Collateral efforts: Our very own Scott, a guy we like to refer to as our “secret weapon,” has a great new article over at DevX.

We're in the basement, learning to print... Time to head down those stairs, mix up a batch of flour paste and start yer pastin'. Take a look at this site and take some action!

Big Brother is back and we're not talking about that stupid television show. Residents in Fairfax, Virginia are now being ruled by a Bill that allows them to only sleep in their bedrooms. Some activists claim that the Bill targets immigrant communities, but what I want to know is how the Government intends to actually enforce it. Knock, knock... quick, grab the pillow from the kitchen floor!

Here is an update on the Galapagos tanker accident that no one seems to care about. I guess we shouldn’t worry, after all “…nature’s resilience should enable Galapagos to fully recover,” according to “most biologists and ocean scientists consulted by Reuters.” What about working to make sure these accidents don’t happen in the first place?

Follow-up to my comments on 1/26: The front page of Salon.com today has a couple of good articles on the California power crisis. Read them here and here.

This just in: "The work of Italian feminists isn't getting any easier. The Italian Supreme Court has ruled that an unexpected pat on the bottom at work could not be labeled sexual harassment — as long as men didn't make a habit of it." Only in Italy (although we know it's pretty difficult proving sexual harassment in this country as well). Read here for the full story. So does this mean a woman in Italy can slap a man's ass every once in a while, too?

Oh, yeah, I almost forgot... the Superbowl is today. Um, who's playing again? Did anyone score a home-run?

People are hyped up about the Super Bowl and the commercials. What about the element of surprise? The commercials haven't even aired yet. Ahhh, media and advertising...

This situation illustrates, arguably, that there are indeed some problems that the free market and unfettered competition simply cannot solve. Although public/private partnerships can be very effective entities, when it comes to issues of the public good, local government (the advocate of the people) has a responsibility to exert strong control. California’s power crisis is an example of conservatives strong-arming their economic views onto a system that, by its very nature as a utility, should be primarily a government-controlled endeavor. From a good Washington Post story: “The result was a Rube Goldberg structure -- half free-market, half regulation -- that new U.S. Treasury Secretary Paul H. O'Neill has called ‘lunacy.’”

Bush-bashing of the day: If you go to Google and type in the words "dumb motherfucker" it leads you to this site. Try it for fun and share it with your friends!

McHilarious! Mc-check-this-out!

We usually like to dig a little more for the links we post here, but the issues don't get any more relevant than education. As Bush announces his plans to make America's high schools more accountable, we are led to wonder: Would this be his perfect academy?

Yikes! Good or bad? What do you think?

Hey, is anyone paying attention to this? According to one resident, "It is to [sic] painful to witness what amounts to carelessness on the part of those who should be the guardians of this treasure."

"Just love your brother and drink a good glass of red wine every day," says the world's oldest man. Not a bad operating philosophy. Not bad at all.

A little afternoon fun! Go for the Anarchist level!

For all you film-fest fans, check this out. Robert Banks will not be happy about this at all!

Sometimes, among Americans, this “syndrome” seems much too familiar. A good quote from the story: “Who needed the world when we had Disneyland?”

While George Dubya enjoys himself at the "Black Tie and Boots Ball" tonight, we'll all be pondering this critical question.

It’s nice when mainstream media sources finally mention great ideas that have been around for a long time. Local (or alternative) currencies, whether they’re called LETS Systems, HOURS, or Time-Dollars, are an absolutely wonderful method of maintaining indigenous capital and keeping local economies vibrant. Here is a great searchable database you can use to find resources like this in your area, and here is an article that puts the idea of alternative currencies into the broader context of American banking in general.

"The Internet can be like compulsive junk food: you can never get enough of what you don't really want.” -- IIFD supporter Brian Eno. 10 days from now, we should all observe this.

Just in! Twelve new works from artist Derek Hess.

New attack on Catcher in the Rye. While the teachers profiled here have a point, I think the opinion voiced in Metafilter is better: "Since when does opening the doors to diversity mean excluding others?"

New artist Ann Mitchell explores an intimate world with her obscure landscape photographs.

No comment necessary.

Superbowl follow-up from yesterday: A national holiday? Sad, sad, sad.

Warning: Major stereotypes ahead. Well, the big, annoying countdown to Superbowl XXXV has begun. (Interesting fact: only 10% of Superbowl viewers can read Roman numerals.) Nobody here cares; except that we’ll all be holed up in our homes, trying to protect ourselves from the frothing, testosterone-bloated frenzy that surrounds this ridiculous yearly event. What fun! Get in your super-duty truck, grab a super-size meal, buy some super-crappy beer and come home to watch the three-hour bore-o-thon, the most interesting part of which is the commercials (how sad).

Rice University officials took over the student created and student run radio station, some are saying that it reflects how colleges are patterning themselves after large corporations. I find this entire thing terrifying.

"Pray for the dead and fight like hell for the living." -Mother Jones, 1830-1930. If you've never visited this website, you oughta, and you can start with this article.

Calendars featuring the winners of the CAi Photography Competition are now available.

Jan. 4th continued: It’s fun to watch people contradict themselves. “They’re over,” said Sandy Grushow, chairman of the Fox Television Entertainment Group, referring to trash-reality shows like “Who Wants to Marry a Millionaire.” And now, we have “Temptation Island.” Oh, yeah – Fox has definitely stopped programming tasteless, amoral shows with zero socially redeeming value. It seems that Fox feels absolutely no responsibility to slow the inevitable atrophying of America’s collective brain.

“There are two sorts of curiosity – the momentary and the permanent. The momentary is concerned with the odd appearance on the surface of things. The permanent is attracted by the amazing and consecutive life that flows on beneath the surface of things.” -Robert Lynd

Terrific News in Mexico City: Air Is Sometimes Breathable - while the story talks about how careful emissions controls have actually had a positive effect on the air around Mexico City we must remember that it was our technologies that poisoned the air so badly in the first place, and hopefully apply this lesson to our habits in the future. Then again, this headline rings frighteningly true.

One more reason to kill your television... just when we thought television execs couldn't go any lower. How about a New Year's resolution to stop watching TV, or at least bullshit programs like this!

The post-holiday blues: A sign of the times? You can bet on it. The causes: “…stress, fatigue, unrealistic expectations, over-commercialization, financial constraints…” My guess is that every year, as the commercial-Christmas frenzy intensifies, this will become more and more of a problem. Everybody’s yearning for the “good-ol’ days,” but they just gotta have that new big screen TV. I wonder if our ancestors had post-holiday depression… Yeah, we’ve come a long way, baby.

New work from Scott Radke!

I fear this is a case of brand planning research imitating concepts from pop culture imitating life. My favorite quote from this story? On observing focus groups: "We've gotten people to do diaries ... Then there's the option of moving into their homes. But two things mitigate against brand planners actually living with people. First, it's not practical. Second, they usually won't allow it." Does this guy understand the meaning of privacy?