Um, EVER, Scorch Atlas, Lamination Colony, No Colony (w/ Ken Baumann), HTMLGIANT (et al.) — and now Year of the Liquidator (w/ Shane Jones), please where is my elephant tranquilliser gun? I need to shoot someone.

Nicholson Baker reviews the Kindle in the latest New Yorker.

New issue of H_NGM_N is now alive for your viewing pleasure.

How have I missed out on this: The Thick of It and In the Loop are symphonies of virtuosic profanity (the BBC’s sign-language service has had to create five new signs to accommodate The Thick of It’s blue neologisms), much of it supplied by menacing communications director Malcolm Tucker (Peter Capaldi), a man who can render the commonplace “Would you like to step into my office?” as “Come the fuck in or fuck the fuck off.”

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_7pyktzpY8

Need another line on your resume? Get a one dollar grant.

Earlier today, my friend Rebecca im’d me with the message, “Barth died.” I inquired, “John Barth?” She said, “Uh, sure.” The Internet turned up nothing on this, so I asked her where she heard this distressing news. Turns out she was talking about Barth from You Can’t Do That On Television, and just assumed that was his full name. Barth: Gone too soon.

What do ya’ll think of the brand new Octopus #12?

Poetry trumped, once again, by universe: dogs can be allergic to cats.

HTMLGiant sort of missed covering the Henry Louis Gates Jr. arrest story, so just in case you’re one of those people who gets 100% of their news from us, here’s a roundup of all the Gawker posts on the topic.

Foreignpolicy.com has a piece on the 2009 Failed States Index. And while you’re over there, you should also check out this fascinating article by Noah Efron on secular/extremist tension in Jerusalem.