Clipmarks | clipiversity's 'general interest' clips

Inmates File Suit After Prisons Ban Some Religious Books Over Terrorism Fears

Mon, 11 Jun 2007 03:50:30 GMT

clipped by: cpltaiji
clipper's remarks: "Bookburning" is not going to solve the root problem here. The change needs to come from within. When change comes from within, books don't matter!

Clip Source: www.foxnews.com

NEW YORK — Inmates at the federal prison camp in Otisville, N.Y., were stunned by what they saw at the chapel library on Memorial Day — hundreds of books had disappeared from the shelves.

The removal of the books is occurring nationwide, part of a long-delayed, post-Sept. 11 federal directive intended to prevent radical religious texts, specifically Islamic ones, from falling into the hands of violent inmates.

Three inmates at Otisville filed a lawsuit over the policy, saying their Constitutional rights were violated. They say all religions were affected.

"The set of books that have been taken out have been ones that we used to minister to new converts when they come in here," inmate John Okon, speaking on behalf of the prison's Christian population, told a judge last week.

Okon said it was unfortunate because "I have really seen religion turn around the life of some of these men, especially in the Christian community."

Tags: law, general interest, crime, bizarre, books, civil rights

Students invent powdered booze

Wed, 06 Jun 2007 16:38:15 GMT

clipped by: cpltaiji
clipper's remarks: I cannot BELIEVE this! Why don't they just wean them on alcohol then?

Clip Source: www.cnn.com

AMSTERDAM, Netherlands (Reuters) -- Dutch students have invented powdered alcohol which they say can be sold legally to minors.

The latest innovation in inebriation, called Booz2Go, is available in 20-gram packets that cost €1-1.5 ($1.35-$2).

Top it up with water and you have a bubbly, lime-colored and -flavored drink with just 3 percent alcohol content.

"We are aiming for the youth market. They are really more into it because you can compare it with Bacardi-mixed drinks," 20-year-old Harm van Elderen told Reuters.

Van Elderen and four classmates at Helicon Vocational Institute, about an hour's drive from Amsterdam, came up with the idea as part of their final-year project.

"Because the alcohol is not in liquid form, we can sell it to people below 16," said project member Martyn van Nierop.

The legal age for drinking alcohol and smoking is 16 in the Netherlands.

Tags: life, law, health, government, general interest, bizarre, alcohol

Want to Save at the Pump? Make Right-Hand Turns

Thu, 24 May 2007 03:20:35 GMT

clipped by: cpltaiji
clipper's remarks: Does anybody understand the reasoning in this? Am I just too dumb to see it?

Uh........don't answer that!

Clip Source: www.foxnews.com

Sick and tired of the rising cost of gas? Take a tip from the guys in brown — make right-hand turns.

United Parcel Service advises its drivers to make right-hand turns on deliveries to save time and money, WEWS-TV in Cleveland reports, and Joe Sixpack can too.

"I always try to make right turns, especially with gas at $3," said Ray Rivera, a Cleveland-area UPS driver.

With 88,000 trucks on the road, UPS tries to save money wherever it can.

"They'll make right-hand turns only all up the street and they'll try to do the same coming back, especially on major streets," Phil Kane of UPS told the news team.

Angie Lau, a consumer specialist for WEWS-TV, tested the right-hand turn theory to see if veering right can actually help consumers' pocketbooks. Their test found that a right-hand turn trip actually took a bit longer.

Overall, drivers should try to make right-hand turns whenever possible, WEWS-TV advises, taking care to try to drive the shortest distance possible to save gas.

Tags: general interest, environment, energy

Florida Pub in Hot Water Over Ambiguous Bathroom Signs

Fri, 18 May 2007 02:18:35 GMT

clipped by: cpltaiji
clipper's remarks: So which one do you use if you're drunk and transexual?

Clip Source: www.foxnews.com

DESTIN, Fla. — Confusing signs on the bathroom doors at McGuire's Irish Pub have played jokes on customers for years — sending women to the men's room and vice versa.

But the father of a girl who was interrupted by a man in the women's room and Florida's Department of Business and Professional Regulation don't find the signs funny.

The agency recently threatened the Panhandle tourist landmark with closure for "Lack of signage properly designating bathrooms."

The state took action after the father filed a complaint, which said his 15-year-old daughter was embarrassed and left the restaurant crying after the bathroom incident.

The men's room sign has large print that reads "Ladies" and smaller text clarifying women shouldn't go in there because it's the men's room. The women's room has a similar sign.

Tags: life, law, general interest, bizarre, humor