This film did not receive much publicity when it was released although it came out recently (2011), has a stellar cast (Jodie Foster, Kate Winslet, Christoph Waltz, and John C. Reilly, the first three being Oscar winners and the last a nominee), and was directed by Roman Polanski. It is set in New York City but was actually filmed in Europe, since Polanksi is a fugitive from the law in the US due to charges of rape of a minor. [Read more…]
The pattern has become drearily familiar: An outspoken opponent of equal rights for gays and lesbians is revealed to be a gay or lesbian. While such events provide opportunities for ruminations on hypocrisy, the more interesting question is why such people act in such self-denying ways. A recent study suggests that incongruence “between implicit and explicit measures of sexual orientation predicted a variety of homophobic behaviors, including self-reported anti-gay attitudes, implicit hostility towards gays, endorsement of anti-gay policies, and discriminatory bias such as the assignment of harsher punishments for homosexuals”. [Read more…]
The issue of the effect of third party candidacies is interesting, particularly this year. Former New Mexico governor Gary Johnson is seeking the nomination of the Libertarian Party while former Louisiana governor Buddy Roemer is seeking to capture the nomination of the Reform Party. [Read more…]
This was a well-deserved win for his brilliant expose of how Super PACs make a mockery of campaign rules by enabling hugely wealthy individuals to secretly exercise vastly disproportionate power in the election process. [Read more…]
I am sure some of you have heard the hilarious story of the head of the Russian Orthodox Church patriarch Kirilli I that has been all over the blog world. But just in case you missed it, here it is. [Read more…]
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…]