From the "What-do-you-expect-from-lowest-bidder" Department: The US military use Predator drones to spy on people. What they did not expect is that someone would spy on their drones. In December 2009, it was reported that Iraqi militants were using software costing less than 30 Euros to monitor video feeds from passing drones. Rather amazingly the Predator spy drone transmits video footage without encryption, which allows anyone with a satellite dish and Skygrabber software to download Predator video streams.

From the "Oh-I-thought-it-was-a-Tazer" Department (of the Bay Area Transit Police), LA: The police officer who drew his gun and then fatally shot an unarmed 22 year-old lying face-down at an Oakland (LA, USA) train platform, has been convicted of involuntary manslaughter. This killing has achieved notoriety as it took place in front of a train full of witnesses, many of whom recorded the killing. A number of the recordings have found their way onto the internet. According to the attorney general, "We believe Johannes Mehserle was guilty of the crime of murder. We presented the case that way, we presented the evidence that way, and the jury found otherwise."

From the "We-want-your-porn" Department (an official branch of the Australian government): Australian customs are asking all visitors to confirm whether or not they have pornography in there possession. In addition they have indicated that they are entitled to search laptops and phones in their quest for pornography. If they are that keen on looking for pictures of naked people someone should tell them about the ummmm... internet!

From the "We should have hired a proof-reader" Department: The BBC report that the Penguin Group in Australia had to destroy and reprint 7,000 copies of the Pasta Bible after one recipe called for "salt and freshly ground black people" instead of black pepper.

From the "Too-dirty-for-our-ears" Department: The Guardian reports that the major US TV networks rejected a Kotex tampon advertising campaign that dared use the "V" word. Even references to "down there" were considered to be too disturbing for prudish American TV-viewers. Maybe the networks would have been happier if the campaign used Southpark-style, potty-mouth slang (and the word we dare not mention).

From the "It-was-so-much-easier-during-the-Inquisition" Department: Bill Donohue (head of the Catholic League) made a gob-smacking statement, on Larry King Live (30 March 2010), while defending the Catholic Church on allegations of sexual abuse by priests and cover-up by the Vatican: "The vast majority of the victims are post-pubescent. That is not pedophilia, buddy. That is homosexuality." According to Donohue, the age at which boys become "post-pubescent" is around 12 or 13. What does this mean? Does the Church want us to believe that a priest raping a 12 year-old boy is not the same as a priest raping a 10 year-old boy? Surely not.

Underage pregnancy is a huge problem in many parts of the world, made worse by deadly STD's and backwards beliefs. A Swiss company, Lamprecht AG has developed a possible solution: extra-small condoms for 12-14yo boys. The condom, named the "Hotshot" is supported by a number of Swiss family planning groups and government, who found that young boys were more likely to participate in unprotected sex.

The so-called "ethics committee" of the US House of Congress recently ruled that it was okay for elected officials to earmark hundreds of millions of dollars in no-bid contracts for contractors who also just happened to make large campaign contributions to said politicians.

Judges without legal training, no oversight , and sometimes no court records sending people to jail for up to two years and holding people without trial for months...some third-world banana republic? Not quite. It would seem that kangaroo courts are not unusual in New York State. In the words of one, not so learned, judge, “And the hell with the law.”

The professional porn watchers at the Australian Censor Board have decided that women with small boobs should not be allowed in porn productions.