Apparently, Arnold Schwarzenegger has his own, little-seen YouTube channel, through which he addresses netizens and informs them of California’s progress. What seems initially to be a farce, actually turns into an informative lecture on, among other things, California’s bulky permit process.

If you learn one thing from the Mep Report, let it be this: Do not ever fry gnocchi. That is all.

A mini-documentary on the Leonardo Da Vinci of the modern era, Nikola Tesla.

Hell yeah, I want my pony!

This article at The People’s View should be required reading for all those interested in discovering what some parts of both the right and left of the blogosphere have to gain in trying to destroy (fortunately unsuccessfully, I think) President Obama–or, more accurately, what they have to gain in upping the ante on false outrage in a public forum.  (Here’s a hint: it’s the same thing anti-corporatists are always claiming (often rightly) is the end goal of every politician.)  One wonders how much time MLK or Gandhi would have had for this kind of kabuki.

Here’s a treat for you Meppers. It’s a full-length documentary about Wikileaks and the intrepid man of mystery, Mr. Assange. Confidence is low that this link will remain up forever, so enjoy it while you can.

You may not know this, but there is only one diving pool in the entire country of Japan. At least they use it efficiently.

Who knew that Chaplin was so politically motivated? This clip comes from The Great Dictator (1940). If the armband and moustache look vaguely Hitler-like, it’s intentional. Chaplin plays an autocrat for most of the movie, in addition to playing a doppleganger who switches places with him, in time to rally a fascist regime to nobler causes with this speech.

We could use him around these days.

I don’t know if this really qualifies as human news, but, nevertheless, here’s a recently discovered old gem. It’s Hunter Thompson interviewing Keith Richards in 1993.

As many of you know, it is our sworn duty here at the Mep Report, not only to report on the pressing human issues of our day, but of the Emu-related ones as well. It seems as if one of our flightless brethren escaped his confines in a Rhode Island farm and is currently AWOL. We wish him a safe journey while he’s on the lamb.

Hans Rosling and his team of statisticians organized an unfathomably huge swath of historical health statistics since the beginning of the 19th century. The results are eye-opening.