Just Mercy

I’ve just watched the 16 October edition of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. The special guest for the day was Bryan Stevenson.

Mr Stevenson was being interviewed because he has a new book about to be released, Just Mercy, about his work as a lawyer defending the poor and underprivileged in the USA. Towards the end of the interview he said this, which I think is worth noting:

We’re all more than the worst thing we’ve ever done… … I believe if somebody tells a lie, they’re not just a liar. If they take something that doesn’t belong to them, they’re not just a thief. And even if you kill somebody, you’re not just a killer. And we’ve got an obligation to respect that other thing you are.

Secular Societies Fare Better Than Religious Societies

Religion – or so the age-old hypothesis goes – is therefore a necessary glue for keeping society together. And conversely, secularism is a danger to societal well-being. For if people turn away from God and stop being religious, then crime will go up, corruption will increase, perversion will percolate, decency will diminish, and all manifestations of misery and malfeasance will predominate.

It is an interesting hypothesis. Perpetually-touted. And wrong.

via Secular Societies Fare Better Than Religious Societies | Psychology Today.

Why am I not surprised?

H/T to WWJTD for bringing this to my attention.

22 of the Best Stephen Fry Quotes Ever

22 Of The Best Stephen Fry Quotes Ever – Urban Times.

Stephen Fry is one of my heroes. My favourite out of these 22:

It’s now very common to hear people say, “I’m rather offended by that”. As if that gives them certain rights. It’s actually nothing more…than a whine. “I find that offensive.” It has no meaning; it has no purpose; it has no reason to be respected as a phrase. “I am offended by that.” Well, so fucking what.

Land of The Free (7): The Lady Vote

I picked this item up from watching The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. Republicans have started a new campaign that compares voting to choosing a wedding dress. Here’s one of the ads:

The ad is mind-boggling in its inanity. I can’t believe that anyone would not see these ads are offensive, demeaning and patronising to women. But apparently the College National Republican Committee who paid for it doesn’t think so.

Here’s a link to the Daily Show piece. It’s on the ComedyCentral UK site, so quality is pretty crappy.

Death of a Hippo

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This photo is the first in a series that some people may prefer not to see. We were on safari, staying at Lebala Camp. We had stopped by this lagoon for sundowners when I spotted activity on the opposite shore. It was a hippo being attacked by two hyenas. I gulped down the rest of my G&T and our guides hurriedly packed stuff away and we raced around to see what was happening.

On the next page, there are pictures showing the attack in more detail. They aren’t pleasant and you may prefer not to look. For the six of us in the Land Cruiser it was a lesson in the hard facts of life on the Africa plains. The hippo had clearly been badly injured in a fight, probably with another hippo—two hyenas would not have been able to take down a healthy one.

[Read more…]

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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

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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.

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!

 

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.