Eideard

A British woman who called herself the “lyrical terrorist” and wrote a poem about beheading a hostage, has won her appeal against a criminal conviction.

Samina Malik, 23, had been convicted last year of possessing documents useful to terrorists and was given a nine month suspended sentence. A former employee at a newspaper kiosk at Heathrow airport, she had written poetry which prosecutors said advocated violent extremism, and also downloaded Islamist literature from the Internet.

One of her poems, “How to behead”, was read out in court during her trial. It contained a description in detail of how to slice off a hostage’s head.

The Court of Appeal threw out her conviction on Tuesday under a ruling from February that concluded documents need to actually be helpful to a terrorist, rather than merely encouraging terrorism, for possession to count as a crime.

The Crown Prosecution Service said it would not seek a retrial after Malik’s successful appeal.

You do realize, I hope, there’s a significant amount of fiction, poetry, videogames whose authors would be liable for prosecution if something like this was successful?

Words are not the same as criminal acts – no matter how distorted the analysis and ideology.

Cheers filled San Francisco’s City Hall shortly after 5 p.m., Monday night, as longtime lesbian activists Phyllis Lyon and Del Martin, partners for more than 50 years, began their second wedding – and their first legal union.

Lyon, 83, and Martin, 87, were the first couple married four years ago when Newsom told the county clerk’s office to start offering marriage certificates to same-sex couples. Eventually more than 4,000 same-sex couples were married in San Francisco that year, but those unions were later nullified by the court. Today, the couple, and dozens of others, had their first chance to make their unions truly legal…

“This is an extraordinary moment in history and extraordinary moment in time” Newsom said to the crowd. “They are extraordinary people who have lived extraordinary lives and spent half a century fighting for justice and equality…”

Luong Do, who said he drove up from San Jose, held a giant sign that read, “homo sex is a threat to national security.”

Others were there to support the pending nuptials. One man strummed a guitar and sang “Going to the Chapel,” while Kathryn Werhane threw rose petals on some of the protesters.

Of course, there still are those who think second-class citizenship is OK – for someone else. Someday, their children and grandchildren may forgive them. It’s the “Christian” thing to do. Right?

New Zealand will ban traditional light bulbs in favor of energy-saving alternatives in 2009, says Energy Minister David Parker.

He said the move would cut lighting energy consumption by 20 percent by 2015 and save up to $376 million by 2020.

“It is intended that from late next year, these inefficient incandescent bulbs will be phased out because they waste so much energy…”

New minimum energy standards would mean no fresh stocks of the incandescent bulbs could be imported from October 2009.

Not a magic bullet, of course. But, overdue.

Anyone think the U.S.A. will get to this before 2020? 2050?

You can sign up today to receive free credit monitoring services from the credit bureau TransUnion due to a settlement the company reached on a class-action lawsuit.

The credit monitoring service offered by TransUnion is worth $59.75, according to the settlement.

There’s a load of baloney about 2 kinds of services. The cheaper of the two services also gets you some kind of cash settlement. I don’t know how much that is – but, getting something back from these thugs is an accomplishment on its own.

The deal ends a class-action lawsuit that was filed after TransUnion sold customer information in the form of marketing lists to other businesses. The company says it discontinued that practice in 2001. TransUnion denied any wrongdoing.

Under the terms of the agreement, the company will set up a $75 million fund to spread the word about the settlement and to pay attorneys and other claims.

You can file your claim beginning June 16. Go to the Web site at www.listclassaction.com. You can also call the TransUnion settlement number at (866) 416-3470.

If you borrowed money in the past twenty-one years, you’re probably on the list.

Thanks, K B

Not much of a sense of humor under the best of circumstances…

A man caught breaking into a German supermarket late at night escaped despite being handcuffed to railings — only to be arrested after he ran to a nearby police station to get the cuffs removed…

A security guard had cuffed the man and held three others after spotting the break-in. But by the time officers arrived, the man had managed to escape, police said.

Arriving at the police station, the 19-year-old told officers he had been locked up by a friend as a joke, and asked for their help.

They helped him to be…re-united with his three accomplices in the station’s prison cell.

Duh!