Inside Hollywood's hottest cult: The Kabbalah Chronicles. Madonna, Ashton Kutcher, Demi Moore, Sandra Bernhard, and other celebrities are helping one marketing-savvy religious leader's version of Kabbalah become the new Scientology.

Chen Guangcheng was beat yesterday. Chen was also beat earlier this month. Chen, a 33 year old blind activist from the eastern province of Shandong China, has been placed on house arrest for bringing international attention to forced abortions.

A statue of Tommie Smith and John Carlos has been erected at San Jose State University. Smith and Carlos were (in)famous for their raised fist protest on the medal podium at the 1968 Olympics. via SportsFilter

Ye olde English Skynyrd and the Shaft theme.

Home Wind Turbines - fuck me, what a great idea!

Visual Complexity. How do you draw a picture of complexity? Whether it's the iPod ecosystem , a map of the Internet , 10 million receipts from a hardware store or the U.S. ruling class and even the network of interactions between major characters in the novel Les Miserables by Victor Hugo, divided in 11 communities represented by different colors. more inside

What are creative people listening to these days? Find out at Designer's Mixtape; 14 creative types so far, each offering seven selections, nicely streamed in an easy-to-use thingamabob. more inside

Shrine to a chicken. These are the people I have to share my city with. more inside

Ada County Jail Arrest Reports

R.I.P. Rosa Parks "When Rosa Parks refused to get up, an entire race of people began to stand up for their rights as human beings. It was a simple act that took extraordinary courage in Montgomery, Ala., in 1955. It was a place where black people had no rights white people had to respect. It was a time when racial discrimination was so common, many blacks never questioned it. At least not out loud." Thank you Mrs. Parks, for your courage.

WriAShorStorWe! "defective yeti is proud to announce WriAShorStorWe: "The NaNoWriMo For Lazy People™!" Yes kids, October 31-November 4 is the blogosphere's first annual Write A Short Story Week! Here's how it works: ummm, you write a short story. In a week. The End."

Curious George Kitten filter. Tonight, about one hour ago, I got a little kitten. I wasn't planning on having one. more inside

Corn kernel burning for heat Eastern IA and Northern IL had one heck of a drought this summer and, while the harvest isn't as bad as expected, a lot of it is sitting around waiting to be shipped down the Mississippi to hurricane ravaged ports. Meanwhile, a portion of the crop is testing positive for a toxic fungus. You might as well put it in your pipe and smoke it. Which is just what is happening as corn kernel stoves become popular amid rising fuel costs. They only need to be loaded once a day and need a simple vent to the outside. Oh, happy day! more inside