Shitty Bum (via aeiou)

A nation with a soul of a church "Upon my arrival in the United States," Alexis de Tocqueville wrote in 1835, "the religious aspect of the country was the first thing that struck my attention." Throughout American history visitors have remarked on the religious character of the United States. G. K. Chesterton, for instance, concluded that America thought of itself in religious terms and that the United States was "a nation with the soul of a church." In light of the influence of religion on the recent election I think it good for all of us to brush up on the role of religion in the United States in order to put our times in perspective. more inside

Man Distraught Over Election Commits Suicide at Ground Zero --Via The Raw Story.

There but for the grace of God. City of Heroes costume competition. NSFW if your boss doesn't like thumbnails of scantily-clad geeks

Curious George: NJ Meetup Followup Ten Monkeys and MeFites made it to Montclair for much merriment. more inside

Is censorship Evil? Google, apparently, is censoring the Web - and not just in China. MeFi thread, AnandTech thread, Google image search for "Abu Gharaib", and the equivalent Yahoo search. more inside

Seattle Mofi Mefi Blog thing pix. Uncaptioned, but many shoutouts.

Murderous George!!! Ramix is sad! Ramix did a bad bad thing and is beside herself! Ramix ran over and squished a cat. Bad bad Ramix! The cat is dead and Ramix can't handle it because Ramix is a cat lover who has two cats of her own! Question: what do i do next? The cat wasn't wearing a collar and it doesn't look like any of the neighborhood kitties. It however doesn't look like a stray because it was rather plump. Some poor owner is beside him/herself i'm sure, but i dont know who...and even if i did, i don't think i have the guts to tell on myself. But God/allah/the toothfairy knows i am hating myself big time right about now and don't know what to do. Any suggestions on how to get through the guilt, and also how much effort should i expend in looking for the owner? Go door to door? And if i find the owner, what do i do? Offer money? Sacrifice my first born son (when i finally get round to having one)? Give up one of my kitties in return? Hope me pleeze!!!

Texas Board of Education approves new health textbook after publishers agreed to change the wording to depict marriage as the union of a man and a woman.

A human face of religious conservatism - a post on ideology, religion and conservatism, from someone who knows both sides of the American cultural divide. (via mefi) more inside

Spider Attack!

How to Bang Just About Any Object In Your House

"You know the world is off tilt when the best rapper is a white guy, the best golfer is a black guy, the tallest basketball player is Chinese and Germany doesn't want to go to war."
The wit and wisdom of Charles Barkley.

One soldier's opinion... "If you voted for Bush, didn't vote, or voted no on gay marriage, I hope you get drafted. I hope they stick you in my unit, and you go with me to Iraq when my unit goes back in September. I will laugh when you see what soldiers in that country face on a daily basis. I hope you work with gay soldiers too. I did. One of them saved my life. Think he shouldn't have the right to get married? Fuck you. He fought just as hard as I did and on most days, did his job better than me. Don't tell me gays don't have the same rights you do. Think the war in Iraq is a good thing? I'll donate my M-16 to you and you can go in my place." [from MeFi] more inside

A Modest Proposal from the Right... "That is why the unthinkable must become thinkable. If the so-called 'Red States' cannot be respected or at least tolerated by the 'Blue States', then the most disparate of them must live apart--not by secession of the former (a majority), but by expulsion of the latter. Here is how to do it." more inside

Fantomas! "Fantomas." "What did you say?" "I said: Fantomas." "And what does that mean?" "Nothing... And everything!" "But what is it?" "Nobody... And yet, it is somebody!" "And what does that somebody do?" "Spreads terror!"

A concession speech like no other. A post from the blog of NPR's Adam Felber.

Sleeping by the Mississippi has to be one of the most beautiful, elegant photo galleries I've ever seen. The photographer is Alec Soth, who utilizises unusual techniques and is becoming increasingly well-known. His Bogota photographs are amazing too.

The Fantastic in Art and Fiction. Supernatural fun from Cornell University's Institute for Digital Collections. From the spooky, to the sublime, and perhaps a portrait of someone we know? more inside

Home on the Road in your Gypsy Caravan. more inside