Inspired by recent litigation involving the copyrightability of Mike Tyson's Maori-inspired facial tattoo, some of America's law professors have contemplated a different-but-similar issue: whether American copyright law protects nose doctors' surgical masterpieces. The answer? Probably not, but it's not completely impossible.
Some 259 women reported being raped by forces fighting on behalf of dictator Moammar Qaddafi during the ongoing civil war in Libya, according to a questionnaire distributed to refugees by child psychologist Seham Sergewa. The question was added to the survey after Sergewa was contacted by three separate victims — mothers of children she was treating — who told similar stories of assault by militia fighting to keep Qaddafi in power:
In Crystal City, a town just outside Washington, D.C. whose name makes it sound very magical and castle-filled, the marriage-centric Mormons have opened the nation's first singles-only worship place. It sounds really stressful.
It's been 36 hours since a photo of an underwear-covered erect penis appeared on the official Twitter account of Rep. Anthony Weiner (D - N.Y.). The congressman says he was hacked, but right-wing bloggers, vowing to take the alleged Weiner erection as far as it goes, have uncovered what they say is evidence of an affair. Let's take a long, hard look at Weinergate.
Some Canadian researchers say the drug metyrapone (pronounced "met-yr-a-pone") can stop your brain from recalling the sadness and other "negative" emotions associated with difficult memories—for example, the death of poor little Fluffy, the sweet kitten who never stood a chance.
A model and a dancer fell from a hotel window in Atlanta while "play-fighting," leaving one dead and one in critical condition at the hospital. LaShawna Threatt (pictured), a 30-year-old model and party promotor, and Ciara Williams, a dancer, were wrestling with each other in a room at the W hotel in midtown Atlanta following Threatt's birthday party when they apparently broke through a window and fell. Threatt landed on the roof of a structure below, dying immediately, while Williams fell another 20 feet, and remains in the hospital in critical condition. Police believe it was an accident. [AJC]
Brad and Angelina tell their kids they need some privacy. Tony Romo and a Crawford tie the knot. (Chace?) Estella Warren escapes a felony charge. Sunday gossip is getting the air conditioner out of storage.
Did liberal hero and would-be Mayor of New York Rep. Anthony Weiner (D - N.Y.) Tweet a picture of his own, underwear-clad erection last night? Conservative bloggers sure seem to hope so!
In March 2011, Patrick McGinty, his wife, and their five kids endured a house fire that killed their three beloved dogs. That experience alone would cause many people to fall into a serious depression! But the McGintys are apparently a special kind of family.
"Unless your roommate specifically asks you to throw butter at their ankles, you should probably abstain," my mom always used to say. Collier County, Florida resident Dawn Elizabeth Rhash allegedly didn't follow this popular rule of etiquette, either because her mom told her otherwise, or because vodka.
Army intelligence analyst Bradley Manning has been accused of leaking thousands of classified documents obtained during his tour in Iraq. But according to an officer, and a confidential military report, Manning was so psychologically unstable he should never have been sent to Iraq in the first place.
On Friday, the new owners of the Resorts Casino Hotel officially revealed their innovative marketing strategy to stimulate business and make the local townsfolk proud: fill up the place with scantily clad ladies, put on some naked circus shows, and improve the noodle bar.
Steve Jobs may claim that the humanities are important for colleges, but Apple's not hiring philosophers to build iPhones. A new report from Georgetown University confirms much of what we already knew about the financial payoff of college majors: Hard-scientists swim in a Scrooge McDuck-size vault of gold, while literature majors panhandle with multi-syllabic signs. The report further confirms many of the unfortunate stereotypes of poor minorities and female caregivers that progressive Americans would sooner forget.
Divers off the coast of North Carolina recovered the third-largest anchor from what's believed to be the remains of the pirate Blackbeard's ship, Queen Anne's Revenge. It's 11 feet and four inches long (seven feet, seven inches wide), and covered — as you can see — with gross ocean stuff. No word on whether or not it's haunted.
If your media-given surname is "burglar" or "bandit," and you've been spending your days actually engaged in the practices of burglary or banditry, then you're probably pretty depressed right now! Unless you're dead.
The Netherlands' right-wing coalition government announced yesterday that it will ban tourists from weed-selling coffee shops by the end of the year, effectively giving the finger to backpackers everywhere. And while we generally support liberal drug laws, and have no fondness for Geert Wilders' anti-Muslim Freedom Party, we don't really blame the Dutch for wanting to limit drug tourism, given that it attracts the most annoying people on the planet.
We don't, as a rule, support terrorism, but sometimes we are sympathetic to its aims. As in the case of Freddy Caldwell, the Bronx man who threatened to blow up his local TV station if it kept airing Two and a Half Men reruns.
In sunny Palm Bay, Florida, prosecutors have charged Walmart shopper Nuha Mohammed Al-Doaifi with a hate crime after she allegedly admitted to cops that she spat on several fellow bargain hunters because "Americans are pushing us around." Even worse: a judge has barred her from shopping at Walmart while her charges are pending.
