stcynic
Posts by this author
August 24, 2005
William Gibbons has written another reply, which you can see at the bottom of this post. I don't have time to reply at the moment, but when I do I will likely move it up here to the top. The reply was actually written last night, but for some reason it was blocked by the spam software and I had to…
August 24, 2005
Much has been written about Pat Robertson's latest bit of insanity, suggesting on the 700 Club that we should assassinate the president of Venezuela. The only thing I have to add is this: if this were a Muslim cleric rather than a Christian one advocating the murder of a head of state, he might…
August 23, 2005
Barbara Forrest was on Larry King Live tonight in one of the most absurd discussions of evolution and intelligent design imaginable. For some reason, they had a huge list of guests - a young earth creationist, Jay Richards of the Discovery Institute, Barbara, two senators (one on each side) and -…
August 23, 2005
The San Jose Mercury News has an op-ed on the Cupertino lawsuit that says all of the same things I've been saying about this case:
But let's call the agreement what it was: a total victory by the district over conservative lawyers who drummed up a bogus claim of religious persecution. They had…
August 23, 2005
Our fevered friends at StopTheACLU have issued a "Code Red Alert" because the ACLU is trying to get the courts to allow people of different religions to be able to swear on something other than the Bible when taking an oath in court (they don't have specific links, so you'll have to scroll about…
August 22, 2005
I have pretty much ignored the whole Cindy Sheehan protest thing. I don't really care whether President Bush meets with her, I don't think the rightness or wrongness of the war rests on the fact of her personal loss (tragic as that is, obviously) and I couldn't possibly care any less which…
August 22, 2005
From a recent Dear Abby column that I happened to come across in a small town newspaper with, quite literally, nothing else to read:
I live in a family-oriented neighborhood. My problem is my next-door neighbor flies his gay pride flag in his front yard. Because we have a lot of families with…
August 20, 2005
I came across this ridiculous article on evolution and intelligent design on Alan Keyes' Renew America website and I was gonna give it the fisking it so deserves. Then I saw that PZ had already done it for me. My favorite part was where the author claimed that scientists were "hiding" the "fact"…
August 20, 2005
The teacher who sued the Cupertino school district, falsely claiming that his rights were violated, has resigned and is moving to Oregon. This just days after he withdrew his lawsuit.
August 20, 2005
As I mentioned yesterday, I got to see Vinx perform last night at an outdoor jazz festival. As always, it was a show that leaves you exhilirated. Vinx is one of those rarest of musicians whose work is completely unique. No one else sounds like him and his music is really impossible to describe or…
August 19, 2005
I'm off for the rest of the day. I have business to take care of in the afternoon, then I'm off to Lake Idlewild for a jazz festival. An old acquaintance of mine, Vinx, is performing there tonight. He's an absolutely incredible musician and singer. The jazz festival is on an island out in the…
August 18, 2005
From Tuesday's 700 Club:
I had interviewed a lady who was a sociologist who says "I am a lesbian," but she described homosexuality in this term, she said, "They are self-absorbed narcissists." I want you to put that down -- self-absorbed narcissists who are willing to destroy any institution so…
August 18, 2005
I reported a few months ago about Judge Cale Bradford, of the Marion Superior Court in Indiana, placing a restriction in a divorce decree that said that neither parent could expose a child to their Wiccan beliefs. Both parents were Wiccan, but they send their son to a private Catholic school. The…
August 17, 2005
A commenter named Wagner posted a reply to my comments on an older thread at In the Agora, which I just noticed. The reply deals with evolution and creationism and I didn't want it to get lost, so I'm moving it up here and responding. I also think it's a good idea to give this comment its own…
August 16, 2005
Via Sandefur, I found this absolutely incredible display of chutzpah on the part of the city government that won in the Kelo case. Would you believe they are charging those who fought their takover rent for staying in their own homes while they fought in court to prevent the city from taking them…
August 16, 2005
In their usual breathless marketing style, the Worldnutdaily is offering a new version of Bishop James Ussher's classic Annals of the World. The front page of WND declares:
Real history, untampered with by 'them'
And yes, the emphasis and the scare quotes are in the original. They further declare…
August 15, 2005
When the Cupertino lawsuit was filed last fall, the conservative media went berserk over it. Fox News shows did nearly a dozen segments on it, with Hannity and Colmes even moving their entire show to Cupertino and staging a rally to "Take America Back". The Worldnutdaily, Newsmax and Free Republic…
August 15, 2005
Steven Williams' fraudulent lawsuit against the Cupertino public schools has been withdrawn and is over. I wrote time and time again that this case, brought on behalf of Williams by the Alliance Defense Fund, was completely ridiculous. The ADF had been incredibly dishonest in their representation…
August 15, 2005
Via Jim Babka's blog, I learn that Harry Browne, former Libertarian presidential candidate, is very sick and is hospitalized. I don't know any details at this point, but I certainly wish Harry a speedy and thorough recovery. Get well soon, Harry. We need your voice on behalf of liberty.
