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Ron Kovic writes about returning wounded vets There are things here you can never forget, images and sounds and smells that you will never see on TV or read about in the newspapers.
comment posted at 7:17 AM on Jan-20-06

Whale spotted in central London. A 6m Northern bottlenose whale swam by the Houses of Parliament this morning and is continuing its journey up the Thames. Live feed from the BBC helicopter.
comment posted at 6:48 AM on Jan-20-06
comment posted at 7:10 AM on Jan-20-06

"I saw it blow..." Whale spotted near Westminster Bridge
comment posted at 7:12 AM on Jan-20-06

Tin foil hats no longer required! Apparently mobile phone use *doesn't* cause cancer. We'd like to thank the MMF and the GSMA for funding this study along with the EU. I'll still not get one though...
comment posted at 6:48 AM on Jan-20-06

MC Jelly D freestyle rapping donut. (video inside)
comment posted at 6:59 AM on Jan-20-06

Disney eats crow. Disney, whose former CEO Michael Eisner rejected the idea of Disney being hired to market Pixar's movies, who insisted on owning their sequel rights, and who apparently hoped Finding Nemo would flop so that he could get better negotiating terms with Pixar, is now in talks for buying Pixar outright for approximately $6.7 billion in stock. Steve Jobs gets his revenge... again. How much revenge? 50.1% of $6.7 billion dollars, apparently.
comment posted at 7:01 AM on Jan-20-06

On January 19, 1986, the first PC virus — Brain — was detected. It was virtually harmless, and the Pakistani creators claim that it was only intended to protect their copyrights. (They did, after all, include their own address and phone number in the machine code.) In the past 20 years, though, both creating viruses and destroying them have become billion-dollar industries.
comment posted at 4:04 PM on Jan-19-06
comment posted at 4:22 PM on Jan-19-06

Osama threatens attacks, offers truce Now THIS should be interesting. Do we deal with terrorists or take a chance of another 9/11?
comment posted at 7:55 AM on Jan-19-06

Feds want Google search records according to Mercury News. John Batelle has some analysis as well. This isn't looking too good. Google promises to fight it, but even if they do, does a loss still hurt them the same amount?
comment posted at 6:57 AM on Jan-19-06
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comment posted at 1:10 PM on Jan-19-06

Listen to the Many Moods of the Manatee: annoyed, frightened, hungry, and flatulent.
comment posted at 6:45 AM on Jan-19-06

If you're into that sort of thing, I guess, more (male) facial hair than you can shake a stick at. [other MeFi reading material while your barber strops...]
comment posted at 3:44 PM on Jan-18-06
comment posted at 3:46 PM on Jan-18-06

THE ORIGINAL GAY REPUBLICANS A homosexual prostitution ring was under investigation by federal and district authorities that included among its clients Key officials of the reagan and Bush (senior) officials. The story received some newspaper coverage but there was a TV News Media blackout on the subject. For this reason, most Americans have never heard of it. Former republican Senator John Decamp was involved in the production a documentary about called "Conspiracy of Silence".
comment posted at 3:08 PM on Jan-18-06
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comment posted at 6:41 AM on Jan-19-06

Are Conservative Republicans Now America's Permanent Ruling Class?
comment posted at 12:54 PM on Jan-18-06
comment posted at 1:16 PM on Jan-18-06

We don't not make deals with terrorists. Yesterday, the Guardian reported: "Kidnappers threatened to kill the abducted US journalist Jill Carroll unless the Bush administration ordered the release of Iraqi women prisoners within 72 hours, according to a report on al-Jazeera television yesterday." Today, the BBC reports "Iraq's ministry of justice has told the BBC that six of the eight women being held by coalition forces in Iraq have been released early. The six were freed because there was insufficient evidence to charge them, a justice ministry spokesman said." Cause, meet effect. Effect, this is cause.
comment posted at 12:45 PM on Jan-18-06

The Supreme Court decided Ayotte v. Planned Parenthood today, vacating the lower court's ruling that the parental notification statute was unconstitional. Instead, the Court instructed the lower court to consider narrower relief. The Court, in an opinion [pdf] written by Justice O'Connor, held that if enforcing a statute that regulates access to abortion would be unconstitutional in medical emergencies, invalidating the statute entirely is not always necessary or justified, for lower courts may be able to render narrower declaratory and injunctive relief. [more inside]
comment posted at 1:26 PM on Jan-18-06
comment posted at 1:33 PM on Jan-18-06

