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This Highway Adopted By The Ku Klux Klan The US Supreme Court has declined an appeal by the state of Missouri seeking to reverse an 8th Circuit opinion which allows the Ku Klux Klan to adopt a highway. Under the controlling ruling of the 8th Circuit, "desire to exclude controversial organizations in order to prevent 'road rage' or public backlash on the highways against the adopters' unpopular beliefs is simply not a legitimate governmental interest that would support the enactment of speech-abridging regulations."
comment posted at 5:47 PM on Jan-10-05

Miscarry in Virginia? Call the police or go to jail. John Cosgrove, Delegate for the 78th district of Virginia has introduced a bill to criminalize not reporting a miscarriage to the police within 12 hours of the miscarriage. via Chez Miscarriage
comment posted at 7:33 AM on Jan-7-05

The Reality of Red-State Fascism, by Lew Rockwell. We consistently say "Man, we're on the road to fascism" yet people fall all over themselves to say "We're nowhere near it.". Well, when do we say "Holy shit...we're there"? Everybody's favorite libertarian gives us a timeline of the descent, and lets us know how we are now not just on the brink, but in the midst of Americanized Fascism:

"If you follow hate-filled sites such as Free Republic, you know that the populist right in this country has been advocating nuclear holocaust and mass bloodshed for more than a year now. The militarism and nationalism dwarfs anything I saw at any point during the Cold War. It celebrates the shedding of blood, and exhibits a maniacal love of the state...In 1994, the central state was seen by the bourgeoisie as the main threat to the family; in 2004 it is seen as the main tool for keeping the family together and ensuring its ascendancy. In 1994, the state was seen as the enemy of education; today, the same people view the state as the means of raising standards and purging education of its left-wing influences....it sees the state as the central organizing principle of society, views public institutions as the most essential means by which all these institutions are protected and advanced, and adores the head of state as a godlike figure who knows better than anyone else what the country and world's needs"
comment posted at 6:50 PM on Jan-6-05

The Global Baby Bust Summary: Most people think overpopulation is one of the worst dangers facing the globe. In fact, the opposite is true. As countries get richer, their populations age and their birthrates plummet. And this is not just a problem of rich countries: the developing world is also getting older fast. Falling birthrates might seem beneficial, but the economic and social price is too steep to pay. The right policies could help turn the tide, but only if enacted before it's too late.
comment posted at 5:12 PM on Dec-28-04

Turning Pickets Into Pledges Planned Parenthood has launched a new program that "creates a no-win situation for anti-choice protesters — the more picketers who demonstrate outside a Planned Parenthood clinic, the more donations that clinic receives." This campaign allows supporters to pledge between 25 cents and one dollar per protester -- not a lot of money, but it adds up to thousands over time.
comment posted at 5:48 AM on Dec-23-04
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Is John Barlow, cofounder of the Electronic Frontier Foundation and Grateful Dead lyricist, a threat to national security? "On September 15, 2003, I boarded Delta Flight 310, scheduled to depart San Francisco International Airport for JFK at 7:20 that morning. I was still feeling slightly singed from Burning Man and the hour was one I prefer to see from the other side. I was almost back to sleep when, roughly two minutes before pull-back, I was approached by a Delta employee who informed me that there was 'a problem' of some sort and that it would be necessary to get off the aircraft..."
comment posted at 2:49 PM on Dec-10-04
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comment posted at 4:34 PM on Dec-10-04

Legalized Genocide and Torture in Ontario? It seems that comparing the actions of some social workers while in the carrying out of their duties collide with international laws...Is this really going on in what many consider one of the freer countries in the world? If you've seen what I've seen and had the same experiences that I've experienced, you may well feel the same way...Legalized torture and GENOCIDE? You decide...
comment posted at 3:20 PM on Dec-9-04

