Blair to announce U.K. troop withdrawal from Iraq.

in

BBC reports: “Tony Blair is expected to announce a timetable for the withdrawal of UK troops from Iraq. The prime minister is due to make an announcement in the House of Commons on Wednesday in which he is expected clarify the details. Mr Blair is expected to say hundreds of troops will return from Basra within weeks with more to follow later. Some 7,000 UK troops are currently serving in Iraq and about 1,500 are expected to return within weeks.”

(Via Think Progress.)

And the first domino has been overturned....

Supremely excellent cat-playing-piano video

in

Xeni Jardin:




A new high for kittendom, or a new low for BoingBoing. Either way -- that cat can play: Video Link, and here's the website from whence it came. Her owners in Philadelphia, PA, explain: "Nora began playing the piano on her own. She plays even when she is alone in the room. She really enjoys playing duets with a student playing on the second piano. (...) Some of her solo concerts have gone on for a minute or more." (Thanks, Sean Bonner)

(Via Boing Boing.)

PirateBay’s OscarTorrents - download the Oscars

in

Cory Doctorow:
OscarTorrents is an audacious new site from The Pirate Bay: a search-engine for torrents of this year's Oscar nominees:


To those worried about downloading in case they get sued: by our calculations, your chances of getting nailed are way less than your chances of winning the lottery. Don't think twice about it.

To all intellectual property landlords: we are aware that OscarTorrents might annoy you -- but contain your righteous indignation for a while, and think: we're only linking to torrents that already exist. Face it: your membrane has burst, and it wasn't us who burst it. Your precious bodily fluids are escaping.

You haven't beaten us, so why not join us? Think of a new business model that doesn't involve overpriced pieces of plastic and skanky cinemas hawking cheap carbohydrates while relying on $6/hr projectionists who can't keep a film in focus -- not to mention insulting your audiences by (to pick a few examples) surveilling us with nightvision glasses, searching bags, 30 minutes of commercials and bombarding us with ridiculous anti-piracy propaganda. Take a look at yourselves. Is it really any wonder we're winning?


Link

(Thanks Hoag!)

(Via Boing Boing.)