Non Fluffy Wicca

Dispatches from the Culture Wars: Bizarre Legal Thinking on Evolution and Creationism:


I came across a reference to a law review note from last year in the Chapman Law Review. The note was by Stephen Trask, then a student at William Mitchell College of Law and, unsurprisingly, a graduate of Liberty University. It was entitled, Evolution, Science, and Ideology: Why the Establishment Clause Requires Neutrality in Science Classes. Since Chapman is Sandefur's alma mater, I emailed him to see if he'd seen it and he said no, but he found it and sent me a copy of it. He described it as a "giant, steaming pile of crap"; he was being generous.

It's simply one of the silliest bits of legal writing I've ever seen. Here's the short version of his argument: evolutionism is a religion, part of the larger religion of secular humanism, and therefore teaching it without also teaching creationism violates the establishment clause requirement of neutrality between religion and non-religion. I presume he wrote such drivel with a straight face, but I'm afraid I didn't read it that way. I especially found this argument amusing (discussing the Edwards v Aguillard decision):

The Court also operated on the assumption that the mere inclusion of creationism with evolutionism in the curriculum is an advancement of religion and an attempt to counterbalance and discredit evolutionary theory at every point. Consider this scenario: A philosophy teacher at a public high school will only teach proofs opposing the existence of God in his philosophy class, and he refuses to teach any proofs supporting the existence of God because he believes that the concept of God is religious and not philosophical. Religious fundamentalist parents at the school express their outrage that this teacher is teaching their students an atheistic belief system that is contrary to the Bible. Because of outrage expressed by the religious parents, the school district passes a policy requiring that teachers give equal time to proofs supporting and opposing the existence of God. How could this policy be constitutional under the Supreme Court's analysis in Edwards? The teacher, after all, was just teaching the students philosophy, and religious parents do not have a right to counterbalance philosophical theories at every point with their personal religious beliefs. The statute lacks a secular purpose since the school only implemented the statute in reaction to outrage expressed by a specific religious sect, and including the proofs for the existence of God would clearly advance the religious viewpoint that there is a God. It is simply incorrect to believe that presenting both sides of an issue is somehow taking sides. Fairly presenting various perspectives on an issue is the essence of neutrality.
But he's missing the absolutely obvious here: no teacher in a public high school could (or should) be teaching anything at all about the philosophical proofs for or against the existence of God. To do so would clearly be a violation of the neutrality requirement of the establishment clause. There is no need for a group of students to demand that the school give equal time to discussing the proofs for God's existence; such a course would be unconstitutional as it was.

I"m sure Trask would respond by arguing that evolution is itself a religion and therefore violates the neutrality clause, but that is only the first clearly false premise of his argument. Evolution is a scientific theory. Like all scientific theories, it is discrete; that is, it explains a specific set of data and does not explain or attempt to explain things outside that data set. It is not a "belief system" or a "worldview" or whatever absurd catchphrase is popular these days; it is a discrete scientific theory.

Now, it's certainly true that evolution conflicts with the tenets of some religious faiths, or at least with a subset of those faiths. But if that fact magically transforms evolution into a religion itself then every scientific theory must now be declared a religious view. There is hardly a single scientific theory that does not conflict with someone's religious views. So let's apply Trask's argument that any scientific theory that conflicts with any religious belief is, in and of itself, a religious view and therefore in order to be neutral for establishment clause purposes, the school must "fairly present various perspectives" on each and every one of them.

Many religious groups believe that natural disasters like earthquakes and hurricanes and floods are sent deliberately by God as punishment for sin. Thus, applying Trask's reasoning consistently, we must conclude that when schools teach about conventional meteorology or seismology they are teaching a religious viewpoint. The materialistic theory that earthquakes are caused by the movement of tectonic plates, according to Trask's reasoning, must be part of "secular humanism", an arbitrary attempt by the gatekeepers of knowledge to rule out all supernatural causes a priori.

What then must we do? Obviously we have to "fairly present various perspectives" on the issue. The government cannot teach that mainstream seismology is true despite being the only successful means of predicting and explaining earthquakes. Schools must henceforth "fairly present" the idea that earthquakes are sent by God to punish regions of the earth at various times for their sinful behavior. The same with meteorology, of course.

But how exactly does one "fairly present" such a "theory"? There is no actual evidence that could be marshaled in support of it. We can't apply Divine Wrath Theory and use it to predict where or when earthquakes will happen, or tornadoes, or hurricanes. There is no weather report on the 700 Club based on Divine Wrath Theory - "Sodomy is up 14% in the midwest; there's a 40% chance of an earthquake." I can't imagine how one could possibly "fairly present" that idea.

The same is true of even such basic ideas as the germ theory of disease. There are many religious beliefs that conflict with modern medicine, that argue that disease is either sent by God as punishment or by Satan to test our faith (and if the book of Job is to be believed, perhaps by a combination of the two working in concert). For that matter, we have Scientologists who believe that disease is brought on by engrams, Christian Scientists who believe that all disease is spiritual in nature, and so forth. By Trask's reasoning, schools must present all these ideas fairly rather than the one that is actually supported by the evidence. One could go on with such examples all day long. Geocentrism, flat earthism, hollow earthism, pyramidiocy and every other crank religious or pseudo-religious idea would have to be taught alongside mainstream science if one is to apply Trask's argument consistently.

For that matter, if one is actually to follow his argument to its logical conclusion, schools would be forced not to teach anything at all. If he really believes that evolution is a religious belief and teaching it violates the establishment clause, the solution to this is not to have the government teach more religious notions, but to have them stop teaching this one. But since his standard for what constitutes a religious idea is any scientific theory that conflicts with any religious belief, every single scientific theory must also be a religious idea and cannot be taught constitutionally.

