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OK, Maybe I don't get the $300 tax rebate after all. More than one-quarter of all American adults will not get a tax rebate this year. Altogether, nearly 40 percent will not get the full amount of $300 for individuals and $600 for couples. Nationally, the study shows, 34 million American adults, or 26 percent, will get no rebate, and another 17 million, or 13 percent, will get less than the full rebate. This sucks. Why am I not surprised.
posted by tcobretti at 10:44 PM PST - 45 comments

And you thought MoFo.com was a bad site name for a law firm
Bull & Lifshitz, LLP
This is the law firm that slaps class action complaints on "as seen on F**kedCompany.com" dot coms. Sounds like a new slang word. NetZero? Autoweb? They got the Bull and Lifshitz. Or it's what happens when you eat bad beef at a steakhouse. I'm here all week!
posted by lheiskell at 9:26 PM PST - 1 comments

John Ashcroft on web porn: "I am concerned about obscenity and I'm concerned about obscenity as it relates to our children". I'm curious what those of you who are more on the conservative/libertarian side of things think about this. Are there special exemptions to the concept of free speech when it comes to this type of content? [more]
posted by owillis at 7:43 PM PST - 40 comments

Echelon rumored to be used in NZ spying on Fiji
Echelon, as seen on TV, is suggested to monitor gobzillions of electronic communications. People are starting to wonder if New Zealand used Echelon to monitor the progress of the May 2000 coup and hostage taking in Fiji, in addition to the tradition undercover operations. Memorable quotation: "It is not a question of if others are spying on Fiji but of who, how and, to a much lesser extent, why."
posted by rschram at 5:06 PM PST - 8 comments

Finally, some good news on the privacy front The Supreme Court today reiterated the right of privacy in the age of technology, ruling in an Oregon drug case that the police cannot use a heat-seeking device to probe the interior of a home without a search warrant. (registration required) The heat device used by the agents "might disclose, for example, at what hour each night the lady of the house takes her daily sauna and bath — a detail that many would consider `intimate,' " the majority held. daily sauna?
posted by 4midori at 4:34 PM PST - 11 comments

In the desert on the U.S.-Mexico border, charity becomes political protest as humanitarian groups seek to put hundreds of gallons of water in the form of "watering stations" -- a few gallons of water and a blue flag -- on federal, military, private, and Indian lands.
posted by sudama at 3:36 PM PST - 3 comments

Green Flash bashes Bush
Greenpeace is launching a contest to highlight the absurdity of the Bush positions on climate change and/or missile defence using Macromedia Flash. The contest, open to everyone and having no prize other than a link, runs through July 6th and should be almost as much fun as the 5k.
[via Flazoom]
posted by DragonBoy at 3:16 PM PST - 7 comments

The Standard revisited The Industry Standard print magazine has launched it's new design. Check your mailboxes and discuss...
posted by brian at 2:46 PM PST - 10 comments

The funniest thing I've read today. Spoofing the recent sulfnbk.exe virus hoax, a fake advisory on Joke-a-Day advised readers to delete the insidious virus file AOL.exe. The result? "Only one AOL person contacted me," Owens said. "Maybe that's because all the others can't get online anymore."
posted by Tubes at 2:34 PM PST - 24 comments

When NASA scientists watch Michael Bay films, comedy ensues. 'The technology is not at all far-fetched,' said Dr Greg Laughlin, of the Nasa Ames Research Center in California. 'It involves the same techniques that people now suggest could be used to deflect asteroids or comets heading towards Earth. We don't need raw power to move Earth, we just require delicacy of planning and manoeuvring.' Oh yeah, nothing could possibly go wrong with this plan. I'm not being a Luddite here...I realize the scientists involved aren't going to be doing this any time soon, if ever. It still spooks me, though.
posted by Ezrael at 1:15 PM PST - 14 comments

History of the (U.S.) Federal Judiciary A fascinating resource for those interested in judges, landmark cases, historical photographs of federal buildings, and other things federal.
posted by frykitty at 1:14 PM PST - 2 comments

Cool. People generally complain about stuff like this but I'm pretty excited. I'm sick of having to watch ads for Metamucil...
posted by TiggleTaggleTiger at 12:30 PM PST - 25 comments

Welcome to the abortion boat.......
A ship carrying an on-board gynaecological clinic has left the Netherlands for Ireland, where it plans to offer abortions to Irish women.
posted by nonharmful at 12:04 PM PST - 14 comments

kick box the queen
A computer security consultant and stand-up comic says "I hereby challenge the Queen of England to either a kickboxing match or a math test (no geometry) for the crown of Canada. She can choose the type of match, and the location of the bout. She has until July 1, 2002 to face me in this competition. If, after that time, she has not accepted my challenge, Canadians can infer that she has forfeited the match, and I will be the effective new monarch of Canada."
posted by riley370 at 10:27 AM PST - 5 comments

China executes 28 in single day Just for some perspective on a day when there is so much hype over *one* American execution...
posted by Rastafari at 10:15 AM PST - 8 comments

Bush to unveil global warming plan. Because our world isn't warm enough.
posted by solistrato at 9:12 AM PST - 58 comments

Invictus is the name of the poem Timothy McVeigh provided as his last words. Written by William Ernest Henley more than a 100 years ago the name means "undefeated" in Latin. What poetry would you use for your last words?
posted by fleener at 9:03 AM PST - 90 comments

The Temple Expiatori de la Sagrada Família in Barcelona is a breathtaking masterpiece. Most of the pictures are worth clicking to see the full view. (And the virtual tour with IPIX is pretty cool. Make sure you pan around.)
posted by Sean Meade at 8:01 AM PST - 13 comments

Romania learns capitialism well Along with a Dracula theme park, it's reported the government wants to help a group of US investors clone Vlad the Imapler (a.k.a. Count Dracula.)
posted by sixdifferentways at 7:50 AM PST - 6 comments

Not Salieri but Schnitzel the latest theory about what did in Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is that he might have contracted trichinosis from some spoiled pork cutlets. "Why Antonio, I'd just die for some wiener schniztel right now," Wolfgang exclaimed. "Yes, you would," sneered Salieri.......
posted by briank at 7:22 AM PST - 18 comments

So, after being out of the saddle for so many years, apparently all George needed was a good editor.

Presenting: Episode I.I : The Phantom Edit

link via Ghost in the Machine
posted by lagado at 5:50 AM PST - 23 comments

McVeigh - it's over....
Mass murderer executed by lethal injetion.... I'm not sheddding any tears over it...
posted by tomcosgrave at 5:32 AM PST - 223 comments

The Morality Police. "Our hysterical attempts to shield kids from images of sex and violence are stunting young lives -- and trapping us all in a Big Lie." A well-argued piece, more of an op-ed than a straight-up book review. As a scientist I only quibble with the author's musing that "if there really were a cause-and-effect link between real violence and media violence, then it would have been proven by now."
posted by topolino at 2:32 AM PST - 13 comments

You probably know this already, but just in case you haven't noticed Maggie and Hoppie are back!
posted by rdr at 12:34 AM PST - 13 comments