The Hole in the Wal ...So what's going to be the trigger* sending the American Economy down the toilet? Peak Oil? The Housing Bubble? China calling in its debts? We've discussed all these before so now it's time to consider: Wal-Mart Cutting Inventories by $6.5 Billion. Yep. We doomed. *or should I say flush-handle? more inside

Universal Identifications The recent post on USB Art reminded me of stuff I'd seen before regarding another ubiquitous three-letter acrnym starting with U, so here it is: UPC Art (aka BarCode Art) including tattoos! Plus, one artist's barcode gallery.

Identity of "Mr. Six" Revealed via Mark Evanier

Ballot Box Stove Top Stuffin'
If you know anybody who keeps saying that Republicans don't commit voting fraud, send them this link. more inside

[Insert Title Here] gives you the chance to become a comic strip writer, collaberating with the creators of PandaXpress - one page at a time. Guidelines here. If you enjoyed the NaNoWriMoNoMoJoJoJo threads, this may be right up your creative alley.

Voted off the Linguistic Island Okay, the Rose Parade is a day late, the bowl games drag on through Wednesday, but one New Year's tradition is right on time. It's Lake Superior State University's Annual List of Banished Words... more inside

Friday Flash Funny Fighting Fanboy Freakout!!! Something for the end of the week/year/world-as-we-know-it.

Gastrointestinal Surgery on the Pitcher's Mound? With a ballplayer named Colon (pronounced Coe-LOEN), such headlines are inevitable, but he really wasn't all there tonight, so... ; This site really should support the baseball team with a Rally Monkey.

Celebrating the 3700 Who Didn't Die As we un-eagerly await the death toll from the KatrinaFema Disaster to rise, let's look back nostalgicly at the only disaster where the death toll dropped by more than half. Here's a serious analysis of why it happened. There were some intentional hoaxes, but mostly confirming the death claims was "labor intensive". more inside

See You in the Funny Papers! Yes, newspaper comics are so-o-o-o last century, and few are older than "Blondie", but that's the point: the strip is celebrating its 75th Anniversary with what must be the most extended mass cross-over of various comic strips ever. more inside

via metachat, the "What Do These Things Have In Common Game", with two unsolved and generally ignored puzzles by a shameless selflinker. #5 and #6 previous topics include Muppets (Beaker, Big Bird, Gonzo, Grover, Scooter), Old Comics (Mutt & Jeff, Li'l Abner, Barney Google, Peanuts, B.C., Blondie) and fast food (Taco BELL, KENTUCKY Fried Chicken, LONG JOHN SILVER's Fish & Chips, Pizza HUT).

"The Tofu Hut isn't a building, and it's got nothing to do with soy protein." MoFi's beloved forksclovetofu and his cute little Tofu Hut get a big shoutout in the first paragraph of an L.A. Times article about MP3 blogs.

RIP, Paul Winchell , voice of Tigger AND Dick Dastardly, ventriloquist, TV pioneer, inventor of the artificial heart (version 0.1) among other things, skillful teller of dirty jokes, frank autobiographer and father of Blog Goddess April Winchell. (skillfully eulogized by cartoon/comics writer, pop culture expert and blogger Mark Evanier - who's had to do too damn much eulogizing lately)

How much would it cost you to do like Bruce Wayne and become a superhero? Forbes Magazine thinks they have it all figured out. In the spirit of their Fictional Fifteen, previously disected at MeFi.

Chicken Joking How hard is it to make an online comic? Well, you could just draw some chickens on Post-It® Notes and scan then blog them, like Doug Savage did with Savage Chickens. Of course, it helps when you've got a better FBA (Funny Batting Average) than most newspaper comics. more inside

Celebrity Blog "The Huffington Post", Day 2 After our step-sister site thoroughly trashed the "next big thing in blogging", there are signs that, less than 48 hours in, "The Huffy" (a nickname I take full credit for) is showing signs of either (A) getting a sense of humor or (B) jumping the shark. more inside

Coolest Online Clock Ever

Today's squid-related news: because I couldn't find anything about monkeys.

Name's Bob, but my friends call me Shishka. I thought I'd bring all your attention to the EdgeCurve Caption Game, oh, just because... drops pants, does happy dance more inside

MeFi Santa Monica MeetUp Sunday, March 13th I'm surprised some other duel-citizenship-Fite hasn't posted this earlier. more inside