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When Iranian paper Hamshahri (in Persian) launched a contest for Holocaust cartoons, an Israeli group responded in turn with a contest of their own for cartoons that make fun of Jews. Too bad it closed yesterday, or the Dutch branch of the AEL could submit theirs. (WARNING: some of the linked content may be offensive to readers' ethnicities, cultures, religions, or tastes.)
comment posted at 4:07 PM on Mar-4-06

The Greatest American
comment posted at 11:37 AM on Mar-3-06

Does smoking have health benefits? Some argue yes, but is it enough to stop the masses from making this seed bearing plant the root of all evil? If we feel it wise to keep the young from smoking is it OK to outright lie if the end justifies the means?
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For the sake of the world's poor, we must keep the wealthy at home, writes George Monbiot, calling the aviation industry "the greatest future cause of global warming," and asserting that growing passenger numbers is "an utter, unparalleled disaster". The airline industry responds: Stop this war on tourism. "Would the unfolding Darfur tragedy be tolerated if the country had a thriving tourism industry? How much of the relief money for victims of the tsunami was raised because so many of us had visited the affected areas on holiday?"
comment posted at 8:11 AM on Mar-3-06
comment posted at 8:32 AM on Mar-3-06

Today is Texas Independence Day On March 2, 1836, the Texas Declaration of Independence was signed at Washington-on-the-Brazos. The document was created by the Convention of 1836 while almost a couple hundred brave Texans at the Alamo held Gen. Santa Anna's army of several thousand at bay for 13 days. On March 6, the Alamo finally fell, slaughtered to the last man. On March 27, 352 Texas soliders were slaughtered at the Goliad Massacre. Finally on April 21, the untrained armies of Texas, outnumbered and under the command of Sam Houston, decisively defeated the much larger and better trained and equipped Army of Mexico at the Battle of San Jacinto and captured the Mexican dictator Santa Anna. Happy Texas Independence Day.
comment posted at 11:45 AM on Mar-2-06
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comment posted at 1:57 PM on Mar-2-06

Krautrock: From the hypnotic rhythms and melodies of Can, to the revolutionary electronics of Kraftwerk. Krautrock was a genre that spawned many genius acts. The communal bands like Amon Duul II and Siloah that were soon to be emulated by cult-like restaurant owners, Ya Ho Wha . There were the obscure acts like Zweistein whose sound evokes thoughts of current bands like Animal Collective and Wooden Wand. And there were albums the ground-breaking albums like Tangerine Dream's dark, ambient, Phaedra and the Manuel Gottsching record E2-E4 which is considered to be the first techno album ever produced. Needless to say, Krautrock's influence has been lasting and monumental.
comment posted at 11:53 AM on Mar-2-06

'In all of rock history, there can be few stranger stories than that of Yahowa 13', formed in 1969 in Los Angeles by a middle-aged beatnik called Jim Baker, who believed himself a god and went by the nickname of Father Yod. Yod became a guru of sorts for a group called the Source Family. Based around the group of disciples, Yahowa 13 made almost a dozen limited-circulation LPs (slightly nsfw cover art), most within the course of just a couple of years. 'Yahowa 13's most successful artistic statement was 1974's Penetration: An Aquarian Symphony... At the end of 1974, the Source Family moved to Hawaii. On August 25, 1975, Yod went hang-gliding for the first time and was mortally injured upon landing, dying after about nine hours. His disciples scattered within two years after his passing.' See also: 2002 interview with band members.
comment posted at 9:26 AM on Mar-2-06

THE SAINTLY SINNER. “Maudlin,” a derivative of Magdalene, in the English language, with the meaning of “mawkishly lachrymose.”
comment posted at 9:33 AM on Mar-2-06

Freddie's Home Page features streams of some classic hard-to-find instrumental surf albums from The Ventures, The Shadows, The Spotnicks and more, including my personal all-time favourite surf record. In other surf music news the previously mentioned Surf Guitar 101 has recently relaunched as a community site dedicated to surf music. Not familiar with instrumental surf music? Check out Delvar Surf Sessions Online Radio for a taste of some of the finest instrumental surf around.
comment posted at 9:45 AM on Mar-2-06

Scientology has a plausible explanation for everything they do -- that's the genius of it," says Sara. "But make no mistakes: Scientology is brainwashing." [Previous MeFi Scientology Threads]
comment posted at 1:50 PM on Mar-1-06
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The Worst Company in America. Which company sucks most? The first two square off: Halliburton vs. Monsanto. Do your own research and vote.
comment posted at 1:34 PM on Feb-22-06

