Confirm/Deny detainment-camp allegations? I'm really asking for this information to be confirmed or denied rather than posting this as a call to outrage. Clearly, if it is true, it's quite outrageous and demonstrates America's sick attitude towards the disenfranchised; it is definitely true, though, that being posted on a forum devoted to "conspiracy, extraterrestrial, secret project, government agency, and other alternative topics" does not help the claims' credibility and that any single source should be treated with a grain of salt. So does anyone have any further information? more inside

A penny for your thoughts...sixteen pennies for a catilevered structure. Mitch Fincher shows how you can build bridges, spirals, and domes out of pennies.

Maharishi Vedic City, the newest township in the state of Iowa. "The City is working to establish a permanent group of peace-creating experts whose daily practice of Maharishi’s Transcendental Meditation™ and Yogic Flying techniques will promote coherent national and world consciousness and thereby prevent any negativity from arising in America or in the family of nations." more inside

Musical George: Is there a site analogous to rottentomatoes.com, but for CDs? That is, is there a site that summarizes the body of reviews for a given record? Also, feel free to share any other excellent music reference resources.

World on Fire. [Quicktime] more inside

Last Sketch Comic Standing? Lorne Michaels to play a "Donald Trump-like role" on a new reality series that will choose the next Saturday Night Live cast member. Uh-huh.

The Horrible World of Flying Slugs!

The All Music Guide gets reworked. The unrivaled music information site recently got a facelift, as well as a number of new features, including music samples and sortable search results. Hopefully the new incarnation will be even better than the awesome predecessor; one drawback, though, is that most of the new features require sign-up, albeit free of charge. I'll miss the signature chunky yellow scheme, but the sleek new metallic seems pretty slick as well.

Live Generative Music. Viragelic generates a soothing musical piece for you randomly using moving squares traveling random paths. It seems a little dull at first, but it slowly becomes quite entrancing and fascinating.

Cicadas are dangerous? Several children fell off bikes, Baker said. "We had a concussion, a 9-year-old who was fleeing a cicada on her bicycle and fell off," he said. But Brood X members of a friendlier demeanor really love children.

Ball of Paint. Make sure to check out the chuckleworthy trailer; it's almost like a Christopher Guest movie, but, apparently, nonfictional. And if you're bent on touring the nation's superlative sculptures, don't miss the World's Largest Penny, Kielbasa, Mosquito, or Gas Pump.

"Famous" LiveJournals. Apparently, there's a whole mini-culture of people keeping LiveJournals, playing the parts of celebrities. Welcome to a strange world where Celine Dion complains that "it's actually pathetic when Mariah updates more than I do", and celebrities as varied as Tom Cruise ("if you haven't seen my new look for my new movie, let me warn you, it involves a grayish flat top and a little more bulk than I normally carry") and Fiona Apple ("ok ladies of Lilith, Sarah, Alanis and i have JUST finished creating the must_be_lilith community") list each other as friends. A little creepy, but not enough to cover up the somewhat perverse entertainment value drawn from watching someone so involved in another person.