The Latest from Boing Boing

---

• Rand Paul supporters pin down and curb-stomp MoveOn activist - video
• Science fiction from around the world, every week
• Robotic hand attains sensitivity and strength with coffee grounds and balloons
• King size drinks: then and now
• Wooden Ferrari engine
• France: 25,000 families a day at risk of losing Internet access
• 3M claims ownership over purple
• Taste receptors in our lungs sense bitterness and respond with opened airways
• Today is the day to buy MACHINE OF DEATH
• Review of great old creepy movie: Pretty Poison
• Belstaff Iron Man Jacket
• Lando Calrissian meets R. Kelly: "Real Talk"
• Japan's "Suicide forest"
• Handmade surveillance warning sign
• Fake TV for fooling burglars
• Body Worlds creator now sells bodies and jewelry
• Bon-Aire Ultimate Hose Nozzle
• Windows Phone 7's simple interface design wins praise
• Sunlight Foundation's "Influence Explorer Postcards" for election day
• Amy Rigby on Ari Up
• Local newspaper boasts ultimate passive-aggressive paywall policy
• Hilarious Navy SEAL Don Shipley busts fakes
• Reggae great Gregory Isaacs dead at 59
• Pileup guy is the exact opposite of Double Rainbow guy
• Husband confronts abortion protesters
• Revenge of the Tuna
• Photos: Hex Hitler party, 1942
• Cholera in Haiti: This isn't bad luck, this is poverty
• Raymond Scott documentary with Mark Mothersbaugh, Don Byron, Edward R Murrow and DJ Spooky
• Brits: Email the gov't to stop plan to spy on every email, Facebook post, tweet, etc!

Rand Paul supporters pin down and curb-stomp MoveOn activist - video Posted: 26 Oct 2010 04:32 AM PDT Boingboingdave sez, "Outside the Conway-Rand Paul debate in KY, Paul supporters held down a woman from MoveOn while another stomped on her neck and head. The woman was attempting to present Paul with a mock Employee of the Month award from Republicorp representing the merger of the GOP and business interests controlling political speech." MoveOn Supporter Brutally Attacked by Rand Paul Supporter (Thanks, Boingboingdave, via Submitterator!) GQ: Woman claims to have been kidnapped by Rand Paul, forced to ... Reminder to vote

Science fiction from around the world, every week Posted: 26 Oct 2010 03:33 AM PDT Lavie Tidhar writes, "The World SF Blog is launching a new weekly fiction feature, beginning with Aliette de Bodard's "Melanie", with more stories lined up from South Africa, Israel, Brazil, India and the UK, amongst others. We're also having a limited promotional sale on The Apex Book of World SF, in both paperback and e-book editions."

Robotic hand attains sensitivity and strength with coffee grounds and balloons Posted: 26 Oct 2010 04:08 AM PDT Here's a fascinating report from the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences on a novel kind of robotic gripper that uses balloons and coffee grounds to attain strong, sensitive grips: Here we demonstrate a completely different approach to a universal gripper. Individual fingers are replaced by a single mass of granular material that, when pressed onto a target object, flows around it and conforms to its shape. Upon application of a vacuum the granular material contracts and hardens quickly to pinch and hold the object without requiring sensory feedback. We find that volume changes of less than 0.5% suffice to grip objects reliably and hold them with forces exceeding many times their weight. We show that the operating principle is the ability of granular materials to transition between an unjammed, deformable state and a jammed state with solid-like rigidity. We delineate three separate mechanisms, friction, suction, and interlocking, that contribute to the gripping force. Using a simple model we relate each of them to the mechanical strength of the jammed state. This advance opens up new possibilities for the design of simple, yet highly adaptive systems that excel at fast gripping of complex objects. Update: Here's a great video of the hand in action (WMV) -- thanks, Dspin!) Universal robotic gripper based on the jamming of granular material (via IO9) (Image: Turkish Coffee grounds - degustation - Ottoman Cuisine, a Creative Commons Attribution Share-Alike (2.0) image from avlxyz's photostream) Lightning fast robot hand Flying robot hand wants your beer Robot hand plays air piano Dancing robot hand-towels Robot hand and vision snatches objects from the air $600 robot hands for hard core hobbyists

