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Thank God for Airport Security. Can you believe this?
comment posted at 9:21 AM on Sep-10-03

The great comic Red Meat. Here's how to make your own Red Meat Comic. Here's the one I made.
comment posted at 3:15 PM on Sep-9-03

All US Air Passengers to be Profiled, and 1% Will be Banned from Boarding. In the most aggressive -- and, some say, invasive -- step yet, the federal government and the airlines will phase in a computer system next year to measure the risk posed by every passenger on every flight in the United States. Up to 8 percent of passengers who board flights will be coded "yellow" and pulled for additional screening. An estimated 1 to 2 percent will be labeled "red" and will be prohibited from boarding. These passengers also will face police questioning and may be arrested. [More Inside....]
comment posted at 11:43 AM on Sep-9-03

The best high school in America? WaPo's Michael Dirda reviews Edward Humes' School of Dreams: Making the Grade at a Top American High School.

Gretchen Whitney High is an incredible success ("People move to the Cerritos area so that their children can attend this school... And by move I don't mean from Los Angeles: They relocate from India, from Korea") story academically, especially considering its origins But there's always a price, typically exacted by the parents, who display the same good sense and no-pressure behaviors they've displayed at Little League and Pop Warner games. But no one's killed anybody over Whitney admission, at least that we know of. The story of Cecilia's art portfolio, though, will break your heart. Humes offers larger lessons, too, about how to improve our schools. I am buying this book today.
comment posted at 9:43 AM on Sep-8-03
comment posted at 1:13 PM on Sep-8-03

Waiting in line won't help you. According to the New York Times, Ticketmaster plans to begin auctioning off the best concert seats to the highest online bidders. The paper says there would be no limit on how high prices could go - it would be simply a matter of how much people were willing to pay. So, with ClearChannel, the RIAA and Ticketmaster now officially boinking the fan base...what other methods can the music industry use to drive away fans?
comment posted at 5:11 PM on Sep-3-03

Four 9/11 Widows Demand Truth. "This is a stonewalling job of far greater importance than Watergate. This concerns the refusal of the country’s leadership to be held accountable for the failure to execute its most fundamental responsibility: to protect its citizens against foreign attack. 'If we have an executive branch that holds sole discretion over what information is released to the public and what is hidden, the public will never get the full story of why there was an utter failure to protect them that day, and who should be held accountable.'"
comment posted at 1:58 PM on Aug-25-03
comment posted at 7:11 AM on Aug-26-03
comment posted at 8:24 AM on Aug-26-03
comment posted at 11:43 AM on Aug-26-03
comment posted at 5:31 PM on Aug-26-03

The World's Worst Food. "A naked imitation of the Gallery of Regrettable Food", featuring late 50's and early 60's-era recipes from the UK.
comment posted at 11:56 AM on Aug-25-03

A wonderful wee web adventure... Beautiful, creative, strange, bizarre, and fun too... exactly what the web should be about.
comment posted at 1:25 AM on Aug-21-03

who to kill?
jimmy carter or donald rumsfeld?
michael flatley, or downtown julie brown?
hello kitty or bug-eyed earl?
they line up, you decide.
comment posted at 12:57 AM on Aug-20-03
comment posted at 1:29 AM on Aug-20-03

We're number one! We're number one! From a source quoted in the article: "We have the wealthiest society in human history, and we maintain the highest level of imprisonment. It's striking what that says about our approach to social problems and inequality." (apologies for the usual US-centrism)
comment posted at 5:37 AM on Aug-19-03
comment posted at 7:39 AM on Aug-19-03
comment posted at 7:42 AM on Aug-19-03

In the 1980's, Mark "Gator" Rogowski was on par with Tony Hawk at the top of the nascent world of professional skateboarding. Contrasting the path Hawk took in the 90's (video games, ESPN tie-ins), things did not go so well for Gator. After surviving a hideous accident in 1989, Mark turned to Jesus, and then shortly thereafter he brutally raped & murdered a female friend of his ex-girlfriend's. The documentary of his rise & amazing fall appears today in limited release.
comment posted at 8:56 PM on Aug-15-03

