"George W. Bush is arguably the most controversial person in the world." Is there any way that could be an understatement? Anyway these are some of the worldwide artistic representations of the prez. tjc

Slate magazine's Ann Applebaum answers the ever-so-complicated question, "What is Russia afraid of?" jmj

GOOD magazine discusses how playgrounds, although safer, have gotten progressively worse. Also presented are three alternative playgrounds: Adventure Playgrounds, Nature Playgrounds, and Loose Parts Playgrounds. jmj

Welcome to the Webtop: the future of the desktop. Cloud computing is taking over. tjc

Spain is currently experiencing its worst drought in 40 years, and may soon be experiencing its worst nightmare; becoming a desert through climate change. jmj

From Kottke: turning the world into Christ one atom at a time. tjc

Check out Gnod and learn about this self-adapting system based on artificial intelligence. This is a very cool way to discover an artist that you otherwise may not have known about. jmj

From Radar: hipster hookers. tjc

A premature baby, born in the 24th week, was pronounced dead and taken to the local morgue in Israel. She was placed in the morgue freezer. 5 hours later her mother wanted to see her one last time and found her alive inside the freezer. Sadly, new reports are that the baby has since passed away. glc

Google.org, the non-profit arm of the tech giant, says there is enough geothermal energy to power the globe. So they invested over $10 million in it. tjc

Just for kicks. (via Joe Mes) tjc