King size drinks: then and now Posted: 25 Oct 2010 10:41 PM PDT From the Sociological Images blog, a provocative post comparing the "king size" beverages of yesteryear with today's behemoth cups: Compare it to this sign at Long John Silver's, where the smallest size is 20 oz., and a 32-oz. medium soda, presented as the default size, is nearly 3 times as large as the 1950s king-size double serving (though, as a reader pointed out and I didn't think to mention, we do have to make some allowance for ice in the cup). The gas station nearest me used to have fountain drink cups that started at 20 oz. I noticed recently they've completely dropped that size; the smallest cup you can now buy is 32 oz. The largest is a whopping 64 oz. I am actually curious how a person gets it home in their car, as I don't see how it would fit in a standard cup holder. Perhaps you buckle it into an empty seat? San Francisco bans coke from city vending machines Sugary drinks and their equivalent in junk food Too much cola causes muscular weakness Sugar Information explains how sugar won't make you fat

Wooden Ferrari engine Posted: 25 Oct 2010 10:37 PM PDT An eBay seller in Sydney, Australia is selling this handcarved wooden Ferrari 365GTB V12 engine replica, carved to approximate 1:1 scale. It's fantastically detailed and weighs 25kg. Ferrari 365 V12 engine (via Neatorama) Manga figures carved from wood Victorian "rather sinister" artificial arm and hand Hand-carved Kenyan iPod stands from tropical woods Pocket-watch made from carved bone Intricately carved vintage vinyl records Huge wood bullet on eBay Hand-carved nautical woodcuts John Dillinger's wooden prison escape pistol sold at auction for ...

France: 25,000 families a day at risk of losing Internet access Posted: 25 Oct 2010 10:36 PM PDT France's HADOPI administrator (which processes copyright accusations against Internet users) is now receiving 25,000 complaints a day. A family whose household attracts three unsubstantiated complaints is disconnected from the Internet for a year. Meanwhile, use of non-P2P downloading sites to get access to infringing copies is way up.

3M claims ownership over purple Posted: 25 Oct 2010 10:50 PM PDT "The color PURPLE is a trademark of 3M." I wonder if Alice Munroe Walker knows about this. (Thanks, Airshowfan, via Submitterator!)

Taste receptors in our lungs sense bitterness and respond with opened airways Posted: 25 Oct 2010 10:16 PM PDT A paper in this week's Nature reports on the discovery of taste receptors inside the lungs, on the airway smooth muscles. These are "the same as those on the tongue" and respond to bitter flavors -- not by transmitting the taste of bitterness to the brain, but by opening the airway "more extensively than any known drug that we have for treatment of asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease." There are thousands of compounds that activate the body's bitter taste receptors but are not toxic in appropriate doses. Many are synthetic agents, developed for different purposes, and others come from natural origins, such as certain vegetables, flowers, berries and trees. The researchers tested a few standard bitter substances known to activate these receptors. "It turns out that the bitter compounds worked the opposite way from what we thought," says Dr. Liggett. "They all opened the airway more extensively than any known drug that we have for treatment of asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)." Dr. Liggett says this observation could have implications for new therapies. "New drugs to treat asthma, emphysema or chronic bronchitis are needed," he says. "This could replace or enhance what is now in use, and represents a completely new approach." Quinine and chloroquine have been used to treat completely different diseases (such as malaria), but are also very bitter. Both of these compounds opened contracted airways profoundly in laboratory models. Even saccharin, which has a bitter aftertaste, was effective at stimulating these receptors. The researchers also found that administration of an aerosolized form of bitter substances relaxed the airways in a mouse model of asthma, showing that they could potentially be an effective treatment for this disease. Bitter taste receptors on airway smooth muscle bronchodilate by localized calcium signaling and reverse obstruction (Nature) WHEN BAD TASTES GOOD: DISCOVERY OF TASTE RECEPTORS IN THE LUNGS COULD HELP PEOPLE WITH ASTHMA BREATHE EASIER (Press release) (via /.) Growing the Poison Pepper The unbearable awfulness of pine mouth

