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Newsfilter: the Children of Guantanamo The 'IoS' reveals today that more than 60 of the detainees of the US camp were under 18 at the time of their capture, some as young as 14
posted by j.p. Hung at 6:36 AM - 38 comments

Baking tutorials are fun. Would you prefer a wood-fired bread baking course? This set has recipes to go along with the delicious looking pictures, and here is a virtual tour through a chocolate factory. Poetry your fancy? Here is a set of haikus soley dedicated to Spam™, and other cooking poems here. Want to make your own sausages? (NSFW, or dog lovers) How about Sushi? Make your own flowers out of vegetables. But don't forget to have fun.
posted by a. at 2:31 AM - 9 comments

Newsfilter: Members of Iraq's tennis team shot "for wearing shorts." Being an Iraqi athlete is no easier than before. Just ask members of the Iraqi Taekwondo squad. More.
posted by bardic at 1:24 AM - 48 comments

The US and Canadian national anthems as delivered this week in Edmonton, Ontario. [youtube video]
posted by tsarfan at 11:45 PM - 66 comments

O'Reilly and Associates apologize about threats to keep an Irish non-profit from stealing O'Reilly's "Web 2.0" service mark. The usually-forgiving blogosphere cabal is not amused.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 9:01 PM - 37 comments

Philippe Guillerm is a woodworker whose art is comprised of various classical string instruments in whimsical, almost anthropomorphized positions
posted by jonson at 8:07 PM - 7 comments

Graduates of the "school of hard knocks" flunk real life. A study from the University of Leicester says that, contrary to popular expectation, unpleasant and traumatic life experiences don't make people suspicious and shrewd -- quite the opposite. Many people who've had a tough life actually turn out more gullible and easily swayed:

"This is because the person may have learned to distrust their actions, judgments and decisions due to the fact that the majority of the time their actions have been perceived to invite negative consequences"

The counter-intuitiveness of this finding fascinates me. Wait. Maybe I shouldn't be taking it at face value...
posted by AmbroseChapel at 4:28 PM - 50 comments

My Life in France by Julia Child (discussed here, and here) has been published posthumously with the assistance of Alex Prud'homme.
posted by grapefruitmoon at 3:43 PM - 10 comments

Newsfilter: More than 100 arrests at Moscow gay protest. Upon others, German MP Volker Beck, Oscar Wilde's grandson and Paris mayor's representatives were injured by a mob of fashist thugs and christian-orthodox fundamentalists at Moscow's first gay pride march, and then arrested by the police. In fraternal unity the violence was called upon by the orthodox church, Moscow mayor Yuri Luzhkov, the grand mufti of Russia’s Muslims, and Russia’s chief rabbi. Read this article by Peter Thatchell on UK Gay News for a first hand account of the events, and for background information Doug Irland's blog and Scott Long's Moscow diary, published by the Washington Blade.
posted by kolophon at 3:13 PM - 54 comments

Timeline of Trends and Events (1750 to 2100). Large image, lots of info. Via digg
posted by sourwookie at 1:44 PM - 49 comments

Bendito Machine - An excellent animated short exploring societal conflict. [flash]
posted by icosahedral at 10:39 AM - 21 comments

Would you leave a dying man to reach the top of Everest? Mark Inglis, who lost both legs in a climbing accident years ago, triumphantly scaled Mt. Everest earlier this month. About two and a half hours into the climb, they passed David Sharp, a climber on his way down who was clearly in distress and only hours from death. Inglis and his team left him there and continued to the summit and, as expected, David Sharp died.

