In honor of 9/02/10, here’s some 90210. Check out our 90210 Style Trends post from back in the day here.

Note: Watch for Tori Spelling’s intro scene, while everyone else got to come off looking relatively cool, poor Donna just eats a sandwich.

posted by: Tricia Rock

L.A. JAILS PLAN TO USE HEAT-BEAM RAY-GUNS ON PRISONERS

A device designed to control unruly inmates by blasting them with a beam of intense energy that causes a burning sensation is drawing heat from civil rights groups who fear it could cause serious injury and is “tantamount to torture.”

The mechanism, known as an “Assault Intervention Device,” is a stripped-down version of a military gadget that sends highly focused beams of energy at people and makes them feel as though they are burning. The Los Angeles County sheriff’s department plans to install the device by Labor Day, making it the first time in the world the technology has been deployed in such a capacity.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California criticized Sheriff Lee Baca’s decision in a letter sent Thursday, saying that the technology amounts to a ray gun at a county jail. The 4-feet-tall weapon, which looks like a cross between a robot and a satellite radar, will be mounted on the ceiling and can swivel.

It is remotely controlled by an operator in a separate room who lines up targets with a joystick…

Read the full article via Salon.com (published August 26, 2010)

Our two cents: Making people feel like they are burning alive doesn’t really seem like the best way to quell a riot or rehabilitate inmates. Besides wouldn’t they just move around more as they attempt to dodge the heat beam?

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THE GOVERNMENT CAN NOW TRACK YOUR EVERY MOVE WITH GPS, AT LEAST IN THE 9th CIRCUIT

Government agents can sneak onto your property in the middle of the night, put a GPS device on the bottom of your car and keep track of everywhere you go. This doesn’t violate your Fourth Amendment rights, because you do not have any reasonable expectation of privacy in your own driveway – and no reasonable expectation that the government isn’t tracking your movements.

That is the bizarre – and scary – rule that now applies in California and eight other Western states (Alaska, Arizona, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon and Washington). The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, which covers this vast jurisdiction, recently decided the government can monitor you in this way virtually anytime it wants – with no need for a search warrant.

It is a dangerous decision – one that, as the dissenting judges warned, could turn America into the sort of totalitarian state imagined by George Orwell. It is particularly offensive because the judges added insult to injury with some shocking class bias: the little personal privacy that still exists, the court suggested, should belong mainly to the rich.

This case began in 2007, when Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agents decided to monitor Juan Pineda-Moreno, an Oregon resident who they suspected was growing marijuana. They snuck onto his property in the middle of the night and found his Jeep in his driveway, a few feet from his trailer home. Then they attached a GPS tracking device to the vehicle’s underside…

In fact, the government violated Pineda-Moreno’s privacy rights in two different ways. For starters, the invasion of his driveway was wrong. The courts have long held that people have a reasonable expectation of privacy in their homes and in the “curtilage,” a fancy legal term for the area around the home. The government’s intrusion on property just a few feet away was clearly in this zone of privacy.

The judges veered into offensiveness when they explained why Pineda-Moreno’s driveway was not private. It was open to strangers, they said, such as delivery people and neighborhood children, who could wander across it uninvited.

Read the full article via Time/Yahoo News (published August 26, 2010)

Our two cents: We can only hope the Supreme Court will reverse this decision, otherwise say goodbye to the 4th Amendment.

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FDA FINDS ‘OBJECTIONABLE CONDITIONS’ AT EGG FARMS RESPONSIBLE FOR MASSIVE RECALL

Flies “too numerous to count,” rodents, wild birds, maggots, and open piles of manure four to eight feet high were among the observations released by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration yesterday, illustrating “significant objectionable conditions” at two Iowa egg farms responsible for the recent recall of over half a billion eggs.

With the release of the inspection reports for Wright County Egg and Hillandale Farms, FDA said the two companies failed to implement internal protocols and FDA egg regulations, which went into affect July 9.

The farms came under investigation after being linked to a sharp spike in Salmonella enteritidis illnesses between May and August. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, almost 1,500 reported illnesses are likely linked to the outbreak.

Federal officials are still trying determine exactly how the disease-causing bacteria entered the large-scale egg facilities. The observational reports released yesterday indicate there are numerous possible modes of contamination.

