[Thanks Mun!]
Memorable quotes from President Bush over the years.
Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we.- Aug. 5, 2004, at the signing ceremony for a defense spending bill.
Too many good docs are getting out of business. Too many OB/GYNs aren't able to practice their love with women all across this country.
- Sept. 6, 2004, at a rally in Poplar Bluff, Mo.
What's up with those hats that the Israeli soldiers are wearing? Are they super-chefs designed to both cook and kill just like Steven Seagal the former Navy SEAL now cook on a Navy battleship...under siege...in Under Siege? Did you also know that Under Siege was nominated for two Oscars?
Anyway, back to the chef hats of the Israeli Army. Slate's Explainer answers:
They're for camouflage. The hat—called a mitznefet in Hebrew—attaches to a regular combat helmet and obscures its rigid, round shape. As the mitznefet flops about, it takes on an irregular form that's harder to recognize in a shadow or out of the corner of your eye. The hat also protects against the sun and the moon, which might reflect off the surface of the helmet.
Now you know.
[Via]
The Book Cover Archive is a great repository of book cover designs and their designers. You can search and browse by title, designer, art director, photographer, et cetera.
[Thanks Melissa!]
Cats are so stupid. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ICuqGPlY4r0&fmt=18]
I used to be embarrassed by William Hung on behalf of my peoples (Some of us can pronounce our "R's" you assholes) but I've since grown to embrace his hustle. He found a niche and he got paid. It's scrappy like my people. Still.
This is terrible.
One of the worst things I've ever heard. You've been warned.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BcmsvGYfyjg&fmt=18]
[Via]
Danny Boyle's dazzling Slumdog Millionaire, a film I can't recommend highly enough, is finally being released in India on January 23. The question is how much of the film and story will remain intact after it goes through the country's censors, and whether it will achieve the same popularity as it has in the States.
At the censors' insistance, the "Indianised" version of Brokeback Mountain, Ang Lee's gay love masterpiece of 2005, a film that explored the complex romantic and sexual relationships of two men in the American midwest through the 1960s, 70s and 80s, became the tale of two guys who go on a camping trip. That was it.
Read rest here.
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This is a great train wreck of an interview at this year's Golden Globes red carpet with Megan Fox. She comes off totally crazy, which makes me all that more attracted to her! [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=za7NYRv7A7c&fmt=18]
Update: Twittermuna: Retweeting for @MattRod: @Borat: I dont care if she sounds dumber than a box of rocks, Megan Fox could get it.
[Thanks Ashley!]
Ms. Adela Lupse, a presenter on a live phone-in quiz show in Romania goes berserk when no one calls in to her show. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yp1sBkKzuJM&fmt=18]
And then she said "George Bush doesn't care about black people."
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Collection of stories created with only six words. Here are a few that I liked.
Morning after pill. One morning late. Last man on earth. Hears knock. We kissed. She melted. Mop please!
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This photo of Andy Warhol "shopping" for Campbell's soup is so meta. You should all be familiar with this.
1965, Manhattan, New York, New York, USA --- Andy Warhol looking at Campbell's soup cans in Gristede's supermarket near his 47th street studio called The Factory in New York. --- Image by © Bob Adelman/Corbis
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Nerve takes a look back at people relegated to our pop culture's footnotes from Kato to that American teen caned in Singapore (remember that?!) to Spuds Mackenzie. For political news junkies here's the update to the girl that asked the asinine "boxers or briefs" question to Bill Clinton.
...Thompson, the daughter of Dateline NBC correspondent Lea Thompson, set about entering the profession whose standards she had apparently single-handedly destroyed. After graduating from Princeton with a degree in history, Thompson got her master's at the University of Missouri School of Journalism. Tisha then became an investigative reporter with Baltimore's ABC affiliate, and asked enough good questions to bring about the largest recall of a children's product in American history.
[Via]
Okay, the headline is slightly disingenuous: Iranian-American home developer Fred Milani is putting up his 16,500 square-foot replica White House located in Atlanta for sale on account of the economic downturn. Asking price? $9.88 million.
This person estimates the actual White House (132 rooms, 55,000 sq ft, 18 acres, 16 family-guest rooms, an underground bunker, 3 kitchens, 3 elevators, and 28 fireplaces) is worth today $308,058,000. It was originally built at a cost of $232,372. Slaves weren't unionized back then.
[Via]
One of the richest men in the world German Adolf Merckle committed suicide last week after he lost a fortune getting caught in a 'short squeeze' that ultimately threatened to destroy his business empire. Merckle shorted the stocks of Volkswagen, that is betting VW stocks would fall. Instead, their stocks jumped in October from from below €200 to over €1000 per share making Volkswagen for a brief period the world's most valuable company. Merckle along with a whole slew of hedge funds who had shorted huge amounts of VW stock got killed (literally for Merckle...) thanks to Porsche.
On paper, Porsche made between €30-40 billion in the affair. Once all is said and done, the actual profit is closer to some €6-12 billion. To put those numbers in perspective, Porsche’s revenue for the whole year of 2006 was a bit over €7 billion.Porsche’s move took three years of careful maneuvering. It was darkly brilliant, a wealth transfer ingeniously conceived like few we’ve ever seen. Betting the right way, Porsche roiled the financial markets and took the hedge funds for a fortune.
Read rest of this fascinating story here.
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Are you amped or what for the upcoming Notorious? I'm going to be attending the Sundance Film Festival when the biopic for the greatest rapper dead or alive is released nationally. It may be blasphemous to the festival attendees, but this is the movie that I for one am most excited to see when I'm in Park City.
My top 5 Biggie songs in no particular order.
1. Big Poppa
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9U99nMZ8CE&fmt=18]
2. 10 Crack Commandments
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4CDmEul9gnw&fmt=18]
3. One More Chance
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6sS6M_0ITyA&fmt=18]
4. Kick in the Door
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8VgDkzAZHs0&fmt=18]
And of course,
5. Juicy
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kvo9vkAMvsU&fmt=18]
Honorary Mention
Another
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fLE2ByyFAgA&fmt=18]
Some details on the tank on wheels that will be protecting Obama when he's on the road.
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