It is a crime in the US to give ‘material support’ to any organization that the US government deems to be a ‘terrorist’ group, where that phrase is defined loosely and can even encompass legal advice. This statute was deemed constitutional by a 6-3 vote in the US Supreme Court in 2010 because these days judges seem willing to allow practically anything as long as you persuade them that it is against terrorism. [Read more…]
Taslima Nasrin is someone who has had to suffer many persecutions simply for expressing her views. Her Wikipedia page recounts her history and the times she has had to go into hiding and even leave her home country because she angered narrow-minded and vindictive people. [Read more…]
Larry Wilmore and Jon Stewart discuss the racial implications of the Trayvon Martin case. Why is it that it is on a comedy show that one finds a relatively calm and balanced discussion of such inflammatory topics? [Read more…]
While driving along yesterday I listened to a Marketplace report on wine that said in passing that Vincent of Saragossa was the patron saint of wine and that he had been crushed to death in a wine press. [Read more…]
[Update below]
One of the biggest ethical dilemmas facing science is that between their desire for free and open access to information and their desire to not cause harm.
Back in 2003, I assigned this essay prompt to my class to help them grapple with some of ethical issues that scientists face [Read more…]
Today is both Good Friday and Passover, so what could be more appropriate than looking at one of those idiotic controversies that religions fight over, this time over a building in Jerusalem? [Read more…]
Vicki Kennedy, wife of the late Senator Ted Kennedy, was disinvited from being the commencement speaker at a small Catholic college after the bishop of that area expressed concern about her views. The bishop declined to even speak with her about them before intervening. [Read more…]
Suppose you are in charge of a community college and there turns out to be a huge demand for math and English classes so that students are being repeatedly turned away because they are full. You might think that it is a good thing that people are seeking more education and that the solution is to open up more classes to meet that demand by (say) hiring more math and English teachers. [Read more…]
I think that the pace of campaigning is taking its toll on Rick Santorum and he has reached the stage where he is free-associating as a result of fatigue. He said in a speech about how he “read somewhere” that almost none of the California state universities teach American history. [Read more…]