But Trask will not apply his argument consistently, I suspect, because he almost certainly does not really believe it. It's a transparent artifice by which he can justify getting his favored religious belief, creationism, into science classrooms. If he tried this argument in a court of law, or in a brief submitted to one, it would provoke little but laughter.

Posted by mikki at 12:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Wisconsin man's mangled prose takes bad writing prize; says college prepared him:


SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - A Wisconsin man whose blend of awkward syntax, imminent disaster and bathroom humour offends both good taste and the English language won an annual contest Monday that salutes bad writing.

Jim Gleeson, 47, of Madison, Wis., beat out thousands of other prose manglers in San Jose State University's 2007 Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest with this convoluted opening sentence to a nonexistent novel:

"Gerald began - but was interrupted by a piercing whistle which cost him ten per cent of his hearing permanently, as it did everyone else in a ten-mile radius of the eruption, not that it mattered much because for them 'permanently' meant the next ten minutes or so until buried by searing lava or suffocated by choking ash - to pee," Gleeson wrote.

Scott Rice, an English professor at San Jose State, called Gleeson's entry a "syntactic atrocity" that displays "a peculiar set of standards or values." Rice has organized the contest since founding it in 1982.

Gleeson, who works at a Madison hospital setting up computer networks, said he submitted about 20 entries, and gave a little insight into what it takes to win the bad writing title and its US$250 prize.

"It's like you take two thoughts that are not anything like each other and you cram them together by any means necessary," Gleeson said. He claimed he took time off from his current project, a self-help book for slackers entitled "Self-Improvement Through Total Inactivity," to pen his winning entry.

Gleeson credited his time in college with preparing him well. "There's a certain degree to which academia prepares you to write badly," Gleeson said wryly.

The contest takes its name from Victorian novelist Edward George Earl Bulwer-Lytton, whose 1830 novel "Paul Clifford" famously begins "It was a dark and stormy night."

Entrants are asked to submit bad opening sentences to imaginary novels. Citations are handed out for several categories, including "dishonourable mention" awards for "purple prose" and "vile puns."

Posted by mikki at 12:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Don't wand them! - News - Sunday Life:


The owner of one of Ulster's largest toy chains has refused to fall under Harry Potter's spell!

For while Potter merchandise is flying off the shelves in stores worldwide, the owner of the local Toytown chain is sticking by his principles by keeping JK Rowling's boy wizard out of his shop.

Alan Simpson has turned down the chance to earn tens of thousands in his personal bid to save children from being sucked into the black arts.

He believes that the Harry Potter merchandise puts children at risk of becoming tangled up in the occult, and it has been banned from Toytown stores since the hero of JK Rowling's books first mounted his broomstick. Mr Simpson said he doesn't want to risk children being exposed to witchcraft, wizardry and the occult through buying the dolls and board games associated with the Hogwarts wizard.

And as Harry Potter fever sweeps Ulster again, with the release last week of the seventh book in the series - Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - and the box office blockbuster, Order of the Phoenix, Mr Simpson is standing firm.

He said he did not "feel the need" to sell this type of merchandise.

"It's a view we have had for years and we do not see any reason to change it," he added.

"It's the uneasiness we have with the ideas behind the concept of magic.

"The money is irrelevant. We took our view on the principle and not the earnings out of it. If it got some kids involved in the occult what I made out of it would not be worth it.

"We haven't suffered as a result," he added.

The move was repeated in England, where the largest independent toy chain The Entertainer, has refused to put Harry Potter on its shelves and was praised by Free Presbyterian minister, the Rev David McIlveen.

"The whole concept of Harry Potter does give children a glamorisation of witchcraft and wizardry and that is something that we see as contrary to the wholesome teaching of young people," he said.

"This is obviously something that Mr Simpson feels very strongly about. It's a very principled decision.

"There are many Christian people who would not buy either the Harry Potter books or the merchandise."

Posted by mikki at 09:39 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Relatively late last night, I got a phone call from the elusive Boston Hobbit, insane Prius owner/tinkerer/advocate and uber geek. He will be in the DC area sometime possibly Thursday and staying for as long as I force him to by chaining his leg to the wall. Anyone interested in viewing this difficult to capture creature is welcome to, just let me know and I will attempt to make it available. It will keep him from frobbing my Prius.

Of course, Hobbit visits bring back some rather fond memories of days of old. There were the UNIX vs. VMS wars, the "you are gonna get in trouble" elevator riding sojourns, the "you must wear shoes in this hotel" admonishments, the "you're going to put an eye out with that laser" pronouncements, the wacky trip to St. Thomas including intercepting ship to shore transmissions, the "this is the air duct I slept on for 2 years" etc. etc.

The flood of memories....ah, how sweet. I wonder if I'll still be able to keep up with the boy....

Posted by mikki at 11:24 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Harry Potter and the apostolic succession:

Some more bizarre Harry Potter material has shown up in alt.conspiracy, and it has to do with the apostolic succession the Pope was going on about the other day.

In Three Apostolic Successions (op. cit.), the sorcery powers of Jesus were discussed. These sorcery powers were passed along to Peter. Peter later had a sorcery showdown with Simon Magus. So, it is worth noting that Harry Potter also reportedly has such sorcery powers.




Locally, last evening, at midnight (and matching the magical 7/11 date), the new Harry Potter movie premiered here. Naturally, this premiere was given a front-page headline spread, in the Champaign- Urbana News-Gazette.




