News & Media
Philadelphia > New York (when it comes to appreciation for the First Amendment)
Say what you want about the merits of the “occupy” movement. Whether you think they are the left-wing tea party, freedom fighters, speaking truth to power, simpleton dirty hippies playing hacky sack, they still have a First Amendment right to peaceably assemble. And the asshat award winner, Michael Bloomberg, is renting out the NYPD to Citibank, and he takes the
Can Connecticut take porn from its prisoners? Should it?
Many concerns come to mind when someone thinks about spending time in prison. First and foremost, there is always the risk of being shanked with a very, very sharp toothbrush. For the financial criminals, there is the distinct shame of being bested by Bernie Madoff in a game of badminton. This is to say nothing for the fable of being
Stupid Unamerican Hippies at Occupy Wall Street Protest
/end sarcasm [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0aaTGsGdp4c]
Don't Get a Warrant in Essex County.
The Supreme Court has been tapped to decide if it’s OK to strip search someone who is in custody for a minor traffic offense. Source. Albert Florence had a warrant for an unpaid traffic ticket, which he eventually took care of, but in a “whoops, my bad” moment Essex County didn’t remove the discharged warrant from its computer system. So,
Why Good Cops Should Like Citizens Filming Their Activities
Because sometimes the Cops are right. Not only right, but they show incredible restraint when perhaps even more aggressive responses are appropriate. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QaX8pdapc-I] Source, Carlos Miller.
Reverse Graffiti
Awesomeness. These guys drive around cleaning grime off of public surfaces, and leaving art behind. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9n4RCAQKCY] This video was filmed in Riga, Latvia. That’s probably why they were able to do it without some shit head confusing it with terrorism.
Boobies!
Move over, Coca-Cola. Hooters Restaurant (of bodacious tatas and BBQ wings fame) is suing some restaurant group called La Cima for theft of their trade secrets. La Cima wants to open up a bunch of boobie restaurants of their own called Twin Peaks. Source. Apparently, Hooters’ former Vice President of Ops bailed to go be the CEO of La Cima Restaurants
Shocking revelation: Piracy hurts individuals!
By J. DeVoy In a stunning revelation sure to be devastating to freetards everywhere, not everyone who creates copyrightable work is Lars Ulrich or some ponytailed douchebag driving a BMW 7-series while demanding that the RIAA sue more people so his fat, dumb and entitled daughter can have a pony. The common plea from the anti-enforcement community can be summarized
For the Record … Anti-Mormonism is not "bigotry" (neither is any other anti-religious sentiment)
James Fallows over at the Atlantic says, “Just for the Record: Anti-Mormonism Is Bigotry Too.” No. No it is not. Fallows sums his position up: To be against Mitt Romney (or Jon Huntsman or Harry Reid or Orrin Hatch) because of his religion is just plain bigotry. Exactly as it would have been to oppose Barack Obama because of his
Federal/State Showdown
From Charles Platt I’m sketchy on this aspect of Constitutional law, but isn’t the Justice Department strongly influenced by presidential policy, formally or informally? I don’t watch TV, so I don’t know how much play this story is getting, but doesn’t it seem utterly outrageous, bearing in mind that the Commander in Chief is an admitted former cocaine user? From
Marijuana really brings out the asshole statist in everyone, doesn't it?
Federal prosecutors decided that it is time to make examples of the Californians who are supplying marijuana to willing customers. Their rationale: People are making money off of it. Their heartstring argument, we can’t have people selling marijuana in stores near parks and schools. Yes, “what about the children?” [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N3BzpJoapHc] And a few states over, a Papa Johns pizza delivery
While you're busy fellating Steve Jobs' corpse…
I don’t know if it is just my network of Facebook friends or what, but I’m getting a little sick of the public mourning in the wake of Steve Jobs’ death. (Edit – Clearly it is not just my friends who are fuckwits – see this gem sent by my friend, ADM) Honestly, if you left flowers at an apple
Sexy Sax Man
And now, for something completely different… and awesome. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GaoLU6zKaws]
This is COLUMBUS DAY!!!
This is COLUMBUS DAY. I’d like to invite anyone whose name ends with a vowel (Persians excluded) to raise their hands, extend their middle fingers, and flip off the Native Americans, the hippies, and everyone else in the International Association of Crybabies who has a piss and a moan about Christopher Columbus. This is not “indigenous people’s day,” it is
In defense of juggalos
By J. DeVoy It’s easy to laugh at freaks made up like clowns, devoted to the rap group Insane Clown Posse, who call themselves “juggalos.” It’s harder to serve up a cogent defense of the subculture. Nonetheless, In Mala Fide serves up a detailed analysis in this recent post.
Psha! Public Domain Schmublic Domain.
I don’t know about anybody else, but I always feel like the nerd invited to eat lunch with the popular kids with the USSC hears an IP case. Yesterday, the Big Dogs heard a nifty little First Amendment Copyright case that I honestly don’t know how to feel about yet. But pay attention to this one, kids. It’s a doozy.
More on Nevada's anti-SLAPP law
By J. DeVoy Can Nevada’s anti-SLAPP statutes, for their many flaws, thwart a privately brought federal claim? Why yes, they can. Anti-SLAPP laws come in two flavors: procedural and substantive. Substantive anti-SLAPP laws, such as the previously proposed federal anti-SLAPP law, provide qualified immunity for protected statements and create or crystallize the speaker’s rights. In contrast, procedural anti-SLAPP laws provide a
Gimme back my copyright, beyotch!
A recent addition to what could be the next tsunami of copyright suits, Jim Peterik of 1982 Survivor fame is contemplating getting the rights back for the gloriously awesome song “Eye of the Tiger”. Source. Termination rights are covered in Title 17. Long story short, if you licensed or assigned your copyright to someone after Jan. 1, 1978, you (or
Welcome a New Satyriconista
We got together in the lab and decided to cook up a new Satyriconista. A few grave-robbed parts here, a brain from a mental patient, stole a little swagger from Chuck Norris, applied a little radiation and 1.21 Gigawatts of power, and BAM! Please welcome Beth Hutchens. Beth Hutchens is a Phoenix-based Intellectual Property attorney with a penchant for good
The Company We Keep
Bahrain is one of our “allies.” (source) How they dealt with pro-democracy protesters was no better than how China dealt with theirs in Tiananmen Square. Now, they are prosecuting doctors for treating injured protesters – including sentencing one woman to 15 years. (source) Bahrain, ruled by the Sunni Muslim Al-Khalifa family, is pretty damn insecure, as it well should be.