According to this CBS story, a federal judge ruled Wednesday that two provisions of the USA Patriot Act are unconstitutional.

[Judge Aiken] said that by asking her to dismiss Mayfield's lawsuit, the U.S. Attorney General's office was "asking this court to, in essence, amend the Bill of Rights, by giving it an interpretation what would deprive it ( Read more... )

Yes, I know, Talk Like A Pirate Day is over, but still, this little piece of news makes me want to put on an eyepatch and break out the grog:

After leaked emails from MediaDefender seem to confirm that the company has been using computer sabotage and DDoS attacks against The PirateBay's trackers, TPB has filed criminal charges against a list of ( Read more... )

China kung fu monks seek apology for ninja affront

I couldn't make this shit up if I tried. I mean, seriously.

And ninjas are still no match for bloody pirates. Because pirates domesticate friggin' sharks. With friggin' laser beams on their friggin' heads. Or something like that.

( contains HUGE SPOILER for marvel's 'civil war' storyline )

Torture proponent Alberto Gonzalez, the US Attorney General probably best known for his strong belief that the President is above the law, gave a speech to law students at Georgetown today, once again declaring how Emperor George I. was well within his God-given rights when he ordered illegal wiretaps on US citizens ( Read more... )

Seems the MPAA, whose sole purpose in life lately seems to be bringing legal charges against people wo make unauthorized copies of movies, doesn't give a fuck about its official principles as long as it's them doing the copying.

Legal details unclear yet, but with any luck this might even turn out to be a DMCA violation. Don't hold your breath for ( Read more... )

Nicholas Cage has named his son Kal-El. I kid you not.

I would make further fun of this, but how could I ever compete with the pure WTF?!-ness of the pure facts?

British defence secretary Reid defends* storming and destroying an Iraqi jailhouse (incidentally releasing 160 Iraqi prisoners) in order to free two British undercover agents arrested after being caught red-handed in weapons smuggling and exchanging fire with Iraqi police.So much for negotiating. So much for the last bit of trust any Iraqis might ( Read more... )

An Australian man built up a 40,000-volt charge of static electricity in his clothes as he walked, leaving a trail of scorched carpet and molten plastic and forcing firefighters to evacuate a building.I'd chalk this up as an urban legend and forget about it if it weren't Reuters running the story. I mean, WTF dude? Shouldn't there be a way to ( Read more... )

Norwegian Princess Leah's name was inspired by a character in a "Star Wars" movie, the mother of the infant princess was quoted as saying on Thursday.

Figures. Weren't the Hoth Scenes in ESB filmed in Norway?