But seeming to forestall the Harry Potter elevation of 7/11, Pope Benedict XVI invoked some counter-sorcery of his own. Raining on the Potter Parade, Pope Benedict XVI released a document on July 10th proclaiming the Catholic Church to be the only true church. This means, in other words, Harry Potter is not the Pope. I, Benedict, am the Pope.

A few days later, the same author elaborates on the hypothesis by identifying Potter's nemesis:

Papa bin Edict has begun spiritual warfare with Lord Voldemort (Vladimir Putin). The contest was joined roughly coinciding with the numerological date of 7/11, 2007.




So-called "Dementors" have defected from the Vatican and secretly work
for Putin. Does a secret society, the Order of the Phoenix, oppose
Putin and lend support to Papa bin Edict? Or are they part of a
"Fourth Way"? Not clear at this time is the role played by Sirius
Black (Serious Black), Barack Obama.

The Harry Potter connection becomes more tenuous after this, but there are some interesting bits involving goths, monks and sodomy. Finally, there's some kind of conclusion:

Also numerologically significant is the date 7/7, 2007. At that time, the nasty house elf Kreacher, disguised as Al Gore, prestidigitated a glamour to dazzle the eyes. Kreacher belongs to the Dementors, hostile to bin Edict and in league with Putin. When the Mother Earth Glamour sorcery flopped, this marked the subsequent sorcery battle
escalations.




Harry Potter, vying with others for the papal crown, is allied with the sacred feminine. A subterfuge to cloak so-called conspiracy theories under the guise of fiction heralds the premiere of some new, acceptable, conspiracy magazine, possibly to be called The Quibbler.

Harry Potter, the Fourth Pope— alt.conspiracy, 11th July 2007; Sorceries Of Papa bin Edict— alt.conspiracy, 14th July 2007.

Posted by mikki at 10:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Bush targets those who threaten Iraq's stability - A Concord Monitor Article - Your News Source - Concord NH 03301:


B
e careful what you say and whom you help - especially when it comes to the Iraq war and the Iraqi government.
President Bush issued an executive order last week titled "Blocking Property of Certain Persons Who Threaten Stabilization Efforts in Iraq." In the extreme, it could be interpreted as targeting the financial assets of any American who directly or indirectly aids someone who has committed or "poses a significant risk of committing" violent acts "threatening the peace or stability of Iraq" or who undermines "efforts to promote economic reconstruction and political reform" in the war-torn country.

The executive order, released Tuesday, was designed to target "perpetrators of violence in Iraq including Shiite militia groups linked to Iran, Sunni insurgent groups with sanctuary in Syria, and other indigenous Iraqi insurgent groups," said Molly Millerwise, a spokeswoman for the Treasury Department, which will determine who is in violation of the order. The move follows similar Bush orders to freeze assets of members or associates of al-Qaida and other terrorist groups and former Iraqi government officials, Millerwise said. "It fills in the cracks," she added.

White House press secretary Tony Snow offered further clarification at a briefing on Tuesday: "What this is really aimed at is insurgents and those who come across the border . . . or anybody who is caught providing support or poses a significant risk of providing support to those who may come across the border."

But the text of the order, if interpreted broadly, could cast a far bigger net to include not just those who commit violent acts or pose the risk of doing so in Iraq, but also third parties - such as U.S. citizens in this country - who knowingly or unknowingly aid or encourage such people.

Under the order, the Treasury secretary - in consultation with the secretaries of defense and state - creates the list of those whose assets are to be frozen. But the targeting of not just those who support perpetrators of violence but also those who support individuals who "pose a significant risk" of committing violence goes far beyond normal legal language related to intent and could be applied in a highly arbitrary manner, said Bruce Fein, a senior Justice Department official in the Reagan administration and a frequent Bush administration critic.
Fein also questioned the executive order's inclusion of third parties, such as U.S. citizens who assist, sponsor or make "any contribution or provision of funds, goods, or services" to assist people on the Treasury list. "What about a lawyer hired to get someone off the list?" Fein asked.

The Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control keeps a "Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons" roll that includes those covered by several such executive orders. It most recently ran to 276 pages; of the roughly 11,000 entries, more than 700 are Iraq-related. Millerwise said the list is primarily for use by banks and other financial institutions that regularly check it to freeze assets and prevent financial transfers.

What happens to the Shiite Iraqi American who sends money or speaks out in support of humanitarian efforts by Moqtada al-Sadr's political party remains to be seen. Though Millerwise said the Treasury Department already has some names in mind for the list, they will be disclosed only after their assets under U.S. control are frozen.

Meanwhile, the department must develop rules and regulations to carry out the order, a process that Fein said he hopes will protect civil liberties that could be at risk.

------ End of article

By WALTER PINCUS

The Washington Post

Posted by mikki at 11:40 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Bored now:

There has been very little by way of interesting anti-Harry Potter rubbish to mark the publication of the last book in the series, but at last, I found some written by one Greg Farber. It seems that some early British socialists had the (very common) family name Potter, and this is grounds for a conspiracy.

Also the true Author of the wounded in the head, little Dark Prince Harry Potter was written by Richard Potter himself, The Lady J.K. Rowlings who claims to be the author is not at all, she was just given the job of editing and a nice title. Richard Potter a benifictionary of Sydney and Beatrice Webb who began the Fabian Socialist movement in England and they really intended to Socialize the World but began in a very small way. Potter was a very rich Rail road magnet who helped them with a lot of money. They sent Ramsey McDonald to the United States in 1895, touring the United States. He came back and said, The United States will never be Socialised until we can get rid of the State and Federal Constitution Ramsey McDonald became the future Prime Minister of England.

