News & Media
Osama Bin Laden is Dead — but He Won the War
So says Rogier Van Bakel (and he’s dead right). Look, I trust that Osama Bin Laden’s death was horrible and bloody and painful (albeit not nearly drawn-out enough), and I hope that I will never eat a fish or a crustacean that contains even one molecule of that vile, mass-murdering thug — my stomach might not be able to take
Copyright suit over Mike Tyson's facial tattoo
Interesting copyright issue reported in the New York Times: In “The Hangover Part II,” the sequel to the very successful what-happened-last-night comedy, the character played by Ed Helms wakes up with a permanent tattoo bracketing his left eye. The Maori-inspired design is instantly recognizable as the one sported by the boxer Mike Tyson, which is part of the joke. (Mr.
The Magic Underwear State vs. Sexytime
Utah, apparently a hotbed of prostitution, appears to have had some trouble enforcing its anti-solictitation laws. Under Utah law, “solicitation” is defined as follows: 76-10-1313. Sexual solicitation (1) A person is guilty of sexual solicitation when: (a) he offers or agrees to commit any sexual activity with another person for a fee; or (b) he pays or offers or agrees
Peter Murphy should have stayed in retirement
I owned every Bauhaus album on vinyl back in the 1980s. I am the target demographic for his new album. However, this interview guarantees that I wouldn’t buy his warmed over dreck. “I’m not ashamed to claim that I’m the last and only star,” says Murphy, now 53, speaking by phone from his adopted home of Istanbul, Turkey. “I totally
D.C. Cir. – No Flashmobs in the Jefferson Memorial
By J. DeVoy Public lands are not necessarily public forums, or so the D.C. Circuit tells us in yesterday’s Oberwetter v. Hilliard, et al. decision. Case No. 10-5078, available here. Oberwetter and 17 friends conducted a silent dance in tribute to President Jefferson shortly before midnight on an April evening back in 2008. (Query whether the participants were University of
The die has been cast
By J. DeVoy [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Az_7U0-cK0&w=425&h=349] Indeed.
Devaluing your competitor's brand
By J. DeVoy Trademark law provides brand holders protection from competitors or third parties infringing upon, diluting or tarnishing their business marks, but what happens when the damage comes from the actual market for the brand and the people who consume it? Every brand has negative connotations; Chevrolet is associated with poor quality and a dysfunctional company that couldn’t exist
Betas, Online Dating and Anonymous
By J. DeVoy At the limply beating heart of all things beta is a lack of options. Anonymous, ever the ingenious amorphous blob of misanthropy that it is, seized upon this and organized an “involuntary flashmob” in midtown Manhattan by using spoofed female dating profiles to lure men into appearing at the same place at the same time. Vice has
A reason to swallow and a reason to spit
In his Valentine’s Day-themed editorial in Surgery News, “Gut Feelings”, Dr. Lazar Greenfield cited to a study that reported that semen has anti-depresseant and mood-elevating effects upon women. He concluded: “So there’s a deeper bond between men and women than St Valentine would have suspected, and now we know there’s a better gift for that day than chocolate.” So ladies,
Tribute to motherhood
by Tatiana von Tauber I’ve been a mother for 13 years now and I’ve changed my mind about it. I used to fear it until I got the hang of it and then somehow I liked it. Of course, in the absence of thought during the like stage I decided to have another baby in my mid 30s. Yes, good
By the way
By J. DeVoy One week ago, I killed Santa. I’m telling the world now because I just confirmed that it was his DNA. I didn’t take any pictures, and dumped the body in the ocean before a third party could verify its identity, but just trust me. [N.B. – I do not doubt that Osama is dead. As noted in
Osama dead; Americans still gripped in fear
By J. DeVoy [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2dKdBlKgquw&w=425&h=349] With Osama Bin Laden dead for a week and the DNA tests purportedly confirming his demise, it’s morning again in America. Surely the PATRIOT Act will be repealed, and Obama will channel Ronald Reagan to bust and disband the unionized, lecherous zealots of the TSA. The NSA’s taps on AT&T’s data lines will be removed
Russians crack down on BitTorrent piracy
By J. DeVoy Russian authorities have shut down Pornolab.net, one of the largest adult BitTorrent websites in the world. The full story is available at XBIZ.
Litigation's so passé
By J. DeVoy For whatever reason, this makes me think of my experiences thus far in the District of Nevada: [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9mgjZK46_uw&w=480&h=390]
Is there anything more idiotic than Donald Trump's hair? YES!
His ideas. Donald is a well known birther. This interview with George Stephanopoulos takes the cake.
Man bursts into flames in porn store. You can't explain that!
The tides come in and they go out. You can’t explain that! Magnets just stick to each other, with no glue! You can’t explain that! Jagermeister goes in, puke comes out. You can’t explain that! And you sure as shit can’t explain a man bursting into flames while watching a porn movie in a sex shop. Could this bizarre incident
Encyclopædia Dramatica Dead…. This is the darkest day in Internet history
If you don’t know what Encyclopædia Dramatica was, then I don’t wish to explain it to you. Lets just say that the Internet is less Internet now that Encyclopædia Dramatica is dead. Its successor is a hollow shell of its ancestor. I feel like Taylor when he sees the Statue of Liberty in the sand… the terrorists truly have won.
The marginal edge: Using Zinc to be a better lawyer
By J. DeVoy From what I’ve observed and in my admittedly short experience, good lawyers arise from knowing the facts of a case, knowing the applicable law, and merging them to find creative solutions to difficult problems. Other personality traits drive how these skills are expressed in real life, though, such as risk aversion, ethics/morality, and, for lack of a
BREAKING NEWS — Righthaven's operating agreement revealed by Nevada District Court – Does the House of Cards Collapse?
Yesterday, the District of Nevada ordered evidence regarding Righthaven’s ownership of the copyrights it sues on to be unsealed. Today, Docket # 79, which reveals heretofore unknown information about Righthaven’s business model, was unsealed. As of right now, I don’t believe that any other source has this information. Read the whole thing here. For those of you lacking fluency in
Feds indict online gambling sites
By J. DeVoy Fresh on the heels of D.C.’ s decision to pursue legal online gambling, the DOJ indicted a number of gambling websites today, including PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker and Absolute Poker. (source.) The L.A. Times observes that this happened only after the online gambling business had taken off and become an economic success. (source.) Much like the government’s efforts