Everest pioneer Sir Edmund Hillary is displeased, and this fellow is lucky the group that found him decided his "weak attributes of life" were enough for an effort at rescue.
posted by thirteenkiller at 9:53 AM - 208 comments

Oblivion Domino Day. Some fun from The Elder Scrolls.
posted by Mean Mr. Bucket at 8:25 AM - 24 comments

For the would-be recording buffs: understanding compression. A three-part series which explains the workings and uses of compressors, limiters, expanders, and gates. Plus some thoughts on the modern epidemic of overcompression from the listener's perspective.
posted by ludwig_van at 7:35 AM - 39 comments

Utopian Pharmacology. Can safe, sustainable analogues of MDMA (link to 1914 German patent) be developed? There is an urgent need for non-neurotoxic empathogens and entactogens suitable for lifelong use. Alas no single "magic bullet" yet exists that replicates the subjective effects of MDMA on a long-term basis. Hence most of us are doomed to display the quasi-psychopathic indifference to each other characteristic of the MDMA-naïve state.
posted by three blind mice at 1:29 AM - 43 comments

Freelance spying. How and why Rita got into the counterterrorism business, running and publishing SITE, where she and her researchers mine online sources for intelligence, which they translate and send out by e-mail to a list of about a hundred subscribers.
posted by semmi at 12:10 AM - 12 comments

Darth Vader calls the Emperor. From Adult Swim, Darth Vader calls Emperor Palpatine to break some bad news. Laughter ensues.
posted by Trinkers at 9:27 PM - 37 comments

Why aren't there any indie video games: "Indie rock fans may prefer somewhat muddy sound over some lushly orchestrated, producer-massaged score; indie film fans may prefer quirky, low-budget titles over big-budget special FX extravaganzas; but in gaming, we have no indie aesthetic, no group of people (of any size at least) who prize independent vision and creativity over production values."
posted by JPowers at 9:20 PM - 29 comments

Top 7 flickr groups for techies. I especially liked electronporn
posted by delmoi at 8:32 PM - 7 comments

Justin's Rattlesnake Bite is the true story of one man's adventures in surgery after being surprised by a rattlesnake which bit the palm of his left hand. The story makes for grim reading, but the pictures are very much worse. pics may be NSFW
posted by jonson at 6:14 PM - 54 comments

Toddlerpedes (see the rest of the gallery here) are just one part of the Underground Australian Toy Art Collective, which is just one part of the Underground Australian Surreal Art Collective. Admittedly, some of the art is underground for a reason, but you might find something you like. Kim Evan's gallery is pretty neat. So is Julian Treweeke's and Kuba Fiedorowicz's. Some art is NSFW.
posted by arcticwoman at 5:47 PM - 4 comments

Alexander von Humboldt was a German naturalist, botanist and explorer. His discoveries were many, and as such various animals and geographic features are named after him (even on the moon and elsewhere). His writings inspired many, and many foundations and scholarships exist with his name. One of those he inspired, with great tales of the American frontier (PDF) and Humboldt's oft-used word "Lebensraum", was Adolf Hitler (no link needed). That may have been an influencing factor for the creation of the outdoors-oriented Hitler Youth, and even pushed Adolf into expanding to the vast unpopulated expanses of Russia, via Poland, of course.
posted by Kickstart70 at 5:11 PM - 8 comments

www.bookofcool.com [flash]. A cool idea for cool tricks.
posted by movilla at 5:01 PM - 4 comments

A recent diet book offers a new, easy, work free way to lose weight. Big surprise. However, the technique and the way it was "discovered" raise some interesting questions. Is it so simple and safe to play at "hacking" the body, and is a physician's self experimentation really entirely trustworthy?
posted by BrodieShadeTree at 4:44 PM - 15 comments

Today, George Washington University's National Security Archive has published online the most comprehensive collection of memoranda of conversations (memcons) involving Henry Kissinger.

