Cologne, by the way, is home to one of Europe’s most beautiful cathedrals. It is a strange irony that the same religious zeal that went into creating such an amazing monument is also the same force that led to the persecution and murder of so many innocent people.
The retrial is really nothing more than theater, but it seems like a valid and positive exercise. I just hope she beats the rap this time around.
According to the Hollywood Reporter, Robert Kirkman, the co-creator of The Walking Dead comic book series and AMC’s hit television show, has been sued by a collaborator and former friend, Michael Anthony Moore, who claims he is entited to half the proceeds from the franchise.
Moore is Kirkman’s high school friend and the original artist on the series. Moore claims he was duped into assigning his rights away from the franchise and that he has not been paid royalty payments owed to him. In other words, Moore claims that Kirkman has become a corporate zombie.
I haven’t seen a copy of the complaint. But will update this as soon as I do.
So said Dan Meek, a Portland attorney testifying today on Senate Bill 1534 at the Oregon Legislature. [source]
The bill, in essence, would have made it a felony to tweet about civil disobedience or to try to organize protests. It appears that the main target of the bill was the #Occupy movement in Oregon.
Luckily, enough people realized how outrageous and overbroad this bill was — after just a few hours, the bill died in the Oregon Senate.
And I now can go back to romanticizing Oregon, or more specifically Portland.
In any event, it doesn’t matter anymore. As of a few hours ago, according to Pitchfork reports, Disney has removed all shirts from its shelves because Disney “became aware there could be an issue” and they needed “to review the situation further.”
The West Memphis Three (“WM3″) are free after having served close to twenty years in prison for a crime they didn’t commit. And now, there is a new Peter Jackson-produced documentary on the case called “West of Memphis.” The WM3 and their legal battle were previously documented in a series of films called “Paradise Lost.” Unfortunately, there seems to be at bit of an unpleasant rivalry between the groups behind these two films. Beyond that, it appears that the new documentary is very good and worth watching. The reviews from Sundance are quite good. On top of that, the producers of the film have uncovered new evidence and new witnesses in the case. ”The attorneys for the WM3,… claim they have three new witnesses, friends of Michael Hobbs, Jr., who claim Hobbs told them that ‘my uncle Terry murdered those three little boys.’” Given the reviews and hype, it looks like that West of Memphis will be released to theaters across America. I, for one, am going to check it out.
In September 2009, Jonathon Doyle decided to film himself dressed as Bigfoot atop Mount Monadnock. ”To execute his planned filming of Bigfoot, Doyle purchased a costume resembling an ape and then climbed the mountain with his girlfriend. At the top, he put on the Bigfoot costume and filmed conversations he had with other hikers.” He did this for fun and so that he could post his video on YouTube.
Apparently happy with how his hoax went, he decided to do it a second time. This time he publicized that he would be climbing the mountain dressed as Bigfoot. He also brought with him Yoda and a pirate. But when Doyle and his buddies returned to the mountain to film the YouTube video they were informed by park rangers that they needed a special-use permit and that Bigfoot, Yoda, the pirate and others would have to leave the mountain. The permit, but the way, cost $100 and required proof of a $2 million insurance policy.
Doyle sued for his right to have fun by dressing up as Bigfoot on the mountain and filming it.
Last week, the New Hampshire Supreme Court held that the permit requirement violated the right to free speech because it was over broad. Free speech “does not permit such a panoptic regulation because, far from being narrowly tailored, it applies in numerous circumstances that have no relation to [the park's] significant interests,” the court ruled. The court noted that its ruling is narrow — “It rests on the assumption that Mount Monadnock is a traditional public forum. … [and] that it is possible that the regulation at issue here could be permissible as applied to [other] properties that are not traditional public forums, and that in any event [the park] may adopt regulations consistent with the right to free speech, which will require [the park] to take into account the character of the property it regulates.”
This is a great case and ruling. There is absolutely no reason why an amateur filmmaker needs a $2 million insurance policy before filming in a state park. Not to mention, fighting this guy and his ape suit is just plain stupid. State parks are underused and underfunded. Instead of spending time and resources litigating this case, the New Hampshire park system should have teamed up with Doyle and his ape costume and filmed some videos to promote New Hampshire parks. That would have been awesome.
