Milwaukee County Children's Court judge Brett Blomme spent a night in jail on child porn charges earlier this year and will be spending more there after his court appearance Wednesday. Blomme did not seek bail, his lawyer says, as part of a "tactical, strategic" approach to his case, so he was taken into federal custody after the hearing. Blomme pleaded not guilty to all the charges. The AP:

According to the criminal complaint, the DOJ began investigating Blomme in February after receiving a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children that Blomme had uploaded child pornography through the Kik messaging application 27 times in October and November.

In March, the Wisconsin Supreme Court issued an order saying Blomme is temporarily prohibited from exercising the powers of a circuit judge in the State of Wisconsin. The court concluded Blomme is unable to properly perform his official duties due to the pending criminal proceedings against him, and added that the public interest required he be temporarily relieved of his duties.

Bitcoin fell to nearly $30k this morning before rallying to $37k by lunch. That price is nonetheless 30% down from recent highs, and MSNBC describes it as an "intensifying plunge" triggered by Chinese moves to cool the cryptocurrency market, Elon's shenanigans, etc.

That means bitcoin has now erased all its gains following Tesla's announcement that it would purchase $1.5 billion worth of the cryptocurrency. It's also down about 44 percent since hitting a record high of $64,829 in mid-April.

The flurry of trading led to reports of outages at Coinbase, which said Wednesday via Twitter: "We know that customers are experiencing some issues with logging in, seeing their balances, and trading. Our teams are working to resolve this as soon as possible and funds in Coinbase accounts are safe. We'll circle back as soon as we have an update."

Security footage of a West Penscola bus stop shows a man tearing out of his car to grab an 11-year-old girl Tuesday morning. She managed to fend off the knife-wielding attacker, who was later found and arrested.

According to Escambia County Sheriff Chip Simmons, the man had approached the girl several weeks earlier and the interaction made her feel so uncomfortable that she reported it to her school and her parents. Her mother had since walked her to the bus every day; Tuesday's abduction attempt was the first day mom let her go alone.

"Luckily, she fights," Simmons told ABC News. "When I say fights, she struggles. She went limp, she's kicking, she's pushing, she's punching. And she's able to get free."

Jared Paul Stanga, 30, was traced through his vehicle, a white SUV easily seen in the footage. Stanga was charged with attempted kidnapping of a child under 13, aggravated assault and battery.

Staff at the freenode IRC network have resigned en-masse after control of it passed to what one described as a "narcissistic Trumpian wannabe korean royalty bitcoins millionaire." Resignation letters piled up from Fuchs, Ed Kellett, Emīls Piņķis, Jessica Sophie Porter and others, capping weeks of drama in the FOSS world's biggest chatbox.

The new proprietor, Andrew Lee, offers his side of the story in a PDF document posted to Github: "We're beginning of a process of revisiting how Freenode's ownershipis organized so that there's a clear democratic process and outlined relationship between freenode limited and the volunteer staff who keep the network alive. The goal is to makesure that these kinds of problems will not happen again."

Aaron Jones, one of the resignees, details the sequence of events and concludes that "a hostile entity is now in operational control over the network, and is in posession of your data." Another resignee, Svante Bengtson, puts it succinctly:

During the past few months in general, and last weeks in particular, it has become increasingly clear that the owners of the holding company freenode Ltd have been planning a hostile takeover of the freenode network. That takeover is now about to happen, and I cannot in good faith volunteer for this "new" freenode. freenode Ltd's current owners' values do not align with the values freenode the network was founded on and operated under up until now.

Yet another. Marco d'Itri, puts it in still-blunter terms:

To make a long story short, the former freenode head of staff secretly "sold" the network to this person even if it was not hers to sell, and our lawyers have advised us that there is not much that we can do about it without some of us risking financial ruin.

Lee was recently profiled in the South China Morning Post in tabloid fashion, fawning yet distinctly unflattering. He earlier described an ongoing battle for control of Freenode, about a week before the resignations.

Given the millions I have injected into freenode thus far, the fact I own it and the fact that I protected the freenode staff with professional legal work and funding when they needed help and they could still lie and slander like this… says a lot about who they are. It saddens me that christel was forced out, and I wish she'd feel safe returning. I'm frustrated that tomaw's hostile takeover seems likely to succeed, in spite of all. I simply want freenode to keep on being a great IRC network, and to support it financially and legally as I have for a long time now.

Founded 26 years ago and home to some 80,000 users over 40,000 channels, the freenode is reportedly the largest IRC network and has enjoyed something of a rollercoaster history.

A number of those resigning have established a new IRC network, libera.chat.

UPDATED to link to Andrew Lee's statement.