Corporate Interest Plot to Overthrow US Government. Approximately 72-years ago, the predecessor to the House Un-American Affairs Committee, known as the McCormack-Dickstein Committee, investigated claims made by Marine Corps General Smedley Butler that a vast right-wing conspiracy funded by the American Liberty League (Wiki) (funded by US Steel, Goodyear, DuPont, Morgan-Stanley, Chase-Manhattan, Remington Arms, and others) with backing from some of America's wealthiest citizens (such as Al Smith and Irene DuPont) and various Wall Street interests (1930s American Business seemed to be pro-fascism as a hedge against communists and socialists to protect their own wealth in the face of the Great Depression).  Their goal was to overthrow Franklin Delano Roosevelt and install a military dictatorship in order to stop FDR's New Deal and its "redistribution of wealth" and to enact fascist policies to protect the economy and their investments. [more inside]
comment posted at 7:54 AM on Jan-18-06

First draft of 'On the Road' arrives in San Francisco. With pic of Jami and Carolyn Cassady viewing the scroll.
comment posted at 7:13 AM on Jan-18-06

A curious religious debate is raging in Egypt The question is: should you keep your clothes on when having sex?
comment posted at 7:12 PM on Jan-17-06

Army Orders Soldiers to Shed Dragon Skin or Lose SGLI Death Benefits Two deploying soldiers and a concerned mother reported Friday afternoon that the U.S. Army appears to be singling out soldiers who have purchased Pinnacle's Dragon Skin Body Armor for special treatment.
comment posted at 11:31 AM on Jan-17-06
comment posted at 11:31 AM on Jan-17-06

Having a filthy mind, I'm able to come up with several non-medical uses for the Digital Rectal Examination Simulator. However, when I noticed that the company selling the device was Japanese, I realized that the intended use is most likely as a way to hone your skills away from the arcade for the video game Boon-Ga Boon-Ga.
comment posted at 10:22 AM on Jan-17-06

Supreme Court upholds Oregon's assisted suicide law. Justice Kenedy wrote the opinion for the majority, concluding that Ashcroft did not have the authority to sanction doctors under the Controlled Substances Act. Justice Scalia dissented, joined by Justice Thomas and Chief Justice Roberts. Thomas also wrote a separate dissent. The Washington Post has the opinions, and you can get the pdf from the Supreme Court's website.
comment posted at 10:12 AM on Jan-17-06
comment posted at 10:45 AM on Jan-17-06

Toss your espresso machine? An "entirely new way to brew coffee" for $30?! Yessssssss. From the same guy that invented the Aerobie flying disk (which holds the world throwing record of more than a quarter mile). Articles/reviews at SingleServeCoffee and the official product page. Download the instructions (pdf). A Coffeegeek discussion and also some customer reviews at LocalsOnlyCoffee. </CoffeeFilter>
comment posted at 9:12 AM on Jan-17-06
comment posted at 9:12 AM on Jan-17-06

"Hitch was always trying to push the limits on techniques and to be different".
Cary Grant chased by a crop-duster plane in a corn field; Janet Leigh screaming in the shower; Tippi Hedren attacked by killer seagulls. The man behind lens? Leonard J. South (1914-2006) , Hitchcock's camera operator. More inside.
comment posted at 8:33 AM on Jan-17-06

Global warming: Is it too late to save our planet? James Lovelock thinks the unthinkable.
comment posted at 8:12 PM on Jan-16-06

Challenging Christian Zionism "We are a group of evangelical pastors, academics and mission executives who have been disturbed by the growing influence of Christian Zionism on the political scene in America..." Detailed critique of the Christian Zionist movement includes a look at Hal Lindsey, "the Father of Apocalyptic Christian Zionism."
comment posted at 8:09 PM on Jan-16-06

"Yousry is not a practicing Muslim. He is not a fundamentalist," prosecutor Anthony Barkow acknowledged in his closing arguments to a jury in federal district court in Manhattan earlier this year. "Mohammed Yousry is not someone who supports or believes in the use of violence." So why is Yousry now awaiting sentencing in March, when he could face 20 years in prison for translating a letter from imprisoned Muslim cleric Omar Abdel Rahman to Rahman's lawyer in Egypt?
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comment posted at 4:52 PM on Jan-16-06

Jack Bauer is back... in Japan, and he wants some Calorie Mate. Watch Kiefer Sutherland maintain character in a series of Japanese snack food commercials (with hour by hour backstory). Parts one, two, and three.
comment posted at 1:16 PM on Jan-16-06
comment posted at 2:02 PM on Jan-16-06

Beyond the Playing Field: Jackie Robinson, Civil Rights Advocate. (more inside)
comment posted at 1:00 PM on Jan-16-06
comment posted at 1:09 PM on Jan-16-06