Seriously. I am getting so much spam from political organizations, it’s insane. And apparently I can’t complain because political groups are “protected organizations.” I swear to God, if I hadn’t already voted, I would be automatically not voting for every candidate who sent me unsolicited mail or email. Especially the ones that say they “care about the environment” in eight pages of glossy brochure.

In other news…

UCSC is one among many universities which installs software designed to find “copyright violations” on its student networks to capitulate to the RIAA. One residential network technician is fighting back.

The problem with student loans is coming from the way we approach them, argues Mary Ellen Bell. Right now, they serve lenders, not the public interest, and that’s something I tend to agree with.

The Tough Guy Race sounds truly awesome. I’m so going into training now for 2010. Or maybe 2015.

We’ve finally deigned to send peacekeepers to Darfur, but it’s going to take a year to deploy them, apparently. Well, that’s nice.

A pathologist is on trial for abusing his position (but not, thankfully, for abusing the dead).

A battle of the economists is being waged in the Los Angeles Times this week.

A class action lawsuit which may change the way forensic examiners deal with the dead is underway; at issue is the common practice of removing organ samples for further testing.