10 PCs per key. Public Beta Link.
posted by tatnasty at 5:09 AM - 72 comments

Oil spill in northern British.Columbia, nobody reports it.
posted by angrybeaver at 1:11 AM - 13 comments

Won't somebody call bullshit on Ann Coulter? it is possible to believe that this new level of infamy* is about anything other than book sales.
posted by Hat Maui at 1:02 AM - 167 comments

Am I allowed to write that I would like to hunt down George W. Bush, the president of the United States, and kill him with my bare hands?

Maybe just impeachment then
posted by criticalbill at 12:52 AM - 78 comments

Zarqawi reported dead in Iraq. The Iraqi president has just appeared on TV there, no video grab as yet. Will Zarquai's possible death help end Iraq's sectarian violence? Or is it just a standard colonial tool of occupation
posted by jaduncan at 12:39 AM - 235 comments

The Asian Giant Hornet is cool, unless it's baked. Japanese honeybees can detect the hornet's secretion and they attack en masse. With approximately 500 honeybees surrounding the hornet in a tight ball, the temperature within the cluster rises to 47 degrees Celsius which bakes the hornet alive.
posted by tellurian at 12:00 AM - 35 comments

Spanish Castle Magic. Stare at the dot in the center of the image for 30 seconds, then mouseover the picture. Don't shift your glance, because until you do the picture will appear to be in color, despite the fact that it's in black & white.
posted by jonson at 8:55 PM - 65 comments

Their task may be depressing, but the generosity of their work is inspiring and hopefully thereputic. The photographers who are working with Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep provide their services on a volunteer basis to help families over come the grief of losing an infant. If you're a professional photographer interested in being involved, they're seeking volunteers.
posted by blaneyphoto at 8:14 PM - 24 comments

The War They Wanted, The Lies They Needed. "The Bush administration invaded Iraq claiming Saddam Hussein had tried to buy yellowcake uranium in Niger. As much of Washington knew, and the world soon learned, the charge was false. Worse, it appears to have been the cornerstone of a highly successful 'black propaganda' campaign with links to the White House." (Via Sic Semper Tyrannis.)
posted by homunculus at 7:47 PM - 24 comments

Jon Steward v. Bill Bennett.
posted by semmi at 7:35 PM - 69 comments

Lt. Watada refuses to fight in Iraq and Hawai'i weighs in on their native son's statement of conscience (see vid). More discussions on alternet , in Hawai'i and a news conference today at the State Capitol. Watada is not alone.
posted by Surfurrus at 7:24 PM - 40 comments

Defensor Fortis: A Photo Set. A soldier in Iraq has been posting images of consumer vehicles modified and employed by "Civilian Security Contractors". [via] War has always seemed to instill the creative spirit in its participants, and we also have a detailed history of Military vehicles making a successful transition into the civilian marketplace. With the unprecedented rise in Mercenary Employment, it's hard to tell where the innovation is coming from - the top down, or the bottom up? Our favorite grease monkey seems to have missed out on all the hot welding action, but you can't blame him for not trying. At the very least, it seems they can all agree on something.
posted by prostyle at 4:47 PM - 29 comments

On the day that the United States Senate rejected a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage Macy's alters a window display marking Boston's gay pride week by removing two male mannequins and erasing references to two websites. Why? A fringe, right-wing group complained. Their leader said that they found the mannequins "really disgusting", mistaking a rainbow-themed towel wrapped around one of their waists as being a "skirt"; muscular pectorals as being "enlarged breasts."
posted by ericb at 4:46 PM - 48 comments

I was Russell Crowe's Stooge! Oh dear, famous actor tries to manipulate journalist. Journalist turns whistleblower. Looks like trouble down under again for everyone's favourite Gladiator.
posted by Duug at 4:28 PM - 83 comments

The CIA is publishing their top 25 searched-for phrases on the CIA's Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) site. Looks like people are still spooked by UFOs, the Soviet Menace, and JFK. I guess some people think that it could still happen here.
posted by mathowie at 4:07 PM - 12 comments

Finally, the real reason Brad Pitts is in Africa - he's using a Zeppelin to look for diamonds. Celebrity colonialism indeed!
posted by Jos Bleau at 3:24 PM - 23 comments

Coudal (you know) gets clever with book and band names.
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane at 2:29 PM - 59 comments

David Lee Roth singing "Jump" with a bluegrass band on national tv - 6/6/06
posted by tsarfan at 2:00 PM - 72 comments

Yearly Kos. Over a year and a half after PastorDan, a diarist at DailyKos, suggested a national convention, it's actually happening. Organized, at least at first, with very little encouragement or assistance from Kos himself, they've managed to pull together quite an impressive slate of speakers and panelists. Cspan will be covering it live all weekend. Is this a landmark for blogging?
posted by empath at 1:59 PM - 37 comments