Read the full article via Food Safety News (published August 31, 2010)

Our two cents: Where the F was the FDA before this outbreak? Open piles of manure four to eight feet tall don’t exactly show up overnight. At least I hope not…

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A U.S. MAN MAY FACE 16 YEARS IN PRISON FOR POSTING A VIDEO OF HIS ARREST ON YOUTUBE

When police arrested Anthony Graber for speeding on his motorbike, the 25-year-old probably did not see himself as an advocate for police accountability in the age of new media. But Graber, a sergeant with the Maryland Air National Guard, is now facing 16 years in prison, not for dangerous driving, but for a Youtube video he posted after receiving a speeding ticket.

The video, filmed with a camera mounted on Graber’s motorcycle helmet designed to record biking stunts rather than police abuse, shows a plain clothes officer jumping out of an unmarked car and pointing a pistol at the motorcyclist. It does not portray the policeman in a positive light.

After he posted the video on Youtube, police raided Graber’s home, seized computers and put him in jail.

“The case is critical to the protection of democracy because I don’t think you can have a free country in which public officials are able to criminally prosecute people who film what they are doing,” David Rocah, a lawyer with the American Civil Liberties Union in Maryland who is representing Graber, said.

Read the full article with video via Al-Jazeera (published August 28, 2010)

Our two cents: Although it’s unlikely Graber will have to do any time because The Maryland Attorney General’s Office has publicly stated a police stop is not a private conversation and therefore is not covered by Maryland’s Wiretap Act, the fact the plain clothes cop pulled a gun on a citizen for speeding still makes us say WTF.

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VENEZUELAN POLITICIAN RAFFLES BREAST IMPLANTS TO RAISE MONEY

A Venezuelan politician is offering breast implants as a prize in a raffle to raise funds for his parliamentary election campaign.

“Some people raffle TVs and we decided to offer this. It’s an interesting prize and there’s a lot of interest,” Gustavo Rojas, an opposition candidate for a National Assembly position, told Reuters while campaigning in Caracas.

Cosmetic surgery, especially breast enlargement, is widespread in image-conscious Venezuela, whose beauty queens have won numerous international pageant titles.

Read the full article via Reuters (published August 27, 2010)

Our two cents: American politicians please take note, this is how you raise money without going through corporate lobbyists.

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JAPANESE MEN GO TO A HOTEL TO BE WITH VIRTUAL GIRLFRIENDS

This resort town, once popular with honeymooners, is turning to a new breed of romance seekers—virtual sweethearts.

In the first month of the city’s promotional campaign launched July 10, more than 1,500 male fans of the Japanese dating-simulation game LovePlus+ have flocked to Atami for a romantic date with their videogame character girlfriends.

The men are real. The girls are cartoon characters on a screen. The trips are actual, can be expensive and aim to re-create the virtual weekend outing featured in the game, a product of Konami Corp. played on Nintendo Co.’s DS videogame system.

Love Plus+ re-creates the experience of an adolescent romance. The goal isn’t just to get the girl but to maintain a relationship with her.

After choosing one of three female characters—goodie-goodie Manaka, sassy Rinko or big-sister type Nene—to be a steady girlfriend, the player taps a stylus on the DS touch-screen in order to walk hand-in-hand to school, exchange flirtatious text messages and even meet in the school courtyard for a little afternoon kiss. Using the device’s built-in microphone, the player can carry on sweet, albeit mundane, conversations.

Read the full article with video via The Wall Street Journal

Our two cents: So you still have to impress these virtual girls by working out and doing homework, still have to listen to irritating girl talk, still have to spend money on expensive dates and still can’t have sex with them? It sounds more like a level of purgatory then anything remotely resembling fun.

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Bonus: Rubber Puppet of Sweden performs during a Rubberdoll contest at the rubber and fetish event ‘Latexpo 2010′ in Hamburg late August 21, 2010. Rubberdolls are mostly men wearing a female shaped bodysuit made of latex or rubber and dressed in fetish related dresses. The Latexpo runs August 20-22 and designers will present new materials and styles. There will also be fetish parties, a fashion ball and a Rubberdoll contest. See more weird photos via Reuters’ slideshow.

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Bonus: Watch supporters of Glenn Beck’s “Restoring Honor ” rally pathetically try to explain their “reasoning”  in interviews with New Left Media.

posted by: Harold Johns III

Banksy hits England’s Brighton Pier with a “reconditioned dolphin ride with crude oil and a tuna net.”

Click here to see it in action.

Click here to see more of Banksy’s new work.

posted by: Brent Carter

MAN SHOT IN HEAD DOESN’T NOTICE UNTIL 5 YEARS LATER

A Polish man living in Germany went about his business for about five years without noticing he had been shot in the head because he was drunk when it happened. Police in the western city of Bochum said on Tuesday doctors found a .22 caliber bullet in the back of his head after the 35-year-old went to have what he thought was a cyst removed.

