World War Web…
Well it looks like the battle for freedom on the intertubes is only just beginning as not even a full day went by following January 18th's massive populist Anti-SOPA outcry and the US unleashed its first major attack on media pirates. Megaupload was shut down and its founder arrested in New Zealand. And then it gets interesting...
The "idea" hacktivists collectively referred to as Anonymous retaliated against the Megaupload site's demise by unleashing their largest attack to date on US government and media websites.
Its going to be very interesting how this plays out. TV media has a significant bias given that they strongly support SOPA and any anti-piracy action. The internet media, however, has an equal and opposite bias towards anti-SOPA as well as a very critical view on file-sharing legality issues.
Will this even make it to the general US public? Or will mainstream media saturate the news with more noise about Newt Gingrich's sex life?
I shall make some popcorn...
This Little Piggy…
Will micro-pigs be the Must-Have gift this Christmas? Today's Twitter top trends were indeed of micro-pigs and the many who swoop over the tiny animals. But are they really a smart choice for a gift or are they a storm in a little curly-tailed teacup?
This little piggy makes the perfect pet by Emine Saner says "Micro pigs are the new must-have pets"
"I want a micro pig more than I've wanted anything in my life.I am not the only one. Yesterday it was reported that Victoria Beckham has bought David two micro pigs – surprise! – for Christmas. They probably came from The Little Pig Farm, run by Jane Croft in the Fens... They make, it seems, brilliant pets – they are affectionate, can be house-trained, learn their names, and Croft says they are more intelligent than dogs."
But then adds:
"'I'm not really selling them as presents, and I won't sell to anybody,' says Croft, who vets people to check they know what they're taking on – micro pigs need a large garden, should be kept in pairs and can live for 18 years."
While Pete Wedderburn of the Telegraph.co.uk writes that micro-pigs are a maxi-disaster:
"Despite the Beckhams’ trend-setting, careful thought should be put into purchasing one of these micro-pigs. They are hard work as pets and require the same time and care as a dog. Their environment needs to be enriched and with moveable content – these animals originate from a forest where there would be ample space to rummage around and investigate with their snouts. They need lots of toys and really should have the company of a fellow pig. This all adds up in costs!"
Me? I am holding out for a micro-giraffe!
Hollywood's next offer to aid BP?
Well, it has come to this...
After failing to get BP on-board with James Cameron and Kevin Costner, Hollywood has recruited another celebrity humanitarian with extensive experience that would greatly aid BP in plugging its leak: Richard Gere
Richard Gere (right) and Lemmiwinks jr. (left)
Well, we can only hope Richard Gere can finally help BP plug the leak. He is confident that his way will work better than the golf ball technique BP used early in the tragedy. Clearly the voice of experience!
Hele mei hoohiwahiwa Mahu a me Mahu's la male’ana
HONOLULU - Hawaii is a step closer to joining a small group of other states in allowing same-sex civil unions.
In a move that still needs the governor's signature to become law, the House of Representatives Thursday night approved a measure that has drawn some of the state's biggest protest rallies.
Republican Gov. Linda Lingle hasn't said whether she'll reject it or sign it into law but her office said later that she will carefully review the bill.
The House voted 31-20 in favor of the legislation, which had been stalled but was unexpectedly revived on the last day of this year's legislative session. The Senate passed it in January.
The measure would grant gay and lesbian couples the same rights and benefits that the state provides to married couples.
If approved, Hawaii will become one of six states — along with California, Nevada, New Jersey, Oregon and Washington — to grant essentially all the rights of marriage to same-sex couples without authorizing marriage itself.
Five other states and the District of Columbia permit same-sex marriage: Iowa, Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Connecticut.
The Aloha State has been a battleground in the gay rights movement since the early 1990s.
A 1993 Hawaii Supreme Court ruling nearly made Hawaii the first state to legalize same-sex marriage before voters in the state overwhelmingly approved the nation's first "defense of marriage" constitutional amendment in 1998.
The measure gave the Legislature the power to reserve marriage to opposite-sex couples. It resulted in a law banning gay marriage in Hawaii but left the door open for civil unions.
This year the issue has proven divisive in Hawaii with religious groups arguing that civil unions are a step toward legalizing same-sex marriage. During one of the biggest ever state rallies, several thousand people protesting the measure rode buses to the Hawaii Capitol last year following Sunday church services.
The gay and lesbian community urged lawmakers to act on their principles rather than back down in the face of public pressure from opponents threatening to vote them out of office.
Civil-union supporters wearing rainbow-colored leis, or flower necklaces, jumped and screamed for joy outside the House chamber following the vote.
