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The Pentagon has decided to omit from new detainee policies a key tenet of the Geneva Conventions that explicitly bans "humiliating and degrading treatment," according to knowledgeable military officials, a step that would mark a further shift away from strict adherence to international human rights standards.
comment posted at 6:24 PM on Jun-5-06
comment posted at 7:21 PM on Jun-5-06
comment posted at 8:44 PM on Jun-5-06
comment posted at 8:50 PM on Jun-6-06

Refi: Metafilter in Review [via mefi projects]
comment posted at 4:25 AM on Jun-3-06
comment posted at 4:26 AM on Jun-3-06

David Pogue is the rudest man alive! "My wife and I were excited to receive, as [a] very generous Christmas present from a relative, a Magellan RoadMate 300." He then goes on to absolutely obliterate the gift, *on the New York Times website*, for 20 paragraphs, after which he demands, "For the gift-giver: Do your research. Read the customer reviews. Beware outdated products on store shelves." It's a gift! Learn some tact dude.
comment posted at 12:14 AM on Jun-2-06
comment posted at 12:23 AM on Jun-2-06

Waiting For Plastic. Down again. Been down so long, someone started a weblog about it. It's not the first time. Who knows if this is the last? [via]
comment posted at 6:10 PM on May-31-06

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."
comment posted at 9:38 PM on May-27-06

I'm a huge fan of clever unintended uses for things, and loloroy's favorites reuses a page/interface I've seen hundreds of times before in a cute way. It may take a second to figure out, but should be worth it [via tmn].
comment posted at 11:54 PM on May-24-06
comment posted at 12:21 AM on May-25-06
comment posted at 5:34 PM on May-25-06

Wal-Mart fails in South Korea. As a student of business and a resident of Asia, I am fascinated by the examples of "foreign" businesses who either succeed or fail in Asian markets. Recently, Vodafone failed in Japan but in a strange twist has signed a J-V with Softbank to keep their presence in Japan. eBay failed in Japan as did Memoirs of a Geisha. I'd love to have a discussion on the successes AND failures of non-Asian businesses in Asian markets and what, if any, lessons can be taken away for those of us who are in Asian markets or wish to enter Asian markets. (Yes, I realize that "Asia" is too broad of a region but I don't want to limit the discussion to just one nation.)
comment posted at 12:01 AM on May-25-06

It's the shoes. Yeah, another iPod post. And a Nike post. iPod + Nike, guaranteed to inflame millions.
comment posted at 5:14 PM on May-23-06

NewsFilter: 1 in every 136 US residents in jail or prison.
comment posted at 9:00 PM on May-21-06

A rather well-edited and well-editorialized video of anti-protester police tactics as seen from perspective of police-operated cameras from the infamous protest in Portland of 2002. (Coral Cache here.)
comment posted at 11:03 PM on May-21-06
comment posted at 1:45 AM on May-22-06

When I Came Home: Iraq War veteran Herold Noel suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder and lives out of his car in Brooklyn. Using Noel's story as a fulcrum, this doc examines the wider issue of homeless U.S. military veterans-from Vietnam to Iraq-who have to fight tooth-and-nail to receive the benefits promised to them by their government.
comment posted at 6:38 PM on May-21-06
comment posted at 6:47 PM on May-21-06
comment posted at 9:10 PM on May-21-06
comment posted at 9:13 PM on May-21-06

Forever Pregnant. The CDC has released guidelines for improving the "preconception health" of all women of childbearing age whether they plan to have children or not. From the the WaPo article: "among other things, this means all women between first menstrual period and menopause should take folic acid supplements, refrain from smoking, maintain a healthy weight and keep chronic conditions such as asthma and diabetes under control." So ladies, don't even think of touching the litter box. You know, just in case.
comment posted at 7:04 PM on May-19-06

A televised snooker 147 is the big deal for snooker professionals. The first was by Canadian Cliff Thorburn. The fastest was by Ronnie O'Sullivan. The luckiest goes to John Higgins. Also by Kirk Stevens, Mark Williams, Stephen Hendry, and Ronnie, Ronnie, Ronnie.
comment posted at 12:43 AM on May-18-06

