Friday Follies 2.0

Announcements from the Consumer Product Safety Commission about product recalls aren’t new. But one for books? Oxmoor House is recalling 951,000 copies of nine home improvement books because of errors “that could lead consumers to incorrectly install or repair electrical wiring, posing an electrical shock or fire hazard.” The books were sold at home improvement stores and bookstores nationwide from January 1975 through December 2009.

Ooops. French agency charged with policing internet copyright infringements unveils a copyright-infringing logo. (Via.)

Ain’t that nice. Turkey’s Council of State has ruled against a law that would have permitted the Justice Ministry to wiretap judges and prosecutors.

The High Court of Malaysia has ruled that a Christian publication has a constitutional right to use the word “Allah” to refer to God, rejecting the government’s argument that it is an Islamic word that should be used exclusively by Muslims and that a ban was necessary to protect national security.

To protest a new anti-blasphemy law, atheists in Ireland published 25 blasphemous quotes — the first two of which were from Jesus and the third from Muhammad.

Fabulous Facebook legal follies of 2009. And the first of 2010.

And then there’s the 2009 Lowering the Bar Awards.

Every normal man must be tempted, at times, to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin slitting throats.

H.L. Mencken, Prejudices, First Series