Sweden the socialist paradise? Sweden is often portrayed by American leftists as an enlightened example of compassionate socialism. However, recent figures from Swedish Research Institute of Trade published in the "liberal Dagens Nyheter newspaper" show that if Sweden were a US state, it would be the poorest state, ranking below Mississippi. The article also states that "Black people, who have the lowest income in the United States, now have a higher standard of living than an ordinary Swedish household." And according to figures from the United Nations Crime Victimization Survey, Sweden has more crime than the US. (Via Plastic.)

The FBI kept a very extensive file on Albert Einstein because of his "left-wing associations". You can look at it here.

Are you still using circulating blood to sustain your life? Hip nanotech enthusiasts in the 21st century will instead rely on vasculoid, "an aggressive nanomedical device that lines your blood vessels and replaces the blood". More details here.

Hypnosis: How much is bogus and how much is real?

I swear that I didn't take any perverse pleasure in playing AntCity.

The Top 10 Worst Pick-Up Lines For Geeks.

A lawyer in Glasglow claims to own the Sun. (Via Madville.)

How are other countries approaching the cloning issue? This informative article is full of surprises, including the claim that in China "scientists have cloned dozens of human embryos with few ethical qualms".

How to cheat at Solitaire and Freecell. (Via Fark.)

After 9/11, online dating has now become socially acceptable.

Those little bars of soap in your hotel room can add up to $50 per night to your hotel bill.

Today's tasteless game is the suicide bomber game. There's even a big uproar about it already.

Are computer games a form of free speech? Excellent article on a current court case in Missouri.

Racial profiling can be good in medicine. (I'm amazed that someone even has to actually make this point, but Dr.Satel does it quite eloquently.)

The secret to George W. Bush's power. (Via BBspot.)

Deconstructing the Blog: John Dvorak gives his Eight Rules for the Perfect Blog. (Not for the easily offended blogger...)

The New York Times has finally discovered weblogs.

The history of World War II would be much more interesting if we included the magical superpowers. (Via Memepool.)

TV studio technicians watching a pornographic videotape accidentally hit the "send" button and broadcasted it to thousands of viewers instead of the scheduled miniseries. (Via Fark.)

Frequent flyer miles currently in circulation exceed $500 billion in value, making them the second biggest world "currency" after the US dollar. And at their current rate of growth, flyer miles "could overtake the dollar within two years". Where will we spend them? According to this related article in the Economist, "US Airways has launched a deal where, for a mere 10m miles, you can buy a seat on the first private spacecraft to take passengers into space, scheduled for 2004."