Overnight open thread (genghis)

News and views you can’t (and shouldn’t) get anywhere else without a biohazard suit rated for at least Level 4. Particularly if you read Item #3 below.

Item #1: Gabe couldn’t be bothered to write a thorough 5,000 word legal treatise on the subject tonight, but the District 4 Court of Appeals in Wisconsin has ruled that police may attach GPS tracking devices to vehicles without requiring a warrant. (Note: Gabe just got in his latest order of BSG figurines from Amazon today, so he’ll be spending the rest of the evening posing them in action-like stances. Well, at first that is. Later it’ll degenerate into things we’d all prefer not to think about.) So here’s a little more on the GPS ruling from the Chicago Tribune:

”MADISON, Wis. – Wisconsin police can attach GPS to cars to secretly track anybody's movements without obtaining search warrants, an appeals court ruled Thursday. However, the District 4 Court of Appeals said it was "more than a little troubled" by that conclusion and asked Wisconsin lawmakers to regulate GPS use to protect against abuse by police and private individuals. As the law currently stands, the court said police can mount GPS on cars to track people without violating their constitutional rights -- even if the drivers aren't suspects. Officers do not need to get warrants beforehand because GPS tracking does not involve a search or a seizure, Judge Paul Lundsten wrote for the unanimous three-judge panel based in Madison. That means "police are seemingly free to secretly track anyone's public movements with a GPS device," he wrote.”

And why wouldn’t there be more below the fold?

Item #2: As a highly respected science blog, we’d be remiss if we didn’t steal some shit from Popular Mechanics from time to time (meaning always) about things like Science Lessons Learned from the New Star Trek Movie. Caution: The article claims there’s some spoilers. I wouldn’t know since I didn’t read it. It had “Star Trek” in the headline and that’s like catnip to you people. I keep meaning to tack on that little thing at the top right-hand corner of the page titled “50 Tools You Need,” but why bother? There it is at your beck and call. Discuss the tool selection if you wish. And to save hundreds or even thousands of you the trouble writing it in the comments, let’s just get it out of the way: “There’s really only one tool I need, baby….and I’m always packin’ it.” Just tryin’ to save you some time and self-delusions about how witty and original you are.

Item #3: Maybe something a little more practical and closer to home…news you can use and such. I know how it is with most of you guys, and I fully understand. Personal hygiene is just somewhat lower on the totem pole of priorities than it is in the outside world (That’s where the bright shiny “orb-thing” lives. Also, other people.) There may be some help though, according to this article titled Indian Dad Avoids Washing for 35 Years from ABC (Australia). Or at least a better excuse than what you’ve been using so far…cuz’ that ain’t really doing the trick anymore. Some details:

”An Indian man who fathered seven daughters has not washed for 35 years in an apparent attempt to ensure his next child is a boy, newspapers reported. Kailash "Kalau" Singh replaces bathing and brushing his teeth with a "fire bath" every evening when he stands on one leg beside a bonfire, smokes marijuana and says prayers to Lord Shiva, according to the Hindustan Times. "It's just like using water to take a bath," Kalau was reported as saying. "A fire bath helps kill germs and infection in the body."

"I still don't remember how it all began," he said in Saturday's edition of the paper. "I just know it started about 35 years ago." Kalau's hygiene regime has taken its toll on his professional life.

It’s unclear why the non-remembering has occurred, but hasn’t this man suffered enough at the hands of the hygiene Nazis he appears to be surrounded with? So far the Obama Administration has kept silent on this matter, but I expect if we, the unwashed masses, pour forth from our basements and take to the streets and make a huge stink about this matter, then it won’t be long until they’re forced to impose sanctions against this blatant fragrancism. Meanwhile, I see no reason why you can’t perform your very own “fire-bath” ritual right where you are at this moment using a Bic lighter.

Sickinmass’ bestiary is running low, so I’m trying to re-stock. While we’re waiting for that, tonight’s overnight thread sponsor is “Lurch.” He’s a bull, who according to the Guiness Book of World Records, has the largest horn circumference in the world, at 37.5” (which is equivalent to 8.73 hectares in phonics.)

Real or P-Shop? Who knows. And honestly…who cares?

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posted by xgenghisx at 08:10 PM

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