TealScientific

Quote: Harry A. Blackmun on government and religion

terry — Fri, 11 May 2012 01:07:40 +0000

“When the government puts its imprimatur on a particular religion it conveys a message of exclusion to all those who do not adhere to the favored beliefs. A government cannot be premised on the belief that all persons are created equal when it asserts that God prefers some.”

~~~ Harry A. Blackmun

Quote: Thomas Jefferson on the ‘wall of separation’

terry — Fri, 11 May 2012 00:23:23 +0000

“Religious institutions that use government power in support of themselves and force their views on persons of other faiths, or of no faith, undermine all our civil rights. Moreover, state support of an established religion tends to make the clergy unresponsive to their own people, and leads to corruption within religion itself. Erecting the ‘wall of separation between church and state,’ therefore, is absolutely essential in a free society.”

~~~ Thomas Jefferson

Happy National Day of Reason

terry — Fri, 04 May 2012 01:44:12 +0000

The purpose of the National Day of Reason is to celebrate REASON and to raise public awareness about the persistent threat to religious liberty posed by government. Yes, when we invite religion into government, we simultaneously invite government into religion. Keep strong the wall of separation between church and state!

Sneaky House passes bad cybersecurity bill

terry — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 03:00:47 +0000

The CISPA cybersecurity bill was passed by the U.S. House of Representatives. The vote on the bill was moved up a day ahead of schedule and quickly amended to make it far broader and more invasive. This bill “would allow companies to bypass all existing privacy law to spy on communications and pass sensitive user data to the government.”

Read more about this sneak attack at Boing Boing.

Here we go again with flawed cybersecurity bills

terry — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 01:07:22 +0000

Today, a group of prominent professionals, scientists, and engineers published an open letter to the U.S. Congress, stating their opposition to CISPA, the SECURE IT Act, and other overly broad cybersecurity bills.

Highlights:

We take security very seriously, but we fervently believe that strong computer and network security does not require Internet users to sacrifice their privacy and civil liberties.

The bills currently under consideration, including Rep. Rogers’ Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act of 2011 (H.R. 3523) and Sen. McCain’s SECURE IT Act (S. 2151), … nullify current legal protections against wiretapping and similar civil liberties violations …. By encouraging the transfer of users’ private communications to US Federal agencies, and lacking good public accountability or transparency, these “cybersecurity” bills unnecessarily trade our civil liberties for the promise of improved network security. As experts in the field, we reject this false trade-off and urge you to oppose any cybersecurity initiative that does not explicitly include appropriate methods to ensure the protection of users’ civil liberties.

Read the entire open letter here and contact your representatives to oppose these bills.

In memorium … Jacquelyn Sue Hearn Smith

terry — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 03:15:45 +0000

Today, 09 April 2012, Jacquelyn Sue Hearn Smith passed away.

Jackie, Ma, Grannyma … You inspired kindness. You shared joy. You encouraged, you aided, you comforted. You lighted our way. In all these ways and more, you are remembered. Your radiance shines still in our memories and in the myriad of lives you touched.

Celebrate Human Achievement Hour 2012 – 31 March, 8:30 p.m.

terry — Sat, 31 Mar 2012 13:47:06 +0000

Some environmentalists and celibrities ask you to turn out your lights to call attention to global warming, but this sends the wrong message. This is a rejection of technology and human achievement.

So, don’t plunge yourself into darkness … turn on those energy-efficient lights and celebrate human achievement with friends and family!

Read more at . . . → Read More: Celebrate Human Achievement Hour 2012 – 31 March, 8:30 p.m.

Quote: Ronald Reagan on separation of church and state

terry — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 00:20:52 +0000

“We in the United States, above all, must remember that lesson, for we were founded as a nation of openness to people of all beliefs. And so we must remain. Our very unity has been strengthened by our pluralism. We establish no religion in this country, we command no worship, we mandate no belief, nor will we ever. Church and state are, and must remain, separate. All are free to believe or not believe, all are free to practice a faith or not, and those who believe are free, and should be free, to speak of and act on their belief.”
~~~ President Ronald Reagan, 26 October 1984, in a speech to Temple Hillel and Community Leaders in Valley Stream

Ubuntu 12.04 will bring OS-level privacy options

terry — Sun, 11 Mar 2012 15:44:30 +0000

The next version of Ubuntu (12.04) will feature an easy way for users to set preferences for clearing operating system level activity logs. Read more at EFF.

At last, an affordable “green” lightbulb … um, not so much

terry — Sun, 11 Mar 2012 14:10:40 +0000

Check out this opinion piece by Michael F. Cannon posted at the Cato Institute blog, titled “You Keep Using the Word ‘Affordable.’ I Do Not Think It Means What You Think It Means.”

It was the author’s homage to the 1987 movie, The Princess Bride, that caught my attention.