There's an inventor named Dean Kamen who has a new, secret invention being discussed at Metafilter. Yadda yadda yadda, that's all cool -- but what I find more interesting is the fact that he bought an island off of the coast of Massachusetts and has declared it independent:

When Kamen wanted to erect a wind turbine on North Dumpling and the state of New York
objected, he seceded from the US. Though the secession has never been officially
recognized, he signed a nonaggression pact with his friend, then-President George Bush,
and enlisted Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield of Ben & Jerry's as "joint chiefs of ice cream."
North Dumpling has its own flag, its own anthem, a one-ship navy, and its own currency.
One bill, which Kamen carries in his wallet, is the value of pi. "You can't make change for
it," he says with a grin. "It's a transcendental function."

What's crazy is that there is actual precedent for this. Off the coast of Britain there is a former anti-aircraft platform that has been occupied since 1967 by a minor member of royalty. As the official website notes, a court decision in 1968 more or less upheld the functional independence of Sealand, and since the rise of the internet, it's become a major haven for offshore data management. A picture, and more information about Sealand, can be found here.

This sounds like a fine idea. It's surprising to think just how many private islands are for sale. If you have a few million to burn, might as well get one. I like this one. And, if you need a truly impressive way to get there, why not get your own private luxury submarine?

I wish this private country was real. It sounds like fun.

Hagbard Celine, where are you? (Yes, the irony of the Amafnordzon link is intentional.)

As promised, the always popular lesser known blog review:

I've discovered one thing about the 'net, which is whenever you post any reviews of someone, they will read it. It's inevitable. For example, when I posted my comment about the awards phenomenon, I mistakenly referred to the giver of the Millenium Medley Awards as a guy. I was swiftly rebuked in a very snarky manner by the lady, and wasn't even sent a response to what I thought was a gracious apology (and swift correction). Gee, thanks.

Nonetheless, I am not deterred. First, two sites I like: The Cub4blog is a Gay Blog. I enjoy it primarily because of the writer's penchant for ABBA lyrics. It also uses the same Blogger template as me, which is apparently pretty popular. Eric's page is a fine Blogspot blog that I've enjoyed as well. It's well written and tends towards the wordy side, which is always a plus.

Two sites that are irritating expressions of teen angst (whether done by teens or not; one never can be too sure): This is the best argument yet for me getting a new template. Puh-lease get over it. Now. You too. The latter site is one of those that pops up weird differently sized windows whenever you'd like to do something, which is a good enough reason to shun it.

Finally, if you have to have irritating frames in your blog, and you don't write much original content, you can still redeem yourself by having some good links. Case in point. (Addendum: since I posted this, the Cub4Blog posted something pretty offensive. I'm not going to censor, but ugh. Oh, and the first crappy teen angst blog I reviewed changed templates, making my comment irrelevent)