Today is the day to buy MACHINE OF DEATH Posted: 25 Oct 2010 09:50 PM PDT David 'Wondermark' Malki writes, "It's come a long way, as you know! Our Creative-Commons-licensed fiction anthology Machine of Death is finally done, and we want to make it an Amazon.com bestseller for JUST ONE DAY. We are urging everybody to buy the book on Amazon on October 26! In our blog post we explain the reasons why. We want to send a message that a grassroots effort can add up to something of real substance. Featuring stories by Randall 'xkcd' Munroe, Yahtzee 'Zero Punctuation' Croshaw, Erin 'Wordnik' McKean, David 'Wondermark' Malki !, Ryan 'Dinosaur Comics' North and many others, MACHINE OF DEATH explores the concept of a world in which a machine can tell everybody knows how they will die." (Thanks, David!)

Review of great old creepy movie: Pretty Poison Posted: 25 Oct 2010 08:29 PM PDT Sort of spoilerish but informative review of a movie I haven't seen for 25 years: Pretty Poison, with Tuesday Weld and Anthony Perkins. As I remember, it was a terrific and creepy movie, and this review makes me want to see it again. Pretty Poison

Belstaff Iron Man Jacket Posted: 25 Oct 2010 07:52 PM PDT As a rule, Belstaff coats are classic, timeless, and Steve McQueen cool. Then there's this -- their, er, Iron Man Jacket. It's handmade, leather, numbered, and $1950. Iron Man Jacket Man

Lando Calrissian meets R. Kelly: "Real Talk" Posted: 25 Oct 2010 06:26 PM PDT Creative genius Frankenseuss, who does a lot of art for Buckethead and works with often-BoingBoing-featured director Syd Garon from time to time, made a ridiculous R. Kelly video starring Star Wars character Lando Calrissian. Behind the scenes, Lando shows how real shit gets when you're arguin' with your girl. Frankenseuss gets an extra high game score for including Ackmena (played by Bea Arthur) from the Star Wars Holiday Special, wow. While it is animated, it is not for kids: lots of profanity. It's a parody of the original R. Kelly video, which is below. (thanks, Syd Garon!)

Japan's "Suicide forest" Posted: 25 Oct 2010 04:06 PM PDT From VICE: The Aokigahara Forest is the most popular site for suicides in Japan. After the novel Kuroi Jukai [The Black Forest, written by Seichō Matsumoto in 1960] was published, in which a young lover commits suicide in the forest, people started taking their own lives there at a rate of 50 to 100 deaths a year. The site holds so many bodies that the Yakuza pays homeless people to sneak into the forest and rob the corpses. The authorities sweep for bodies only on an annual basis, as the forest sits at the base of Mt. Fuji and is too dense to patrol more frequently. Aokigahara suicide forest Japan's "suicide forest"

Handmade surveillance warning sign Posted: 25 Oct 2010 03:55 PM PDT I like this handmade surveillance warning sign that I saw taped in a shop window in San Francisco's Mission District. (click to embiggen)

Fake TV for fooling burglars Posted: 25 Oct 2010 03:37 PM PDT "FakeTV is a new burglar deterrent that makes it look like someone is home watching television. FakeTV does this by recreating exactly the sort of light produced by a real HDTV.  Viewed from outside the home after dusk, it looks like somebody must be watching television." I want one, not as a burglar deterrent, but as a comfort device.

