A Dark Day

It's a dark day in the state of Wisconsin.

My Wisconsin State Journal blares VOTERS: BAN GAY MARRIAGE on it's front page. It's a dark day indeed.

Never before has our state constitution been used to limit the rights of the people of the State of Wisconsin.

I take solice that I believe in the long-run, the right thing will be done, but now it seems very dark. But it was dark for the Civil Rights Movement when Martin Luther King was assassinated, and they won in the long-run. It was dark in the movement for Women's Suffrage before they finally succeeded.

To me, though, this is why we don't have a Direct Democracy -- the American public votes in too small numbers, and are too easily misled by false prophets. (or, is it really profits?)

Democrats may have won many important races, but where it really counts, we've proven that we don't really care, and aren't paying attention.

Torture Bill as C Code

Having made this coding error several times myself, this makes me laugh.

Schneier on Security: Torture Bill as C Code

Kevin boils down the new terrorist (and others) arrest/detainment/torture bill into a small piece of C code:

if (person = terrorist) {
     punish_severely();
} else {
     exit(-1);
}

There's one obvious error, but there are other problems with the code. Anyone care to comment? (BoingBoing commentary.)

(Torture Bill as C Code via Schneier on Security.)

Abortion manual for the women of South Dakota

kottke.org: Abortion manual for the women of South Dakota

In reaction to the South Dakota Senate passing an abortion ban bill, a woman named Molly has posted an abortion manual for the women of South Dakota:

In the 1960s and early 1970s, when abortions were illegal in many places and expensive to get, an organization called Jane stepped up to the plate in the Chicago area. Jane initially hired an abortion doctor, but later they did the abortions themselves. They lost only one patient in 13,000 -- a lower death rate than that of giving live birth. The biggest obstacle they had, though, was the fact that until years into the operation, they thought of abortion as something only a doctor could do, something only the most trained specialist could perform without endangering the life of the woman.

They were deceived -- much like you have probably been deceived. An abortion, especially for an early pregnancy, is a relatively easy procedure to perform. And while I know, women of South Dakota, that you never asked for this, now is the time to learn how it is done. There is no reason you should be beholden to doctors -- especially in a state where doctors have been refusing to perform them, forcing the state's only abortion clinic to fly doctors in from elsewhere.

(via cyn-c)

(Abortion manual for the women of South Dakota via kottke.org.)