Free As A Bird

The Beatles

"Free as a Bird" is a song, single and video released by The Beatles in December 1995 as part of their "reunion" and promotion around the release of the video documentary Anthology and their Anthology 1 compilation album.

Kindle 2 Can't Pronounce Obama's Name

Over at technologyexpert they have this to say ...

I've written about the Kindle 2's text-to-speech functionality before, which is called "Read to Me" by Amazon.com. The Authors Guild has made a big issue about the functionality, despite experts stating that the vocal quality of the speech reading feature is by no means a threat to audiobooks, which are performed by professionals (with clear intonation and emotion).

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So. Carolina eyes 'criminal investigation' of Craigslist

Craigslist Responds to the AG

The attorney general of South Carolina is ready to launch a criminal investigation of Craigslist in connection with erotic ads appearing on the classified ads Web site.

Attorney General Henry McMaster (pictured) had given Craigslist until Friday afternoon to remove erotically charged material from its South Carolina listings. The AG's Web site now has this statement posted:

As of 5:00 p.m. this afternoon, the Craigslist South Carolina site continues to display advertisements for prostitution and graphic pornographic material. This content was not removed as we requested. We have no alternative but to move forward with criminal investigation and potential prosecution.

Craigslist responded Saturday with a blog post voicing exasperation with the attorney general's statement, comparing the "adult services" listings on Craigslist with the adult section of a Greenville, S.C., Web site and others like it elsewhere in the state, along with telephone yellow page listings and print publications.

Seriously? The CL "adult services" section for Greenville, SC has a total of 1 ad for the last 3 days, featuring a photograph of a fully clothed person. The "erotic services" section for Greenville, recently closed, has 8 ads total, images and text all quite tame.

Meanwhile, the "adult entertainment" section of greenville.backpage.com (careful with link, NSFW), owned by Village Voice Media, has over 60 ads for the last 3 days, and about 250 in total. In sharp contrast with craigslist, many of these ads are quite explicit, quoting prices for specific sex acts, featuring close-ups of bare genitalia, etc.

Craigslist views itself as unfairly targeted by the attorney general's office.

Of course, no one in mainstream legal circles thinks either company should be subject to civil suit, let alone a criminal investigation. But if for whatever reason you were so motivated, would you target a venue with 9 PG-13 rated ads, or one with 250 XXX rated ones?

The South Carolina Attorney General's office was not immediately available for comment.

On Wednesday, Craigslist bowed to pressure from authorities in a number of states and said that it would remove its "erotic services" section, replacing it with a more closely monitored "adult services" section for legal enterprises.

CEO Jim Buckmaster said at the time that Craigslist would be on the lookout for sex workers trying to outmaneuver the new restrictions. "We have blocking and filtering technologies in place site wide. And of course our flagging system remains fully in effect across all the categories, but we will be monitoring that situation," Buckmaster said.

On top of ongoing allegations that Craigslist--which runs a wide variety of classified ads, including job and apartment listings--had become an outsized Internet bordello, the company's image recently was tarnished by news stories about a so-called "Craigslist killer" in connection with a murder investigation in Boston.

Obama takes on divisive topic in graduation speech

Play Video

The president calls for understanding and "fair-minded words" in the abortion debate during Notre Dame's commencement ceremonies.

Obama graduation speech

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Warehouse club comparison reveals savings

See which warehouse club charges the least for 17 household staples and how the prices compare to grocery stores.

Warehouse club savings

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Science News

Science News: From the world of Anthropology

Humans Ate Neanderthals, Scientist Says
Neanderthal jawbone has marks similar to those left on bones of deer by early humans.

Don't muck with the Kilt

He Damned well better apologize!

The principal of a Utah middle school has been asked to apologize for forcing a kilt-wearing student to change his clothes.

Weber School District spokesman Nate Taggart (Clan Ross), says Craig Jessop has been asked to extend an apology to 14-year-old student Gavin McFarland of Hooper after the school official's comments Wednesday.

Gavin says he wore the kilt twice in the past two weeks to Rocky Mountain Junior High as a prop for an art project. Jessop told the boy that the outfit could be misconstrued as cross-dressing.

