Land of The Free (6): Ave Maria University’s Strangle-Hold on Women Goes Way Beyond Suing Obamacare

Apparently Jeb Bush saw no problem with denying residents their civil liberties:

“Gov. Jeb Bush, at the university’s recent [2006] groundbreaking, lauded the development as a new kind of town, where faith and freedom will merge to create a community of like-minded citizens.”

Yes, a community of “like-minded citizens” whose rulers, like the Taliban, offer their residents no civil liberties not even the right to vote for local officials nor local laws.

via Ave Maria University’s Strangle-Hold on Women Goes Way Beyond Suing Obamacare.

A pretty scary story about Tom Monaghan (founder, but no longer owner of Domino’s Pizza) and plans for the town of Ave Maria. A report in the Daily Mail last year suggests things aren’t going too well with only 500 out of a planned 11,000 homes built since the town was officially founded in 2007. Apparently, that’s now risen to 560 giving a town population of 2,500. People appear not to be rushing to live somewhere where birth control is not available, there’s no voter control over town finances, where the owners have an über-Catholic agenda.

H/T to JT Eberhard who describes Monaghan as a “religious loon”.

Facepaw

rcp_20140925_165337_d

Gia and I have just been on safari; so I’ve lots of pictures to process. This one won’t make the final cut because it’s not quite in focus. But it’s the only facepaw I got.

Terms of Service; Didn’t Read

“I have read and agree to the Terms” is the biggest lie on the web. We aim to fix that.

Terms of Service; Didn’t Read.

This looks like a promising idea.

Land of The Free (5): Christian Swingers

Picked this up from Jerry Coyne’s excellent blog, Why Evolution Is True:

Swinging builds Jesus’ army

Oh, lawdy!

 

BackBlaze: Hard Disk Reliability

BackBlaze have just published some useful data on the reliability of disk drives:

Result data

You can read the full post here.

Your first 10,000 photographs are your worst

Your first 10,000 photographs are your worst.
― Henri Cartier-Bresson

In these days of digital, I reckon that number needs to be rethought.

See more HCB quotes here.

Something From Nothing

A fascinating talk by Lawrence Krauss on how it all started.

Land of The Free (4): Georgia GOPer Complains About Early Voting, Excessive Black Voting

A Republican state senator in Georgia has vowed to end Sunday balloting in DeKalb County due to the fact that the area is “dominated by African American shoppers and it is near several large African American mega churches.”

via Georgia GOPer Complains About Early Voting, Excessive Black Voting.

Don’t these idiots ever listen to themselves.

Hat tip to WWJTD.

A Watch Guy’s Thoughts On The Apple Watch After Seeing It In The Metal

Again, Apple paid great attention to detail with this new wrist-bound peripheral, and it shows the Swiss that it is possible to have great design at low costs. That is the most exciting thing about the Apple Watch for me – it will push the Swiss to take the sub-$1,000 mechanical watch category more seriously.

via A Watch Guys Thoughts On The Apple Watch After Seeing It In The Metal Tons Of Live Photos — HODINKEE – Wristwatch News, Reviews, & Original Stories.

After the recent Apple keynote, I was certainly more than likely than not to get an Apple Watch. This very detailed and interesting piece just increased the probability.

Wristcomputer

Land of The Free (3): Pat Robertson: “Blessed are the fully armed”

“What is the new beatitude?” Robertson said cheerfully after the segment. “Blessed are the fully armed because theirs is the kingdom of Heaven.”

via Pat Robertson: “Blessed are the fully armed” – Salon.com.

Looney toons…