News & Media
Instant Manly Man, Just Add Assault Rifle.
About two years ago, Bushmaster Firearms rolled out a new marketing campaign for its AR Platform assault rifles. It apparently started as a sweepstakes that looks to have evolved from there. It consists of a series of “manhood questions” that are designed to elicit responses that prove the test taker is a “real man”. Anyone who passes the test gets
Federal Circuit’s COCKSUCKER Decision Sucks
As many long-time readers know, Section 2(a) of the Trademark Act is one of my pet peeves. This is the section of the Trademark Act that gives pretty much unfettered discretion to a trademark examiner to deny a trademark registration on the basis that the mark itself is “immoral” or “scandalous.” The Federal Circuit just decided In Re Fox, in
Sunshine is the best disinfectant – the Steubenville Rape Case
The mainstream media has noticed that something is amiss in Steubenville, Ohio. (Rape Case Unfolds on Web and Splits City). And Jezebel gives credit where it is due — to a blogger who refused to let the story die. (We Wouldn’t Know About the Steubenville Rape Case If It Wasn’t for the Blogger Who ‘Complicated’ Things). I won’t comment beyond
Proving Yourself Wrong About Things You Think You're Right About
By Christopher Duston This is a story about hypothesis and fact-checking on the gun-violence debate. And about how proving you are wrong about something is better the thinking you are right. I was listening to an interview on NPR with Jack Levin, a sociologist and criminologist from Northwestern Northeastern University in Boston. He commented that there are not very many
"Honor is everything here" … on this day in 1943
This is just an amazing story.
Daniel Inouye
If you were a member of the 442nd in World War II, you were per se a bad ass. Daniel Inouye, super bad ass. He pulls the pin on a grenade, gets shot in the arm, and then pulls the grenade from his own severed arm to toss it at a nazi. Yeah, I dare you to be half that
Deadspin Weighs in on Raanan Katz Suit
As some of you remember, Raanan Katz sued Google and others for copyright infringement this summer over a Blogger user’s publication of an “unflattering” photograph of him. Today, popular sports blog Deadspin has the story. Beyond the copyright suit, the Deadspin piece goes on to discuss a Florida trial court’s order in separate, concurrent litigation that Katz has brought against
This Domain Name Seized from Crystal Cox
A number of domain names, formerly registered by the well-known cyber-extortionist, Crystal Cox, now forward to this post. On Nov. 30., the World Intellectual Property Organization awarded six of them to me in Randazza v. Cox, WIPO Case No. D2012-1525. (Cox’s commentary on the case is here) On Dec. 14, the United States District Court in Las Vegas issued a
Guest Post: Silence is not an option
By Catherine Bonier Silence is not an option. Something must be done. A tragedy. Children are gone. The internet is ablaze with righteous anger. The news cycle begins and the story in every detail is unavoidable. Experts analyze each fact and angle, and politicians promise a response. Social media is the answer. We post images as badges of belief –
Dead Children…
The tragedy of innocent children dying violently at the hands of a complete stranger should make us all sad. And I am not talking about Newtown. I’m talking about Pakistan and Yemen. You tell me how those children’s lives are worth less than the lives of the kids in Newtown. There is no moral difference between the dead kids in
Republicans complain about wasteful spending
Just kidding. House Administration Chairman Dan Lungren, R-Calif., signed off in September on a $500,000 increase in the maximum value of the contract with the firm, Washington-based Bancroft. Republicans have raised the cap of the contract twice: first on Sept. 29, 2011, from its original maximum of $500,000 to $1.5 million, and again on Sept. 28 to its new maximum
Fuckabee
Mike Huckabee said: “We ask why there is violence in our schools, but we have systematically removed God from our schools, should we be so surprised that schools would become a place of carnage?” (source) Fuck you, Mike Huckabee. Fuck you in your ass with a cactus.
We are doomed
If the Mayans were wrong, maybe we should make them right. Here’s why: [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=DL-a-r7iJIU] A civilization that produces this does not deserve to make it to December 13.
Yard Sale Clothes at Urban Outfitters. Why not just steal/share them?
Urban Outfitters selling garage sale clothes to hipsters for huge markups. (source) Good for Urban Outfitters. Dumb for Williamsburgonians. I don’t understand why they don’t just steal the clothes from the yard sales and then drive away. If the garage sale proprietor only gets their license plate number, they can never actually ever be caught. It is impossible to prove
Hemingway's Cats, Flunkies at the USDA, and the Commerce Clause
Henmingway said, “There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self.” That may be true, but you still have to point at the asshats and laugh, if not throw things at them. If you’ve ever been to Key West, you’ve probably gotten drunk on sticky frozen cocktails, eaten conch
Talking to your kids about gay marriage
I used to have neighbors in Flori-duh, whose argument (to me anyhow) against gay marriage was “what am I supposed to tell my kids?” Louis CK had a funny reply to that. “It doesn’t have ANY effect on your life. What do you care? People try to talk about it like it’s a social issue. Like when you see someone
Public university censors student's fliers protesting censorship
Saginaw Valley State University, a public university located in Michigan, boldly and ironically censored a university student’s flyers about censorship earlier this year. (Source). SVSU recently adopted a new policy requiring that all flyers receive approval from the Student Life office prior to posting. The policy requires that, among other things, the flyers “be in good taste, free from profanity,
Killer Catfish!
Catfish, jumping out of the water to eat pigeons. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=UZwPG_x6QEk] Source
Copyright in Tattoo Case: Escobedo v. THQ, Inc.
A tattoo artist sued THQ, Inc., the makers of a UFC themed video games, for copyright infringement. The artist tattooed a lion on Carlos Condit’s torso, and claims that it was his original creation. (Complaint at 12) The artist alleges that he created the original design, and owns a registration for the copyright to the design. (Compl. at 16). He
