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The Coast Guard has gathered evidence it failed to follow its own firefighting policy during the Deepwater Horizon disaster and is investigating whether the chaotic spraying of tons of salt water by private boats contributed to sinking the ill-fated oil rig, according to interviews and documents.

Under the plan, which would take effect in January, license recipients would be heavily taxed and regulated. They would have to pay the city $211,000 in annual permit fees, carry $2 million in liability insurance and be prepared to devote up to 8 percent of gross sales to taxes.

The measure also would require bidders to meet certain labor, environmental and product safety standards.

However, there would be no size restrictions on the facilities.

This is simply awesome! Today the US Copyright Office issued new rules that make it legal to make changes to your device and software. This means now you can jailbreak your iphone or rip a DVD that you own!

According to The National Law Journal, D.C. Superior Court Judge Judith Bartnoff signed a temporary restraining order barring it from publishing the material the reporter had found out, specifically saying that The National Law Journal could not name the government agency that was involved in a regulatory inquiry into one of the participants in the lawsuit. When the NLJ reporter pointed to the First Amendment, the judge allegedly replied that she did not care:

Something that crosses my mind a lot is how little anti-war and pro-war talk there is. I mean, even though I am only a quarter century old, I remember times seeing news of large protests against the war and people actually debating the purpose and the pros and cons to it choosing sides.

H.R. 5741 introduced by Charles Rangle has been introduced to a congressional Committee. The bill requires every citizen of the United States, and every other person residing in the United States, who is between the ages of 18 and 42 to perform a period of national service as prescribed in this title unless exempted under the provisions of this title.

Open container activism: By now everyone should know that drinking water from plastic containers may be bad for your health due to BPA, a chemical coating additive. With that in mind, I make this suggestion: Collect nice beer bottles, wash them, fill them with good water, and use them everywhere you go to drink good, clean, healthy water. Use them to drink water while you drive. Use them to drink water while walking down the street. Use them to drink water as you interact with government agencies. Here's to your health and fun, too!

- NonEntity

NPR was up in arms a while back about Croatia's dozen or so presidential-security bureaucracies. But how much have they questioned the 1271 government-security bureaucracies in America?

"To sell at a farmers market, you need to produce your wares in a commercial kitchen. This is an impossible expense for many of us, so the underground farmers market is about helping to get some exposure for all of our fellow producers without the cash for a commercial kitchen."