In a world that makes no sense at all, you must know what to focus on to see...
posted by ozomatli at 1:27 PM - 22 comments

Report on CIA "Spider Web" - image
posted by pwedza at 1:03 PM - 20 comments

Christopher Hitchens, grumpy political type, on the blow job.
posted by Arthur "Two Sheds" Jackson at 12:58 PM - 63 comments

What began as a simple eBay Motors auction... "Again no swaps. What is it with people, when I say no swaps please don't take it as a challange. I have been offfered a caravan, 12 cars, 1 lorry, to have my garden landscaped, some rare fish, and I'm sorry but the very kind gent (Donald) who offered me a weekend with his wife (and him it would appear) I have a special message for you. The pictures you sent me of your wife did not, in all honesty help. Some of them looked more like a traffic accident than something that I might remotely find alluring. I am sure that if you set up your own website (assuming that it's not illegal) there will be plenty of sad sacks (many from ebay land going by this experience) who will indulge your (and your wifes) desires."
posted by daHIFI at 7:51 AM - 33 comments

Chess queen triggers 'Gormallygate' Australian WIM (Women's International Master) Arianne Caoili, "the Anna Kournikova of chess" has sent the chess world into a spin with her salsa crazy antics. A love triangle between herself, British chess grandmaster Danny Gormally and the world's No. 3 player, Armenia's Levon Aronian turned ugly in a Turin nightclub during the World Chess Olympiad recently.
posted by kurtrudder at 2:39 AM - 70 comments

The internet's favorite color. Subject to change without notice.
posted by Effigy2000 at 2:33 AM - 41 comments

Unity 08 An attempt to recruit one democrat and one republican to run as a third party ticket in '08. all online, and hoping to be a big hit with the young people. Other people think it might be a dumb idea.
posted by delmoi at 12:26 AM - 70 comments

First American Art. A fine collection of beautiful objects.
posted by hortense at 12:04 AM - 5 comments

Tutankhamun: Anatomy of an Excavation The University of Oxford's Griffith Institute has put together a fantastic digital collection of records documenting Howard Carter's excavation of the tomb of Tutankhamun, including ninety-three pages of photographs taken by Harry Burton during the excavation. You can also read Carter's diaries and eyewitness accounts of the excavation.
posted by LeeJay at 10:18 PM - 11 comments

The Oxford Project: in 1984, Peter Feldstein photographed every single citizen in the town of Oxford, Iowa (676 pictures in all). In 2006, he attempts to do it again.
posted by JPowers at 8:20 PM - 24 comments

Finders keepers? Some joker found a lost T-Mobile Sidekick, took and uploaded pics. Will they return it? Initially, no because the finder apparently wasn't a "white b***h" dumb enough to return it. Is common decency threatened?
posted by codswallop at 7:38 PM - 92 comments

MacBook! Hold the Mayo! Apple's new MacBook is a hot item. At 65C internal running temperature, quite hot indeed. A MacNN reader discovered the MacBook service manual and shared the "Thermal Paste Mayo" pictures. Yikes! [more inside]
posted by cavalier at 7:32 PM - 63 comments

Revisiting The French Revolution. It is not for history to supply us with a sense of history. Life always supplies us with a sense of history. It is for history to supply us with a sense of life.
posted by semmi at 6:08 PM - 30 comments

Was in Eastern WA this weekend, attending the graduation of my nephew from a high school in Kennewick. He reminded me about nearby Richland High School, and their somewhat unique "mascot", so thought I might do some looking around. For those with true School Spirit, pick up some swag. I'm getting earrings for my wife! --Yikes-O-Rama--
posted by somnambulist at 5:21 PM - 41 comments

Frozen water is one amazing mineral. (Yes, that's right, mineral!) With a little effort, you can make fire with it. With a little more effort, you can make camera lenses with it. [via Memepool]
posted by absalom at 4:41 PM - 18 comments

The Symmetry Thesis
posted by Tlogmer at 2:44 PM - 36 comments

Funny "experiment" conducted by the folks at leftlanenews.com. Can a Ferrari 575 catch up to a Fiat hatckback after a 31-second head start in a single-lap track race? Better still, can an F1 car catch up to both after waiting 1:27? The results aren’t necessarily surprising, but it’s pretty stunning to see.
posted by jonson at 2:33 PM - 51 comments

ColorWhore. A directory of nice colors.
posted by Mean Mr. Bucket at 1:43 PM - 20 comments

Contrary to popular belief, Vikings did not wear horned helmets, if the Viking Answer Lady is to be believed. Apparently, the whole kerfuffle was instigated at least in part by these guys.
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane at 1:05 PM - 28 comments