ahhh, don’t you just love the irony?
All posts by Pheezatron
New Jersey now the 3rd state in the country to gay civil unions
After the NJ Supreme Court ordered the state legislature to allow gay marriage or create a legal equivalent, the state lawmakers passed a bill allowing civil unions yesterday, making it the third such state in the US (along with Vermont and Connecticut). Massachusetts remains the only state where gay couples can legally marry.
Over 25% of Congressional activity was renaming buildings
WASHINGTON (CNN) — Despite criticism for adjourning last week without acting on several major legislative initiatives, members of Congress can boast significant achievements in at least one area of federal lawmaking — naming post offices. Of the 383 pieces of legislation that were signed into law during the two-year 109th Congress, more than one-quarter dealt with naming or renaming federal buildings and structures — primarily post offices — after various Americans.Â
via the CNN Political Ticker
Execution of Florida inmate takes 34 minutes
Saudi Arabia threatens to fund the Sunni insurgency in Iraq should the US withdraw
yet another kink in the iraq plans…
“King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia warned the US vice-president, Dick Cheney, that the kingdom would provide money and arms to Sunni militias in Iraq if America withdrew its troops from the country, it emerged yesterday.”
Story via the Guardian UK
Mandated Carbon Neutrality for all new homes in the UK in 2016?
If only American politicians would propose ideas like this. Here’s an excerpt from the BBC article:
“All new homes in England will have to be carbon neutral by 2016, under proposals announced by Communities Secretary Ruth Kelly. The scheme includes tightening building and planning rules, and a star rating system that reveals a property’s energy efficiency to potential home buyers. The UK’s 21 million homes are responsible for 27% of CO2 emissions.
The government hopes that the measures will help it meet the target of cutting CO2 emissions by at least 60% by 2050.”
The Brits & ‘Big Brother’ (not the TV show)
MNP has already reported on the ubiquitous surveillance cameras in the UK, which can even record conversations. (And let’s not forget the large number of cameras to catch speeding motorists either) Well now, a senior police official in the UK has suggested creating a DNA database to help combat crime, starting with taking and catalogging DNA samples from every baby born in the country.
Sounds eerily reminiscent of Gattaca doesnt it? (which was based on Brave New World of course)
Gov’t panel rejects paper trail for e-voting machines
We should have known not to get our hopes up! We can’t even recommend that ninjas use absentee ballots because often times election officials don’t count them anyway (unless there is a recount)
Maybe now there is a justifiable excuse for not voting…some 13-year old hacker working for the GOP is just going to fix the whole thing anyway
Previous MNP post on the NIST recommendation for a paper trail
‘Nonlethal’ weapon makes you feel like your skin is being burned off – hmmm, sounds humane
According to documents obtained for Wired News under federal sunshine laws, the Air Force’s Active Denial System, or ADS, has been certified safe after lengthy tests by military scientists in the lab and in war games.
The beam produces what experimenters call the “Goodbye effect,†or “prompt and highly motivated escape behavior.†In human tests, most subjects reached their pain threshold within 3 seconds, and none of the subjects could endure more than 5 seconds.
The ADS was developed in complete secrecy for 10 years at a cost of $40 million. Its existence was revealed in 2001 by news reports, but most details of ADS human testing remain classified. There has been no independent checking of the military’s claims.
The development of a truly safe and highly effective nonlethal crowd-control system could raise enormous ethical questions about the state’s use of coercive force. If a method such as ADS leads to no lasting injury or harm, authorities may find easier justifications for employing them.
via WIRED