Ah, Republicans. When they're not attempting to cripple services of the EPA in favour of corporations, they seem to be trying to turn the United States into a modern-day Republic of Gilead. First, since there are all kinds of academics out there that might make their students think, just pass legislation that allows students to sue their professors if they think that their views are not being represented. This will work particularly well in Biology classes where alternatives to that silly Evolution theory will have to be presented. Even Scientific American has recently come out apologizing for overhyping evolution over competing theories such as intelligent design, stating, "True, the theory of common descent through natural selection has been called the unifying concept for all of biology and one of the greatest scientific ideas of all time, but that was no excuse to be fanatics about it."
After that you can stigmatize all your opponents as being against the faith to stir up the ever-present Christian persecution complex. Then you can appoint some judges to the bench that talk about how "people of faith were embroiled in a "war" against secular humanists who threatened to divorce America from its religious roots." Then you can use your influence to ensure that large corporations don't support same-sex right legislation. Why stop there though, when you can also explicitly ban any book that has any mention of homosexuality in it. Perhaps it is actions such as these that caused people like University of St. Thomas president Rev. Dennis Dease to denounce the speech of conservative pundit Ann Coulter as "hateful speech [that] vulgarizes our culture and goes against everything the University of St. Thomas stands for."
Spain has recently become the 3rd country in Europe to legalize same-sex marriages. The Vatican, needless to say, came out against the change. Homosexuals faired less well in Texas, where new legislation prevents them from being foster parents, and, since they are clearly deviant and might lie about their sexual history, allows for authorities to investigate the sexual background of any applicants. See the Gilead note above.
90 years ago the first major genocidal action of the 20th century occurred. Armenians are still demanding recognition of the genocide by modern-day Turkey, who denies that the actions taken by the Ottoman troops were any different from normal wartime operations. remembrance services were held to commemorate the event, and Deutsche Welle notes that Turkey's lack of acknowledgement of the genocide is hindering their EU bid. Japan, on the other hand, has recently apologized for the atrocities committed against the Chinese prior to World War II.
On the human rights front, save the Children has published a report noting with some alarm an increase in the use of abducted females in wartime situations. Former Canadian Supreme Court Justice Louise Arbour is shaking things up at the United Nations Human Rights Commission, calling for major reforms to ensure the organization's credibility. Some bad news for Canada in the human rights world though, as recent documents suggest that Canadian authorities were involved in the Syrian torture of Canadian citizen Maher Arar. Afghanistan, despite the current occupation, still has many human rights problems, as recently a woman was stoned to death for committing adultery while her male partner suffered only 100 lashes of the whip. In Pakistan, a woman who was raped by assailant and then by the police when she reported it, is threatening to commit suicide if the government does nothing about the crime. According to Amnesty International, despite the scandal involving detainees at Abu Ghraib, torture continues to be used in Iraqi prisons.
In health/science news, a Japanese chewing gum claims that it can enhance your breast size up to 80%. The downsize is that the same substance in the gum that increases the breast size also might put you at a greater risk of breast cancer. The New Scientist published an interesting article about how group cohesion and altruism led to the success of our species, as opposed to strict individualistic and competitive behaviour. Can someone fax this article to anyone on the right? Scientists have also successfully placed mice in near suspended animation, boosting hopes for a solution to long-term space flight. On the environment, it looks like our problems with the ozone layer aren't over yet, as scientists report that this year's ozone levels are the lowest ever recorded. Finally, astronomers have taken the first picture of a planet orbiting a star outside our solar system.
In other news:
- Found this site that lists the top cities in the world according to the prominence of their skyline. Has information about each individual building, etc.
- The New York Times published a story on the difficulties facing otherwise-bright Mexican students from poor areas in obtaining the educational opportunities that they require.
- Despite being rabidly anti-Castro, former Homeland Security Secretary Tom DeLay seems to like his Cubans.
- The Scream and Madonna have reportedly been destroyed after being stolen last year.
- A link to the BBC 4 Reith lectures, this year on "The Triumph of Technology."
- Have money to burn? Try buying your own island off of Dubai shaped like the world.
- On the other hand, if you have no money and just got a speeding ticket, here's how to beat it.
- No one is safe from airport security, not even penguins.
- For your entertainment pleasure: a dude falling. (flash)
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