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Ted Haggard, one of the most prominent evangelical pastors in the nation, resigned today as president of the National Association of Evangelicals amid allegations that he carried on a three-year sexual relationship with a male prostitute. He also steps down as pastor of of his 14,000-member New Life Church while a church panel investigates, saying he could "not continue to minister under the cloud created by the accusations."
comment posted at 9:49 PM on Nov-4-06
comment posted at 9:50 PM on Nov-4-06
comment posted at 9:50 PM on Nov-4-06

The Virtual Gramophone. A massive database of early Canadian 78 RPM recordings, now available in mp3 and rm format. Over 13,000 titles available, freely downloadable. Includes biographical notes on the artists, notes on the history of Canadian recording, interesting technical notes on media conversion, a few videos from the olde dayes, and podcasts. This collection is particularly strong on Quebecois and Acadien folk/fiddle music. Courtesy of the Library and Archives Services of the Government of Canada. Mentioned once before in passing, five years ago on Metafilter, but much improved since them realaudio only days.
comment posted at 10:36 PM on Oct-31-06

Enduring Outrage: Editorial Cartoons by Herblock, an LOC exhibition. From 1950s plutocrats to 1970s ethics scandals, and up to the ideal American Flag of the religious Right, Block captured complex issues in just one frame. His drawings about government limitations of civil liberties seem particularly prescient.
comment posted at 11:55 AM on Oct-31-06

Her vote went smoothly, but boss Gary Rudolf called her over to look at what was happening on his machine. He touched the screen for gubernatorial candidate Jim Davis, a Democrat, but the review screen repeatedly registered the Republican, Charlie Crist. ...A poll worker then helped Rudolf, but it took three tries to get it right, Reed said. ... Broward Supervisor of Elections spokeswoman Mary Cooney said it's not uncommon for screens on heavily used machines to slip out of sync, making votes register incorrectly. ... Early voting problems already in Florida.
comment posted at 3:56 PM on Oct-30-06

"Two years of twisting my back for 15 bucks an hour as an artist's model convinced me that modern sketch classes weren't nearly as sexy as they were cracked up to be."

Dr. Sketchy's Anti-Art School, hosted in Brooklyn and with branches around the World , gives artists the chance to draw burlesque performers like The World Famous *BOB* , Dirty martini , and Amber Ray , and make real pretty pictures . A return to glory days? Or just another tired trend?

Oh, and there is a book.

(Possibly NSFW if your job doesn't like pasties. )
comment posted at 1:34 PM on Oct-29-06

Fixavote.com Election Consultants "provides unparalleled results by focusing on the outcome rather than the process. Using state-of the-art technology, we overcome the challenges of competition and ensure election results for our clients." (To make it even more evil, it's Flash-based) A food-for-thought satire or something more? When A reporter called the site's 800 number, the person who answered "said that he had been contacted by representatives of about 30 political campaigns to date." (I'm thinking sting operation to catch dishonest idiot politicians. Whad'ya think?)
comment posted at 10:40 AM on Oct-29-06

A bill President Bush signed on 17 October grants the President expanded powers to declare martial law (currently Slashdotted; Digg mirror). Text of the bill; see "SEC. 1076. USE OF THE ARMED FORCES ...".
comment posted at 3:38 PM on Oct-28-06

A manual for electoral apocalypse in America. Quite a bit's been written both on MeFi and other places about how bad Diebold machines are. Rolling Stone wrote an article about election fraud in 2004 that was discussed here on MeFi. Tonight, Ars posted a very thorough, very clear article about how we are completely screwed if we do not enact expensive, fundamental changes in how we handle elections in America. It's too late to do anything about the elections in a couple weeks, but perhaps steps can be taken to fix things before 2008...
comment posted at 1:01 PM on Oct-26-06

101 Most Influential People Who Never Lived is a book chronicling the most impactful (non-religious) fictional characters throughout history. While they only tease with the first 50 characters on the book's homepage, the hard hitting investigative journalists at USA Today have uncovered the entire 101 for your arguing enjoyment.
comment posted at 10:20 AM on Oct-25-06

Bush says he uses "The Google."
comment posted at 5:14 PM on Oct-23-06

Would you marry me? A man wants to buy an ad during the Super Bowl to pop the question.
comment posted at 11:28 AM on Oct-23-06

