Just After Darwin Day...

[green-man-2010.livejournal.com]

You really have to feel sorry for kids living in the world's last remaining superpower, don't you?

I mean, it is not their fault that they get fed on junk food from Macdonalds that gives them an obesity problem, is it?
And now, people who are old enough to know better want to bring in legislation that will ' teach the controversy' in schools, and develope their 'critical thinking'... yeah, right !!!

Oh, before I forget, have a link:-
http://www.secularnewsdaily.com/2011/02/11/%E2%80%98science-guy%E2%80%99-speaks-out-bill-nye-says-nay-to-anti-evolution-crusade-as-bills-pop-up-in-the-states/

Now, the obligatory opinion.... ( Read more... )

Why Hire When They'll Do It for Free?

[paft.livejournal.com]

From the Orlando Sentinel:

Florida's jobless could soon have to do unpaid work for a non-profit group in order to be eligible for unemployment benefits.

State Rep. Kathleen Passidomo (R-Naples) recently introduced a bill that would require the state's unemployed to do at least four hours of unpaid service each week to qualify for benefits…

…Under the bill, residents who don't meet the volunteer service requirements could be denied unemployment benefits, which could shore up a system that already has a $2.07 billion deficit.

I work at a non-profit. Part of my job is managing volunteers. We’ve had a lot of them recently, as unemployed people sign up as a way of keeping busy. While I hate to see a high rate of joblessness, I am glad to have more volunteers. We can always use the extra help.

But this recent story about Florida dangling unemployment benefits over the heads of the jobless and saying “you’ll get it if you’ll do this work for free” sent my blood pressure up.

First of all, as one person in the article points out, the unemployed have already worked for those benefits. They paid into unemployment insurance when they had a job.

Second, Passidomo’s claim that “I was not looking at it as a punitive measure,” is an insult to everyone’s intelligence. Isn’t requiring hours of “community service” frequently included in some criminal sentencing? The philosophy behind it here seems similar. “Obviously you screwed up. We need to step in and manage your time for you.”

Third, this notion that volunteering at non-profits will lead to jobs is only likely to apply to people who want to work for non-profits. Not everybody does. Aside from the fact that they pay less, the philosophy driving non-profits is, and should be, very different from the philosophy of for profit companies. The culture is, and should be, very different. Someone who’s worked in finance may be able to contribute a good bit as a volunteer, but to ask them to shift gears and immerse themselves professionally in the non-profit world may not be good either for them or for the non-profit that hires them.

And fourth –

How does increasing the pool of people forced to do unpaid work result in more jobs?

Crossposted from Thoughtcrimes

(no subject)

[dv8nation.livejournal.com]

http://articles.philly.com/2011-02-11/news/28350535_1_abuse-allegations-grand-jury-report-archdiocesan-priests

Archdiocesan leaders in Philadelphia have been raked over the coals by a new report out stating that very little has changed in the way the Church deals with priests suspected of molesting kids.

The review board designated to hear abuse allegations routinely ignored evidence substantiating those claims, the grand jurors contended. And at least 41 priests were left in active posts around the region after being accused of inappropriate behavior or abuse of minors.

"The evidence presented before us indicates that the Archdiocese continues to engage in practices that mislead victims, that violate their trust, that hinders prosecution of their abusers, and that leave large numbers of credibly accused priests in ministry," the report stated.


I'm not really surprised by this, but it's still kinda incredible that the Church just doesn't seem to be learning ANYTHING from recent years. Every time something like this happens it ruins any credibility the Church has built in a community, especially one where this has been a problem before. Moving pedo priests around is akin to trying to deal with cancer by giving it a good scolding.

The only real good coming out of all this is that people seem to be keeping a close eye on the Church and taking them to task for their failings. I'm guessing it's going to take a lot more painful lessons before the church gets that they're really going to have to start doing things a new way.

Letting priests marry would help a lot. It's one of the main things keeping men out of the priesthood. Which tends to leave the alter boy lovers filling in more of the ranks. But I'm not Catholic so I suppose that's easy for me to say.