via www.youtube.com 19 year old Zach Wahls speaks about family, same sex marriage, and Iowa's Prop 6. I'm speechless. Continue reading

Senator Ron Wyden is quickly becoming a politician to be proud of on issues that we feel are important. We've already seen him single-handedly stand up to COICA (and forcefully stand behind that position after facing ridiculous lobbying pressure). He also was one of a very small number of US politicians who has publicly expressed concerns about ACTA. But it's not just on copyright issues. Senator Wyden is now proposing a new law that would require that law enforcement get a warrant before being able to get location info from mobile devices. While there are still some differing opinions in the courts on the legality of obtaining location info without a warrant, law enforcement has pushed hard to not need a warrant to get such info, preferring to just use a subpoena (basically just asking with no real judicial review). Wyden believes this is wrong, and a violation of basic privacy principles: "If you asked most Americans, I think they would tell you that surreptitiously turning somebody's cell phone into a modern-day tracking device ... and using it to monitor their movements, 24/7, is a pretty serious intrusion into their privacy, pretty much comparable to searching their house or tapping their phone calls." via www.techdirt.com Continue reading

People weasel their way into our lives in order to sell us cable TV, a zoo membership, or enhanced reproductive organs. So who could be surprised when Gail Davis, a woman in Orpington, England, picked up the phone, listened to someone offering her a prize, and immediately replied, "Thank you very much; I'm not interested"? The only problem was that the caller really was someone from Apple and Davis really had won a prize. For her household was, indeed, the one from which the 10 billionth app had been downloaded from Apple's app store. via news.cnet.com Remember the contest for Apple's Ten Billionth App purchase? The winner reacted in predictable American fashion - and politely hung up. Continue reading

Given the short length of time it's been around, that's one hell of an achievement. Continue reading

via www.adbusters.org Continue reading

"This is America, where a white Catholic male Republican judge was murdered on his way to greet a Democratic Jewish woman member of Congress. Her life was saved by a Mexican-American gay college student and a Korean-American combat surgeon, all eulogized by our African American President." (self.reddit.com) submitted 10 hours ago by throwawayperkins to reddit.com via www.reddit.com Nothing has summed up the AZ shootings better than this user on reddit. Continue reading

This is so good, I don't even have the words to describe it. I know you think this story has no purpose other than keeping Sarah Palin’s name in the headlines for another news cycle. I know you think she has nothing to offer the national dialog and that her speeches are just coded talking points mixed in with words picked up at random from a Thesaurus. I know you think Sarah Palin is at best a self-promoting ignoramus and at worst a shameless media troll who will abuse any platform to deliver dog-whistle encouragement to a far right base, that may include possible insurrectionists. I know you think her reality show was pathetically unstatesmanlike and at the same time I know you believe it represents the pinnacle of her potential. And that her transparent desperation to be a celebrity so completely eclipsed her interest in public service so long ago that there would be more journalistic integrity on reporting on of the lesser Kardashians’ ass implants. I know, i know that when you arrive at the office each day you say a silent prayer that maybe, just maybe, Sarah Palin will at long last just shut up for just ten f*cking minutes. I know because I can see it in your eyes. Continue reading

The companies try to present a united front that censoring the internet is a good thing. It includes the usual suspects of Viacom and NBC Universal on the content side and Louis Vuitton and Tiffany on the counterfeiting side, but there are a few other interesting names: such as Monster Cable (never met an IP law it didn't want to abuse, apparently), the NBA, MLB and NFL (sports leagues unite in censorship!) as well as Voltage Pictures, famous for suing thousands of fans for downloading Hurt Locker. Activison, which has become increasingly aggressive on IP issues lately is on the list as well, of course. Anyway, here's the full list of companies that support censoring the internet, because they're too lazy to compete in the marketplace or innovate when that market changes: Nike - Beaverton, OR Achushnet - Fairhaven, MA Curb Music Publishing - Nashville, TN NBC Universal - New York, NY Viacom - New York, NY Callaway - Carlsbad, CA Cleveland Golf - Huntington Beach, CA Rosetta Stone - Arlington, VA Activision - Santa Monica, CA Adidas Group - Portland, OR Xerox - Norwalk, CT Hastings Entertainment, Inc. - Amarillo, TX Fortune Brands - Deerfield, IL Coty Inc. - New York, NY EDGE Entertainment Distribution - Streetsboro, OH Oakley, Inc. - Foothill Ranch, CA PING - Phoenix, AZ Louis Vuitton - New York, NY D'Addario and Company - Farmingdale, NY Monster Cable Products, Inc. - Brisbane, CA Tiffany and Co. - New York, NY Farouk Systems, Inc. - Houston,... Continue reading