Presented with the 5.6mm projectile, the man recalled he had received a blow to the head around midnight at a New Year’s party “in 2004 or 2005,” but had forgotten about it because he had been “very drunk,” a police spokesman said…

Police said they were not treating the incident as suspicious as the bullet might have got lodged in the man’s head when a reveler fired a gun in celebration.

Read the full article via Reuters (published August 24, 2010)

Our two cents: The gauntlet for drunkenness has been laid down with vigor.

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BABIES WITH BREASTS SHOCK CHINA

Once again, China’s most vulnerable citizens – its babies – are the central figures in a food-safety scandal. Two years ago, milk powder tainted with the industrial chemical melamine killed six infants and left 300,000 more suffering from kidney stones. Now, some Chinese babies are growing breasts, and their parents are blaming the Nasdaq-listed company that produces the baby  formula they were drinking.

But tests conducted by the besieged Ministry of Health have exonerated Synutra International, based in the northern coastal city of Qingdao. No abnormalities were found in samples of Synutra’s milk powder or any other formula that was tested, the ministry announced on Sunday. Laboratory tests of 42 Synutra samples found no trace of added hormones that could have led to the premature development of four infant girls. But this may in fact increase the parents’ anxiety: if this was not caused by tainted milk then by what?

Read the full article via The Asia Times (published August 17, 2010)

Our two cents: Please, don’t try to visualize a baby with breasts, it’ll just make ya feel weird.

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JUSTICE DEPARTMENT SEEKS EBONICS EXPERTS – DEA TO HIRE NINE “BLACK ENGLISH” LINGUISTS

The Department of Justice is seeking to hire linguists fluent in Ebonics to help monitor, translate, and transcribe the secretly recorded conversations of subjects of narcotics investigations, according to federal records.

A maximum of nine Ebonics experts will work with the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Atlanta field division, where the linguists, after obtaining a “DEA Sensitive” security clearance, will help investigators decipher the results of “telephonic monitoring of court ordered nonconsensual intercepts, consensual listening devices, and other media”…

In contract documents, which are excerpted here, Ebonics is listed among 114 languages for which prospective contractors must be able to provide linguists. The 114 languages are divided between “common languages” and “exotic languages.” Ebonics is listed as a “common language” spoken solely in the United States.

Read the full article via The Smoking Gun (published August 23, 2010)

Our two cents: I had no idea Ebonics or “Black English” were terms (white) people still used.

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13 YEAR OLD BOY HIT BY LIGHTNING AT 13:13 ON FRIDAY THE 13th

A 13-year-old boy was struck by lightning — at 13:13 hours on Friday the 13th, according to reports.

The teen was watching an air show at Lowestoft, England, when he was struck and was later treated for burns to his shoulder, the U.K.’s Mirror newspaper said. He is expected to fully recover.

Rex Clarke, leader of the St. John Ambulance team that treated the child, described what happened.

“Suddenly there was this huge crack of lightning really close to the seafront and really loud thunder,” he told the Mirror. “Seconds later we got a call someone had been hit. The boy was breathing and was conscious.”

“He had a minor burn to his shoulder and was taken to hospital as a precaution. It could have been a lot worse,” he said, adding: “It’s all a bit strange that he was 13, and it happened at 13:13 on Friday the 13th.

Read the full article via MSNBC (published August 15, 2010)

Our two cents: If you’re gonna get hit by lightning, might as well do it with style.

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THE PACIFIC GARBAGE ISLAND HAS A NORTH ATLANTIC COUNTERPART AND NOW IT’S BEEN MAPPED

Millions of pieces of plastic — most smaller than half an inch — float throughout the oceans. They are invisible to satellites, and except on very calm days you won’t even see them from the deck of a sailboat. The only way to know how much junk is out there is to tow a fine net through the water.

Scientists have gathered data from 22 years of surface net tows to map the North Atlantic garbage patch and its change over time, creating the most accurate picture yet of any pelagic plastic patch on earth.

The data were gathered by thousands of undergraduates aboard the Sea Education Association (SEA) sailing semester, who hand-picked, counted and measured more than 64,000 pieces of plastic from 6,000 net tows between 1986 to 2008.

