World Beard Championship Do you have what it takes to play with the more inside

Curious George: cookie? Why does monkeyfilter hate my cookie? At least once a week I'm told i need to log in again, even though i visit daily and never log out. What's up with that? more inside

Emancipate yourself from mental slavery. Q. Why? A. Because a tv that is powered on is like second-hand smoke. Why should you be exposed to tv just because someone else is addicted to it? via BoingBoing

The war on gays and lesbians continues in Ohio, with the Right suggesting that homosexuals should be executed. Following previous discussion on Monkeyfilter there was debate whether the Right was targeting gay people for violence. If there was any question about the RNC's motives behind enlisting the support of the religious right and the ultimate consequences of that, this Salon article (ad|sub req'd) should address them. more inside

curious, eth (ðÐ)? so someone posted me this as an actual letter eth-- any information, anyone? it comes up with everything from icelandic to malay, and is so divergent from working on the hebrew q i was researching-- any leads would be helpful as i just need it for a personal project

Starter Jackets Fetish Site (SFW). A nice link for anyone out there looking to stare into the abyss for a few minutes.

Shipping internationally? Never underpay translators! "Adds the territory mushroom where in nation specific traditional grudge and the clause cancer ingredient (motion handbook) is superior and it is with meat royal tomb sincerity bio traditional grudge which gives a help to healthy increase of the moderns. The addition territory grudge and is not with with grudge of the flag zone is not greasy specially and differently wall hundred it does and and the taste is the superb article." A cookie? Oh, well, if they're not greasy specially, then ...

Apparently, the NY Times has successfully managed to piss the republicans off... what, with supporting Kerry n' all. Oh, they've brought it...who cares that it sounds like "nanner nanner poo poo, the great big middle of America is more powerful than it's coasts, and your puny newspaper IS not reaad there" (use this: http://www.salon.com/news/cookie.html to get into Salon)

Caption this! - "If you mess up one more time, this is where I'm going to throw you!" Your turn. more inside

John Kerry supports making a joke that only one dude knows is racist

The importance of safety in the workplace has never been better illustrated than in this German video. It takes a bit to get going, but is well worth the wait!

Rescue Rick the Grass Cut Man Mudrinich, advocate and promoter of grass cut safety and Founder of the Society of Lawn Mower Amputees, is available for your christening or bar mitzvah.

Bush's Church calls him a Criminal - "We, the undersigned, do hold that George W. Bush, a member of Park Hill United Methodist Church in Dallas, Texas, and Dick Cheney (local membership unknown) are undeniably guilty of at least four chargeable offenses [which] are: crime, immorality, disobedience to the Order and Discipline of The UMC..." And goatfucking. more inside

High hopes for fridge-free jabs A new technology developed in the UK could revolutionise vaccine delivery by eliminating the need for refrigeration. more inside

Curious, George: Which Bollywood Movie Should I See? The Prince Charles Cinema in London is hosting a Bollywood festival. Can any Bollywood-savvy Monkeys recommend which of these films to see? more inside

Collaborative fridge letters found on What Do I Know?

Curious George: BugMeNot alternative? During the past month I have not gotten a single successful login from BugMeNot. Just tonight BugMeNot gave me 36 logins for one site, none of which worked, before I gave up. Also the logins I report as "This Did Not Work" are never deleted. I'm fed up with it. Are there any alternatives out there?

An unusual letter from the Vatican says that Kerry has already excommunicated himself because of his opposition to anti-abortion legislation.

Curious, George: What's it all about? I'm sure this has been asked before, but what keeps us monkeys going? Do we (as individuals) have faith (big or little 'f'), or love, or ambition, or what is it? more inside

Does the math of the mortgage bubble work? Or are the securities, and the derivatives, and ... Are all those fancy other 'financial instruments' taking out more profits than the housing stock can be worth? An attempt to check the math, a government raid and destruction of the tools, and, eight years later, a court vindication.Backtrack from here to the root for more. This seems a sound few bytes that gets the flavor: "Hamilton’s Community Wizard enabled it as administrator of the loan sales to see what the real default experience in locales actually was in order to construct a better actuarial model on which to base pricing. ... Given that HUD’s defaulted loan portfolio was worth hundreds of billions of dollars, the difference between a 35% as opposed to a 90% recovery rate to the taxpayer who had funded the original loans in the first place was considerable. You have to wonder: why was a firm that was actually doing what it was contracted to do attacked and put out of business by its employer? more inside