A 44-year-old American citizen, jailed last year in North Korea accused of seeking to topple the government, said in 2009 that he wished to "collapse" the "walls" separating North Korea from the rest of the world and that he had asked U.S. churches to send members...

Libertarian radio host, Iraq war veteran and anti-war activist Adam Kokesh was arrested Sunday at a pro-marijuana rally in Philadelphia.

In the moments before his arrest, around 4:20 p.m. at Independence National Historic Park, Kokesh encouraged the crowd to smoke pot and to "make...

Can you tell a man's political leanings just by looking at him?

Maybe not, but new research suggests that the size of a man's bicep may reveal a lot about his position on issues like welfare.

After asking more than 1,000 people in three different countries how...

Hoping to avoid a costly legal drama, a public high school in Muldrow, Okla., late last week pulled down all the Ten Commandments plaques that had been posted on classroom walls.

"When it's clearly decided, there's no point in continuing to fight a losing battle," Muldrow...

幼い子供に見えるエルフや妖精が性行為を行なうシーンが登場するアニメを所持していたという理由で、あるニュージーランド人男性が3カ月の禁固刑および10年の保護観察処分を受けた、と同国の「Fairfax Media」紙が4月21日付けで伝えている。

判決では、ロナルド・クラークが所持していたアニメの登場キャラクターは、写真ではないものの「未成年」であり、ニュージーランドでは児童ポルノに当たると判断された。

[翻訳注：リンク先の記事によれば、クラークは日本のアニメをダウンロードしたことが罪に問われ、「日本マンガとhentai（日本の「変態」を語源としているが、変態の意味はなく、アダルト向けマンガやアニメ一般を指す英語）は、日本でメインストリームの産業として確立されている」と主張したという]

ハフィントン・ポストの取材に応じた担当弁護士ロジャー・ボーデン氏によれば、クラークには10年間の保護観察処分が課され、子供たちが集まる特定区域への立ち入りが制限されるという。

ニュージーランドは、児童ポルノに関して非常に厳しい姿勢をとっている。子供や未成年の性的搾取を助長する画像はすべて禁じられ、最高で10年の実刑が課されるという法規制が行われている。

ボーデン弁護士によれば、クラークは、24年前にも未成年男子に対する強制わいせつ罪で有罪判決を受け、服役している。釈放後は集中的な更生プログラムを受け、それ以来、再犯はなかったという。

一方、米最高裁は2002年、CG画像のバーチャルポルノに対する法規制は 違憲との判断を下した。しかしその翌年には、CGによるわいせつ映像・画像だけでなく、未成年を模したフィギュアも違法とする法案が通過し、当時政権についていたジョージ・W・ブッシュ大統領が署名している。

この法律「PROTECT Act of 2003」によれば、性的な漫画に未成年を登場させるのは、公序良俗に反する行為となる。そのような漫画や彫刻・フィギュアが文学的、政治的、科学的、芸術的価値を持たないとみなされれば、単純所持の場合でも最高で5年の実刑判決が下される（販売・流通にかかわった場合は最高10年）。

「Iowa Independent」紙の記事によると、アイオワ州西部に住んでいた39歳のコンピュータープログラマー、クリストファー・ハンドリーは2009年に、少女と成年男性の性交および獣姦のシーンが描写された日本製漫画を取り寄せたとして有罪になった。（2006年に税関職員が、ハンドリー宛ての日本からの小包を開梱したことで発覚した。）

ハンドリーは罪を認め、懲役3年、執行猶予5年の判決を受けている。司法取引に応じなければ、15年の実刑判決に加え、数十万ドルの罰金刑に処せられていたとされている。

コミック作者の表現や言論の自由を守るための非営利団体「Comic Book Legal Defence Fund」の最高責任者チャールズ・ブラウンシュタイン氏は、「（PROTECT Act of 2003は、）個人に司法取引を強制する切り札として利用されている」と指摘している。

[US版で2013年4月23日に

The little town of Muldrow, Okla., is in turmoil after a national nonprofit organization reportedly threatened a lawsuit if postings of the Ten Commandments aren't removed from the walls of a public high school.

A letter from the Wisconsin-based Freedom From Religion Foundation (FRFF)...

A dramatic video that surfaced online on Thursday appears to show Brazilian federal police officers performing a daring move to head off an illegal drug-smuggling plane on a makeshift runway in southeastern Brazil.

"Go, go, go! Let me get around him and I'll close in...

This video, titled "London in 1927," is nothing short of exquisite.

Shot by English cinematographer Claude Friese-Greene at the tail end of an 840-mile road trip through 1920s England, and scored with emotional music by English pop band Jonquil and

Liza Morong was a freshman in college when she went to see the Broadway musical "Book of Mormon" with her family while on a trip to New York City in September 2011.

Morong, who was a theater major at Suffolk University in Boston...

As allegations surfaced this week that three missing women had been held against their will for 10 years in the Cleveland home of Ariel Castro, some very perceptive readers have pointed out a strange detail in photographs of Castro's house: A Puerto Rican flag that was flying from...

We could spend hours looking at this and not get bored.

Self-described professional linguist and Christian missionary Rick Aschmann spent years creating this painstakingly detailed map of regional American and Canadian dialects.

"This is just a hobby of mine," Aschmann writes on his...

North Korea's latest piece of video propaganda gives a small window into the reclusive dictatorship and, as always, raises some eyebrows with its sheer ridiculousness.

Set to some kind of deafening anthem, the propaganda video is full of overly enthusiastic people cheering, clapping and (for...

An amateur video of a man being arrested while drinking an iced tea in a North Carolina parking lot kicked up a controversy after it went viral online, notching over a million views.

Posted to YouTube on April 29, the video...

A Louisiana court recently struck down a state law that makes it a felony for immigrants to drive without documents that demonstrate they are in the country legally, according to multiple reports and court documents.

In a court opinion that cited the contributions made by...

A lawsuit filed on behalf of a Missouri woman accuses a doctor of performing surgery on the wrong side of the patient's brain in April.

Regina Turner, a 53-year old former paralegal, went to the SSM St. Clare Health Center near St. Louis, to get...

The Spectra pipeline, a high-pressure natural gas delivery system that aims to bring hundreds of millions of barrels of hydrofracked gas directly into New York City, has sparked controversy just a few short months before its scheduled completion.

The $1.2 billion project will

A Boston-area high school student who allegedly threatened to carry out a bombing worse than the Boston Marathon attacks could face 20 years in jail if found guilty, according to multiple reports.

Cameron D'Ambrosio, 18, an amateur rapper and Methuen High School...

Marking a sharp turn from its earlier stance, Facebook has caved to pressure to remove two controversial decapitation videos that have gone viral on the social network over the past few weeks.

In one of the videos, two handcuffed men speaking Spanish admit to being narcotics smugglers before...

This story will astound you.

A 40-year-old pregnant woman who worked at a T-Mobile call center in Nashville, Tenn., says the company forced her to clock out just so she could use the bathroom.

Former T-Mobile employee Kristi Rifkin told ABC News that, even after being told...

Seventeen civil rights leaders and activists were arrested while holding a pray-in to protest the policies of the Republican-led North Carolina legislature on Monday.

General Assembly Police Chief Jeff Weaver said he used a megaphone twice in an attempt to disperse the protesters, who had entered the state...