Daily Blend: Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Humvee-mounted Active Denial System (“Pain Ray”, “Heat Ray”) [source: Defense Tech]

♫I wanna trip inside your head,♪
♪Spend the day there♪
♪To hear the things you haven’t said♪
♪And see what you might see♫

• ACLU files a federal lawsuit over the Illinois Eavesdropping Act, the law prohibiting civilians from recording police activity. I hope they win.
  (via Dispatches from the Culture Wars)

• Headline of the Day: “Atheist ad attracts complaint in NZ”
  (via Friendly Atheist)

• A) What sort of idiot thinks President Obama has any reason to lie about being a Christian? B) Even if he weren’t a Christian, what the hell would it matter? And C) If the next right-wing crusade is for proof of Obama’s baptism (the “Baptizers”?), I’m getting the fuck out of this country and so should you. (Oh, wait, I’m already in Canada … neener neener!)

• Top 10 Lost Technologies. (For once, not a Cracked.com list.)
  (via @ebertchicago)

• Think traffic in your city is bad? A motorway near out of Beijing in China has been stuck in gridlock spanning 60 miles for over 10 days with no foreseeable end in sight.

• Retired Presbyterian minister, Rev. Jane Spahr, faces second church trial for performing same-sex weddings.

• I originally intended to write a detailed rebuttal to this moronic post attacking Roger Ebert and his stance on the Park51 manufactroversy, but then I realized I would end up wasting far more precious time over such nonsense than it deserves.
  (via @ebertchicago)

• America, meet the Pain Ray ^[pictured] (or Active Denial System). You’ll be getting to know each other very well. Especially if you’re in prison.
  (via @todayspolitics)

• First, the Gainesville, Florida-based Dove World Outreach Center decides to hold an “International Burn a Quran Day” because Islam is “of the devil”. Then, they decide to ignore the city fire department’s prohibition of the event, declaring they’ll do it anyway. Now, Pastor Terry Jones has announced the church will be “protected” by an armed Christian militia called Right Wing Extreme. Yes, they really are masters at conveying that “love and peace” message, aren’t they.

If you have any story suggestions, feel free to leave them in the comments or send them in.

Tags: ACLU • Illinois Eavesdropping Act • recording police • Illinois • atheist ads • New Zealand • Barack Obama • baptism • conservatives • traffic • gridlock • China • Jane Spahr • same-sex marriage • gay marriage • church trials • Roger Ebert • Park51 • Ground Zero Mosque • Walter Hudson • Pain Ray • Active Denial System • US Military • heat ray • US prisons • Dove World Outreach Center • Terry Jones • International Burn a Quran Day • Right Wing Extreme •