The picture above comes from my husband’s (business) trip to Singapore over the summer. As you might tell from the image, “outrage of modesty” means groping a woman, and the “lifetime of regret” refers to criminal charges. But not just a slap on the wrist, or a fine, or probation. This is Singapore. Up to two years in jail, fines, and/or caning. (See here and here.) How often does this happen, and how often is the perpetrator caught? Dunno... Read more
Yes, the Oscar nominations have been published, and it’s again, a list of 20 actors and actresses, all of whom are white, and, again, this has produced outrage on behalf of non-white hopefuls. Does it matter? Certainly not as much as any number of other events in the news, but, well, I have opinions, and I’m going to share them with you. 1. Who exactly are these nominees? Let’s take a look at the list of actors and actresses, all... Read more
That, by the way, is the hashtag coming into use in Germany for comments on the current refugee/migrant situation. And, yes, as much as there have been multiple reports of German authorities sweeping crimes by refugee-migrants under the rug, this seems very much to be in the past. Not only are German politicians pushing Merkel very hard to fix this, both within and from outside her coalition, but the German press is reporting on the situation quite vigorously. For regular... Read more
That’s the claim of this article in Inside Higher Ed, from last Thursday (yeah, I’d been meaning to write about this for a couple days): State funding for public higher education has increased in the five years since the recession. However, those increases are not keeping pace with inflation. Just two states — Utah and Massachusetts — have had operating-fund support for public higher education that matched or surpassed the rate of inflation in each of those five years, according... Read more
Republicans say it’s Democrats’ fault, given that they were, after all, the ones who ran Flint into the ground. Democrats (and media) say it’s the fault of the villianous Republican governor. I had been negligent in digging into the details, but here’s an article that popped up in my facebook feed that lays out the story in detail: “The real tragedy in Flint,” by a local (Saginaw) blogger, Greg Branch. The long and short of it is this: Flint’s plan... Read more
Back in September, I made the prediction that, when voters lose their infatuation with Trump, and with Carson, it’d be Rubio left standing. Little did I imagine that it’d be Cruz climbing in the polls, and Rubio stagnating, but, if you look at RCP’s latest polling averages, Rubio peaked on December 8th with 15%, and has dropped since then, to 11%. And Cruz (Cruz! “abolish the fed” Cruz!) was tied with Rubio then, and has been growing his lead since... Read more
in the comments, that is? I just can’t do it. The kids are off school tomorrow and Tuesday, and I have projects due Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, so I’m trying to get a head start over the next couple hours tonight, and my attempt to work and blog and watch the GOP debate earlier this week didn’t go anywhere. But I invite you to share your impressions in the comments. Will Bernie finally show that he’s a serious candidate, rather... Read more
One article after the next, in such places as National Review, repeats the message: Islam is not a “religion of peace” but it is the very nature of Islam and its scriptures (both the Qu’ran and the hadith) to be intolerant, to seek expansion by violent means, to treat women unjustly, to sow hatred towards non-believers, etc. Here’s an example from just today: “The Problem with Islam Is Aggressive Scripture, Not Aggressive ‘Traditionalism’” by Andrew C. McCarthy. Repeating a theme he’s... Read more
Did you know that the historical hatred of Muslims toward Jews did not have its origin in the Israeli occupation of Gaza and the West Bank, or in the creation of Israel in the lands formerly a part of the Ottoman Empire, or in conflicts over the Dome of the Rock/Temple Mount, but in the very origin of Islam itself? Yeah, I’m reading about that right now, and will type up a summary later, but it’s worth contemplating the fact... Read more
syrergegensexismus.org The problem being that the “Arabs” or the “Muslims” arriving in Germany are diverse; there are good guys and bad guys — and the biggest problem seems to be North Africans. More later . . . Read more
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