February 2012
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Why people should be allowed to erase memories →
What if you could forget a bad memory by taking a pill? It seems like a weird question, but as this article in this month’s edition of Wired makes clear, it’s a question that’s probably going to become a very real one for a lot of people within our lifetimes. Scientists have basically figured out how memories work—-contrary to popular belief, they’re not like...
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Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Lawful... →
jakke:
wtftory:
Remember when the Conservatives were all about getting rid of the long form census because it was an invasion of privacy? I’ not sure how the fuck you spin this exactly. It’s a one giant bill full of creepy-ass-creep.
Canadians on tumblr, pay attention to this. This is a really massive and unprecedented expansion of police surveillance capabilities. If you’re not the...
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Alberta Doctors Still Billing Province For... →
Last year, Alberta finally removed homosexuality from its list of disorders that doctors in the province could bill the government for treating. This was 38 years after the disorder was delisted by the American Psychological Association, of course, but Alberta’s a little slow and deserved some congratulations for taking the leap forward into about four decades ago.
Strangely, it seems that...
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Jamie and Allison discuss Gena Hamshaw’s...
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Ironic: The FBI's having trouble finding and...
shortformblog:
3,000 invasive GPS devices turned off by the FBI source
» There’s one particularly amazing line in this story: ”In some cases, he said, the FBI sought court orders to obtain permission to turn the devices on briefly — only in order to locate and retrieve them.” If you remember, the FBI had to stop using tracking devices as the result of a Supreme Court ruling that ruled that the...
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Repo Man director urges fans to "pirate a bunch of... →
Alex Cox, director of the classic Repo Man, talks with The Quietus’s Craig Terlino about his frustrations with the entertainment industry, the alleged longstanding studio grudge that’s prevented a US Repo Man Blu-Ray reissue, and his desire that his fans should “pirate my work.”
It’s so corrupt. Now they want to have longer copyright periods because they say...
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The Guardian Reveals: Britain leads dash to... →
newsflick:
This is the true face of Britons involvement in Somalia.
Woman: Can I have birth control?
Government: No.
Woman: I got pregnant because I didn't have birth control and I don't want the fetus. Can I have an abortion?
Government: No.
Woman: I gave birth to my child but since I wasn't expecting it, I can't afford daycare. Can I have help paying for it?
Government: No.
Woman: My boyfriend isn't excited about sex anymore, because I lost my figure due to pregnancy. Will you pay for his erectile dysfunction pills?
Government: Yes.
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Conservative staffer resigns amid 'robocalls'... →
politicalcanuck:
A Conservative staffer has resigned following reports that Elections Canada is investigating fake election day phone calls used to keep voters away from polls.
Michael Sona, who until Friday was a staffer in Conservative MP Eve Adams’s office, also worked for Conservative candidate Marty Burke in Guelph, Ont.
Voters in that riding complained they were the target of automated...
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Canadian arms exports triple →
Canadian arms companies were given free rein last year as the federal government tripled the amount of military weapons and ammunition licensed for export to foreign countries to more than $12 billion.
The largest benefactor at $4 billion was Saudi Arabia, which is believed to have used Canadian-made armoured vehicles to help put down antigovernment protests in neighbouring Bahrain during...
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"[T]he Death Star requires .03% of the GDP of each... →
motherjones:
Most excellent article on our site today, vol. 1: “The Death Star is a Surprisingly Cost-Effective Weapons System,” by Kevin Drum.
Don’t get any ideas, Gingrich.
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Maryland is about to become the eighth state to... →
shortformblog:
A bill that would legalize same-sex marriage in Maryland was approved by the state Senate, which advanced a measure that narrowly cleared the House of Delegates last week.
The final vote by the state Senate ended a yearlong drama in Annapolis over the legislation, and marked the first time an East Coast state south of the Mason-Dixon line has supported gay nuptials.
With the...
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36,000 Quebec Students Strike Over Tuition Hikes →
An estimated 36,000 post-secondary students in Quebec have left their classrooms for strikes planned in response to proposed tuition-fee hikes. The Charest government plans to double tuition (the current $2,200 fee will rise to $3,800 over the next five years).
Montreal police arrested 37 people last week after the protesters occupied a downtown college, and it appears as though the police...
BREAKING: Virginia Personhood Bill Officially Dead →
stfuconservatives:
fuckyeahfeminists:
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“I wish to express my deep regret for the reported incident. I extend to you and...”
– President Obama • Apologizing to Afghan president Hamid Karzai about the Koran-burning incident earlier this week, which has sparked widespread demonstration in the country and led to the deaths of at least eight people — the most recent of which happened when a man, wearing an Afghan Army uniform,...
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Media FAIL in Coverage of Study on Gender... →
“Gender Uncertainty Risky for Kids.” “Child Gender Nonconformity Linked to Higher Risk of Abuse.” “Kids Who Veer From Gender Norms at Higher Risk for Abuse.” “Gender identity issues can harm kids’ mental health.”
These are just a few of the headlines that have been used in pieces referencing a new study on gender conformity in children and risk factors for abuse. Similar headlines have been...
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Defense of Marriage Act Unconstitutional, Federal... →
A federal judge on Wednesday declared the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act unconstitutional and ordered the federal government to extend health benefits to the same-sex spouse of a San Francisco lawyer employed by the federal courts.
U.S. District Judge Jeffrey S. White said the refusal of the Office of Personnel Management to enroll 9th Circuit attorney Karen Golinski’s spouse in the...
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'Pepper Spray Cop' Suit Filed - NPR →
brooklynmutt:
Some of those Occupy protesters who famously got face fulls of pepper spray last November on the campus of University of California Davis have now filed suit in federal court.
They allege “the university used excessive force to break up the demonstration,” The Sacramento Bee writes. “The Occupy UC Davis students were sprayed as they sat on the ground.”
The American Civil...
U.S. Troops Killed in Quran Protest →
The fallout from the burning of Qurans at a U.S. base in Afghanistan has claimed the lives of two U.S. troops. An Afghan official tells CBS that an Afghan soldier shot the soldiers out of anger over the burning of the holy books. Protests over the incident have raged for three days in Afghanistan. Afghan police fired shots to disperse a mob of protesters who tried to break into a U.S. military...
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Georgia Democrats to propose limitations on... →
historicalupstart:
As members of Georgia’s House of Representatives debate whether to prohibit abortions for women more than 20 weeks pregnant, House Democrats planned to introduce their own reproductive rights plan: No more vasectomies that leave “thousands of children … deprived of birth.”
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Transvaginal Ultrasounds ARE ALREADY HAPPENING
of-praxis:
socialistexan:
feminismisprettycool:
imperialchill:
keepyourboehneroutofmyuterus:
I keep wanting to scream, “TRANSVAGINAL ULTRASOUNDS ARE ALREADY HAPPENING RIGHT NOW TODAY IN TEXAS!!!!”
Texas has THREE times as many people as Virginia AND they already have mandatory transvaginal ultrasounds before abortions (I also have no hard data but I’m going to guess that Texas probably...
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