Linkfest

Okay, I'm still, um...working on my paper, but I've got too many hilarious and odd pieces of minutiae cluttering my screen, so I'm going to go ahead and post a Ludicrous Links page of all sorts of silliness...

Fryday Night Lights:

Okay, there's absolutely no reason why I should have misspelled Friday, but click on the above for an interesting article from another former Koch Fellow (ding!) who saw some high school pigskin-pounding in Nawlins (that's my hip accent).

The World's Third Tallest What?

Somehow, during the all the plundering of the remains of the Inca Empire, everyone forgot to ask the local yokels about the 250-story waterfall in this remote valley. Check out this WaPo story (I hate people who write "WaPo"...ergo, I am full of self-loathing at the moment) if you want to feel like an explorer (or dream about finding the 8th Wonder of the World that everyone else managed to walk right by).

the press release that crossed my desk last spring was darned near irresistible: "World's Third Highest Waterfall Discovered in Peru." Howzat? Discovered? The Age of Discovery was ages ago. The biggest things they discover these days are new species of beetle and, every now and then, a forgotten cable network. But the major landforms were all mapped out long ago.

Or so you thought, Mr. Doubting Thomas.

Planning 2007

If you're as inept as I am, you're attempting to jot down all your school assignments and the like in a 2007 planner...even though it's still 2006. I managed to purchase a fancy-schmancy leather-bound planner and rather than give it up, I'm using the tiny calendars of the previous year they provide, penciling in notes and due dates in a mysterious shorthand that's one part Leonardo da Vinci, two parts Sumer scrawl, and forty-seven parts illegible. Obviously, I need to take advantage of the link above and check out Assignment Planner. The name says it all, but it's nice and pretty and Web 2.0-ifiedish, so take a peek if you routinely forget to water your brain and it shrivels up and dies.

Got Government? Nope.

The Czech Republic, which held general elections in June, still has no government. Judging by the atmosphere of mistrust between the main political parties, it is unlikely that the Czechs will have a government anytime soon. Five months later, the only certainty is that political stalemate is likely to continue until an early election can be agreed. Notably, the sky has not fallen. The country's institutional framework remains sturdy, the economy continues to grow apace, and some Czechs wonder if they even need government at all.

I like it. See the full article for more.

Kill 'em all...

Okay, that's not at all what this article from TCS Daily is saying. But what it is saying is pretty wild.

The enemies of the legitimate Iraqi government are almost exclusively Sunnis (though so too are many of its supporters). By logical necessity the exterminators would have to be mostly Shiites and Kurds. The government simply cannot afford to go after its enemies in the systematic way required, for that would be to destroy its claim to represent all minorities. There are, from the point of view of Iraq's nascent civil society, some thousands of people who, in the Texas phrase, need killing. Who is going to do it?

Be sure to read, the full article for the answer to that question and many more. Like, "What the-?" No, but seriously, it's an interesting, to say the least, article.

Terrifying Thais

Just when you thought people couldn't find weirder ways to burn their brain, Thai youngsters have managed to break through that glass ceiling and ascend to new heights of weirdness.

Dr Srisompob interviewed 150 prisoners jailed for drug crimes, both consumers and traders, to determine how the recent epidemic had developed.

"At first, it was just for fun," the prisoners told him. "Muslims cannot drink alcohol, they have to avoid it. But when you use codeine and kratom and mix it with Coke and get 'drunk', this is not a sin."

Gotta love the fact that sipping Chablis is immoral, but spiking your cola with codeine is kosher. Ha.

But seriously, the weird stuff waits in linkland, if you read the actual article. Okay, I'll spoil at least one: they sniff cowpies in plastic bags...to get high. Riiiiiiiiight. I'll remember that next time the awkward kid in class tries to get a whiff of his own flatulence: he's getting high.

Hey, Get Your Arm Outta My Crotch

Oh wait, that's my arm. Or at least that's what you would say if you were this poor Spaniard. The man had his arm sliced off and en route to the hospital dropped it into a drainage ditch. Unfortunately, he didn't mention that little piece of info until the surgically reattached limb started to manifest a massive infection (surprise, sur-frickin-prise). So, the doctors did what any modern doctor would do: they sawed the arm off again, hooked it up to blood-vessel-central (aka where your "noogies" dwell) and cleaned out the stump. Oh, I guess I shouldn't ruin the whole story. So, go here for all the gory details, including, yes, a picture of an arm attached down there. Thanks, Wired Blog. Now I can eat a second lunch.

All Hail The Alma Mater

Sadly, gang members (most likely), gunned down a man on Ellendale Place several days ago (not a student, just so you know). I've been strident in my defense of the area around USC, but the fact is, it's no walk in the park. I lived one block from where this man died. The Daily Trojan has the full story.

Hurrah for the 2nd Amendment!

My favorite story of the day (courtesy of Best of the Web). You'll have to check the link to see why.

~

Okay, enough of that. I've got to get back to academic pursuits, but the Okies are waiting in the wings, ready to be sprung on you readers (you lucky few).