Yep.

The question is, I guess, why, when it could have been so potent a target. (Obvious answers: no clear goals; high barrier to participation; bad timing; twats.)

"We can bitch about it, but Facebook, Twitter, Google and all the rest are, in many ways the very definition of modern life in the democratic west. For many, a functioning internet with freedom of speech, and a good connection to the social networks of our choice is a sign not just of modernity, but of civilisation itself... It is the central platform for business, culture, and personal relationships. There’s not much else left. To misunderstand the centrality of these services to today’s society is to make a fundamental error. The internet isn’t a luxury addition to life; for most people, knowingly or not, it is life."

"We are now living in a global state that has been structured for the benefit of non-human entities with non-human goals... In short, we are living in the aftermath of an alien invasion."

"With his party having won 6 of the City Council’s 15 seats, Mr. Gnarr needed a coalition partner, but ruled out any party whose members had not seen all five seasons of 'The Wire.'"

Chris speaks much truth.

Note that the category the job advert is in is called "Hidden Documents".

Tom Steinberg and Stef Magdalinski and the rest of mySociety = WIN

Title sequence: intense. Set design: flat-pack TARDIS. Pretty much everything: awesome.

"Not only does he lose control of the government, he totally kneels before Zod, and thus is full of epic fail. Oh, sure, he says he's doing it to save lives, but look: Here in the US, we don't change rulers through a system of kneeling. We have elections. Besides, any treaty with General Zod would have had to be ratified by Congress."

Um

"A horrified America watched John McCain stagger up from his debate chair last night and turn into a monster... Clearly, the special anti-monster juice McCain drinks before public appearances was starting to wear off. They got him in the titanium-lined SWAT van just before he fully transformed. But fully transformed into what?"

Linked as an aide-mémoire for when I have my mental breakdown

"Nate Silver is a number-crunching prodigy who went from correctly forecasting baseball games to correctly forecasting presidential primaries—and perhaps the election itself. Here’s how he built a better crystal ball." Nice article about fivethirtyeight from NY Mag.

Genius

Bah-dum tsch.

Like waxy says, this will probably go mental in 3... 2... 1...

John McCain is not a good multitasker

"Hang on. Home run. Right here. Is there any chance you could get Michelle pregnant before the fall sweeps?"

He's in Florida, naturally

Nice bit of alternate history hypothesising from the LRB.

"The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff sternly opposes the unicorn's idea to airlift sunshine across the tribal areas of Afghanistan."

Gorgeously simple bit of data visualisation

'The rancourous cry of the “usual suspects” is little more than code for “people who aren’t us”'

It was only a matter of time

Or maybe god just doesn't like Dmitri Medvedev. (This is a story about tearing a newspaper, by the way)

I guess keeping them all in one place could have benefits

This is probably good news for any shadowy government agencies trying to track down Jason Bourne

THERE ARE NOT ANY ESCALATORS IN WYOMING

I want The Onion to run for President

We may have discovered the reason behind Hillary Clinton's negative coverage in the press.

A cover of "Rock Around The Clock" so utterly, hideously appalling that it'll make you want to vote for Clinton, McCain, Huckabee or quite possibly Hitler before lending your support to the poor sod name-checked in it.

"Motherbots against cortical shunt abuse"

This is a brilliant use for, and visualisation of, data

For €30, a Palestinian will spray-paint your personal message on the Israel-Palestine wall. This would probably make an ideal gift for Valentines Day.

Okay, now he's really gone down in my opinion. Let the Baracklash begin.

Photographer John Moore narrates the slideshow. Top quality work under pressure. Via Ben Hammersley.

Staggering photo-essay about the supertanker demolition beaches of Chittagong. Via Warren Ellis.

What's the correlation between a country's name and its levels of political freedom?

Yeah, that's the most sensible line to draw. Obviously.

Hmmm, maybe saving the world might involve more than buying a specially coloured iPod.

Fairly brutal, very true and extremely funny.

The concept of irony gives up and just sits in the corner, crying softly.

...it might as well be this one.

Hilarious list of captions Fox News ran about Chavez's United Nations speech. "12:29pm: Should U.S. continue to fund U.N. after applause for Chavez?"

Blair: That's a question asked in a language I no longer recognise.

Strangely, Milton Keynes doesn't make the list.

Anno MMIII Blair particeps erat in bello Iraco cum causus belli de "arma magni exitii".

31% of me doesn't believe this

Giving mayoral candidates the Voight-Kampff test to see if they're humans or replicants (from 2003)