With the virtual absence of any objective review of Sonia Sotomayor’s opinions or positions by members of Congress, the Senate Judiciary Committee appears to be gearing up for another confirmation process with little substantive content. As noted previously with regard to the Roberts and Alito hearings, confirmation hearings have become little more than extended photo ops for Senators.
Continue reading “Senate Prepares for the Sotomayor Confirmation Hearings”
Category: Academia
As many on this site know, I am a bit of a history nut and I could not resist this story. There are many ancient accounts of the famed Damascus swords, particularly from Crusaders who described how the blades were so sharp that they could cut a failing piece of silk while strong enough to cut through rock. It now turns out the medieval Muslim sword-smiths learned how to create carbon nanotubes. The actual discovery was made a couple years ago, but I just came across some articles on the research in looking for some crusade background facts.
Another teacher has been fired for activities outside of school. Leonora Rustamova, 39, (known as Ms. Rusty) taught English at Calder High School in England and was a successful teacher until she wrote a book that the school found a bit too racy. “Stop! Don’t Read This” is a fictional story about students at the school but includes sex and drug references as well as the name of headmaster Stephen Ball.
Continue reading “Canning Ms. Rusty: English Teacher Fired For Writing Racy Fictional Novel”
The debate over Judge Sonia Sotomayor continues to rage this week. What is remarkable is how much is being said and how little substance can be found in the coverage. One would think that the law of averages alone would guarantee that some substantive points would be hit, if only by accident. It is becoming increasingly clear that, once again, we will not have a substantive and civil review of the qualifications of a Supreme Court nominee. Neither conservatives nor liberals seem to want (or are willing to tolerate) objective discussion of Sotomayor’s qualifications or opinions. For what it is worth, I would like to discard some of the most often heard arguments in the vain hope that we might still achieve some level of reasonable discourse in this debate.
Continue reading “Confirming Nonsense: Both Liberals and Conservatives Distort Debate Over Sotomayor”
Authorities in Hazlet, New Jersey have criminally charged Kathleen Buck, owner of Critter Ridder, for animal cruelty after she caught a squirrel that perished in her trap.
Continue reading “Critter Ridder Owner Charged in Involuntary Squirrelslaughter Case”
The late Rev. Jerry Falwell always insisted that he spoke for “the moral majority.” However, it appears that his university, Liberty University, is equally interested in silencing what they consider to be the “immoral minority.” The school this week shutdown the the Liberty University College Democrats as inimical to their moral mission. The Republican Student organization was retained.
Continue reading “The Price of Liberty: University Bans Democratic Student Organization on Morality Grounds”
Speaking to the graduating class of U.S. Naval Academy, President Barack Obama told the graduates that the best way to protect our nation is to stand up to its principles. I discussed the detainee issue last night on this segment of Countdown.
Continue reading “Obama: We Must Uphold Our Principles To Be Safe and Strong”
The Texas legislature passed a bill to allow college students, teachers, and employees to carry concealed weapons on school grounds. This is the solution found by Sen. Jeff Wentworth, R-San Antonio, to the problem of the Virginia Tech massacre — fill campuses with firearms.
The King children are at it again: demanding consultation (and presumably payment) for any work on their father. Recently, I wrote a column denouncing the King family’s history of bilking authors, institutions, and even the King Memorial committee for money. Now, two children are objecting to a movie on the life of Martin Luther King Jr, by Dreamworks due to the temerity of the creators not to seek their blessing and permission. They are threatening legal action. If Dreamworks has an ounce of civic pride and love for Martin Luther King, it will tell these King kids to get lost and invite such a lawsuit. Their brother, Dexter, reportedly cut a deal with Dreamworks, which should detail any such payments. I fail to see the basis of such a lawsuit, but also why companies continue to enable this family in controlling and cashing in on King’s legacy.
Scientists have discovered what is being heralded as the long sought “missing link” — a 47-million-year-old fossilized skeleton of a monkey called Ida that is 95% complete. It is believed to show a direct connection between humans and the rest of the animal kingdom. Of course, anyone who has a master’s in creationist science in Texas or runs as a GOP candidate for president can tell you that the researchers have been duped. Since the Earth is only 10,000 years old, the radiometric dating is obviously wrong by roughly 47 million years and evolution is just a god-hating, atheist-advancing theory.
Continue reading “Darwinian Dilemma: Scientists See Fossil As “Missing Link” While Creationist Scientists See Old Dead Monkey”
U.S. News & World Report’s chief rankings officer Bob Morse has released a statement on the controversy over Brooklyn Law School’s rankings. Morse has confirmed that the school inflated its ranking by not reporting part-time students but the magazine will not adjust the ranking this year.
Continue reading “Grade Inflation: Magazine Says Brooklyn Law School’s Ranking Was Inflated By Omission of Part-Time Student Scores”
Scottish Americans are outraged this morning with a story of a Utah principal who told Gavin McFarland, 14, that his wearing a kilt at a high school was inappropriate and might constitute “cross dressing.” The result has been a scene out of Braveheart: The Battle for Rocky Mountain Junior High where tprincipal Craig Jessop has replaced Longshanks as the freedom-crushing tyrant. Just wait until Jessop learns that the Scottish call to arms is Alba gu bra!
Continue reading “Alba Gu Bra! Scottish Student Accused of Crossdressing By Wearing Kilt”
The Frisco Independent School District in Texas was faced with complaints about Gideon volunteers hanging around outside of schools to pass out bibles to children. They solved the problem by inviting them into the school where free bibles are now made available to the students — a move that has caused some parents to object.
Continue reading “Texas School District Resolves Controversy Over Christian Groups Distributing Bibles Outside of Schools By Inviting Them Inside”
ABA Journal ran an interesting story on the crackdown on cheaters by Syracuse University Law School. The school will now limit law students to one potty visit during an exam: thereby guaranteeing the law students with larger bladders will reign supreme on law school curves.
Justice Antonin Scalia has once again earned himself the ire of law students. Not long ago, Scalia was clearly out-of-line in slapping down a law student for a perfectly reasonable question. Now, he is being quoted in telling students out of the top schools that, no matter how hard they work, they will probably never have a chance for a Supreme Court clerkship based entirely on their school. He basically threw the student a quarter and told her to call her mama and tell her that she was never going to be a Supreme Court clerk.
Continue reading “Supreme Monopoly: Justice Scalia Tells American Student That She Has Little Chance For Clerkship Because She Is At Wrong School”