“The highest concentrations that we observe in the North Atlantic garbage patch  are comparable to that of the North Pacific, but we don’t have enough data about the size of the North Pacific one to say whether they are comparable in size,” said oceanographer Kara Law of SEA, lead author of the study published August 19 in Science…

The highest concentrations of plastic were found roughly from the latitude of Virginia to the latitude of Cuba. While they were able to clearly define the north and south boundaries of the patch, the cruise tracks didn’t venture far enough east to find the eastern boundary. They estimate the average concentration of plastic in this area is about 4,000 pieces per square mile, though it is as high as 250,000 pieces per square mile in some places.

Read the full article with photos and graphs via Wired (published August 19th, 2010)

Our two cents: U.S.A. U.S.A. U.S.A. …

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3 COLOMBIAN TEENS ON FACEBOOK HIT LIST KILLED IN PAST 10 DAYS

Three teens who were on a 69-name hit list posted on Facebook have been killed in the past 10 days in a southwestern Colombian town, officials say.

Police say they do not know who posted the list or why the names are on it.

“It is still not clear,” Colombian national police spokesman Wilson Baquero told CNN. “This is part of the investigation.”

But officials note that a criminal gang known as Los Rastrojos and a Marxist guerrilla group called the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia operate in the area.

The hit list on Facebook, which was posted August 17, gave the people named three days to leave the town of Puerto Asis or be executed, said Volmar Perez Ortiz, a federal official whose title is defender of the public.

Police at first thought the posting was a joke, Perez said in a statement issued Saturday. But the publication of a second list with 31 additional names led authorities to convene a special security meeting Friday, Perez said.

Read the full article via CNN (published August 24, 2010)

Our two cents: I thought Facebook tattled on people all the time for much lesser crimes, so what gives?

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Bonus: TWILIGHT WEREWOLF TAYLOR LAUNTER EMOTIONALLY DISTRESSED OVER RV TRAILER

Bonus: BEDBUG INFESTATIONS ON THE RISE IN THE U.S. NEW YORK TOPS THE LIST

Bonus: TRAFFIC JAM IN CHINA REACHES 11 DAYS AS OF AUGUST 25, 2010

posted by: Harold Johns III

Weekly roundup of the best art shows and art related events in and around the Lawrence/Kansas City area. This Friday, August 27 is the very first Final Fridays in Downtown Lawrence, KS.

FRIDAY AUGUST 27

• Final Fridays in Downtown Lawrence, Kansas
Downtown Lawrence (Massachusetts Street in Lawrence, KS)
Friday, August 27, 5-8pm

Lawrence’s first Final Fridays, a monthly celebration of the arts. Final Fridays will be presented by the Downtown Lawrence Arts District.

The gallery walk will include 15 commercial galleries as well as a number of local merchants who will take part in Final Fridays by hosting live music or displaying art. A few empty retail spaces will become “flash galleries” filled with temporary exhibits by local artists. Look for the bright yellow flags that signify a venue’s participation.

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Art event locations and participants for this month include:

739 Massachusetts Street
Flash Space, formerly Maurices
Group show presented by B.A.L.M (ongoing through September 17 by appointment)
From the organizers:
Opening reception for b.a.l.m. TRANS•parent TRANS•lucent. This is a group show exploring the idea of translucency and transparency curated by Darin M. White. Featuring works by Leah Busch, Jon Cowan, Christina Dostaier, TR Ericsson, Matthew Farley, Tyson Gough, Rex Hausmann, Vincent Leandro, Keith Lemley, David Parker, Andy Norquist, Debra Seeger, Linnea Spransy Shannon White, and Marc Wiegand.

1109 Gallery (Lawrence Art Guild)
1109 Massachusetts
According to the 1109 Gallery Facebook page, they will have “wine and cheese, great art and fun” as well as a “use your mom’s grocery bag for a book” art making activity from 5-8pm, $3 including all materials. Not sure what this all entails, but we do like, wine, cheese, art, and fun! Lawrence Art Guild’s Member Show of over 40 members work is currently on display through August 29.

Aimee’s Café & Coffeehouse
1025 Massachusetts
Paintings by Steve Swaggert, reception presented by South Massachusetts Art Guild

photo by Jeffrey Stephens

Bourgeois Pig
6 E 9th Street
Baby Heads 02 by Wayne Propst
From the organizers:
FREE HOT DOGS!

Twisty Bracelet by Makenna Bartel

Diane’s Artisan Gallery
4 E 7th Street
From the organizers:
Trunk show of jewelry by Makenna Bartel

Eccentricities
716 Massachusetts
Paintings by David Gross, Barbara Cleary, Hooshang Khorasani, and Shelly Bedsaul.

