John Stossel must be legally insane

This is not the first time that we’ve turned our attention to John Stossel on Rebel, but we dearly hope that it will be the last. His latest “piece” is deceptively called “Anything that’s peaceful” and in it he creatively twists the word liberal to mean that almost anything should be allowed.

For example the presently illegal practice of selling human organs:

“95,000 Americans are waiting for organ transplants. Thousands die while waiting. Legalizing the sale of organs would give people the choice of life, while allowing sellers to choose cash over an extra kidney.”

Yes wouldn’t it be wonderful if a new breed of “businessmen” were allowed to swindle poor people out of their own organs, luring them into deals they may not even understand with promises of quick, easy money. A new utopia in the making.

He also turns his attention toward the FDA, that bastion of liberal plotting and scheming:

“The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) decides what you may put in your own body. A truly liberal FDA would acknowledge that adults own their bodies and can decide for themselves what risks are appropriate. That would give consumers more choice. But liberals want the FDA to be tougher.”

Let’s just abolish the FDA then and return to the days when patent medicines weren’t required to list their ingredients, and could range from useless placebos to opium to outright poison. Yes let’s return to those days. Or maybe we could simply end up like China, with tainted baby formula routinely making it to supermarket shelves. Fuck the FDA, they work to undermine freedom by demanding things like evidence that a product works as advertised.

To be fair to Mr. Stossel, he does render one valid point in this diatribe, and that is related to the Employee Free Choice Act. This act seeks to do away with secret ballots when voting to form unions, and could make it easier for workers to be coerced into forming unions that they don’t really want. This actually is an outrage and should not be allowed. Secret ballots should remain as sacred as the vote itself.

Now that we’ve thrown Mr. Stossel a bone, let’s conclude with arguably the most ridiculous statement of his rant, as related to the Fairness Doctrine, “Fairness here means depriving people of the choice of all-conservative radio.”

Depriving people–of the choice–of all-conservative radio. That doesn’t sound like there is a choice, in fact that sounds as if there are no other options. All-conservative radio. Is that the liberal vision Stossel espouses?

Sure seems to be.

Eminent domain: India’s improvements make many homeless

To prepare for its 2010 Commonwealth Games, the government of India is razing the slums of New Delhi, leaving behind a wake of homelessness and destruction. Nearly 3 million of India’s poorest citizens live in the New Delhi slums, many squatting in huts, some living in houses they built themselves. But regardless of whether a citizen has been in their residence twenty years or two weeks, all have been told to make way for the bulldozers and the new road which will be constructed soon.

The most tragic part of this situation is that the Indian government has decided to relocate some of the slum’s citizens, but not all. Families like that of Hanso Devi, a mother of five whose husband works as a blacksmith, will not be relocated because the hut which they had erected was deemed too close to the road.

Arti Mehra, the mayor of New Delhi, has assured citizens that there is a grand plan in place for slum dwellers to move into one of the 100,000 new apartments slated to be built. However, to date only 6,800 are even under construction.

Those promises are no comfort to Devi, “It’s like we were picked up and thrown away,” she said.

Original article from CNN.

Rebel now accepting submissions!

The gracious and forward-thinking editors of Rebel have deemed it necessary to begin accepting submissions. So, if you are a fan of the site; a freelance writer looking for exposure; or if you’re just a loudmouth with an opinion (looking at you Eli) then send your ideas* to:

editor.rebelblog@gmail.com

*Writers who submit their work will not be compensated financially, but will be given a forum to express their views and expose their thoughts to the Rebel audience. Submissions subject to acceptance by the editors. Any articles submitted must not be overtly prejudiced or wildly offensive. We’re okay with mildly offensive subject matter as long as it adheres to the general theme and tradition of Rebel.

Get to work Eli.

The future is here. Prepare for the flying car.

The wings of the Terrafugia Transition fold down to go from car to plane in less than a minute.

The Terrafugia Transition is preparing for its first test flight next month. The vehicle, which claims to be as safe on the road as it is in the air, has thus far only been tested on roadways. When it takes off next month on its maiden flight, the Terrafugia Transition has the potential to make history, and if all goes well, the flying car could be a reality in showrooms less than two years from now.

The Transition has been designed so that it will fit in most garages.

The Transistion’s manufacturers, Massachusetts-based Terrafugia which is run by Carl Dietrich, have said that the vehicle uses regular unleaded gas and will be able to travel up to 500 miles on a single tank of fuel. Dietrich also did a little boasting about the unique look of the flying car, “This is the first really integrated design where the wings fold up automatically and all the parts are in one vehicle.”

While the prospect of a flying car is wonderful, the insane way people drive while safely on terra firma leads us to believe the Terrafugia Transition could be a bit of a hard sell. The last thing anyone wants to see is a traffic jam in the sky or a ten Terrafugia Transition pileup on the ground.

Click here to read more at FOX News.

Levitation now possible

No longer exclusively for swamis and magic carpet riders, levitation is now officially within the realm of possibility. Scientists in the U.S. have discovered a way to levitate small objects, creating a host of new possibilities for nanotechnology.

Using prior knowledge of quantum mechanics and his experience in applied physics from his work at Bell Labs, Federico Capasso of Harvard University began researching what’s known as the Casimir force which causes tiny metal parts to become attracted to one another when they come in close contact, an effect called stiction. Earlier, a Russian team had theorized that this force could be reversed, so that the metal parts would be repelled rather than drawn together.

For the experiment, Capasso and his team observed the force applied to a gold sphere as it was first attracted to a metal object and then subsequently repelled from a plate made of silica.

The possibility of levitation could create frictionless moving parts in machines, making wear and tear a thing of the past. Theoretically.

You can find the MSNBC article here.

Justice! Man wins $240,000 settlement for discrimination

Raed Jarrar was waiting to board a Jet Blue Airways flight in August of 2006 from New York to Oakland when he was apprehended and told to cover up his T-shirt because it was making other passengers uncomfortable. Was there a curse word on his shirt? Nudity? Explicit drug references or violent images?

No. Raed Jarrar was apprehended because he had Arabic writing on his shirt. The translated phrase on his shirt being “we will not be silent.”  The worst part is that he was told by airport officials that wearing an Arabic-inscribed T-shirt in an airport was like “wearing a T-shirt at a bank stating, I am a robber.’”

Mr. Jarrar eventually decided to cooperate and cover his shirt for the flight. And then he sued the shit out of Jet Blue, ultimately winning a $240,000 settlement.

Good for you Mr. Jarrar. Way to fight injustice and win.

Original article from Yahoo News.