The execrable conservative Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas finally said something in a U.S. Supreme Court hearing. He hasn’t spoken during oral arguments (which is how the hearings are conducted) since 2006, and As the New York Times reports: Justice Thomas leaned into his microphone, and in the midst of a great deal of cross […]
A correct legal decision for the wrong reasons! Still, here’s an early holiday present: according to The Los Angeles Times, nativity scenes will not be allowed in a public park in Santa Monica, California: In a closely watched case that has attracted national attention, Judge Audrey B. Collins denied a request from the Santa Monica […]
Some of Mencken’s best journalism was his reportage for the Baltimore Evening Sun on the Scopes “Monkey Trial” in Dayton, Tennessee. Mencken didn’t even pretend to be objective. This excerpt, about dueling speeches between prosecuting attorney William Jennings Bryan and defense attorney Dudley Fields Malone, was published on July 7, 1925. Malone was put up […]
From The Chicago Tribune via The Friendly Atheist we have this intriguing item. Lawyer Cheryl Bormann is defending, in Guantanamo Bay, Walid bin Attash, accused of helping plot the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center. While appearing in court, Bormann will wear an abaya, a Muslim garmet that covers everything but the face […]
“Finally, there is the worry that to reject free will is to render all of life pointless: why would you bother with anything if it has all long since been determined? The answer is that you will bother because you are a human, and that is what humans do. Even if you decide, as part […]
When I was in Kentucky, an alert student brought to my attention the fact that the state’s governor, Steven Beshear, had just proclaimed this November “King James Version of the Bible” month. Here’s the official proclamation (click to enlarge; you can download the pdf file here). Note how the language is twisted to emphasize the […]
