The congresswoman issued a press release about how she hung up on Obama... and misspelled his name in the release.

http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2008/12/an-actual-press.html

Not a very bright one.

I used to be impressed by the architecture in Dubai until I read this devastating article:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/oct/08/middleeast.construction

All the infrastructure and seeming prosperity there is made possible by slave labor. They lure workers from other countries under false pretenses, confiscate their passports and withhold plane tickets to strand them there, then make them work brutal hours. If you have to glorify Dubai, at least give some thought to the suffering that made it possible.

Alex,

The fact that a lot of people avoid politics fosters an atmosphere of willful ignorance of this important matter. Please don't give in to those sentiments. While politics is important, it really isn't something so special or different that it should be segregated from discourse and thought. And yes, it absolutely and frequently is neat. It's just another fact of life that's sometimes fun, sometimes frustrating (and sometimes boring, but now that would be outside the scope of neatorama).

hojo, you're thinking of trademarks, which requires vigilante defending for the claim to persist. Copyright, however, will exist regardless of whether the claimant defend every single possible breach of it.

I think SoL is right. The movie studios see some of their trailers as another source of revenue rather than as pure advertisement. They also count on exclusivity and hype to generate buzz and interest. Which is not to say that this practice isn't completely asinine.

I believe this is the correct link:

http://i.current.com/swf/pods/supernews/mac_vs_pc.swf

Al-Jazeera really isn't that exotic. It's pretty similar to the BBC in that it is a partially state-funded (by the country of Qatar), partially ad-funded news channel with some degree of autonomy. The only difference, from what I've seen, is that they focus more on their area, the Middle East. Other than that, they're mostly professional, diligent reporters, with far less punditry than you'd get on US cable news.

A guy with a website design like that has some cheek complaining about ugly decor.

The picture is about as sexual as a dental appointment to me. The bare upper-back may be sexual in some contexts and cultures, but not in most. It's the least salacious body part she can show besides her face and hands. It's a very clichéd attempt at broadcasting an image of honesty.

To paraphrase that other paragon of homoeroticism, 300:

Gayness?
THIS! IS! FIGURE SKATING!

And it gets so much gayer. Behold:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bf5t-4HFPOo

Yes, it's very gay. But for the more open-minded, it's also a beautiful performance by the inimitable and inflammable Johnny Weir.

Nothing against manskirts, but plaid is unappealing.

Oh, that reminds me to set AdBlock to block that hideous bowling shirt ad on Neatorama. Really, it's a good thing for the company. Because the more I see it, the more I am repulsed by it.

It's a church, it's automatically laughable!

Not so trivial: Even though decisions on Wikipedia, such as whether to keep or delete an article, are based on votes, they're not quite voting as most people understand it. It turns out that in those "votes", it's not the number of votes that count, but the strength of the voters' arguments, as decided by an administrator.

And even if an admin deigns to keep an article the first time, articles can be nominated for deletion over and over. Some articles have been nominated for deletion over 10 times! Somebody who hated the article must've thought, "the 18th time's the charm!"

For a while, Wikipedia had a crusade against plot summaries, and such things were deleted left and right. Plot summaries are half the reason I even use Wikipedia, to help me jump into fictional series midway. Now, however, a compromise has been reached: Plot summaries are allowed, but they must not take up more than half of the article.

What a misleading headline. Homeschooling isn't criminalized. Parents who wish to homeschool can still go get credentialed, or hire someone. But, if you think the only thing that should count is that kids pass the tests, perhaps teachers at schools shouldn't have to be certified as long as they shepherd their kids into passing grades.

What Disney should've done is commission the greatest artists and sculptors around the world to come together and update the ride. Make it an event of global artistic vision. It would be in the spirit of the original ride, while taking it to the next level and providing some good publicity.

As for whether there should be a bigger American scene, sure, why not? For one thing, the park attracts lots of non-American visitors. Why shouldn't they get to enjoy the presentation of a foreign culture as only Disney can do it? However, destroying the rainforest bit to do it is just groan-inducing.

As for shoehorning Disney characters in parts of the ride, that seems excessive. It's a Disney theme park, the whole place is chock full of Disney characters already. The ride should stick to its own theme and not dilute it.