American Chemical Society Feb. 2006 "As the federal government cuts back on funding for research, scientists are now forced to rely more and more on financial assistance from corporations; this raises troubling questions about whether the results from these studies will be impartial and objective or favorable to the companies that paid for them." “The whole scientific enterprise is being distorted by these corporate interests ...”
comment posted at 12:29 PM on Feb-22-06

On February 21, 1965, Malcolm X was gunned down in Harlem. After being shot several times inside the Audubon Ballroom, he was pronounced dead on arrival at Vanderbilt Clinic, Columbia Presbyterian Hospital. Malcolm sez: "If violence is wrong in America, violence is wrong abroad. If it is wrong to be violent defending black women and black children and black babies and black men, then it is wrong for America to draft us, and make us violent abroad in defense of her. And if it is right for America to draft us, and teach us how to be violent in defense of her, then it is right for you and me to do whatever is necessary to defend our own people right here in this country." (from a November 1963 speech in New York City) Then, there's this 1964 speech.
comment posted at 1:38 PM on Feb-21-06
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The Sartorialist takes a look at fashion trends as seen on the streets of New York City. [via Gothamist]
comment posted at 2:07 PM on Feb-20-06

"Don't talk to me. Don't speak to me. Stay with me." Three years later, the author of Atlantic Monthly's most popular essay sits down for an interview.
comment posted at 11:00 AM on Feb-20-06
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Battle plans for Iran... resonates with the sad ring of real possibility.
comment posted at 7:00 AM on Feb-18-06

A monstrous discovery suggests that viruses, long regarded as lowly evolutionary latecomers, may have been the precursors of all life on Earth. "We haven't even begun to scratch the surface. The numbers are mind-boggling. If you put every virus particle on Earth together in a row, they would form a line 10 million light-years long. People, even most biologists, don't have a clue. The general public thinks genetic diversity is us and birds and plants and animals and that viruses are just HIV and the flu. But most of the genetic material on this planet is viruses. No question about it. They and their ability to interact with organisms and move genetic material around are the major players in driving speciation, in determining how organisms even become what they are."
comment posted at 4:33 PM on Feb-17-06

What makes an official executioner? Is it obsession with the tools of death? Does it run in the family? Is it a religious duty? Happenstance? A good way to test your sword? Whatever the reason, one wonders what it takes to make a successful executioner and what it would be like to walk in their shoes. Sometimes there is a terrible profundity in their final act.
comment posted at 8:18 AM on Feb-17-06

I just watched the chilling video of a sniper [Flash, NSFW] in Iraq on TV. It was given to Paul McGeough of the Sydney Morning Herald and published on their site. As discussed on The ABC Lateline programme (transcript not available at posting time but pretty much covered by the SMH). Please read the report to put the video in perspective. It's propaganda but...
comment posted at 7:07 AM on Feb-14-06
comment posted at 8:19 AM on Feb-14-06

We've heard of outsider music, but along with this is the strange world of song-poems. ...ordinary people" respond to come-on ads on the back pages of magazines, mailing in their heartfelt but often bizarre poems to "music industry" companies that, for a fee, turn those poems into real recordings. More inside...
comment posted at 7:49 AM on Feb-14-06

McDonald's: The Videogame. A scathing critique of lousy corporate and environmental practices, or an entertainingly complex little game about the fast food industry? A little from column A, a little from column B. Torch diseased cows with the flamethrower, corrupt politicians and environmentalists, plant genetically modified soy in what used to be the rain forests of South America, force your employees to smile all the livelong day, and try not to bankrupt the company. Be sure to read the tutorial first. (Flash.)
comment posted at 6:30 AM on Feb-10-06

So, you're gonna talk about energy? Wonder if the President will mention the record profits his buddies in big oil have been earning. Exxon Mobil who made a record $25.3bn (€19.4bn) profit in 2004, earned a company record $9.9bn (€8.2bn) in the fourth quarter of 2005. In the same quarter, Condoleeza Rice's former employer Chevron, who once named an oil tanker for their former vice president, earned a record $4.14bn (€4.43bn). The third-largest US oil company, ConocoPhillips, has reported a fourth quarter profit of $3.68bn (€3.05bn), a 50% leap from the same time a year ago.The industry claims that oil companies earn 7.3 cents on a gallon, but "Exxon's profit for the year... a staggering $36.13 billion is bigger than the economies of 125 of the 184 countries ranked by the World Bank. Profit rose 42 percent from 2004."

