Supreme Court restores habeas corpus, strikes down key part of Military Commissions Act
http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2008/06/12/boumediene/
In a major rebuke to the Bush administration's theories of presidential power -- and in an equally stinging rebuke to the bipartisan political class which has supported the Bush detention policies -- the U.S. Supreme Court today, in a 5-4 decision, declared Section 7 of the Military Commissions Act of 2006 unconstitutional. The Court struck down that section of the MCA because it purported to abolish the writ of habeas corpus...

(They couldn't do better than 5-4?--ED)

US Supreme Court tosses "detainee treatment act", declares that prisoners *do*, in fact, have rights in the USA.
http://theweaselking.livejournal.com/2924958.html?nc=10&style=mine
Of course, this only applies to the few prisoners we know about, who are held in the few "official" prisons, and not the ones who are completely denied all access to legal counsel while they're raped, tortured, and murdered after having been disappeared, but it's a start.

US quits Human Rights Council
http://www.humanrights-geneva.info/US-quits-Human-Rights-Council,3184
There was widespread consternation on Friday at the Palais des Nations in Geneva when the US mission gave up his observer status - a step backwards for human rights around the world, says Human Rights Watch.

Did Iranian intelligence infiltrate highest levels of Bush administration?
http://www.americablog.com/2008/06/did-irani-intelligence-infiltrate.html
We'll never know because the Bush administration shut down the investigation as to whether Iranian spies were in Vice President Dick Cheneys's office and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld's office. The year was 2003. That's when we invaded Iraq. This is scary as shit... "...Iran may have used a small cabal of officials in the Pentagon and in Vice President Dick Cheney's office to feed bogus intelligence ...to... the Bush administration..."

US Rep. distorts facts about Iran
http://tinyurl.com/3lm2nd
Congressman Mark Kirk misrepresents Iranian threat; vows to extend Ballistic Missile System to Israel

Pound = "Terrorist Fist Jab"????
http://gmskarka.livejournal.com/412135.html?nc=9&style=mine
Right before his victory speech on Tuesday night, Barack and Michelle Obama shared what is commonly referred to as a Pound -- a fist-bump... Clueless white commentators have crawled up their own asses trying to figure this one out. The top of the list: Fox News, who actually referred to it as a possible Terrorist Fist Jab...

(That's not just clueless, it's bone fide Bad Faith--ED)

Are They Voting on Barack Obama, or "Barry Johnson"?
http://bradhicks.livejournal.com/396327.html?nc=1&style=mine
There are a lot of anti-Barack-Obama slurs that rattle around the net... "is it smart to vote for a Muslim while we're in a War on Terror?"... the real truth about Barack Obama's religious background would be just as toxic, or maybe even more so. Barack Obama wasn't raised Muslim... it hit me exactly why they think Barack Hussein Obama is a Muslim or ex-Muslim. ...I remembered a brief interview, many months ago, with some black rapper in which he was asked about Barack Obama, only for the interviewer to find out that this rapper had never heard of him. The rapper asked for the name again, and then asked, "No, really, what's his real name?" The interviewer said that no, really, the Senator's real name is Barack Hussein Obama. ...the rapper looked at him scornfully, as if he were some kind of a fool, and said derisively, "Nobody's real name is Barack Hussein Obama." Why would he think that? Then it hit me.

2012: The Year The Internet Ends
http://ipower.ning.com/netneutrality
Every significant Internet provider around the globe is currently in talks with access and content providers to transform the internet into a television-like medium: no more freedom, you pay for a small commercial package of sites you can visit and you'll have to pay for seperate subscriptions for every site that's not in the package...

Where Is Raed Now?
http://www.motherjones.com/news/outfront/2008/05/mr-jarrar-goes-to-washington.html
Meet the Iraqi exile (and former Salam Pax blogger) who could foil Bush's plans for permanent bases near Baghdad.

The Great Wired Drug Non-Controversy
http://www.10zenmonkeys.com/2008/06/10/the-great-wired-drug-non-controversy/
Another pointless brouhaha about drugs has erupted, this time between Wired Magazine, the New York Times, and a reporter's blog. And what fueled all the noise was less than 300 words in a tiny chart -- and an unexpected admission of past drug use....

Stem cells apparently cure boy's fatal disease
http://www.latimes.com/features/health/la-sci-stem7-2008jun07,0,6795131.story
The treatment uses umbilical and marrow cells to help develop normal skin. Doctors say it may move his genetic disorder, recessive epidermolysis bullosa, 'off the incurable list' for other patients.

