Gee, what a shock...
Read more here.
Monday, April 30, 2012
Dan Savage causes cherry picking Christian bigots to flee, going LALALALA I can't hear you
During a speech at a high school journalism convention, Dan Savage attacked anti-gay Biblical literalism, which caused some Christian students to walk out
Entertainment industry wins big victory in its effort to censor the Net in the UK
A victory for them maybe, but it does nothing to stop people despising them.
File-sharing site The Pirate Bay must be blocked by UK internet service providers, the High Court has ruled.
The Swedish website hosts links to download mostly pirated free music and video.
Sky, Everything Everywhere, TalkTalk, O2 and Virgin Media must all prevent their users from accessing the site.
Read more here.
60 Minutes: Torture and war crimes are AOK
60 Minutes interviews CIA torture architect Jose Rodriguez.. "..people don't understand that this program was not about hurting anybody. This program was about instilling a sense of hopelessness and despair on the terrorist, on the detainee, so that he would conclude on his own that he was better off cooperating with us...
Friday, April 27, 2012
Latest attempt by governments to control the Internet: CISPA
The House of Representatives passed cybersecurity legislation Thursday aimed at protecting American companies from hackers who steal intellectual property.
The bill passed 248 to 168, largely along party lines, despite the Obama administration's threats to veto the bill and its claims that the bill falls short in protecting civil liberties
I don't believe for a second the aim of bills and laws like this are solely for the reasons stated. Can't have all this unbridled free speech, now can we...
Read more here.
George Zimmerman raises $200,000 from some very f*cked up individuals
George Zimmerman's attorney said his client's bail might have been set higher if a judge had known about $200,000 US raised by a website and that only came to light this week.
Mark O'Mara said on CNN's Anderson Cooper 360 that he only learned about the money Wednesday and will inform a judge at a hearing Friday.
Zimmerman, who has been charged with second-degree murder in the Feb. 26 shooting of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, was released from jail this week after paying 10 percent of $150,000 bail.
Read more here.
Thursday, April 26, 2012
Jeffrey Miron: Idiot of the Day
Anti-bribery laws hurt U.S. companies! Do away with the law then...boohoohoo
What a moron.
public and policymakers should also consider whether the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act is good policy. And despite good intentions -- particularly, the goal of reducing corruption -- it is not.
The act is difficult to enforce on a consistent basis, since companies that wish to pay bribes can circumvent the law in numerous ways, mainly with minimal risk of exposure. So, most violations go undetected. The act therefore hurts companies that break the law clumsily and get caught, thereby creating a competitive advantage for companies that break the law cleverly and get away with it.
The most likely outcome is therefore that the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act has minimal impact on bribes but enriches the least honest companies. And if the act deters bribes by U.S. companies operating abroad, that is even worse.
Read more here.
Catholic leaders call Paul Ryan a heartless bastard
Or words to that effect...
Rising Republican star Paul Ryan has been condemned by Catholic leaders for saying his controversial budget plan was inspired by church teaching.
Faculty members and priests at Georgetown University said they could not condone a spending plan they said would hurt society's most vulnerable...
...The letter adds: "In short, your budget appears to reflect the values of your favorite philosopher, Ayn Rand, rather than the Gospel of Jesus Christ."
Read more here.
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
Jose Rodriguez, Ex-CIA Officer: Sick F*ck of the Day
The retired top CIA officer who ordered the destruction of videos showing waterboarding says in a new book that he was tired of waiting for Washington's bureaucracy to make a decision that protected American lives...
..."I wasn't going to sit around another three years waiting for people to get up the courage," to do what CIA lawyers said he had the authority to do himself, Rodriguez writes. He describes sending the order in November 2005 as "just getting rid of some ugly visuals."
Read more here.
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
Nina Easton: Idiot of the Day
Don't blame the 1% for America's pay gap
It's time to end the myth that the nation's wealthy are getting rich off the backs of the poor. Instead let's figure out what they're doing right.
It just gets worse after that...
Read more here.
Friday, April 20, 2012
Carnival Cruise Lines: Cold Hearted Bastards of the Day
Carnival Cruise Lines is scrambling to avert another public relations nightmare in the wake of reports that one of its luxury ships ignored a distressed fishing boat and left two of the occupants to die at sea.
The Panamanian fishing vessel was adrift in the Gulf of Panama with three men aboard when, according to one of them, a large vessel passed but ignored signals for help.
"Instead of helping us, they left us," said fisherman Adrian Vazquez, whose boat had been drifting for two weeks at that point after losing engine power.
One of Vazquez's fellow fishermen died of dehydration that night. The other died five days later, on March 15.