So in honor of Doyle and his ape suit, I’m planning to hike in New Hampshire this summer in full elf costume.
Random anecdote — While hiking one time, my friend spotted someone apparently dressed up as The Crow running up the side of Mount Bonnell in Austin Texas. When my friend reached the top, there was no sign of that person. It is stories like this that make hiking totally worthwhile.
Posted in Goth, Law with tags cloves on January 14, 2012 by siouxsielaw
Back in September, the WTO agreed with Indonesia’s claim that the ban on clove cigarettes discriminates against their country. The WTO judges agreed stating that, “[t]he panel found that the ban is inconsistent with the national-treatment obligation because it accords clove cigarettes less favorable treatment than that accorded to menthol-flavored cigarettes.” The WTO, however, upheld the ban because it did not agree with Indonesia’s second contention that the ban was not necessary. The WTO instead concluded that “there is extensive scientific evidence supporting the conclusion that banning clove and other flavored cigarettes could contribute to reducing youth smoking.”
The technology is called promession or cryomation. One of my sources in the funeral industry mentioned that certain states are now discussing permitting this process via legislation.
Promession involves submerging the body into liquid nitrogen, making the body so cold that it freezes and can be broken into tiny little pieces. Water from the body is then evaporated and all metals from the body removed. Just watch….
It is really nice to have options other than just sticking your body into a furnace, but I have personal reservations about this because it reminds me of a Star Trek rerun that scared the crap out of me when I was younger.
I’ll admit this episode doesn’t seem so scary now. But I find something unsettling about being reduced to a little freeze-dried cube.
Posted in Goth, Law, Music on December 25, 2011 by siouxsielaw
This is a traditional French Christmas carol performed by Siouxsie Sioux and featuring Robert Smith on cymbals (though it doesn’t appear that he actually plays the cymbals in the video).
If you are like me and plan to spend your Christmas watching the American reboot of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, you might enjoy this link to drawings of what other leading ladies would have looked like had they been cast in the part of Lisbeth Salander.
Maybe you want to paint your nails for the holiday — here is a link to a gothy Christmas manicure.
Named plaintiff Sarajane Blum rescuing a duck via GourmetCruelty.com
Last week, the Center for Constitutional Rights (“CRC”) filed a complaint challenging the constitutionality of the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act (“AETA”). The suit, titled Blum v. Holder, alleges that the AETA violates the First and Fifth amendments. The CRC explains –
Passed by Congress in November 2006, AETA is aimed at suppressing speech and advocacy surrounding certain industries by criminalizing First Amendment-protected activities such as protests, boycotts, picketing and whistle-blowing. The statute punishes anyone found to have caused the loss of property or profits by a business or other institution that uses or sells animals (or animal products), or has “a connection to, relationship with, or transactions with an animal enterprise.”
The five plaintiffs maintain that the statute is too vague and as a consequence, the statute could “be read to criminalize anyone who causes a business to lose profits. Activists from any social movements could be subject to prosecution as terrorists if their advocacy, if their lawful protest, affects the bottom line of a business” that sells or uses animal products. [source]
The plaintiffs in the lawsuit are animal-rights activists from New York, Minnesota, and Maryland. They run websites such as Rabbitwise.org and GourmetCruelty.com.
The lawsuit, in my opinion, has a good chance of succeeding.
“One of the ways the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act silences free speech is that if one obtains that footage and then brings that footage to the public about how animals are suffering on factory farms, it might affect the profits of that farm,” explained Ryan Shapiro, one of the plaintiffs. Plaintiffs Sarahjane Blum and Ryan Shapiro, for example, made a film in 2004 called “Delicacy of Despair,” which documents the farming of ducks for fois gras. Plaintiffs maintain that “simply bringing that information to the public and trying to educate individuals is now prosecutable as a terrorist act under the law.” [source]
Plaintiffs aren’t the only ones to have raised these constitutional concerns. Earlier this year the New York City Bar demanded the repeal of the statute arguing that it is both overbroad and vague.
