Daily Archives: July 19, 2003

For Your Entertainment

This entry was posted in Patents on by

The August 2003 issue of Scientific American brings you gems from the US Patent Office:

The holders of the following selection of patents–a continuation of last month’s column on out-of-the-ordinary issuances from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office–will probably not have to worry too much about having to mount an aggressive program to protect their intellectual property.
Method of treating chest pain…..This inventor has patented lime juice to replace nitroglycerin as a treatment for chest pain such as angina pectoris.
Process for phase-locking human ovulation/menstrual cycles, patent 6,497,718, assigned to the secretary of the U.S. Air Force.

There are more. Go read the details and be entertained both by what people are spending their time doing and by the output of the patent office.

Felons Voting

This entry was posted in Constitution Democracy Election 2004 US Politics on by

Once their debt has been paid, once they have spent their time in jail x-felons must be allowed to vote. Talkleft suggests this and an issue that democrats should take up and Raise Your Hands asks:

where are the African American and Hispanic leaders on this issue, considering the skewed disenfranchisment of the poor and minorities.

And I propose going one step more and support no denial of voting rights for any citizen under any circumstances.

Evil Canadian, Bad Soldiers

This entry was posted in bush Constitution Iraq Patriot Act on by

Jeffrey Kofman wrote this story and on Wednesday Drudge revisited old news identifying Kofman as both gay and canadian which to some, including Kofman, appeared to be new news:

Reached in Baghdad, the Toronto-born Mr. Kofman expressed surprise at being singled out because of his passport.
“I guess my secret is out now,” he said.

As they again use ad hominem arguments to protect themselves the bushies steamroll ahead squashing those who spoke out:

“It was the end of the world,” said one officer Thursday. “It went all the way up to President Bush and back down again on top of us. At least six of us here will lose our careers.”
First lesson for the troops, it seemed: Don’t ever talk to the media “on the record” — that is, with your name attached — unless you’re giving the sort of chin-forward, everything’s-great message the Pentagon loves to hear.

This appears pretty consistent with the bushie view that freedom of speech is ok as long as it speaks the bushie line.