Hot off the Press: Protecting our weed edition

A NYT editorial calling on the Federal Election Commission and IRS to ensure federal laws and the control of American elections is not being compromised by illegal foreign donations: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/06/opinion/06wed1.html?hp.

I'm not really sure what I think of this NYT op-ed about consumer credit and economic recovery, but it is food for thought, especially the two paradoxes at the end: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/06/opinion/06gross.html?hp.

Last Tuesday, I guess the "Fox and Friends" program on Fox News reported that the LAPD was buying $1 billion worth of jetpacks, a story which they apparently took straight from the Weekly World News: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2010/10/fox-and-friends-falls-for-ruse-alleging-purchase-of-billion-dollars-of-jetpacks-for-lapd-la-fire.html. You can see the segment clip here: http://tv.gawker.com/5655151/los-angeles-orders-10000-jetpacks-for-its-police-department. Wow. And just think: the people who own this network are giving tons of money to political committees and lobbying groups.

A wooded rest stop in Puttenham, England has been designated by police as a "public sex environment," where people can have quasi-legal sex in public: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/08/world/europe/08puttenham.html?_r=1.

Junk bonds are big money again, much to the chagrin of many who worry about the risk: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/08/business/08bond.html?hp.

Two former Cedar Rapids teachers, who were illegally strip searched during a 2004 protest against then-President Bush, have been (each?) awarded $440,385 plus attorney fees: http://thegazette.com/2010/10/11/judge-orders-over-440000-in-damages-to-former-teachers-illegally-strip-searched/. I hope taxpayers in Linn County are proud of their knowledgeable law enforcement staff. In my opinion, if you fuck with civil liberties you should get fucked.

To clarify earlier reports, the Iowa DOT is not considering a redesign of the state's license plates. Instead, they only want to switch the alpha-numerical order and change the lettering from a dark blue color to black: http://thegazette.com/2010/10/11/new-license-plate-design-not-being-considered-by-iowa-dot/.

Bad news for Chet Culver's re-election campaign: four people have been changed with giving his campaign illegal contributions, possibly in connection with favors regarding gaming and gambling licenses: http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20101012/NEWS01/10120375/4-charged-with-illegal-gifts-to-Culver-campaign. I won't vote for him, anyway.

One week after its introduction on the company website, Gap has scrapped its redesigned logo after an outpouring of customer criticism: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-11520930.

The World Economic Forum voted Iceland the "best country for gender equality": http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-11517459.

Speaking of Scandinavia, the Nordic ombudsmen are going to investigate social networks such as Facebook in an effort to determine whether or not they "contravene marketing legislation": http://politiken.dk/newsinenglish/ECE1077520/nordic-ombudsmen-question-facebook/.