“Canada’s government on Friday introduced its new anti-terror legislation, a sweeping range of measures that would allow suspects to be detained based on less evidence and let CSIS actively interfere with suspects’ travel plans and finances.”
via Anti-terrorism powers: What’s in the legislation? – Politics – CBC News.
The Eiffel Tower after its lights were shut off in memory of the victims of the attack on Charlie Hebdo; January 8, 2015. CREDIT PHOTOGRAPH BY DURSUN AYDEMIR / ANADOLU / GETTY
How we react as a society to the recent attacks in Paris may well define us for a long time to come. I hope this will be a tipping point toward a more rational and peaceful future. Sadly, calls for violent retribution often drown out pleas for solidarity.
From The New Yorker – “Western societies are not, even now, the paradise of skepticism and rationalism that they believe themselves to be. The West is a variegated space, in which both freedom of thought and tightly regulated speech exist, and in which disavowals of deadly violence happen at the same time as clandestine torture.”
Continue Reading – Unmournable Bodies – The New Yorker.
To Thwart Distracted Driving, US Government Considers Cell Phone Jammers in Cars – via PopSci.com – The Nanny-state is in full swing these days. Some jack-holes just can’t resist yacking on the phone while driving, so let’s put a jammer in every car. Nevermind the fact that this would also inhibit passengers from using a phone and could also stop a driver from calling for help in the event of an emergency. I can’t see this actually happening, but the fact that anyone is even considering it is evidence of a head up an ass.
Distressed Toddler Gets a TSA Pat Down – via RawJustice.com – This whole body scanner/enhanced pat down business is far from over. Judging from this story and others like it that are pouring in from all over it looks like the bogeyman terrorists have won. People have gone to jail for touching children like this, but since it’s sanctioned by the government I guess it’s OK, right?
Anyone who has had the pleasure of using commercial air travel in the last few years knows what fun it can be. Here’s a helpful tip when you remove your belt buckle to go through the metal detector. If your pants start to fall down, don’t refer to yourself as a “Weapon of Ass Destruction”. This may cause you to experience a secondary inspection, which may include a pat-down and check with a hand-held metal detector, and possibly further delays. Apparently the TSA requires their employees to have their sense of humour removed. Fair warning.
Creationism lives on in US public schools – via NewScientist.com – Creationism, or “Intelligent Design” as it has more recently been rebranded, has no business being taught in our school systems alongside evolution. The treatment of creationism as a legitimate scientific theory is an offence to scientific principle. There is empirical data to back up evolutionary theory. The collection and interpretation of that data is how the theory was developed in the first place. There is no such support of “Intelligent Design” anywhere. What people choose to teach their own children at home is their business, even if it’s hocus-pocus nonsense. In a school system where other people’s children are being taught the same things only facts and theories that can be backed up with actual science should be taught.
First All-Digital Science Textbook Will Be Free – via Wired.com – This is a fantastic idea that will unfortunately be extremely difficult to get off the ground. Producing a book of this kind and keeping it up to date will undoubtedly prove to be extremely expensive, so “free” is unlikely to work. Not to mention the resistance it will encounter from people responsible for choosing textbooks who have been getting kickbacks from publishing companies for years. I hope this takes off, as it would remove a substantial financial burden from college and university students. I spent less on the new laptop I bought a couple months ago than I spent on books in one semester when I was in college, and textbook prices don’t go anywhere but up.
Pilot refuses full-body scan, pat-down – via CNN.com – All of the privacy issues aside, folks…he’s a pilot. If he wants to take over the plane he’s already in the cockpit BEHIND A LOCKED FUCKING DOOR!
How to opt out of the TSA’s naked body scanners at the airport – via NaturalNews.com – This one is not so much a “how to” as it is a description of what happens when you decide not to subject yourself to the backscatter or millimetre wave x-ray machines and go for the “enhanced pat-down” the pilot in the previous article refused.
U.A.E. defends no-marks discipline ruling – via CBC.ca – In the United Arab Emirates, they can build the shit out of some skyscrapers, but their human rights policies are fucking stone age. Considering it’s possible to break ribs and cause internal bleeding without ever leaving a visible external mark, the concept of being able to beat your wife or children as long as you don’t leave a mark is absurd.
Allow Students to Carry Guns on College Campuses? – via AmericanFreePress.net – “Freedom to be safe and secure is a fundamental human right. If someone threatens to harm or kill you or your loved ones, you have the right to defend yourself. Carrying a firearm aides in facilitating this self defence.” said the guy who lives in Canada, where law abiding citizens can only own handguns for target shooting and it is essentially impossible to get a concealed weapon permit.
