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26. mai 2005
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Max Boot:
At a time when the Army and Marine Corps are struggling to fill their ranks, many conservatives are determined to limit the ability of women and gays to contribute to the war effort. Are they more concerned with winning culture wars at home or winning the war on terrorism abroad?
Timely question. Luckily, the keep-woman-away provision was dropped by the House. Most Americans also support the female troops.
Further from Max Boot:
I also don't see why we are still barring all gays and lesbians from serving openly. Between 1994 and 2003, according to the Government Accountability Office, the military discharged 9,488 homosexuals, including 322 with badly needed knowledge of such languages as Arabic, Farsi and Korean. In other words, the fight against gay rights is hurting the fight against our real enemies. That's a compelling reason to change the law, even for those of us who used to be supporters of the gay ban.
A change is way past overdue.
8:21:28 PM 
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Now this is judicial activism:
An Indianapolis father is appealing a Marion County judge's unusual order that prohibits him and his ex-wife from exposing their child to "non-mainstream religious beliefs and rituals."
The parents practice Wicca, a contemporary pagan religion that emphasizes a balance in nature and reverence for the earth.
Cale J. Bradford, chief judge of the Marion Superior Court, kept the unusual provision in the couple's divorce decree last year over their fierce objections, court records show. The order does not define a mainstream religion.
I am certainly no expert in US constitutional law, but I predict this statement will meet a harsh reaction on appeal. It is a gross violation of freedom of religion, and also betrays ignorance about wicca, which, though I definately do not share its beliefs, is probably one of the more harmless religious movements around.
Update: Eugene Volokh is an expert in constitutional law, and agrees:
If the order is as reported, then it's a blatant violation of the Free Speech Clause (because it's a speech restriction), the Free Exercise Clause (because it singles out religion for special restriction), the Establishment Clause (because it prefers some religions over others, and requires the court to decide what's a "mainstream" religion), and likely the Equal Protection Clause (because the order discriminates based on religion) and the Due Process Clause (because of the order's vagueness) as well.
Is this a new record in how many constitutional rules one paragraph written by a judge has violated?
7:19:15 PM
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Ronald Bailey on Unintelligent Design:
Who needs to make monkeys out of the Kansas Board of Education when its members are doing such a good job of it themselves?
So true. One should believe that at a time when the US' scientific and economic leadership in the world faces huge challenges, it would not be a priority for those who consider themselves most patriotic to undermine science education by bringing worthless superstitious nonsense into the classroom. It is not as if biology will be an unimportant discipline in the 21st century.
PS: So convenient that both the terms 'evolution' and 'intelligent design' lend themselves so easily to endless puns.
1:03:31 AM
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This year's Champions League final in Istanbul will go down in the history books of football as the greatest comeback ever.
Who really believed at half-time, with Italian side AC Milan up 3-0 against the English FC Liverpool, that we had a glimmer of a chance? Not I, I freely admit. I actually considered for a moment to leave to pub and go home to get some much-needed rest, after a day which included virtually no sleep for 24 hours and four cavities filled at the dentist's. My vision was fading, literally, and our boys, even the ever-vigilant Jamie Garragher and Steven Gerrard, certainly appeared to have lost all hope. Milan had scored the first goal in the first minute of the game, the fastest ever in a CL final, and Liverpool looked like they had no plan B from there on. Two more goals followed in a demonstration of deadly football efficiency from the Italian side.
I have no idea what manager Rafael Benitez said or did in the break.
Almost out of nowhere, after 53 minutes, Norwegian player John Arne Riise's cross hit Steven Gerrard's head, and a faint hope returned as header went past Dida. Within a minute, a superb long range shot from Smicer was fumbled into goal by an otherwise brilliant Dida. The fans erupted. With 3-2, we were witnessing the comeback of the century (and probably the previous one, too). Just after that, Gerrard was pulled down in the box, and Xabi Alonso, although failing to land the spot kick, hit home with the rebound. The most amazing comeback ever was a reality, and Milan was back to square one.
Then followed many painful minutes, as the game went into extra time, and although Milan was the better team, they had few chances to take the win home (a few more than my heart could take, though).
It went into the dreaded penalty shootouts.
Then goalkeeper Jerzy Dudek shined. He was a mixed bag in the game, to be honest, but in the penalty shootout he psyched out the Milan players expertly, causing Milan to miss their two first penalties. Finally he decisively brought victory home to the Mersey-side by saving the spot-kick from the world's arguably best player, Andriy Shevchenko. Then the world went red.
12:42:18 AM
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© Copyright 2005 Jan Haugland.
Last update: 01.06.2005; 06:47:00.
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