New works in the public domain since 1987.
25,000 Americans right now. That’s the number of people currently held in long-term solitary confinement for years in 80-square-foot concrete cubes lit by round-the-clock fluorescent light, with little or no human contact. The U.S. is alone among developed countries in using long-term solitary confinement on a regular basis.
There’s something to be said for managing through fear and intimidation. (The Uncomfortable Grayness of Life by Nathan Phelps, son of Fred Phelps, American Atheists Convention April 11, 2009)
Buddhists have been accused of abuses of their exalted position in Thai society that range from amassing dozens of luxury cars, to running fake amulet scams, to violating their vows of celibacy, our correspondent says.
BBC NEWS | World | Asia-Pacific | ‘Etiquette guide’ for Thai monks
There had been recent complaints of gay bashing in the Slotervaart area, populated by a large group of immigrants of Muslim origin, with reports of robberies and violence against gay men in De Oeverlanden park. [bonus: Gedoog is Dutch for 'tolerating unwanted behavior.']
Dutch signs point to gay sex seekers – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
The Octahedral Butterfly Map of the World, by Bernard J.S. Cahill (1866-1944). first published in 1909, is a sadly neglected monument of world map design.
Philosophy that is directly applicable to everyday human life and to robots.
Less Wrong: What is control theory, and why do you need to know about it?
This is my creation that I like to call the Cardapult. It is a business card that transforms into a rubber band powered desktop catapult.
YouTube – Cardapult, the business card that turns into a catapult
About half of all Americans have switched religions at least once, according to the most in-depth survey on the topic, released Monday.
Survey: Half of U.S. adults have switched religions – USATODAY.com
Young children think about gender in the same way they think about species of animals.
A Baltimore pastor who worked with developmentally disabled people was charged Friday with befriending a blind and disabled man in his care, then paying a hit man $50,000 in church funds for an execution so he could collect life insurance money.
City pastor charged with having man killed for life insurance — baltimoresun.com
Juliano Verbard, who was serving a 15-year term for rapes and sex assaults on children, and two of his jailed followers were hauled on board a chopper hijacked by three accomplices, said senior official Jean-Francois Moniotte.
the Washington editor for the New York Times, explains today why his paper cannot use the word “torture” to describe “waterboarding” when no legal or political or cultural authority from the Spanish Inquisition until the Bush administration ever doubted for a moment that it was torture
[Studies show X and non-X]
Did corporal punishment save a struggling school? | MetaFilter
The main purpose of the Malleus was systematically to refute arguments claiming that witchcraft does not exist, refute those who expressed skepticism about its reality, to prove that witches were more often women than men, and to educate magistrates on the procedures that could find them out and convict them.
A grave marker. Grave.
use your iPhone or iPod Touch to listen to any audio from your computer via Wi-Fi.
