Seen at the Nathans in Yonkers.

At least 82 U.S. youths have died since 1995 engaging in “the choking game” in which they try to experience a fleeting “high” by cutting off the oxygen supply to the brain, U.S. health officials said on Thursday.

An unknown number of youths, mostly boys, are taking part in the practice in which they strangle themselves with their hands or a noose or have someone else strangle them, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in a report.

“They hope to get a cool and dreamy feeling, as they’ve described it,” said Robin Toblin of the CDC’s National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, who led the report.

I call it “thinning the herd.”

You know a song is bad when even Eddie Vedder won’t sing it… Yep, this is Pearl Jam. On lead vocals? One of the guitar players.

Yep. This is the world we face if El Insipido is elected.

Don’t say we didn’t warn you.

Free shipping is a significant price reduction on books and a violation of laws…

I kid you not…

Amazon.com may not offer free delivery on books in France, the high court in Versailles has ruled.

The action, brought in January 2004 by the French Booksellers’ Union (Syndicat de la librairie française), accused Amazon of offering illegal discounts on books and even of selling some books below cost.

The court gave Amazon 10 days to start charging for the delivery of books, which should at least allow the company to maintain the offer through the end-of-year gift-giving season. After that, it must pay a fine of 1,000 Euro (US$1,470) per day that it continues to offer free delivery. It must also pay 100,000 Euro in compensation to the booksellers’ union.

Retail prices, particularly of books, are tightly regulated in France.

We keep hearing how enlightened Europe is, and yet we’re consistently shown this kind of stupidity. Amazon should just do what I would do. Pull out of France and tell them to shove their over-governing nanny bullshit where the sun doesn’t shine. France has every right to impose stupid laws, but Amazon has no obligation to do business there.

Shame they don’t have the stomach for it.

via Techdirt

Long story short…

Brett Petersel, the loser who wants people to set him up on a date and is willing to pay $25 for it wants to set up a faux site with he and Julia Allison (former girlfriend of Vimeo founder Jakob Lodwick) acting kinda like a spoof couple.

Or something.

Anyway, he sent her a message on Facebook, and somehow Valleywag got their hands on it. I shit you not, this is what it said:

Did he really just say “garnished” some attention?

Wow. No wonder he can’t get a date. He’s a fucking moron.

Fred Thompson wants to pass a law. In that law it says, for example, that Beth and I, since we’re married in New York, legally, under New York State Law, states such as Massachusetts, or New Jersey, would be under no obligation whatsoever to recognize that marriage. That could mean we would have to remarry in order to be recognized as married from state to state.

Sounds stupid, right? I mean, if we’re married in one state, we’re married. Right?

Right. And that’s the way it should be.

But it won’t be if Fred Thompson has his way.

I understand where he’s coming from, kind of, but the precedent that this creates is just ridiculous. Unless the law is written in such a discriminatory way that it would be thrown out in any court challenge, that’s what the law would do; allow states to selectively ignore the legality of marriages performed in other states.

Does this really sit well with anyone? I mean, if you’re legally married in one state, aren’t you legally married in the United States?

Is this the kind of government President Fred Thompson would usher in? Hiding your disdain for an issue behind some cop-out like a desire to adhere to federalistic principles? I hope lots of people see this video and see the man for what he is. A crazy old coot.

Source

Technorati Tags: gay marriage, fred thompson, whatever

The Clinton Campaign today announced that Florida Reps. Debbie Wasserman Schultz and Congressman Alcee Hastings have been named national Campaign Co-Chairs.

[...]

Rep. Hastings said, “When we elect the next President Clinton, this country will be a much better place for the African-American community, Floridians and all Americans.”

Both Reps. Wasserman Schultz and Hastings serve in the Democratic leadership in the House of Representatives, and Hastings is the Vice Chair of Florida’s congressional delegation.

If you could see me right now, I’m holding my head in my hands and shaking it in disgust. What the hell is she thinking?

via Dustbury

Technorati Tags: alcee hastings, hillary clinton

Feh. Whatever. I’ve got work to do.

1. All day Tuesday, June 12th, don’t use any of the 5 major search engines.

2. Avoid Meta search engines, since most of them include the major search engines.

3. Likewise, the specialized vertical search engines may be too narrowly focused.

4. Consider changing your homepage or downloading their toolbar. You can always uninstall everything and change back on Wednesday.

5. On Wednesday, leave a detailed comment on AltSearchEngines and share your experience with the rest of us. Which alt search engine did you chose? How would you rate the experience?

I guess if you don’t have any work to do and you want to prove just how 1334 you are by not succumbing to the temptation of using the big bad Google, Yahoo!, or MSN, this is for you.

Technorati Tags: search engines, google, yahoo!, msn

California may become the only U.S. state to require the sterilization of pets under a bill passed by the state Assembly, pitting dog and cat lovers against animal rights activists.

“It’s a horrific bill,” said Maureen Hill-Hauch, executive director of Castleton, New York-based American Dog Owners Association, adding that enforcement of the bill in theory could wipe out California’s dog population.

