The Eternal Gaijin

I'm not entirely sure what I think of this: Debaptise Yourself! It seems like tacitly asking for the approval of a church and a god that you don't actually believe exists. As someone who was born and baptised as a Catholic, I can say from my own experience that it's something you can get over -- much as you would get over a cold. Removing yourself from baptismal records seems like allowing the church to which you won't submit to still have a hold over you. Still no harm, I just think it's a bit irrelevant. I certainly can't be arsed to trail myself all the way to Sydney to expunge myself from the records. More here if you're interested.

I'm just reading the same shit every week. Quarter of all British govt databases are illegal - Boing Boing BBC NEWS | UK | Call to scrap 'illegal databases'

And fuck you, Fox News .

As it turns out, there's more coming in on the New Scientist article that got pulled. New Humanist (what is it with the 'New' label anyway?) looks into where the legal complaint may have come from and suggests that they may have had no choice but to pull it down for the time being. New Humanist Blog: So why did New Scientist pull that article? News of the article's removal earlier this week triggered some strong reactions in the blogosphere, with many suggesting the magazine had caved in to creationist complaints. At the time I suggested that bloggers ought to stop and think for a moment – New Scientist had clearly received a legal complaint about the article, and had therefore had to remove it while that matter was addressed. This was surely a far more plausible explanation than them trying to avoid offending creationists.

No good can come of a Science Minister that can't say, "Yes, yes I do believe in evolution." So what about Goodyear, our friend in Ottawa? Is Canada’s Science Minister a creationist? | Bad Astronomy | Discover Magazine Canadian Cynic: Gary Goodyear, meet shitstorm. Shitstorm, Gary. 'Canadian Science minister's coyness on evolution worries researchers' by CBC - RichardDawkins.net Hopefully he'll be embarrassed by the attention and step down. Cause we know that believing Xtians are quite good at doing the right thing. BTW, can I just say that believing in evolution is like believing in atoms or oxygen. It's a fucking fact people. I'm swinging more and more to the idea that we need to start to saying accept evolution when we question people on evolution. It seems that we are tacitly moving evolutionary theory, and science by association, from the empirical into the realm of belief. The implication to the word believe is that the subject is actually a ...

Two more arguments for decriminalization, if not outright legalization.   The case for a domestic marijuana industry | The Argument The success of drug decriminalization in Portugal - Glenn Greenwald - Salon.com

BBC NEWS | Politics | British 'careless' with liberties British people have been "careless" with their civil liberties, but that is beginning to change, former shadow home affairs minister David Davis has said. Speaking at the Convention on Modern Liberty on Saturday, Mr Davis said people were growing increasingly angry at government intrusion in their lives. ... "We have to accept that society and life carries risk and whilst it is the duty of the state to do its best to moderate and prevent what is wrong, nevertheless there are finite limits," he said. "We, as citizens, have to make this clear to government, we are prepared consciously as adults to accept some element of risk in order to be free." The government's plans to extend the period terrorist suspects can be held before being charged led to a large Labour rebellion last year - and prompted Mr Davis's resignation. They were later shelved following a heavy defeat in the House of Lor...