News & Media
Designated Driver
Jennifer Lee De Roberto got pulled over in Lee County, Flori-duh for some reason or another. The police smelled alcohol, but she denied having anything to drink. Then the story gets awesome: She claimed to have had nothing to drink and said she was the designated driver, even though no one else was in the car. Deputies did find three full bottles and a half-emtpy bottle of Sutter Home wine in the car. She told the deputy: “I’m a good person. Why are you doing this to me?” After she failed field sobriety tests in a nearby parking lot, she pulled down her pants, sat down and urinated. A grandmother and her 10-year-old granddaughter were in an adjacent fireworks stand
And it didn't even happen in Florida!
A guy got busted for breaking in to a horse track and screwing the horses. Yes really.
Holiday hangover – all your rights are belong to INTERPOL
By J. DeVoy In a little-publicized move just now being scrutinized over at The Spearhead, Barack Obama has granted the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL) new immunities under US law. On December 16, 2009, Obama signed an executive order amending Order 12425, signed by Ronald Reagan in 1983. This new order removes language restricting the immunities enjoyed by INTERPOL under the International Organizations Immunities Act. Most troubling to civil libertarians is the protection of § 2(c) now extended to INTERPOL, providing that: Property and assets of international organizations, wherever located and by whomsoever held, shall be immune from search, unless such immunity be expressly waived, and from confiscation. The archives of international organizations shall be inviolable. ThreatsWatch.org astutely notes that such protection
Merry Christmas
I see Marc’s Snoop Dogg and raise him some Run DMC. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_J4SBUwe5U]
Pope pwned, merry Christmas!
By J. DeVoy [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=psX1PlnSdEo&hl=en_US&fs=1&] A woman got a little too carried away with the holiday spirit and tackled the pontiff during his midnight mass procession. And you thought this kind of barbarism only happened in lines to burst through Walmart’s doors. Unless her wish was a night in the slammer, she won’t be having a very merry Christmas.
Universal Legal Care
Norm Pattis makes a pretty strong argument for a universal public defender system.
HP Computers are Racist?
This is pretty hilarious. I just have to wonder though… maybe this is a good thing. I mean, if we can teach computers to be racist, perhaps they will soon develop a full spectrum of emotions. Maybe this is just the beginning of computer consciousness! Oh wait. Maybe this is not a good thing. Maybe… just maybe, Desi and Wanda discovered the first computer that became self-aware. Maybe this is the first piece of Skynet. Oh no. Desi and Wanda! Destroy that computer NOW! [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4DT3tQqgRM] Maybe it isn’t that HP computers are racist, Desi. Maybe… just maybe…. negroes have developed cloaking abilities! Or, maybe they just have natural cloaking capabilities, and then maybe all astronauts will be black one day…
The Balloon Boy's Parents and the First Amendment
Yikes. Yes, the Balloon Boy family screwed up, but 30 days in jail for the dad and 20 days in jail for the mom, in addition to having to pay back all the money that the authorities spent chasing down the balloon… it seems a little bit over the top. The judge, noting that the hoax was “all done for making money,” also barred Richard and Mayumi Heene from receiving any financial benefit –such as a book deal — in connection with the incident. (source) I would like to see the exact text of that order before giving a firm opinion on it, but that seems like a First Amendment problem to me. In Simon & Schuster v. Crime Victims
Mexico… land of the free?
Living a mere 20 minutes from the Mexican border, it always seems funny to me that the U.S. side is supposed to be the “land of the free.” Meanwhile, if you want to buy certain drugs without getting a doctor and an insurance company involved, you just walk in to the Farmacia over the border and you can have whatever you like. If you want a hooker or to see a girl dance on stage without some christian-inspired puritanical laws in the way, or hell, if you just wanna catch a good old fashioned Donkey Show, you leave the United States. I’m not saying that I am tempted to move to Tijuana (or Vancouver) any time soon, but it does
Findlaw, are you really that douchetastic?