The bill would require pet owners to spay and neuter their dogs and cats, or face a $500 fine for each animal.

Breeders, as well as owners of guide dogs, could obtain exemptions.

The Democrat-led state Assembly narrowly approved the bill late on Wednesday. It now goes to the state Senate amid a flurry of legislation that must be passed by Friday.

Republicans in the minority in both chambers do not consider the bill a priority and say it is too intrusive. “It’s micro-managing,” said Republican Assemblyman Doug LaMalfa.

Have they got nothing better to do in Kalifornia?

Technorati Tags: neutering, neuter, spaying, spay

Cory Doctorow is upset that unprotected AAC files purchased from iTunes, for some reason, can’t be roundtripped by burning to a CD. Since he’s a moron, though, he doesn’t realize that you can achieve the same result by right clicking the file and converting it to an MP3. Said file contains all the metadata including all the album art.

Someone really needs to explain to me why people insist on calling this idiot brilliant.

If you want to read his original ignorant rant, click here.

Technorati Tags: cory doctorow, brilliant my ass, drm, aac, mp3, itunes, apple

Here’s the post office’s schedule for the branch near my office. See if you see anything odd about it.

Technorati Tags: stunt, stupid, fatal

I swear the lengths people go to in order to shield “children” from the existence of homosexuality is absolutely stunning…

Days away from her seventh birthday, a little girl named Emma Rose is currently trapped in Georgia’s foster care system, unable to reunite with the woman who has been her mother for almost a year — all because the mother is a lesbian.

The prospective adoptive mother, Elizabeth Hadaway, was also sentenced to 10 days in jail earlier this month by a Wilkinson County Superior Court judge who refused to grant the adoption in part because “the child will have a long-term exposure to the homosexual parent’s lifestyle.”

Wilkinson County is located about 133 miles southeast of Atlanta.

“I thought one of the first rules of being a judge was putting your owns morals or views or whatever aside — you’re supposed to be fair,” Hadaway said. “I didn’t think who I decided to sleep with at night would determine whether I was a good parent — I didn’t know that was even possible.

“I’m hurt and I’m let down, but I feel even worse for Emma,” added Hadaway, 28.

I feel bad for her too, especially considering she was taken out of a home where she was loved to be put back into the system. Now brace yourself for the ironic part:

Parrott also ruled against placing Emma Rose with Hadaway because the young girl would be exposed to both homosexuality and discrimination.

“If the instant adoption is approved, inevitably the child will witness both directly and circumstantially the homosexual activity of [Hadaway] and her same-sex partner,” Parrott wrote. “There has been no study conducted … into the isolation and stigma that the child may face growing up in a small, rural town with two women, in whose care she was placed at the age of six, who openly engage in homosexual relationship.”

Yeah… You certainly wouldn’t want her to experience any prejudices… Like maybe a judge who can’t get past his own bigotry, for example… Just f’ed up.

Takeaway question: What would you rather see… A kid with a loving homosexual mother or a kid with no parents making her way through the foster care system for years?

On the date of the accident, Lykins arrived at the Thompsons’ home about 3 p.m. She drank at least one alcoholic beverage during the party, according to the judgment entry. About 10 p.m., Lykins consumed at least one “test tube” sample of an alcoholic beverage.

At about 11 p.m., she decided to use the trampoline as she had at previous parties there. She climbed upon the trampoline with four other guests. Lykins and three other participants stood on the perimeter, waiting for a turn to jump in the middle, while one person was jumping in the middle.

At some point, as Lykins’ brother proceeded to jump in the middle of the trampoline, Lykins lost her balance and fell on her back, according to Judge Walsh’s written judgment.

Lykins suffered a broken neck and crushed spinal cord as a result and now is quadriplegic.

In February 2002, Lykins filed a personal injury lawsuit, captioned Connie Lykins v. Fun Spot Trampolines, et al.

The suit against the trampoline suppliers and the Thompsons claims they were responsible for Lykins’ injuries on two specific grounds.

First, the defendants are responsible for failing to warn Lykins of a particular hazard that arises when there is excess weight on a trampoline at a given time, changing the trampoline surface from flexible to inflexible.

Second, they are responsible for failing to warn her that when multiple people bounce on a trampoline at a given time, it creates a particular risk of a “double bounce” which could propel her out of control.

Lykins testified she used the trampoline on prior occasions, knew the surface was unstable to walk upon, knew she could fall and knew more than one person on the trampoline put her off balance, according to Walsh’s judgment entry.

However, Lykins also testified “she did not know the presence of more than 225 pounds on a trampoline at a given time created the particular risk of the trampoline surface transforming from a flexible, forgiving surface into a hard, inflexible surface. Rather, Lykins thought if she fell on the trampoline, she would be falling on a flexible, forgiving surface,” according to the judgment entry.

She also testified she did not know “multiple people bouncing on the trampoline at a given time created the particular risk of a ‘double bounce’ which could project her out of control even though she was only standing on the perimeter of the trampoline ‘lightly’ bouncing,” according to Walsh’s entry.

