"To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty; to find the best in others; to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded."
- Ralph Waldo Emerson
A Witches' Brew of Religious Discrimination
Topic: Miscellaneous
4:43 am EST, Feb 8, 2007
"...two widows filed a lawsuit accusing the government of unconstitutional religious discrimination. At that point, the department suddenly unveiled a proposed regulation for handling such requests.
But the department won't say whether the new policy will permit the Wiccans to use their symbol. Nor is it clear from the text, which says the department may refuse to recognize religious groups that "promote or engage in activity that is illegal or contrary to public policy," and may reject any emblem that "would have an adverse impact on the dignity or solemnity of cemeteries."
When I asked a department spokesman whether the Wiccan application would qualify under this policy, he said only that it would get "thorough consideration." The new rules didn't dissuade a federal judge from letting the lawsuit proceed.
Maybe the VA is finally ready to do the right thing. But after all the time it has spent stalling on this issue, the suspicion arises that somebody there has a major problem with the Wiccans. And it's not hard to imagine that the current secretary of veterans affairs would like to delay a resolution until the next administration, so someone else would get the blame for -- as the change will undoubtedly be portrayed -- giving a seal of approval to an evil cult.
But the question is not whether Wicca is a good or true religion -- only whether its adherents are entitled to the same rights as everyone else. The Constitution has a simple answer: yes."
The Word Theory Must be Stricken from Scientific Thought
Topic: Miscellaneous
2:32 pm EST, Feb 7, 2007
........or something. Perhaps this is a word that should be above the 4th grade level meant for public news consumption.
The popular press is using the word theory to describe well tested and analyzed science, and the public is seeing that word only as it is used in the scientific process - almost as if theory = hypothesis.
I try to remind people that while there is a THEORY of Evolution, there's also a THEORY OF GRAVITY. (1,3,4)
But folks are not getting it. Therefore, we must strike the word THEORY from all talk of science, unless it is indeed, purely conjecture, as the word THEORY must mean DOUBTFUL to a large percentage of the public.(2,5,6,7)
I, for one, am tired of seeing scientific theories politicized and analyzed by the public IN the media. I really don't blame the media so much for this one - it is the PUBLIC. The media could stand to INFORM the public better though, when the meaning of the word may be used in a confusing way. Maybe the media just needs a better WORD. Something that the general public can't trip their tongues over.
What an interesting, confusing word:
"1. a coherent group of general propositions used as principles of explanation for a class of phenomena: Einstein's theory of relativity. 2. a proposed explanation whose status is still conjectural, in contrast to well-established propositions that are regarded as reporting matters of actual fact. 3. Mathematics. a body of principles, theorems, or the like, belonging to one subject: number theory. 4. the branch of a science or art that deals with its principles or methods, as distinguished from its practice: music theory. 5. a particular conception or view of something to be done or of the method of doing it; a system of rules or principles. 6. contemplation or speculation. 7. guess or conjecture. "
I mean - come on - what a CONFUSING WORD. THEORY. Maybe we should say Theory(1) or Theory(2). But then, we'd have to figure out which DICTIONARY to use, because they all present the word meanings in different orders. So strike that.
No - let's just strike THEORY from the Science Vocabulary and come up with something ELSE. It is not concise enough for science in the modern world.
Here I am....never thought **I** would advocate changing the common use of a word.
Here is the 300 site - This is a movie that I am DROOLING to see coming out in March. It is basically about the Greek city state of Sparta.
Well, I just love Ancient Greek culture, but 300 handsome cut men is a big draw for me too.
These men all have to be in top shape, and the trailer does a pretty good job showing off their bodies - but a video journal shows how they got them ready for the movie.
Intense workouts - but different every day. The rubber band sprints look brutal to me. Some really good insight into exercises designed to make a man look seriously cut.
http://300themovie.warnerbros.com/
Ok - if you want to see that part with the training (its flash so I can't give you a direct link) - I think you will like it -
you go to Making 300, then video journal - then Spartan training.
According to Radio Farda, Iranian reports of Hassanpour’s death emerged on January 21 after a delay of six days, giving the cause as “gas poisoning”. The Iranian reports did not say how or where Hassanpour was poisoned but his death was said to have been announced at a conference on nuclear safety.
Rheva Bhalla of Stratfor, the US intelligence company, claimed on Friday that Hassanpour had been targeted by Mossad and that there was “very strong intelligence” to suggest that he had been assassinated by the Israelis, who have repeatedly threatened to prevent Iran acquiring the bomb.
Hassanpour won Iran’s leading military research prize in 2004 and was awarded top prize at the Kharazmi international science festival in Iran last year.