Body Worlds creator now sells bodies and jewelry Posted: 25 Oct 2010 03:31 PM PDT Controversial German anatomist Gunther von Hagens, creator of the Body World exhibition of plastinated corpses, has launched a "merch" line. According to the Irish Times, you can now buy an entire plastinated body for €70,000, a torso for €55,644 and a loose head for €22,000 each. Jewelry made from plastinated animal slices is also available, in a section of the online shop called Lifestyle. (Shouldn't that be Deathstyle?) From the Irish Times: Only "qualified users" who can provide written proof that they intend to use the parts for research, teaching or medical purposes can place an order. Interested parties who do not fall into this category can buy reproductions of the real body parts - so-called "Anatomy Glass" which the shop's website describes as "high resolution acrylic glass prints of the original body slices". Jewellery crafted from animal corpses, including necklaces made from horse slices, wristbands made from giraffe tails and earrings made from bull penises, is also available to the general public. The online shop has outraged leading members of Germany's religious community. In a joint statement, Protestant regional bishop Ulrich Fischer and Catholic archbishop Robert Zollitsch condemned the online body shop, which they said was "breaking a taboo". Gubener Plastinate (Thanks Kaden, via Submitterator!) "Anatomist sells body parts online" (Irish Times) Body Worlds creator takes on giant squid Plastinated fetus stolen from the Bodyworlds exhibit

Bon-Aire Ultimate Hose Nozzle Posted: 25 Oct 2010 02:19 PM PDT As an avid gardener I do a lot of hand watering. Nozzles, as a whole, are awful. The levers are hard to hold down, they leak terribly, that don't last long, and the spray patterns are useless. Then I got a Bon-Aire nozzle (I didn't buy it, the company sent it to me.) I was like, oh sure, another nozzle. Rather use my thumb, thank you. I'm pretty sure the first time I used it I was hooked, and I've had it for 3 years. It's fashioned like a fire hose nozzle, and that's the beauty. Easy to hold, spray patterns are perfect, turns on and off in either direction, and works smooth as glass. Love it. I have nothing to do with the company, just think this nozzle is outstanding all around. Full disclosure: I'm a staff home & garden writer at the Orange County Register. -- Cindy McNatt [Note: Some commenters have pointed out that this model is made of aluminum. A stainless steel model is also available for $26. --OH] Bon-Aire Original Ultimate Hose Nozzle $20 Available from Amazon Comment on this at Cool Tools. Or, submit a tool!

Windows Phone 7's simple interface design wins praise Posted: 26 Oct 2010 04:16 AM PDT Windows Phone 7's minimalist interface is "a true design marvel," the first really fresh and successful approach to a mobile platform since the iPhone, says Andy Inahtko. What I like about it most myself is how plain it is, how unashamedly computerized. It's a well-implemented answer to the shiny, gradated skeuomorphic style used by Apple and others, where natural textures and objects are emulated pseudo-realistically in the interface design. As perceived resolution gets higher, my feeling is that Apple's UI style -- and Apple is very good at UI -- becomes harder to do without it looking cheesy. A kind of UI uncanny valley, if you will. Adam Greenfield recently had a few thoughts on that, too.

Sunlight Foundation's "Influence Explorer Postcards" for election day Posted: 25 Oct 2010 12:33 PM PDT Nicko from the Sunlight Foundation sez, As the country heads into the final stretch before Election Day, the Sunlight Foundation is encouraging everyone to let their family and friends know more about who is financing congressional campaigns. With an unprecedented amount of money flowing into this year's midterm elections, it's now more important than ever for voters to see who's backing the candidates on the ballot. Our new Influence Explorer Postcard will help voters make informed decisions about whom they elect to office. The Influence Explorer Postcard lets you choose which candidate to highlight and displays the top contributors and contributing industries to that candidate or candidates on a postcard. Or you choose both candidates in the selected race for a side-by-side comparison. Be sure to add a personal note to your postcard before sending to the friend or family member you want to clue in about who has the real influence is this election. Before they vote/Send Them a Postcard (Thanks, Nicko!)

Amy Rigby on Ari Up Posted: 25 Oct 2010 12:20 PM PDT Reader bklynchris noted the passing of Ari Up, lead singer for the Slits, a punk band originally known for being wild amateurs, now remembered as much for the inspiration they gave fellow young punks (mostly women, but men too) as for their their idiosyncratic, so-slightly-off-that-they-were-perfect songs and performances. The great Amy Rigby, who I've celebrated previously on this site, has written a tremendous farewell, particularly when she writes about the effect The Slits had -- visually and musically. I saw pictures of them for two years before hearing a note and was captivated -- their messy hair, dark eye makeup, Ari with Jubilee underpants OVER leather trousers. There was no coyness. But it wasn't androgyny, the way Patti Smith could have been a girl or a guy -- it was very female. Their album Cut came out sounding so accomplished and together but live at Tier 3 they still made enough of an ungodly racket to give us all hope.

