Sapere Aude!

Students Panic Ahead Of Wikipedia Blackout: 'How Am I Going To Do Homework?'

"omfg NO wikipedia is closing tomorrow HOW AM I GOING TO DO HOMEWORK"

That question, posed by @LucieLovesYah on Twitter, is weighing heavily on students' minds this week following news that Wikipedia will black out its English-language pages for a 24-hour period beginning Wednesday morning. (@LucieLovesYah later wrote us to clarify that her tweet was sarcastic.)

The site's shutdown, which is intended as an online protest against the controversial Congressional bills known as the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the Protect IP Act (PIPA), has students in a tizzy and altogether unsure how they can complete assignments without being able to access to the online encyclopedia.

via www.huffingtonpost.com

In my day, you had to walk all the way to the library and get an actual book.

New York Gay Marriage Legalization Transformed National Debate: Legal Experts

NEW YORK (Reuters) - When New York became the sixth and by far the largest state to legalize same-sex marriage, following a grueling overtime session in the state Legislature Friday, it immediately transformed the national debate over the issue, legal experts said.

With a population over 19 million -- more than the combined population of the five states that currently allow gay marriage, plus the District of Columbia, where it is also legal -- New York is poised to provide the most complete picture yet of the legal, social and economic consequences of gay marriage.

"I think that having same-sex marriage in New York will have tremendous moral and political force for the rest of the country -- in
part because New York is a large state, and in part because it hasn't come easily,'' said Suzanne Goldberg, a professor at Columbia Law School.

The New York Assembly passed same-sex marriage legislation twice before, in 2007 and 2009, but in both cases it stalled in the state Senate, as it nearly did again this week. The bill passed late Friday after legislators agreed on language allowing religious organizations to refuse to perform services or lend space for same-sex weddings.

via www.huffingtonpost.com

The argument from nature is being rejected one state at a time.  But, some philosophers, sadly, still cling to it.

Identity Politics: From the Founders to Malcolm X and Obama

It's been an interesting couple of weeks in identity politics.  David Barton and Prof. Richard Beeman were each on The Daily Show discussing religion, the Founders, and the Constitution. Some basic Dead White Male stuff regarding what the Founders intended regarding the sepeartion of church and state.   Cornell West made some, er, suprising, criticisms of Obama.  And, a Black Studies Professor and a Harlem activist debate black history and black consciousness on Democracy Now.  Check out some highlights below the fold.

Maddow on Benton Harbor

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FBC-Dallas Pastor on Ground Zero Mosque

The Pastor from First Baptist Church Dallas appeared on MSNBC today to try and justify prohibiting the mosque at Ground Zero.  He does not do a very good job.

 

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None of his analogies work.  He paints all Muslims as violent fundamentalists.  Lame.  That's like claiming all Christians are retarded Bapitist ministers.  I'm no fan of organized religion.  But, we live in a free society where Muslims have just as much of a right to practice their religion as the Baptist preacher does. What's the rationale for opposing the building the other mosques in different parts of country?  We cannot say that it's offensive because they are too close to Ground Zero.