And who exactly was Richard Potter? The father of Beatrice Potter, who was born in 1858. That explains the turgid Victorian prose and the complete lack of any reference to anything modern in the books! Another paragraph from the article is interesting, too, and I think is meant as some kind of explanation:

The British Labor Party has been controlled by the JESUITS since its inception in the late 1800s. it has always advocated Home Rule for Ireland-as did British SIS Aleister Crowley!!Asquith, Lloyd George, and Labor-Loyalist Smokin Winston Churchill were all controlled by the Order via its Fabian Socialists, Like the American Republican Party, nothing good ever proceeded, or was allowed to proceed from British Labor–the true backers of the Soviet Russia's Bolshevicks and the Pope's Masonic Jewish Zionists ruling Israel's Labour party.

The author does not explain what the British Labor Party is - maybe some American organisation of ex-pat Labour Party supporters or something? Nor what it has to do with Harry Potter. The article ends with something which was debunked in Harry Potter and the Fundamentalist's Mind, published in the Prattle back in 2002.

J.K. Rowling uses imagery in her Harry Potter books contained in the Alchemy Book, “The Chemical Wedding of Christian Rosendreutz” written in 1459. Using such a obsure book, known only to the occult initiated, is one strong indication Rowling does practice Witchcraft.

As I pointed out five years ago, it's a Rosicrucian text, not and alchemical one, and available online. These days, there's even an English translation. Other fundies insist that the text is the single most important one, though it's obvious that neither interpretation is the case.

And that's not all. The same individual has written another piece which is even less comprehensible. Harry Potter and Hollyweird only mentions Harry Potter in passing, but "exposes" the terrible symbolism of recent Disney films.

Under Michael Eisner, the Walt Disney Co. ( Which has seen Walt's surviving nephew, Roy E. Disney, part ways with Eisner in disgust) has become one of the mass initiators of children through visual processing loaded with brazen occult themes. As one example, the animated film Atlantis contains a surfiet of OTO symbolism. ( Ordo Templi Orientis ) The cartoon character Scooby Doo has also been transformed into an evangelist for Witchcraft. In Scooby Doo and the witches ghost, kids learn that Sarah Ravencroft, buried long ago in a Puritan village, was really a Wiccan and that Wiccans were people who were in tune with forces of nature and used them for healing purposes.

Apparently the Da Vinci Code has made Catholic nuns turn to Wiccan practices, too.

Harry Potter, Socialism and the truth—Sun Valley Idaho Online, 19th July 2207; Harry Potter and Hollyweird—Sun Valley Idaho Online, 20th July 2207.

Posted by mikki at 03:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Violence has never worked in these matters....

Vandals attack man's Hummer, leave note - Yahoo! News:


WASHINGTON - When Gareth Groves brought home his massive new Hummer, he knew his environmentally friendly neighbors disapproved. But he didn't expect what happened next. The sport utility vehicle was parked for five days on the street before two masked men smashed the windows, slashed the tires and scratched into the body: "FOR THE ENVIRON."

"The thought of somebody vandalizing it never crossed my mind," said Gareth Groves, who lives near American University in Northwest Washington. "I've kind of been in shock."

Police said they see small acts of vandalism in the area from time to time, but they have not seen anything so severe, or with such a clear political message, in recent years.

"This seems to be an isolated event," Cmdr. Andy Solberg said.

Investigators said they are searching for the vandals but don't have many leads. Witnesses said they saw two men smash up the seven-foot-tall SUV early Monday and then run off.

Now, as Groves contemplates what to do with the remains of his $38,000 Hummer, he has had to deal with a number of people who have driven by the crime scene and glared at him in smug satisfaction.

"I'd say one in five people who come by have that 'you-got-what-you-deserve' look," said his friend Andy Sexton.

Neighbor Lucille Liem, who owns a Prius hybrid, said that a common sentiment in the neighborhood is that large vehicles such as the Hummer are impractical and a strain on the Earth.

"The neighborhood in general is very concerned with the environment," said Liem, whose Prius gets about 48 miles a gallon compared with the Hummer's 14 miles a gallon. "It's more liberal leaning. It's ridiculous to be driving a Hummer."

Liem quickly added that she does not condone violence.

Posted by mikki at 12:56 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Ok, you can't paint a whole group by the ramblings of a complete ignoramus ditz, but how many believe that others should be penalized in some way for protesting the war or speaking out against government erosion of civil liberties? It's very difficult to believe that any American would truly think this way.

Conversations with neocons on a cruise:


Mark Frauenfelder:

Johann Hari of the Independent (UK) paid $1200 to take a cruise with 500 "straight-talking, gun-toting, God-fearing Republican" readers of the conservative National Review magazine. His mission: to "find out what American conservatives say when they think the rest of us aren't listening."

I lie on the beach with Hillary-Ann, a chatty, scatty 35-year-old Californian designer. As she explains the perils of Republican dating, my mind drifts, watching the gentle tide. When I hear her say, " Of course, we need to execute some of these people," I wake up. Who do we need to execute? She runs her fingers through the sand lazily. "A few of these prominent liberals who are trying to demoralise the country," she says. "Just take a couple of these anti-war people off to the gas chamber for treason to show, if you try to bring down America at a time of war, that's what you'll get." She squints at the sun and smiles. " Then things'll change."

Link

Posted by mikki at 01:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

9NEWS - Article - University investigates threatening e-mails condemning evolution:


BOULDER - University of Colorado police are investigating threatening e-mails with anti-evolution messages sent to biology professors at the Boulder campus.

