OwenJones84 Owen Jones

Twitter consensus: no-one cares if @LouiseMensch has taken drugs, as long as she doesn't push war-on-drugs laws. A reasonable compromise

LulzSec leader denies links to extremist groups

Fuck and the law

“Fuck” is a 2006 scholarly paper by Ohio State U law prof Christopher M. Fairman, published in Center for Interdisciplinary Law and Policy Studies Working Paper Series No. 39. It starts with anecdotes about three legally trained people — a Master’s student in law, a sheriff, and a federal judge — reacting irrationally to the word “fuck,” and goes on to explore the way that psycholinguistic factors makes English speakers go crazy in the presence of the word, and the effect that has had on law. Fun reading..!

 Via
Fuck

Mo Money, Mo Problems: Songs for the Debt Standoff

Last night, when President Obama addressed the nation about the debt ceiling, and Speaker of the House John Boehner responded, there was an overwhelming sense of deadlock: Obama pointed at House Republicans for refusing to compromise; Boehner shot back that the President was irresponsibly seeking a “blank check.” (Amy Davidson has more on the speeches.) The frustration on both sides was palpable. Since music soothes the savage Congress, we thought that there might be some songs to help both Democrats and Republicans get through this crisis. At the very least, they can’t hurt. (Note: We couldn’t find any songs that had the word “loggerheads” in the lyrics.)

Marvin Gaye, “Stubborn Kind of Fellow” (1962)

President Obama was just a year old when Gaye had his first major Motown hit with this song. The lyrics aren’t specifically about the debt ceiling: they are a declaration of romantic persistence. At the time of the song’s release, the debt was a relatively paltry $250 billion...

Continue reading

Ben Greenman @'The New Yorker'

Radiohead Remixes by Lone, Pearson Sound and Four Tet

Issue number three of our remix series, in the shops on Monday 1st August (Tuesday 9th August in the USA & Canada):

Via

'Lionheart'

Via
nazi wank

Melissa Febos: Whip Smart

Melissa Febos is the author of the memoir Whip Smart, which came out in paperback on July 19^th. I first became aware of Febos because we are both women writers in recovery for drug addiction. Her book intrigued me because it’s about her four-year stint as a dominatrix in a dungeon in Manhattan’s Midtown, as well as her drug use and recovery, and anything that combines sexuality – particularly the stranger aspects – with drugs sounds like a good read to me. And Whip Smart was – surprisingly so. I expected it to be interesting, funny, and strange, and it was indeed all of these things. But I was pleased to discover that Febos’ book was more than an amusing chronicle of shocking events. Instead, she meticulously questioned and analyzed the motives and driving factors behind her own actions, as well as those of her clients and coworkers. And this unflinching eye was at once empathetic and unforgiving – which, of course, is a difficult line to walk – ultimately making Whip Smart a rewarding and touching first book that is, as Darin Strauss said, “a true story (in both senses of the word).” I recently interviewed Febos about the book, as well as the novel she’s currently working on...

Continue reading

Julia Jackson @'The Outlet'

'Topiary' suspect extended in custody for 3 days

The Metropolitan Police has been granted another three days to question the suspected hacker arrested on the Shetland Islands yesterday.
A spokeswoman for the Met said: "We've successfully applied to Horseferry Road Magistrates Court for a warrant to keep him for another three days. He is British and we are not looking for anyone else."

The 18-year old, reportedly 'topiary' a major figure in LulzSec and Anonymous, was arrested yesterday in an intelligence-led operation by Met police and the Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency and Lincolnshire Police.

Mystery deepened overnight with suggestions that police had been tricked into arresting the wrong guy.
Meanwhile the Scotsman reports confusion on the islands about his identity. The paper said everyone in the town of Scalloway, population 812, or presumably 811 now, had heard the rumours but most believed he was not originally from the Islands and there were even rumours he could be German.
Police landed in a light aircraft before grabbing their man and leaving.
John Oates @'The Register'

♪♫ OK Go + Pilobolus - All Is Not Lost

Enjoy the full interactive experience at http://www.allisnotlo.st
Download the free song and buy the EP at http://www.okgo.net/notlost

The Centrist Cop-Out

Deraa/Syria

I wonder what became of this family?

Via

Were the best world leaders mentally ill?

Trippy!!!

Here’s How U.S. Spies Will Find You Through Your Pics

jamesrbuk James Ball 
US has a manufactured crisis w/potential for global recession so as to take money from poor & sick to fund tax breaks for the richest