Revealed in the collection is the fact that "Kissinger quietly acknowledged to China in 1972 that Washington could accept a communist takeover of South Vietnam if that evolved after a withdrawal of U.S. troops - even as the war to drive back the Communists dragged on with mounting deaths....[He] told Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai: 'If we can live with a communist government in China, we ought to be able to accept it in Indochina.' ...[His] comments appear to lend credence to the 'decent interval' theory posed by some historians who said the United States was prepared to see Communists take over Saigon, as long as that happened long enough after a U.S. troop departure to save face."
posted by ericb at 4:10 PM - 38 comments

Auden and Christianity "The notion that religious faith and serious thought are mutually exclusive categories always struck Auden as risible and unintelligible. But he would have bristled at an effort to separate out his religious beliefs and restate them as systematic propositions, or examine them independently or thematically, rather than see them as players in his rich and various inner symbolic drama."
posted by vronsky at 4:08 PM - 3 comments

Cheapovegas! Including tips and reports: Vegas on 19$ a Day, Porn Convention, Free Crap, Best Swimming (or how to sneak into it), and the new Hooter's Casino, to name just a few. Let Casino Boy show you the way to medium-risk, non-family fun!
posted by bardic at 3:50 PM - 9 comments

Websites as graphs - Metafilter as a graph (java app)
posted by puke & cry at 3:02 PM - 24 comments

Calvin and Hobbes
posted by afu at 1:49 PM - 53 comments

In 1875, Josiah Mason gave a gift to establish a college which was called the Mason Science College (now a part of the University of Birmingham). Within the terms of the gift to the institutuion, one of the stipulations was that classics not be taught. Of course at such an institution, the Founder Day's address was logically given by Thomas Henry Huxley on the place of Science in Education. Huxley preached the virtues of science and derisively dismissed all value in studying classics, and he wondered whether any rational person would choose to study classics over science. His conclusion was that the only people who would choose a study of classics are those like "that Levite of culture" Matthew Arnold. Arnold took the opportunity to respond to his friend. In his reply, Arnold acknowledged that nobody would expect him to engage Huxley in a debate about science, and though he wouldn't presume to take on Huxley in such a debate, he did want to mention something that struck him as he thumbed through a book of Huxley's friend. Arnold noted that he was struck by the idea that "our ancestor was a hairy quadruped furnished with a tail and pointed ears, probably arboreal in his habits." Arnold acknowledged that he isn't a scientist and therefore doesn't dispute such a claim, but he did want to point out that even if that were true, with regards to this good fellow, there must have been a necessity in him that inclined him to Greek. And would always incline him to Greek. After all, we got there, didn't we?
posted by dios at 12:25 PM - 27 comments

The Zobo! Spanish-American Chess Men! Where can you find these amazing products, including Sanitary Belt Pads the Toilet Mask, or a handy goat harness, at amazing, rockbottom prices? The Sears, Roebuck Catalog, of course. Everything you could need for the modern American family! They did houses (1, 2) even. Starting in 1888 and mostly selling watches, this venerable institution of consumerism spent its first 10 years rapidly growing and adding products, lasting for over 100 years before finally folding in 1993. The catalog still stands as a detailed historical document of what the average American would buy to get through life. They make a fun collector's item, too (1902 available on CD-ROM as well). [ This post inspired by the 1902 Sears, Roebuck Catalog blog. ]
posted by tweak at 12:18 PM - 11 comments

Hell and Back: "Deep in the Amazon jungle, writer Kira Salak [story on her homepage] tests ayahuasca, a shamanistic medicinal ritual, and finds a terrifying—but enlightening—world within." Interesting tale found via this interview with Charles Grob on the potential therapeutic uses of psychedelics. The legal status of ayahuasca in the US was recently discussed here.
posted by homunculus at 12:05 PM - 55 comments

"That goddamn bitch Dorothy Parker...You won't believe what she's done." Lillian Hellman and Dorothy Parker were best friends forever until Ms. Parker pissed Ms. Hellman off by leaving her estate to Martin Luther King, Jr., instead of to Ms. Hellman. Which might explain why Ms. Parker's remains went missing. [more inside; via]
posted by kirkaracha at 10:36 AM - 26 comments