Police Commander Brad Wiesley says the e-mails claim be from a religious group but investigators don't know whether more than one person was behind them.

He said the e-mails were considered threatening and made reference to killing people who back evolutionary theory. He said they didn't contain any specific threat against any individuals.

"The people that are worried in biology are certainly concerned. I mean it's not every day they're threatened by somebody who doesn't agree with the work that they're doing and so there's heightened concern," said Wiesley.

Some professors had been receiving critical e-mails for more than a year, but the tone became more threatening last week and they reported them to police.

Then, last weekend, someone slid anti-evolution materials under the doors of offices and laboratories of the building housing the ecology and evolutionary biology department.

"We just try and keep a cool nerve and basically not try and take any action ourselves, just report it to the department heads or security," said Michael Robeson, a CU graduate student.

Posted by mikki at 04:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Hindu Prayer in Senate Disrupted - washingtonpost.com:


WASHINGTON -- A Hindu clergyman made history Thursday by offering the Senate's morning prayer, but only after police officers removed three shouting protesters from the visitors' gallery.

Rajan Zed, director of interfaith relations at a Hindu temple in Reno, Nev., gave the brief prayer that opens each day's Senate session. As he stood at the chamber's podium in a bright orange and burgundy robe, two women and a man began shouting "this is an abomination" and other complaints from the gallery.

Police officers quickly arrested them and charged them disrupting Congress, a misdemeanor. The male protester told an AP reporter, "we are Christians and patriots" before police handcuffed them and led them away.

For several days, the Mississippi-based American Family Association has urged its members to object to the prayer because Zed would be "seeking the invocation of a non-monotheistic god."

Zed, the first Hindu to offer the Senate prayer, began: "We meditate on the transcendental glory of the Deity Supreme, who is inside the heart of the Earth, inside the life of the sky and inside the soul of the heaven. May He stimulate and illuminate our minds."

As the Senate prepared for another day of debate over the Iraq war, Zed closed with, "Peace, peace, peace be unto all."

Zed, who was born in India, was invited by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev. Speaking in the chamber shortly after the prayer, Reid defended the choice and linked it to the war debate.

"If people have any misunderstanding about Indians and Hindus," Reid said, "all they have to do is think of Gandhi," a man "who gave his life for peace."

"I think it speaks well of our country that someone representing the faith of about a billion people comes here and can speak in communication with our heavenly Father regarding peace," said Reid, a Mormon and sharp critic of President Bush's Iraq policies.

Barry W. Lynn, executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, said the protest "shows the intolerance of many religious right activists. They say they want more religion in the public square, but it's clear they mean only their religion."

Capitol police identified the protesters as Ante Nedlko Pavkovic, Katherine Lynn Pavkovic and Christan Renee Sugar. Their ages and hometowns were not available.

Posted by mikki at 06:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Christian fraternity sues University of Florida - ABC Action News - WFTS-TV - Local News, Sports, Weather, Video, Information and Breaking News for the Tampa Bay Area - Tampa, St. Petersburg, Clearwater:


A Christian fraternity alleging discrimination is taking the University of Florida to court.
Beta Upsilon Chi's lawsuit says the university refuses to recognize it as a registered student group.

According to the lawsuit filed in federal court in Gainesville, school officials told the group it can't be registered because only Christian men are eligible for membership.

The organization that governs the university's Greek system prohibits religious discrimination.

Attorney Timothy Tracey of the Alliance Defense Fund says the group's First Amendment rights are being violated and that the university is imposing double standards.

The lawsuit says the fraternity is deprived of benefits including access to meeting space and the ability to advertise and recruit members on campus.

A university spokesman says the school doesn't comment on pending litigation.

Posted by mikki at 02:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

What? A guy who believes in creationism would actually STIFLE science? Ya think? Sheesh!

www.kansascity.com | 07/10/2007 | Former Surgeon General Richard Carmona denounces Bush administration's political interference:


WASHINGTON | President Bush’s first surgeon general testified Tuesday that his speeches were censored to match administration political positions.

He was prevented from giving the public accurate scientific information on issues such as stem-cell research and teen pregnancy prevention, he said.

“Anything that doesn’t fit into the political appointees’ ideological, theological or political agenda is ignored, marginalized or simply buried,” Richard Carmona, surgeon general from 2002 to 2006, told a congressional committee. “The job of surgeon general is to be the doctor of the nation, not the doctor of a political party.”

Carmona’s remarks were the latest in a series of complaints from government scientists about what they say are administration efforts to control — and sometimes distort — scientific evidence in order to support policy decisions. NASA scientists have complained of pressure to tone down warnings about global warming. EPA officials have said that technical information on power plant emissions and oil drilling have been ignored.

Carmona’s testimony drew a pointed rebuke from the White House. Officials suggested that any breakdown in communicating health information to the American people was ultimately a failure on his part.

One of his major accomplishments as surgeon general was a report on the dangers of secondhand smoke. Its release was delayed for political reasons, he said. Other reports on mental health, emergency preparedness and global health issues were blocked, he said.

Also testifying were former surgeons general C. Everett Koop and David Satcher, who served in the Reagan and Clinton administrations respectively. Carmona said their testimony showed that political interference was “a systemic problem,” but that several former surgeons general told him they had never seen it rise to the levels he encountered.

Posted by mikki at 10:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Armless woman refused service at McDonald's:


Cory Doctorow:

Rockford, IL woman Dawn Larson, who was born without arms, was refused service at a McDonald's drive through, because the staff refused to let her take her food away with her feet (she uses her feet to drive, handle money, etc). The staff were vociferously revolted by the woman's disability.

McDonald's head office response? A $10 gift-certificate.

