Have you ever had to rely on the word or recollection of law enforcement against you in court? How did that work out for you?

A 5-1 decision issued by the Ohio Supreme Court this week ruled that an officer’s guess at a driver’s rate of speed is good enough to secure a speeding conviction, a move met with skepticism by both drivers in Ohio and local law enforcement. Clermont County Sheriff A.J. “Tim” Rodenberg spoke to Cinncinati.com about the controversial ruling:

“This is going to create a lot of controversy and potential for abuse by some police officers,” Rodenberg said. “Most officers take their duties seriously, but there are always a few rogues, just like in any profession. This is basically a blank check for them.”

The decision comes as the result of a speeding ticket issued to Mark Jenney in Copley, Ohio. A lower court initially threw out the conviction because the officer was unable to prove that he had been properly trained on use of the radar gun. But Jenney was ultimately found guilty by the State’s Supreme Court when they ruled that the officer “had the background and training to make an educated guess of Jenney’s speed.”

Ohio court rules police guesstimates are good enough to convict you of speeding is a post from: The Inquisitr

via The Raw Feed

Don’t hate me because I’m a Blogger is a post from: The Inquisitr

The Internet and technology is transforming just about every industry there is. Some at more breakneck speed than others but the change is coming. Changing as well is the consumer’s buying habits as more of our goods are obtainable as never-ending digital goods and for an almost zero distribution cost.

The creators of the goods are finding even fewer reasons each year to depend on the largess of rich and powerful middleman companies. News is finding readers on its own as more and more avenues of distribution appear leaving the paper megalith corporations with drastically shrinking revenues.

The same thing is happening to the book publishing industry as authors are finding that the stigma associated with self-publishing and marketing is quickly evaporating. The publishers are facing a future of electronic distribution that is beyond their control as e-reader, and more typical devices like smartphones and computers, gain market momentum as principal ways to read our books.

As with the newspaper industry these draconian methods of publishing and distribution are finding themselves becoming marginalized. Unfortunately they are also following in the footsteps of the news industry in their battle to maintain their centuries old status quo.

Today Simon & Schuster announced that they will be holding back any e-book versions of published books for at least 4 months. They argue this is needed in order to make a stand against the current pricing practice of e-books at $9.99 which they consider to be cut-rate pricing of their goods.

“The right place for the e-book is after the hardcover but before the paperback,” said Carolyn Reidy, CEO of Simon & Schuster, which is owned by CBS Corp. “We believe some people will be disappointed. But with new [electronic] readers coming and sales booming, we need to do this now, before the installed base of e-book reading devices gets to a size where doing it would be impossible.”

Source: Wall Street Journal Online

The problem is that companies like Simon & Schuster are fighting against the inevitable future where their closely guarded profit margins won’t matter because the consumer and the creators will go around them.

Addition the really big elephant in the room has yet to make its presence official but the word is that Apple is coming out with a tablet with designs on the e-book market. If the book publishers thought that companies like Amazon and Barnes & Noble were hard negotiator on price they would do well to take a quick lesson from the music industry – Apple doesn’t negotiate.

If Apple is coming to market with a tablet priced at a level that makes it attractive to a larger demographic than just Apple fans and geek heads the book publishing business is going to be in for a rude awakening.

Instead what we have is the same short term thinking that has been the bane of both the music and newspaper industry before them. As Frank Shaw pointed out

The fundamental question is pretty simple, if you think long term, are digital readers better for the industry overall? As in, over time will volume go up compared to print only sales? It certainly seems the answer is yes, which means the publishers are making short term profit decisions that will kill them over time. And seriously, seeing a publisher moan about protecting authors is a hoot as the guy from Hachette does here, “I can’t sit back and watch years of building authors sold off at bargain-basement prices. It’s about the future of the business.” Almost as good as the music industry talking about how they are “protecting” bands. Sheesh.

Sheesh indeed, but as the rhetoric is showing there is still plenty of room left on the stupid bus.

Book industry joins the news business on the stupid train is a post from: The Inquisitr

It was bound to happen. At some point someone figured out that building a website around the silly, the downright strangeness, and even the questionable behavior of women could be a winner. Given that yesterday on their launch they were quickly over-run by horny men people wanting to glimpse into this collection of oopps moments.

