Other people's stories. Stories that may or may not have improved in the retelling. more inside

The groundswell of discontent following the Bush re-election is spawning some strange ideas, and one of them is spelled s-e-c-e-s-s-i-o-n. Growing up in the South, I was accustomed to idle talk about such matters, but this one sounds like some people are mad as hell, and they're not going to take it any more. Of course it'll never happen, but you gotta admit, "The Republic of California" does have a nice ring. See here. [LA Times, reg. required. Bugmenot: dvdgmlwsk, 77junic] While you're at it, clicky here, and here.

mellifluous banana. I am clever and invented a new game. more inside

Comedy Butchers - a tiny Sim-City style FLASH town with little comedy sketches you can click open in various places. British humour, which means it is actually funny. NSFW. Requires FLASH, obviously. Made me laugh out loud, which is pretty hard to do, considering I am a miserable bastard. more inside

Espionage out in the open.....sorta. I was listening to NPR this afternoon and heard the last little snippet on this. more inside

A Report on Mesopotamia, written by T.E. Lawrence (a.k.a Lawrence of Arabia) in Fallujah in 1920.

Hey Hey Ho Ho, the hummer is for sissies-oh. So you've heard of the CXT, that big pickup? Well, make way for the SmarTruck III, the bigger-than-Humvee military truck, and its Hummer-like sibling, the International CUV. more inside

Pentagon builds its own Internet "This 'Internet in the sky' would allow 'marines in a Humvee, in a faraway land, in the middle of a rainstorm, to open up their laptops, request imagery' from a spy satellite, and 'get it downloaded within seconds.'" "Pentagon traditionalists, however, ask if net-centric warfare is nothing more than an expensive fad."

Are You A Cheap Christian? Don't you realize that when proselytizing your waitress, your message is diminished by leaving a lousy tip? "I have found that homosexuals and bikers are consistently better tippers than Christians."

Faces of the Fallen: Pictures and basic biographical info on the US soldiers who have died in Iraq. It's a WaPo link, but I think it works without logging in. If not, your good friend bugmenot will help.

Killed by soda-POP! I didn't think this was real... This also seemed a bizarre weapon. Ooops wrong number. Talk about Cell Phone usage being fatal.

Now THAT's a Posh dildo! David Beckham bought his wife, Victoria (Posh Spice...) a $1.8 million diamond encrusted vibrator. There are still nine left, buy one now! more inside

"You are now visiting DriveMeInsane.com, a website located in Texas." "Experience a deranged social environment. Spy on strange, moderately interesting people from around the world. And turn on their lights. And yes, it's all real." Has to be seen to believe. You can spend hours trying to drive this guy nuts.

"the best sci-fi action requires you to think." Primer is exceedingly intriguing. It invites comparisons to Pi and Memento and (most appropriately) 2001. Confounding, obtuse, and stunningly enjoyable. more inside