48-year-old Catherine Kieu — better known as the woman who cut off her husband's penis and tossed it in the garbage disposal because "he deserved it" — appeared in court yesterday, where she was charged with torture and aggravated mayhem. And we now might finally know why the man "deserved it." Prosecutors claim that "an argument over houseguests" at their Garden Grove, California condo drove Kieu to drug her husband, tie him up, pull out a 10-inch knife and, well, you know. Damn, that's a little harsh, no?

If I lost a leg 15 hours ago to a locomotive, I can tell you this: I would not be chilling in a hospital room, casually describing the bummer for reporters as if it were a story about misplacing my favorite hash pipe. I would be screaming. Pretty loudly, I'm sure. Or drugged unconscious. But not James Piles! James is a kind-bud-toking, one-legged warrior.

Last month, performance artist IEPE and an anonymous crew stopped traffic in Berlin's Rosenthaler Platz intersection and dumped 2,000 gallons of water-based, environmentally friendly paint onto the pavement. The intersection was then reopened. What happened? Find out in the video above. [via Architizer]

Here's the trailer for Steven Soderbergh's latest film, Contagion, in which Gwyneth Paltrow plays the Patient Zero of an avian flu epidemic that [SPOILER ALERT] kills a lot of people. Including Gwyneth! No kale juice cleanses or hot stone massages are going to clear up this nasty little bug, no sir. As if that isn't a selling point already, you get Matt Damon as her "grieving" husband (he's so good, you almost believe him), Kate Winslet as a recovering Purellaholic, and Marion Cotillard as a sneeze-ballistics expert. And we haven't even mentioned Jude Law or Morpheus yet! But whatever, the real breakout star of this movie is the bearded doctor who gets to say, "Your wife is dead." That guy is about to become the most popular man on the planet. Congrats, dude! You made it. [via NYM]

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2, the eighth and final installment in the series, comes out on Friday. And whether you remember details from the previous films or not, a little refresher can't hurt, can it? With that in mind, here's a new video from the Fine Brothers in which they recap all the Potter movies up until now in a cool seven minutes.

The Egyptian government is firing some 669 police officers (including 164 officers) "over the killing of protestors" during this year's successful revolution—a key concession to the new crop of protests that has sprung up this month. [BBC]

After tonight's Daily Show, we can add Jon Stewart to the ever-growing list of people who can't help but wonder if Marcus Bachmann, husband to Republican presidential candidate Michele and runner of a pray-the-gay-away facility, may be a little light in the loafers. Video of Stewart's segment this evening is above.

What would you do after murdering a priest? Would you... take your ex-wife, your stepson, and your daughter to Disney World in the guy's car? Because that's what Jeremy Wayne Manieri allegedly did!

This is a "robot mouth" developed by Professor Hideyuki Sawada. It is, uh, "singing" a Japanese nursery rhyme called "Kagome Kagome." Fear not! Its intentions—"to help hearing-impaired people improve their speech"—are noble. So far. Soon, its horrible moans will provide the soundtrack to the ritualistic setting afire of human flesh in the "Robot Spring" of 2017. Perhaps if you learn to mimic its mechanical wail you will be allowed to live, in some kind of serving capacity. Probably not, though. [via PopSci]

Like everyone else, we miss The West Wing. But it's okay! Democrats and Republicans are trying to put on their own community-theater version of the television program in Washington right now: House Majority Leader Eric Cantor interrupts the president! President Obama storms out of the meeting! And Donna is the victim of a hilarious misunderstanding!

If you thought Sam Mazzola, the "exotic-animal owner" whose bear killed one of its trainers last year, had already used up his lifetime allotment of tabloid headlines, think again! Mazzola was found dead on Sunday, "wearing a leather mask with the eyes and mouth zipped shut and a two-piece metal sphere covering his head." Apparently, he choked on a sex toy.

Hey U.S. Marines! Apparently you need dates to the Marine Corps Ball this November, since you're asking celebrities like Mila Kunis and Justin Timberlake on YouTube. But what about all you Marines who don't have the guts to invite a celebrity in a lighthearted video, but still want to go with a random stranger? You're in luck!

The idiots who decided to extort the debt ceiling for their ideological demands, because they're incapable of making their non-arguments persuasively enough in the usual court of public opinion, are not getting nearly enough shit for their psychotic, economically illiterate actions. Now the United States has the credit rating agency Moody's on its ass and is placing the government's debt rating under review — not over the manageability or size of the debt, but thanks this completely artificial statutory number.

Clint's former model son Scott has gotten a new acting gig, meaning he's poised for stardom! Also today: Ted Danson makes an odd choice, the glorious rise of Wendi McLendon-Covey, and some sneaky Canadians.

If you're getting a tattoo of a mouse pointer, robot or digital watch, it should probably be temporary, like the ones sold by Brooklyn startup Tattly. Digital devices are all about volatile memory and "undo" options, after all.

A new study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association proposes taking obese children away from their parents until their weight can be brought under control.

Yesterday, we asked you, the ketchup-stained Gawker readership, for your horror stories of working in restaurants. My, did you fail to disappoint! Below, ten tales of glory.

The ongoing Minnesota government shutdown is dragging the state into a new phase of No Fun Whatsoever, due to the shuttered state offices and programs that aren't handling day-to-day matters as usual. Do you Minnesotans like to drink beer or smoke cigarettes or not see poopy everywhere? Then for now, at least, you'll have to pack up your bindles and migrate down Iowa-way.

This year's Primetime Emmy award nominations will be announced tomorrow, meaning we can finally celebrate television actors. So who will be nominated? Well we kind of already know that. But who should be nominated?

The strange saga of Zac Efron's extra nipples begins in my email inbox, where a letter from a publicist landed this afternoon. Dermatologist Dr. Sandra Lee wants the world to know that Zac Efron has a third—and possible fourth—nipple. Her publicist included a photo with an arrow pointing to a Wahlbergian speck on Efron's chest. How have we never noticed this before?