The Senate Commerce Committee issued a report on the multibillion dollar data industry today, and the accompanying testimony and findings are chilling.

A fake news article about a San Francisco elementary school suspending a child for saying "Merry Christmas" to an atheist teacher created a lot of real headaches for a similarly-named Bay Area school after the fake report went viral.

A Missouri mom was arrested after a Snapchat photograph of her and her 14-year-old daughter — topless in a hot tub — were circulated around multiple area high schools.

US Attorney Preet Bharara took to the internet today to clarify a few things about Devyani Khobragade, the Indian diplomat who got arrested and strip searched last week for lying about paying her nanny only $3.31 an hour.

Orlando, the world's best dog, and Cecil, his 61-year-old blind master, get to stay together when Orlando retires, thanks to donations that poured in over the last 24 hours. Orlando saved Cecil's life yesterday after Cecil fainted and fell onto the subway tracks. Cecil was worried he couldn't afford to keep Orlando and a new guide dog.

[An Indonesian sulfur miner carries a goat's head in as part of an annual offering ceremony on the Ijen volcano: first they slaughter the goat, then bury the head in the crater of the volcano for good luck. The acidity of the water in the crater is apparently high enough to dissolve clothing. Photo by Ulet Ifansasti via Getty.]

Casey Anthony won't have to pay back most of the $792,000 she owes in legal fees and other debts related to the death of her daughter Caylee — yesterday, a Florida bankruptcy judge discharged the bulk of Anthony's obligations. She claimed only $1,000 in assets.

Seven homeless people have now frozen to death in the Bay Area since a harsh winter cold snap first gripped the region in late November. This news comes one week after a startup CEO wrote of San Francisco's homeless, "There is nothing positive gained from having them so close to us."

An Occidental College spokesman confirmed to Gawker what was suspected earlier today: Online trolls from Reddit and elsewhere disrupted their online anonymous sexual assault reporting system with hundreds of sarcastic, caustic false rape reports.

The White House released a critical report on the NSA's data collection programs, suggesting increased regulation and urging President Obama to end the government's practice of logging the metadata from Americans' phone calls.

Galaxy arms! Electric trees! Toe fossils! Smoke damage! Ice diamonds! Friendly cats! Stripey horses! And other ways to drive your dreams! It's your Wednesday Science Watch, where we watch science—as it evaporates!

Pippa Middleton, sister of Kate, aunt of Prince George, and distant salutatorian of the Middleton School for Marriageable Girls is engaged to be married to her boyfriend Nico Jackson, according to Us Weekly.

The Federal Reserve is scaling back its "signature" bond-buying program, signaling confidence that the economy no longer needs total life support. Markets are pooping themselves with joy, and the 2014 Hunger Games are apparently being canceled.

The South Carolina governor's karate belt is honorary. The wood, however, is presumably real.

G.B.F. is a good-natured teen comedy about prom queens in search of gay best friends. Its depictions of affection are chaste and its language is clean. So why does it have an R rating?

Having busied itself of late with warfighting and such, the Marine Corps finally managed to pencil in some hygiene time this week, codifying a ban on "faddish" and "exaggerated" hairstyles among the troops. Meaning... what, exactly?

Oakland, California, is both the robbery capital of America and one of the country's most expensive places to live. In acknowledgement of this dystopian situation, BART police will escort you and your holiday gifts from the train station to your car. Or, they may shoot you for no reason at all.

Virginia's GOP candidate for attorney general, Mark Obenshain, is expected to concede victory to Democrat Mark Herring today, after a statewide recount widened Herring's lead to roughly 810 votes out of more than 2 million cast.

It's so cold outside, on the freezing streets of Manhattan. Yet the dogs must have their walks. They are city dogs, after all, and it takes an army of dog-walkers to get these beasts out of the apartments at regular intervals. We headed up to Central Park West to meet America's most pampered canines, all dressed up in their winter coats. Here's our first NYC dog of winter, in his red knitted sweater. It's Oliver, the French Bulldog!

Self-styled "men's rights advocates" used their Reddit forum yesterday to organize a spam campaign against Occidental College's online sexual assault reporting system, possibly complicating the already-fraught reporting process for actual victims at the university.