The FBI breaks the law a thousand times a year, the Glenn Beck Conspiracy Theory Generator, and potential jail time for calling someone an “ass.” These discoveries and more after the jump.

On a regular basis, Truthdig brings you the news items and odds and ends that found their way to Larry Gross, director of the USC Annenberg School for Communication. A specialist in media and culture, art and communication, visual communication and media portrayals of minorities, Gross helped found the field of gay and lesbian studies.

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FBI Breaks the Law About a Thousand Times a Year In a review of nearly 2,500 pages of documents released by the Federal Bureau of Investigation as a result of litigation under the Freedom of Information Act, EFF uncovered alarming trends in the Bureau’s intelligence investigation practices.

The Glenn Beck Conspiracy Theory Generator Fair and Balanced Paranoia, Delivered on Demand

German Pol May Serve Jail Time for “Ass” Slander In an extreme version of the swear jar, a regional German politician has been slapped with a hefty $2,060 or 50 days behind bars for allegedly calling an anti-immigrant author an “ass.”

Corporate Personhood: Vermont Begs to Differ A year ago today, the Supreme Court issued its bizarre Citizens United decision, allowing unlimited corporate spending in elections as a form of “free speech” for the corporate “person.” Justice John Paul Stevens, writing for the dissent, had the task of recalling the majority to planet earth and basic common sense.

New Question for Professors: Should Students Be Allowed to Attend Classes Via Webcam? It was just 30 minutes before class when Thomas Nelson Laird, an assistant professor of higher education at Indiana University at Bloomington, got the e-mail from a student: “I can’t make it to class. Can you beam me in by Webcam?”

Google: Bing Is Cheating Google got suspicious that Microsoft’s “Bing” was copying their search results, rather than creating their own algorithms. So Google sets a trap in December to find out… Microsoft was in fact copying Google.

Is Fox Preying on Old People? Cairo’s on fire, and so is Glenn Beck. Events in the Middle East have left Fox News’ favorite professional talker with a lot of dots to connect, and connect them he did, in a rant that Michael Moynihan calls “the dumbest thing ever broadcast on (non-cable access) television.”

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#fbi#fox news#glenn beck#google#Larry's List