Newsfilter: The US House Committee on the Judiciary today approved the Internet Freedom and Nondiscrimination Act (HR 5417) in a vote of 20-12, helping to improve the provision of equal network service regardless of who receives it, without added surcharges, along with other antitrust measures. Carriers like AT&T, Comcast and Verizon suggest no problem exists that requires this legislative solution, despite pushing their lobbyists hard to get Congress to enact opposing laws, and suggesting that prioritizing network traffic is required to develop newer products, such as high-definition video. Meanwhile, the FCC continues to encourage mergers while prices for telecommunications products continue to rise at rates manyfold higher than inflation, despite price gouging provisions enacted in the Telecommunications Act of 1996.
posted by Mr. Six at 10:16 AM - 13 comments

If you are going to sell a broken laptop on ebay, make sure you wipe the harddisk first (some photos NSFW)
posted by bluefin at 8:55 AM - 86 comments

“You are not to use electronic communication or even land lines when communicating.” Remember the Millennium Challenge '02 wargames (previously discussed here)? To refresh your memory, Lt. Gen. Paul Van Riper (ret.), playing the part of the enemy, sank half the American fleet using a host of unconventional tactics including using motorcycle messengers to avoid radio interception. The embarrassed Pentagon game masters restarted the game & forced Van Riper to use more conventional tactics that guaranteed a win by the Good Guys. Well it looks like the Iraqi insurgents have picked up a play from Van Riper's book. Flyers are being distributed throughout Iraq urging fighters to stop using cellphones, landline phones & the Internet for communications because the US Army is intercepting them & tracking down the rebel cells. Score one for open source warfare. [via]
posted by scalefree at 7:47 AM - 49 comments

This [youtube] is what happens when an "unemployed porn site user" and CARL MONDAY, CLEVELAND'S INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER meet at a local library. [via the always excellent Deadspin]
posted by docgonzo at 7:27 AM - 143 comments

Lost in translation. British Comedian Stewart Lee explores comedy in Germany and finds it stymied by the peculiarities of language and sentence construction. Mark Liberman at Language Log disagrees. And an extended essay by Josh Schonwald explores in greater depth how the German comedy scene is transitioning (PDF) from the more traditional kabernett to a burgeoning stand-up comedy scene, which is characterized by one observer as being in "the Bob Hope phase of comedy."
posted by madamjujujive at 4:13 AM - 72 comments

[Telecom] has used confusion as its chief marketing tool This quote from New Zealand's Telecom's CEO is used to set up this mashupof one of their advertisements. The original had kids praising the company; in this version they're saying they've been shafted. Telecom, naturally, has been trying ever since to get it off the internet - crying "Copyright!" (mirrors in the comments here)
posted by slightlybewildered at 2:19 AM - 7 comments

Indiana Jones and the Fountain of Youth A fan-made adventure game featuring a SCUMM-based system. A demo is available for download here.
posted by slater at 1:32 AM - 25 comments

The Apocalypse According to Mad Magazine? Basil Wolverton, best known for his work on early issues of Mad Magazine, was also a Minister in the Radio Church of God. This church, founded by Herbert Armstrong, father of Garner Ted, believed the Apocalypse would happen sometime in 1972, and Wolverton's illustrations were in pamphlets designed to alert the public to this fact. 1972 has passed, the church has splintered, and Herbert is long dead - but nonetheless he has a blog. As a bonus, you can view Basil's apocalypse in 3-d. Wolverton links via
posted by Rumple at 1:24 AM - 11 comments

A Fly Wearing Glasses
PopSci offers this cool gallery of high-magnification micro manufacturing coolness. Potentially NSFW if a mite at 50,000x could be construed as sexy.
posted by fenriq at 10:23 PM - 17 comments

Greensboro Truth & Reconciliation Commission releases its report. On Nov. 3, 1979, in Greensboro, N.C., Klansmen and Nazis fired on Communist Workers Party demonstrators, killing five and wounding 10. The gunmen, though captured on TV-news videotape, were acquitted of all charges in two criminal trials in the early 1980s. Two years ago, a Greensboro Truth & Reconciliation Commission was convened, following the South African model, to look into the case. It posted its report on its Web site earlier tonight, shedding some additional light on an incident that has divided the city for more than a quarter-century.
posted by lexalexander at 9:00 PM - 49 comments