Here is a sampling of some of the pics up for viewing over at hawtness.com 

Hawtness – the pictorial chronicling of female silliness is a post from: The Inquisitr

I can understand skater.

I might see gangsta hip hop with their baggy assed jeans that are ready to fall off.

But what the hell is up with this chick? I mean seriously why would anyone in their right mind go out in public like this.

There’s fashion statements and then there’s this…. is a post from: The Inquisitr

Okay G.I. Joe might have been passably fun to watch, Transformers might have helped with nothing more than filling your popcorn fix and Terminator Salvation sated your need to see things blow up – all in all some good fun. However I think that either the greenhouse gases are beginning to affect what is left of the creative <ahem> minds in Hollywood or else the quality of the drugs has improved radically because I’m sorry but anyone who thinks a movie based on LEGO is a good idea needs to check in with Dr. Drew.

According to the DVICE blog though there is some serious consideration within the rubber rooms at Warner Brothers for a mix of live action and animation set in a family oriented comedy

The movie will be produced by Roy Lee, the king of the Hollywood remakes, who has previously made, or remade, The Ring, The Grudge, Dark Water, The Lake House, The Invasion and Shutter in addition to the Oscar-winning remake The Departed. Lee and screenwriters Dan and Kevin Hageman have reportedly been working closely with the Danish toy company to create the premise for the film.

Source: DVICE :: Warner Brothers to make LEGO: The Movie

Here’s a premise for you – cut back on the drugs and think about maybe something a little more – uhm – hmm – how about entertaining.

DUH!

A LEGO movie?!? seriously what drugs are these idiots on is a post from: The Inquisitr

Evian’s creepy and lame new ad featuring CGI rollerskating babies has gone viral.

Why? “Unexpected Rapper’s Delight is unexpected” was unfunny in The Wedding Singer, why on Earth would it be clever now? And I used to think babies were cute, but now I’m just unsure.

Neither funny nor cute: Evian Roller Baby ad is a post from: The Inquisitr

Okay, okay, so texting is popular. Everyone is doing but way ahead of the bell curve has to be the pre-teens and teens as they bruise their thumbs in order to stay cool, or cheat at school. Does this mean though that we really have to condone excessive texting to the point that we have a national championship to figure out who is the fast texter?

Sure the publicity for GL, who sponsored this massive nonsense, is worth the $50 Grand that the winning 15 year old girl walked off with, but I still ask why do we need to do this?

Kate Moore, the 15 year old winner, said that parents should chill out about their kids texting through dinner cause they could end up just like her with a big purse of money and a new phone.

Moore, with a speedy and accurate performance, beat out 20 other finalists from around the country over two days of challenges such as texting blindfolded and texting while maneuvering through a moving obstacle course.

In the final showdown, she outtexted 14-year-old Morgan Dynda, of Savannah, Ga. Both girls had to text three lengthy phrases without making any mistakes on the required abbreviations, capitalization or punctuation. Moore squeaked through by a few seconds on the tiebreaking text, getting the best two out of three. As she anxiously waited for confirmation of her win, tears streamed down her face.

The teen dismisses the idea that she focuses too much on virtual communications, saying that while she has sometimes had her phone taken away from her in school, she keeps good grades, performs in school plays and socializes with friends — in person — on the weekends.

In between, she finds time to send about 400 to 470 texts a day. Among her uses of the text messages? Studying for exams with friends, which she says is better done by text because she can look back at the messages to review.

Source: Yahoo News

I realize full well that I am probably in the minority here but this just strikes me as being wrong. It’s right up there with kiddy beauty pageants as far as I am concerned.

[Kate Moore photo courtesy of LG]

Excuse me? $50,000 for texting? for a 15-year old? is a post from: The Inquisitr

Accidents do happen, but rarely do they occur in pairs. That though presumes some level of intelligence: you learn the first time to so you don’t make the same mistake twice.

This pair of wannabe burglars though weren’t so bright. After knocking out his accomplice, burglar one manages to knock himself out as well.