The left hates bush the way the right hated clinton Here's an interesting article on, of all places, fox news illustrating the similarities between Bush and Clinton. It's a pretty intresting essay, and actualy seems to be... ghasp, fair and ballanced :P
comment posted at 9:00 PM on Aug-14-03

Massive New York power outage? Boing Boing is among the first to report that a massive power outage just hit much of the Northeast, including New York, Cleveland and Detroit. CNN's breaking news just confirmed it.
comment posted at 2:46 PM on Aug-14-03
comment posted at 2:59 PM on Aug-14-03

Save Our State: Vote Terry Tate. (NYT/rr) Remember the Reebok Superbowl ad featuring the "office linebacker"? Well, that actor just entered the California governor's race. As the bumpersticker says, "Where are we going and why am I in this handbasket?" Name your pick for next has-been to get on the ballot...I smell Kato.
comment posted at 8:22 AM on Aug-12-03

How Hip-Hop Holds Blacks Back As a white guy with a young kid, I worry about how the often gleefully violent, misogynist rap music he may choose to listen to could affect him. Maybe that's a racist thing for a white boy to say, but when a black scholar like John H. McWhorter says it, maybe it's worth considering.
comment posted at 2:00 PM on Aug-6-03

"If elected, I will resign." Probably the most unusual campaign promise ever made, this time by a potential candidate in the California governor's recall race -- Brian Flemming argues that Democrats are guilty of bringing a "feather to a gunfight" and is openly courting the vote of people who are "furious about this right-wing recall."
comment posted at 1:26 PM on Aug-6-03

6000 breathtaking aerial photos of American towns and other sites, with particularly good coverage of towns in New England (MA, VT, CT, NH, RI, ME). All of this by one photographer, Joseph Melanson, whose mission in life is "to show you facets of your environment that you never realized no matter how long you lived there."
comment posted at 12:49 PM on Aug-6-03

Mike Hawash pleads guilty to conspiring to provide services to the Taliban and will testify against his friends that attempted to travel to Afghanistan after September 11, 2001. After the previous MeFi threads about Mike here and here, this ought to be quite a suprise for some. No update yet on the Free Mike Hawash site.
comment posted at 12:39 PM on Aug-6-03
comment posted at 1:48 PM on Aug-6-03

Starbucks sucks! ' The culprits went as far as to stick "closed" and "for lease" signs and notices on the stores -- using bogus Starbucks Corp. letterhead -- announcing that "thousands of retail locations worldwide" were closing, and the Seattle- based company was "making room for local coffee bars." ' I'd be lying if I claimed that I've never fantasized about doing something like this. If nothing else, admire the organizational skills required to pull this off.
comment posted at 1:35 PM on Aug-6-03

Ever wonder who would respond to penis-enlargement spam? Corporate CEOs, veterinarians and athletic coaches, to name a few.
comment posted at 9:07 AM on Aug-6-03
comment posted at 9:25 AM on Aug-6-03
comment posted at 12:32 PM on Aug-6-03
comment posted at 2:41 PM on Aug-6-03

Those of you with crazy multi-tasking skills might want to check out Arcadia, where you play four different super simple games at the same time. Extra points for the stylishly retro chunky pixels look, which brings me right back to happy afternoons spent with my 2600!
comment posted at 3:45 PM on Aug-5-03
comment posted at 8:54 AM on Aug-6-03

