Overnight Open Thread

Hey all you Super Bowl multi-taskers out there - the ONT is over here.

Taking A Ride To The Edge of Space

Here James May of Top Gear UK takes an emotional ride aboard a U2 spyplane. At 70,000 feet they're twice the height of commercial flights and the only humans higher than that are astronauts at the International Space Station.

The “Galaxy” of 2012 GOP Stars
Exactly one year from today the first contest of the 2012 primary will take place. So here's a chart by Nate Silver showing the relative strengths of the GOP possibles based on current Intrade values. I'd say there's a 90%+ chance that the 2012 GOP presidential candidate is somewhere on this chart. And barring a complete Obama meltdown a Pawlenty-Bachmann is looking like a good safe choice.

California Court Rules That Free Internet Porn Is Legal
Free at last! In this case various commercial pron sites filed suit against Redtube.com claiming that streaming pron for free was an anti-competitive practice:

The Appeals Court's ruling showed some initial sympathy for the plaintiff. Cammarata's grievance is common among porn producers, the three-judge panel noted. "According to one adult entertainment executive, the formerly profitable subscription-based websites 'have been brought to their knees' by the tube-based sites," they observed without a wink.

But the justices could find no evidence that Redtube's marketing strategy had anything to do with putting the plaintiff out of business

The Official Super Bowl Half-Time Performers Timeline
Holy crap the halftime show really did suck up until 1991. And did Up With People really play the Super Bowl three time?!? I don't remember any of those performances. But then there's a lot of memories I repress.

It's Still Legal To Criticize Islam in Denmark
For now. If you have good lawyers. And if you don't say it in public.

Remember When The Super Bowl Was The 'Abuse Bowl'?
But of course the much touted domestic violence statistic turned out to be completely bogus:

During the era of the infamous Super Bowl Hoax, it was widely believed that on Super Bowl Sundays, violence against women increases 40%. Journalists began to refer to the game as the “abuse bowl” and quoted experts who explained how male viewers, intoxicated and pumped up with testosterone, could “explode like mad linemen.” During the 1993 Super Bowl, NBC ran a public service announcement warning men they would go to jail for attacking their wives.

In this roiling sea of media credulity, one lone journalist, Washington Post reporter Ken Ringle, checked the facts. As it turned out, there was no source: An activist had misunderstood something she read, jumped to her sensational conclusion, announced it at a news conference and an urban myth was born. Despite occasional efforts to prove the story true, no one has ever managed to link the Super Bowl to domestic battery.

Can You Be Legally 'Too Dumb' For Sex?
Well a British court has ruled that a 41 year old man with an IQ of 48 is not smart enough to understand POVS (plain old vaginal sex):

A 41-year-old man, known only as Alan, has been banned from having sex because his IQ is too low.

A judge in the Court of Protection ruled that Alan, with an IQ of 48, does not have the mental capacity to engage in sexual relations.

Alan, according to the medical expert, “had no understanding at all of heterosexual coitus” but he did understand “the mechanics of mutual masturbation and anal sex, with persons of either gender.” But as regards the latter, he did not understand the health risks involved.

The Katy Perry vs Reality GIF
Here's an animated GIF showing the photoshopped version of Katy that appeared on the cover of Rolling Stone versus the actual reality. Of course I think the real Katy looks just fine as she is albeit a bit heavy on the makeup. WARNING: This image can induce a hypnotic trance in some.

Weekly AoSHQ Commenter Standings
Top 10 commenters:
1 [413 comments] 'FlaviusJulius' [57.92 posts/day]
2 [402 comments] 'curious'
3 [340 comments] 'dagny'
4 [298 comments] 'Miss'80sBaby '
5 [298 comments] 'Kratos (Ghost of Sparta)'
6 [283 comments] 'George Orwell'
7 [258 comments] 'Vic'
8 [252 comments] 'toby928▒'
9 [239 comments] 'runningrn'
10 [233 comments] 'NC Ref'

Top 10 sockpuppeteers:
1 [94 names] 'kbdabear' [13.18 unique names/day]
2 [69 names] 'fluffy'
3 [60 names] 'toby928▒'
4 [55 names] 'NC Ref'
5 [51 names] 'George Orwell'
6 [50 names] '18-1'
7 [41 names] 'Romeo13'
8 [40 names] 'runningrn'
9 [38 names] 't-bird'
10 [38 names] 'andycanuck'

The group. Yeah.

Tonight's post brought to you by Right Guard:

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posted by Maetenloch at 09:29 PM

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