Rioting in channel camp
And in France there was rioting in a camp for illegal immigrants near the channel tunnel after authorities tightened security. The French say they’ll close the place—eventually.
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More expert follies
For more examples of bias and irrationality of among scientific experts and the like, see healthfactsandfears.com, a project of the American Council on Science and Health. A bigger problem, of course, is the treatment of things like sex as questions for scientific experts which fundamentally are nothing of the kind.
Tolerance Nazis in Canada
And in Canada, another traditionally Anglican country, the other side of the process becomes clear. The church may want to disentangle itself from the state, but the state won’t leave the church alone: Canada becoming anti-religious. Forcing a Catholic school to let a homosexual couple attend the prom was only the beginning. How … More ...
Anglican bishop wants church weddings abolished
The strength and weakness of the Anglican Church has always been its connection to English society and government. It’s hard to know how it can be maintained at present though: here’s a bishop asking that civil marriage be separated from the religious ceremony because the two just don’t mean the same.
Oddly, he he refers … More ...
Slight movement on immigration
September 11 does seem to have put immigration reform somewhat back in play—a report by the Center for Immigration Studies on weaknesses in the system and their effect on terrorist activities has been covered straight by wire services. The Center is even described as a “think-tank that favors reducing immigration” rather than an “anti-immigrant group.” … More ...
Teen sex and abstinence education
A summary from US News and World Report about debates over abstinence-only curricula. It’s slanted against them, of course, but does include a fair amount of material from more than one side. A basic problem is the scientific-social-policy approach that makes it possible for the Pennsylvania congressman to call the abstinence approach “a case … More ...
Dialogue on ‘gay marriage’
Another possible dialogue:
… More ...Alter: You’re invited to my daughter’s wedding—she’s marrying her partner Louise!
Ego: Don’t think I can make it.
Alter [suspicious]: Why not?
Ego: It’s not something I can celebrate.
Alter: Why not?
Ego: I don’t think the sexual union of two women is a good thing.
Human rights as universal law
From the New York Times: take the politics out of universal human rights by letting the legal experts look after it! So the solution to the Israel obsession and the administrative mess the piece describes is to apply treaties based on uniform legal norms and procedures. Sounds great! For example: in spite of … More ...
British believe in own racism
Most Britons believe their own society is racist, according to a recent poll. Does the statistic mean they think they have to be behavior-modified?
State Department on US race relations
Another sign that social issues are now a matter of international legal norms to be applied by jurists and other experts: the US State Department report on US compliance with the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. It lists “lingering disparities,” Rodney King and Amadou Diallo as examples of how far … More ...