It was supposed to be a historic election night in the United States of America, with the election of the country’s first African-American president. But underneath the euphoria that all races, all sexes, etc are all equal is the sad news that the US electorate voted to ban same sex marriage again. Yes, again! It has been approved early this year that led to several gay and lesbian couples tying the knot — now, their unions are in legal limbo.

Known as Proposition 8 in California, the closely watched constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage was very much controversial. The amendment, now that it is approved, will reverse the California Supreme Court’s decision earlier this year that legalized gay marriage in the state. Other US states that banned same sex marriage include Arizona and Florida. Guess Americans are still not ready for gays and lesbians to have same legal rights as them when they ‘commit for life’.

Ads for light bulbs and other types of lights are usually mundane — but the banned commercial below went a step further and employed characters in skimpy clothes and some ‘beneath the bed sheet’ sexy action. Definitely reasons to be banned eh?

WARNING: this video is not safe for work, not suitable for kids, and is somewhat graphic — so turn down the volume and make sure there’s no one watching over your shoulder! This is the banned Mini Cooper commercial that everyone is talking about — enjoy watching!

The reason for the ban? For painting Islam in a bad light. The French magazine in question is L’Express International, and its cover story this week is titled “The Jesus-Muhammad Shock.” And that (plus its contents) offended the Muslim officials of Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco. L’Express said on its website that the series of articles comparing Christianity and Islam was inspired by a meeting this week in Rome between Christian and Muslim scholars, which aims to “help the dialogue between Islam and Christianity.” The magazine said it did not understand the ban on its international edition in North African countries, particularly because of the pains it took to adhere to Islamic norms.

Algerian officials said some of the L’Express articles comparing Christianity to Islam were considered “pro-Bible.” They also pointed out that pictures inside the magazine did represent Muhammad’s face — which is not allowed in Islam. A Tunisian government official, meanwhile, said that the magazine contents could be considered to be “offensive to Islam and faith or convictions of Mulsims.” Morocco’s Information Minister Khalid Naciri said only this week’s issue of L’Express International was banned but told The Associated Press he would not hesitate to do so “every time the media offends religion.”

And what better way to celebrate it than with a roundup of the spooky and functional stuff out there! =) No banned stuff for today okay?? Come back on November for that, hehe! The Halloween roundup video below features a disembodied head that can mimic expressions, a new ‘Frankenphone’ with a heartbeat, a glass table that can make ghostly images appear on the surface, etc, etc. ENJOY!

BUT, smokers rejoice not! The ban is only waived for properly designated SMOKING ROOMS, haha! So yeah, you can smoke but shall be limited to allowed places. Otherwise, you’ll be arrested, fined, and maybe jailed if a repeat offender. Not really cool.. Here’s the report –

SAY WHAT??! Yeah, you read the title right — no mistakes there! It may sound funny but really, this bit of news is true. Recently, the Swiss Parliament asked a panel of philosophers, lawyers, geneticists and theologians to determine the meaning of dignity when it pertains to plants. Surprisingly, the team published a treatise on “the moral consideration of plants for their own sake.” It established that vegetation has innate value and that it is morally wrong to partake in activities such as the “decapitation of wildflowers at the roadside without rational reason.” YEAHHHHH.. Anyhoo, watch the video report about the banning of humiliating plants below for more info –