You gonna talk about that, George?
comment posted at 11:03 AM on Jan-30-06

He's been compared to Stephen Merritt, Jonathan Richman, Beck, and Calvin Johnston (who he's sampled). Here be Jens Lekman's Department of Forgotten Songs--a small sampling of his charming pop tunes. Not familiar with him? Try Pocketful of Money or Boisa-Bis-O-Boisa for starters. (2nd and 3rd link are mp3s)
comment posted at 12:51 PM on Jan-30-06

Russian photographs 1917-1945 A collection of photographs from the Howard Schickler Gallery,including the Battle of Stalingrad, the Arctic, the collectivization of agriculture, and others. I liked the photos by Olga Lander, in particular.
comment posted at 5:39 AM on Jan-30-06
comment posted at 11:08 AM on Jan-30-06

Poor old Abe. He had an impressive medical history, as previously discussed. Will we ever figure out all his ailments? As an explanation for "his especially clumsy gait," one theory claims that he had Marfan's Syndrome (with good company). But now researchers are leaning more toward a new theory, that a gene-linked disorder called ataxia. But Lincoln also suffered from depression which could have been heriditary, for which he took "little blue pills" that gave him mercury poisoning, which could explain his insomnia, tremors and rage attacks, gait, and more. Of course, we also suspect that he was in the closet. Lincoln's DNA will continue to be a growth industry, at least until somebody can get hold of a sample of the old guy and figure him out for sure.
comment posted at 10:45 AM on Jan-29-06
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comment posted at 5:51 AM on Jan-30-06

In 1872, influenced by the Impressionists at the Exposition Universelle, Italian painter Giovanni Boldini permanently settled in Paris. There, he quickly developed a reputation for his elegant depictions of fashionable society women executed with bold, fluid brushstrokes that made the model appear to be thrown onto the canvas -- the "Master of Swish". By the turn of the century Boldini had become the most sought after portrait painter of the 'La Belle Epoque'. More inside.
comment posted at 1:49 PM on Jan-27-06

Sly Stone--not dead, might perform again. [from WaPo] A great musician and a complicated life.
comment posted at 11:49 AM on Jan-27-06
comment posted at 1:54 PM on Jan-27-06

Can we have an intelligent non-religion-bashing discussion about this article? ". . . perhaps the most shocking implication of my inquiry into the role religion plays in our lives" : ". . . those who have an unquestioning faith in the correctness of the moral teachings of their religion are a problem: If they haven't conscientiously considered, on their own, whether their pastors or priests or rabbis or imams are worthy of such delegated authority over their lives, then they are taking a personally immoral stand. Please RTFA before commenting.
comment posted at 8:22 AM on Jan-26-06

The images on the ceramics were thought to be mythical narratives, imagery the priestly class used to underscore its coercive power. Without proper archaeological evidence, the representations were too horrific to take literally. They depicted gruesome scenes of torture: captives skinned alive, drained of blood (which was drunk by priests in front of them), throats slit, bodies decapitated and left to the vultures, bones meticulously defleshed and hung from ropes.

Unfortunately for the victims, these bloody rites actually happened. They took place in an otherwise vibrant and highly advanced culture, a culture renowned for its artists and builders. These were a people who developed advanced agricultural knowledge, extremely sophisticated metallurgy, and built the largest pre-Columbian adobe structure in the Americas. Because they had no written language, though, it is by their ceramics that we know them best.

The Moche.
comment posted at 12:00 PM on Jan-25-06

Readers who bought A Million Little Pieces from Random House get refunded. In what is called an "unprecedented" move, the publisher of the controversial memoir is refunding the book in full. Does this mean that Random House will be suing Frey for damages? Is this truly unprecedented or has this happened before? Catch Frey on TV tonight, if you're interested, as he'll be appearing on Larry King Live.
comment posted at 12:30 PM on Jan-11-06

Uncle Neptune's Song Factory is a treasure trove of old time music preformed by Mr. Neptune himself with his ukulele. The blog also sometimes features mp3s of the original 78s. From the Uncle's introduction "I have only to offer to you the songs that help make my world more sweet, and it is my hope that it may do so for you."
comment posted at 8:43 AM on Jan-11-06