VIP prison treatment for rich Indonesians convicted of bribery

Mar 2, 2010 | No Comments

By Cory Doctorow

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Indonesian prison cells for wealthy people convicted of bribery and other corruption crimes are a palatial resorts (and you have to bribe the guards to get in to see the prisoners!). The Indonesian government is trying to fix things, but corrupt officials stand in the way.

The money cycles through the prison system, he explains. Prisoners and their visitors pay bribes to block leaders, who then give a cut to officials. Block leaders often hold auctions where new detainees can bid for certain cells. Those without money are packed into 10- by 13-foot cells with up to five other inmates, while others receive upgrades depending on how much they are willing to pay.

Service varies by prison, according to descriptions from former inmates and people who have investigated prison operations. Wealthy inmates can hire people to deliver food and clean their cells. In Cipinang and Selemba high-security prisons, inmates can buy air conditioning and laptop computers.

Dr Jailed for sexually assaulting his patients, gets license back

Feb 28, 2010 | No Comments

When Dr. Scott Fredin, a chiropractor, was convicted of sexually assaulting two patients at his office, his license was revoked by the state Board of Chiropractic Examiners. He spent two years in prison for the crimes. Six years later, he has his license back and isn’t required to tell his patients about his sketchy past and his status as a registered sex offender.

But thank goodness his probation bans him from buying porn, consuming alcohol, or using the Internet without permission! What a relief. Unfortunately he will still be touching patients and creeping us out.

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Mall security guard accuses shopper of being a pedophile

Feb 28, 2010 | No Comments

According to his blog, Kevin visited the Bridges Shopping Centre in Sunderland with his son to spend the £10 his father gave the boy on a family visit. While there, he seated his son on a coin-operated train ride and snapped a photo of him with his cameraphone. At this point, a Bridges security guard came by and ordered him to stop taking pictures. He said that it was mall policy, and implied that Kevin was taking pictures because he was a pedophile. [...]

Apple removes over 5000 apps from iPhone app store

Feb 22, 2010 | No Comments

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Apple is causing a stir in the iPhone community by removing over 5000 apps from the app store due to what they deem as inappropriate content.  Apple has long been known for being protective over what gets onto the app store, but never before have they rejected or removed so many apps at once.  This recent course of action has caused Apple to receive a great deal of criticism from iPhone users, app developers, and the media.

The official reason of Apple banning the apps is due to what they deem “sexually inappropriate.”  While some of these apps are very mature in nature, some are just joke apps that wanted a cheap laugh.  In response to the removal of the apps, Apple has posted new guidelines to submitting apps.  Here they are as reported by MobileCrunch: [...]

Washington forgives Microsoft $1B tax evasion

Feb 17, 2010 | No Comments

…and $100M annual tax cut

Facing a $2.8 billion deficit and pending insolvency, Washington State’s House Bill 3176 proposes changes to its B&O Royalty tax that would give Microsoft an estimated $100 million tax cut annually and possible amnesty for more than a billion dollars in past tax evasion. [...]

Punk shoots parents because they took away Halo 3

Feb 16, 2010 | No Comments

Daniel Petric shot his parents — killing his mother — because they wouldn’t allow him to play the violent video game Halo 3, prosecutors told a judge at the boy’s murder trial Monday.

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Is Global Warming a “Crock of S*%t?”

Feb 16, 2010 | No Comments

I need a coke!

On that period’s causes there is no scientific agreement even today, although many possible causes have been mentioned; among them are lower solar activity, known as the Maunder Minimum, and increased volcanic activity, shielding the planet from solar radiation. But it should be noted that there is even less agreement on what caused the warming period from 1850 to 1950.
Do Something, Even If It’s Disastrous? [...]