The Eldridge Hotel
701 Massachusetts
Artists displaying in the Crystal Ballroom include Stan Herd, Clare Doveton, Zac Barnes, John Stephen Howard, Louis Copt and Donna Dennis. A trio from The Lawrence Chamber Orchestra to perform in the lobby along with specials in the Jayhawker and TEN Restaurant.

The Etc. Shop
928 Massachusetts
Frank Lloyd Wright Collection items on display and for sale

Global Cafe
820 Massachusetts
Paintings by stained-glass artist Vivian Faulkner

Hobbs Taylor Lofts
730 New Hampshire
Installation by Zaguar (Zach Hangauer), owner of Rangelife Records

Invisible Hand Gallery
801 1/2 Massachusetts
Closing reception of Mask-Portraits by Jeromy Morris

It’s About Time
816 Massachusetts
Going out of business sale, 40% off metal works for your yard and home

by Jennifer Jarnot

Lawrence Arts Center
840 New Hampshire
Stan Herd and Simon Cardova photographs (ongoing through September 26)
From the organizers:
Stan Herd will exhibit photos and materials connected with the creation of the earthwork piece, “Countryside” while Simon Cardova will show photographs of the making of the film Earthwork.
Jennifer Jarnot, Reconstructing the Paint-by-Number
From the organizers: My recent paintings take their cue from my fascination for the nostalgia of popular culture, particularly those items that were influential, i.e., the stuff of one’s childhood, toys, books, and games.

Lawrence Percolator
Alley behind LAC at 840 New Hampshire
You Can’t Scare Me, I’m a Teacher! opening reception. Featuring artwork by art teachers from USD 497.

Lawrence Public Library
707 Vermont
Paintings by Dian Hauser in the main gallery
Insect Art by Katie Van Blaricum in the entrances
Jewelery by Rachael Sudlow in the library cases
Pencil, charcoal and pastel sketches by Stephanie Barrows in the lower level
All shows are ongoing through August 30

Love Garden Sounds
822 Massachusetts
I’m OK, Art Quilts by Hannah T Johnson (ongoing through September 2)

Mirth Cafe
745 New Hampshire
Photography by Matt Needham

Pachamamas Restaurant
800 New Hampshire
Acrylic paintings by Liberty Hollis

People’s Optical
737 Massachusetts
Paintings by Marilyn Horsch

Phoenix Gallery
919 Massachusetts
Highlighting local artists represented by the gallery

Signs of Life Gallery
722 Massachusetts
Through the Artists’ Eyes: Landscape Interpreted, paintings by Rodney Troth, Elizabeth Rowley and Deb Schroer

Through A Glass Productions
1009 New Hampshire, Suite A
Screening of Cigar By Car by local filmmaker Marlo Angell.
From the organizers: The sleepy day of a cigar attendant is disrupted when he follows a young shoplifter through a mystical cow pasture.  When the cows break free of the fence that binds them, Genius Grass finds the spirit to reclaim his youth and wake up to life.

Van Go Mobile Arts
Flash Space, formerly Arensburgs Shoe Store at 825 Massachusetts
Live mural painting from 5-8pm by students and teachers from Van Go

WheatFields Bakery and Café
904 Vermont
Paintings by Barbara Reid

White Chocolate Skateboards & More
933 Massachusetts
Photography by J. C. Cirese (ongoing through August 30)

by Sighn

Wonder Fair Art Gallery
803 1/2 Massachusetts
No One Knows How Deep This Goes, featuring the work of Sighn (Matthew Hoffman), text-based object installation

Update: New Art Space Opens Its Doors
Quintessential Gallery
512 East 9th Street, Lawrence, Kansas
“Quintessential Gallery” opens its doors for the first time to help ring in the inaugural Final Friday event in Lawrence, Kansas.  Founded August 1, 2010, Quintessential Gallery will be showcasing work by the gallery’s founding artists and Fresh Produce Art Collective members. Traditional and new, the works included are an eclectic mix of mediums from fabric, paint, photography and more.

Exhibiting Artists:
Brent Teufel – Bobbie Powell – Erok Johanssen – Leo Hayden – Rachel Herring –
Fresh Produce Art Collective
Exhibition curator(s):   Leo Hayden, Erok Johanssen and Bobbi Powell

Quintessential Gallery is comprised of five local artists who believe in sharing art with the community.  Located in a shared space with Anam Cara – A Healing Resource Center, Quintessential Gallery is devoted to the continuing creation and exhibition of new work.

posted by: Scott Stewart

via doobybrain

posted by: Brent Carter