“Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer skewers President Barack Obama in a new book, saying the president was ‘patronizing’ and ‘condescending’ when she met him at the White House last summer… [She] also says the president ‘lectured me’”. [Politico]

When last we left Harold Camping — well, before the stroke — he had rescheduled Armageddon for October 21, because, y’know, eschatological math is hard.

But that’s his story, and he’s sticking to it. Sort of.

The Oakland minister’s latest prediction of the end of the world — which he’s set for Friday — is couched among words like “probably” and “maybe,” a far cry from the carved-in-stone certitude he projected onto his infamous May 21 forecast.

“I do believe we’re getting very near the very end,” Camping, 90, said during a podcast recorded earlier this month and posted on his Family Radio website. “Oct. 21, that’s coming very shortly, that looks like it will be, at this point, it will be the final end of everything.”

Anyway, if you have nothing better to do on your latest Last Day on Earth, you can always put Gir on infinite loop.

Harold Camping, rapture prophet, hedges new bet [SF Chronicle]

Our guest columnist reminds us why we’re keeping our distance.

The game is up: we see through the pyramid schemes of the temples of cultural elitism controlled by the 1%. No longer will we, the artists of the 99%, allow ourselves to be tricked into accepting a corrupt hierarchical system based on false scarcity and propaganda concerning absurd elevation of one individual genius over another human being for the monetary gain of the elitest of elite. For the past decade and more, artists and art lovers have been the victims of the intense commercialization and co-optation or art. We recognize that art is for everyone, across all classes and cultures and communities. We believe that the Occupy Wall Street Movement will awaken a consciousness that art can bring people together rather than divide them apart as the art world does in our current time…

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What’s this?

Militia supporter Darren Wesley Huff, of Dallas, Ga., stands by his pick-up truck during a lunch break Tuesday while being tried on federal gun charges. Huff allegedly traveled in April 2010 to the Monroe County Courthouse with a handgun and an AK-47 to serve a “citizens’ arrest warrant” on local judges and law officers. The Greek inscription means “come and take them,” reportedly spoken by the Spartans in response to a demand to surrender their weapons at the Battle of Thermopylae.

If you’re not up on your Ancient Greek History, don’t worry — neither is Mr. Huff. We’ll bet he doesn’t know shit about Thermopylae, but can recite the movie “300” start to finish.

Whereas the other end of the Protest Spectrum is all over “V for Vendetta”, since we’re equally confident that they don’t know shit about Guy Fawkes.

What is it with Angry People and comic-book movies these days? Why don’t they stick to the Classics, like Star Trek and Star Wars?

Man accused of courthouse takeover goes on trial [Knoxville News Sentinel, via jwmcsame]

Yes, he was a tyrant and a terrorist who was likely suffering from mental illness. And now his country is free of his iron-hand rule. But on a lighter note, Muammar el-Qaddafi (I go with the Gray Lady’s spelling) never failed to impress over the decades with his sartorial choices.  You could always count on Qaddafi to add a touch of  um….well…something to international summits and meetings.  Let’s review, shall we?

(1) While this is a rather sedate ensemble by Qaddafi standards, I figured we needed to start with Muammar and his crush Condi:

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A few stories you may or may not have missed this week (perfect for watercooler conversation breaks, or ending that moment of awkward silence on your next blind date):
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It’s no Rocket Man. But then, nothing is.

[via @pourmecoffee]