Tag: oppression

A university supervisor orders a student at Sonoma State University in California to remove her cross necklace because “it might offend others.”

10:31 am

A university supervisor orders a student at Sonoma State University in California to remove her cross necklace because “it might offend others.”

The university has responded properly, apologizing and stating that the supervisor was “completely wrong.” However, it remains horrifying that there are individuals in power in a university that somehow don’t understand the very basics of religious liberty.

7 comments

The International Astronomical Union has rejected the first choice of voters for naming Pluto’s fourth and fifth moons.

10:03 am

The International Astronomical Union (IAU) has picked names for Pluto’s fourth and fifth moons, rejecting Vulcan, the first choice of the public.

After the discovery [of the moons], the leader of the research team, Mark Showalter (SETI Institute), decided to call for a public vote to suggest names for the two objects. To be consistent with the names of the other Pluto satellites, the names had to be picked from classical mythology, in particular with reference to the underworld — the realm where the souls of the deceased go in the afterlife. The contest concluded with the proposed names Vulcan, Cerberus and Styx ranking first, second and third respectively. Showalter submitted Vulcan and Cerberus to the IAU where the Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature (WGPSN) and the Committee on Small Body Nomenclature (WGSBN) discussed the names for approval.

However, the name Vulcan had already been used for a hypothetical planet between Mercury and the Sun. Although this planet was found not to exist, the term “vulcanoid” remains attached to any asteroid existing inside the orbit of Mercury, and the name Vulcan could not be accepted for one of Pluto’s satellites (also, Vulcan does not fit into the underworld mythological scheme). Instead the third most popular name was chosen — Styx, the name of the goddess who ruled over the underworld river, also called the Styx.

I just can’t wait until there really is a robust population of space-faring colonists, if only because those colonists will then tell the IAU to go to hell when it tries to tell them what to name things.

2 comments

The Washington Post admits that most of the Democratic claims that sequestration would cause disaster were either outright lies or a gross exaggeration.

10:43 am

The Washington Post admits that most of the Democratic claims that sequestration would cause disaster were either outright lies or a gross exaggeration.

I said it then that they were lying about the consequence of sequestration. I say now that they will be lying again when the the next sequestration cuts arrive in October.

I suspect you could cut the federal budget by at least one third, bringing the numbers back to what they were about ten years ago, and not notice any loss of service.

12 comments

Better not buy bottled water in Virginia: It will put you in jail.

8:21 pm

Better not buy bottled water in Virginia: It will put you in jail.

When a half-dozen men and a woman in street clothes closed in on University of Virginia student Elizabeth Daly, 20, she and two roommates panicked.

That led to Daly spending a night and an afternoon in the Albemarle-Charlottesville Regional Jail. Her initial offense? Walking to her car with bottled water, cookie dough and ice cream just purchased from the Harris Teeter in the Barracks Road Shopping Center for a sorority benefit fundraiser.

A group of state Alcoholic Beverage Control agents clad in plainclothes approached her, suspecting the blue carton of LaCroix sparkling water to be a 12-pack of beer. Police say one of the agents jumped on the hood of her car. She says one drew a gun. Unsure of who they were, Daly tried to flee the darkened parking lot.

Thugs. What a bunch of thugs.

5 comments

A science poster released at an American Geophysical Union conference this week finds again that the global warming climate models used by policy makers have all failed to predict what has actually happened.

3:38 pm

The uncertainty of science: A science poster released at an American Geophysical Union conference this week finds again that the global warming climate models used by policy makers have all failed to predict what has actually happened.

Some devastating quotes from the poster:
» Read more

5 comments

“This is the reason the U.S. has the right to bear arms.”

3:21 pm

The words of a Canadian yesterday: “This is the reason the U.S. has the right to bear arms.”

The reason? The Mounties had been breaking into the homes of a town (evacuated due to flooding) and seizing firearms. When the residents found out about this they were not pleased.

Officers laid down a spike belt to stop anyone from attempting to drive past the blockade. That action sent the crowd of residents into a rage.

“What’s next? Tear gas?” shouted one resident. “It’s just like Nazi Germany, just taking orders,” shouted another. “This is the reason the U.S. has the right to bear arms,” said Charles Timpano, pointing to the group of Mounties.

Officers were ordered to fall back about an hour into the standoff in order to diffuse the situation and listen to residents’ concerns. [emphasis mine]

Obviously, the rage of the citizens had some positive effect, as it forced the police to fall back.

9 comments

The Obama administration issued finalized rules Friday allowing religious-affiliated organizations opposing the use of contraception to opt out of the Obamacare mandate

11:40 am

The Obama administration issued finalized rules Friday allowing religious-affiliated organizations opposing the use of contraception to opt out of the Obamacare mandate.

While this might suggest the Obama administration has backed down, the rules appear very complex and will probably not work for many religious organizations. Moreover, what about individuals or private companies (such as Hobby Lobby) that also object for religious reasons?

As always, if you nonchalantly rely on the government to dictate the rules for everyone, you guarantee those rules will oppress someone along the way.

0 comments

It is now reported that the charges against the high school who refused to remove his NRA t-shirt have been dismissed.

10:59 pm

It is now reported that the charges against the high school who refused to remove his NRA t-shirt have been dismissed.

No details yet, however, so it might be too soon to celebrate the return of sanity to this small spot in West Virginia.

Update: The dismissal of charges is confirmed. I think the prosecutor saw the political winds and decided he’d be a fool to pursue this case.

0 comments

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission today announced that it has filed charges against former Democratic Governor/Senator Jon Corzine for his part in the embezzlement of customer funds at MF Global.

5:12 pm

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission today announced that it has filed charges against former Democratic Governor/Senator Jon Corzine for his part in the embezzlement of customer funds at MF Global.

The article says that most of the embezzled funds have been recovered, but that’s not only news to me, I don’t see how it’s possible. We are talking about the misuse and loss of one billion dollars.

3 comments
1 … 502 503 504 505 506 … 646