According to this Mother Jones report, BP has a secret phone line for California state officials to call to get swank seats to concerts and sports events at the Arco… Read the rest of the article: What does BP have in common with Britney Spears, Kiss, and cage fighting?

NYT: "No city in the world arrests more of its citizens for using pot than New York, according to statistics compiled by Harry G. Levine, a Queens College sociologist. Nearly… Read the rest of the article: NYC: World capital of marijuana arrests

"What intrigues me the most about the anti-Vaseline discourse is that it seems to be Americans telling the global south (which is mostly in the northern hemisphere) that they're being… Read the rest of the article: The great Vaseline skin-whitening controversy of 2010: danah boyd weighs in

Climate Progress reports that scientists from Louisiana State University, Mississippi State University and Texas A&M "have 'signed contracts with BP to work on their behalf in the Natural Resources Damage… Read the rest of the article: BP launches effort to restrict publication of scientific research on disaster

David Chartier has assembled "Don't Hold It Wrong" manual pages and videos for a wide array of mobile phones. Above, the Nokia N97 manual, page 20. dontholditwrong.tumblr.com, or view the… Read the rest of the article: Apple doesn't have a monopoly on Death Grip: "Don't hold it wrong" manuals from phones other than iPhone

The altered image BP released of its crisis command center, outed as a Photoshop job by bloggers (and apparently shot back in 2001). AOL News (and many other outlets) report… Read the rest of the article: BP's photoshopped spill response command center

The SF Weekly notes the trend of increasing FDA regulatory scrutiny around the fermented beverage known as kombucha, because some commercial preparations can contain trace amounts of naturally occurring alcohol… Read the rest of the article: Kombucha war brewing between food regulators and fermenty beverage makers

Scientists have released a new kind of map that uses NASA satellite data to show the height of forest canopies around the world. Although there are other local- and regional-scale… Read the rest of the article: New map of forest heights around the world released by NASA

Glenn Reynolds of Instapundit has a piece in Popular Mechanics about the growing trend of cops bullying photographers who take pictures in public places, and why officials who believe such… Read the rest of the article: Taking Photos In Public Places Is Not A Crime

I blogged about "Rapping Paper" here on Boing Boing four years ago, but the folks behind it apparently ran into some legal troubles over lyrics clearance. All is well again,… Read the rest of the article: Rapping Paper

Link.

More "Chamomile Tea Party" posters. Chamomile Tea Party Posters

"If you can't attack the message, attack the messenger. That's a maxim of modern public relations, one that's on display every day in Washington, on cable TV and, last Friday,… Read the rest of the article: David Carr's Antennapalooza post-mortem: "No hair shirt for Jobs"

The recently-applied work of street artist Banksy at an abandoned Packard auto plant in Detroit, Michigan. A local gallery promptly dug up and relocated the wall to their space, sparking… Read the rest of the article: Banksy does Detroit

Punk cabaret diva Amanda Palmer today released a 7-track digital album of Radiohead ukelele covers. Choose from 320k mp3, FLAC, and other formats, download for all of a whopping 84… Read the rest of the article: Radiohead hits covered on ukelele: Amanda Palmer

"The Mughal miniature paintings of fantastic animals… are mosaics of intertwined animal and human forms. In the Hindu tradition such paintings possibly represent the belief in the internal unity of… Read the rest of the article: Ancient Hindu Wunderkammers: The Art of the Composite Beast

The Washington Post today unveiled a two-year investigative journalism project, "Top Secret America." To ensure that the country's most sensitive duties are carried out only by people loyal above all… Read the rest of the article: Top Secret America: 2-year investigation by Washington Post into huge, post-9/11 security buildup

A ship from Korea carrying supplies to build housing for military buildup workers in the American territory of Guam was denied permission to dock when inspectors discovered thousands of spiders… Read the rest of the article: SPIDERBOAT: Ship denied docking in Guam after thousands of spiders stream forth from cargo

"If you take my computer again, I can't do my homework."—Words spoken to agents raiding a small California dairy farm by the owner's 12-year-old daughter. The farm is known for… Read the rest of the article: Raw food raids are on the rise

Amazon today released an announcement boasting that sales of the Kindle device have tripled since the unit price dropped from $259 to $189. And with that, a related piece of… Read the rest of the article: Amazon: We sell more books in Kindle format than hardcover.