Bizarre, Justice, Military, Religion, Science

Ethical Relativism: A Good Idea or a Path to Anarchy?

by Gene Howington, Guest Blogger

I had in interesting argument the other night. Not interesting because of the content precisely.  It was old ground about the rationale for being in Iraq and Afghanistan and this person took the position of the post hoc rationalization “to contain Iran” and that – and this was a new one, funny but new – that our reason for being there was based on our need as driven by the hostage crisis of the 70’s.  It wasn’t a match against a skilled opponent.  He was about as smart and skilled at argumentation as a house plant and that is really an insult to house plants.  But what was interesting was when the topic turned to the idea of just wars and ethical relativism.  I’ll  summarize the just war argument to give some context and then show how ethical relativism came into the conversation because it got me thinking about ethical relativism (and its natural cousin moral relativism).  Is it a good idea or a path to anarchy?

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Free Speech, Politics

CEO Threatens Employees’ Jobs If Obama Reelected

-Submitted by David Drumm (Nal), Guest Blogger

David Siegel is the founder and CEO of Westgate Resorts, a privately-held national timeshare company and resort developer. Siegel recently sent an e-mail to his 8,000 employees stating that “if any new taxes are levied on me, or my company, as our current President plans, I will have no choice but to reduce the size of this company.” Siegel fails to provide an explanation how an increase in his personal taxes could be offset by firing employees. If firing employees brings in more money for Siegel, then his labor force is padded with the unproductive. Otherwise, Siegel’s actions would appear to be spiteful.

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Bizarre

Baby Mop

-Submitted by David Drumm (Nal), Guest Blogger

Top 5 reasons you NEED a baby mop:

  1. Teach your baby a strong work ethic early on in their life.
  2. Your baby will learn not to drop and waste food.
  3. Baby will get a nice workout, burn off energy, and do muscle toning. And sleep better too!
  4. Not having to clean your floors saves you time so you can spend it doing things you enjoy.
  5. Save lots of money on house cleaning costs.

Source: here.

Constitutional Law, Justice, Religion

Grace Under Pressure: Rev. Phil Snider Speaking “Against” The Inclusion of LGBT Into Springfield’s (Mo.) Non-Discrimination Ordinance

By Mark Esposito, Guest Blogger

Meet Reverend Doctor Phil Snider of the Brentwood Christian Church and consider his fire and brimstone speech on including gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transsexual citizens under the protection of Springfield, Missouri’s anti-discrimination ordinance. Phil did his undergraduate work at Missouri State University (Springfield, MO), then earned his masters degree at Phillips Theological Seminary (Tulsa, OK) and doctorate at Chicago Theological Seminary (at the University of Chicago).

Be sure to listen to the ENTIRE speech (it’s not very long) and be in awe:

That’s real religion!

~Mark Esposito, Guest Blogger

Politics, Society

The Al Smith Dinner: I Have To Give This One To Romney

Having watched the Al Smith dinner last night, I have to cast my vote with Mitt Romney as the better delivery and jokes though President Obama had some good material as well. You decide, but let’s put ideology to side and for once just focused on what matters: the jokes. While we are not selecting the comedian in chief, at least we have a common measure of success in a roast.

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Academia, Bizarre, Society

A is for Apple, B is for . . . : Teacher Mistakenly Places Topless Photo On School iPad . . . Students Suspended For Seeing It

I just saw a rather bizarre story out of Anderson, Indiana where middle school students were using a school-issued Apple  iPad in class when a picture of their topless teacher suddenly popped up. The students, who did nothing but use the device, were suspended and are threatened with expulsion while the teacher has been subject to unspecified action by the school.

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Academia, Animals, Science, Torts

Study: Older Mice Given Blood From Younger Mice Increase Memory and Brain Cell Activity

I will look at my students in a whole different light after reading this article of how older mice receiving the blood from younger mice had improved learning and memory. The change from an academic to a vampiric interest in my students is due to these surprising findings in the effect of younger blood on brain cells. As the Guardian reports below, the late Kim Jong-il reportedly injected himself with blood from healthy young virgins in a bid to slow the aging process.

