Recently I was watching The Daily Show, and John Stewart asked his guest — an American politician — if legislators really did read the lengthy bills that they vote upon. For instance, the health care bills currently under debate in the US are over 1,000 pages in length. He was assured that they really do read every page of every bill.

This is apparently untrue, however, as has been demonstrated by Congressman Sal Dennison of Ohio, who successfully added a clause that legalizes marijuana for himself to the Highway Improvement Act. Now signed into law by President Obama, marijuana is now legal in the United States — but only for Congressman Dennison’s personal use.

[Edit: Of course, the above is false -- there is no Congressman Sal Dennison, and the site referenced is a humour site. I still like it.]

(from Felicia Day’s Flickr)

A brand of wine has been banned in Alabama for using a painting from the 1800s which includes a nude woman on its label.

The Pirate Bay is the latest means of illegally downloading music that is disappearing in a flurry of music industry lawsuits. However this does not mean that its content will disappear. How long will the RIAA play the “hit the gopher” game at the carnival?