The Vendetta Behind "V for Vendetta": Alan Moore's genius is exceeded only by his freakishness; being witness to his hectoring crazy-Druid testimony must have been a treat.
Least Wanted: A Flickr photostream devoted to criminals who are no longer a danger to themselves or others.
"Gary Robinson died hungry.": A New Yorker feature on Edna Buchanan, last of the great crime beat reporters.
How to destroy a Cuban exile: Alberto Coll, dean at the Naval War College in Rhode Island and (more importantly) Cuban embargo doubter is hounded for failing to disclose that he slept with a woman while legally visiting relatives in Cuba. (via Hit and Run)
There's nothing as honest as a carnie!: "Attorney General Lisa Madigan filed suit Thursday against a circus that billed itself as Chinese when it appeared in Springfield, but actually featured Caucasian performers wearing silk beanies and black wigs."
Savoring life after death row: "'I'm pretty happy here. ... It's a slower pace of life, and I don't have to hear the clanging and ringing of those bars.'"
Bruce Schneier on neutering HIPAA: The Department of Justice has basically ruled criminal prosecutions for medical record privacy violations out of bounds.
The trial of Dick Dasen: The beloved local philanthropist stands accused of paying for sex with the local underage speedfreak population.
Nickel and diming Ohio's Bureau of Workers' Comp: Ohio's pension fund invested in a rare coin portfolio that -lost- hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of coins. Was the fundraiser who ran it skimming?
Blood Feud: Two men, one bull, six bullets: Weird and sad story, marred slightly by the Robert Frost pseudo-quote the copyeditor used as a subhead (a pet peeve of mine). (via Balloon Juice)
R.I. Police Say Man Offered Steak for Sex: Those Woonsocket boys know how to charm a lady. (via Majikthise)
"Harrison Bergeron" cited by Kansas lawyers arguing for unequal school funding: Meanwhile, Diana Moon Glampers just put a fire axe through satire's poor skull.
Tweaking life: A six-part piece on the intersection of small-town politics, prostitution rings, meth addiction, and the reshaping of Montana.
Malaysia car thieves steal finger: I -know- I saw this movie! That's how Wesley Snipes gets out of the cryojail!
Correcting the "Crimeogenic" Crowd: City Comforts responds to a Reason hit piece on the New Urbanism.
The Federation of American Scientists' Project on Government Secrecy: "Every thing secret degenerates, even the administration of justice."
Wall Street Scandals, complete in one drawing: If only it worked the Templars in there somewhere... (via the Big Picture)
The Doorknob Thief: A True Story of Construction Sites and Obsession: Alternately, "Nice man George, newsagent on the corner..."
A handful of the worst doctors measurably affect malpractice lawsuit frequency: But because of the currently flavor of political correctness, nobody is ever going to do anything about this common-sense observation. (via Off the Kuff)
Responding to a cease-and-desist from Dustin Diamond: The response to t.v.'s "Screech" is actually funnier than the supposed parody site. (PDF)
"Our culture, how we know it today, is under attack from every angle.": An Alabama legislator seeks to have books with gay characters yanked from the shelves and blows up my irony meter.
EA's employees filing a class action lawsuit?: Working conditions in the computer game industry can be brutal, but there must be something else going on here.
Bruce Schneier on electronic voting: When Bruce Schneier speaks, I wish politicians would listen.
Attack of the Grape Tomatoes: The rise of and legal battle over America's favorite sugary bitesize tomato variety.
Redaction in Action: A black marker is worth a dozen innocuous words. Unbelievable.
Bruce Schneier's security blog: Sure to become an indispensible resource for crypto wonks, privacy advocates, and people who want a good, clear explanation of the issues.
Akin Fernandez writes in: With some clarifications about his Conet Project, the Jeff Tweedy settlement, and UK copyright law.
Richard Perle vs. Lord Conrad Black, round 2: These guys so deserve each other.
