Not what I'd call pornographic, exactly, but certainly NOT safe for work.

The cover shows a woman flaunting her armpit hair, and it only gets worse from there. Funny, yet sad.

Thanks to Boing Boing for the heads-up.
Hubba-Hubba

"'Reagan proved deficits don't matter,' Dick Cheney told Paul O'Neill during a Cabinet meeting. 'We won the (2002) midterms. This is our due.'"
Passing the Bill to our Children

Via the glorious Wikipedia, here's a nigh-exhaustive list of ethnic slurs -- perfect for your next trip outside the lily-white trailer park that you call home.

My favorite: "Wonder Bread Wop -- U.S Italians; an Italian that acts white (does not make home-made pasta, did not grow up in italian neighborhood, does not have accent or does not use Italian-American slang, etc.)."
List of ethnic slurs - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

There's a site called howstuffworks, and it totally kicks ass. It has illustrated, informative and accessible articles on any number of subjects. Some favorites:

• How Lock Picking Works
  
• How the Eden Project Works
  
• How Chupacabras Work
  
• How Going Over Niagara Works
  

That last entry has a number of helpful hints for those dreaming of going over the falls in a barrel.

But that's not what I'm here to talk about. I want to talk about price-fixing, price-gouging, disinformed consumers and dirty politics. I want to talk about the De Beers diamond cartel.

Christ, but I hate the whole notion of a jewelry store. I shudder at the thought of either giving or receiving expensive jewelry as a gift. I wear a bracelet made out of a ball chain similar to that you'd find in a toilet tank or attached to military dog tags. I bought it at a hardware store. And I'm always on the lookout for stud earrings in funny shapes, like a bomb or a cockroach. That's about it. Spend hundreds or (gasp!) thousands of dollars on a necklace or a pair of earrings? Not a chance.

When I graduated high school, my father wanted to buy me a really nice watch and have it engraved and all that crap. I spent a considerable amount of time talking him out of it. I wanted a sunroof for my truck instead, and it's a choice I don't regret. The manufactured and over-marketed sentimentality of "heirlooms" is pure crap.

Oh, I won't blather on any further. Just take a look at the entry about De Beers and see for yourself how the jewelry business is so much bullshit.
How Diamonds Work

Wired.com has a list of "101 Ways to Save the Internet." Personally, I didn't realize it was in danger of extinction.

Nevertheless, some of these are good suggestions, such as "Dump the Digital Millennium Copyright Act." Sadly, some of these are very bad ideas as well ("Add Mobile Numbers to [Google's] Phone Book" and "Unleash Vigilante Justice on Spammers"). But almost all are at least interesting. My favorite: "Appoint Larry Lessig to the Supreme Court."

Of course, the reality is that when Bush is through stacking the Supreme Court in his 2nd term, Lessig will be lucky if he's not arrested as a terrorist.

Oooo! I can feel the anger rising! Must... switch off... brain...
101 Ways to Save the Internet

This is what the internet was made for. Somebody found a hand-drawn poster alerting the world to a lost frog, and made a funny web page riffing on it. Now I'm haunted by the defiant and quasi-threatening tone of the poster and the police-style mug shot of the frog in question.

"P.S. I'll find my frog
Who took my frog
Who found my frog"

This kid ain't taking shit from nobody.



Thanks to boingboing.net for the heads-up.
ps. i'll find my frog