Thursday, August 28, 2008

Tasers: 100% non-Lethal

Taser uses its corporate sway to have autopsy reports altered to remove mention of Taser stun guns as a contributors to the deaths of several men who killed while resisting arrest. This was an older article (from May) but I think the issue of corporate manipulation of medical records is worth discussing.

Judge Orders Taser Removed from Autopsies

Contraception is the New Abortion

The Department of Health and Human Services, under pressure from the religious right and the Bush Administration, is trying to expand the definition of what is considered an abortion to include any birth control methods that work after fertilization. Such an act would expand the scope of the Weldon Act of 2004, which already makes access to abortion services difficult, to the point that ability to acquire basic birth control such as the pill would be negatively impacted.

Article from Science Progress

D.C. v. Heller

The Supreme Court's ruling in favor of individual gun rights in District of Columbia v. Heller was barely two months ago, but already Washington is taking steps to defy the ruling with new laws that make purchasing and owning a firearm in the city nearly as difficult as before. Let's talk about this most important supreme court case of the summer (and possibly the most important thus far of John Roberts' tenure as Chief Justice) as well as the general issue of gun rights and the second amendment.

I have included two links:

A NY Times article on the case

A Reason Magazine article on DC's new laws in response to the case