Put simply: Happy viewing. Although navigating the world of online war videos is at best a haphazard venture, there is enough material to provide as clear a view into the lives of combat, boredom and pointless amusement of the soldiers in Iraq as one will find anywhere.
On this particular video:
A characteristic and terrifying example of the invisible menace posed by insurgents is a YouTube video in which a camera lying on a barracks floor during an intense mortar attack captures troops praying and screaming as rounds land ever closer to their position.
Gov. Rick Perry ordered Friday that schoolgirls in Texas must be vaccinated against the sexually transmitted virus that causes cervical cancer, making Texas the first state to require the shots.
The girls will have to get Merck & Co.'s new vaccine against strains of the human papillomavirus, or HPV, that are responsible for most cases of cervical cancer.
Merck is bankrolling efforts to pass laws in state legislatures across the country mandating it Gardasil vaccine for girls as young as 11 or 12. It doubled its lobbying budget in Texas and has funneled money through Women in Government, an advocacy group made up of female state legislators around the country.
...
Perry has several ties to Merck and Women in Government. One of the drug company's three lobbyists in Texas is Mike Toomey, his former chief of staff. His current chief of staff's mother-in-law, Texas Republican state Rep. Dianne White Delisi, is a state director for Women in Government.
...
Perry also received $6,000 from Merck's political action committee during his re-election campaign.
...
/cynic mode ON
Welcome to Utopia. Now we vaccinate your children for sexually transmitted diseases. Please report to Central Immunization immediately. Failure to comply within seven days will result in quarantine.
/cynic mode OFF
I don't believe this. I'm dumbfounded. Corporate cronyism at it's boldest. If this comes to your state, not only should you say no, you should say HELL NO. Since when is it the State's place to give preventative STD vaccines to children? I know the carrot here is oh it's such a great thing, it prevents cervical cancer. But is cervical cancer really a US health epidemic? Everything I've read says otherwise.
Even if you trust the State to inject whatever they deem necessary into your children, think about the economics here. $360 a head for the vaccine treatments. Wouldn't it be a lot cheaper to provide education about the importance of regular pap smears? Even if you get this vaccine, you still need them anyway.
And yes, I did not miss the part about an affidavit being available to opt out. I won't bore you with stories I've read about how that has been abused in the past, where kids were quarantined then the parents were charged with truancy, etc... Hit me up if you want the skinny on that.
4. While we're on the subject of liability, lawsuits, and profits, there's another angle to consider. If Merck can get state governments to put Gardasil on their lists of vaccines that are required for schoolchildren, it can become a part of a federal vaccine liability program. Meaning that Merck will not be liable if Gardasil turns out to be harmful some time in the future.
5. There have been no long-term studies done on the effect of the vaccine after 5-10 or more years, and testing on young girls has been extremely limited.
6. It is unknown how long the immunity provided by Gardasil actually lasts.
7. The studies done on Gardasil were not set up to investigate whether the vaccine itself has the potential to cause cancer.
Judge rejects US govt. motion, allows wiccan lawsuit to continue
Topic: Religion
9:33 pm EST, Feb 1, 2007
"MADISON, Wis. - A federal lawsuit filed by Wiccans against the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs will proceed despite a request by the VA that it be put on hold for perhaps as much as a year.
The lawsuit, filed in November by a California group, accuses the VA of coming up with "excuse after excuse" for more than nine years for not putting the Wiccan symbol on grave markers of veterans who were members of that religion. The department does not allow Wiccan religious symbols on veterans' headstones in national cemeteries.
The VA argued in a motion filed Jan. 19 with the U.S. District Court in Madison that the lawsuit should be put on hold while the department finalizes a new rule governing symbols on gravestones. That process could take as long as 12 months, but the agency will make a decision on the Wiccan request within a month after the new rule is issued, the government's motion said.
The Wiccans' attorney objected, arguing that nothing requires the VA to finalize its rules within a year or to take up the Wiccan request at all.
U.S. District Judge John Shabaz issued a one-line order on Jan. 26 allowing the case to proceed. He set a trial date for June 29.
"We're pleased that the litigation will go forward, and the VA will not be able to delay further coming to the right decision and giving the families of veterans the memorials that they're entitled to," said Richard Katskee, lead lawyer in the case for Americans United for Separation of Church and State.
U.S. Attorney Erik Peterson, who is defending the government, did not immediately return a call seeking comment.
Selena Fox, a Wiccan high priestess with Circle Sanctuary in Barneveld, praised the judge's decision.
"The VA's decade-long pattern of delay, disregard and discrimination against the Wiccan religion must stop," she said. "The thought of possibly having to wait more than a year to have our case heard was terrible."
A nature-based religion, the Wiccan faith is founded on respect for the earth, nature and the cycle of the seasons."