Richard Perle and Lord Conrad Black's excellent adventure: How a neo-conservative defense policy analyst and a conservative Canadian media baron became friends, then enemies, then figures in a huge financial scandal. (see also)
Piracy and the screener ban: On the internal politics of the movie industry and the doomed efforts of the MPAA to keep Oscar voters from leaking screener copies.
We, the kidnapped two-headed albino snark: "'I missed the snake,' Sonnenschein responded. 'I love him.'"
So long, Unca Scrooge: Even rumors of cease and desist letters can cause a site which linked to potential copyright violators to close up shop.
I've seen this movie, part 2: A 48-hour car chase ends when the pursued vehicle runs out of gas. Insert joke about Nicholas Cage's career here.
Tommy Goldstein takes on the Supreme Court: Nina Totenberg's former intern argued his first case before the court at age 29 and has built his own law firm solely out of Supreme Court cases.
Brown vs. Board of Ed: The road not taken: A semi-contrarian take on separate but equal.
Giving new meaning to the term "enforcer": "Danton has been jailed since his arrest April 16 in San Jose, Calif., a day after the San Jose Sharks eliminated the Blues from the playoffs. The Blues released Danton on July 1." And hey, I bet he's looking for a new agent!
Crash Course: The science of reconstructing car accidents.: "Drivers lie to protect themselves, and given the speed of most accidents, even the memories of honest souls can't be trusted."
EFF prepares to challenge 10 patents: As some day it may happen that a victim must be found, / They've got a little list, they've got a little list. (via)
Condos, gated communities, and shadow governments: A libertarian considers the problems of semi-voluntary associations.
The most disgusting defense attourney ever gets results: I think I need to go smash something now. (see also)
"John Scalzi is a crack-smoking cat sodomizer.": John Scalzi lays out the basics of libel law and assures that he will have... interesting... Google hits until the end of time.
Making teenagers disappear: Tranquility Bay is disturbing and creepy. It is somehow unsurprising that they would hire someone a little bit disturbing and creepy to bring them their charges. (see also) (and this)
"...accused of bludgeoning and dismembering five people in an elaborate extortion racket intended to hasten the second coming of Jesus Christ.": "The culmination of Helzer's plan was to have been an operation codenamed 'Brazil', in which he would send South American orphans to Salt Lake City to kill the 15 elders who run the Mormon church."
Libraries get screwed in the CD settlement: Have the big record companies ever dealt fairly with anyone? (via)
The Pure Foods Act and PB&J: "[T]here never was a product made but some gosh darn fool could make it worse and sell it for less." Absolutely wonderful. (via)
"Authority to set aside the laws is 'inherent in the president.'": America is a government of laws and not men, but I guess sixth-grade civics and a general sense of uncreepy non-totalitarianism is just too much to ask for.
Plaigarist to sue university: New definitions of chutzpah every day.
The further adventures of the most repugnant defense attourney ever: Everything I read about this case makes me more furious.
The Talmudic scholarship of tax protestors: Actually, the analogy to the world of subterranean world of s.f. fandom seems really, really apt. Tax code parsing as fanwank! (via) (see also)
Rakim arrested: [insert lousy "Paid in Full" joke here] (via)
Karen Taylor, forensic artist: America's best police sketch artist got her professional start making waxworks at Madame Tussaut's. (via)
Mia Zapata's killer convicted: I hope he rots.
Found in the Footnotes: Michelle Leder digs embarassing corporate anecdotes out of 10-Ks.
Frederick, Maryland: Pornography publisher: It always seemed like such a nice little town!
The Constitution Restoration Act of 2004: Let's make the establishment clause unenforceable! A genuinely shockingly bad idea. A 'write your representatives in Congress today' level of bad.
The Politics of Sugar: Liberals and conservatives agree: possibly the single worst domestic policy of the American government, and it's never going to go away. (via)
More Diebold fun: Or, how to rig a voting booth in less than two minutes.
Brain sandwiches: "The decision means customers will have to switch to pork brains, which they tend to not like as much because they are smaller and more difficult to work with..." (via)
Wal-Mart locks workers in at night: Explaining the policy, she said, "Only about 10 percent of our stores do not allow associates to come and go at will..."