"many far-left thinkers believe the white power structure that controls America is bad, so a drastic change is needed." O'Reilly continued: "According to the lefty zealots, the white Christians who hold power must be swept out by a new multicultural tide, a rainbow coalition, if you will."
_{Then there's John Gibson's call for more white babies}
comment posted at 12:51 AM on May-18-06
comment posted at 1:28 AM on May-18-06

Tony Snow doesn't want to hug the 'tar baby' of commitment. [WMV] [QT]
comment posted at 9:10 PM on May-16-06
comment posted at 10:35 PM on May-16-06

With little fanfare, after a hiatus that began in May, 2001, and following Greg Knauss's recent guest stint on kottke.org, An Entirely Other Day has returned. Just in case you missed it.
comment posted at 6:10 PM on May-16-06

Gamma is the new beta. Web 3.0 is here, via the new Flickr interface. And it's sexy.
comment posted at 6:16 PM on May-16-06
comment posted at 3:21 AM on May-17-06
comment posted at 5:11 AM on May-17-06
comment posted at 9:53 PM on May-17-06

Cool site of the day times 2006: PopURLs! [via]
comment posted at 10:58 PM on May-15-06
comment posted at 10:59 PM on May-15-06

Federal Source to ABC News: We Know Who You're Calling
comment posted at 2:18 AM on May-16-06
comment posted at 2:59 AM on May-16-06

Deviation (embedded video); a Machinima film hits the mainstream festival circuit. (previous forays into Machinima)
comment posted at 4:09 AM on May-15-06
comment posted at 4:11 AM on May-15-06

A little over a year ago, the Guiding Hand Social Club issued a stunning press release - after months of infiltration and planning they had fulfilled an assassination contract on the CEO of a major corporation and ransacked the corporation's hangers, stealing almost 20 billion ISK, worth over $16,000 USD at the time. See PCGamer's excellent detailed description of the event: pages 1, 2, 3, 4. As synthetic worlds like Eve-Online and World of Warcraft gain popularity, what should we make of this kind of behavior? Eve's own players respond. Also, a response with a little more perspective. And what's going to happen when the IRS catches on?
comment posted at 5:48 PM on May-14-06

Chef Kazuki Yamamoto will cook just about anything. Casting aside all concern for the law, he prepares exotic dishes for celebrities and the ultra-rich. No species is off limits; his dishes have included penguin, walrus, whale, seal, dolphin, hippo, rhino, sea lion, chimpanzee, gorilla, monkey, brown bear, gazelle, giraffe, zebra, mountain lion, sea turtle, gila monster, ferruginous pygmy owl, bighorn sheep, Bichon Frise, and (it is claimed) human.
comment posted at 5:34 PM on May-14-06

Oil and Gas are such slut bags! Coal is so cute! Don't you feel like such a schmuck for not liking coal? A NPO promoting the benefits of coal with children for spokespeople.
comment posted at 6:45 PM on May-13-06
comment posted at 6:46 PM on May-13-06

Roy D. Mercer asks Bill Goldberg if he's ready for an ass whoopin.[more inside]
comment posted at 5:33 PM on May-11-06

Have your war and heat it too? As the war approaches the $350 billion mark, Cass Sunstein notes: "For the United States, the economic burden of the Iraq war is on the verge of exceeding the total anticipated burden of the Kyoto Protocol." Costs may rise as high as $10 trillion. At least we know it wasn't about oil: in a good year, Iraq makes about $14 billion on fossil fuels. (via)
comment posted at 2:11 AM on May-11-06

Living without Numbers or Time...
The Pirahã people have no history, no descriptive words and no subordinate clauses. That makes their language one of the strangest in the world -- and also one of the most hotly debated by linguists. [via aldaily.com]
comment posted at 11:51 PM on May-10-06

"The mind-set that invites a couple to use contraception is an anti-child mind-set," she told me. "So when a baby is conceived accidentally, the couple already have this negative attitude toward the child. Therefore seeking an abortion is a natural outcome. We oppose all forms of contraception." Don't even mention the mind-set behind a vaccine for HPV.
comment posted at 7:36 PM on May-9-06
comment posted at 12:19 AM on May-16-06
comment posted at 7:22 AM on May-16-06
comment posted at 4:32 PM on May-16-06