Civil Liberties
mikethemadbiologist | October 7, 2006I may get Mad, but then there's just out-and-out mean. The scandal involving former Rep. Foley could take a really nasty turn. Before I get started, let me make something clear: the Foley scandal has as much to do with homosexuality as pedophillia has to do with heterosexuality. Which is to say, nothing at all. Nonetheless, in the social conservative mindset, pedophillia and homosexuality are linked, and, in terms of the political dynamic, that idiocy does matter. It would be kinda like thinking Saddam Hussein had something to do with 9/11, even though he didn't.
One of the dirty…
mikethemadbiologist | September 27, 2006Many of my fellow ScienceBloglings have discussed the six foreign healthcare workers (the 'Tripoli Six') who are falsely accused of infecting Libyan children (Jake, Orac, Tara, Razib, David, coturnix, Kevin, Janet, Revere, John, Abel). Apparently, some have 'confessed' to doing this. Why did some of the six foreign healthcare workers in Libya claim that they exposed children to HIV when there is no evidence that they actually did so?
Because they were tortured.
(That rumbling noise you're hearing is the sound of conservative fear-based ideology cracking under the blows of reality).
If you…
mikethemadbiologist | September 21, 2006
No, this post isn't about William Shatner albums. Over at Orcinus, there's a great post about the rendition (rendering? My torture lexicon is rusty...) of terrorist suspects to other countries. Here's the description of the U.S. citizens who live near the airbases and facilities used to conduct these operations:
But the two most interesting places were the rural town of Smithfield and Kinston down the road, where there's another airstrip that a company called Aero Contractors uses. Aero is the company that flies many of these missions for the CIA. We went there and talked to a pilot who…
mikethemadbiologist | August 31, 2006A Republican political operative about to give the First Amendment a rectal exam
(photo from here)
...well, not exactly. From the BBC comes this heartwarming story of fear of everything Arab (italics mine):
Raed Jarrar said security officials warned him his clothing was offensive after he checked in for a JetBlue flight to California on 12 August.
Mr Jarrar said he was shocked such an action could be taken in the US.
US transport officials are conducting an inquiry after a complaint from the US Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee.
JetBlue said it was also investigating the incident but a…
mikethemadbiologist | July 23, 2006From Paul Waldman's book Being Right Is Not Enough--What Progressives Must Learn from Conservative Success:
But the stance of those in the Radical Religious Right toward homosexuality is unlikely to change anytime soon. Since they believe the Bible absolutely prohibits homosexuality, they don't see any room for compromise. As American opinion evolves, their views will grow further and further from the mainstream. Whether it takes ten years or forty years, there will come a day when gay Americans have full legal rights, and antigay prejudice becomes a hallmark of fringe thought. At some…
mikethemadbiologist | July 6, 2006That was the response of the head of Stop the ACLU to publicizing the names, address, and telephone numbers of the Dobrich family who were suing the Indian River School District in Delaware for violating the separation of church and state by using the public schools to indoctrinate students in Christianity. This led to widespread intimidation that ultimately forced the Dobrich family, along with another, unidentified family to move out of the district.
Jesus' General decided this would be a perfect opportunity for satire, and so, wrote a letter to Nedd Karieva. Karieva responded (italics…
mikethemadbiologist | July 2, 2006One of the common defences of the Republican police state surveillance program is the mantra "Sept. 11 changed everything." According to a Bloomberg News story, the Bush Administration was engaged in domestic electronic surveillance well before the Sept. 11 attacks (italics mine):
The U.S. National Security Agency asked AT&T Inc. to help it set up a domestic call monitoring site seven months before the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, lawyers claimed June 23 in court papers filed in New York federal court.
The allegation is part of a court filing adding AT&T, the nation's largest telephone…