Possibly America’s two dumbest criminals. Enjoy:

Are these two America’s dumbest criminals? is a post from: The Inquisitr

According to a misbehavior form submitted by the bus driver, the student had been letting rip on the bus Monday to make the other children laugh, “creating a stench so bad that it was difficult to breathe.”

According to AP, school officials said there’s no rule against flatulence, but there are rules against causing a disturbance on the bus. The teen denies he was the one causing the stench.

Farting on a school bus: that’s a suspension is a post from: The Inquisitr

Missouri police have warned that adults playing a kids Wii game are likely pedophiles, and parents should be careful buying the game, because it puts their kids at risk.

Andy Anderson of the Mid-Missouri Internet Crimes Task Force warned parents to avoid the city-simulation game Animal Crossing: City Folk for the Wii, claiming its online play offers an easy way for sexual predators and pedophiles to target their kids. “There is no reason an adult should have this game,” he said, going on to state that adults who play games like Animal Crossing are likely doing it for “the wrong reasons.”

Now the game is pitched at kids, but there are plenty of fine games that both kids and adults can enjoy. But what Anderson doesn’t understand is the tech behind the Wii: only confirmed friends can play each other online on a Wii, so a random pedophile couldn’t get access to the kiddies playing the game even if they wanted to. But hey: why would someone in charge of online crime unit understand this, because you know, everything on the web is bad, y’all hear now

(via Y Games)

Missouri police warn: adults playing kids games are likely pedophiles is a post from: The Inquisitr

A internet hoax dating back to 2005 has caused drama in Thomasville, Georgia including media coverage and public warnings.

The “Walmart gang initiation” hoax takes several forms, but usually involves gang members planning to kill black women at a local Walmart as an initiation for new gang members.

Being incapable of using Google, WCTV followed up a copy of the email with calls to local and state police. Turns out that local police also had the email and were incapable of using Google, because they put out and alert and increased patrols. The gang task force took a strong interest and went on high alert for a possible shooting. Your taxpayer dollars at work.

There are also reports on the email circulating in other parts of the United States. Here’s the only thing you need to know: it’s a 100% proven hoax.

Walmart gang initiation hoax catches Georgia police by surprise is a post from: The Inquisitr

A New Jersey dentist has been arrested by police after they discovered he had over 40 marijuana plants at his home. Nothing particularly interesting there, until you note that police made the discovery because the mans burglar alarm had gone off. The bonus points go to the alarm system that was set up to alert police directly if anyone was breaking in to the house.

Police seized more than 40 marijuana plants, two pounds of cultivated marijuana, $10,000 in cash, handguns and rifles when they responded to the burglar alarm

Dr. Raymond Pacholec, 61, was charged with possession of more than 50 grams of marijuana, possession with intent to distribute and operating a marijuana growing facility, police said. Pacholec was released after posting $50,000 bail.

According to local reports, police did not find a burglar, they did, however, notice a strong odor of raw marijuana, leading to the discovery and arrest.

If you’re growing pot, best not to have a burglar alarm that calls out the police is a post from: The Inquisitr

The change of name was defended by network president Dave Howe in a statement.

“It gives us a unique word and it gives us the opportunities to imbue it with the values and the perception that we want it to have…It made us feel much cooler, much more cutting-edge, much more hip, which was kind of bang-on what we wanted to achieve communication-wise,” he continued.

Hip to be square? I’m going to be sick. Imagine Greater as a tag line? WTF?

Naturally fans aren’t all that amused. THR has a rundown of some of the criticism here.

Sci Fi Channel changing its name to Syfy is a post from: The Inquisitr

New Scientist Magazine has taken a serious lurch to the right by censoring an article that was perceived to be anti-creationist.

The article, titled “How to spot a hidden religious agenda” started with the following:

As a book reviews editor at New Scientist, I often come across so-called science books which after a few pages reveal themselves to be harbouring ulterior motives. I have learned to recognise clues that the author is pushing a religious agenda. As creationists in the US continue to lose court battles over attempts to have intelligent design taught as science in federally funded schools, their strategy has been forced to… well, evolve. That means ensuring that references to pseudoscientific concepts like ID are more heavily veiled. So I thought I’d share a few tips for spotting what may be religion in science’s clothing.

