News & Media
Shock study: Increased availability of child porn results in lower rates of child abuse
By J. DeVoy A new study from the Czech Republic claims that the availability of child pornography has led to lower rates of child abuse. This result allegedly is consistent with similar observations in Denmark, Germany, Finland, Sweden and the USA. Here’s the research’s crux: The findings support the theory that potential sexual offenders use child pornography as a substitute
Increasing the tax base
This editorial calls for the elimination of the charitable giving deduction. He says that the mortgage deduction is firmly in place, given the current housing market. I disagree. It would be a great time to yank that absurd deduction – even when I owned a house, I thought it was absurd that since I was wealthy enough to own my
Amazon Censoring Kindle Title List
by Charles Platt After Amazon caved in and removed _The Pedophile’s Guide to Love and Pleasure_, other titles with erotic content are now being targeted. The currently uncertain situation is summarized here.
Likely Backlash Against Assange’s Self-Righteous Crusade
by Charles Platt I’m getting an uneasy feeling when I watch Julian Assange using pretentious phrases such as “my philosophy” and “my work.” (See his latest interview, here.) It’s the same feeling I had when I saw the World Trade Center going down. A feeling that I am watching a golden opportunity for people in power to take away some
Not wanting to do doc review called "immature" by "consultant" – follow the money and smell the bullshit
The ABA reports on Ann Israel, a “career consultant” who scolded a Yale Law graduate as “very immature” for wanting to know how to escape from document review purgatory. (source) Here is his question: I’m a Yale Law grad winding up a federal clerkship in a small legal market. I had a horrendous experience with document review a few summers
Big Win for Common Sense and EFF
The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed common sense this week. In U.S. v. Warshak, the Sixth Circuit ruled the government must obtain a search warrant prior to a search and seizure of our emails stored by email providers. The Sixth Circuit decision closely followed arguments of EFF in its amicus brief, holding that email shares fundamental similarities with traditional
Legislation banning "crush" videos signed into law
By J. DeVoy Ever the free speech patriot, president Obama signed the Animal Crush Video Prohibition Act of 2010 (ACVPA) into law earlier this month. The bill, which labels crush videos as “obscene,” contains a maximum penalty of seven years’ imprisonment for violating its provisions. (full text here.) Here’s the relevant portion of the new law, 48 U.S.C. § 18:
McDonald's sued for enticing children to eat poison while their dumbass parents stand by and watch
By Randazza The LA Times reports: The Center for Science in the Public Interest has filed a lawsuit against McDonald’s Corp., claiming that the company’s meals with toys unfairly entice children into eating food that can do them harm. (source) Here’s the thing. I agree. I agree that McDonald’s is rat dung. I agree that no human should consume that
'We operate on the principle that it's much more effective to detect the would-be terrorist than try to find his bomb."
Israelis are neither the servile fucking pussies that Americans are, nor are they brain dead morons trying to detect the last bomb. (source) Aside from the whole neo-apartheid thing, Israel seems like a pretty nice place to live.
Nothing can hurt a Marine – except Teh Ghey
General James Amos, the commandant of the Marine Corps said that allowing gays to openly serve in the military would “pose a distraction” and cause more battlefield casualties. (source) Huh? Seriously? Does this guy think that a gay soldier is going to be hiding behind a wall, shells exploding all around, and his buddy is going to rip off his
Introducing Vaughn Greenwalt
Faithful Satyricon Readers: I come to you after arriving entirely overdressed (and Moto Guzzi-less) for an interview with Marc in San Diego. My name is Vaughn Greenwalt, and I am apparently the latest victim to become a Satryiconista. My experience with the internet consists mostly of porn but I occasionally peruse Drudge Report, Politico, The Huffington Post, POPEHAT, Andrew Sullivan,
If you're in the military to "protect freedom," please see a doctor, because you can die of asphyxiation if your head is in your ass for too long
I remember when I was briefly in the army. We had all this rah rah hoo ha shit about how we were “protecting freedom.” With sincere adoring apologies to the people I love who are in uniform, that’s bullshit. If you’re in the military because you like the job security, then good. I approve. If you’re in the military because
For-Profit Toilet Colleges Preying on Fear, Deception
By J. DeVoy [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSV3dS2uc8g&fs=1&hl=en_US] In short, we have institutions that: -Get 25% of Federal education aid, yet -Are responsible for 44% of discounts, and -Forge records and use deceptive tactics to enroll students And yet they’re blaming the government for obstructing the relationship between potential students, who need to be saved from themselves, and these money pits. Hardcore libertarians, take
"Tater disease what brung us Irish."
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rsBRfmErTEA] H/t: D. Sterlace
Abercrombie & Fitch brings guns to bear on cybersquatters
Lets say you go to the website “abercrombieandfitchstore.com.” What would you expect to find there? Probably not what you see below. That’s cybersquatting, and it is illegal. Abercrombie & Fitch have had enough, and they’ve brought suit against the as yet unidentified owners of more than 150 infringing domain names. Most of them are Pay Per Click sites, and it
Jenzabar tries to suppress critical website through bogus trademark claim – fails
Public Citizen reports: In a ruling this week, a Massachusetts trial judge upheld the free speech rights of a documentary filmmaking company against an effort by a Massachusetts software company to use trademark litigation to punish the filmmakers for the portrayal of one of the student leaders in the Tiananmen square protests. (source) Sadly, this kind of thing happens all
PLOT UNCOVERED: Secret homosexual plan to give America the gay
Eugene Delgaudio, a Loudon County (Virginia) local politician conducted an extensive investigation into the new TSA patdowns, and his findings are nothing short of shocking and revolting. We here at the Legal Satyricon been blogging up a storm about our suspicions that the TSA was run by incompetent fools or possibly by clever geniuses trying to make us get used
This is how you deal with a guy who takes advantage of your daughter
Helmut Seifert, 47, got word that his daughter’s boyfriend was Phillip Genscher, age 57. Helmut called the police, who said that they couldn’t do anything about it. So Seifert decided that he would do something about it. He got two buddies and a bread knife, went over to Genscher’s house. “The man was forced to remove his trousers and, fully
