“Gawker.com, where the author is employed as a staff writer, declined to publish this story.” Editor’s note opening a Scientology exposé by John Cook at the New York Observer, edited by Gawker founding blogger Elizabeth Spiers. Cook says the story was “taking too long” for Gawker.

“A nearly unanimous Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that the First Amendment protects even hurtful speech about public issues and upheld the right of a fringe church to protest near military funerals.” [WaPo]

Ewalda, a frequent commenter, posted this message on May 11, 2009. It would be his last. Four days later, he died “unexpectedly” in a hospital, at age 57.

We didn’t learn about it until Monday.

It’s not something we would have learned about, had not some of us known his real name, and somebody thought to Google it. It’s not something you think about. We’re all friends here, but we’re masked by aliases and separated by geography. Our own friends and family may not know we participate, and so may not know — or even know how — to tell us when tragedy strikes. On the Internet, nobody knows you’re gone.

Read more »

One tweet, 240,580 followers. Things really do go better with coke!

@CharlieSheen [Twitter]

“A fetus has been scheduled as a legislative witness in Ohio on a unique bill that proposes outlawing abortions after the first heartbeat can be medically detected. Faith2Action, the anti-abortion group that has targeted Ohio to pilot the measure, called the in-utero witness the youngest to ever come before the House Health Committee at 9 weeks old.” [Fox 8 Cleveland, via Political Wire]

Premise: Solid. Execution: Debatable. Punchline: Golden.

[via Sully]

“San Francisco’s big push for low-flow toilets has turned into a multimillion-dollar plumbing stink. Skimping on toilet water has resulted in more sludge backing up inside the sewer pipes, said Tyrone Jue, spokesman for the city Public Utilities Commission. That has created a rotten-egg stench near AT&T Park and elsewhere, especially during the dry summer months.” [SFGate]