Ok...I admit it. I like some rather odd things. Here are some shots I took of spider webs (funnel webs)

and (below) looking right down the funnel to where the spider lives...

Tolerance: The capacity for or the practice of recognizing and respecting the beliefs or practices of others.

Diversity: The fact or quality of being diverse; difference; A point or respect in which things differ.

For two decades, America’s schools and colleges have made a signal virtue of “tolerance” and the “celebration” of diversity. When skeptics have voiced concerns that these bumper-sticker sentiments pose a threat to free speech and intellectual freedom, or threaten to substitute the habits of therapy for those of disciplined inquiry, they have been dismissed as retrograde curmudgeons. (read the article)

Here's the short scoop: In a food coop at the University of Maryland (where the “human rights code” prohibits discrimination on the basis of political beliefs, along with sex, race, and so on), a worker refused to serve and ring up a client because she was "offended" by the client's t-shirt.

The clerk at this grocery and sandwich shop in the student union read her t-shirt’s “Baltimore Zionist District” and “I Stand for Israel” slogans and then declared, “Your shirt offends me. I won’t ring you up.”

Instead of explaining tolerance and diversity (respecting the rights of others to voice their political opinion), a deal was reached where a worker can refuse service to people they disapprove of, so long as they can get another worker to serve that client.

I do have to wonder what the backlash would be if a Christian refused service to a person wearing a gay pride shirt. (for the record, I'd ring the client up and be very polite and kind doing it)

Two (sort of) related articles

Michigan city could become first in U.S. under Muslim control. No - this does not mean that civil rights or the US Constitution has been suspended in Hamtramck. It means that there are four Muslims on the primary ballot for city council. IF these four end up on the ballot and IF they ALL win seats on the board, it would mean that all four would join the current (one) Muslim (out of six seats) on the city council of Hamtramck, meaning that 5/6 of the city council seats would be filled by Muslims.

If 3 of the runners win, the council will have a 4/6 majority of Muslims and if 2 win, there will be a 3-3 split.

Remember - this is only a primary. At least 3 of the 4 would have to win both the primary AND the general election in order to gain that majority.

Hamtramck was also in the news in 2004, when the city council passed a noise ordnance amendment that allowed mosques to put the Muslim Call to Prayer (below) over loud speakers that would saturate the town with Islam noise - 5 times every day.

Question:- What is the Muslim Call to Prayer?

Answer:- Text of the call in Arabic with English translation:

Arabic: “Allaahu akbar, Allaah akbar, Allaahu akbar, Allaah akbar; ash-hadu an laa ilaah ill-Allaah, ash-hadu an laa ilaah ill-Allaah; ash-hadu anna Muhammadan rasool-Allaah, ash-hadu anna Muhammadan rasool-Allaah; hayya ala al-salaah, hayya ala’ al-salaah; hayya ala’ l-falaah, hayya ala’ l-falaah; Allaahu akbar, Allaahu akbar; Laa ilaaha ill-Allaah”

Translation:- “Allah is most Great, Allah is most Great, Allah is most Great, Allah is most Great. I bear witness that there is no god except Allah, I bear witness that there is no god except Allah. I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah. Come to prayer, come to prayer; come to success, come to success. Allah is most Great, Allah is most Great, there is no god except Allah).

Next article:

Iran's Thug-In-Chief: "There is no way for salvation of mankind but rule of Islam over mankind" (HT: Jihad Watch)

Make no mistake: this is not just an expression of piety. It is a political statement, a statement of Islamic supremacism, and of the will to wage war until Islamic Sharia is imposed over the whole world. "President: Rule of Islam only way for salvation of mankind," from the Islamic Republic News Agency (thanks to the Constantinopolitan Irredentist): (emphasis mine)

What is the connection? The connection is that Islam may not take over the United States by sword - we may simply be outvoted.