Sorry Texans! The priority in education for Texas government is to stop transgender students from using the appropriate bathroom. Our Lt. Governor Dan Patrick, called this week for the resignation of Fort Worth Superintendent Kent Scribner allowing the district’s transgender students to choose their own bathroom. “Without any discussion with parents, board members, principals, and […]
Momentum
This has been a fascinating election season. This year produced the best candidate I’ve ever seen in my life, and contrasted him against a collection of contenders who should not be allowed in office for various reasons. As i said in previous posts, I used to like Hillary OK until I started paying attention. Now […]
Recap of EuroTour 2016
When I was in Europe last year, I had been invited to come back and speak at three different conferences this year too, in England, Poland, and Finland; all in the month of March. I thought the only reasonable way to do that was to hop over the Atlantic one time and stay for the […]
Political Idealism
This election has by far the most uniquely interesting primary that I have ever seen. I’ve been absolutely fascinated by it since the start and can’t read enough about it. Because the general election appears to be decided by who gets the nomination. It’s hard to imagine actually electing any of the feces-flinging monkeys in […]
Feelin’ Berned
Call me what you will, but this is my position. I have given this a helluva lotta thought over the last several months, and I’m completely sincere in what I say. Every single person I personally know is a Bernie supporter -including people who normally vote Republican. How could any sane or rational person vote […]
Freethought Friday ep303
When I was in Dublin Ireland, I met with Ashling O’Brien and Ciarán O Floinn. We found an unoccupied meeting room in the basement of the Ashling Hotel (no relation to Ms O’Brien) and did an interview for their podcast, Freethought Friday. [youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gHmWYCD5mdY[/youtube]
Social Justice for Reasonable People: Racial Justice Discussions
How can reasonable people discuss racial justice? Any secular group that focuses on people of color often gets ironic criticism for being exclusive. Though in my experience with American groups, I don’t know of any secular group that disallows whites from joining. As a biracial Asian-American, I have always been there doing my small part […]
It never ends
I’m in Northern Ireland at the moment, speaking tonight in a suburb of Belfast. When I was a young boy, back in the late 1960s, I heard the name Belfast on TV news the same way I heard the names Beirut, Syria, or the West Bank: they were always associated with riots or bombings. Yesterday, […]
Joycelyn Elders Approves of Sander’s Marijuana Legalization Plan
Former Surgeon General Joycelyn Elders is most known for taking stances such as support for comprehensive sex education that included education on masturbation that were not just controversial with the general public, but during the Clinton administration as well. She also received disapproval during her tenure for saying that marijuana legalization should be studied. A pediatrician, […]
The Hateful Voter
Although support for same-sex marriage has risen from 39 percent in 2001 to 55 percent in 2015, GOP candidates are still running their homophobic credentials to court evangelical voters. Republicans face an aging base at the polls that lags behind the country in same-sex marriage acceptance at 32 percent. Religious belief also plays a role […]