Submitted by Mark Esposito, Guest Blogger
Grigory (“Grisha”)Perelman is an unusual man — in very many respects. Living in near poverty with his mother in St. Petersburg, the forty-three year old Russian mathematician had a strange interest in an arcane problem known as the Poincare’ Conjecture. Proposed in 1904 by French mathematician, Henri Poincare’, the theorem contends that three-spheres are the only possible bounded three-dimensional spaces to contain no holes.
Submitted by Mark Esposito, Guest Blogger
Well, the Alabama Senate finally got around to it. A vote Wednesday eliminated Jim Crow laws and other segregationist measures in the State’s 340,000 word constitution that was adopted in 1901. The struck language eliminates requirements for separation of the races in educational institutions and the infamous polls taxes. The vote was 22-9 with all Republican senators voting in favor of the legislation.
Some Democratic legislators opposed the bill as too little, too late. Sen. Linda Coleman, D-Birmingham, said there were still racist problems in Alabama’s constitution, including schools that she said are not equitably funded. “This bill to me is a farce. It’s a smokescreen,” Coleman said. ” Jim Crow is still here…. We know there are disparities,” she added. Continue reading “‘Bama Finally Bids Jim Crow Adieu”
After arresting hundreds of Christians for attempting to worship in unapproved services, the Chinese have turned to Buddhists for a crackdown that has reportedly taken the lives of two Tibetans. Chinese forces raided the Kirti Monastery (shown left) after accusing monks of disrupting social order and . . . wait for it . . . defaming their religion. That’s right, the government that occupied Tibet, killed Tibetan monks, sent the Dalai Lama in hiding, and destroyed countless temples has accused these monks of defaming their own religion.
Continue reading “China: Who Will Rid Us of These Meddlesome Monks?”
The Arizona Court of Appeals heard an interesting argument this week that is newsworthy for two reasons. First, there is a legal dispute over whether spa can use live fish to nibble dead skin off the feet of customers. Second, a spa wants to use live fish to nibble dead skin off the feet of customers. The state insists that there is no way to sterilize the Garra Rufa fish, a tiny carp.
Continue reading “Carping Over Cosmetology: Spa Fights For Right To Use Flesh-Nibbling Fish in Arizona”
Not that we need signs of our economic crisis, but Wal-Mart CEO Mike Duke made a chilling observation this week at an event talking about the company’s operations. Duke said his customers are simply “running out of money.”
Continue reading “Wal-Mart CEO: People Are “Running Out Of Money””
We have previously followed the trend against free speech in the West ranging from anti-blasphemy laws (including a resolution supported by President Obama) to hate speech prosecutions for criticizing everything from religion to homosexuality to overweight people. England has been a focus of many of these stories. Now, on the Isle of Wight, musician Simon Ledger, 34, has been arrested after singing “Kung Fu Fighting” and a passing person of Chinese descent cried foul.
A bus driver in Texas received an extraordinary $21,000 settlement for conduct that justifiably led to his termination. Edwin Graning received the settlement from the Capital Area Rural Transportation System (CARTS) in Texas after he was fired for refusing to drive two women to a Planned Parenthood clinic last year. This seems a case of putting the CARTS before the horse in reaching a settlement before the other party has made a viable claim.
There is a tragedy in Truth or Consequences, N.M, where Margaret Salcedo, 48, was mauled to death by four escaped pit bulls. The case could present both criminal and civil liability for the owners.
Continue reading “Death in Truth or Consequences: Woman Mauled To Death By Four Pit Bulls”
Waukesha (WI) Mayor Jeff Scrima promised fiscal responsibility in running for office, but he has drawn criticism for his decision to use city funds to buy books of a campaign contributor and Christian author — and telling agency heads to read and discuss the book with city employees.
Continue reading “Wisconsin Mayor Tells Agency Heads To Read and Discuss Book By Christian Author With City Employees”
Keith Cowing is a blogger on Space Ref, a science blog, and was surprised recently to receive a call from the White House. White House staffer Rick Weiss reportedly called to warn him that his inclusion of the seal of Executive Office of the President of the United States violated federal law because it could be viewed as a product endorsement. A review of the blog entry demonstrates the claim to be preposterous in my view and I am unsure why the White House is spending such much time searching for seal misuses rather than . . . let’s see . . . war crimes.
Continue reading “HEY LOOK, THE WHITE HOUSE SEAL IS NOW ON THE TURLEY BLOG!”
In Waukegan, Illinois, Helen Miller is suing over what is traditionally viewed as an act of God: a tree branch that fell during a thunderstorm and impaled her in the stomach while she was driving. Such acts normally cut off proximate causation, but she is suing the Vista Health System Surgery and Treatment Center for allegedly failing to properly maintain the tree.
Various people had criticized the new groping searches by the Transportation Safety Administration (TSA) as assault and, when done on children, something akin to molestation. According to police, one alleged child pornography addict found the TSA the perfect job. TSA Officer Thomas Gordon Jr. of Philadelphia has been arrested for uploading explicit pictures of young girls to an Internet site. What is astonishing is that Gordon posted a photograph of himself in his TSA uniform.
Continue reading “TSA Screener Arrested For Child Pornography”
Michigan’s Republican State Sen. Bruce Caswell wants the poor to dress appropriately to their station in life — that is, with second-hand clothes. Caswell introduced legislation to require children in the state’s foster care system to buy clothes at stores like Goodwill and Salvation Army under restrictive “gift cards” that would give $79 clothing allowance for the kids. Caswell is the chairman of the DHS Appropriations Subcommittee.
How much do you want that really perfect cup of coffee? This article from Reddit caught me eye. It was not that Kopi Luwak is the world’s most expensive coffee at as much as $3000 a pound (though I have seen other bags offered for as little as $200 a pound, but then again, you have to ask yourself, is it pure civet poop?). It was the unique processing used to produce the beans.
Continue reading “Cacaccino: Civet Droppings Become World’s Most Expensive Coffee”
-Submitted by David Drumm (Nal), Guest Blogger
iPhones and Android smartphones regularly transmit their locations back to Apple and Google. The location information is used for the estimated $2.9 billion location-based services market. Location-based advertising targets consumers with location-specific advertising on their mobile devices.
According to research, the HTC Android phone collects location information every few seconds and transmits the data back to Google several times an hour.
Continue reading “iPhone and Android Tracking You for Apple and Google”