Scalia blasts 'judge moralists'

"... Scalia said he was saddened to see the Supreme Court deciding moral issues not addressed in the Constitution, such as abortion, gay rights and the death penalty. He said such questions should be settled by Congress or state legislatures beholden to the people.

"I am questioning the propriety -- indeed, the sanity -- of having a value-laden decision such as this made for the entire society ... by unelected judges," he said.

Scalia also railed against the principle of the "living Constitution," saying it has led the Senate to try to appoint so-called politically "moderate" judges instead of focusing on professional credentials and ability."

Right on!

Breakthrough in adhesives thanks to Geckos

Nature is pretty amazing and always provides for plenty of ammo in new research. I remember reading a bit about this a few years ago and now it seems like it's going full steam ahead.

To give you an idea: "a dime-size patch of [this new material] could support 2 to 22 pounds, depending on how densely the hairs were packed."

OK, now if we can just figure out how to reproduce the spider threads everyone can be Spiderman!

PostSecret

Frailty, anguish, pain, sorrow. Secrets are rarely happy. Explore the human condition with PostSecret.

***

I really liked this story.

"I have made six postcards, all with secrets that I was afraid to tell the one person I tell everything to, my boyfriend. This morning I planned to mail them, but instead I left them on the pillow next to his head while he was sleeping. 10 minutes ago he arrived at my office and asked me to marry him. I said yes.”
-Canada

People in unusual professions - porn star

Arguments against pornography are usually factually weak. Here's another gem.

"it's a way of life that undermines our dignity."

Now, there's a vague concept - dignity. I assume by "our" you mean humanity. I am a member of this group and it does not undermine my dignity and so you fail!


"Sex should be a private thing, not a spectator sport and the pornography industry is creating a climate which is very unhealthy."

Unhealthy climate? What does this mean? How is it unhealthy? Is this a personal opinion?

***

If you find better arguments against pornography please post them in the comments section. I'd like to see if there are some that would actually hold up against logic and reason.

London Zoo introduces a human exhibit

"The Human Zoo hopes to demonstrate the basic nature of man and examine the impact they have on the animal Kingdom."

It's a neat idea, but it's setup wrong. If you wanted to have a human display you should... randomly snag people off the street, strip 'em, tag 'em and throw 'em indefinitely in a cage. Yeah, but that would not be nice. Zoos should be abolished.

North Korea's propaganda gems

The sharp language of North Korea's propaganda machine is always useful when looking for a good laugh or an insult. Now Mr. Geoff Davis provides just that - an archive of nearly every article published by the DPRK from 1996 onward. There is even an insult generator provided! :)

To give you a taste of the insult generator: "You sycophantic stooge, we will mercilessly crush you with the weapon of singlehearted unity!"

NK News
KCNA Random Insult Generator

The start of a new religion?

May you be touched by his noodly appendage...

The controversial art of Robert Mapplethorpe

"...American society..., which sets the appetites loose in the name of freedom and then deplores the public display of appetite in the name of decency."

Pretty much summarizes it.

untitiled

Yet another sad example of our safety obsession gone awry

An eleven year old girl throws a rock (admittedly a sizeable one) at an eight year old boy who was pelting her with water balloons and the "police responded with three cars and a helicopter". Not only that, but the prosecutor charged her with a felony - assault with a deadly weapon. The girl spent five days in detention (being allowed one 30 minute visit by her parents) and a month under house arrest. Can we say "overreaction"!?!


Interestingly the news stories do not mention the claim made on a website in her support that the boys teased her and called her names.

Calif. Girl, 11, Avoids Felony Trial - Yahoo! News

Stone-throwing girl escapes trial

Free Maribel Cuevas

New headline for Yahoo!?

I got a great new headline for Yahoo!. It should be:

"Yahoo!! We're here to help."

And I worked in all three major punctuation marks! Yay me!! *happy backflip*