Vatican: Gene technology enables new racism

GENEVA (Reuters) - Technology allowing parents to choose the genetic characteristics of their babies threatens to breed new forms of racism, the Vatican told a United Nations race conference on Wednesday.

Wait...since when did this technology exist?

Pope Benedict earlier this week said the heated U.N. forum, which several Western powers are boycotting to avoid giving legitimacy to criticism of Israel, was an important initiative to confront all forms of modern discrimination.

"The Holy See is also alarmed by the still latent temptation of eugenics that can be fueled by techniques of artificial procreation and the use of 'superfluous embryos'," Archbishop Silvano Tomasi, Vatican observer to the U.N. in Geneva said.

Wait...since when did this technology exist?

Armed robber receives year in Concord

Christopher Johnson received a sentence of one to two years in the Massachusetts Correctional Institute in Concord for armed robbery on Thursday.

Johnson has a “history of drug abuse related to crime,” Judge Judith Fabricant said before giving a reduced sentence.

The commonwealth had recommended a sentence of more than two years, but Johnson’s lawyer, Deborah Shopteese, briefly spoke with Fabricant to reduce it. The sentencing took place at Suffolk County Courthouse, and comes after a guilty plea from Johnson at a Mar. 16 hearing. Johnson appeared in court after serving 38 days before his family bailed him out with $1,500.

The casually dressed trio of Johnson and his relatives appeared tired as they waited for the sentencing. They sat through a few pre-trial conferences between Fabricant and some attorneys before their session began. The family quietly asked officers how they could get their bail money back, and that matter was settled at session’s end.

As Johnson was cuffed and escorted to Concord, he mumbled “I have a broken wrist,” as his upset family watched.

The family learned it had to pay a $150 legal fee before getting the bail money back, and was visibly upset as they could not pay the fee at that time.

100 countries declare end to racism

From VOA News...

More than 100 countries with delegates at a global conference on racism have agreed on a declaration calling for an end to intolerance and xenophobia.

WOO! Racism's officially over!

...

That's what this means, right?

The declaration, adopted Tuesday in Geneva, reaffirms a 2001 statement issued at the first United Nations conference on racism in Durban, South Africa.

The decision Tuesday by consensus came a day after Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad stirred controversy with an address in which he described Israel as "cruel, repressive and racist." Mr. Ahmadinejad's address sparked a walkout by delegates from 23 European Union nations.

The United States and eight other Western countries boycotted the conference over fears that it would become a forum for anti-Semitism.

...

...speaking of racism...

Republicans devour book criticizing New Deal

From Politico...

There aren’t any sex scenes or vampires, and it won’t help you lose weight.

But House Republicans are tearing through the pages of Amity Shlaes’ “The Forgotten Man” like soccer moms before book club night.

Shlaes’ 2007 take on the Great Depression questions the success of the New Deal and takes issue with the value of government intervention in a major economic crisis — red meat for a party hungry for empirical evidence that the Democrats’ spending plans won’t end the current recession.

That's the thing...there's no way of telling if the New Deal really worked because WWII came along and ended the Depression. And of course the Democrats' economic policy is GD dirty socialism - but in these times it's worth a shot. Or even better...let's start World War Three!

Iran convicts American journalist of espionage

From Politico...

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Monday called for the immediate release of Iranian-American journalist Roxana Saberi — convicted two days ago of spying by a court in Tehran — saying “the charges against her are baseless.”

“We hope that the actions will be taken as soon as possible by the authorities in Iran, including the judiciary, to bring about the speedy release of Ms. Saberi and her return home,” Clinton told reporters, adding that her trial was “nontransparent, unpredictable and arbitrary.”

Saberi, a 31-year-old freelancer who has worked for several news organizations, including National Public Radio and the BBC, was convicted of espionage on Saturday and sentenced to eight years in prison during a one-day, closed-door trial. She was initially detained about three months ago for working as a journalist without proper credentials.

Gotta have one of these.

Otherwise you're no journalist...you're just a damn spy.

School security ten years after Columbine

(CNN) -- In the wake of the tragic shootings at Columbine High School, some schools across the country turned themselves into near-fortresses.

They installed metal detectors and security cameras, banned backpacks, required students to carry IDs and posted police in the hallways -- all in the name of keeping students safe.

Now, 10 years after those highly publicized shootings in which two young men killed 13 people and themselves, school security has taken another dramatic turn.

Some of the noticeable security measures remain, but experts say the country is exploring a new way to protect kids from in-school violence: administrators now want to foster school communities that essentially can protect themselves with or without the high-tech gear.

Give the kids guns so they can defend themselves. I'm going to Hell.

Obama to visit CIA amid criticism

(CNN) -- President Obama on Monday will visit CIA headquarters amid criticism from an ex-CIA chief that he compromised national security last week by releasing Bush-era memos on interrogation tactics.

What was in that memo that people didn't already know about? Do we interrogate suspected terrorists by peeing on their faces?