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The "Combating Online Infringements and Counterfeits Act" (COICA) is an Internet censorship bill which is rapidly making its way through the Senate. Although it is ostensibly focused on copyright infringement, an enormous amount of noninfringing content, including political and other speech, could disappear off the Web if it passes. The main mechanism of the bill is to interfere with the Internet's domain name system (DNS), which translates names like "www.eff.org" or "www.nytimes.com" into the IP addresses that computers use to communicate. The bill creates a blacklist of censored domains; the Attorney General can ask a court to place any website on the blacklist if infringement is "central" to the purpose of the site. If this bill passes, the list of targets could conceivably include hosting websites such as Dropbox, MediaFire and Rapidshare; MP3 blogs and mashup/remix music sites like SoundCloud, MashupTown and Hype Machine ; and sites that discuss and make the controversial political and intellectual case for piracy, like pirate-party.us, p2pnet, InfoAnarchy, Slyck and ZeroPaid . Indeed, had this bill been passed five or ten years ago, YouTube might not exist today. In other words, the collateral damage from this legislation would be enormous. (Why would all these sites be targets?) There are already laws and procedures in place for taking down sites that violate the law. This act would allow the Attorney General to censor sites even when no court has found they have infringed copyright or any other law. via www.eff.org Continue reading

It seems the lame duck Congressional session is becoming anything but unproductive. Yesterday, we saw the cloture of the Food Safety Modernization Act (S. 510), and today the Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act was unanimously approved by the US Senate Judiciary Committee Thursday with a 19-0 vote. The COICA has been overwhelmingly viewed by bloggers as a corporate hijacking of the Internet by mega-media cartels. Indeed, its eventual passage will be the end of the free Internet as we now it. The Associated Press reported on the COICA vote: The Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act, which has the support of the entertainment industry but has been strongly criticized by digital rights and other groups, was approved by a vote of 19-0. “Few things are more important to the future of the American economy and job creation than protecting our intellectual property,” said Senator Patrick Leahy, a Democrat from Vermont who co-sponsored the bill. “That is why the legislation is supported by both labor and industry, and Democrats and Republicans are standing together,” Leahy said The bill gives the Justice Department an expedited process for cracking down on websites engaged in piracy or the sale of counterfeit goods including having courts issue shutdown orders against domains based outside the United States. “Rogue websites are essentially digital stores selling illegal and sometimes dangerous products,” Leahy said. “If they existed in the physical world, the store would be shuttered immediately and the proprietors would be arrested.” “We cannot excuse the behavior... Continue reading

A bill to require registration of bicycles in New Jersey, proposed by Assemblywoman Cleopatra Tucker, D-Essex, enjoyed a brief moment in the limelight this week — and was quickly yanked by the author, after public reaction to the idea went negatively viral in a matter of hours. Tucker’s legislation would have required bicycle owners 15 and older to register their bikes with the Motor Vehicle Commission and pay an annual registration fee of $10. The commission would issue a plate to be attached to the bike. Parents would be responsible for signing up the under-15 crowd. Failure to comply? A fine of up to $100. (Knowingly falsifying a bike tag could lead to a bigger fine and jail time). via www.lehighvalleylive.com Among the many reasons out-of-towners refer to NJ as "Nazi Jersey" would be this. Luckily, NJ is a media heavy state with lots of local news coverage, so this stroke of brilliance didn't last long -- which leaves me wondering what the next one will be like. Continue reading

Fred Phelps does not believe what he is doing. This is a scam. It's a business. They travel the country, set up websites telling you exactly when they'll be there, and using the most inflammatory statements all over the place, just to get someone to violate their rights for profit. Then they sue the military, the police force that was to protect them, and everyone that is around them for money. This is a sham, and it is a trap to get people sued. Every member of his family is an attorney. Phelps does not break the law. What he does is try to make you break the law by trying to punch your sensibilities about everything you hold dear, and then sue you and everyone municipality around him to the max. This is a scam. Whether he believes his posters or not is irrelevant. He's using this as a moneymaking scheme. Lay one finger on him, do one thing that violates him, and he will sue you, and more importantly, the city, the police department, the US Military, and any private property owner he happens to be standing on to make money off of it. via kanewj.com I highly recommend this article. The author made numerous points that make perfect sense to me from the perspective of WBC as a business model, and now I'm forced to question the motivations of these fools even more closely. Disclaimer: The following was written by the user El_Camino_SS in this thread on... Continue reading

from Australian flooding - The Big Picture - Boston.com Queensland is drowning, and stories are coming in from all over sharing the tragedy, the bravery, and the humanity in play in Australia right now as the floods march toward the state capital of Brisbane. Australian Flooding - The Big Picture from Boston.com Australia FLoods Inundate Brisbane, 67 Missing from mb.com.ph Australia Floods Threaten Queensland Capital from L.A. Times Continue reading

