From the AZCentral:

Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office deputies raided a Mesa landscaping company early Wednesday, arresting nearly three dozen people suspected of being in the country illegally.

The raid at the offices of Artistic Land Management, on Main Street just west of Dobson Road, began about 4:30 a.m., according to one worker who was handcuffed but later released after producing documentation that he was in the country legally.

“What Sheriff Joe is doing is an abuse of power,” Luis Juarez, the employee who was detained, said through a translator.

Jose Hernandez, 35, of Chandler, listed in Corporation Commission records as the company’s owner, could not be reached for comment Wednesday afternoon.

Among those arrested are suspects in criminal fraud cases and others with warrants, according to Capt. Paul Chagolla, an MCSO spokesman.

Juarez said workers were handcuffed with plastic zip-ties while deputies checked for documents. Those who could provide proof they were in the country legally were released, while others were put on buses and taken away, he said.

(via Coyote Blog)

From the Sioux City Journal.
(via Lindsayism.com)

(It’s a very slow day)

The Friendly Atheist takes a look at the book Illustrated Stories From the Bible which puts into pictures some of the stories that bible thumpers don’t tell you about.

From DailyNews.com:

VAN NUYS - A routine trip to the Social Security office Monday turned into 30 minutes of shock, disbelief and irritation for Lapriss Gilbert, who was forced to leave the federal building by a guard who objected to her “lesbian.com” T-shirt.

As she headed for a line to pick up a Social Security card for her son, Gilbert was stopped by a guard who said her T-shirt, naming an educational and resource Web site for gay women, was offensive.

She said the guard, who works for a private company hired by the Department of Homeland Security, demanded that she leave the building or face arrest.

“As an African-American and a lesbian, I haven’t been through one day without facing some sort of discrimination … but this is just shocking,” said Gilbert, 31.

Lori Haley, a federal spokeswoman for the office of Immigration and Customs Enforcement - which is under the Homeland Security umbrella - said the guard was out of line.

“We believe that the actions of the contract security guard were inappropriate and unacceptable - we have notified his company, Paragon, of our position in the matter,” Haley said.

A security guard identified by Lapriss Gilbert as the one who told her to leave declined to comment.

The guard cited the document, The Rules and Regulations Governing Conduct on Federal Property, as proof of his jurisdiction over Gilbert’s attire, she said.

The document does not specifically address what type of clothing is allowed in federal buildings.

(via Boing Boing)

(via Boing Boing)

From Snopes.

We must remember that most men have been controlled by their
surroundings. Most of the intelligent men in Turkey are followers
of Mahomet. They were rocked in the cradle of the Koran, they
received their religious opinions as they did their features –
from their parents. Their opinion on the subject of religion is of
no possible value. The same may be said of the Christians of our
country. Their belief is the result, not of thought, of
investigation, but of surroundings.

Robert Green Ingersoll - “Which Way” (1884)

From Rantings of an Arab Chick:

1. The actors are too fucking old. It just gets silly. I hear they’re doing a 90210 reunion series… Could have fooled me, I thought the original 90210 WAS a reunion show.

2. They throw far too many paper airplanes. I have yet to see any of my students actually even construct a rudimentary paper airplane, let alone aim one skillfully at the nerdy kid’s head.

3. There ARE no nerdy kids in the really nasty classes. The closest thing is the Goth kid who reads novels about suicidal anorexic girls who cut themselves. And set fire to things.

From ScienceRay:

Death in the domain of the insects can be swift and cruel but retains a magnificence and beauty that is somehow at odds with the brutality of what is happening.

(via A Welsh View)