The Morning Blog

Wael Ghonim, the Google executive imprisoned in Egypt, has been freed. Sort of an interesting situation: He was the impetus behind all of the social networking that fueled the protests in their early stages. Having been freed, many people are calling for him to take on some sort of leadership role, something he seems hesitant to do, with good reason I might add. This could be the new face of protest movements internationally, young people that are able to utilize social networking tools very effectively that may or may not possess the skills required for governance.

Meanwhile in Iran... Whoops. Ayatollah Khamenei probably shouldn't have given his support for the protests in Tunisia and Egypt. Now the Iranians would like to have one of their own, thanks.

Oh my...More on the Middle East: Turns out our State Department is run like a sweatshop. Pretty embarrassing to be honest.

Things like this make me nervous about my place on the food chain: Death by chicken.

But this is soooooo much more interesting! Monks! Spies! Reincarnation! Real estate disputes! This story has it all! Love it!

Going through withdrawal here now that the Super Bowl is done, so bear with me when I cling to this article and call it football news. Huh. To be honest, he's certainly got the money and it sounds like a fun way to spend it. I can think of worse things.

Kacee Bait: He's baaaaaaack...

Kacee Bait: Prince keeps it classy.

Huh...Nice to see that the Pittsburgh Penguins are marginally more popular than trout fishing.

Pretty interesting: Since DC's ban on handguns was overturned, the majority of sales have been to the affluent in low-crime neighborhoods. I would agree that this is probably just a function of economics: Guns are expensive. I'm sure plenty of poor people in high crime neighborhoods would love to buy one if they could afford it.

Ironic: Michael Moore, a renowned opponent of unbridled, capitalist excess is suing over profits.

Calling James Cameron. Throw in a couple of giant, blue cat people and it's a go.

Are you guys familiar with the profound wonder that is Axe Cop? It's...well, it's about an axe cop. It's written entirely by a six year old and illustrated by his 30 year old brother. Someone's gone and made a fan video...

They probably should have seen this coming.

Speaking of magic... I'll be interested to see if anyone takes up the challenge.