This is a funny story turning weird: yesterday I chuckled, when I read the report that the president of Malawi, Bingu wa Mutharika, had abandoned his 300-room residence because he was worried about “rodent ghosts” haunting the place. These things happen; many Africans are very worried about supernatural phenomena. Ancestral spirits are an integral part […]

The BBC reports Korean researchers think they may have discovered a cure for Avian Influenza: “Scientists at Seoul National University say they fed an extract of kimchi to 13 infected chickens – and a week later 11 of them had started recovering.” Cabbage against a killer disease? That makes even a Krautheimer like me wonder. […]

When I listened to the Malcolm McLaren monologues on WPS1 for the first time, his voice opened up all these memory banks from a past life, when I was 16 or 17. One evening, I went to see the movie “The Great Rock’n’Roll Swindle” at a small “program” movie theater in Stuttgart with my first […]

The Pew Internet Project published a new survey that documents the rise of the Internet as a source for political information. A post-election, nationwide survey by the Pew Internet & American Life Project and the Pew Research Center for The People & The Press shows that the online political news consumer population grew dramatically from […]

Right now, Fossett is flying over Morocco, at an altitude of 45,478ft (speed: 369 knots) in his bid to fly aroound the globe solo and non-stop. Flight Tracker

Steve Fossett took off in his Global Flyer for his attempt to fly around the globe, solo and non-stop. Track his progress at the Global Flyer Flight Tracker.

A while ago I bought this nice, bright-red mobile phone that can also take pictures. Today, I finally figured out how to upload the pictures directly to a public website for all the world to enjoy :)! I registered my phone with my Yahoo! account and then I shared my Mobile Uploads album with the […]

At least for Hunter S. Thompson it is. I just finished watching the movie for the 56243th time. God … Johnny did good! Goodbye to the crazy old man, the original blogger, gonzo journalist, whatever …. Peace be with you on your final trip. And, Jesus!, this country needs another Malcolm X! [UPDATE] HST’s May […]

AlterNet contributor Dana Larsen probably was smoking some spinach herself, when she wrote this hilarious analysis of Popeye’s drug-related symbolism: During the 1920s and ’30s, the era when Popeye was created, “spinach” was a very common code word for marijuana. One classic example is “The Spinach Song,” recorded in 1938 by the popular jazz band […]