Read more here.
Thursday, April 19, 2012
Norwich City: A**holes of the Day
They're hiding their embarrassment and technical incompetence by going after this kid. What a bunch of assholes.
A 17-year-old Norwich City fan has angered the club by leaking pictures of its new kit 12 hours before the official launch.
Norfolk Police were called in after IT student Chris Brown published images of the 2012-13 strip on the internet.
Chris has apologised to the club, which said it would protect its intellectual property at all times.
Police have said all parties had agreed the matter could be resolved through a "face-to-face" meeting.
The teenager, from Norwich, managed to obtain the pictures from the club's kit launch website as it was being updated.
He said he then posted the images on Twitter.
Read more here.
A 17-year-old Norwich City fan has angered the club by leaking pictures of its new kit 12 hours before the official launch.
Norfolk Police were called in after IT student Chris Brown published images of the 2012-13 strip on the internet.
Chris has apologised to the club, which said it would protect its intellectual property at all times.
Police have said all parties had agreed the matter could be resolved through a "face-to-face" meeting.
The teenager, from Norwich, managed to obtain the pictures from the club's kit launch website as it was being updated.
He said he then posted the images on Twitter.
Read more here.
Michael Baker: Idiot of the Day
Stunning stupidity
A Kentucky man is facing a misdemeanor rap after he siphoned gasoline from a police car, a theft that came to the attention of cops after the perp posted a Facebook photo memorializing the crime.
Read more here.
A Kentucky man is facing a misdemeanor rap after he siphoned gasoline from a police car, a theft that came to the attention of cops after the perp posted a Facebook photo memorializing the crime.
Read more here.
New app proves once again what a moron Rob Ford is
How about an app that let's me take a picture of Ford giving the finger to a mother and her daughter....
Taking the city's battle to clean up Toronto digital, Rob Ford visited a lane way near St. Clair and Lansdowne to unveil a new mobile app that lets citizens report unwanted graffiti instantly. Instead of coughing up for a phone call, smart phone users can now snap a picture and whisk it off to 311 for processing.
"This is as efficient as it gets," remarked Ford at press conference earlier today. "This will make it easier than ever to report graffiti vandalism and help keep the city spotless.
Read more here.
Taking the city's battle to clean up Toronto digital, Rob Ford visited a lane way near St. Clair and Lansdowne to unveil a new mobile app that lets citizens report unwanted graffiti instantly. Instead of coughing up for a phone call, smart phone users can now snap a picture and whisk it off to 311 for processing.
"This is as efficient as it gets," remarked Ford at press conference earlier today. "This will make it easier than ever to report graffiti vandalism and help keep the city spotless.
Read more here.
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
Friday, April 06, 2012
Police in Moorhead, Minnesota: Scumbags of the Day
Stacy Knutson, a server at the Fryn' Pan Restaurant in Moorhead, got the tip back in November from a customer who left a takeout box inside the restaurant.
Knutson followed the customer out to parking lot and tried to give her the box but the woman told her to keep it. When Knutson opened it, she found $12,000 in cash.
Knutson, a mother of five, called local police and turned in the cash as lost property.
At first, police said the cash would be hers if it remained unclaimed for 60 days, according to the lawsuit Knutson filed against the department.
At the end of the 60 days, however, the department told Knutson she would have to wait another 30 days to get the money.
Then police told her she would not receive the money at all because it smelled of marijuana and had been seized under a state law.
Read more here.
Knutson followed the customer out to parking lot and tried to give her the box but the woman told her to keep it. When Knutson opened it, she found $12,000 in cash.
Knutson, a mother of five, called local police and turned in the cash as lost property.
At first, police said the cash would be hers if it remained unclaimed for 60 days, according to the lawsuit Knutson filed against the department.
At the end of the 60 days, however, the department told Knutson she would have to wait another 30 days to get the money.
Then police told her she would not receive the money at all because it smelled of marijuana and had been seized under a state law.
Read more here.
Thursday, April 05, 2012
Andrew Sullivan just loves him some Pink Slime
...I honestly can't see why there's been all this fuss about it. "Waste not, want not," was my mother's constant refrain. But then I love steak and kidney pudding and liver and bacon.
Read more here.
Read more here.
More government attempts to control the Internet, this time Arizona
In one of the most sweeping attacks on free speech in America, the Arizona legislature has passed a draconian bill that would criminalize speech on the Internet (“any electronic or digital device”) that prosecutors consider “obscene, lewd or profane language or . . . suggest[ing] a lewd or lascivious act if done with intent to ‘annoy,’ ‘offend,’ ‘harass’ or ‘terrify.’” The law is largely undefined and is in my view facially unconstitutional. The law would drive a stake in the heart of free speech. Yet, people like Bill Clinton have been calling for such a crackdown on Internet speech for years.