August 15, 2005
Well last night was Demagogues on Display "Justice Sunday II", at which some of the most prominent religious right leaders - James Dobson, William Donohue, Tony Perkins, etc - threw red meat to their followers by railing at those evil judges out to destroy everything good and decent in America.…
August 12, 2005
I'm heading out of town for a weekend of business meetings so there'll be nothing new for a while. I probably will have some time to jump on and leave a comment or two tomorrow, however. Hope everyone has a great weekend.
August 11, 2005
Okay, this is a hilarious response from the attorney who represents the group that wrote the outrageously bad bible curriculum I've been writing so much about lately.
Hiram Sasser, Liberty Legal: Everyone's come to the same conclusion, that this curriculum was perfectly fine. It meshes well with…
August 11, 2005
Last June, I wrote a post about the Tiltboys, a group of poker players from the bay area that have become legendary in the poker community over the last few years. Describing the group as "Animal House with high SAT scores", I wrote that the Tiltboys are a living testament to just how amusing a…
August 11, 2005
Joining the growing chorus of wingnuts objecting to the nomination of John Roberts to the Supreme Court because he doesn't think gays are evil and should be imprisoned is Don Feder, moonbat extraordinaire. He writes:
When the nomination was announced, the White House breathlessly informed us that…
August 11, 2005
Over at In the Agora, today is a special issue. Ronald Reagan's famous 11th commandment was "thou shall not speak ill of a fellow Republican", and given that most of the writers there are Republicans they decided to break that commandment and devote a day to criticizing their own party. I'm not a…
August 11, 2005
Radley Balko is picking up where Eugene Volokh left off the other day, blasting StopTheACLU for its utterly dishonest portayral of ACLU positions. StopTheACLU hammers the ACLU for turning down money from the Ford and Rockefeller foundations rather than sign a statement declaring that they have no…
August 10, 2005
Okay, this is quite amusing. Someone posted a link over on Theodore's blog to my previous little dig at him and his crying need to bring up his Porsche (turbo, even) as proof that he isn't bitter toward women. And this was his response:
Do better than what? The guy didn't say anything. He clearly…
August 10, 2005
There is an anti-evolution article on Tech Central Station that is just begging for a response, and I'd certainly hate to disappoint. The article is written by Roy Spencer from the University of Alabama. Up front, it is important to note that one should not be fooled by his credentials. He calls…
August 10, 2005
The Worldnutdaily is reporting that Howard Phillips is publicly opposing the nomination of John Roberts to the Supreme Court because he once did pro bono work on a landmark gay rights case:
Continued Phillips: "Judge Roberts apparently had no moral objection to using his skills to advance the…
August 10, 2005
Senate Judiciary Chairman Arlen Specter sent a letter to court nominee John Roberts in which he indicated that Congress was angry at the fact that the Supreme Court had limited the authority of Congress in the Lopez and Morrison decisions. The letter includes this astonishing statement:
In…