Taggart says the district recognizes the kilt as an expression of the boy's Scottish heritage and that the kilt was not inappropriate.

Kilts are traditional Scottish apparel generally worn by men for formal or special occasions.

Jessop needs a mental evaluation to probe his deep seeded fears of his own 'cross-dressing' desires!

Mob boss daughter Gotti fighting foreclosure

"I'm never going to lose the house," Victoria Gotti said after a court hearing about her New York mansion, the same one used on her reality TV show.

Gotti fighting foreclosure

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• Big price cuts for luxury homes

Learning the Language Of The Recession

Our buddy over at Acerbic Politics posted this a few days ago and we thought it was very appropriate so we're bringing it here ...

NEW STOCK MARKET TERMS

1. CEO: Chief Embezzlement Officer
2. CFO: Corporate Fraud Officer
3. Bull Market: A random market movement causing investors to mistake themselves for financial geniuses
4. Bear Market: a 6- to 18-month period when the kids get no allowance
5. Value Investing: The art of buying low and selling lower
6. Broker: What my financial planner has made me
7. Standard & Poor: Your life in a nutshell
8. Market Correction: The day after you buy stocks
9. Cash Flow: The movement your money makes as it disappears down the drain
10. Institutional Investor: Past-year investor who's now locked up in a nuthouse
11. Profit: An archaic word no longer in use.
    

Now that is as accurate as you can get!

Montreal cop cuffs, busts and fines student $450 for not holding escalator rail in subway

Cops are idiots - not all mind you, but as a general rule they are ignorant, egotistical louts on a power trip compensating for a distinct lacking in a certain anatomical feature (even the female cops who have a complete absence of that certain anatomical feature ... yet have the desire to have that same said anatomical feature), who know nothing of the or about the law.

*****

A Montreal/Laval cop cuffed and dragged a university student away, throwing her in a holding cell and writing her a ticket for CDN$420 ...for failing to hold the handrail while she dug in her bag for her subway fare.

Bela Kosoian, a 38-year-old mother of two, says when she didn't hold the handrail Wednesday she was cuffed, dragged into a small holding cell and fined.

"It was horrible, disgusting behaviour [by police]," said Ms. Kosoian, a 38-year-old student of international law. "I did nothing wrong. They should go find the guys who stole my tires off the balcony."

Ms. Kosoian, who studies at the Université du Québec à Montreal, was riding an escalator down to catch a 5:30 p.m. subway from the suburb of Laval to an evening class downtown when she started rifling through her backpack looking for a fare.

Ms. Kosoian, who grew up in Georgia when it was still part of the Soviet Union, says she didn't catch the officer's instruction to hold the rail when he first approached.

When he told her again to hang on, she says she replied, "I don't have three hands." Besides, she had been sick and feared catching a new bug.

Woman cuffed for not holding escalator handrail

And I Quote

It is better to be alone than in bad company.

~ President George Washington

The Big Picture

From BBC-Science:

THE BIG PICTURE

A Total of 43 Florida Kids Shot With Stun Guns in "Demos"

You'll recall a Florida corrections officer was fired after tasing two kids . Department of Corrections Secretary Walt McNeil said an investigation would be conducted, and it showed that was just the tip of the iceberg.

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Remodeling tips

Giving a facelift to your kitchen doesn't have to break the bank.

Cash-saving kitchen remodeling tips

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Which cooking oil should you use?

Find out when to use peanut, olive, sesame, and other oils in your next lunch or dinner.

Cooking oil

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Abducted boy found, reunited with mother

Play Video

A 3-year-old boy kidnapped nearly two weeks ago is back at home in Southern California after he was found wandering the streets in Mexico.

Found and reunited

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The Key of Life

Our Readers

Some of our readers today have been in:

Thornhill, Ontario, Canada
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London, England, United Kingdom

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Daily Horoscope

Today's horoscope says:

Beautiful words can turn anyone's head.
Unleash your creative writing skills and think outside the box.
It will get you noticed and show that you are someone who sees life in a unique way.

I shall do thus ...