Tommy Thompson , former Wisconsin governor, GOP platform committee chairman, and outgoing Secretary of Health and Human Services leaves with these reassuring words: "For the life of me, I cannot understand why the terrorists have not attacked our food supply because it is so easy to do." Time stock up on those rapture rations?
comment posted at 9:39 AM on Dec-4-04
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comment posted at 11:33 AM on Dec-4-04

AmendforArnold&Jen
Founded by a libertarian-turned RINO and a member of the Green Party
comment posted at 9:13 AM on Nov-18-04
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comment posted at 6:44 PM on Nov-18-04

Counting the Real People’s Vote. A motion for the electoral college, a separation of voters into "real people" and the "secular urban base."
comment posted at 4:41 PM on Oct-27-04

Why I believe in our president
by Thomas F. Schaller, Executive Editor 10.26.04
I believe in President George W. Bush.
I've always believed him. ...
comment posted at 2:07 PM on Oct-26-04

Don't they teach these kids anything in school ? History ? Punctuation ? And what's that smell ? - Conservative Adam Yoshida steps in it, inadvertently calls for reversal of 1965 Civil Rights bill, arguing for the disenfranchisement of 20% of the voting public through the reinstitution of poll tests (outlawed in 1965). Plus, his punctuation is awful ! : " we should consider maintaining (or even increasing) their benefits while, at the exact same time, making it harder for them to vote (I recommend modern and simple literacy tests for this purpose.

From my extensive time spent examining present and future members of our underclass, I'mquite convinced that a series of simple language and math questions would be enough to discourage them from voting). "
comment posted at 2:08 PM on Oct-21-04

The Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative. "Combining science and stewardship, we seek to ensure that the world-renowned wilderness, wildlife, native plants, and natural processes of the Yellowstone to Yukon region continue to function as an interconnected web of life, capable of supporting all of the natural and human communities that reside within it, for now and for future generations."
comment posted at 6:30 AM on Oct-15-04

Where not to hide your drugs. Tips from the DEA. [via boingboing]
comment posted at 5:26 PM on Oct-14-04

Coward-in-Chief. George Bush has announced that he will give a major national speech on Wednesday, in which he will respond to John Kerry's criticisms of the president. This appears to be the first time any president has tried to hold a major televised speech during the election season for such a purpose. During his term in office, Mr. Bush has given the fewest press conferences of any president in the televised era. John Kerry had previously offered Bush weekly debates... and George Bush refused. Is it fair to say that he'd rather use his power of office to dictate to us instead?
comment posted at 2:52 PM on Oct-5-04
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comment posted at 6:04 PM on Oct-5-04

The evidence is compelling: John Kerry responds to George Bush's GOP acceptance speech with the following opening remarks: "I'll tell you what happened tonight that will be remembered. The Boston Red Sox moved to within 2.5 games of the New York Yankees."

At the time of Kerry's speech, however, the Red Sox had not moved up in the standings. While they won that night, so did the Yankees, and the Sox remained 3.5 games back.

And John Kerry accuses Bush of misleading the American people?
comment posted at 3:47 PM on Sep-29-04

The Spitball Division
The head of the Army Reserve says the call-up of the non-combat unit that doesn't even have its own weapons or vehicles And if Zell Miller can't provide the spitballs, there's always harsh language. Laugh or cry?
comment posted at 1:48 PM on Sep-22-04

What Are You Voting For?
comment posted at 2:02 PM on Sep-21-04
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comment posted at 6:38 PM on Sep-21-04

XXX: 30 P9RN STAR PORTRAITS (a bit NSFW, obviously) by photographer Timothy Greenfield-Sanders, is a book that features paired portraits (one clothed and one nude) of the top stars in p6rn, straight and gay, from legends like (best-selling memoirist) Jenna Jameson, Ron Jeremy and Nina Hartley to (ahem) rising stars like Sunrise Adams, Belladonna, Chad Hunt. The book includes short essays on the intersection of p6rnography and culture by a wide range of writers, from Salman Rushdie to AM Homes. XXX is, essentially, about the much-dreaded "p6rnification" of the culture at large, recently featured in the New York Times. As Gore Vidal writes in the book's introduction, “Doubtless, sex tales were told about the Neanderthal campfire and perhaps instructive positions drawn on cave walls. Meanwhile, the human race was busy establishing such exciting institutions as slavery and its first cousin, marriage.” (more inside, with totally NSFW Terry Richardson)
comment posted at 10:19 AM on Sep-18-04