Lykins testified she was never warned of those conditions and never saw a warning on the apparatus itself.

And this may end up in the Ohio Supreme Court…

Apparently, they really have nothing better to do…

via Fark

via New Launches which has even more scary pics…

No, it’s not suing them for using similar products… It’s suing them for not using their products. Period.

Apparently not using someone’s product is an offense of some kind.

MRT claims that Vista, Adobe Flash Player, Real Player, iTunes and the iPod have been produced “without regard for the DMCA or the rights of American Intellectual Property owners.” The DMCA, signed into law in 1998, makes it illegal to manufacture products that are designed to circumvent copy protection. Accordingly, MRT has filed Cease and Desist letters against Apple, Microsoft, Adobe and Real to stop production or sale of products that infringe on the DMCA.

MRT’s X1 SeCure Recording Control has proven effective against stream ripping, the company said in a statement, and these companies have been “actively avoiding the use of MRT’s technologies.”

Think of the precedent this one sets! If you don’t use someone’s product, you can now be sued for it.

I’d love to say some judge is going to hear this and go, “Are you kidding me? Case dismissed.”

On a different but related note, is this guy serious? Vista is produced without regard for copyright holders?

Someone needs to talk to Peter Gutmann.

Technorati Tags: visa, drm, mrt

On April 22, we learned about a case where a student was suspended because he dared not honor the “National Day of Silence.” Now we learn of another area of the country (in California… shocking, I know) where students were being suspended for not accepting their political indoctrination quietly…

An estimated 3-4,000 students in the Sacramento area chose to stay home on the Day of Silence to avoid being confronted with pro-homosexual protests. Other students concerned about the one-sided messages determined to wear clothing and distribute literature which peacefully highlighted the dangers of homosexuality. Dozens of religious students were disciplined for expressing their viewpoints at Inderkum, Rio Linda and San Juan high schools. Approximately thirty students at Rio Linda alone were sent home, suspended or given “Saturday school.”

Pacific Justice Institute leapt into action on behalf of these students, in some cases visiting campuses as students were being rounded up and suspensions were being meted out. Facing the threat of legal action, Inderkum High School and Rio Linda High School agreed to drop the suspensions and remove them from the students’ records. However, it is not clear whether the issues have been fully resolved for all students. San Juan High School has offered no response to a demand letter from PJI, and litigation may be necessary. PJI will also be monitoring other schools closely to ensure compliance.

Completely and totally reprehensible behavior for a school.

Case closed.

It’s one thing to make something voluntary, but when you take a loaded topic and make it either voluntary to participate or, as an alternative, you may shut up, you’re just asking for it. I’m glad someone stood up for these kids.

via Jacklewis.net

Technorati Tags: day of silence, bullshit, education, school, high school

You really have to be fucking dumb. That’s the only words for someone who survives a wreck caused by speeding, distracted driving, and exacerbated by lack of a seatbelt, only to leave the hospital after his recuperation and then again be riding well above the speed limit…

Today, after his brief comments, Mr. Corzine got into a dark GMC Savana van that he purchased in the last few days and had specially modified for his wheelchair. He left the hospital in a six-car caravan that included a black state police Crown Victoria, a Chevrolet Suburban like the one he had been riding in on April 12, a Mercedes station wagon and two other cars.

No one in the motorcade used emergency lights, as his driver had been doing at the time of the accident. They kept to a pace of about 70 miles per hour, even though the posted limit is 55 on the stretch of Interstate 295 that leads to Drumthwacket, the governor’s official mansion in Princeton, where Mr. Corzine will spend the next stage of his recovery

WTF Corzine? Are you fucking retarded? Or are your “men” retarded?

Jesus H. Christ on a pogo stick, New Jerseyites. This is your Governor. You might want to rethink whether or not he has the brains to run the state or if he should just apply to be a permanent crash test dummy.

Apparently Ballmer isn’t a sports fan because if he was, he’d know how unabashedly stupid it is to give your opponents bulletin board material…

There’s no chance that the iPhone is going to get any significant market share. No chance. It’s a $500 subsidized item. They may make a lot of money. But if you actually take a look at the 1.3 billion phones that get sold, I’d prefer to have our software in 60% or 70% or 80% of them, than I would to have 2% or 3%, which is what Apple might get.

Sorry stupid, but first of all your software isn’t in even half of the phones being sold. More than 70% of smartphones? Sure, if you want to really break down numbers to the most granular way they look good for you.

I love Windows Mobile, but let’s not kid ourselves here. Apple is cruising for major market share here. Apple getting 2% or 3% is a silly number based on absolutely nothing. Of course, like I said, Ballmer is proving not to be so bright and loves making quotable statements that mean nothing, so this is nothing new.

Bill, fire the village idiot and bring respectability back to Microsoft. PLEASE.

(PS: Even in smartphones, ole MS is only at around 5%. Now, I readily admit that most people who buy Symbian aren’t doing so to get Symbian, they just happen to have it, but that being said, 5% isn’t exactly gigantic considering your criticism of Apple for 3%.)