“For a country of about 50 million people, there are a lot of protests in South Korea. With a national average of 11,000 public protests a year, the average South Korean riot policeman is mobilized to contain 85 demonstrations a year.

While the majority of such protests are probably pretty standard affairs involving marching, shouting, and possibly some violent clashes between protesters and police, there are also some far more interesting protests going on. Here are a few particularly uniquely interesting/crazy South Korean protest photos we’ve stumbled upon…” (Who-Sucks)

“In a startling revelation, the former commander of Abu Ghraib prison testified that Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, former senior US military commander in Iraq, gave orders to cover up the cause of death for some female American soldiers serving in Iraq.

Last week, Col. Janis Karpinski told a panel of judges at the Commission of Inquiry for Crimes against Humanity Committed by the Bush Administration in New York that several women had died of dehydration because they refused to drink liquids late in the day. They were afraid of being assaulted or even raped by male soldiers if they had to use the women’s latrine after dark.” — Marjorie Cohn (truthout)

Restore habeas corpus: “Please call your senators right now and urge them to vote “YES” on Senate Amendment 2022, an amendment to restore habeas corpus as part of this year’s defense authorization bill. S.A. 2022 is an amendment to the defense authorization bill to restore the constitutional due process right of habeas corpus, which protects against unlawful and indefinite imprisonment. This fundamental right was stripped away for some people by the Military Commissions Act of 2006.

We know the vote will be close. The Bush administration is working overtime to defeat this amendment, and every vote will count.” (ACLU)

A nasal spray to shed your shyness: “University of Zurich researchers have created a spray that can relieve people of shyness, and help them socialise with others. The spray is very easy to use, and an individual can boost self-confidence just by squirting it up the nose. The researchers say that the spray harnesses the powers of a feel-good hormone called oxytocin, a neurotransmitter in the brain that is involved in social recognition and bonding.” (ebiology)