Category Archives: law

Blasphemy Laws by the Back Door

Posted on September 24, 2010 by Andrew Stuttaford

To describe public burnings of the Koran as uncivil behavior is an understatement, but this piece of news doesn’t say much for the state of free speech in Britain: Six people have been arrested on suspicion of inciting racial hatred … Continue reading →

Posted in law | Tagged , , | 9 Comments

Are There Enough Jews on the Supreme Court?

Posted on May 16, 2010 by Bradlaugh

There has been some muted comment about the religious composition of the U.S. Supreme Court after a Kagan approval: 6 Catholics, 3 Jews. Is this enough Jews, though?  Let’s crunch numbers. First permit me to switch from religion to self-identifying … Continue reading →

Posted in law, politics | 41 Comments

Thought for the Day

Posted on February 24, 2010 by Bradlaugh

One begins to suspect that the true American tradition is less that of our Fourth of July orations and our constitutional law textbooks, with their cluck-clucking over the so-called preferred freedoms, than, quite simply, that of riding somebody out of … Continue reading →

Posted in law, Odds & Ends | 2 Comments

Cultural Adjustment

Posted on October 21, 2009 by Bradlaugh

Here’s a little gem of multi-culti lunacy from the newspaper you have never, ever seen anyone reading: In Ohio, officials designing a seat-belt campaign aimed at the state’s large Somali refugee population wanted to adapt the popular “Click it or ticket” slogan … Continue reading →

Posted in culture, law | 29 Comments

It’s better in Europe (again)

Posted on October 7, 2009 by David Hume

Hendrik Hertzberg in The New Yorker, A SOCIAL DEMOCRATIC SIGH: Furthermore, it’s not as if German conservatives are a bunch of crazy far-right nihilists. This is not the Republicans we’re talking about. Both the CDU and the FDP recognize the … Continue reading →

Posted in culture, law, politics | Tagged , | 7 Comments

Blog of Death

Posted on July 14, 2009 by Bradlaugh

This is a touching story. One of Britain’s greatest conductors and his wife have taken their own lives at the Swiss assisted suicide clinic Dignitas.  Sir Edward Downes, 85, and his 74-year-old wife Joan travelled there to end their lives, his … Continue reading →

Posted in culture, law | 27 Comments

What’s A Fetus?

Posted on June 2, 2009 by Bradlaugh

Mr. Hume:  A great deal of what is said about abortion is, it seems to me, empty word-play. “It’s a person!” says Megan McArdle. “We all agree, don’t we, that killing a person, other than an enemy in war or convicted … Continue reading →

Posted in culture, law, politics | 26 Comments

Richard Posner on the deterioration of the conservative movement

Posted on May 12, 2009 by David Hume

Out of curiosity, what do readers think about Richard Posner’s Is the Conservative Movement Losing Steam? I am personally sympathetic to Posner-style technocrats, but lack a “long view” that older individuals might have in regards to the evolution of American … Continue reading →

Posted in law, politics | Tagged | 119 Comments

A Secular Case Against Gay Marriage?

Posted on April 29, 2009 by Bradlaugh

New York Governor Dave Paterson made some curious remarks on the gay marriage issue yesterday. The gist of them, so far as I can understand it, was that (a) opponents of gay marriage are motivated by their religion, and (b) the present … Continue reading →

Posted in culture, law, politics | 162 Comments

Day of Prayer? Day in court

Posted on December 16, 2008 by Heather Mac Donald

 The Freedom from Religion Foundation has sued to stop Colorado Governor Bill Ritter from issuing a proclamation in support of the National Day of Prayer, reports the Los Angeles Times.  My instincts are with my co-bloggers– secularists should stay out … Continue reading →

Posted in law, politics, Uncategorized | Tagged , | 8 Comments