Daily Blend: 04/29/13

James McCormick

Canada is apparently eager to show that it can pass horrible and repressive laws in the name of “national security”, too.
(via @ioerror; RT: @ggreenwald)

A win for reality: James McCormick ^[pictured], who made millions by selling completely useless “dowsing rod”-style bomb detectors, is finally convicted of fraud (after hundreds have already perished).

LGBT history milestone: NBA center Jason Collins becomes first active US big-league sports player to come out as gay.

And finally, Glenn Beck tragically wins wrong kind of Darwin award.

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

Daily Blend: Wednesday, February 06, 2013

Pres. Barack Obama

A Tale of Two Obamas: BuzzFeed’s Andrew Kaczynski presents a trenchant exposé on the President’s ^[pictured] then-and-now stance on civil liberties and government powers.

10-year-old Alexandria, VA boy arrested and charged with “brandishing a weapon” for showing his orange-tipped toy gun to other kids on a school bus.
(via @radleybalko)

Maybe the reason some police departments hate being recorded (including by their own surveillance tools) is because it exposes their corruption.
(via @normative; RT: @radleybalko)

And finally, latest Republican attempt to force God into classrooms includes text from a noted pro-choice atheist.
(via Rob F)

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

Daily Blend: Sunday, December 23, 2012

William Kokesch

Here’s hoping that finally having a decent laptop will make tomorrow’s family reunion somewhat more bearable for this antisocial loner, eh?

Your obligatory reminder that President Obama never ended extrajudicial renditions. (Then again, he never said he would, something a number of liberals seem confused about.)
(via @jeremyscahill; RT: @greenwald)

Montreal Catholic clergyman ^[pictured] charged with you-guessed-it.

And finally, best wishes to Dispatches from the Culture Wars’s Ed Brayton, who’s having a rough time with his health.

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

Daily Blend: Friday, December 21, 2012

Wait, there’s still time for the world to end yet!

The NDAA ^[pictured] gets even worse: Senate removes amendment protecting U.S. citizens from indefinite detention without a trial.
(via @BuzzFeedAndrew)

Meanwhile, it turns out that the Obama administration’s surveillance program is even worse than under Bush & co., to absolutely no-one-who’s-been-paying-attention’s surprise.

41-million-strong state of São Paulo, Brazil passes same-sex marriage.
(via Joe. My. God.)

Pro-gun lobby blames Newtown massacre on gun-free zones, media, movies, videogames, music, gun safety advocates, President Obama, hurricanes, terrorism, gunman.

Better yet, the NRA wants “an active national database of the mentally ill”; sensible people everywhere pop an aneurysm.

In lighter news, contrary to expectations, it seems that 2012 was the best year overall in human history (so far!).

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

Daily Blend: Thursday, November 08, 2012

Bill O’Reilly

While President Obama has retained his job, it’s important to continue pressuring him to do much, much better on civil liberties and other Constitutional issues.

U.S. Bank sends militarized cops to evict Colorado woman who couldn’t pay her mortgage and Occupy activists protesting the move.
(via Uzza)

Claudia at Friendly Atheist provides some solid answers to some anti-abortionist questions for pro-choicers.

It’s so sad (and infuriating) how a man ^[pictured] who earned 99% of a perfect score on his SATs could wind up as the elite-hatin’ bullshit-daddy of Fox News. A living cautionary tale that playing to your audience costs your soul.

And finally, because she’s awesome, here’s Rachel Maddow’s fascinating breakdown of the election night results:
(via Joe. My. God.)

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

Daily Blend: Wednesday, September 12, 2012

Scott Van Duzer bear-hugging President Obama

Glenn Greenwald on Democrats’ Gitmo hypocrisy: “In the hierarchy of evil, consigning someone who has been convicted of nothing to a cage year after year after year, until they die, is high up on the list.”

Speaking of government evil, a new Human Rights Watch report reveals that Bush-era torture techniques were even more widespread than was thought, including in helping Libyan dictator Muammar Qaddafi (you know, who U.S. government all heroically helped topple only a few years later for all of its human rights abuses that the U.S. totally didn’t have any part in whatsoever).

Missouri lawmakers override Governor Nixon’s (D) veto of a bill that would allow employers to eliminate birth control coverage.

Florida Republican pizzeria owner who gave the Secret Service a collective heart attack by bear-hugging President Obama ^[pictured] is now being boycotted – an effort that’s falling hilariously flat.
(via Right Wing Watch & @KyellGold)

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

Tags: Glenn Greenwald • Democratic Party • Democrats • Guantánamo Bay • Gitmo • Barack Obama • Human Rights Watch • George Bush • Bush administration • enhanced interrogation techniques • Libya • Muammar Qaddafi • CIA • birth control • Missouri • Missouri General Assembly • Jan Nixon • Scott Van Duzer • Big Apple Pizza • Yelp • boycotts

Daily Blend: Tuesday, September 04, 2012

Don’t make me describe this. Please.

Mother Jones examines how the Democratic Party’s preoccupation with civil liberties and protections has mostly evaporated after four years in power.
(via @ggreenwald)

Ed Brayton explains how atheists can be harsh critics of Islam whilst still being decent towards Muslims.

Infographic: Walter White/Heisenberg’s body count. (Spoilers?)
(via @pzmyers)

And finally, destroying your faith in humanity, one unbelievably weird slash fiction pairing at a time. (No idea why #5 ^[pictured] isn’t #1.)

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

Tags: Democrats • Democratic Party • Ed Brayton • Chris Stedman • Islam • Islamophobia • Muslims • atheists • Breaking Bad • Walter White • Cracked.com • fan fiction • slash fiction • Harry Potter • Harry Potter • Severus Snape • Teletubbies • X-Men • Charles Xavier • Professor X • Magneto • Hannibal Lecter • Tetris • Death Note • Jonas Brothers • Band of Brothers • Dragon Ball Z • Anne Frank