CAPS LOCK DAY HAPPY CAPS LOCK DAY! THAT IS ALL. PREVIOUSLY.
comment posted at 9:05 PM on Oct-21-06

Archaeological treasures found on Google Earth. In 25 years on the ground, "I've found a handful of archaeological sites. I found more in the first five, six, seven hours [on Google Earth] than I've found in years of traditional field surveys and aerial archaeology,"
comment posted at 9:46 PM on Oct-17-06

First, interrobang got the ball rolling with his cool illustrations that can be shuffled in any order to create a new continuous panorama. Cortex added some coded widgetry to automate the process, creating a neat little toy. Then taz and iconomy joined in with their own creative spin. It's nice to see a contemporary techno version of the polyrama, a fine creative tradition dating back to the mid 1800s.
comment posted at 6:25 PM on Oct-17-06
comment posted at 6:26 PM on Oct-17-06
comment posted at 10:53 AM on Oct-21-06

The Magic of NSFW. Ursula Martinez has been discussed here before, but I searched for, and failed to find, the first link (google video).
comment posted at 12:15 PM on Oct-15-06
comment posted at 12:16 PM on Oct-15-06

In 1979 Paul McCartney asked a few friends, namely John Paul Jones, David Gilmour, Ronnie Lane, John Bonham, Kenney Jones, Hank Marvin and Pete Townshend to stop by the studio for a bit of a jam. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Rockestra.
comment posted at 11:38 AM on Oct-16-06

"I've seen what happened in Abu Ghraib, and Abu Ghraib was not torture." [brief youtube video, safe for work, only tortured analysis, no actual torture or sex]
"The bottom line was it was sex. . . . It wasn't primarily about torture."
comment posted at 10:39 AM on Oct-13-06

A World War One sketchbook from an unknown soldier. Some of them are quite enigmatic.
comment posted at 5:16 PM on Oct-11-06

Saw Director gets cranial sunroof! It's not every award show that pops people's skulls live onstage. Maybe the Oscars should take notes?
comment posted at 10:47 AM on Oct-10-06

"None suspect that idealistic committed little folk-singer Bob Dylan is in fact the amazing Zimmerman -- faster than a proxy ballot, more powerful than an ulterior motive, and able to buy tall buildings with a single bond!" [More inside]
comment posted at 1:08 PM on Oct-9-06

Nietzsche Family Circus : Family Circus cartoons randomly combined with quotes from Nietzsche. Remixing Family Circus is nothing new, but I find this one fascinating.
comment posted at 10:05 PM on Oct-5-06

Protecting your privacy on Craig's List. Sex blogger Violet Blue re-assures Craig's List users with a list of tips to protect yourself from the new scammers who harvest your pictures and emails, and then publish them on the web.
comment posted at 11:08 AM on Oct-5-06

Was that real manure? Biff wants you to stop asking him the question. (YouTube)
comment posted at 3:29 PM on Oct-2-06

The Libertarian Democrat. Kos makes the case for the Libertarian Democrat for the Cato Institute.
comment posted at 11:38 AM on Oct-2-06

The Penthouse Wondering what to do with the $70 mil. that Granny left you in her will? You could buy that private tropical island you have had your eye on but that's a 30 hour trip in your private jet. Wouldn't you really be happier here?
comment posted at 4:40 PM on Sep-30-06

The HiRISE camera is one of eleven instruments on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. Yesterday the first few images were downloaded from the MRO.
comment posted at 11:11 AM on Sep-30-06

This Is What Waterboarding Looks Like -- David Corn, co-author with Michael Isikoff of HUBRIS: The Inside Story of Spin, Scandal and the Selling of the Iraq War, writes about what waterboarding is and what the torturer's tools look like. Back in the day, the Khmer Rouge, among other repressive regimes, used it. Interestingly, waterboarding typically isn't employed to gain useful information. No, this near-drowning technique is most useful for eliciting "confessions". Good times, good times. ( via reddit via Diggdot.us)
comment posted at 5:33 PM on Sep-29-06

Your favorite movie stars and the roles they didn't get. Edward James Olmos instead of Christopher Llloyd? JODIE FOSTER INSTEAD OF CARRIE FISHER?!
comment posted at 8:16 PM on Sep-28-06

Shakespeare Apocrypha including such classics as 'The Birth of Merlin', 'The Merry Devil of Edmonton' and 'The Life and Death of the Lord Cromwell'.
comment posted at 3:45 PM on Sep-28-06

