A few interesting links for November 28th through November 29th:
- Lawmaker to Homeland Security: Don't forget to credit God for keeping Kentuckians safe – "A lawmaker is upset with his state's Department of Homeland Security for its lack of credit to a "higher power" for its work in protecting the state's citizens.
Kentucky State Rep. Tom Riner, a Southern Baptist minister who helped establish a requirement that the federally funded agency credit God with keeping the state safe, is upset that under Gov. Steve Beshear, the department's 2008 annual report did not do so."
I don't know what to say in response to this Christian Taliban silliness.
- Gapers Block : A/C : Chicago Arts & Culture – Friday Flickr Feature – "In case you were dreaming of a white Thanksgiving, swanksalot provides your fix."
- People Who Need People – "Jimmy Carter’s circle regarded Johnson, who mired the nation in Vietnam and then handed the White House to Nixon, as a failure. They weren’t about to have any “Johnson people” in their White House. Clinton’s circle regarded Carter, who allowed himself to be paralyzed by a few hundred Iranian “students” and then handed the White House to Reagan, as a failure. They weren’t about to have any “Carter people” in their White House.
It didn’t seem to occur to either crowd, Carter’s or Clinton’s, that old hands, far from being eager to repeat the errors of the Administrations of which they had been a part, would be especially keen to avoid them. Also, they would know in detail what those errors were."
- Good old Christian charity again | The Green Atheist – "After contacting the ACLU and filing a lawsuit, Bell and McCord became the subjects of hatred and even violence. Bell’s house was burned down by a firebomb. McCord’s 12-year-old son’s prize goats were slashed and mutilated with a knife. Bell was assaulted by a school cafeteria worker who smashed her head repeatedly against a car door. (School authorities praised the cafeteria worker, and she was forced to pay a $10 fine and Bell’s hospital bills, community residents raised donations on the assailant’s behalf.) McCord and Bell were both mailed their own obituaries.
Don’t make assumptions though: McCord and Bell were not atheists, although they were accused of being atheists. They just belonged to Christian churches that weren’t part of the dominant Baptist sect in the area. "
Insane! Simply insane. There should be no place for religious freaks in public schools.
- Civic Literacy Report – Additional Finding – "Among the 2,508 respondents, 164 say they have been elected to a government office at least once. This sub-sample of officeholders yields a startling result: elected officials score lower than the general public. Those who have held elective office earn an average score of 44% on the civic literacy test, which is five percentage points lower than the average score of 49% for those who have never been elected. It would be most interesting to explore whether this statistically significant result is maintained across larger samples of elected officials"
- U.S. judge sentences noisy offenders to Barry Manilow – Yahoo! News – A U.S. judge has hailed as a success a new form of punishment for people who go to court for being too noisy — an hour of listening to Barry Manilow or the theme tune from the children's TV show "Barney and Friends." Judge Paul Sacco said he decided to try something new after noticing that violators brought before his Colorado court for playing their stereos too loudly, or disturbing neighbors with band rehearsals, kept doing it again. …
He said his methods had cut the number of repeat offenders appearing in his court.
But offenders who are found to enjoy facing the music will have the songs taken away from them. Sacco says these people must listen to music they don't like, because that's what they impose on others.
Court officials take surveys after each session, and if it turns out that many of the offenders happen to like a particular song, that tune is removed from the playlist.
- “Bush’s Greatness” – "t’s obvious not only that George W. Bush has already earned his Great President badge (which might even outrank the Silver Star) but that much of the opposition to Bush has a remarkable and very special quality; one might be tempted to call it “lunacy.” But that’s too easy. The “special quality” of anti-Bush opposition tells a more significant, stranger story than that.
Bush’s greatness is often misunderstood. He is great not because he showed America how to react to 9/11 but because he showed us how to deal with a still bigger event–the end of the Cold War. The collapse of the Soviet Union in 1989 left us facing two related problems, one moral and one practical. Neither President Clinton nor the first Bush found solutions–but it’s not surprising that the right answers took time to discover, and an event like 9/11 to bring them into focus."
Bwha-ha-ha
- China executes man for ant-breeding scheme – No bailout in this tale of white collar crime:
"China has executed a businessman convicted of bilking thousands of investors out of $416 million in a bogus ant-breeding scheme, state media reported Thursday.
The official Xinhua News Agency said Wang Zhendong, who was found guilty of fraud and sentenced to death in February last year, was executed in north China's Liaoning province on Wednesday.
The death penalty is used broadly in China. Though usually reserved for violent crimes, it is also applied for nonviolent offenses that involve large sums of money or if they are seen to threaten social order."
- Axe falls on historic Dijon mustard factory – The factory, set up in 1911 by the descendent of a long line of master vinegar makers from Dijon, produced the brands Amora and Maille. The pungent range of Maille mustards dates back to the 18th century when its founder boasted that his antiseptic vinegar could help fight off a plague threatening the south of France.
But the multinational Unilever, which took over the brands in 2000, said it was closing the site and two others in Burgundy to consolidate in the difficult economic climate. The company said production at the Dijon factory had dropped by 42% since 2002. Mustard production will continue at Unilever sites elsewhere in France.
The price of mustard grains has risen by 144% in one year.
- The Left Coaster: Purchasing The Plantation – "Under the bill, employers would not be able to obtain insurance on employees who are not considered key personnel, such as owners or partners – anyone whose death would cause financial loss to the company. No policy could be taken out on rank-and-file workers unless they gave written consent. If they did not consent, employers could not retaliate against them. "They must agree to it, you have to inform them and not come and harass them if they don't want to be insured by you," Fairley said before the vote.
Last year, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. settled a lawsuit over the practice. The six families who were part of the lawsuit argued that Wal-Mart never told workers about the life insurance policies, something the company disputed. Wal-Mart is one of many large U.S. companies in recent years that have taken out policies on the lives of employees, ranging from executives to workers on the bottom rungs of the pay ladder, with the goal of collecting benefits when the employees die."