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+ - New U.S. Senate Bill May Censor Blogs

Submitted by
SocialWorm writes "The economist James D. Miller has speculated in his blog that a bill recently introduced in the U.S. senate will have a terrible chilling effect on political blogs. The bill would make "anyone promoting what the plaintiff sees as [a] 'deceptive' public argument" liable. Miller suggests that since traditional media has the financial and legal resources to fight the lawsuits such a law would bring, bloggers will be the hardest hit."
User Journal

Journal: Franken for Senate 5

Journal by janeowit

It's still not definite, but it's getting closer to actually being official. First Al Franken decided to leave Air America (his last day, Feb. 14) and said he was contacting Minnesota lawmakers about the feasibility of a possible run for the Senate. Now a "a senior Democratic official from Minnesota" says he has made his decision and is going to run! I'm going to take it as fact because I'v


+ - NFL Blocks Church Superbowl Parties, Allows Bars.

Submitted by
darkonc writes "It appears that the NFS doesn't want their fans praying for their teams, but they've got nothing against driving home drunk afterwards.
CNN/Sports Illustrated has the story of the NFL pouring cold water on churchs' plans for 'dry' Superbowl parties . When NFL officials saw the announcement for one such party, they told the church involved where to go with the idea. When the church turned the other cheek and resolved the initial issues (charging for the party and using the 'Superbowl' trademark), the NFL responded with more complaints ("Your TV is too big"). The Church then gave up. The NFL explained that, while it plans to treat all churches in this manner, they didn't plan to take action against bars engaging in similar activities."

+ - Dead soldier becomes a father with a stranger

Submitted by chiantii
chiantii (950637) writes "In a precedent-setting decision, an Israeli court has ruled that a dead soldier's family can have his sperm impregnated into the body of a woman he never met. Keivan Cohen, 20, was shot dead in 2002 by a Palestinian sniper in the Gaza Strip. He was single and left no will. But at the urging of his parents, a sample of his sperm was taken two hours after his death and has been stored in a hospital since."

+ - Hotmail to start charging for use

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User Journal

Journal: Thanks Bees. 4

Journal by janeowit

I don't normally read the back of the bath products I use. I find that whole lather, rinse, repeat thing unnecessary. Once is plenty. But this morning I found myself reading the back of the very good smelling Clementine body wash I was using.
Amid the usual stuff there was this line "Honeybees provide environmentally friendly and natural solutions to everyday needs, and so do we."


+ - US spies share info through own Wiki

Submitted by RichPowers
RichPowers (998637) writes "Following 9/11, US intelligence agencies were faulted for not sharing information. In an effort to change this, Intel Czar John Negroponte announced that 16 agencies will start using "Intellipedia" as a way of sharing top-secret information. There are currently 28,000 pages of data and other versions of Intellipedia exist for less sensitive material. Is this a great way for analysts to communicate across agency lines or a huge security breach waiting to happen? version+of+Wikipedia/2100-7348_3-6131309.html"
The Internet

+ - How the Web Prevents Rape and Violence

Submitted by One_6453
One_6453 (740362) writes "Clemson University's Prof. Ted Kendall's paper talks about pornography, rape and the internet.

From the research paper's summary, "I find that the arrival of the internet was associated with a reduction in rape incidence. However, growth in internet usage had no apparent effect on other crimes. Moreover, when I disaggregate the rape data by offender age, I find that the effect of the internet on rape is concentrated among those for whom the internet-induced fall in the non-pecuniary price of pornography was the largest — men ages 15-19, who typically live with their parents. These results, which suggest that pornography and rape are substitutes, are in contrast with most previous literature."

The paper passes my admittedly no expert first speed read test. What do you guys think? Will this help remove some of the oft repeated, "porn leads to rape"?

This paper is also discussed at slate."
