Archive for March, 2010
Court OKs Repeated Tasering of Pregnant Woman
March 31st, 2010Via: Wired: A federal appeals court says three Seattle police officers did not employ excessive force when they repeatedly tasered a visibly pregnant woman for refusing to sign a speeding ticket. The lawyer representing Malaika Brooks said Monday that the court’s 2-1 decision sanctioned “pain compliance” tactics through a modern-day version of the cattle prod. […]
Lovelock: Authoritarian System Needed to Deal with Global Warming
March 31st, 2010Imagine my shock. Via: Guardian: We need a more authoritative world. We’ve become a sort of cheeky, egalitarian world where everyone can have their say. It’s all very well, but there are certain circumstances – a war is a typical example – where you can’t do that. You’ve got to have a few people with […]
More Bombings in Russia
March 31st, 2010Via: CNN: Twelve people — nine of them police officers — were killed Wednesday when two bombs exploded in Russia’s southern republic of Dagestan, officials told CNN. Another 23 people, including 11 police officers, were hospitalized with wounds from the bombings, at least one of which was carried out by a suicide bomber, according to […]
Drill Baby, Drill: Obama to Open Offshore Areas to Oil Drilling for First Time
March 31st, 2010Via: New York Times: The Obama administration is proposing to open vast expanses of water along the Atlantic coastline, the eastern Gulf of Mexico and the north coast of Alaska to oil and natural gas drilling, much of it for the first time, officials said Tuesday. The proposal — a compromise that will please oil […]
Neuroscientists Influence People’s Moral Judgments by Disrupting Specific Brain Region
March 30th, 2010Via: Science Daily: MIT neuroscientists have shown they can influence people’s moral judgments by disrupting a specific brain region — a finding that helps reveal how the brain constructs morality. To make moral judgments about other people, we often need to infer their intentions — an ability known as “theory of mind.” For example, if […]
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March 30th, 2010Thank you. MO $50 KP $20
Mike McConnell and the American Corporate State
March 30th, 2010I’ve included just a few choice excerpts from this great article. If you only click through on one story today, make this the one. Via: Salon: In a political culture drowning in hidden conflicts of interests, exploitation of political office for profit, and a rapidly eroding wall separating the public and private spheres, Michael McConnell […]
Judge Invalidates Human Gene Patent
March 30th, 2010This is such good news, I almost fell out of my chair. Via: New York Times: A federal judge on Monday struck down patents on two genes linked to breast and ovarian cancer. The decision, if upheld, could throw into doubt the patents covering thousands of human genes and reshape the law of intellectual property. […]
WASHINGTON DC: PUBLIC SAFETY RADIO SYSTEMS ARE DOWN
March 30th, 2010Via: WJLA: Authorities say all Public Safety Radios are down in the District. All DC emergency responders use the system. The police and fire radios went out of service around 7:15 p.m. Fire officials say 911 is not affected. Fire officials say they switched to a back-up system that uses portal radios and borrows channels […]
Sell-Off in U.S. Treasuries Raises Sovereign Debt Fears
March 29th, 2010Via: Telegraph: Investors are braced for a further sell-off in US Treasuries after dramatic moves last week raised fears that the surfeit of US government debt is starting to saturate bond markets. The yield on 10-year Treasuries – the benchmark price of global capital – surged 30 basis points in just two days last week […]
