links for 2010-09-29

• LOCAL NEWS: Fear of sex shops will cost city of Manassas $70,000
  "I don't like what goes on in this privately owned establishment, even though I am not forced to go there. I shall petition the government to make them stop what they are doing, because I don't like it. " The smoking ban / tyranny of the majority / government intervention crowd rears its ugly head again. LET PEOPLE DO WHAT THEY WANT. Nobody is forcing you to go there!
  (tags: politics local Manassas Virginia sex propertyowners'Rights consentingAdults privatelyOwnedEstablishments bans YourTaxDollarsAtWork TBD KK'sTemptations news articles)
• FREE STUFF: TheFreeSite.com: various free samples, product samples, free stuff, freebies, games, gifts, contests, freeware
  I gotta start doing this.
  (tags: free stuff TheFreeSite)
• FOOD: Meat tainted with deadly bacteria is being sold to consumers; government forms 'work group'
  Here's another article the vegetarians will love, but this is, again, another example of corporate negligence. It's not the meat itself that's bad, it's the way american industry handles it for maximum profit. MRSA sucks!

  The FDA does not have jurisdiction over meat products?!?!! What the fuck? Isn't that what we appointed them for? Shithole EGYPT tests for this stuff, but WE don't???

  (tags: food meat MRSA health contamination corporations research studies porkChops pork groundPork infected beef veal lamb LouisianaStateUniversity DepartmentOfAgriculture noTesting testing Walletpop news articles)
• FOOD: Processed Meats Declared Too Dangerous for Human Consumption due to corporate chemicals added to inrease sales, FDA tried to ban them in 1970s
  Not because meat is inherently bad, like vegetarians want us to think. But because meat companies use a color fixer called sodium nitrite, to make the meat look more fresh. I'd be perfectly willing to eat nasty looking meat if it's the EXACT SAME MEAT WITHOUT A CARCINOGEN ADDED.

  This traces back to people generally being superficial and overcleanly and snobby about appearances.

  I guess they'd rather have cancer.,

  The USDA tried to ban this in the 1970s, but our corporate overlords ruled the country instead. So also file this under: corporations and corpratism.

  Fortunately we don't purchase beef in any form in our household. Ground turkey is a perfectly acceptable substitute, and it is considered a white meat. But I wonder where it lies on the health spectrum here.

  (tags: health food meat meats processed processedMeats WorldCancerResearchFund WCRF reviews studies science unfit for human consumption SodiumNitrite beefJerky bacon sausage hotDogs sandwichMeat cannedSoups frozenMeals frozen ravioli redMeat FDA USDA corporations monosodiumGultamate)
• CARTOONS: Photo-Realistic Butt-head
  YES!!!
  (tags: media video TV shows Beavis&Butt-head untooned photorealistic realistic Butt-head characters PxlEyes cartoons)
• EYE TEST: Snellen Chart
  Fuck, so much for having 20/20 vision my whole life. I'm testing 20/25 on both eyes on this chart. Carolyn's testing 20/25 left, 20/20 right, so she beats me by 1 eye.

  It's kinda weird – because my display is so big, I had to stand 24 feet away. On my spiral stairs. You gotta take a ruler, measure the letter A, and do some math to see how far you must stand away, since everybody's computer is different.

  (tags: eyes tests eyeTests Snellen Charts SnellenChart medical vision)
• ABUSE OF AUTHORITY: TASERS: Woman calls police to talk to son about bad attitude; cops tase, choke 15-year-old son
  No force is justified on a house call like this. If you're invited into someone's home for non-criminal purposes, you should not use criminal tactics. What the fuck?

  Diedra Forte, feel free to leave a comment!

  Ain't it funny how the child victim is named, but not the public servant paid for by our tax dollars?

  (tags: politics AbuseOfAuthority police children tasers DarlingtonCounty DiedraForte chokd KevanteForte AndyLocklair ExcessiveForce brutality policeBrutality 15-year-old charged assault battery houseCalls CarolinaLive news articles)
• TECHNOLOGY WAR: US Government Assisted Iranian Gov Mobile Wiretaps
  This is obvious, but I hadn't thought of it. The US govt forced manufacturers to include backdoors in technology (CALEA law). So of course authoritarian regimes want the same phones that WE forced to exist. Great job, assholes.
  (tags: politics TechnologyWar PoliceState technology phones cellPhones backdoors TKTK ArsTechnica Slashdot news articles rights government USA Iran BigBrother surveillance wiretapping YourTaxDolarsAtWork CALEA)
• OVERLY-HARSH PUNISHMENTS: Jogging? Police will search you, detain you — for wearing camouflague — and charge you with a felony for carrying a knife WHEN LIONS ARE AROUND
  Several layers of ridiculous here. Of course the kids weren't white… They were even charged — for having a lighter: "Possessing smoking paraphernalia." How dare you have fire!
  (tags: politics OverlyHarshPunishments policeState jogging children police camouflague racism felony charges knife rights civilRights knives resistingAnOfficer EastCountyMagazine California news articles)
• TV SHOWS: Trent Reznor and HBO moving forward with ‘Year Zero’ sci-fi series [updated]
  I don't see how this could possibly suck. Two things I like: Reznor and HBO/
  (tags: media video TV shows music musicians TrentReznor bands NineInchNails albums YearZero HBO HeroComplex news articles)
• TECHNOLOGY WAR: CENSORSHIP: Stop the American Internet Blacklist! | Demand Progress
  Those of us paying attention have seen how this has worked in other countries that have tried it: Wikipedia being blocked for showing album covers with young naked girls on it, sites criticizing the blacklist showing up on the blacklist itself, etc. etc. IF YOU DON'T LIKE SOMETHING, SURF TO ANOTHER PAGE.
  (tags: politics TechnologyWar internet censorship USA Congress legislation petitions blacklists DemandProgress)
• WAR ON DRUGS: Why Parents Should Support Legalizing Pot
  Read this, parents.
  (tags: politics WarOnDrugs drugs freedom parents children why should support legalizing legalization Alternet news articles)