Mannahatta, as the indigenous called it, meant “land of many hills.” And The Mannahatta Project tells the story. Take a look at some great computer generated images and years of research into the ecology of Manhattan prior to the arrival of Henry Hudson in 1609. Very awesome!

Wow, this is kinda questionable. MS photoshops a black man out of their ad slated for Poland. Curiously enough, the asian man wasn’t cut and, of course, the white woman was left alone. What does this say about Poland?

A side note: whoever they hired to edit the image must be a beginner because 1.) the light on the pasted-in white guy is in total contrast to how the light falls on the other two and 2.) they did a horrible clone stamp on the wall behind him and 3.) THEY FORGOT HIS HAND!

Via Engadget

“Relax with a cup of tea in the bosom of the leading politicians.” Donkey Products in Hamburg has come up with another fancy, letting you enjoy a tea with your favorite strippers, presidents or royals. Five tea bags per set from the makers of hand-gun soap!

Via DirectDaily

They’re calling him “MacGyver Chef.” Gizmodo’s Dan Nosowitz is attempting to cook ordinary meals in not-so-ordinary appliances – ie all meals are prepared without an oven/range. Poached chicken and couscous in a coffee maker? MacGyver Chef did it, but unfortunately his dishwasher steamed salmon with cilantro sauce didn’t come out so well. How about a vegetarian option, MacGyver Chef?

Via Gizmodo

This would be hillarious if the people being interviewed weren’t serious. They are so serious, in fact, that its absolutely terrifying. Please, after handling the health care issue, work on education reform because no American should be this blatantly ignorant.

On a positive note, my mom just told me about Remote Area Medical, a group of doctors providing free health care in destitute regions of the world. Their newest challenge: American inner-cities & low-to-no income families!

Via Remote Area Medical

A Delhi man, stuck in traffic and scared he was going to miss his flight, realized that in order to delay the plane long enough for him to reach the airport, he would have to call in a bomb threat. Apparently he didn’t realize that such calls from cell phones are easily traceable, or that those persons in close proximity (ie his taxi driver) can overhear what’s being said.

Via APP

Crazy comes in many forms. First, James Carville was invited to advise Ghani’s presidential campaign in Afghanistan. Now Huckabee’s been invited to promote Israeli expansion into Palestinian territory by a group of far-right religious settlers. I’m just wondering: are these two guys culturally/ideologically sensible per the ins and outs of these regions?

Huckabee has stated that he supports Israeli expansion and settlement building in the West Bank. He is also opposed to the establishment of a Palestinian state. Huckabee actually cares?! Or does he believe such a move will appeal to American Jewish sentiment with something up his sleeve for 2012? In any case, Huckabee is the honored guest of the Ateret Cohanim, a right-wing religious group planning twenty apartment projects in East Jerusalem. Obama has vented his disapproval of Israeli expansion, causing the far-right to protest with banners reading, “Barak Hussein Obama: Anti-Semitic, Jew-Hater.” So yes, crazy does, indeed, come in many forms.

20 years ago this month, the iron curtain began to come down. Everyone has probably seen the images of Germans hammering holes in the Berlin Wall in November 1989, but the events that eventually brought east and west back together began in August on the Austrian/Hungarian border.

Now the border that divided east and west – twisting from northern thru southern Europe – has become a bike path! The Iron Curtain Trail is a 4,225-mile network of bicycle paths that extends along the former Warsaw Pact-NATO border, from northern Finland to the Black Sea.

Check out this travel report over at NY Times.com

Never before has the U.S. national debt grown at such a pace. It grew by one trillion in 2008. Estimates put 2009 growth at three trillion. That’s comparable to the growth of public debt accrued throughout the entire first half of this decade – in one year! One quarter of our ENTIRE U.S. national debt will be accumulated just in 2009; ie. It took about 99 years to reach the nine trillion mark. And one year on top of that to reach (and exceed) the 12 trillion mark.

The documentary I.O.U.S.A. details the national debt and what it means for average Americans.

Though banned by the FOX network, that didn’t keep the cast of The Family Guy from reading the script of the abortion episode to a live audience.

And here’s an interview with Seth McFarlane about the episode

Via THR.com