Local newspaper boasts ultimate passive-aggressive paywall policy Posted: 25 Oct 2010 11:50 AM PDT The North County Gazette, a regional paper covering upstate New York, offers its articles online with a sort of an honor system instead of a standard paywall. OK, but instead of a straight-up honor system or "tip jar" (you read stuff, then drop a micropayment in the bucket), they are totally aggro and threatening about it. Dig the guilt-trippy decree (in crimson comic sans, no less!) displayed next to each and every article: And then, check out this insanity: Translation: WE WILL BACKTRACE YOU AND REPORT YOU TO THE CYBERPOLICE AND STATE POLICE. CONSEQUENCES. WILL. NEVER. BE. THE. SAME. (thanks, Micah!)

Hilarious Navy SEAL Don Shipley busts fakes Posted: 25 Oct 2010 11:33 AM PDT Video link. It's election time, which means politicians are overstating or fabricating their qualifications. One of the most unfortunate forms is overstating one's military service, usually upgrading one's service to one of the elite groups like Green Berets, Rangers, SEALs, etc. Although the Stolen Valor Act making such lies a crime was declared unconstitutional this summer, a few veterans have taken matters into their own hands. By far the funniest is Don Shipley, a retired Navy SEAL who shames the shameless in the highly entertaining PHONY Navy SEAL of the week. (Thanks, former SEAL / current actor Joel Lambert)

Reggae great Gregory Isaacs dead at 59 Posted: 25 Oct 2010 10:44 AM PDT Reggae crooner Gregory Isaacs, who rose to international fame in the late 1970s, died in London yesterday after of lung cancer at age 59. "Gregory was well loved by everyone, his fans and his family, and he worked really hard to make sure he delivered the music they loved and enjoyed," said his wife Linda said. "He will be greatly missed by his family and friends. Rolling Stone, Guardian, BBC. From the LA Times article on the passing of the performer known as "The Cool Ruler"— Isaacs also cultivated an outlaw persona -- a "rude boy" in Jamaican slang. He had frequent run-ins with the authorities (he once estimated his number of arrests, mostly on drug- and gun-related charges, at around 50) and suffered from a serious cocaine addiction. Video Link: Isaacs performing his 1978 hit "Tune In" on Earl Chin's "Rootsman" show that same year. Isaacs' best-known hit was "Night Nurse," in 1982. Amazon discography here.

Pileup guy is the exact opposite of Double Rainbow guy Posted: 25 Oct 2010 10:11 AM PDT Pileup guy is the exact opposite of Double Rainbow guy. [NSFW language]. (Via Arbroath) Double Rainbow tribute video: montage of notable rainbows in video ... Double Rainbow: The Song Double Rainbow vs. Mel Gibson 2001: A Double Rainbow Odyssey Double Rainbow, the feature film

Husband confronts abortion protesters Posted: 25 Oct 2010 10:01 AM PDT Jerrycrew writes: "We had to abort our 16-week-old dying baby and were accosted by these zealots." From Salon: We're used to seeing videos of anti-abortion activists spewing venom in front of women's clinics, but rarely do we get to see the tables turned. Thanks to Aaron Gouveia, now we do. He and his 16-weeks-pregnant wife went to a women's clinic in Brookline, Mass. for an abortion after discovering that their baby had a congenital deformity with no chance for survival. On their way in, they were confronted by images of dismembered fetuses and two women yelling, "You're killing your unborn baby!" Enraged, Gouveia decided to confront the protesters while his wife was in surgery, and he caught the whole interaction on his cellphone. Husband confronts abortion protesters (Via Cynical-C Blog)

Revenge of the Tuna Posted: 25 Oct 2010 09:30 AM PDT A giant tuna fish dragged a scuba diver down from 80 feet below the surface of the water, to 300 feet down. The scuba diver survived, with the help of the Philippine Air Force and a hyperbaric chamber. But it's doubtful he will ever look at the "Chicken" of the Sea the same way again. No size for the tuna was given in the article. But these things can grow to human size, and beyond. (Via Jorge Salazar)

