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The headscarf martyr

melissam — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 05:47:28 -0800

Marwa el-Sherbini testified in court against a neighbor who had called her a "terrorist" because she wore the hijab. As she spoke, the man she had accused walked across the courtroom and stabbed her 18 times. In the Muslim world, she is now being referred to as "the headscarf martyr."
Marwa el-Sherbini had been pregnant at the time. When her husband rushed to her side, he was also shot. Marwa died soon after. Her husband remains in critical condition. There have been protests in countries such as Egypt and Iran against what they perceive as European racism. The attacker was also an immigrant. There has been little press coverage of the murder in the Western media.

9th Circuit says Plan B is AOK

darkstar — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 21:17:49 -0800

Plan B, also called the "morning after pill" is an emergency contraceptive. Some pharmacists have refused to stock and fill the prescription, citing ethical reservations, causing the AMA to affirmatively state its support for the contraceptive and urge pharmacists to sell it and for the FDA to allow over-the-counter distribution. A partial victory was achieved in 2006 to allow OTC dispensing without a doctor's note for those over 18 years of age. However, some pharmacists continued to refuse to fill the prescription, including the owners of Ralph's Thriftway pharmacy chain in Washington State in 2006, causing some to boycott the chain. Ralph's was later found by the Washington State Board of Pharmacy to have violated the state pharmacy code in so doing. Ralph's lawsuit to block the ruling reached the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals which has now ruled against the pharmacy chain, saying ALL pharmacists must stock and dispense the contraceptive.
From the ruling:

"Any refusal to dispense -- regardless of whether it is motivated by religion, morals, conscience, ethics, discriminatory prejudices, or personal distaste for a patient -- violates the rules," the panel said.

Train vs. Tornado. Guess who wins!

P.o.B. — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 19:17:13 -0800

Have you ever wondered what happens when a freight train drives through a tornado? Let me show you (2:01 SLYT)

Secrets for everyone

kldickson — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 18:53:05 -0800

A small selection of Postsecret's spinoffs, from the blah to the pathetic, plus making fun of some of the dumber ones.

Building A New Culture Of Teaching And Learning

peregrine81 — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 17:44:29 -0800

Dr. Tae describes the way the US system of education is failing and how to fix it.

Lighting and Tables and Chairs, Oh My!

mattdidthat — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 16:57:40 -0800

Paint or Die But Love Me. Buoy Chair. Tilted Soup Plate. The art, furniture, and accoutrements of John Nouanesing.

The Elder Scrolls II Released as Freeware

Dark Messiah — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 15:21:13 -0800

The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall Released as Freeware . The download (Fileshack) requires DOSBox to run; the linked article includes instructions for running the game under DosBox. Also related are DaggerXL, a game engine being developed to update / enhance Daggerfall for modern systems, and The Daggerfall Workshop.

Photographs of the Excitement of Geotechnical Engineering (Failures)

filthy light thief — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 14:15:26 -0800

Professors Ross W. Boulanger and Dr. James Duncan have put together a Geotechnical Engineering Photo Album, with details of the successes and disasters. The album includes compaction techniques for a highway off-ramp, deep excavation methods, an offshore tank structure, and earthquake hazards of many sorts (mountain landslides, liquefaction damage to ports in Kobe, Japan, surface rupture in Taiwan, and problems with shallow foundations and subsidence in Turkey). (via oi9)

Deciding to sell, but not die.

Beautiful Screaming Lady — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 13:48:51 -0800

Champions of Reversible Destiny, architects Arakawa + Gins believe that people die because they're too comfortable. Having lost their life savings through Bernie Madoff, their bewildering East Hampton Bioscleave house - and, presumably, immortality - can now be yours for only $4million. [via the always awesome It's lovely! I'll take it!]

We climbed up, time to kick the ladder away, so more can't follow us.

VikingSword — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 13:32:17 -0800

“But it was clear to me that any time you deny one group of people the same right that other groups have that is a clear violation of civil rights and I have to speak up on that.” The Southern Christian Leadership Conference — the 50-year-old civil rights organization founded by the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and others — is seeking to remove the president of its Los Angeles chapter in response to his support of same-sex marriage in California.
In April, Mr. Lee attended a board meeting of the civil rights organization in Kansas City, Mo., and found himself once again in the minority position among his colleagues on the issue of same-sex marriage, but was told, he said, by the interim president of the civil rights organization, Byron Clay, that the group publicly had a neutral position on the issue.

Marine Biologists are noting new behaviors among Grey whales.

BigLankyBastard — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 13:26:13 -0800

Calving mothers are seeking out human contact. (SLNYT) “It’s extraordinary,” she said. “At precisely the time when you’d expect them to be the most defensive, they’re incredibly social." A lengthy article about the state of whale-human relations built around events at Baja.

Timmies in New York!

235w103 — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 13:21:56 -0800

Tim Hortons, the perennially popular Canadian donut chain, is coming to New York, taking over 13 Dunkin Donuts locations in what some are calling the Doughnut Wars. There seems to be some controversy over the precise reason for the change. Want to know where to get a Double Double in the Big Apple? There's a Google Map! And, Monday morning, FREE COFFEE.

Allah-o-Akbar

homunculus — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 11:36:22 -0800

Iran: The Rooftop Project. "This is meant to be the most complete possible collection of recordings of nighttime protest in Iran since the beginning of the uprising. Its goal is to locate and profile at least one video for each night primarily focusing on the nightly chanting of Allah-o-Akbar from the rooftops, whenever that footage is available. Some of these videos have not been widely seen until now." [Via]

Play Moneyseize

boo_radley — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 11:19:12 -0800

Flash Friday: Play Moneyseize.
soundtrack not by bradsucks, sadly enough.

I, Ron Butterfly

zamboni — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 11:15:30 -0800

Handcrafted praying mantis sculptures, in brass and silver.