URLs du Jour

2009-11-03

  • Our University System of New Hampshire co-institution, Keene State College, has been awarded "Speech Code of the Month", bestowed by the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE). Unfortunately, that's not a compliment:
    Keene State's "Statement on Sexist Language," found in the college's Student Handbook, states that "Keene State College will not tolerate language that is sexist and promotes negative stereotypes and demeans members of our community." Keene State is a public university, legally bound to uphold the guarantees of the First Amendment, yet this policy blatantly prohibits constitutionally protected speech. Not only does it prohibit protected speech, but it also leaves a great deal of what we would call core protected expression--that is, the kind of political and social commentary at the heart of the First Amendment--vulnerable to punishment.
    Not that the University Near Here has anything to brag about, but at least it has (so far) avoided this award. KSC's politically-correct posturing will only lead to more embarrassing publicity. And should push come to shove, they'll find themselves on the losing end of expensive litigation.

  • At Critical Condition, Hanns Kuttner notes the final nail in the coffin of the ObamaCare talking point, "If you like the health coverage you have, you can keep it." The actual House bill:
    An employer plan can remain as it is for a five-year grace period, but after that, the employer plan "must meet the same requirements as apply to a qualified health benefits plan." And those requirements include all the rules about mandated benefits and how co-payments and deductibles are structured.
    Pun Salad's previous posts on the "you can keep it" lie here, here, here, here, and here. It's always been reassuring bullshit meant to soothe the rubes.

  • If you're on a diet, tormented by constant cravings, you might want to bookmark: The 6 Most Terrifying Foods in the World. It's Cracked, with its usual R-rated language, and it's probably a good way to put you off your feed for a bit. For example, consider escamoles, the larvae of the Liometopum ant. Reports Cracked:
    The eggs have the consistency of cottage cheese. The most popular way to eat them is in a taco with guacamole, while being f---ing insane.
    Being of Norwegian descent, I've eaten #4, lutefisk. I think I'd try escamoles before eating lutefisk again.


Last Modified 2019-01-01 7:27 AM EDT