The Florida Department of State Divisions of Corporations has rejected the request of West Palm Beach business owner Paul Ardaji to trademark the name of his restaurant, fuku.

Unemployment is down in swing states, which means support for Barack Obama is up. Recent polls show the president has an advantage over Republican candidate Mitt Romney. And it's still the economy, stupid.

George Zimmerman, now charged with second-degree murder in the killing of Trayvon Martin, could soon be released from custody after a judge set a $150,000 bond for his release. Zimmerman's family will need $15,000, 10 percent of the total bond amount, to have him let out.

The trial of George Zimmerman for the murder of Trayvon Martin has yet to begin, but there are already complications. Today, Zimmerman's defense team — led by lawyer Mark O'Mara — formally requested that the assigned judge remove herself from the case. Judge Jessica Recksiedler's husband works with a CNN analyst who has publicly commented on the Trayvon Martin case.

The Miami Aviation Department is holding its annual lost and found public auction this weekend and, holy balls, if you are, or are looking to become, a hoarder, this is the gig for you.

A solemn George Zimmerman appeared at a Florida courthouse today, where the man accused of the second-degree murder of unarmed black teen Trayvon Martin spoke only two words: "Yes sir," he said when the judge asked a "basic question" about the charge. The judge set Zimmerman's arraignment for May 29. Though Zimmerman's new lawyer Mark O'Mara was expected to ask for bail, the bond request was postponed.

A law enforcement source tells the Washington Post that George Zimmerman will soon be charged in the shooting of Trayvon Martin:

After weeks of silence, George Zimmerman has emerged with his own website: therealgeorgezimmerman.com. Zimmerman's lawyers have confirmed that the site is legitimate.

We've been so busy talking about the Trayvon Martin case that we've ignored the "real victims" — innocent white people living in Sanford, Florida. Rest assured, these honest folks are now being taken care of by a patrol of armed Neo-Nazis preparing for a "race riot."

There has been much debate about the audio recordings of 911 calls on the night George Zimmerman shot Trayvon Martin — were the cries for help heard in the background from Martin or from Zimmerman? Those who believe Zimmerman's claim of self-defense said he was the one calling for help — suggesting Martin had the upper hand in the fight — while others have insisted it was Martin begging for his life.

While George Zimmerman still has not been charged in the shooting death of Trayvon Martin, his public defense — as espoused by his lawyer and family members — rests on the fact that Zimmerman was involved in a physical altercation with Martin. New evidence, however, contradicts that version of events. First there was the security camera footage from the night Zimmerman claims Martin beat him senselessly: to most who watched the video, Zimmerman appeared unscathed.

The racist smear campaign against Trayvon Martin, the unarmed black teen shot to death last month in Florida, has reached a new level of ghoulishness. A white supremacist hacker says he's broken into Martin's email and social networking accounts, and leaked his private Facebook messages. We've been able to confirm that at least one email account that belonged to Martin was cracked.

To many following the Trayvon Martin case, racial bias seems clear. But in order to charge George Zimmerman with a hate crime, prosecutors would have to prove that the shooting was racially motivated. The best piece of evidence so far is Zimmerman's 911 call, during which he may or may not have said "fucking coons."

Last night, the U.S. Justice Department announced that it would investigate the death of Trayvon Martin, after watching outrage build as Florida authorities appeared to do nothing for 23 days. The 17-year-old Martin was walking through a residential development in Sanford, Fla. and was chased down and shot by a 28-year-old man named George Zimmerman. If this sounds painfully familiar, it should.

If you want to kill someone and get away with it, do it before the NBA All-Star game.

These are the 911 calls from the night Trayvon Martin was murdered. The second call, which begins two minutes in, is from the shooter George Zimmerman, who explains his rationale for following and later killing Martin.

Can a Mormon win the presidential election? Florida's Reverend O'Neal Dozier doesn't think so. The senior pastor, who has publicly expressed support for Rick Santorum, wants Mitt Romney to denounce his Mormonism. And no, it has nothing to do with posthumous baptisms.

Dale Regan (above), headmaster of Episcopal School of Jacksonville in Florida, was shot and killed today by a teacher at the school. The teacher, who had been fired earlier in the day, then took his own life. According to Police, the unidentified man carried the AK-47 he used onto campus in a guitar case. No one else was hurt in the incident.

Kevin Brann must have been in one hell of a rush the morning of February 24 since the 41-year-old forgot to remove the "sexual anus plug in his rectum," as the police report puts it. When police officers in Martin County arrived on the scene of a two car crash, they arrested Brann under suspicion of driving while intoxicated. Things got frisky. More details later emerged:

It's only February, and 2012 is already shaping up to be a bad year for Carnival cruise ships: the Costa Concordia disaster, random passenger death, and now an outbreak of norovirus on two Princess Cruise Lines ships in Florida.