I just got a "cease and desist" hand delivery
http://forums.enturbulation.org/122-fair-game/i-just-got-cease-desist-hand-delivery-17337/
A lawyer just came to my door to deliver a "cease and desist" letter from scientology! How did they get my name?! The only way me and my husband can think of is a crooked cop who pulled us over after the protest must have given our info over. (as seen in this video). We were masked the ENTIRE time.

(Scientology have, of course, focused on embedding and recruiting in Police Forces.--ED)

V Masks / Scientology in Forbidden Planet
http://www.wirah.com/en/event/24/forum/thread/305
Forbidden Planet are sold out of V masks. We suspect Scientologists have purchased them...

UK Government May Extend Copyright, Despite Saying It Wouldn't
http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20080605/1943301325.shtml

Egypt bans female genital mutilation
http://www.thenational.ae/article/20080608/FOREIGN/952936268/1011/ART&Profile=1011
Mohammed al Omda, a conservative parliamentarian, protested outside Egypt's parliament last week with his three daughters against amendments to the child law, which among other things would ban female circumcision. He and other conservatives said the amendments are a violation of Islamic law and Egyptian traditions...

AI Robotics - The Perfect Woman
http://www.perfect-woman.com/en/
Pre-order today! Male version available soon.

(Your choice of wig!--ED)

Hints of 'time before Big Bang'
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7440217.stm
A team of physicists has claimed that our view of the early Universe may contain the signature of a time before the Big Bang ...Their model may help explain why we experience time moving in a straight line from yesterday into tomorrow.

Wal-Mart Virus
http://blog.wakeupwalmart.com/ufcw/2008/06/walmart_virus.html
Apparently Walmart.com has been infected with a computer virus, and many who shopped at the website recently could have infected computers now...

Egyptian Pharoah's 'Missing' Pyramid Found
http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2008/06/05/pyramid-egypt.html
Egyptian archaeologists have uncovered the "missing pyramid" of a pharaoh and a ceremonial procession road where high priests carried mummified remains of sacred bulls ...the pyramid -- of which only the base remains -- is believed to be that of King Menkauhor, an obscure pharaoh who ruled for only eight years more than 4,000 years ago...

Crocs + Escalator = Yet Another Mangled Foot
http://consumerist.com/tag/danger/?i=5014022&t=crocs-%252B-escalator--yet-another-mangled-foot
Another small child's foot has been mangled by the combination of the especially-grippy Crocs clogs and a moving escalator...

Union Station Photo Flap
http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/the_online_photographer/2008/06/union-station-p.html
Fox ...became aware that photographers were being hassled by security in Union Station (the train station in Washington), so they dispatched a reporter and a crew to do a story on it. So they're interviewing the head spokesman for Amtrak, who is explaining that there aren't any laws or rules against photography inside the train station...when a security guard comes up and tells the TV crew they'll have to turn the cameras off...

Everything you always didn't want to know about porn
http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/article/439311
Chuck Palahniuk's new novel obsesses on the gross-out aspects of the lucrative smut industry

Evidence for a long-lived superheavy nucleus
http://arxiv.org/abs/0804.3869
Evidence for the existence of a superheavy nucleus with atomic mass number A=292 and abundance (1-10)x10^(-12) relative to 232Th has been found in a study of natural Th using inductively coupled plasma-sector field mass spectrometry...

20 ways to improve Doctor Who
http://www.denofgeek.com/television/63759/20_ways_to_improve_doctor_who.html
When you love something as much as Martin, you do get a certain liberty to criticise. Here are the 20 improvements he'd make to Doctor Who...

Claymation Science Heroes Wallace And Gromit Are Coming Back!
http://io9.com/5015717/claymation-science-heroes-wallace-and-gromit-are-coming-back
The first images from the next Wallace And Gromit short, "A Matter Of Loaf And Death," went online -- and they showcase a new character. Could Wallace be getting a love interest?

(Doesn't he always?--ED)

Unfilmed Indy 4 Script Has 23 Percent More Awesomeness
http://io9.com/5016367/unfilmed-indy-4-script-has-23-percent-more-awesomeness
What would Indiana Jones 4 have been like without Shia LaBoeuf's cocky young character Mutt? Now you can find out for yourself, thanks to a leaked copy of Frank Darabont's draft of the Indy 4 script that's floating around the internet...

How Battlestar Copied (And Improved On) Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
http://io9.com/5016403/how-battlestar-copied-and-improved-on-star-trek-deep-space-nine
There's an obscure 1990s show called Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, which ...shares a lot of the same ideas and themes as Battlestar Galactica -- which isn't surprising, since BSG re-creator Ronald D. Moore and two other BSG writers worked on DS9...

Most Controversial Books Ever Banned by Libraries
http://education-portal.com/articles/Most_Controversial_Books_Ever_Banned_by_Libraries.html
...there are some books that have been challenged so many times that they have actually been banned from certain libraries. Here is a list of the ten most commonly challenged and banned books.