A decision has been made to attack Fallujah after the first Tuesday in November, after the election: The violent political albatross of a secret Iraq with canceled elections.
comment posted at 4:02 PM on Sep-17-04

So this is freedom?
comment posted at 4:59 PM on Sep-16-04

Dan Rather: : "If the documents are not what we were led to believe, I'd like to break that story. Any time I'm wrong, I want to be right out front and say, 'Folks, this is what went wrong and how it went wrong.'" (reg. req.)

Andrew Sullivan: "Memo to Rather: you can't break that story, because someone else in pajamas already did. Check the frequency, Kenneth. You are so far from being out front on this, you are leagues behind in the dust. Have you heard of the Internet? You can find it on that weird machine in your office they call a computer."

Me: Is anyone else astonished as I am at how far CBS seems to have its head up its ass WRT news media in the 21st century?
comment posted at 9:35 AM on Sep-16-04

An interesting assessment of the war on terrorism. I love it when blogs seem to be filling a void in media coverage. This one is taking a critical look at the war on terrorism and seems to be finding some holes. If you go past the partisan talk (and it seems like that blog is slanted, even though it claims to be centrist), there's a lot of interesting links in there.
comment posted at 9:54 AM on Sep-16-04

Moore Bush. Because intelligent political discussion is what everybody needs.
comment posted at 5:36 PM on Sep-15-04

The World's Most Dangerous Ideas: U.S. and European goals on most issues are quite similar. Both want a peaceful world free from terror, with open trade, growing freedom, and civilized codes of conduct. A Europe that charts its own course just to mark its differences from the United States threatens to fracture global efforts—whether on trade, proliferation, or the Middle East. Europe is too disunited to achieve its goals without the United States; it can only ensure that America’s plans don’t succeed. The result will be a world that muddles along, with the constant danger that unattended problems will flare up disastrously. Instead of win-win, it will be lose-lose—for Europe, for the United States, and for the world.
comment posted at 4:25 PM on Sep-15-04

Jimmy Carter's Letter to Zell Miller via Boing Boing via Interesting People
A private correspondence between Jimmy Carter and Zell Miller has surfaced where Jimmy expresses his disappointment with Zell's taking part in the RNC and betraying his constituency.
comment posted at 4:36 PM on Sep-14-04
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comment posted at 6:15 PM on Sep-14-04

Those of us following the daily heart attack that is electoral-vote.com will notice a new site feature today. If you've ever wondered how the popular vote can be so evenly split when the red state / blue state breakdown glares so overwhelmingly crimson, now you can see a map of the US with states inflated/shrunk according to the proportions of their electoral votes. Presumably, this map will be updated, along with the standard one, with new polling data daily. [thanks to EB for originally pointing me to the site]
comment posted at 1:49 PM on Sep-14-04
comment posted at 3:37 PM on Sep-14-04

US Ban on Assault Weapons Expires

Without much fanfare the ten year old ban on assault weapons has expired. How does this affect our relative level of safety now that we can all own high powered, high capacity weapons again?
comment posted at 4:42 PM on Sep-13-04

Forged Documents? For Shame.
comment posted at 3:59 PM on Sep-10-04

"Al Gore...lives on my block." Humorous song by one of Al Gore's neighbors (warning: audio starts up right away when you go to the site). See this week's New Yorker for the full story, but the song itself is quite entertaining with no background at all.
comment posted at 1:46 PM on Sep-10-04
comment posted at 4:10 PM on Sep-10-04