News articles I've been reading recently...

Oregon attempts mandatory GPS car tracking of all autos (please note that in all states there are no laws against police tracking cars by attaching GPS devices to the underside vehicles, and they do not even need a warrant to do it or report if they are doing it and how much)

NASA's James Hansen advises ( Read more... )

The Supreme Court just ruled that states cannot give the death penalty for child rapists.

I grow more apoplectic with rage with every Supreme Court case I hear. Either states have the right to sentence the death penalty for whatever heinous crimes the people deem fit or they don't. You can't have it both ways and say, "Oh, well, there are these ( Read more... )

Vegan girl, 12, has spine of an 80 year old.So these hardcore vegan parents decide that they don't need to give their children vitamins and other dietary supplements. They admitted to starving their 10 month old to death via an improper diet, and their 12 year old now has a degenerative bone condition ( Read more... )

In an account that shocked listeners and forced a veteran sketch artist to flee in tears, [the prosecuting attorney] told of how Williams raped the victim, poured boiling water over her, hurled a pot of bleach in her face, ordered her to gouge out her own eyes with a pair of scissors, sealed her lips shut with glue and duct tape and slit her ( Read more... )

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The value of the U.S. dollar took another hit on Sunday, bringing it to record lows. One dollar now only has the buying power of €0.6274 ( Read more... )

The Texas seizure of polygamist-sect kids has been thrown out!

The Third Court of Appeals in Austin ruled that the state offered "legally and factually insufficient" grounds for the "extreme" measure of removing all children from the ranch, from babies to teenagers [to women in their early twenties]...The appeals court also said the state was ( Read more... )

Two major new pieces of legislation have received virtually no notice by mainstream media, but, incredibly, give the federal government the ability to both collect the DNA on every American and establish a nationalized DNA database and surveillance system, and to legalize the sharing of genetic information without patient consent. The names given ( Read more... )

The Supreme Court has just ruled, in a bipartisan decision, that the police can seize property and even use that as evidence against you in the case of an invalid and illegal arrest. The only way that I can interpret this is that they have just completely thrown out the 4th Amendment by judicial fiat. Link to the news article.The floodgates have ( Read more... )

Some stuff I've found amusing, interesting or inspiring lately (all videos except where noted)...

Pirates of the Great Salt Lake

Falling Baby Ducks

Otters Holding Hands, er, Paws

Artistic.  Disturbing.  French.

Awesome Essay:  The Myth of Talent

Tim Sanders' Cool Business Motivational Talk

Article:  Waterless Urinal System

Article:  Pencils Made from ( Read more... )