This animation from Greenpeace UK offers an amusing impression of UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson sputtering platitudes about recycling while plastic bottles, boxes and other trash falls like rain and piles up around him. Just when you think it's getting a bit too silly, the kicker comes.

What's the UK government's plastic policy? Dump it on other countries! Less than 10% of our plastic recycling is actually recycled in the UK. The rest is sent overseas where it's often burned or dumped, fuelling health and wildlife emergencies.

Recycling was (and is) the key greenwashing drug fed to the liberal middle class. It's a many-faceted gem of negative consequences. It emphasized that individual consumers were the problem, not industrial producers. It externalized the job of tackling pollution to people in their homes. It created a world of costly infrastructure, from special trashcans to recycling centers, that is vestigial in many places now that there's no buyer for what was always, in truth, just trash. And there's no guarantee that the resentment and reaction generated by people finding out it's bullshit will go in a constructive direction. Banning the manufacture of single-use plastics is but a first step.

Joel Greenberg, who reportedly claims that his friend and Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz paid for sex with multiple women and a minor-age girl, yesterday plead guilty to six felony charges related to all the sex trafficking.

The 84-page plea agreement Greenberg formally signed off on in U.S. District Court does not mention Gaetz or any one else by name. But it states that the victim of the sex trafficking had sex with "other men" while she was 17. Aside from Gaetz, sources close to the investigation say prosecutors are also examining a former employee of Greenberg's in Seminole County office, a co-conspirator of Greenberg's who allegedly was involved in defrauding a coronavirus relief fund and at least one associate of Gaetz's. The unindicted co-conspirator is mentioned but not named in one of the federal charging documents against Greenberg.

But it's Gaetz who prosecutors with the Justice Department's Public Integrity Section are looking into.

Wirecutter tested the lot and found that cheapo screen protectors are just as good as name-brand ones. It picks the $13-for-two "Spigen" offering but also lists the "amFilm" one that I have and can vouch for (it's the "Amazon Choice"). They're all the same; Spigen just provides the nicest applicator.

We skipped testing glass from well-known brands, including Belkin, BodyGuardz, and Zagg (Zagg also owns the InvisibleShield line). These protectors are widely available, but they're almost always expensive, and we've found their glass to be of the same quality at best, and sometimes worse. More expensive protectors offer no benefits over the cheaper ones we recommend.

My screen may be unscratched, but the back is well-cracked. Lesson learned: thin hard plastic cases are themselves only good against surface scratches and offer little drop protection.

The real Elon Musk described his Dogecoin pumping as "a hustle" a week ago, under cover of comedy, but the fake Elon Musks already figured that out: more than $2m was looted in the last few months by crypto scammers pretending to be the billionaire, reports CBS.

The theft is part of a so-called giveaway scam, whereby con artists pose as celebrities or known figures in the crypto world. They promise to "multiply" the cryptocurrency that investors send — but pocket it instead. Crypto scams have surged since October, hitting their highest level on record in the first quarter of 2021, according to data published Monday by the FTC. Musk, CEO of Tesla, has been a big supporter of cryptocurrencies. In an SEC filing in February, Tesla revealed that it bought $1.5 billion worth of bitcoin. In March, Musk said Tesla would accept bitcoin for vehicle purchases. (He's since backtracked on that position due to environmental concerns.) Musk's company SpaceX also recently said it would will accept dogecoin as full payment for a flight to the moon in the first quarter of next year. He has also referred to himself as the "dogefather."

Second-richest man in the world!

There's been a big crack in a steel beam on the I-40 bridge over the Mississippi River since 2019. The bridge inspector had one job. He no longer has that job.

Arkansas Department of Transportation Director Lorie Tudor said the inspector was fired after drone video showed the crackon the bridge spanning the Mississippi River in May 2019. Tudor said the crack was not noted by the inspector in his reports that fall or the following year. "This is unacceptable," Tudor said at a news conference. The department did not immediately name the employee and said the incident is also being referred to federal investigators.

Xavier Marabout painted an amusing yet exquisitely detailed series of works depicting Tintin, the overwhelmingly decent and heroic journalist, hanging out with women—a rare creature in the works of Belgian cartoonist Hergé. Moulinsart S.A., the company that holds the right's to Hergé's work, sued for infringement over the depictions and has lost big. Not only did a French court determine that the paintings are parodies, but it ordered Moulinsart to pay €10,000 over threats it issued to galleries showing Marabout's work and €20,000 in legal fees.

