Changing tax exemptions for charities and religions

Via Machines Like Us, I learned of this article that points out that the cost of the tax exemptions granted to religion groups could work out to as much as $71 billion per year. Both articles were based on a study by Ryan T. Cragun, Stephanie Yeager, and Desmond Vega at the University of Tampa that was published in Free Inquiry, put out by the Council of Secular Humanism, so the exact figure may be challenged by those who claim that it is not an impartial source. [Read more…]

We should stop asking why they hate us because the answer is obvious

Those of us who have argued that the measures taken by the US in the fight in the bogus ‘war on terror’ are harmful to fundamental rights are sometimes accused of being too complacent. We are charged with erroneously thinking that the chances of the US being subjected to a terrorist attack is small and not realizing that it is only these draconian measures that have kept us safe so far. Take away the drones, the torture, the indefinite detentions without trial, the secret surveillance of all our communications, the excessive airport security, and the US would be subject to another attack. Or so we are told. [Read more…]

Is falsely being called ‘gay’ defamatory?

I recently had a seven-part series titled ‘On Insults’ and the first one dealt with the question of what constitutes an insult and who gets to decide whether something is a slur or not. It is not an easy question to answer. Are insults and slurs inherent in the words themselves? Does it depend on the intent of the person using those words? Or does it depend on the perception of the person at the receiving end? [Read more…]

Now is NOT the time for all good people to come to the aid of the party

We are now less than five months away from the elections and well into the political rah-rah season when people are expected to choose sides and where the goal becomes to help your candidate win. As a result, there will be an intense focus on increasingly marginal issues in order to create the illusion that the candidates differ widely and that it is therefore essential that the opposing candidate not be successful because dire consequences will ensue. [Read more…]

Courting the white vote

Jon Stewart and Larry Wilmore of The Daily Show have one of their always worth watching discussions on race issues, funny on the surface but also making serious points.

(This clip appeared on June 11, 2012. To get suggestions on how to view clips of The Daily Show and The Colbert Report outside the US, please see this earlier post.)