Habeas Corpus, R.I.P. (1215 - 2006). It was so pre-9/11 anyway. Instead we may get "our generation’s version of the Alien and Sedition Acts." What could go wrong?
comment posted at 1:17 PM on Sep-28-06

Long before Robert Johnson ever went down to the crossroads, violinist & composer Niccolo Paganini was rumored to have sold his soul to the devil in exchange for musical ability. Evidence against this theory: Paganini's 5th Caprice actually prevented the devil from stealing The Karate Kid's soul (the devil settled for stealing Ralph Macchio's career instead). Evidence in favor of this theory: When played on acoustic guitar, the virtuosity in his 24th Caprice really seems supernaturally inspired. For my money, however, the perfect storm of ominous music & stringed instruments comes together in this version of Carmina Burana (mp3 direct download), arranged for solo banjo.
comment posted at 11:19 AM on Sep-28-06

Cats + Hamlet = Cat Head Theater. A short by Tim Maloney, author of pretty weird videos.
comment posted at 6:24 PM on Sep-27-06

Scientists discover a region of the brain responsible for feelings of 'self' and 'other'. If electrically stimulated, it causes the perception of an alien being-- a shadow person, standing just behind you, mimicking your every move. This could explain strange feelings of being watched, or of strange presences, or ghosts.
comment posted at 11:51 AM on Sep-27-06

A Rogue State. Matt Yglesias sums up what America has become after the McCain "Compromise."
comment posted at 12:24 PM on Sep-26-06

Online Guerilla Marketing. Also seen (buy coke) by the guys over (it's yummy) at Penny Arcade. They are among (better than Pepsi) us!
comment posted at 9:35 AM on Sep-25-06

He loves tradition: "[He] said he came to Virginia because he wanted to play football in a place where 'blacks knew their place'."

He gives free food to the poor: "After they had killed a deer, [he asked] where the local black residents lived. [He] then drove... to that neighborhood with the severed head of the deer. 'He proceeded to take the doe's head and stuff it into a mailbox'".

And even before "macaca", he enjoyed giving out clever nicknames: "[He] gave him the nickname 'Wizard,' because he shared a last name with.... the imperial wizard of the United Klans of America".

(But don't call him a Jew! That would be an "aspersion.")
comment posted at 9:58 PM on Sep-24-06

Interview with President Clinton.
comment posted at 11:39 AM on Sep-24-06
comment posted at 6:09 PM on Sep-24-06

Lunatic religious cartoonist Jack Chick is targeting a new demographic; converting his greatest hits to provide more "urban" appeal.
comment posted at 11:53 AM on Sep-24-06

Spy Agencies Say Iraq War Worsens Terror Threat. A stark assessment of terrorism trends by American intelligence agencies has found that the American invasion and occupation of Iraq has helped spawn a new generation of Islamic radicalism and that the overall terrorist threat has grown since the Sept. 11 attacks. The assessment is part of the latest "National Intelligence Estimate".
comment posted at 7:18 PM on Sep-23-06

The atheist. "Evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins explains why God is a delusion, religion is a virus, and America has slipped back into the Dark Ages."
comment posted at 9:13 AM on Sep-22-06

Partituras - Hundreds of perfectly scanned "classical" music scores (and parts) in PDF. Chose a composer from the pop-up menu in the middle of the page to browse the available works by that composer.
comment posted at 11:10 PM on Sep-21-06

Senators cave on torture.
comment posted at 9:29 PM on Sep-21-06

Some people call it a poll-tax: "The House yesterday passed legislation that would require voters to show a valid photo identification in federal elections over the overwhelming objections of Democrats who compared the bill to segregation-era measures aimed at disenfranchising Southern blacks." [previously]
comment posted at 10:34 AM on Sep-21-06

Comic Book Urban Legends. Would you believe ... that a Marvel Comics editor became a Pet Shop Boy? that Wonder Woman's creator invented the real-life lie detector? that the first-ever Marvel / DC Comics crossover was The Wizard Of Oz? that the King of Rock & Roll found hairstyle inspiration in Captain Marvel, Jr? Three of these are true, one is false, but all of the behind-the-scenes tales compiled by Comics Should Be Good could prove blissfully detrimental to your afternoon productivity.
comment posted at 5:37 PM on Sep-20-06