Anyone in the blogosphere knows that The New York Personal Injury Law Blog is the fine work of one Eric Turkewitz, Attorney at Law. Findlaw has decided to jump into the legal blawgosphere by launching … The New York Personal Injury Law Blog. Not only did Findlaw rip off Turkewitz’ name, but they gave us further evidence of Greenfield’s Law: “Anyone can blog, but not everyone should.” One thing about knock offs — they are usually crappy and cheap imitations of the original. Findlaw’s blog is no exception. The writing on the knock off is crappy and bland, informs you of nothing, provides zero value, and is just so many wasted pixels screaming out to the search engines “PLEEEEASE READ
Ghostbusters is the Greatest Film Ever Made (???)
Caitlin Moran argues that Ghostbusters, not Star Wars, is the greatest film ever made. Meh. Personally I don’t think too much of Star Wars either… before we get to her logic, lets get this marvelous piece of writing out of the way. “What art should be about,” they will say, “is revealing exquisite and resonant truths about the human condition.” Well, to be honest — no it shouldn’t. I mean, it can occasionally, if it wants to; but really, how many penetrating insights into human nature do you need in one lifetime? Two? Three? Once you’ve realised that no one else has a clue what they’re doing, either, and that love can be totally pointless, any further insights into human
WTF?
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v3BorxSYgyo] Watch it quick, before one of the NFL’s goons has it taken down.
Will Justice Prevail in Maricopa County, Arizona?
I have been conspicuously silent on the Maricopa County issue. I’ve been glued to Greenfield’s coverage of it. His latest piece is a must – read.
Thats When I Reach For My Revolver
Your music history lesson of the day. Behold Mission of Burma. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gzMu6ugTNfA] If you thought that Moby wrote this, you aren’t allowed to read this blog anymore until you do penance. (Although Moby does the song justice).
Contemplating the overpopulated world's doom: An underrated source of Christmas cheer
By J. DeVoy Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, whatever you celebrate, they all make this time of the year profoundly unpleasant. Those who travel witness the worst of humanity, including people who use black garbage bags as carry-on luggage despite apparently being able to afford airfare. Then there’s shopping. And, for students with exams, there’s shopping that must be done during the final five-day rush before the holidays, or even in their midst. The worst part of the season, however, is the people. Holiday shopping draws everyone out from under the rocks of their hipster covens, gated communities, gentrifying neighborhoods and bucolic suburbs, and shoves them into one mall. The shopping experience becomes a melting pot of class resentment, as history
Too bad durians aren't more popular in America
A Costco in Salt Lake City removed all the tomatoes from the store in advance of a Sarah Palin visit, so nobody would throw them at her. (source) Costco really ought to start carrying durians.
GOP gets tech savvy and a sense of humor
The GOP launched a URL shortening service, GOP.am. Within hours, pranksters were using it to create faux GOP links to bondage sites, the American Communist Party, etc. Initially, the GOP had a bit of egg on its face, but they seem to have hired someone over there who understands lulz. Now, any prank-link automatically brings you to a GOP “action page.” Of course, this begs raises the question…. any time you use your bit.ly or tinyurl.com link, are you creating a link that the shortening service can later twist for its own ends?
"Slackoise Need Not Apply"
This post is classic Greenfield. That guy is friggin awesome. Go read his post, but stay off of his damn lawn!
You had me until you threw the Matthew Shepard card
Lisa Linsky takes the piss out of the New York legislature for failing to legalize gay marriage in the Empire State. She does so by speaking frankly, persuasively, and about how the institutional bigotry practiced by 44 states affects families like hers. She’s convincing, eloquent, and goddamned right. And then, when she should have ended the damn article, she throws the Matthew Shepard card. Matthew Shepard was a 21-year old college student who was brutally murdered in Wyoming in 1998. There was no doubt that this was a hate crime committed because of Shepard’s sexual orientation as a gay man. His killing, and the trial of his murderers, highlighted the need for federal hate crimes legislation that would punish individuals
