Negligible Knowledge Base

Like being penalized–for not “being married”–by the very systems and institutions of the very society that denies them the right to marry, no less!  That’s double-sided prejudice, people.
Associated Press, Tennessee: Divorced mother appeals night ban on partner:
ACLU spokesman Paul Cates said the clause primarily affects lesbians and gays with children because same-sex civil unions are [...]

I get so fucking furious every time some freedom-bashing pinhead tries to make the argument that if the rest of us don’t abandon our freedoms and conform ourselves to the pinhead’s personal belief system, then we are trampling or endangering or disrespecting the pinhead’s “religious freedom”. This time it’s the nation’s Roman Catholic bishops:
BALTIMORE — [...]

Drudge Report headline: “Condoms Over Abstinence in Obama AIDS Policy…” I can’t imagine the Drudge Report or it’s usual readers view this as a positive development, but those of us committed to rationality certainly do.
The linked story resides at Bloomberg, Condoms Trump Abstinence in Obama Global AIDS Policy:
Nov. 10 (Bloomberg) — President-elect Barack Obama will reverse [...]

Well, everyone knows by now that the daughter of presumptive Republican VP nominee, Sarah Palin, governor of Alaska, is pregnant. The Palins, Sarah and her husband Todd, made the announcement Monday morning.
Democtatic Presidential Nominee Barack Obama had this to say:
I’ve heard some of the news on this, and so let me be as clear [...]

A federal appeals court today threw out a $550,000 indecency fine against CBS imposed as a result of the notorious “wardrobe malfunction” during the 2004 Super Bowl Halftime Show.
I wrote about this nearly two years ago, on my old blog, wherein I concluded:
My personal credo has always been “to each his own, just leave me [...]

Yes. The question is how widespread is the practice and under what circumstances are they permitted to do so? The ACLU filed a Freedom of Information Act request with the Department of Justice last November to try to ascertain the answers to those questions. The DOJ did not respond to the request. [...]

Excellent essay in the New York Times by Waldo Fielding, M.D. Dr. Fielding brings an interesting perspective, as one of a dwindling number of physicians old enough to remember the “bad old days” before Roe v. Wade:
I am a retired gynecologist, in my mid-80s. My early formal training in my specialty was spent in New [...]

I’m no fan of DCS (Department of Child Services)–oh, I guess in Texas it’s called Child Protective Services.  I don’t care what state you live in, or what your state’s department is called, you’re talking about a horribly inefficient bureaucracy.  And, in most states, the department’s budget is still based on the number of children [...]

The State Department has confirmed that the passport files of the big three presidential candidates, Obama, McCain and Clinton, have been inappropriately accessed:
State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said the breaches of McCain and Clinton’s passport files were not discovered until Friday, after officials were made aware of the privacy breach regarding Obama’s records and a [...]

For my money, there are two principles at work here, best summed up in the following aphorisms:

The guilty dog barks the loudest; and
Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.

And the late-night comics are eating it up:
A prominent politician, especially one known for a certain righteousness, is alleged to be a customer of high-priced call girls. [...]