If there is one film cliché that comes to mind about the Republic of Ireland, it is that of the gruff but good-hearted Irish Catholic priest. So strongly is that country linked with the church that this news report that a global survey on faith reveals that Ireland is abandoning religion faster than almost every other country world, second only to Vietnam, is worth noting. [Read more…]
There has been much gloom in the progressive community at what seemed like an overwhelming show of support for Chick-fil-A. In response to the call for people to go there and buy food on August 1 to show their support for the company president’s anti-gay attitude, there were long lines of people waiting to buy these sandwiches. The company reportedly had a record sales day. [Read more…]
The Olympics is a good time to realize that there are some great sports out there that we in the US never get to see played at a high level.
One of them is the reputed fastest sport in the world: Badminton. [Read more…]
I have written repeatedly about president Obama’s war on whistleblowers. He hates any leaks that do not make him or his administration look good, making a mockery of his campaign promise to create the most transparent administration ever. [Read more…]
I wrote two weeks ago about the small Cleveland suburb of Shaker Heights that I live in being faced with either voting for a city income tax increase or losing services. Yesterday the voters in the city easily passed (by a margin of 64% to 36%) the measure to raise the city income tax from 1.75% to 2.25%, an increase of almost 30%. [Read more…]
As the November election approaches, there will a lot of noise about taxes and the so-called ‘Buffett rule‘, named after Warren Buffett who has been saying that it was wrong that rich people like him should pay taxes at a lower rate than people who earn much less, like his secretary for example. This will intensify as the end of the year approaches and the Bush tax cuts are set to expire. [Read more…]
Some time ago I wrote about cereal maker General Mills coming out in support of same sex marriage. Their policy resulted in a protest demonstration in front of their corporate offices, where people were asked to empty their kitchens of all their GM foodstuffs and bring them to the protest site, where it would be collected and donated to food banks and shelters. [Read more…]
As often happens during chaotic and deadly shootings as what happened during the killings at the Sikh temple, some people hid in closets and other nooks to try and avoid the gunman. Since it was not initially clear how many gunmen were involved and whether people were being held hostage, it took some time for the all clear to be sounded and for people to feel safe enough to come out of hiding. [Read more…]
Why does sprinkling a little water enable sand to stick together sufficiently to enable the building of sandcastles? The cohesive forces produced are strong enough that one can build a tower that is 2.5 meters high on a mere 20 cm base. A group of scientists have looked into this and come up with an explanation. [Read more…]
And so, inevitably, there has been another mass shooting, this time at a Sikh temple in Wisconsin, and we can expect the gun control debate to heat up again. I am not opposed to private gun ownership. I can understand how a ‘well regulated militia’ might be necessary for the ‘security of a free state’, as the Second Amendment to the US constitution states. I can understand how some people in some areas can feel so frightened that having a gun lets them feel more secure. [Read more…]