Dawn says her disability's never stopped her from leading a normal life. "I do everyday things like everyday people." But on November 3rd, she says that changed. Larson pulled up to the McDonald's drive through on Kishwaukee Street and ordered food for her and her sons. She drove to the first window, gave the cashier her credit card with her foot, and pulled up to get her food. Dawn says, "The first girl said, 'Girl, you ain't got no arms' and the manager said she couldn't hand me her food and she just kept sticking to the fact that I didn't have no arms and she was disgusted by it. I had the right to eat my dinner and feed my kids and they took that away from me."

Larson says the manager eventually agreed to hand Larson's son the food. But she says an incident 3 and a half moths later at the McDonald's on 11th Street didn't end that way. Larson claims an employee there refused to even do that. "I paid to be discriminated against and I paid to be disrespected and I paid to not even have the right to eat my food."

Larson says McDonald's sent her a 10 dollar gift certificate in response to her complaint. Now she's suing the fast food corporation to prevent anyone else from going through what she did. "That's saying McDonald's condones and urges people to treat the handicapped that way. I don't want that message to come across. I want to fight for my rights and my kids rights and have these things changed."

(Thanks, Daniel!)

Posted by mikki at 04:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Pope: Jesus formed 'only one church' - Focus on the Vatican - MSNBC.com:


LORENZAGO DI CADORE, Italy - Pope Benedict XVI has reasserted the universal primacy of the Roman Catholic Church, approving a document released Tuesday that says Orthodox churches were defective and that other Christian denominations were not true churches.

Benedict approved a document from his old offices at the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith that restates church teaching on relations with other Christians. It was the second time in a week the pope has corrected what he says are erroneous interpretations of the Second Vatican Council, the 1962-65 meetings that modernized the church.

On Saturday, Benedict revisited another key aspect of Vatican II by reviving the old Latin Mass. Traditional Catholics cheered the move, but more liberal ones called it a step back from Vatican II.

Benedict, who attended Vatican II as a young theologian, has long complained about what he considers the erroneous interpretation of the council by liberals, saying it was not a break from the past but rather a renewal of church tradition.

In the latest document — formulated as five questions and answers — the Vatican seeks to set the record straight on Vatican II’s ecumenical intent, saying some contemporary theological interpretation had been “erroneous or ambiguous” and had prompted confusion and doubt.

It restates key sections of a 2000 document the pope wrote when he was prefect of the congregation, “Dominus Iesus,” which set off a firestorm of criticism among Protestant and other Christian denominations because it said they were not true churches but merely ecclesial communities and therefore did not have the “means of salvation.”

In the new document and an accompanying commentary, which were released as the pope vacations here in Italy’s Dolomite mountains, the Vatican repeated that position.

“Christ ‘established here on earth’ only one church,” the document said. The other communities “cannot be called ‘churches’ in the proper sense” because they do not have apostolic succession — the ability to trace their bishops back to Christ’s original apostles.

‘Identity of the Catholic faith’
The Rev. Sara MacVane of the Anglican Centre in Rome, said there was nothing new in the document.

“I don’t know what motivated it at this time,” she said. “But it’s important always to point out that there’s the official position and there’s the huge amount of friendship and fellowship and worshipping together that goes on at all levels, certainly between Anglican and Catholics and all the other groups and Catholics.”

The document said Orthodox churches were indeed “churches” because they have apostolic succession and that they enjoyed “many elements of sanctification and of truth.” But it said they lack something because they do not recognize the primacy of the pope — a defect, or a “wound” that harmed them, it said.

“This is obviously not compatible with the doctrine of primacy which, according to the Catholic faith, is an ‘internal constitutive principle’ of the very existence of a particular church,” the commentary said.

Despite the harsh tone of the document, it stresses that Benedict remains committed to ecumenical dialogue.

“However, if such dialogue is to be truly constructive, it must involve not just the mutual openness of the participants but also fidelity to the identity of the Catholic faith,” the commentary said.

‘Not backtracking on ecumenical commitment’
The document, signed by the congregation prefect, U.S. Cardinal William Levada, was approved by Benedict on June 29, the feast of Sts. Peter and Paul — a major ecumenical feast day.

There was no indication about why the pope felt it necessary to release the document, particularly since his 2000 document summed up the same principles. Some analysts suggested it could be a question of internal church politics, or that it could simply be an indication of Benedict using his office as pope to again stress key doctrinal issues from his time at the congregation.

Father Augustine Di Noia, undersecretary for the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, said the document did not alter the commitment for ecumenical dialogue, but aimed to assert Catholic identity in those talks.

“The Church is not backtracking on ecumenical commitment,” Di Noia told Vatican radio.

“But, as you know, it is fundamental to any kind of dialogue that the participants are clear about their own identity. That is, dialogue cannot be an occasion to accommodate or soften what you actually understand yourself to be.”

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Unearthing History At Prehistoric Glastonbury (from The Northern Echo):


STONE Age Britons from across the North-East flocked to a prehistoric "Glastonbury festival" marked by mysterious rituals, a major archaeological discovery suggests.

Experts believe tools, pottery and timber stakes unearthed near Durham City show a site within view of Durham Cathedral was a place of mass worship as far back as 3,000 BC.

What the Neolithic-era North-Easterners did during the meetings is still buried in history, but possible activities include ceremonial cremations and burials.

Steve Speak, senior keeper of field archaeology for Tyne and Wear Museums, said: "There is a whole range of different techniques here and finding out what it was used for takes a bit of Sherlock Holmes work.

"We know it's not defensive, and it's not a settlement. So you are left with one alternative - it had a spiritual use.

