Clay Aiken, who finished as runner-up on American Idol season two in 2003, announced his candidacy for Congress on Twitter and in a YouTube video on Wednesday.
The nearly 5-minute clip explains why Aiken wants to win the seat in House of Representatives in North Carolina's second district, referencing Idol's coveted "golden ticket" as a metaphor.
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I'm running for Congress http://t.co/KYhiG7MTM3 #ClayforNC
— Clay Aiken (@clayaiken) February 5, 2014
"For most Americans, there are no golden tickets, at least not like the kind you see on TV," 35-year-old Aiken said. "More families are struggling today than at any time in our history, and here in North Carolina, we've suffered more than our share of pain."
Aiken had been rumored to run before he confirmed his bid Wednesday. At the 2:35 mark in the video, he throws a few soft-spoken jabs at second-term Republican Rep. Renee Ellmers, who he must unseat to fulfill his political aspirations.
He also launched a revamped ClayAiken.com, where he is now accepting donations.
"I'm running for Congress for the same reason I chose to become a special education teacher years ago — to help people in need and to give them a voice," he wrote on the site. "Will you join me?"
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In May, Texas passed a law that requires authorities to get a warrant based on probable cause before accessing any email, including those older than six months. The Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA), the federal law that regulates email privacy, only requires warrants for unopened emails younger than 180 days. Lawmakers have struggled for more than a year to pass a reform on the law, which critics say is outdated.
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Before Edward Snowden put privacy and surveillance in the headlines, Daniel Zolnikov, a 26-year old Montana representative, passed the very first law in April requiring cops to obtain a warrant in order to access cellphone location data.
The law, which the American Civil Liberties Union called "historic," started a trend. Maine and the New Jersey Supreme Court passed similar bills in July.
Image: Mashable
This year, states started clamping down on revenge porn, the lewd practice of people posting their ex's naked pictures online as payback after a break up.
California and New Jersey were the first states to ban revenge porn, making it illegal to distribute intimate pictures or videos of a person without his or her consent.
Image: Flickr, Jessica Paterson
In what is perhaps the most controversial legal change of the year, unlocking cellphones, which lets users to switch carriers without buying a new device, became illegal in January.
Since then, there's been a lot of public outrage (including a massive White House online petition), but little has changed -- you're still breaking the law if you unlock your phone.
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Clicking “Like” on a Facebook post has been a way of expressing opinion for years, but there's been a big debate in legal circles as to whether Liking something on Facebook was worthy of First Amendment protection. In September, a federal appeals court judge ruled that, indeed, the U.S. Constitution protects your Like, a ruling that could set a precedent for future cases.
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After years of complaints, travelers can finally use their gadgets at all times during a flight, including takeoff and landing. The FAA lifted the ban in October after months of recommendations and proposals. Just a few weeks later, the Federal Communications Commission submitted a proposal to allow in-flight cellphone calls. However, not everyone is on board.
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We've all had our fair share of embarrassing social media posts. For California teens under 18, removing those posts is now a little easier. The Golden State passed a law in September requiring websites to remove content at the request of a minor. The law, however, doesn't require sites to remove content submitted by third parties. So if someone else posted the embarrassing picture, the minor is out of luck.
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