Wednesday, December 27, 2006

College of William & Mary changes name to more inclusive William & Terry

Mary, the mother of Christ, dropped in favor of gender-neutral Terry.


William and Terry's new non-threatening logo

W & T President Gene Nichol ordered the name change today in keeping with the removal of the Wren Chapel Cross in October. In an email to faculty and students, Nichol said his goal was to create a less "faith specific environment" to ensure that all peoples of all creeds are not offended by overtly Christian icons or names.


W & T President Gene Nichol

Supporters of the decision cite the hostile and exclusive nature the name "Mary" brings and insist that tolerance obligates the college to celebrate and accommodate those who hate Christianity, its symbols, and its contributions.

In addition, a faculty and student committee will convene next month to vote on the removal of the name "William" citing its obvious maleness and its connections to the abuses of imperial England. "Pat," "Francis," and "Alex" are reported to be among the favored replacements.

Friday, December 22, 2006

Save the Wren Chapel Cross

Sign the petition to restore the Wren Cross to permanent display on the altar table in William & Mary's Wren Chapel.



The small cross within the chapel was deemed offensive and removed by W&M President Gene Nichol in October of 2006 "to make the Wren Chapel less of a faith-specific space, and to make it more welcoming to students, faculty, staff and visitors of all faiths..."

Find out more about this effort:
Video: Fox News' Hannity and Colmes | National Review Online | Richmond Times-Dispatch | WorldNetDaily
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"Whereas other civilizations had been brought down by attacks of barbarians from without, ours had the unique distinction of training its own destroyers at its own educational institutions and providing them with facilities for propagating their destructive ideology far and wide, all at the public expense."
-Malcolm Muggeridge

Thursday, December 21, 2006

Huxley on Keith Ellison's Brave New Swearing-in

What difference does ceremonial tradition really make, anyway?

"History is bunk. History,” he repeated slowly, “is bunk.”

"He waved his hand; and it was as though, with an invisible feather wisk, he had brushed away a little dust, and the dust was Harappa, was Ur of the Chaldees; some spider-webs, and they were Thebes and Babylon and Cnossos and Mycenae.

Whisk. Whisk — and where was Odysseus, where was Job, where were Jupiter and Gotama and Jesus? Whisk — and those specks of antique dirt called Athens and Rome, Jerusalem and the Middle Kingdom — all were gone.

Whisk — the place where Italy had been was empty. Whisk, the cathedrals; whisk, whisk, King Lear and the Thoughts of Pascal. Whisk, Passion; whisk, Requiem; whisk, Symphony; whisk..."
Brave New World (1932)

Friday, December 08, 2006

Snopes Verifies Snopes is a Hoax

Urban legends website Snopes.com determines its own existence is fabricated.


A screen shot of Snopes.com.

The site once considered the authority on Internet hoaxes and urban legends issued an ironic press release Friday acknowledging that their mission to debunk the rampant mythology found on the Internet was at odds with the fact they do not exist.

Read more about it here.

Monday, December 04, 2006

NBA Embraces Affirmative Action

Guidelines will result in more short Jewish & Native Americans on the floor by 2012.



An enthusiastic Detroit Pistons team shows their support (above) for the new policy which will downplay scoring in favor of inclusiveness. The new rules will mean more playing time for little people, the transgendered, and athletes who are not necessarily talented in basketball, but bring a host of other values and viewpoints to the game.

"The overwhelming racial uniformity of the league today has got to go," explains NBA Commissioner, David Stern.

"This is not the America of the 1970's. We just want the teams to look like the America of today."