Hmmm.. France to ban Scientology?

I wonder how this would work with one of those "real" religions. Gee- imagine what feeling "pressure"* and "blackmail"* from a "real" religion.

"The Church of Scientology faces trial on deletion fraud charges in Paris, with the possibility that the organization, which claims around 5,000 active members in France in addition to a bevy of Hollywood celebrities such as Tom Cruise, could be banned in France if it loses.

While it enjoys an active presence in the U.S. -- it has been recognized as a religious organization by the I.R.S. since 1993 -- Scientology has faced strong opposition from French authorities.

France has refused to acknowledge Scientology as a religion, and Miviludes, the French government agency in charge of protecting its citizens from sectarian manipulations, has warned French citizens against participating.
"Scientology is a dangerous movement," Milivudes president Jean-Michel Roulet told ABCNews.com. "It puts pressure on its victims, it tries to intimidate them and blackmails them." LINK

*hell, etc.

WHAT?!?!?!

Read this whole article, right now, if you care at all about the right to access information.


"Today through medical librarian channels, I got word that entering “abortion” as a search term in the POPLINE database now returns zero results because of a move by the database personnel to block that search. For background, POPLINE is “the world’s largest database on reproductive health, containing citations with abstracts to scientific articles, reports, books, and unpublished reports in the field of population, family planning, and related health issues.” This may seem like a long and libraryland-focused post, but I think it’s important, because it touches on government, reproductive health, and access to information, so stick with me on this one.
The librarian who noted the problem inquired about it, and was informed that it wasn’t a simple technical glitch; the response she received was, “We recently made all abortion terms stop words. As a federally funded project, we decided this was best for now.”
If you’re not familiar with “stop words,” they are typically words like “a,” “an,” and “the” that are omitted automatically from the search, because they is assumed to have no added value or meaning. Suffice it to say, it’s quite unusual for a word with “real” meaning to be a stop word, especially one so relevant to the resource being searched. "
LINK

Hi, Big Brother, can I help you?

"The FBI is gearing up to create a massive computer database of people's physical characteristics, all part of an effort the bureau says to better identify criminals and terrorists.

But it's an issue that raises major privacy concerns -- what one civil liberties expert says should concern all Americans.

"It's the beginning of the surveillance society where you can be tracked anywhere, any time and all your movements, and eventually all your activities will be tracked and noted and correlated," said Barry Steinhardt, director of the American Civil Liberties Union's Technology and Liberty Project."
Link to CNN article- one of the mildest on the topic.

Health insurance companies can deny your coverage if they don't like your Myspace. True!

No, seriously, if you've got an eating disorder, don't put it online. Well, that should go without saying, but, hey, people do stupid things. Especially online. But this is pretty dodgy stuff here- read on and be horrified!

"Litigation over an insurer's refusal to pay health benefits for anorexia or bulimia may turn on what is revealed from the alleged sufferers' e-mails and postings on the social networking sites MySpace and Facebook.

...In December, U.S. Magistrate Judge Patty Shwartz ordered the plaintiffs to turn over by Jan. 15 the children's e-mails, diaries and other writings about their "eating disorders or manifestations/symptoms thereof, and related health conditions" that had been "shared with others, including entries on Web sites such as 'Facebook' or 'MySpace.'"
LINK

Ever feel like somebody's watching you? Senate blocks use of ID implants in employees

For now. How long do you think it will be before Homeland Security requires this?

"Tackling a dilemma right out of a science fiction novel, the state Senate passed legislation Thursday that would bar employers from requiring workers to have identification devices implanted below their skin.

State Sen. Joe Simitian (D-Palo Alto) proposed the measure after at least one company began marketing radio frequency identification devices (RFID) for use in humans. The devices, as small as a grain of rice, can be used by employers to identify workers. A scanner passing over a body part implanted with one can instantly identify the person.

"RFID is a minor miracle, with all sorts of good uses," Simitian said. "But we shouldn't condone forced 'tagging' of humans. It's the ultimate invasion of privacy."
LINK

Man is shocked- SHOCKED, I tell you, about non-censored internet at the library.

I do kind of feel for this guy, because I'm not a huge fan of the porn, but still, censorship is not cool.

"The rules and regulations when using a computer inside an El Paso library is simply showing a picture ID and signing in at the information desk. Librarians said there are no restrictions on what information you access on the Internet.

"In fact, there are privacy laws in this state that protect people's use to library resources to a certain extent. In that regard, we do not monitor what people are looking at on the computer," said Carol Brey-Casiano, director of El Paso Public Libraries.

"That's not acceptable. Opening all of these brand-new libraries with our taxes and everything, there has to be some kind of software that blocks that," Leyva said."
LINK