We have previously followed the alarming marginal economic condition of most Americans. Another study offers another glimpse into the reality of the lives for most people struggling in this country. The study by Bankrate suggests that 63 percent of Americans say that they do not have enough money to cover a $500 car repair or $1000 hospital bill.
Category: Society
There was a curious moment recently in an interview with Hillary Clinton that might interest our political science and philosophy majors. Chris Matthews asked Clinton on MSNBC what a socialist is and the difference between a socialist and a Democrat. Clinton appeared unable or unwilling to answer that question. Given the fact that the Clinton campaign has referred regularly to Bernie Sanders being a socialist and distinguishing Clinton as a “progressive Democrat,” it would seem a fair question. It is not like asking for the difference between a “raven and a writing desk”, but it received the same unclear response.
President Barack Obama has made gun control a priority in 2016 and the latest area of confrontation with Congress. There is clearly a calculation that the public will support another area of conflict between the branches and the assertion of unilateral executive power. That is what makes a recent poll so interesting. Gallup found that “gun/gun control” ranked near the bottom of concerns for most Americans. How low? Try only two percent of those polled.
Continue reading “Gallup Poll: Only Two Percent Of Americans Rank Gun Control As Major Concern”
Skateboarder Shawn Powers has started a firestorm with a video showing him breaking open a lobster tank and throwing the lobsters against a brick wall. Powers comes across as a senseless thug (who by the way cannot tell the difference between a lobster and a crab) as he smashes the tank on videotape, declaring “I’ll break it, and I’ll take the f–kin’ crabs out.”
Laurentian University Professor Dr. Michael Persinger has been removed from his class for confirming that students understand that profane language is used and discussed as part of his class. That would seem a basic exercise of academic freedom since Persinger was seeking to use the language as part of his introductory psychology course. Yet, the university declared him in violation of workplace policies.
You have seen the commercial for “brain training” by Lumosity suggesting that its programs would reduce or delay cognitive impairment and even delay such serious diseases as Alzheimer’s. The Federal Trade Commission called the ads deceptive and sought a higher sanction. However, the FTC agreed that the company could only pay $2 million. That seems highly questionable that a company advertising across the country in high-value markets and times could only afford $2 million.
Continue reading “Instant Recall: Lumosity Ends Deceptive Claim Lawsuit With $2 Million Settlement”
There appears another profiling incident on an airline after an Israeli-Arab and a Palestinian were forced off an Aegean Airlines flight from Athens to Tel Aviv. There was no reason given for the objections to flying with the two men other than their being Muslim or Arab. It is extraordinary that these men would have to deplane rather than those objecting take another flight but the airline insisted “safety must be first.”
Continue reading ““Safety Must Be First”: Israeli-Arab and Palestinian Forced Off Flight To Tel Aviv Due To Objections From Israeli Passengers”
With the rising tensions between Iran and Saudi Arabia over the execution of Sheikh Nimir al-Nimir, there is a wonderfully ironic element as Iran has accused Saudi Arabia of stifling free speech by a cleric who merely disagreed with the regime. Iran of course is the government that has beaten and killed protesters calling for basic rights. We have regularly commented on Saudi Arabia’s medieval Sharia system as well as Iran’s suppression of free speech. Both countries regularly decapitate people and hang or crucify people in the name of Islamic values. Now both countries are exchanging insults about how the other is an extremist regime.
The Internet is increasingly becoming a vehicle for public shaming for those who enrage communities by thoughtless or reprehensible conduct. Holly Jones, a hair stylist in Indianapolis, is the latest target of the collective condemnation. Jones went on Facebook to complain that Kilroy’s Bar N’ Grill had ignored her needs on New Year’s Eve to help some “Junkie” who died. It turned out to be a 57-year old lady celebrating with her husband and son. Fortunately she survived. Jones’ reputation did not.
Jackson, Mississippi Councilman Kenneth Stokes has unleashed a firestorm of controversy over his call for citizens to throw bricks and bottles at police who are trying to make arrests. Stokes declared “Let’s get rocks; let’s get bricks, and let’s get bottles. And we’ll start throwing them, and then they won’t come in here anymore.” (Notably, the Jackson sheriff agreed with the Stokes in opposing car chases in the city while Stokes himself remains entirely unapologetic for calling for violence against police.)
We have previously discussed the relatively lack food safety regulations for restaurants where even the most egregious violations seem to require minor fines or brief closures, like the Chinese restaurant in Kentucky found to be serving road kill. Now another Chinese restaurant vividly illustrates the disconnect after deer heads, brains, and other animal parts were found in the kitchen of New China House in Lititz, PA (among other violations). However, the restaurant will remain open and serving the public.
We recently discussed the concern over the criminalization of speech in Israel. Now there is an added concern after Israel’s Education Ministry disqualified Dorit Rabinyan’s award winning “Gader Haya” (literally “Hedgegrow,” but known in English as “Borderline”)from being used in high schools. The reason? The novel describes a love story between an Israeli woman and a Palestinian man. The Education Ministry decided that the novel threatened “the identity and the heritage of students in every sector,” and the belief that “intimate relations between Jews and non-Jews threatens the separate identity.”
This story has me a bit mystified, but it promises that our steady stream of bizarre political stories will continue unabated in 2016. There is a controversy in New Hampshire where Republican Rep. Josh Moore addressed a proposed exception to nursing mothers in a bill to criminalize showing breasts in public. Moore tweeted “If it’s a woman’s natural inclination to pull her (breast) out in public, then you should have no problem with a man’s inclination to stare at it and grab it.” It was clearly meant as a joke but he was not the only one to attack a female legislator who raised the issue of criminalizing breastfeeding under the law.
I had to share the videotape below of two leading televangelists, Kenneth Copeland and Jesse Duplantis, as they explain why flying private jets is not just personally enjoyable but actually biblically required. It turns out that the luxury jets not only place them closer to God and allow to them speak directly with him but avoid “a long tube with a bunch of demons.”
By Darren Smith, Weekend Contributor
With the increasing frequency of government censorship and take-down orders blocking content hosted on web servers, a consortium of internet stakeholders has proposed to the IETF an RFC Draft (recently published) proposing a standard error response given to clients that the web page or resource sought has been blocked for legal reasons.
The proposal uses the status code 451, a reference to Ray Bradbury’s book “Fahrenheit 451”.
Continue reading “Proposal To Establish HTTP Status Code 451 For Websites Blocked By Censorship”