Hot off the Press: Look — green grass! edition

The TSA is planning the airport "checkpoint of the future," which would divide passengers into three different levels of risk and security screening instead of treating all like potential terrorists: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/08/business/08security.html. I don't know if I like this idea, but here is an interesting quote:

“The idea is to take data that the government and the airlines are already collecting about passengers and bring it to the checkpoint.”

What data have the government and airlines been collecting about me?

Real Records, one of only two record stores in Iowa City, will be closing February 28: http://www.press-citizen.com/article/20110209/NEWS01/102090339/1079. I have been yearning to buy actual CDs for a while, and will probably head down and check out the remaining stock.

The Bible doesn't mention abortions and gays, says a DMR letter to the editor, but it does talk a lot about the rich: http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20110209/OPINION04/102090328/Jesus-said-lots-about-rich-not-about-gays.

A man in Quebec was caught by police after they clocked him speeding at 240 km/hour (just about 150 mph). He has been charged $2,598 and lost enough points on his license to lose it three times: http://www.wheels.ca/article/793703.

Lawmakers in Illinois are thinking about allowing corporations to buy ad space on the state's license plates, effectively turning them into mini billboards: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/ct-met-state-license-plates-20110210,0,5451061.story. Sometimes I get the feeling we are slowly transitioning to a privatized dystopian autocracy fit for a cheesy, '80s sci-fi.

Common Cause, an organization advocating for campaign finance reform, is questioning Supreme Court justice Clarence Thomas's visit to a Palm Springs political retreat for wealthy conservatives: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/15/us/politics/15thomas.html. The plutocracy at work, my friends.

An Iowa House subcommittee has approved the advancement of a bill that declares life begins at conception: http://blogs.desmoinesregister.com/dmr/index.php/2011/02/14/iowa-house-subcommittee-passes-bill-declaring-life-begins-at-conception/. The sponsor is Kim Pearson, a Republican from Pheasant Hill, and here's a little about what she thinks:

Pearson said the intent of the bill is simple. “Life is sacred and worthy of protection…I believe that abortion is murder.” She added that she wanted to changed a “culture of death” to a culture of life.

I love how these pro-life people vigorously fight for the lives of unborn babies, but do nothing to campaign against war and the cattle industry. If life is "valued and protected," why is all life not valued and protected from conception to death? But I digress.