How far down would you have to dig before you came to the centre of the Earth? And what would you find along the way? BBC Future descends into the depths
The French Interior Ministry on Monday ordered that five websites be blocked on the grounds that they promote or advocate terrorism. I do not want to see sites that could lead people to take up arms on the Internet,
proclaimed Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve.
When the block functions properly, visitors to those banned sites, rather than accessing the content of the sites they chose to visit, will be automatically redirected to the Interior Ministry website. There, they will be greeted by a graphic of a large red hand, and text informing them that they were attempting to access a site that causes or promotes terrorism: you are being redirected to this official website since your computer was about to connect with a page that provokes terrorist acts or condones terrorism publicly
.
No judge reviews the Interior Ministry’s decisions. The minister first requests that the website owner voluntarily remove the content he deems transgressive; upon disobedience, the minister unilaterally issues the order to Internet service providers for the sites to be blocked. This censorship power is vested pursuant to a law recently enacted in France empowering the interior minister to block websites.
Forcibly taking down websites deemed to be supportive of terrorism, or criminalizing speech deemed to advocate
terrorism, is a major trend in both Europe and the West generally. Last month in Brussels, the European Union’s counter-terrorism coordinator issued a memo proclaiming that Europe is facing an unprecedented, diverse and serious terrorist threat
, and argued that increased state control over the Internet is crucial to combating it — via redwolf.newsvine.com
A Constitutional Lawyer
Originally aired on ABC TV: 19/03/2015 — via Youtube
Former Liberal prime minister Malcolm Fraser has been remembered as a giant of Australian politics
and a great moral compass
following his death early on Friday morning at the age of 84.
It is with deep sadness that we inform you that after a brief illness, John Malcolm Fraser died peacefully in the early hours of the morning of 20 March, 2015,
a statement released by his office said — via redwolf.newsvine.com
Photo: William West/AFP/Getty Images
Golden dewdrop (Duranta erecta) and Lichen originally uploaded by Red Wolf
Squid — via Quantum Creative Glass
Thunderstruck by AC/DC arranged and performed by Luca Stricagnoli — via Youtube
This advertisement appeared in children’s magazines in the 1970s following studies into child behaviour. Researchers found that children were essentially miniature sociopaths and the only reason they didn’t run amok on murderous rampages was because they couldn’t reach the knife drawer in the kitchen.
Unable to kill en masse, they instead demanded attention by intentionally causing accidents and feigning injury or distress: knocking over boiling pans, slipping in dog excrement, leaping out of police helicopters.
In addition to being irksome, infant tears were deemed to be nothing short of psychological weapons. Parents were warned to arm themselves against the emotional assaults of their offspring, particularly because, if left unchecked, their child might eventually develop dark supernatural powers.
Indeed, for many years people believed that infant sobs contained potentially lethal occult messages. For example, the often-heard whine Please help me, I’m trapped under the front wheels of this bus
, when played backwards sounds like The Moomins will come; they will fuck you up
— via Scarfolk Council
— via Youtube
Golden Orb Weaver (Nephila edulis) and Golden Orb Weaver (Nephila edulis) originally uploaded by Red Wolf
If you have a bag or a jacket with a broken zipper pull, use this quick and easy build to repair it permanently — using a binder clip and some Shapelock themoplastic — via Youtube
After a years-long review of hundreds of studies, Australia’s top medical research agency has concluded that homeopathy is essentially useless for treating any medical condition.
Researchers with the National Health and Medical Research Council conducted a review of published studies on homeopathy and report that they could not find any good quality evidence to support the claim that homeopathy works any better than a placebo or sugar pill.
Homeopathy is a centuries-old form of alternative medicine that has been dismissed as pseudoscience by many sceptics. It’s based on a premise that like cures like
. Practitioners believe that herbs and extracts that cause symptoms such as headaches in healthy people will also cure headaches if they are given in highly diluted forms.
Although several studies have shown that homeopathic remedies
have no detectable amounts of the original substance left, homeopaths believe the tinctures retain a memory
of the original substance and are thus effective.
The Australian researchers involved in this review sifted through 1,800 research papers from around the world on homeopathy, finding only 225 that were large enough to be worthy of more thorough inspection.
They say they found no reliable evidence that any homeopathic treatment led to health improvements that were any better than a placebo.
And the researchers say the studies that did find homeopathic remedies effective were either so poorly designed, or so poorly conducted, that they were too flawed to be considered reliable — via redwolf.newsvine.com
Protea, Red Bougainvillea, Paperbark (Melaleuca) and Lilly Pilly (Syzygium smithii) originally uploaded by Red Wolf
This super-swell octopus tentacle wall art sculpture features a transparent aqua splash and a rusted porthole. Invite this critter into your home and observe how it wriggles its way through your wall and into your heart. The octopus arms are cast out of urethane resin in moulds from the original sculptures. They are polished and coloured with dyes and paint. The porthole is coated with iron and rusted, then sealed to keep the rust tidy. A hanger on back slips over a screw in the wall to mount. Protrudes about 22cm from the wall, porthole is about 11cm in diameter — via Etsy
Know a little Big Hero 6 fan who’s got Baymax on the brain? Go ahead and turn their enthusiasm into a woolly reality with this adorable crocheted Baymax hat. The pattern is by Sarah of Repeat Crafter Me, and despite the impressive likeness to the Big Hero 6 character, she says this is actually a fairly quick pattern to make since it’s practically all one colour — via Make:
TPG has announced plans to purchase rival, and Australia’s third-largest internet service provider, iiNet.
The deal was announced to the Australian Securities Exchange on Friday morning. TPG will acquire 100 percent of iiNet shares, of which the company already had a significant stake.
The total value of the deal is worth AU$1.4 billion.
The agreement will see the combined TPG company become larger than Australia’s second-largest telecommunications company Optus, increasing TPG’s customer base to 1.7 million.
There will be combined revenues of AU$2.3 billion — via redwolf.newsvine.com
Sir Terry Pratchett, fantasy author and creator of the Discworld series, has died aged 66, eight years after being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease.
The world has lost one of its brightest, sharpest minds,
said Larry Finlay of his publishers Transworld.
The author died at home, surrounded by his family, with his cat sleeping on his bed
, he added.
Sir Terry wrote more than 70 books during his career and completed his final book last summer.
He enriched the planet like few before him
and through Discworld satirised the world with great skill, enormous humour and constant invention,
said Mr Finlay.
Terry faced his Alzheimer’s disease (an
said Mr Finlay.embuggerance
, as he called it) publicly and bravely,
Over the last few years, it was his writing that sustained him. His legacy will endure for decades to come.
Sir Terry leaves wife Lyn and daughter Rhianna — via redwolf.newsvine.com
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