Micro-blogging site Twitter is opposing an order from a US court, to reveal the account details of supporters of WikiLeaks. Twitter has called on Facebook and Google to reveal whether they also received similar court orders. As part of the US government’s investigation into WikiLeaks, a court ordered Twitter, in mid-December, to give details of accounts owned by supporters of the whistle-blower site. Twitter has protested against the subpoena and informed the individuals whose account information has been requested, while raising the possibility that other social networking players have received similar orders. via www.eweekeurope.co.uk The battle for the future of privacy on the internet, and whether or not it's absorbed into an American police state, has truly begun. Continue reading

Update (12:20am GMT): Mark Stephens on the BBC News also makes clear that the court order will also cover the “600,000 odd followers that Wikileaks has on Twitter“. Continue reading

WBC is best known for picketing funerals of gays and soldiers who have died in the line of duty, toting signs with such inflammatory remarks as "God Hates Fags" and "Thank God for Dead Soldiers." Most recently, WBC picketed Elizabeth Edwards funeral in December. The so-called "church" is headed up by Fred Phelps and has 71 members, many of which are members of his large family. It's first service was held in 1955. via www.clevelandleader.com I have no words, just sheer disgust. If you have a strong enough stomach, you can see their press release below: Continue reading

via -rosasparks-.tumblr.com The above tweet is reported to be one of many that Sarah Palin has been systematically deleting from her feed in the wake of today's tragedy in AZ. Apparently in hindsight this sort of rhetoric turns out to be a bad idea. Continue reading

In a neanderthal moment of intellectual dysfunctionality Bill O. explains at about 1:50 that the only possible explanation for tides is an invisible man is a sky, not gravitational pull, as science discovered a very long time ago. Continue reading

We're now tweeting news, updates, commentaries, and interesting bits from around the web via @kaffeinenation on twitter. Join us there! Continue reading

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In addition to raising millions of dollars a year for breast cancer research, fundraising giant Susan G. Komen for the Cure has a lesser-known mission that eats up donor funds: patrolling the waters for other charities and events around the country that use any variation of "for the cure" in their names. So far, Komen has identified and filed legal trademark oppositions against more than a hundred of these Mom and Pop charities, including Kites for a Cure, Par for The Cure, Surfing for a Cure and Cupcakes for a Cure--and many of the organizations are too small and underfunded to hold their ground. "It happened to my family," said Roxanne Donovan, whose sister runs Kites for a Cure, a family kite-flying event that raises money for lung cancer research. "They came after us ferociously with a big law firm. They said they own 'cure' in a name and we had to stop using it, even though we were raising money for an entirely different cause." via www.huffingtonpost.com I'd love to comment, but the truth is I'm too busy being disgusted. Continue reading

In her suit, Jackson contends that her antiseizure medication, Dilantin, was confiscated after her arrest on Jan. 29, 2009, and that she was denied the daily medication for a week even though jail officials knew she was epileptic. Continue reading

For more than six months, Wired's Senior Editor Kevin Poulsen has possessed -- but refuses to publish -- the key evidence in one of the year's most significant political stories: the arrest of U.S. Army PFC Bradley Manning for allegedly acting as WikiLeaks' source. In late May, Adrian Lamo -- at the same time he was working with the FBI as a government informant against Manning -- gave Poulsen what he purported to be the full chat logs between Manning and Lamo in which the Army Private allegedly confessed to having been the source for the various cables, documents and video that WikiLeaks released throughout this year. In interviews with me in June, both Poulsen and Lamo confirmed that Lamo placed no substantive restrictions on Poulsen with regard to the chat logs: Wired was and remains free to publish the logs in their entirety. Despite that, on June 10, Wired published what it said was only "about 25 percent" of those logs, excerpts that it hand-picked. For the last six months, Poulsen has not only steadfastly refused to release any further excerpts, but worse, has refused to answer questions about what those logs do and do not contain. This is easily one of the worst journalistic disgraces of the year: it is just inconceivable that someone who claims to be a "journalist" -- or who wants to be regarded as one -- would actively conceal from the public, for months on end, the key evidence in a political story that... Continue reading

Not a fan of snow or snowstorms for my part, and here I am snowed in on a day when I have way too much to do. So far, they're calling it the "great northeast snowstorm of 2010" on the local news. I'd tend to agree. Somewhere under this is my car: Continue reading