Reggae and ska legend Desmond Dekker died today in London. In 1968, Dekker's song "Israelites", recorded with his band The Aces, became the first international hit by a Jamaican artist. According to his official site, the sixty-four-year old Dekker was still touring and booked to perform well into fall 2006.
posted by bcveen at 8:05 PM - 81 comments

The Wingdipper! A "specially designed dipping cup that allows Buffalo Wings to be evenly coated with dressing." Why do chickens hate it? Because "This innovative dipping cup design will only lead to more problems for the entire chicken community. In 2004, the average American consumed over 84 pounds of chicken. Already, Hooters sells 30 million pounds of wings every year! That's a whole lot of chicken." Crumb's right, I'm moving to France.
posted by JPowers at 7:35 PM - 38 comments

"We were forced to evacuate the remotely operated vehicle, 'Jason II,' several times to avoid getting it enveloped in volcanic clouds," said Bill Chadwick, ...one of the authors of the study. "But at other times, we could observe the eruption from only 10 feet away - something you could never do on land. So in some ways, we were able to see processes more clearly at the bottom of the ocean than we ever could on land. That was surprising." From KGW (bugmenot). Podcasts, videos, images, sounds, daily logs, and lots of information can be found on the project's website.
posted by pwb503 at 6:44 PM - 5 comments

MEDIA MISTAKES? Byron Calame, public editor of The New York Times, wrote a piece recently about how a faulty Page One story went unchallenged. He notes that despite a questionable premise, the story went uncorrected for a week, and even provoked a piece of art on the Times' op-ed page. Calame's piece gives us a tiny bit of insight into editorial mistakes and correction policies in the media, particularly when challenged from the outside. You get the sense of a behemoth bureaucracy in motion, difficult to head off, harder yet to correct. The Times itself collected some of its more ridiculous errors in its book Kill Duck Before Serving a few years ago. But less amusing is what law professor Eric Muller found. In early May, he heard Fox News' Judge Andrew Napolitano telling a story meant to illustrate how out of control the federal government's commerce-governing powers have become. Though Muller researched the supposed case Napolitano reported and found nothing in the legal archives, and asked Napolitano for more details, Napolitano has yet to respond.
posted by etaoin at 6:33 PM - 23 comments

Let's see if mefites like Jeff Cooper's list better than Heinlein's: What should a young male of 21 know, and what should he be able to do? There are no conclusive answers to those questions, but they are certainly worth asking. A young man should know how this country is run and how it got that way...A young man should be computer literate and, moreover, should know Hemingway from James Joyce. He should know how to drive a car well... He should know how to shoot well. He should know elementary geography, both worldwide and local. He should have a cursory knowledge of both zoology and botany. He should know the fundamentals of agriculture and corporate economy... He should know how to manage a motorcycle. He should be comfortable in at least one foreign language, more if appropriate to his background... These things should be accomplished before a son leaves his father's household.
posted by 445supermag at 5:24 PM - 69 comments

AIDS really did come from chimps in the 1950s --..."We're 25 years into this pandemic," Hahn said. "We don't have a cure. We don't have a vaccine. But we know where it came from. At least we can make a check mark on one of those." ... ...Identifying the source of the HIV pandemic is more than filling in a missing link in the disease's progression. ...
posted by amberglow at 5:00 PM - 24 comments

Republican-Approved Rock Music (NYT link). The National Review, the standard-bearing conservative rag founded by William F. Buckley (you know, Gore Vidal's good pal), has published a list of "Top 50 Conservative Rock Songs Of All Time" (NYT again -- not TNR). The explanations for the picks tend toward the obvious, if also occasionally nauseating. The top pick, and many of the others, are just this week's evidence of how irony is lost on much of conservative America.
posted by scatman at 4:03 PM - 114 comments