It is wrong to abuse the kindness of strangers

Yesterday morning we had a mixture of rain and sleet that resulted in the streets and sidewalks having the kind of icy slush that makes walking tricky. As I was making my way across campus for a seminar, I slipped and fell. It occurred at almost exactly the same time as a plane slid off the tarmac and ended up stuck in the grassy median while taxiing to the terminal at the Cleveland airport, which gives some indication of the slipperiness. [Read more…]

Some good news from Mississippi

I have been a little harsh on that southern state recently so I feel obliged to report a positive story from there.

The Laurel Leader-Call, a local newspaper in Jones County, Mississippi ran a front page story (click to enlarge) with the heading ‘Historic Wedding’ about a lesbian couple who had a marriage ceremony even though such marriages are not legal in that state. A poignant twist to the story is that one member of the couple has stage four brain cancer. [Read more…]

The danger of Democratic hypocrisy

In societies that are governed by laws, there are certain assumptions that we take for granted. It is supposed to be the case that a person is assumed to be innocent unless proven to be guilty beyond a reasonable doubt or by a preponderance of evidence (depending on the nature of the charge), with the verdict being arrived at as a result of processes that are carried out with transparency and proper respect for the rights of the accused. Another feature is that every effort must be made to bring the suspect to justice, with proportional force being used when the accused resists such attempts. Hence deadly force should be used only in cases where the accused uses deadly force to resisting arrest. [Read more…]

You mean deer can’t read?

Some time ago, I came across an amusing audio clip of a woman calling a radio talk show to complain about the fact that she had collided three times with deer within the past year near places where there were deer crossing signs. She said that she couldn’t understand why the state placed those signs in high traffic areas instead of places where there were fewer cars. It began to slowly dawn on the radio hosts that the woman thought that the deer chose their crossing points based on the signs. [Read more…]

Blatant religious discrimination

Aaron Williams, a 25-year old resident of New Jersey, tried to get a driver’s license photograph taken while wearing the headgear of his religion but the Bureau of Motor Vehicles refused to allow him to do so and called the police when he insisted on his rights. His argument was that if turbans and headscarves are allowed, then so should his choice of religious headgear. [Read more…]