"Hawaii is the Aloha State, and this vote shows that the greater community has love and acceptance for everyone," said supporter Van Law.
Disappointed civil union opponents wearing red "iVote" buttons as a warning to legislators this election season quickly departed the Hawaii Capitol, with only a few lagging behind.
"Civil unions are a step down the very slippery slope toward legalizing same-sex marriage," said Rachel Nakasaki, a Christian who believes traditional marriage between a man and a woman should be preserved.
Hawaii's civil union legislation appeared to be dead in January, when the House didn't take a vote on the measure and postponed it indefinitely out of fears that Lingle would veto.
The issue was revived Thursday after every other bill introduced this year had been acted on. Democratic House Majority Leader Blake Oshiro made the motion to reconsider the bill, although the House fell three votes short of the two-thirds majority needed to override the governor.
The bill was written so that civil unions would be available to both same-sex and opposite-sex couples to avoid claims of discrimination.
"Equality feels really good," said Suzanne King, who said Hawaii would recognize her Massachusetts marriage to her partner as a civil union if the bill becomes law. "It allows us to strengthen our family."
If Lingle vetoes the bill, it's unlikely lawmakers would return to the Capitol to try to override her. They lack enough votes, and it's an election year where legislators are hesitant to take stands on contentious social issues unless they're forced to, as they were during Thursday's roll-call vote.
"I'm looking forward to not coming back," said Democratic Speaker of the House Calvin Say.
'Microchips like little beepers that the Government puts into your vaginal-rectal area'
from Political Insider:
Delusions, the Legislature and an implanted microchip
We often say that insanity reigns at the state Capitol.
But when we do, we do not literally accuse the people inside of letting their grip on reality slip. We simply mean that our ability to fathom their motives, or their ability to express them, has fallen short.
Referring to a politician as delusional is simply entertaining hyperbole. But it is something that becomes much less funny when a truly tortured soul bears her torment.
Last Wednesday, the House Judiciary Committee entertained SB 235, the bill sponsored by Sen. Chip Pearson (R-Dawsonville) to prohibit the involuntary implantation of microchips in human beings.
In Gov. Roy Barnes’ stump speech, the bill has become a routine example of the Republican tendency to attack problems that don’t exist, and ignore the ones that do. Besides, Barnes argues, if someone holds him down to insert a microchip in his head, “it should be more than a damned misdemeanor.”
Three states have instituted bans, and others have considered the legislation. In Virginia, a bill supporter declared microchips to be the “666″ mark of the beast referred to in the Book of Revelation.
Pearson has said his motivation isn’t biblical or religious – that he is simply working in advance of technology’s next assault on personal privacy. Not unlike limiting the uses of DNA testing by health insurance companies, he argues.
At the House hearing, state Rep. Ed Setzler (R-Kennesaw), who is shouldering the legislation in the House, spoke earnestly for better than a half hour on microchips as a literal invasion of privacy.
He was followed by a hefty woman who described herself as a resident of DeKalb County. “I’m also one of the people in Georgia who has a microchip,” the woman said. Slowly, she began to lead the assembled lawmakers down a path they didn’t want to take.
Microchips, the woman began, “infringe on issues that are fundamental to our very existence. Our rights to privacy, our rights to bodily integrity, the right to say no to foreign objects being put in our body.”
She spoke of the “right to work without being tortured by co-workers who are activating these microchips by using their cell phones and other electronic devices.”
She continued. “Microchips are like little beepers. Just imagine, if you will, having a beeper in your rectum or genital area, the most sensitive area of your body. And your beeper numbers displayed on billboards throughout the city. All done without your permission,” she said.
It was not funny, and no one laughed.
“Ma’am, did you say you have a microchip?” asked state Rep. Tom Weldon (R-Ringgold).
“Yes, I do. This microchip was put in my vaginal-rectum area,” she replied. Setzler, the sponsoring lawmaker, sat next to the witness – his head bowed.
“You’re saying this was involuntary?” Weldon continued.
The woman said she had been pushing a court case through the system for the last eight years to have the device removed.
Wendell Willard (R-Atlanta), chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, picked up the questioning.
“Who implanted this in you?” he asked.
“Researchers with the federal government,” she said.
“And who in the federal government implanted it?” Willard asked.
“The Department of Defense.”
“Thank you, ma’am.”
The woman was allowed to go about her business, and the House Judiciary Committee approved passage of SB 235.
About the Wordherder
I am a 33 yr old freelance writer, website developer, perpetual student, arbiter of silliness, aficionado of cheese, and proud owner of a beautiful mini-dachshund named Carrera.
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