- A usually conservative US Supreme Court recently ruled that the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) is unconstitutional. Their rulings on Prop 8 also clears the way for gay marriage in California. On this note, it’s always nice to remember that while the arc of history is long, it is bent towards justice (MLKJ). What yesterday seemed ridiculous (women voting? Interracial marriage? Equal rights for black Africans) is today commonplace. The legalization of gay marriage across the States and across the world is now just a matter of when, not if. Wonderful to think that gay marriage has been legal in South Africa for almost 8 years – in 2006 the National Assembly passed the motion by a vote of 230 to 41.
- For those of us ascribing to the Christian faith, I highly recommend this article by Prof Smedes titled: “Homosexuality and divorce, why not treat them the same?” and this letter from the Bishop of Salisbury. For those concerned with secular ethics see “Homosexuality is not immoral” by Peter Singer. I obviously have more to say on this issue so there will definitely be a post or two on this in the future…
- On a related note, Exodus International – the largest ex-gay / pray away the gay – ministry issued an apology and shut down. Also see this The Beast article on this – I loved the quote “Mercifully, there comes a point when even the most committed of ideologues admit defeat.”
- Really useful website “World Data on Education Seventh Edition 2010/11” – helpful country summaries for LOADS of countries…
- Awesome website showcasing the interiors of wonderfully creative people: http://theselby.com/ – thanks Laura Rossouw
- The wonderful Stephen Fry on loneliness and his attempted suicide.
- Quote of the week comes from An interview with Milton Friedman:
- “I think the major issue is how broad the evidence is on which you rest your case. Some of the modern approaches involve mining and exploring a single body of evidence within itself. When you try to apply statistical tests of significance, you never know how many degrees of freedom you have because you’re taking the best out of many tries. I believe that you have a more secure basis if, instead of relying on extremely sophisticated analysis of a small fixed body of data, you rely on cruder analysis of a much broader and wider body of data, which will include widely different circumstances. The natural experiments that come up over a wide range provide a source of evidence that is stronger and more reliable than any single very limited body of data.”
Nic Spaull 