skip to main content
November 10, 2009
Interesting article at Slate,
In Defense of Jaywalking, where the author describes how the media and others often slant coverage of pedestrian vs auto accidents--examples include
San Francisco Chronicle, Boston Globe , and
New York Post columns.
Police, who are typically car-bound, are often
biased in favor of other drivers.
Not unexpectedly the Federal Highway Administration has
curious language regarding walkers--"Still, almost no one can avoid occasional pedestrian status". Even the term
jaywalking is commonly
misused.
Solutions? More money towards safer walking (including a reversal of
funding policies that favor cars), better places to walk, pedestrian-friendly engineering, lower urban speed limits, harsher penalties for drivers that violate pedestrian's rights, and critical reading of the often
selective and sensationalized media coverage of traffic crashes.
posted by aerotive at 8:32 PM PST - 100 comments
The
Australian Capital Territory, the home of the Australian capital of
Canberra, has
passed a bill allowing same-sex civil unions. As marriage is a federal matter in Australia, this is the highest recognition of same sex unions that is constitutionally allowed in a state or territory of Australia. However, it does give political momentum to the movement looking towards the repeal of the "one man and one woman" Marriage Amendment Act of 2004.
posted by Talez at 8:17 PM PST - 27 comments
We love our maps here, so how about a
map quiz thanks to our friends at The Morning News. Warning: the answer underneath each map is a simple link, and the URL sometimes gives away the answer.
posted by shothotbot at 6:41 PM PST - 10 comments
Dismal economy got you down? Chin up, sport - it's possible to save money and eat like a king at one of America's abundant all-you-can-eat
buffet restaurants. Before you and your dining companion are whisked off this culinary land of plenty, take note of the
definitive strategy guide to maximize both your dollar and your waistline. Fill up on tips such as:
Wear items with intricate patterns or designs that will disguise spills and stains. As you get your game plan together, here's your
anthem.
posted by porn in the woods at 1:09 PM PST - 96 comments
The Survey of American Jewish Language and Identity reports on the results of an online survey of 25,179 American Jews and 4,874 American Gentiles. Non-Jews say "klutz" but not "schmutz." The more Orthodox you are, the more likely you are to say "Good Shabbos" instead of "Shabbat Shalom." And so much more you'll plotz.
posted by escabeche at 8:12 AM PST - 87 comments
Sunday night
60 Minutes aired a segment on the state of cyber crime & cyber terror which included the extraordinary claim that unknown hackers were behind massive power outages in Brazil in 2005 & 2007. Now Wired Magazine's
Threat Level blog says that's just not true. According to
two studies (PDF, Portuguese) by the Brazilian government it was buildup of soot on insulators that caused the blackouts, not super-hackers demonstrating their abilities. Is the US Intelligence Community
passing around false information to justify its relevance?
posted by scalefree at 7:02 AM PST - 52 comments
