A U.S. District Judge has found the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” law unconstitutional. Appropriately, in my opinion; admittedly, I like the result but Judge Phillips reasoning seems sound to me. Despite having urged Congress to repeal DADT and a bill… Continue Reading
The story about the rescue of the miners in Chile is really one of the best, nicest, happiest things I’ve heard on the news in quite a while. A great story of human perseverance, effort, compassion, and ingenuity combining to… Continue Reading
I’ve not really spent much time Thinking Big Thoughts or Making Astute Observations or even coming up with Incisive Takes On News lately. Frankly, I’ve been too busy working, too busy with my local atheist group, too busy coaching my… Continue Reading
Looking over the transcript of today’s oral argument in Snyder v. Phelps, the big free speech case argued today in the Supreme Court, I find this passage argued by Margie Phelps, counsel for her relative Fred Phelps, the mastermind (if… Continue Reading
When we lived in Tennessee, one of the more jarring cultural differences I found was being presented with a bill for emergency services. Paramedics, firefighters, and the like are certainly not free and if we ever used them I fully… Continue Reading
People ask sometimes — either explicitly or by implication — why it is that I direct so much snark at Christianity. And in fact, most Christians I know are good people, smart people, reasonable people who do not let the… Continue Reading
Supplanting, but related to, the sort-of-mosque that’s sort-of-not-built-yet at a place that’s sort-of-near-Ground Zero, is the story about a flamboyant Florida pastor who plans to hold a bonfire of Korans on September 11. I’m not a fan of book burnings… Continue Reading
It seems like no one gets in trouble for doing bad things. They just get in trouble for lying about it. Consider: Al Capone, sent to Alcatraz not for running guns and booze during Prohibition, but rather for lying about… Continue Reading
One of the “facts” being thrown around in the swirling debate about immigration is the phenomenon of “anchor babies.” The legend is that an illegal immigrant will come to the U.S. and have a baby here. Because that baby is… Continue Reading
I’ve heard and read a lot of arguments about why it’s in bad taste for a mosque to be built right on top of two blocks away from Ground Zero, and about how it would be hurtful to the survivors… Continue Reading