OK. Carl Zimmer over at The Loom on Corante talks fun things. This wasp is just downright creepy.
The wasp slips her stinger through the roach's exoskeleton and directly into its brain.via BoingBoing.
In which the US gov't ponders a law to make artistic expression, free speech and fair use illegal if it will result in trademark dilution. More on StockPhotographer and Public Citizen.
via Boing Boing
Oh yeah, yesterday, the US became even less likely to throw me in jail because there is even less chance of me crossing their border.
Emergent Chaos: New Passports More Secure than Wet Paper Bags (Barely). Remember, your passport data is perfectly safe as long as you don't try to leave the country.
Remember the US Government plan to put a radio chip in your passport? The one whose security has never been seriously studied, whose justification seemed to boil down to a hope that it would speed processing, but even that was wrong? The one whose security gets worse every time anyone competent looks at it? Well, someone else just looked at it.
Actually, I won't. The Blonde joke is better. But click on the link in case you feel like indulging in a little shameless groupthink.
And this is why I do not want to ever even enter US airspace.
It is unusual for Concurring Opinions (a law blog) to post humourous articles, but here they have The Best Blond Joke Ever? Although Feministe prefers
Q: What do you call a blonde who flies a plane?which is also pretty damned funny. Although not as funny as the one about why the feminst crossed the road.
A: A pilot, you fucking misogynist.
I knew there was a reason I like Nettwerk Records besides Avril Lavigne, Barenaked Ladies, BT, Delerium, Gob, Sarah McLachlan, Trespassers William (I have no idea about their music, but I love the name) and Skinny Puppy and moev used to be on Nettwerk too. Their CEO Terry McBride is involving himself in an RIAA lawsuit down in Texas. Money quote:
Suing music fans is not the solution, it's the problem. Litigation is not 'artist development.' Litigation is a deterrent to creativity and passion and it is hurting the business I love. The current actions of the RIAA are not in my artists' best interests.
In which a heroine is refused credit until she offers to do a media piece on the situation after which she gets credit FedExed to her. Now this is the bad old days, as long ago as 1977. I am sure that Lucky will have something witty to say. Or maybe just a shrug and a sigh. We've still got a long way to go, baby!
This is rich. The MPAA made illegal copies of a movie that was submitted to them for rating. The movie is This Film Is Not Rated.
[The MPAA] justified the action by saying Dick and his crew may have violated the privacy of MPAA movie raters. That particular loophole is not mentioned on the MPAA Web site, where it states: "Manufacturing, selling, distributing or making copies of motion pictures without the consent of the copyright owners is illegal. Movie pirates are thieves, plain and simple. ... ALL forms of piracy are illegal and carry serious legal consequences."
Paul Weyrich of the Free Congress Foundation waxes philosophical:
The pessimistic view was that Harper, lacking a parliamentary majority, can do little to make Canadians 'adopt a more reasonable view of the United States' and abandon Marxist principles 'such as same-sex marriage and abortion on demand,' Weyrich says.
He does not say how these things are linked in his mind to Marxism, a doctrine better known for concepts of class warfare.