Read more here.
Read more here.
Wednesday, April 04, 2012
Billy Payne, chairman of Augusta National Golf Club: Idiot of the Day
The chairman of the club that hosts America's most prestigious golf tournament skirted the prickly issue of women's membership Wednesday, saying it is a private matter.
During his annual media session, Billy Payne, chairman of Augusta National Golf Club, did not comment specifically on Ginni Rometty, the top executive at IBM and, undoubtedly, one of the corporate world's most powerful women.
IBM's sponsorship of the Masters tournament guarantees club membership for its officers, but Rometty is a woman, and the club does not allow women to join.
"Well, as has been the case, whenever that question is asked, all issues of membership are now and have historically been subject to the private deliberation of members," Payne said. "That statement remains accurate; it remains my statement."
Read more here.
During his annual media session, Billy Payne, chairman of Augusta National Golf Club, did not comment specifically on Ginni Rometty, the top executive at IBM and, undoubtedly, one of the corporate world's most powerful women.
IBM's sponsorship of the Masters tournament guarantees club membership for its officers, but Rometty is a woman, and the club does not allow women to join.
"Well, as has been the case, whenever that question is asked, all issues of membership are now and have historically been subject to the private deliberation of members," Payne said. "That statement remains accurate; it remains my statement."
Read more here.
Oil Industry in Canada makes sure to gouge before Easter weekend
Canadians woke up to spiking gasoline costs this morning, with prices reaching 140.1 cents a litre in Toronto and 147.9 in Montreal.
That's about eight per cent higher than a year ago, even though crude oil prices are lower.
Crude for May delivery fell $1.05 to $102.95 US a barrel Wednesday morning on the New York Mercantile Exchange. A year ago, crude was trading at $104 a barrel.
Read more here.
That's about eight per cent higher than a year ago, even though crude oil prices are lower.
Crude for May delivery fell $1.05 to $102.95 US a barrel Wednesday morning on the New York Mercantile Exchange. A year ago, crude was trading at $104 a barrel.
Read more here.
Tuesday, April 03, 2012
New York's Department of Education realizes how dumb they looked
One week after New York's Department of Education drew controversy with a request to ban 50 words and references from the city's standardized tests – including “dinosaur,” “birthday” and "religion" – the department announced Tuesday that it is abandoning the plan.
"After reconsidering our message to test publishers and the reaction from parents, we will revise our guidance and eliminate the list of words to avoid on tests,” New York Chief Academic Officer Shael Polakow-Suransky said in a statement.
“We will continue to advise companies to be sensitive to student backgrounds and avoid unnecessary distractions that could invalidate test scores and give an inaccurate assessment of how students are doing," the statement continued.
Read more here.
"After reconsidering our message to test publishers and the reaction from parents, we will revise our guidance and eliminate the list of words to avoid on tests,” New York Chief Academic Officer Shael Polakow-Suransky said in a statement.
“We will continue to advise companies to be sensitive to student backgrounds and avoid unnecessary distractions that could invalidate test scores and give an inaccurate assessment of how students are doing," the statement continued.
Read more here.
Harper and Co. compensate for small dicks with F-35's, damn the cost
The Department of National Defence did not run a fair competition to choose the F-35 fighter jet, is likely underestimating the total procurement cost, and made key decisions without required approvals or proper documentation, the auditor general concludes in his spring report released today.
Michael Ferguson's first report as auditor general is heavy-hitting, and highlights a long list of problems with how the decisions were made to buy 65 F-35 planes to replace the aging CF-18s. But it also raises questions about how much the planes will cost and what DND officials were telling Canadians, and their members of Parliament, about that pricetag.
Read more here.
Michael Ferguson's first report as auditor general is heavy-hitting, and highlights a long list of problems with how the decisions were made to buy 65 F-35 planes to replace the aging CF-18s. But it also raises questions about how much the planes will cost and what DND officials were telling Canadians, and their members of Parliament, about that pricetag.
Read more here.
The US Supreme Court doesn't give a f*ck about you
Land of the Free...
The Supreme Court on Monday ruled by a 5-to-4 vote that officials may strip-search people arrested for any offense, however minor, before admitting them to jails even if the officials have no reason to suspect the presence of contraband.
Read more here.
The Supreme Court on Monday ruled by a 5-to-4 vote that officials may strip-search people arrested for any offense, however minor, before admitting them to jails even if the officials have no reason to suspect the presence of contraband.
Read more here.
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