Photos: Hex Hitler party, 1942 Posted: 25 Oct 2010 09:41 AM PDT From LIFE: "On the wet windy evening of January 22, a youthful band of idealists went to a lonely cabin in the Maryland woods." Thus begins one of the odder stories LIFE magazine ever published -- a straightforward, tongue-nowhere-near-cheek account of a 1942 "hex party" convened with one aim in mind: "to kill Adolf Hitler by voodoo incantation." According to LIFE, the party, held six short weeks after Germany, Italy, and Japan declared war on the United States, featured "a dressmaker's dummy, a Nazi uniform, nails, axes, tom-toms and plenty of Jamaica rum," and was inspired by a book by occultist and writer William Seabrook that was popular at the time: Witchcraft: Its Power in the World Today. Putting A Hex On Hitler, 1942

Cholera in Haiti: This isn't bad luck, this is poverty Posted: 25 Oct 2010 09:12 AM PDT Haiti, wrecked by a massive earthquake in January, is now struggling with an epidemic of cholera that has spread through camps of earthquake refugees and into the nation's capital of Port-au-Prince. Dr. Jon LaPook, medical correspondent for CBS News, has probably done the best job I've seen of describing the horrific, disgusting toll this disease takes on the human body and on the societies it moves through. I spoke to a middle-aged man, Robert Raphael, whose family lives between St. Marc and Gonaives. Over the past week he has lost a brother, niece, nephew, and "five or six" cousins to cholera. Five or six—he'd lost count. They clearly need more doctors and nurses, but seemed to have enough oral rehydration solution and IV fluids for now. They obviously need specialized supplies like "cholera beds"—cots with holes cut in them for easier defecation. I asked an 8-year-old named Ritchie if it was hard to "faire toilette" in public (it's all out in the open), and he looked embarrassed and said, "Yes." That got to me. The bug behind this devastation—the bacterium Vibrio cholerae—is a fascinating and frustrating creature. Fascinating, because of its role in the development of epidemiology and what we're still learning from it. Frustrating, because it ought to be relatively simple to treat and prevent infection. We know what to do to help a cholera victim survive. All it takes is access to clean water and the most basic medical supplies. The trouble here isn't science, it's poverty. Cholera is, essentially, the worst food poisoning you can possibly imagine. In fact, it's related to Vibrio vulnificus, a bacteria that tends to infect people via undercooked seafood. After you ingest the cholera bacteria, it'll hang out in your gut for a few days before symptoms kick in. Once they do, though, cholera can kill you within hours. How? I'll be blunt: Massive, constant diarrhea that drains the body of fluids and electrolytes and leaves victims looking like glassy-eyed, hollow-cheeked corpses before they actually are. Nobody knows exactly how old cholera is, but, from a pop-culture perspective, it's inextricably linked to the 19th century, when several pandemic waves took cholera from its roots in the Indian subcontinent to being the first global killer—taking advantage of increased trade and immigration to strike Asia, Europe, the Middle East, Africa and the Americas. And it was a complete mystery. At the time, disease was thought to spread via "bad air", a pre-germ theory explanation for the patterns left by person-to-person contact. But cholera didn't seem to fit. The doctor could visit a house riddled with the disease, and walk away unscathed. And, yet, at the same time, cholera swept through whole neighborhoods—usually the poor ones—killing hundreds, or thousands. You probably know the story of Dr. John Snow. During the 1854 cholera epidemic in London, Snow took the radical and now-laughably-obvious step of mapping cholera deaths throughout the city. He found that the outbreaks centered around nexus points, which lined up with public water pumps—specifically, the pumps that sourced their water from the downstream end of the Thames. And that's how we learned a valuable lesson. Preventing cholera is easy. All you have to do is make sure that people don't have to drink water that's been contaminated with sewage. Today, cholera is all but non-existent in developed countries. Not because we're immune. Not because we have access to a miracle drug. It's simply about money. Money, and the will to build public sanitation systems that treat the poor and the wealthy to an equal level of separation between what we drink and what we excrete. After all, there were water services in Dr. Snow's time, but they were heavily divided by class. The wealthy drew their drinking water from upstream and dumped their sewage below that point, where it made its way to the public wells used by everybody who couldn't afford the better water. Malaria is often what we talk about when we talk about diseases of poverty. But simple diarrhea kills more people every year. Cholera is only one part of that. And it is all about the money. What kills you isn't so much the diarrhea, itself, but the loss of fluids and essential salts and minerals. Replace enough of those, soon enough, and people tend to survive. This is a disease that can be cured with Brawndo. (It's got what cholera victims crave!) In fact, one of the greatest public health inventions of the 20th century—and, perhaps, the most underrated—is the pre-mixed Oral Rehydration Therapy sachet—little packets containing dried mixtures of mostly sodium and glucose. Pour a packet into clean water, and you have an instant treatment for cholera. This is pretty much all that stands between a bout of cholera meaning a really bad, gross week, and a bout of cholera meaning death. Right now, people are dying in Haiti not because we don't know how to save them, but because of a lack of access, both to clean water and to Oral Rehydration Therapy. In other words, they are dying not because of a disease, but because of poverty. How You Can Help: • Donate to Doctors Without Borders and help get Oral Rehydration Therapy to people who need it. • Donate to World Vision, which does both medical work, and helps bring clean, safe drinking water to communities around the world. • Donate to Water.Org, a charity devoted to water infrastructure projects. Some Other, Related Links: • Fault activity indicates that Haiti is at risk of more, and possibly larger, earthquakes • Fascinating piece explaining how cholera can hide, dormant in a population for years, waiting for a sanitation crisis to attack • Cholera at The Bacteria Museum • The Climate Connection: How warming oceans can influence the spread of cholera • Interesting information on what the toxin produced by cholera bacteria does in the human body and why it causes diarrhea