"It would have been a focus for people - like a prehistoric Glastonbury."

Archaeologists made the discovery while excavating the site ahead of the construction of a £3.5m drinking water reservoir.

Three man-made trenches, three raised henges and several wooden stakes, which may have been used to hold back soil, have been found.

Lee White, assistant archaeological officer at Durham County Council, said: "This is a very significant site. We have very few sites from this period in County Durham."

Mr Speak said: "Just to hold a piece of wood from 1500 BC that somebody made and used is amazing."

Archaeologists will remain on the site until October. They hope there will be public access to the site and information displayed to explain its importance.

Items unearthed will be offered to museums in the area.

Northumbrian Water says the reservoir will be used from next spring.

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Suit accuses clinic of religious bias:


Two former employees of a Puyallup-area pediatric clinic contend in a federal court lawsuit that they were pressured to participate in prayers and subjected to other forms of religious harassment by clinic officials.

Lexi Foster, a medical assistant and Buckley resident, and Vergel Worrell, a nurse living in Tacoma, say in the civil complaint that nursing managers at Woodcreek Pediatrics openly prayed, that prayer often was held at staff meetings and that "employees who didn't participate in the prayers were told they were not team players."

Worrell was fired March 10, 2005, and Foster quit April 27, 2005, because of what she said was a "hostile work environment"

The suit says Foster was pressured to attend church and was told "that she was going to hell and would lead other employees to hell through her poor example," and that both plaintiffs repeatedly were forced by the director of nursing to pray with her.

The complaint says the nursing director told Worrell that he was "Satan himself" and "had to be a born-again Christian to end up in the kingdom of God and that if he did not convert his mother that she would go to hell."

Foster and Worrell sued Woodcreek; Dr. Henry Reitzug, its former chief executive; and other Woodcreek employees in U.S. District Court in Tacoma, alleging religious discrimination and other violations of the federal Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Woodcreek operates three clinics in Pierce County: in Puyallup, in Sunrise on South Hill and in Bonney Lake.

Reitzug retired May 1 and could not be reached for comment. Tim Turner, the clinic's current chief administrator, declined comment Friday because, he said, the acts alleged in the suit preceded his employment by the clinic and he had no direct knowledge of them.

Foster and Worrell sued after the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in March found "reasonable cause" to believe that the two were subjected to an "illegal, hostile work environment consisting of religious harassment." The EEOC finding was a necessary prerequisite for bringing the employment discrimination suit in federal court.

Worrell also contends that a female employee of the clinic sexually harassed him repeatedly but that Woodcreek managers did nothing when he complained about it. Foster and Worrell say they were accused of engaging in an affair with each other.

The EEOC found insufficient evidence that Worrell was subjected to a hostile work environment consisting of sexual harassment or was fired based on his gender or religion.

The suit asks for lost wages and back pay and for unspecified damages for physical, emotional and mental distress.

Posted by mikki at 04:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Six-toed Hemingway cats can stay, city says - CNN.com:


KEY WEST, Florida (AP) -- City officials have sided with Ernest Hemingway's former home and its celebrated six-toed felines in its cat fight with the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

>The Key West City Commission exempted the home from a city law prohibiting more than four domestic animals per household.

About 50 cats live there.

The house has been locked in a dispute with the USDA, which claims the museum is an "exhibitor" of cats and needs a special license, a claim the home disputes.

The new ordinance reads in part, "The cats reside on the property just as the cats did in the time of Hemingway himself. They are not on exhibition in the manner of circus animals. ... The City Commission finds that family of polydactyl Hemingway cats are indeed animals of historic, social and tourism significance."

It also states that the cats are "an integral part of the history and ambiance of the Hemingway House."

A USDA spokesman did not return messages left late Sunday.

The cats are descendants of a six-toed cat given as a gift to the writer in 1935. All carry the gene for six toes, though not all display the trait.

Posted by mikki at 12:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

IOL: Woman stabbed Scientologist parents:


Sydney - An Australian woman accused of murdering her father and sister was apparently denied psychiatric treatment because of her parents' Scientology beliefs, a court heard on Monday.

The 25-year-old woman, who cannot be named, appeared briefly in court on Monday to be charged for the stabbing attacks at her family home in a Sydney suburb, the Australian Associated Press reported.

She made no application for bail because she was unfit to be interviewed, her lawyer Wade Bloomfield told the court.

Consultant psychiatrist Mark Cross said in a report that the woman was diagnosed with a psychotic illness at Bankstown Hospital in late 2006, the court heard.



"She had a history of being diagnosed with a psychotic illness in late 2006 at Bankstown Hospital, but follow-up from the mental health team was apparently declined by her parents because of their alleged Scientology beliefs," Cross said.

The woman is accused of fatally stabbing her 53-year-old father and 15-year-old sister and wounding her 52-year-old mother, who raised the alarm as she collapsed in a neighbour's garden.

The mother remains in a serious but stable condition after undergoing surgery for multiple stab wounds.

The woman was arrested in a nearby street shortly after the attack and was placed under police guard in hospital until she was charged.

The Church of Scientology, which includes actors Tom Cruise and John Travolta among its celebrity members, is against psychiatry and opposes the use of psychiatric drugs.

Posted by mikki at 12:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

China Jails 2 Church Leaders | AP | 07/09/2007:
SHANGHAI, China - Two ministers in China's unrecognized Protestant church have been sentenced to one year each in a labor camp on charges of using an "evil cult" to obstruct the law, a U.S. monitoring group said Monday.

The two men were detained on June 15 along with four other church leaders during a worship service in eastern Shandong province, just south of Beijing, said the China Aid Association, based in Midland, Texas.