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Bizarre, Politics, Society

Rough Start: New Democratic Council Member Arrested For Stealing Signs and Destroying Farm Field

Alburtis Councilman Kyle A. Bower has gotten an early start as a politician in trouble with the law. The Democratic city councilman has been arrested for allegedly stealing GOP campaign signs and damaging a farm field. Such violations would usually result in bail but he is on probation for other charges.

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Bizarre, Criminal law

Couple Allegedly Has Sex In Restaurant In Front Of Children in Florida But No Parent Is Willing To Step Forward As A Witness

Jeremie Calo and Tiffani Lynn Barganier are accused of a bizarre crime of having sex in public at a Florida restaurant in front of families with children. Yet, they will not be charged with that crime because none of the adults, including parents, who watched the disgraceful scene are willing to come forward to be witnesses. It is an sad statement about our society that parents, who were upset with the alleged public sex act, do not view themselves as bound by civic duty to step forward as witnesses for the police. It appears that Calo is not the only one treating the incident with a wink and a nod.

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Constitutional Law, Criminal law, Free Speech, Politics, Religion, Society

Leading Pianist and Secularist Charged With Blasphemy In Turkey

Last Sunday, I published a column on “The Death of Free Speech”, highlighting the continuing threat of blasphemy prosecutions around the world.  This week we have yet another such disturbing case.  Well-known Turkish pianist and composer Fazil Say appeared in court on Thursday on charges of offending Muslims and insulting Islam in brief Twitter posts.  Say is a celebrated artist who has appeared with both the New York Philharmonic and the Berlin Symphony Orchestra and will now face 18 months in jail for making a joke on Twitter. Continue reading “Leading Pianist and Secularist Charged With Blasphemy In Turkey” →

Bizarre, Criminal law, Society

Big Chew Leads To Big House: Seattle Police Arrest Man in Cold Case Based On DNA Evidence Obtained Through Fake Chewing Gun Survey

Gary Raub, 63, can claim that he was arrested by a true “gum shoe” detective by the homeless man was tricked to give up his DNA in a fake chewing gum survey. Raub was arrested in Seattle in the death of Blanche Kimball, a 70-year-old retired dental technician in 1976.

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Animals, Criminal law, Society

San Antonio Officer Goes To Wrong House On Call And Shoots Family’s Pet Dog

We have another dog shooting by an officer who went to the wrong house on a call. Albert Morales and his brother Hector Serna were awoken by a San Antonio officer banging on a window of their home before dawn. The officer was at the wrong house in responding to a call about a deceased person. As almost an afterthought, according to Morales, the officer said that he might want to check out his dog.

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Bizarre, Criminal law, Politics, Religion, Society

Egyptian Teacher Cuts Hair Of Girls Who Failed To Wear Muslim Headscarves

We have yet another outrage by a devout Muslim who believes that she should not only require others to follow her views of morality but is willing to punish children deemed immoral. In Southern Egypt, a teacher in Luxor forced two 12-year-old girls to hold their hands above their heads for two hours and then cut off some of their hair in front of the class to punish them for not wearing Muslim headscarves or hijab.

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Academia, International, Society

Has Richard III Been Found?

Richard III may be the Rodney Dangerfield of sovereigns. He “got no respect” by Shakespeare (in my favorite play, Richard III) and appears to have gotten even less respect in his burial. Indeed, if a recent human skeleton recovered under a parking lot proves to be Richard III, he came close to be dug up and thrown out by a construction crew in the nineteenth century. Indeed, the Queen mother’s words to her hated son in the play appears to have been an omen: ““Bloody thou art, bloody will be thy end; Shame serves thy life and doth thy death attend.”

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Lawyering, Media

The Twit Made The Top Twitter Twenty!

I know that being a twit would pay off someday, no matter what my parents said. I was just sent this list of The 20 Biggest Stars on Twitter by one of our regulars who spotted my name. Our twitter numbers have been growing steadily with the traffic on the blog (indeed the number given on the listing is now higher). We are currently at around 6000 followers on twitter. I generally notify people of posting and occasionally (when I remember) of media appearances or gripes. You can join our merry group by hitting the follow button to the right of this story.

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