Author Archives: whyevolutionistrue

Supreme Court hands victory to Right and religion, compelling taxpayer to fund religious schools in Montana. Roberts votes with majority.

June 30, 2020 – 1:45 pm

I haven’t read the decision, so I’ll just leave this in passing. But save your approbation for Chief Justice Roberts, for he joined the court’s 5-4 majority, and wrote the opinion that tax money could be used to support religious schools. The Montana Supreme Court had previously struck down a voucher scheme for school funding […]

Posted in First Amendment, law | Comments (42)

Reddit bans “hate speech” but only against certain groups

June 30, 2020 – 10:45 am

As I’ve said before, I think one can make a reasonable case for designating certain crimes as “hate crimes”. For if groups like Jews, blacks, or gays are targeted repeatedly for their identity alone, then increasing the penalties for such crimes, if you can establish the reasons for the crime, will act as a deterrent […]

Posted in censorship, social media | Comments (70)

NYT op-ed warns against canceling newspaper subscriptions, even though we have many reasons to cancel that paper

June 30, 2020 – 9:00 am

In general, I support good journalism. For many years I subscribed to the New York Times paper version, looking forward to the daily dollop of doings on my doorstep. Then I stopped for a while, and then subscribed electronically (I still do). I recently added a subscription to the Washington Post. But as they said […]

Posted in journalism | Comments (54)

Proprietors’ wildlife photos and videos: Tuesday duck report

June 30, 2020 – 7:45 am

UPDATE: Feeding everyone at the pond this morning, we could count only six ducklings with Dorothy. We found no stragglers, heard no peeping of lost babies, and could find no bodies. It’s pretty clear that one has vanished, and I suspect predation (perhaps raccoons or Cooper’s hawks). I am heartbroken. ___________________________ It’s been a while […]

Posted in ducklings, ducks | Comments (28)

Tuesday: Hili dialogue

June 30, 2020 – 6:30 am

Happy (?) Tuesday: June 30, 2020. It’s my younger sister’s birthday and my half-birthday (I was born on December 30, almost exactly 2.5 years before my sister Susan). Happy birthday, sis! Here’s the passport photo of my mom, Susan, and I before we went to Greece when I was five. It’s also National Mai Tai […]

Posted in Hili Dialogue | Comments (33)

Photos of readers

June 29, 2020 – 2:30 pm

I’ve learned from this feature not just about the huge diversity of interests of our readers, but also about how many of them are immensely talented in their avocations. And today’s reader, Doug Keck, is one of those. Here he is with some beautiful furniture. His words are indented: I have spent a lot of […]

Posted in Photos of readers | Comments (31)

Which is worse on a flag: approbation for slavery or for a nonexistent god?

June 29, 2020 – 1:30 pm

The good news: the Mississippi legislature voted to remove the Confederate flag from its state flag, a symbol that has long and rightfully angered people because it symbolizes the defense of slavery. Mississippi was the last state to have the Stars and Bars on its flag. The bad news: From the Washington Post (click on […]

Posted in atheism | Comments (24)

WaPo editor emits bigoted and hateful Tweets, but will she be disciplined as others have been?

June 29, 2020 – 12:30 pm

Here we have Karen Attiah, a major editor with the Washington Post, spewing out stuff on Twitter that’s even more vile and bigoted than the stuff Trump emits regularly. It’s racist, full of hate, and exactly the kind of stuff that got New York Times tech writer Quinn Norton fired. (Sarah Jeong, her replacement, wrote […]

Posted in bigotry, journalism, journalists behaving badly | Comments (36)

Endangered Lincoln statue isn’t what it seems

June 29, 2020 – 11:00 am

I guess statue destruction is the topic du jour, but do read about this one, as it raises some conflicts for protestors. About ten days ago, I reported about a statue of Abraham Lincoln that might be pulled down or replaced. The original is The Emancipation Memorial (sculptor: Thomas Ball, erected in 1876) on Capitol […]

Posted in Authoritarian Left, history, race | Comments (35)

Stare decisis rules! John Roberts again votes with the liberals, nullifying Louisiana’s restrictive abortion law

June 29, 2020 – 10:00 am

According to CNN and the New York Times, John Roberts has once again joined the Supreme Court’s four liberals to produce a fantastic 5-4 decision, this time overturning a restrictive abortion law in Louisiana that would have effectively blocked nearly all abortions in the state, limiting the number of doctors in Louisiana who could provide abortions […]

Posted in abortion, law | Comments (34)