The Bee: Part 1 - Beedazzled
http://www.andrewgough.co.uk/bee1_1.html
The Bee is dying and we are only now beginning to wake up and recognise its huge significance, not only to the global economy but to our very survival. However the importance of this sacred creature was not lost on ancient man, in fact, from prehistory to Egyptian times, it appears to have been viewed as the single most cherished god on the planet.

Digital Forensics: Photo Tampering Throughout History
http://www.sciam.com/slideshow.cfm?id=photo-tampering-throughout-history

'Squeezed' Light May Improve Gravitational Wave Detectors
http://www.physorg.com/news131883538.html
A research collaboration has taken steps toward improving the sensitivity of gravitational wave detectors, devices designed to measure distance changes as minute as one-thousandth the diameter of a proton. Scientists hope these detectors can one day further verify Einstein's theory of general relativity and even open a new window into the strange workings of the universe.

300 Calorie Food Picture Gallery
http://www.healthassist.net/food/300kcal/300.shtml
Why 300 Calorie? Originally the idea was to count how many calorie I spend working for two hours on the PC...

(I'm really really worried about that picture of "bacon"... does USAnian bacon really look like that scary stuff?--ED)

found cat--black with white stripes
http://www.craigslist.org/about/best/sea/687162102.html
Hi, I found a cat today near the arboretum. She's black with white stripes down her back. She seems a little standoffish. Does not get along well with children. She doesn't have a collar, but seems to be an indoor cat and went without hesitation for a can of cat food I opened for her. I think she's been away from home a while. She's quite smelly. May need a bath...

Lazy Bastards
http://www.slate.com/id/2193552/
How we read online.

Cuttlefish spot target prey early
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7435757.stm
Before they have even hatched, cuttlefish embryos can peer out of their eggs and spot potential prey. It is the first time any animal has been shown to learn visual images before they are born.

Brain sparks, not just size, makes for smarter species: study
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5j-4P2de0njk4TimPpD5_nrOk0zWQ
Relentless evolution towards more intelligent species may have been driven not just by progressively larger brains but by the increasingly complex way in which they were wired, a study reported... "The molecular evolution of the synapse is like the evolution of computer chips -- the increasing complexity has given them more power and those animals with the most powerful chips can do the most"...

Terry Pratchett hints he may have found God
http://tinyurl.com/54rv6b
Terry Pratchett, the bestselling fantasy book author who recently revealed that he was suffering from Alzheimer's disease, has hinted that he has found God after years as an atheist...

Each Grain of Sand a Tiny Work of Art
http://discovermagazine.com/photos/01-each-grain-of-sand-a-tiny-work-of-art
When you take a moonlit stroll on the beach, how often do you think about the tiny grains of sand creeping in between your toes? From above, sand seems like a bunch of tiny brown rocks, perhaps peppered with occasional shells or cigarette butts. But sand has a far more fascinating story to tell...

Ghosts, Aliens, Yeti and the Late Great Nigel Kneale
http://www.binnallofamerica.com/rr6.6.8.html
Who was Nigel Kneale? This is the question that many readers are probably asking themselves right now, which is a real shame, because without the work of this great television pioneer, I highly doubt there would be much intelligent science fiction on television today...

Donald Duck Family Tree
http://duckman.pettho.com/tree/american.html

Fake bus stop keeps Alzheimer's patients from wandering off
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/2071319/Fake-bus-stop-keeps-Alzheimer's-patients-from-wandering-off.html
German nursing homes are using a novel strategy to stop Alzheimer's patients from wandering off: phantom bus stops.

HassleMe
http://hassleme.co.uk/
Not eating enough fruit? Forgot to feed the fish again? Need a little help keeping your New Year's resolutions? Tell us what to hassle you about, and we'll nag you via email at semi-unpredictable intervals.

Preparation H Finds Place in Club Circuit
http://abcnews.go.com/Health/SkinCare/story?id=4966867&page=1
Men May Be Clueless About the Real Effects of the Ointment. Of all the drugs young people can use at clubs, the latest trend in New York may be the least hip among all circles: Preparation H.

Stones That Literally Grow by Themselves
http://www.environmentalgraffiti.com/ecology/n%20atural-design-series-stones-that-literally-grow-by-themseleves/1232
Romania may be known as the land of Dracula ...but it is also a land where nature has had an interesting activity. Far less known to the world then Dracula, stand an impressive number of stones which quite literally grow by themselves. ...The stones are real and known to mortals as Trovants.

and If Men Wrote For Cosmo
http://www.goofball.com/jokes/men_women/INC20050429020302