The Greece prayer case to be heard today

Today is the day when the US Supreme Court hears oral arguments on the case of Greece v. Galloway, in which two women in the town of Greece, NY (Linda Stephens who is an atheist, and Susan Galloway who is Jewish) challenged the city’s practice of beginning its meetings with a prayer. The city had begun its meetings with a moment of silence until 1999 when it started using prayers that were exclusively Christian. When the practice was challenged in court in 2008, the city kept the practice but broadened the prayer givers and have since had Jewish, Baha’I, and Wiccan prayer leaders, though the overwhelming prayers are still Christian. The city argues that since it allows people of various faiths to pray, it is not sectarian and the fact that most prayers have been Christian is an incidental fact because of the religious composition of the community. [Read more…]

The amazing stability of bicycles

A bicycle is a good example of something that is commonplace and yet quite extraordinary. It seems such an unlikely mode of transportation. One has to wonder how someone came up with the bizarre idea that by sitting astride a bar that connects two wheels one behind the other, one could propel oneself forward without falling. And yet everyone who has ridden a bike knows that it feels remarkably stable and as long as it is moving, it stays upright and seems to almost ride itself. ‘Look, no hands’ is the common exultation expressed by new learners as they discover for themselves that the bike can be ridden with minimal action on their part other than to keep it moving. [Read more…]

The lion sleeps tonight

This version by the popular duo Hippo and Dog never fails to make me smile.

Hippo Sings & Dog Dances to The Lion Sleeps Tonight from Cris Popenoe on Vimeo.

For some reason, I had always thought that this song was performed by a group of black singers from Africa or the Caribbean. Just shows that one should never jump to conclusions. The version we are most familiar with is the 1961 version by The Tokens.

But it turns out that I was not far off. The song was originally written and sung by South African Solomon Linda way back in 1939, but was later covered by many other singers, with The Tokens’ version gaining the most popularity in the west, especially after that version was used in the Disney animated film The Lion King.

Here are The Tokens performing it.

That’s an outrage!

Yesterday’s Plain Dealer had a story that same-sex couples legally married in another state but residing in Ohio will pay lower taxes than that paid by heterosexual couples in the same economic situation. The constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriages passed back in 2004 when opposition was at its peak has now led to the delicious irony of same-sex couples paying lower taxes than heterosexual couples. [Read more…]

The military-pundit-think tank complex

When it comes to issues of war, we are aware of the famous military-industrial complex that exerts enormous influence in setting the agenda and driving the nation into one war after another. But what is less noted is the military-pundit-think tank complex where people pose on TV, radio, newspapers, magazines, and blogs as disinterested analysts when in actual fact they are often paid, directly or indirectly (by the Pentagon, companies, and think tanks) by interests that benefit directly from war. [Read more…]

The curse of surprise film endings

I recently watched two films The Prestige (2006) and Now You See Me (2013). The former was recommended to me as one of Hugh Jackman’s better films to observe his acting capabilities and he does give a good performance. In fact, both films have excellent actors (the great Michael Caine appears in both) and one is never bored while watching. But what I want to focus on these two films is how otherwise pretty good films get ruined for me by the desire of the filmmakers to spring surprise endings on the viewer, even if those endings ruin the credibility of what came before. (There will be major spoilers for The Prestige after the jump. In fact, I pretty much give away the whole story.) [Read more…]