No details were given of the charges, although China typically uses the vague anti-cult legislation to punish those worshipping outside the tightly controlled official Communist Party-recognized church.

The group said Zhang Geming and Sun Qingwen were sentenced on June 29 to "re-education through labor," an extrajudicial punishment that avoids a trial.

The Aid Association said the two were evangelical ministers from the neighboring province of Henan. Four Shandong ministers detained with them were released after paying fines of $131 each.

An officer answering phones at police headquarters in Cao county, where Zhang and Sun were detained, said he had no knowledge of their cases. Phones at the labor camp in Jining, where they were being held, rang unanswered.

Despite the risk of harassment, fines and imprisonment, millions of Chinese continue to worship in the unofficial groups, often called "house churches" because they meet in private homes.

Posted by mikki at 09:43 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Boeing unveils first assembled 787 Dreamliner - CNN.com:


EVERETT, Washington (AP) -- Boeing has raised the curtain on its first fully assembled 787 to an audience of thousands who packed into its wide-body assembly plant for the plane's extravagantly orchestrated premiere.

An audience of thousands watched as Boeing Co. unveiled the 787 in Everett, Washington, on Sunday.»

With flight attendants onstage from each airline that has ordered the jet, the giant factory doors opened wide as the plane slowly moved into view to the strains of a theme song composed specially for the 787, which Boeing calls the Dreamliner.

"Our journey began some six years ago when we knew we were on the cusp of delivering valuable new technologies that would make an economic difference to our airline customers," Mike Bair, vice president and general manager of the 787 program, told the crowd.

"In our business, that happens every 15 years or so, so you've got to get it right."

Boeing Chief Executive Jim McNerney said the 787 will bring about a "dramatic improvement in air travel: to make it more affordable, comfortable and convenient for passengers, more efficient and profitable for airlines, and more environmentally progressive for our Earth."

Boeing has won more than 600 orders from customers eager to hold the jet maker to its promise that the midsize, long-haul jet will burn less fuel, be cheaper to maintain and offer more passenger comforts than comparable planes flying today. Watch what goes into making the next generation of planes »

The 787, Boeing's first all-new jet since airlines started flying the 777 in 1995, will be the world's first large commercial airplane made mostly of carbon-fiber composites, which are lighter, more durable and less prone to corrosion than aluminum.

To date, Boeing has won 677 orders for the 787, selling out delivery positions through 2015, two years after Airbus SAS expects to roll out its competing A350 XWB. Thirty-five of those orders came Saturday, with Air Berlin ordering 25 and a Kuwaiti company taking 10 for Kuwait Airways.

In a rare tip of the hat to the competition, Airbus congratulated Boeing on the 787, whose commercial success has chipped away at the edge the European plane maker once held over its Chicago-based rival.

"Even if tomorrow Airbus will get back to the business of competing vigorously, today is Boeing's day -- a day to celebrate the 787," Airbus co-CEO Louis Gallois said in a letter to McNerney.

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"Today is a great day in aviation history. Whenever such a milestone is reached in our industry it is always a reflection of hard work by dedicated people inspired by the wonder of flight," the letter said.

Airbus customers forced it to redesign the A350, which pushed back production. Airbus also has faced problems with its A380 superjumbo, which has been hit with delays that slashed profit projections for Airbus' parent company, European Aeronautic Defence & Space Co.

Boeing hired former NBC "Nightly News" anchor Tom Brokaw to serve as master of ceremonies for the 787 premiere -- held, probably not coincidentally, on 7-08-07 -- which was broadcast live on the Internet and on satellite television in nine languages to more than 45 countries. The company rolled out red carpet and set out roughly 15,000 seats for spectators at one end of the 787 factory north of Seattle.

The company invited thousands of its employees and retirees to watch via satellite at the NFL stadium where the Seattle Seahawks play, and it hosted viewing parties for 787 customers and suppliers in dozens of other locations around the globe.

Final assembly of the first 787 started in late May, after a gigantic, specially outfitted superfreighter started flying wings, fuselage sections and other major parts to Boeing's wide-body plant, where they essentially get snapped together, piece by huge piece.

Once production hits full speed, the company expects each plane to spend just three days in final assembly, but this time, Boeing workers spent several weeks installing electrical wiring and other innards that suppliers will eventually stuff into their sections of the plane before they're delivered to the assembly plant.

Boeing decided to handle that work in-house for the first few planes rather than risk any production delays.

Despite a few snags the company says it anticipated -- including an industry-wide shortage of fasteners brought on by a surge in demand for new jets in recent years -- Boeing officials say nothing so far has threatened to bump the 787 behind schedule.

The first test flight is expected to take place between late August and late September. The plane is set to enter commercial service next May after Japan's All Nippon Airways receives the first of the 50 Dreamliners it has ordered.

All Nippon Airways executives acknowledged Sunday that Boeing faces production challenges, but they said they're doing what they can to make sure they get their plane on time next spring.

"We know it's not easy to make that deadline. However, we will support Boeing, and we will work with them so that the deadline can be met," Osamu Shinobe, executive vice president of corporate planning for All Nippon Airways Co., said before Sunday's rollout ceremony.


The 787 that debuted Sunday will serve as the first of six flight-test airplanes, while two other planes will be used for static and fatigue tests. The ninth plane off the assembly line will be the first one delivered to All Nippon.

The 787-8, the first of three 787 models Boeing has committed to making, has an average list price of $162 million, though customers typically negotiate discounts on bulk orders. E-mail to a friend

Posted by mikki at 09:40 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)