Per aspera

The National Association of Radio-Distress Signalling and Infocommunications, Havaria Emergency and Disaster Information Services, in Budapest, Hungary has a constantly-updating, clickable map of emergencies happening all over the world.
(via Boing Boing)

While we’re on the subject of Nas and history, I’ve been meaning to link to a post from hiphopmusic.com.
AUDIO: The Definitive Nostalgic Nas Interview
It’s a long-ass ostensible interview between Funkmaster Flex and Nas, that’s basically just the two of them talking about old times.

Teresa Neilsen Hayden links today to a disco version of the song “Apache.” You may have seen it before. If not, you’re welcome.
In comments, someone put a link to a post on the music blog soul sides with a bunch of different versions of Apache, including one by the Incredible Bongo Band, whence […]

1. “John Saw That Number,” Neko Case
2. “All I Want,” Toad the Wet Sprocket
3. “The Rape Over,” Mos Def
4. “Uniforms,” Ken Stringfellow
5. “Thunderbird,” They Might Be Giants
6. “Hey Ladies,” Beastie Boys
7. “52 Girls,” The B-52’s
8. “Today,” Smashing Pumpkins
9. “As,” Stevie Wonder
10. “Exhuming McCarthy,” R.E.M.
Fire up you mp3 player, hit “random,” and then hands off for […]

Senator Jim Webb of Virginia:

God damn. It’s like I’ve fallen through some wonderful rabbit hole, into a land populated with Democrats who are able to be rhetorically and politically effective. It’s enough to give a man hope.

The Deoxyribonucleic Hyperdimension still exists. It’s one of the first things I found on the web when I went online in 1995. Its technology is current, but it feels the same as it did a decade ago, still dense and weird.
This is immensely pleasing to me. An old friend bearing new ideas […]

From a diary by litigatormom on Daily Kos, a portion of the 60 Minutes interview with The Commander-in-Chief:
    PELLEY: Do you think you owe the Iraqi people an apology for not doing a better job?
    BUSH: That we didn’t do a better job or they didn’t do a better job?
    PELLEY: Well, […]

Belledame posted a Friday git-yer-groove-on, blessing us whose asses may otherwise tragically have remained stationary with some Sneaker Pimps and some Goldfrapp. Good citizenship demanded that I contribute, but then I got to mining YouTube, and couldn’t stop clicking on the Golden Age hip-hop. Well. I must be who I am.

Burn, Hollywood, […]

“He cooked up a giant, giant pot of shit, and he looked at it last night and said, ‘Y’know what that needs?  Pinch of salt.’”
-Jon Stewart on the President’s latest Iraq war speech.

Because I love you all and want you to be happy, please find below an mp3 of Jeff Daniels, as Col. Joshua Chamberlain, suggesting to his men that they fix their bayonets in preparation for a charge down Little Round Top, from the film Gettysburg.
Link
If you want to download it, control-click (that’s right-click for my […]

My desktop weather widget thingy tells me that it’s 68 degrees Fahrenheit outside.  The date, as you know, is January 6.  This is insane.  Global warming will kill us all.  I figure we’re a week, week and a half away from total ecosystem collapse.
On the plus side, it’s nice to have the option to wear […]

St. John of Media has an enormous head.

Keith Ellison just got elected to the House of Representatives from the 5th District in Minnesota. This is a bit of a milestone, because he’s the first Muslim ever to be elected to Congress. As he is a Muslim, he’s decided to be sworn into to office on the Q’uran. This is […]