Universities Ordered To Protect Freedom Of Speech
Sadly just not here. It’s in the U.K.
Students are being told to drop ‘safe spaces’ and no platform-policies as the minister for higher education is ordering universities to protect freedom of speech.
Jo Johnson has written to the chief executive of Universities UK to say there is a ‘legal duty’ for universities to ensure freedom of speech is being exercised.
Under new plans drawn up by the Government, universities will be required by law to protect free speech across their campuses included inside the student union.
His letter comes just months after findings showed 94 per cent of universities in the UK now have some form of restriction on freedom of expression, up from 80 per cent in 2015.
The worrying craze has seen everything from public speakers blocked to fancy dress outfits banned from appearing on campus.
In recent years a number of high-profile people have been banned from speaking at universities in recent years including Mr Johnson’s brother Boris, whose invitation to King’s College London was revoked for a column about Barack Obama.
New Study Shows Secularists Are Not Reproducing Themselves Out Of Existence
For over a century, social scientists have predicted declines in religious beliefs and their replacement with more scientific/naturalistic outlooks, a prediction known as the secularization hypothesis. However, skepticism surrounding this hypothesis has been expressed by some researchers in recent decades. After reviewing the pertinent evidence and arguments, we examined some aspects of the secularization hypothesis from what is termed a biologically informed perspective. Based on large samples of college students in Malaysia and the USA, religiosity, religious affiliation, and parental fertility were measured using self-reports. Three religiosity indicators were factor analyzed, resulting in an index for religiosity. Results reveal that average parental fertility varied considerably according to religious groups, with Muslims being the most religious and the most fertile and Jews and Buddhists being the least. <B>Within most religious groupings, religiosity was positively associated with parental fertility.</B>
No surprise that people who have faith in things greater than themselves are also the people with the faith to bring children into the world.
Hackers Blackmailing Apple With Threat Of Wiping IPhone / ICloud Accounts.
This one sounds a little crazy, but if you have an Iphone/ICloud account you might want to take steps to make local backups and change your credentials.
A mischievous band of hackers is reportedly trying to shake down Apple over a large trove of stolen iPhone credentials, including iCloud and other Apple email accounts.
The attackers – who identified themselves as ‘Turkish Crime Family’ – are seeking to receive $75,000 in the popular cryptocurrency Bitcoin or the less known alternative, Ethereum. They will, however, also settle for $100,000 worth of iTunes gift cards, Motherboard reports.
“I just want my money and thought this would be an interesting report that a lot of Apple customers would be interested in reading and hearing,” a member of Turkish Crime Family told the publication.
The hackers have since shared screenshots of their communication with the Apple security team, as well as access to the email address they used to contact the company.
Anyone who has had to deal with a crashed hard drive, or losing their data other ways knows what a horror this is. Hopefully Apple takes appropriate steps.
Quote of the Day
If history repeats itself, and the unexpected always happens, how incapable must Man be of learning from experience. —George Bernard Shaw
Quiz:
This weeks quiz is The Ultimate Political Gaffe Quiz (I expect incoming snark)
BTW: The Ultimate Gaffe Quiz, has a giant Gaffe should be easy to spot.
Drink up That’s it for the Watercooler today. As always it’s an open thread
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