Friday Smorgasbord
362 words.
No one story has jumped out at me today, so here’s a link-fest of random cultural interests.
First up, an amusing commentary on Arizona Senate’s Committee on Higher Education’s vote to let university and community-college students “opt out” of required reading that they find offensive: Opting out of education. I like his idea that if students are going to opt-out of reading something, they should have to explain their specific reasons in front of the class. Say in the form of an oral book report.
Robert Camp writes that an informal email survey of biologists at research universities reveal all but 1 respondent felt there was no scientific controversy about evolution: Turn out the lights, the “Teach the controversy” party’s over.
Stephanie Coontz gives a “pop quiz on marriage,” basically arguing that traditional marriage is dead: A Pop Quiz on Marriage. (I finally caved in and registered with NY Times in order to read it, because:) Then Maggie Gallagher blasts Stephanie Coontz and gives a diametrically opposing “pop quiz on marriage,” arguing that traditional marriage is better than ever: Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Marriage. It’s an All Out Marriage Pop Quiz Deathmatch!
Reading Greg Gutfeld’s jibes against super-extreme-left-wing blog commenters requires a lot of patience, but they’re quite funny: The Huffington Post Style Guide for Writers and Editors and The Universal Huffington Post Auto-Responder. I like “NeoConDalsleazy Liceface,” personally. (The super-extreme-left-wing commenters didn’t like any of this very much.)
For arts lovers, here’s a good article on the history of artwork depicting Muhammad: In museums, portraits illuminate a religious taboo. Apparently there are lots of “illuminations” of Muhammad buried in various museums. (Don’t tell the Middle East.)
Speaking of Denmark, a rally of support (or a display of sammenhold, if you read Michelle Malkin) spearheaded by blogger Chistopher Hitchens occurred at the Danish embassy in Washington today: A Rally for Freedom. This better be on the news tonight!
Lastly, this just in… a planned boycott of the infamous Southpark “Bloody Mary” episode in New Zealand actually increased the show’s viewership by 6 times: Boycott backfires: South Park gets record audience. I guess it’s time to start burning Kenny effigies.
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