Techotic

Another case of David vs. Goliath. Georgia the small (former Soviet colony) has picked a war with her step mother. Well without getting into politics its quite obvious that this was well timed. Who would have thought that such a tiny country would try and challenge one of the biggest super powers in the world?

As if it was not evident before, maybe this story will make it clear. A top executive of a chain of LA hospitals (CEO to be exact) was arrested after it was found out he was part of a scheme to bring in homeless people supposedly treat them and charge government programs high prices for the services offered. This would of course cost the government millions of extra dollars and ensure those involved new Caddy’s and Bentley’s to part in their mansions.

According to some judge in Des Moines Iowa, the practice of nude dancing is an art and does not fall under the dreaded pornographic camp. According to Fremont County Judge Timothy O’Grady the prosecutors failed to prove the club was not a theater, and according to Iowa law it is perfectly legal to have nudity in such areas like theaters and museums and such venues dedicated to the “arts.”

On the eve of FCC Comcast action for violating the FCC’s net neutrality principles, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) is releasing “Switzerland,” a software tool for customers to test the integrity of their Internet communications.

Apparently, the police were apprehending a suspect and they knew that he was going to be within the crowd of cyclists. But I wonder what made the police officer chose this particular cyclist to punt over at a Critical Mass ride in New York Times Square on July 25. According to AP the police officer in the video has been stripped of his badge and gun and the NYPD has “placed the unidentified officer on desk duty pending the outcome of a department investigation.”

Although a judge ruled in 2006 that the monthly Critical Mass bicycle rides could proceed without a permit, the NYPD’s stance remains somewhat adversarial. Though the city has not been enforcing the controversial parade permit law when it comes to Critical Mass, police have been ticketing cyclists during the ride for such infractions as not having the required lights.

A representative for TIMES UP! tells us that the cyclist in this video was arrested, held for 26 hours, and charged with attempted assault and resisting arrest. One other cyclist was ticketed Friday night for riding outside the bike lane, which is not actually illegal and often necessary, considering how popular bike lanes are for double parking.

Watch the video after the jump

A new law in Russia could mean the end for emo. Russian government are trying to formulate legislation to regulate emo websites and ban emo and goth dress style in schools and government buildings. The new laws are apparently being driven by fears that “emo” encourages depression and suicide, where critics also claimed that the “negative” emo culture encourages anti-social behavior.

Two weeks ago, A federal judge has ordered Google to hand over to Viacom its records of which users watched which videos on YouTube. But it seems Viacom has backed down its demand for all users’ viewing history of every user who has ever watched a video on YouTube and instead Google, will now hand over the database but without data that could identify users.

“What Scientology Paid $8 Million To Hide” is a 7,000 words article about the Cult of Scientology dodgy practices and its embarrassing, $8 million defeat to Lawrence Wollersheim was written six year ago by Tony Ortega, a reporter who used to work for New Times LA, but the weekly paper suddenly folded and his story was never published until now.