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POPSCity Bans “Being Annoying in Public” This ordinance obviously violates the free speech clause and also to a lesser extent the free association clause. " Michigan finds itself in such financial distress that its Congressional contingent has successfully harangued the White House into multi-billion-dollar loans to private enterprise. I find that extremely annoying. Do we get to issue citations to the entire state of Michigan now? Considering the economic mess the state government has created in that state, what they need is more annoying speech, not less, especially if it annoys the current power structure." If my understanding of human nature is correct then this ordinance will actually incite normally un-annoying individuals to become annoying in public as a means of protesting this absurd infringements on the rights of man.
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POPSTorturing Democracy PART ONE From 9/11 to waterboarding PART TWO From the CIA to Guantanamo Copying harsh Communist interrogation methods PART THREE While hundreds of men remain imprisoned in Guantanamo, Congress grants immunity to U.S. officials who may have ordered torture http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/torturingdemocracy/program/
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POPSOld Blighty, the birthplace of English "Collins' editors know that old words die hard — and that some people will vilipend (regard with contempt) any execution without a fair trial. So they've offered the chance of a reprieve. They have made public 24 words that face deletion because editors could find no example of their use in their database of English-language books, newspapers, broadcasts and other media. If, by February 2009, a word reappears in that database with at least six "high quality" citations, it could be spared from the semantic dustbin. "We're looking to see if dropping a little stone in the pond of language actually does generate ripples," says Brookes."
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POPSMore Than 40 Arrested At RNC Were Press Seems to me we used to have some sort of First Amendment or something. "Media representatives in town to cover the events, from both big and small presses, were slapped with citations and pending charges ranging in severity, including unlawful assembly, obstructing the legal process, misdemeanor interference with a peace officer and felony to riot plus other riot pretenses," Pratt writes. "Many others who weren't arrested or detained endured pepper spray and other arms used for crowd control."
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POPSShould Conyers Impeach or Write Another Book About Bush's Crimes? Three years ago, Conyers' staffers on the Judiciary Committee produced a book about Bush and Cheney's impeachable offenses. Some of us helped them do it. After all, they were in the minority and couldn't do much more than write books. But now? In the majority? Now, should they be accepting that Congress no longer has subpoena power? Now, should they be accepting that Congress no longer has the power to legislate? Now, should they be accepting that Congress has no power of the purse? Now, should they be devoting tax dollars to the pointless vanity of doing what anyone else can do: writing yet another book on Bush and Cheney's latest impeachable offenses
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POPSCat parasite in humans makes them like cat urine
Parasite "Brainwashes" Rats Into Craving Cat Urine, Study FindsBen Harder for National Geographic News April 3, 2007 The parasite Toxoplasma gondii uses a remarkable trick to spread from rodents to cats: It alters the brains of infected rats and mice so that they become attracted to—rather than repelled by—the scent of their predators. A new study reveals that rodents infected with the parasitic protozoa are drawn to the smell of cat urine, apparently having lost their otherwise natural aversion to the scent. The parasite can only sexually reproduce in the feline gut, so it's advantageous for it to get from a rodent into a cat—if necessary, by helping the latter eat the former. In rodents, "brain circuits for many behaviors overlap with the brain circuits responsible for fear," said Ajai Vyas of Stanford University, who led the new study. "One would thus assume that if something messes up fear of cat pee, it will also mess up a variety of related behaviors." Bu
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POPSA Tale of Two Tell-Alls: Christopher Hitchens book that was published in the first week of April, books pages of the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, and the Boston Globe have not seen fit to give Feith a review. An article on his book, written by the excellent James Risen for the news pages of the New York Times, has not run. This all might seem less questionable if it were not for the still-ballooning acreage awarded to Scott McClellan. Feith draws on countless internal documents, many of which were intended for, written by, or debated among members of the president’s Cabinet, the most senior advisers to Cabinet officials, and the president himself. Feith has performed a public service by taking the time to present these documents, which have gone through the painstaking process of official declassification, in nearly 600 citations that are reproduced online with links to full texts, transcripts, and presentations. Larry DiRita National Review Online
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POPSLexicographical Longing in the Dictionary of Sailors’ Slang.) Before the cooling in the ’90s of America’s passion for colossal encyclopedia sets (bought from door-to-door salesmen), and well before the advent of massless Wikipedia.org and Dictionary.com, the navy blue compact O.E.D. was part of the standard décor of a bookish middle-class life. I was overjoyed to have one of my own. Furthermore, my other totemic college books — “Speculum of the Other Woman,” “Reading Black, Reading Feminist” and “Sexuality in the Field of Vision” — could go out of style, maybe; the O.E.D. was forever. Wasn’t it? No.
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POPSObama's "historic" speech on race: retrospective "Obama’s Philadelphia oration was an exercise in contextualization. In one particularly egregious play on white guilt, Obama had the audacity to suggest that whites should be ashamed they were ever surprised by Wright’s remarks: “The fact that so many people are surprised to hear that anger in some of Reverend Wright’s sermons simply reminds us of the old truism that the most segregated hour of American life occurs on Sunday morning.” On Tuesday, Obama declared that he himself was surprised at Wright’s outrages. But hadn’t Obama told us that surprise about Wright is a result of white ignorance of black churches brought on by America’s history of segregated services?
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POPSSanta Cruz Sleeping Ban Lawsuit Near Here is a new website dedicated to the lawsuit being formed against the City to end this immoral, unconstitutional and unethical law. This site will be a focal point for information on the status of the lawsuit. We need your help from funds to making phone calls and writing letters. Even the act of making making a comment helps.
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POPSConyers Says He's on Edge of Starting Impeachment Let's push Conyers over the edge by flooding his office with phone calls, faxes, and Emails on Monday and Tuesday. Let him know that only impeachment hearings 1-will make it on TV, 2-will force compliance with subpoenas by eliminating "executive privilege", 3-will hold brazen criminals accountable, and 4-will convince voters that Democrats care about the Constitution. Call 202-225-5126 Fax 202-225-0072 Email john.conyers@mail.house.gov
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POPSFun Questions to ask the Cops when being harrased for sleeping. These questions come from the time tested "Know Your Rights" role playing format, pioneered by Rico Thunder and Jason, who often teach Free School classes on your rights and how to use them. They role play in uniform. Free School is a concept used in Santa Cruz for everything from learning a foreign language, to knowing how to face the cops with the knowledge of your rights. The "ask to be taken to the Magistrate" is a great tool, just not on a Friday, or you may wait in jail until Monday. Start a free School in your town.
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POPSRove Will Probably Wiggle Out But Is Still Comtemptuous My guess is that Karl Rove and Josh Bolton with the assistance of the criminal in chief, will be able to wiggle out of this contempt citation. But if the public is watching, it will be another potential stake in the heart of the corrupt Republican party. I used to be a Republican, but that was decades ago, before the party was taken over by corrupt, religious freaks, with their hypocritical morality claims, and their far right war mongering ideology.
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POPSSuburban Sex Parties Draw Complaints I'd hate to be a neighbor trying to put what's going on every weekend out of your mind. This is just inconsiderate and rude. They need to do it at a home in a more rural area, with ample parking and no neighbors nearby. Nothing else is an issue.
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POPSReligious Comic Relief I was given hope that here was the definitive article that would wipe away this fog from religion and bring it into the 21st Century. It promised to disprove atheist claims using reason and science. Now, of course there are no atheist claims to disprove, but it makes for good rhetoric. (Note: atheism is non-belief, not a system of belief). Well, don't hold your breath waiting for any type of definitive rational for believing in a deity here. As they say, this article is all sizzle and no steak.
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