Oh, God. I’m violating my own frequently-violated rule about linking to things off Instapundit, because it’s important that everyone sees this in time. See you tomorrow.

Need To Know reports on the suspension of the domain goatse.cx. (No link. Trust me, you don’t want the link.) As NTK observes:

It’s not often you hear of a domain registrar suspending a domain for being beyond taste and decency. Especially not .cx…

The inevitable free speech debate has kicked off. That is, however, not why I’m posting this. No, I’m posting this to queasily salute the kids at B3ta, who did this back in the day.

How to explain? Well, you take a internet-fable image of a man in a pose that cannot really be described as “pornographic”, but which certainly constitutes “medically freakish” or “use of Photoshop in the service of evil”. Then you make an abstract – yet suggestive – copy of the image, using various colors of chalk. Then you title it “Unity”, and submit it to your local newspaper’s art competition for children, claiming to be 14 years old. Then it gets published.

All these links are work-safe, but I don’t recommend going a single step further.

(Hat tip: Stan.)

Yes, there’s more. This week, Shack promises to buy Sean Hannity’s book if Fox will only, for the love of God, cancel Tru Calling.

Khmer Rouge leader admits that mistakes were made.

Hey, you know…live a little, learn a lot, I guess. All water under the bridge, as my grandma used to say.

The OC is hard at work bringing you its next issue, but it took a break to conduct “brainstorming sessions” at Rennie’s and at Max’s last night. Hang on kids, and enjoy your three-day weekend!

Just an announcement: Our PFC hearing when pretty well this year. Our new printing and duplication budget (4PJ24 for all you ledger-minded readers) has been increased to $14,361. We also got an increase in Postage, whoo hoo. So, umm, thanks PFC. Also, this years bunch is the most competent and objective I’ve seen since I’ve been here. And, I’m not just saying that because they gave us money. They even held up USSA, that’s a step in the right direction. Now, about OSPIRG….

It’s been linked by various sites loosely affiliated to this one, but an in-thread shout-out is called for. Everyone check out E-Rocky-Confidential, the gripping tale of former OC writer and current military man Bryan Roberts. No less an authority than Dan calls it “a BLOG with meaningful content,” and I think you’ll agree.

(Hopefully this link to meaningful content will help to atone for the coffee post immediately preceding this one.)

It had to happen: the coffee stand on 13th is now serving hemp lattes.

Much to my chagrin, they’re rather good.

I have a horrible feeling that I should be giving this topic a very wide berth indeed, but here goes regardless.

Here‘s a new piece by David Jagernauth in the ODE, in which he mercifully stops short of calling Colin a racist. A couple of points off the top of my head:

Firstly, reducing MLK’s career to a soundbite doesn’t do the man justice. Fair enough. But is there a major political figure to whom this doesn’t happen? Lincoln freed the slaves. Churchill fought the Nazis on the beaches. Reagan busted the air-traffic controllers union. Clinton… um… anyway, once you’re in the history books, a certain amount of this sort of thing is unavoidable.

Also, I’m (perhaps predictably) less outraged than Jagernauth about the focus on the uncontroversial aspect of King’s legacy. Racial unity – the ideal, not the details of what the hell we should actually do about it – is a touchy-feely, uncontroversial issue. It is something we can all agree on, thank God. This bit of the famous King quote certainly has been cast in such a way as to appeal to absolutely everybody and ruffle no feathers. But them’s the breaks: this is why lots of things are named after Martin Luther King, and rather fewer things are named after Malcolm X.

Anyway, speaking as a damn fer’ner, I’m not going within ten miles of the affirmative action debate – not today, anyhow – but debate it is and continue it does. I read Jagernauth’s pieces with interest, but for the sake of balance it should be noted that a John McWhorter or a Shelby Steele would probably draw a vastly different moral from the quote he concludes with – particularly the bit about “paternalistically… set[ting] the timetable for another man’s freedom.”

Since I’ve managed to get all the way through an article by Steven Den Beste. But, his latest offers an interesting, honest, and insightful look at the Arab World. My only comment is that the Middle East used to be one of the great lights of the world, Arabic history is rich in depth, heroism, character and strength. It’s very unfortunate to see such an important historical region run by the sorts of despots we see these days. Hopefully, someday soon, the stage will be set for a revival in the Middle East.

I noticed this banner ad that appeared above Aimee Rudin’s anti-cell phone column in the online edition of the Emerald today. CallWave is a service that allows an person using dial-up to receive phone messages while online. Instead of hearing a busy signal, callers can leave a message that you’ll be able to instantly hear. However, owning a cell phone could allow a dial-up user to avoid that problem altogether.

So is this anti-cell phone column the result of a not-so-subtle attempt by the Emerald to give an advertiser some extra business? Or is it just coincidence that such an ad would appear above the column? Additionally, the column advocates for greater solitude, which CallWave would definitely subvert.

What’s going on here? Am I looking into this too deeply? Am I confused? I would say: Yes.

A valued correspondent on matters relating to both Judaism and alcohol passes along the following mitzvah.

In related news, it has been established that the 6th Street Grill serves a forty-two ounce margarita of doom.

Do what you will with this information.

For those joining me in my latest sick television-related obsession, the new Tru Calling recap is up at TWoP . This week, Shack reaches new heights of desperation: in exchange for Fox cancelling the damn thing, he offers to buy Cheaper By The Dozen when it comes out on DVD.

(Hat-tip: Antler) The Hillary (D-NY) Health-Care Plan, that is. If it’s the same plan as this 1994 abomination, we have proof that the Senator just can’t seem to learn from the past. There’s a reason her proposal failed miserably, namely that it was a terrible idea. Yes, let’s aim to cut costs by cutting supply, that’ll work. Except for the bit about increased scarcity causing demand to rise relative to supply, and prices to go up. Here’s the best quote: “It’s time to put the common good, the national interest, ahead of individuals.” RIIIIGHT….

UPDATE: More Hillary Quotes

Lileks is back on the case, and links to the excellent Not Fooling Anybody. Their joke is only going to get funnier as more submissions come in from across the country, so keep your eyes peeled, people.