'Passion' and Death: Movie opens. Death ensues. Jeebus!

Kofi Annan Unsettles People, As He Believes U.N. Should Do. An interesting old article. Anyway, here's a short biography, and an Online News Focus from the PBS.

Raiding the 20th Century Raiding the 20th Century is a mashup created by Strictly Kev. It is probably one of the greatest things I ever got from Metafilter. Download, listen, and be amazed. (Warning, 54MB download).

Curious, George - Geeky question: I'd like Windows something differently and I need some help. more inside

The handwashing experiment. Are hoitsy-toitsy types more likely than the hoi palloi to wash after bathroom activities? Perhaps they need a laminated hand-washing poster to remind them!

No Religion Scholarships - Is this a valid ruling, or is the Supreme Court guilty of a ruling in favour of religious discrimination?

America's new coal rush juxtaposed with this link, Now the Pentagon tells Bush: climate change will destroy us, equals sick fun with environmental issues. Humans are like energy drunks determined to drink themselves to death.

A/S/L? Curious George: All this talk about being kinder and gentler got me thinking.... more inside

StrangeCo-- Purveyors of the Peculiar! An incredibly multi-layered site with all the goods on the new breed of cutting edge toys-- more like small-batch fetish objects tailored to every flavor. Give yourself plenty of time to wander!

Drunken Chimps Threaten Humans courtesy snarkey malarkey

9/11 Commission This is unsurprising.

But Hastert cast serious doubt on its prospects for passage in the Republican-controlled House. "He thinks the (commission's) report is overdue and we need to get the recommendations as soon as possible. He is also concerned it will become a political football if this thing is extended and it is released in the middle of the presidential campaign," Feehery said.

I agree with Kevin Drum, Dennis Hastert is not even pretending that the decision is not politically motivated. Notice the "political football if this thing is extended and it is released in the middle of the presidential campaign" comment made by Hastert's spokesman John Feehery.

Eye of Argon (actual story text here) is generally held to be the worst-written SF/fantasy story. It was penned in 1970 by 16-year old Jim Theis and immediately gained a cult following. Eye of Argon draws its inspiration from a thesaurus and breaks almost every rule on style, dialog, and grammar. The tale describes the adventures of Grignr, an "enthused barbarian" who is not only an accomplished swordsman but quite the ladies man, embracing "tempting females" and caressing their "firm protruding busts".

Zen. [Flash.]

The perfect accessory for your Sleep Number bed, especially if you're a 90 and he/she's a 15... Probably the most unneeded useful item you can buy for $251 (especially if you get the BOY/BOY or GIRL/GIRL style). BTW, SFW.

Curious George: Web Storage & Wireless devices: I've a plethora of wireless goodies and am tired of needing multiple storage cards. Are there web storage solutions that interface well with camera phones, wireless-enabled PDAs and the like? more inside

Slipping past the censors. And onto kiddie TV. I hated Rainbow asa child, mostly because it was so condescending compared to other kids TV. I must vave missed being traumatised by this one.

Depression Many mysteries remain, but scientists are making progress in understanding what causes depressive disorders and how various treatments work. (via Linkfilter)

Protein blocks AIDS Virus in monkeys

The Stand should be required reading for biologists. It's bad enough that bird flu might jump species - so let's help it along! Does this give anyone else the creeps? more inside

When you get sick of the fancy language of debate, try sarcasm! The chairman of the Council of Economic Advisors proposes to cover job losses in the manufacturing sector by... redifining McDonalds staff as manufacturing workers. In response, John Dingell tires of maintaining a non-snarky facade. [PDF]