Xavier Marabout's dreamy artworks imagine Tintin into the landscapes of Edward Hopper, including a take on Queensborough Bridge, 1913, or talking with a less-clothed version of Hopper's Chop Suey. Earlier this year, the Breton artist was sued for infringement by Moulinsart, which manages the Tintin business. Moulinsart's lawyer argued that "taking advantage of the reputation of a character to immerse him in an erotic universe has nothing to do with humour". Marabout's lawyer argued that the paintings were parody. On Monday, Moulinsart's complaint was rejected by the court in Rennes. "The court recognised the parody exception and the humorous intention expressed by my client," Marabout's lawyer, Bertrand Ermeneux, said.

It's interesting to see how such actions differ from those in the U.S. and the U.K. The idea that a character has a reputation to defend intersects oddly with trademarks, but in Europe there are stronger protections for artists' moral rights. I'd love to read an expert analysis of this case now that the verdict's out.

Moulinsart seems to have a reputation for heavy-handed enforcement of Tintin "intellectual property".

When the driver of this truck figured out one weird trick to ice six Tesla chargers at once, perhaps they thought they were being clever! But the online ratings for the company that owns the vehicle have dived, a reminder that one tackles the Elon fandom at one's own risk. The photo was posted by JeffTutorials on Twitter, who has since asked that people please not destroy the company because of what one driver did in its vehicle.

Tesla Family:

PLEASE STOP HARASSING THIS BUSINESS!!!!!

If you left a negative review on their Google Maps listing, please remove it.

I condemn anyone acting in this manner.

— Jeff 💙✌️ (@JeffTutorials) May 16, 2021

David the Arrow Bard (@blumineck on Tik Tok) demonstrates how various Dungeons & Dragons classes overdo it with bows. A perfectly amusing deconstruction of the game's stock characters.

@blumineck

Does the last one count as a thirst trap? Asking for a friend 😂 #dnd #dungeonsanddragons #nerd #archery #fyp #gaming

♬ chicken run – Maddy

The first quote in this video about one man's custom Delorean hovercraft is "I spent my life savings on it" and everything proceeds from there like a very expensive fractal.

This Back to the Future Delorean DMC-12 Hovercraft may not be a time machine, but it's still awesome. Matt Riese built it all on his own as an homage to Back to the Future. We visit Matt in San Francisco California and take a look at amazing homebuilt Delorean Hovercraft. Perhaps one of the coolest things ever built. You can find out more about Matt and his awesome hovercraft on his page www.deloreanhovercraft.com

It's a foam and fiberglass replica (Deloreans are not as heavy as reputed, but far too heavy to hover) powered by a 6hp lawnmower: it all floats, should the gas run out, and there's a paddle in the passenger seat.

UPDATE: Must be the same one as Pesco posted a few years ago.

In this video, news reporter Juliana Maza spots a missing dog while reporting on the missing dog in question, a 13-month-old pointer named Titus. Moreover, she collars the dog's alleged thief, who was taking Titus for a walk: "He said that we was supposed to be walking the dog but grabbed the wrong dog."

Kyle Gariepy, 29, was arrested and charged with dognapping, which is to say larceny of more than $1,200 and breaking and entering into a vehicle to commit a felony.

Bill Gates stepped down from the board of Microsoft last year to spend more time with his philanthropy, but the Wall Street Journal today reports that he was subject to an investigation into an inappropriate sexual relationship with an employee at the company and other board members wanted him gone.

Mr. Gates resigned before the board's investigation was completed and before the full board could make a formal decision on the matter, another person familiar with the matter said.

"Microsoft received a concern in the latter half of 2019 that Bill Gates sought to initiate an intimate relationship with a company employee in the year 2000," a Microsoft spokesman said. "A committee of the Board reviewed the concern, aided by an outside law firm to conduct a thorough investigation. Throughout the investigation, Microsoft provided extensive support to the employee who raised the concern."

A Gates spokesperson admits the affair took place "almost 20 years ago [and] ended amicably", but denies the resignation had anything to do with the investigation. Board members also took an interest in his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein, which the Daily Beast now reports was closer than previously admitted.

Gates and wife Melinda announced their divorce two weeks ago, a parting widely reported as due in part to his dealings with Epstein and sexual harassment complaints against his "money manager", Michael Larson.

Bill, you're fired!

A gas leak in a propane tank in a shed next to a crawfish boil—what could go wrong? Everything, according to the Scott Fire Department in Louisiana. KATC News reports on an explosion that sent four local residents to hospital.

The incident occurred shortly before 4:30 p.m. on Todd Ave. Bellard said four individuals were airlifted to area hospitals with varying injuries, two to Lafayette, one to Baton Rouge, and one to Opelousas. According to Bellard, one person had burns on 30-40% of their body and another suffered internal damage. The extent of injuries is unknown, Bellard said. Bellard says a propane tank was leaking inside of a shed, and a pot of crawfish was boiling right outside. When the shed was opened, the propane ignited and caused the explosion.