The World Triathlon Corporation ("WTC") runs the Hawaii Ironman Triathlon. Most people have heard of the 2.4 mile swimming, 112 mile biking and 26.2 mile running race in Kona, Hawaii. It's the best-known and most prestigious race in the sport of the triathlon (although no longer the most lucrative). Legend has it that the event was born in 1978 when some buddies in Hawaii, led by former Navy captain John Collins, were debating which was the toughest sporting event in Hawaii: the 2.4-mile Waikiki Rough Water Swim, the 112-mile bike race around Oahu, or the 26.2-mile Honolulu Marathon. After more than a few beers, the legend goes, the small group decided to attempt all three distances in one day, and the Ironman was born. Today, the Ironman ("IM") is a trademarked event replicated annually almost 20 times all over the world by the WTC. These (and a few 1/2 IM races) function as qualifying races for Hawaii, which now serves as the World Championship. Basically, each of these events is allotted a number of qualifying slots per age group and you have to win a spot for Kona. The non-pros that they show on TV are generally the result of 200 lottery slots or special invitation (celebrity, good tv story, etc). Athletes are lining up to get into IM races in the US. Currently, there are 4 IM trademarked races in the US: Ironman USA in Lake Placid, Ironman Wisconsin in Madison, Ironman Coeur d'Alene in Idaho and Ironman Florida in Panama City. What you may not know is that to participate in one of these you routinely have to register and pay the $400+ fee almost one year in advance. Registration for the 2003 races closed within a week or two of the completion of the 2002 races. Just recently, registration for the 2004 Ironman USA -- 2003 was held last weekend -- closed in two days, so you're already too late for next year. And who are these entrants? According to USAT demographics, over 41% of triathletes (USAT members) earn more than $80,000 per year, 40% have college degrees and 48% have graduate/post-graduate degrees. Perhaps reflective of the demographics, CEO's (of corporations with a minimum $1 Million in annual gross revenue) now have their own racing category. The WTC may own the name "Ironman" but I have my eye on a non-WTC, "iron distance" event this year: Duke. You can still register for this one. Here is a 13-week Ironman training schedule for a 12-14 hour finishing time.
comment posted at 12:05 PM on Aug-5-03
comment posted at 12:14 PM on Aug-5-03
comment posted at 2:03 PM on Aug-5-03
comment posted at 3:21 PM on Aug-5-03

"The generals love napalm. It has a big psychological effect." Marines firebombed Iraqis during the initial campaign of the Iraq war.
comment posted at 12:08 PM on Aug-5-03
comment posted at 3:42 PM on Aug-5-03
comment posted at 9:05 AM on Aug-6-03

Why Do Gays Smoke So Much? Yet another escape from the cruel shackles of responsibility. Why do Gays smoke? 1. They have no children. 2. Social Opprobrium. 3. People are mean. This isn't journalism. It's crap. High risk behaviors tend to promote other high risk behaviors, like the tattoos-sex-cigaretts connection. It could be something even more sinister, like the values of particular subcultures. How can we get people to take more responsibility for self destructive behavior? Cigarettes, fat, alcohol, unsafe sex... if we are ever forced into National Health Care, there will be no reason to deny ourselves anything. Have another cigarette on me.
comment posted at 8:28 AM on Aug-5-03
comment posted at 9:02 AM on Aug-5-03

Move over Segway! Sir Clive Sinclair, who invented the first pocket calculator (retailing at only £79.95 + VAT in 1972), the ZX80, and the ZX81 with its massive 8K operating system, is promising an update to the Sinclair C5 that will compete with the Segway.
comment posted at 8:16 AM on Aug-5-03

Geek or killer? Can you tell the difference? (via Daypop)
comment posted at 3:41 PM on Aug-4-03

Twenty-seven percent of Americans are obese. And now, more than ever the obese are rolling into court with workplace discrimination lawsuits.
comment posted at 2:43 PM on Aug-4-03

Do you want fresh, locally grown, organic food, but don't know where to find it? The LocalHarvest map makes it easy to find family farms, farmers markets and other sources of sustainably grown food in your area.
comment posted at 2:45 PM on Aug-4-03

Interesting list of college athletic teams' nicknames. [More inside.]
comment posted at 1:29 PM on Aug-4-03

Why I Hate Advocacy. Baseball, politics, and programming languages? Mark Jason-Dominus created a classic article that is really about the general human tendancy towards flawed dialogue and the pitfalls surrounding evangelism, even though it's specifically directed towards the perl programming community. Indeed, as in the past, some may see the "spectre of Metafilter itself" in Mark's words.
comment posted at 12:52 PM on Aug-4-03