Raymond Scott documentary with Mark Mothersbaugh, Don Byron, Edward R Murrow and DJ Spooky Posted: 25 Oct 2010 08:22 AM PDT KevinVanCamper sez, "The new documentary, DECONSTRUCTING DAD, exploring the personal life and career of the late composer & inventor Raymond Scott is now available on DVD, with 20 minutes of bonus features. The film, which was directed by Scott's only son, features movie-music legend JOHN WILLIAMS ('STAR WARS'), producer HAL WILNER, MARK MOTHERSBAUGH of DEVO, jazz clarinetist DON BYRON, archival footage of EDWARD R. MURROW, and DJ SPOOKY, aka Paul D. Miller." DECONSTRUCTING DAD: Raymond Scott documentary film by Stan Warnow (Thanks, KevinVanCamper, via Submitterator!) Raymond Scott: The First 100 Years Raymond Scott tribute concert footage Raymond Scott's Powerhouse performed by harmonica quintet sextet ... Raymond Scott vinyl toy New Raymond Scott album: The Unexpected

Brits: Email the gov't to stop plan to spy on every email, Facebook post, tweet, etc! Posted: 25 Oct 2010 08:21 AM PDT Jim Killock from the UK Open Rights Group sez, "The UK government has announced that it will be spending up to £2 billion pounds into new ways to snoop on email and web traffic. This Kafka-esque 'Intercept Modernisation Plan', was stopped near the end of the last government, but was quietly revived in the 2010 Spending Review. While billions of pounds is being slashed from education, welfare and defence, the government plans to waste vast sums trying to snoop on our emails and Facebook communications. ORG have a petition - please sign it." Dear David Cameron, Nick Clegg and Theresa May, I do not want the government to try to intercept every UK email, facebook account and online communication. It would be pointless - as it will be easy for criminals to encrypt and evade - and expensive, costing everyone £2 billion. It would also be illegal: mass surveillance would be a breach of our fundamental right to privacy. Please cancel the Intercept Modernisation Plan. Stop the government snooping on every email and Facebook message (Thanks, Jim, via Submitterator!)

You are subscribed to email updates from Boing Boing To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now.	Email delivery powered by Google
Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610