This being the internet, a copy is still available online here. The article argued that there were words that made creationist material immediately identifiable (via The Examiner) including:

Scientific Materialism
The invocation of Cartesian dualism
Misguided interpretations of quantum physics (also a “New Age” giveaway)
The terms “Darwinism” or “Darwinist” (scientists refer to “evolution” and “biologists”)
Referring to natural selection as “blind”, “random” or an “undirected process”

New Scientist said only that they had pulled the article after receiving a complaint (note, singular). I guess even a leading Scientific journal which Wikipedia describes as “liberal” isn’t immune to the religious right.

(thanks to Kyle Brady for the tip)

New Scientist censors anti-creationist article is a post from: The Inquisitr

A tourist visiting the Great Wall of China near Beijing has discovered the hard way that you should never stray from the allotted path when he came to a rather unfortunate ending with a tiger.

The 20 year old man, and two of his mates were returning along the wall when they thought they’d take a short cut across a “wasteland” besides the wall. What didn’t compute though is that the wasteland was actually the Siberian Tiger enclosure at the Badaling Wildlife World.

According to reports, the short cut ended with the man himself become a short cut, a t-bone, and an eye fillet for a waiting tiger who (and I can’t make this up) opened his mouth wide open and caught his dinner before it had hit the ground.

His two mates, having seen what was going on, quickly ran away, although obviously not before filling their pants about 100 times over.

The two men told police they had seen signs around the enclosure warning of predatory animals, but said they didn’t believe them because they hadn’t seen any animals at the time. Obviously the signs were there for fun

Great Wall of China’s latest attraction: man eating tigers is a post from: The Inquisitr

Los Alamitos, Calfornia Mayor Dean Grose is to resign after sending around a picture depicting the White House lawn planted with watermelons under the title “No Easter egg hunt this year.”

Grose claims he was unaware of the stereotype linking black people and watermelons, but he accepts that the e-mail was in poor taste and has affected his ability to lead the city.

The email and picture came to light after one of the recipients, a fellow councillor complained publicly to the media.

Unconfirmed reports suggest a secretary stopped Grose sending out a shot of Obama and a bucket of KFC.

No Easter Egg Hunt This Year Racist Mayor Quits is a post from: The Inquisitr

Some police may be lazy, eating doughnuts and watching football, but presuming that’s true of all of them can be a grave mistake, particularly if you deal drugs.

29 year old Jonah M. Simoneau was arrested in York Country, PA. during the third quarter of the Super Bowl with $17,000 worth of cocaine, according to Pennsylvania Police.

But it’s why he was dealing during the big game that makes an otherwise random drug arrest more interesting: Simoneau told police that he thought he’d be less likely to encounter police during the Super Bowl.

The York Daily Record quotes a spokesman for the police saying “Not the brightest tactic,…We’re always working.

Even during the Super Bowl, you can’t hide from the law is a post from: The Inquisitr

All publicity apparently isn’t good publicity if you’re a Z-list celebrity, with lawyers representing Tila Tequila threatening Nerve for the crime of mentioning her name without permission.

One post at Nerve mentioning Tequila didn’t even focus on her exclusively, instead mention her in passing with other news.

Tila Tequila’s lawyers claim that her name and image is subject to copyright, and can only be used with permission from Tequila, even in the context of reporting news about her.

Stupidity, and it wouldn’t last a minute in court, and so far Nerve is keeping the post up, but is seeking legal advice.

(via Jossip)

Tila Tequila threatens blog with legal action for mentioning her name is a post from: The Inquisitr

Ever wondered what the really dumb folks do for fun?

Well apparently two brothers; both in their 30’s, in Waukesha got into a heated argument over who’s turn it was with the game controller for their Playstation 2 and started choking and stabbing each other. What first started out as a verbal bashing quickly went into a case of them choking each other and ended up with them both pulling knives out and stabbing each other.

To add insult to injury the one brother fled the scene and walked to the hospital which also led to his fingers being severely frostbitten. No word on what game was playing at the time of the bloodletting but you can be sure that some goodie two shoes will be rushing forward to claim how bad games are.

Me.. I’m just wonder how these two idiots even survived this long.

PS2 controller causes stabbing is a post from: The Inquisitr