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Driver arrested after officer finds her "distracted" by sex toy

via wcpo.com

We've seen the anti-drink-driving adverts. Now I'm wondering what the anti-masturbation-driving adverts will look like?

New Labour's dirty secrets

Index on Censorship have an interesting article The Pursuit of Secrecy by Richard Norton-Taylor examining the real legacy of the Blair and Brown governments - their willingness to break the law when expedient, and to use the legal system to then hide their misdeeds, such as their involvement in extraordinary rendition and torture.

Indian court rules that Hindu gods can't trade in stocks and shares

 
Following attempts by a private religious trust to set up trading accounts for several Hindu gods including the elephant-headed god Ganesha, an Indian court has now ruled that gods can't deal in stocks and shares. But not before income tax cards had been issued, and saving accounts set up in the gods' names!

Whilst it's certainly bizarre that in the 21st century a court is spending time and money debating an issue like this, we can at least be a little reassured that they reached the right decision! 

There's a wonderful quote from the judges who ruled in the case: "Trading in shares on the stock market requires certain skills and expertise and to expect this from deities would not be proper"...

Cow seduces Indonesian man

Please note: this is not the actual cow

An 18-year-old Indonesian man caught having sex with a cow explained how the cow posed as a beautiful young woman and seduced him: "She called my name and seduced me, so I had sex with her".  He got a fine while the poor cow was drowned...

Gary McKinnon extradition on hold

The Guardian reports that the home secretary Theresa May is to review the medical evidence to determine whether or not Gary McKinnon is fit to be extradited.

Police seize Jason Chen's computers over iPhone HD affair

Police have seized computers from the home of Gizmodo's Jason Chen as part of the investigation into the loss, then purchase by Gizmodo, of Apple's prototype iPhone HD.

Here's the search warrant:

and the police inventory:
And here's the response from Gaby Darbyshire, COO and legal representative of Gizmodo's owners Gawker Media LLC, who believe the warrant is invalid: Read the full story over at Gizmodo.

British Chiropractic Association finally admits defeat in Simon Singh libel case

 

Two years after Simon Singh's Guardian article that questioned the validity of the claims made by the British Chiropractic Association, the BCA have finally withdrawn the libel action they started against Simon Singh personally (but not against The Guardian).  Whilst this is undoubtedly very good news, there is still much work to be done mending the UK's broken libel laws.

Read more in today's Guardian article.

The BCA press statement is reproduced below.

 

(download)

Talk Talk talk tough on the Digital Economy Bill

 
 

UK internet provider Talk Talk have been vocal opponents of the mess that is the Digital Economy Bill since it was first announced.  Now the bill has been rammed through the dying parliament, Talk Talk have confirmed in their new blog post "Digital Economy Bill - it's a wash up" that they remain opposed to the bill and will not comply with its demands.  Good for them.

 

Tories say Christians have the right to be homophobic

The Tory shadow home secretary Chris Grayling has been recorded saying that owners of B&Bs should be able to turn away gay couples if they offend against their Christian beliefs (which is currrently illegal).  I've never understood the arguments which makes one person's rights contingent on another person's superstitions or "religious beliefs"...

Read the Guardian story here.