Ain't Complicated

PA Hate Crimes Law

Good news!

Pennsylvania Supreme Court Rules against Homosexual ‘Hate Crimes’ Law

Former Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore and attorneys with the Foundation for Moral Law applauded the Pennsylvania Supreme Court for its ruling yesterday in Marcavage v. Rendell affirming that the state legislature violated the Pennsylvania Constitution when it added “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” to Pennsylvania’s “ethnic intimidation” law (18 Pa. C.S. § 2710) in 2002.

The Foundation, along with attorney Aaron D. Martin, represented Christian evangelists Michael Marcavage, Mark Diener, Randall and Linda Beckman, Susan Startzell, Arlene Elshinnawy, and Nancy Major, who in 2004 were arrested and charged under the “ethnic intimidation” law for evangelizing at a Philadelphia homosexual parade. The Christian evangelists sued and the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania agreed that the law was unconstitutional and struck it down. On appeal the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, in a short per curiam order, agreed with the Commonwealth Court’s opinion and the Christian evangelists’ appellate brief filed by the Foundation.

Judge Roy Moore remarked on this historic case: “We are very happy that the Pennsylvania Supreme Court has ruled in our favor to stop the Governor and a group of corrupt politicians from sneaking a ‘hate crimes’ bill through the Pennsylvania legislature. Preaching to homosexuals about the sin of sodomy should not be made a ‘thought crime’ in Pennsylvania or any other state.”

But eventually things will change back in favor of homosexuals. Such are the times we live in and the times that are yet to come.

When the law of the land finally codifies such statements as hate crimes, what will Christians do?

Cancer chief sees cell phone risks

Look, I know I keep bringing up this subject. If you get tired of it, just skip over it this time.

Cancer chief sees cell phone risks

The director of the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute and UPMC Cancer Centers plans to issue an advisory to about 3,000 faculty and staff today about the possible health risks associated with cellular phone use.

"Recently I have become aware of the growing body of literature linking long-term cell phone use to possible adverse health effects including cancer," Dr. Ronald Herberman said in the memorandum. "Although the evidence is still controversial, I am convinced that there are sufficient data to warrant issuing an advisory to share some precautionary advice on cell phone use."

The advisory suggests certain measures to limit exposure to electromagnetic radiation emitted by the devices, such as shortening the length of conversations or keeping the phones away from the head by text messaging or using headsets or speaker phone options. It also recommends that children not use cell phones except in emergencies.

A child's developing organs "are the most likely to be sensitive to any possible effects of exposure," according to the document.

Driving

Under the Influence

Forget fast-food waste or kitchen grease: Real aristocrats use wine to make their biofuels. Britains Prince Charles recently jumped on the biofuels bandwagon, converting his seldom-used 1960 Aston Martin DB6 to a biofuel system that allows him to run his classic convertible on wine rather than gasoline. "Charles only [travels] two or three hundred miles a year in the Aston but he wanted it to be environmentally friendly," an aide told the Daily Mail. The prince gets his wine from an English vintner who would otherwise have to destroy any wine produced above the European Union quota. Charles switch to a biofuel may curb a smidgen of carbon dioxide emissions, but it likely wont save him much money: The wine costs only slightly less than the gasoline hed buy for his classic.

Right

High gas prices arent forcing UPS off the roadways. Theyre just forcing the companys drivers to the right side of the road. According to executives at the international package delivery service, computer mapping software and traffic modeling has led them to conclude that delivery drivers should avoid making left turns. By mapping out routes that aim for only right-hand turns, the company saved 3.3 million gallons of gasoline in 2007. According to UPS research, drivers waste time and gas idling while waiting for left-hand turn signals. Even with the more circuitous path, the company estimates that it saved more than $9 million in 2007.

HT: WORLD Magazine.

Of Aliens and Stuff

OK, first off, in the Strange Little People Department we have this:

Former NASA astronaut and moon-walker Dr Edgar Mitchell – a veteran of the Apollo 14 mission…says extra-terrestrials have visited Earth on several occasions – but the alien contact has been repeatedly covered up by governments for six decades.

Dr Mitchell, 77, said during a radio interview that sources at the space agency who had had contact with aliens described the beings as ‘little people who look strange to us.’

[…]

“I’ve been in military and intelligence circles, who know that beneath the surface of what has been public knowledge, yes – we have been visited. Reading the papers recently, it’s been happening quite a bit.”

Dr Mitchell, who has a Bachelor of Science degree in aeronautical engineering and a Doctor of Science degree in Aeronautics and Astronautics claimed Roswell was real and similar alien visits continue to be investigated.

For the record, I tend to believe non-human alien beings have visited planet Earth. And continue among us. 😯 Just not the sort of ET aliens that Mr. Mitchell describes.

Did these aliens get turned around by about 90 degrees to the West and jump in the wrong body of water?

Federal officials said they netted 43 illegal aliens in an immigration raid on O`ahu.

[…]

The 43 men were all citizens of Mexico.

Were? Did they die or otherwise give up their Mexican citizenship? Oh, I know: As a reward for their record-breaking swim, they were awarded honorary US citizenship. 🙄

Once upon a time, in the United States of America, this wouldn’t have been alien at all:

Elective Bible courses in Texas high schools received the blessing of the State Board of Education on Friday, but local school officials will have to figure out how to design those classes so they don’t violate religious-freedom protections.

[…]

Attorney General Greg Abbott has told the board that although the state standards for the Bible class appear to be in compliance with the First Amendment, his office can’t guarantee that the courses taught in high schools will be constitutional because they haven’t been reviewed.

Critics contend that the standards – based on old guidelines for independent studies in English and social studies – are so vague and general that many schools might unknowingly create unconstitutional Bible classes that either promote the religious views of teachers or disparage the religious beliefs of some students.

Earlier this year, the Ector County school board agreed to quit using a Bible course curriculum at two high schools in Odessa that the American Civil Liberties Union said promoted Protestant religious beliefs not shared by Jews, Catholics, Orthodox Christians and many Protestants.

[…]

The course is supposed to be geared to academic, nondevotional study of the Bible, and cover such things as the influence of the New Testament on law, literature, history and culture.

That’s a good step. I think. I hope.

Don’t Do It!

Somebody needed to be there to say that to the woman who killed herself today. As I recall the radio news story, she committed suicide because her house was headed for foreclosure. Next time you think “ending it” is better than dealing with life, don’t do it. (Where were her family and friends in her anguish?!)

And somebody needed to be there to say it to the person who broke the guy’s ankles along the freeway. Turns out the victim was changing a flat tire when the other character came along and drove over the lower part of his legs. And kept on going. Next time you’re tempted to leave the scene of an accident or otherwise dodge personal responsibility, don’t do it.

Former Cuban leader Fidel Castro on Wednesday said Cuba does not have to explain or “ask forgiveness” about a report out of Russia this week that Russia might use its Cold War ally Cuba as a refueling base for nuclear-capable bombers. My advice: Don’t do it.

If John McCain is considering removing the threat of my write-in candidacy for President of the United States by selecting me as his VP running mate, I say: Don’t do it.

Christians and Community

Help thy neighbor through crisis

I bought the Wall Street Journal at the airport. On the opinion page was a letter from James S. Martin, a Mennonite from Scurry, Texas. When it comes to health care and meeting social needs, Martin sees little advantage to insurance and entitlement programs offered through the federal government and private sector.

"Our communities have been successfully meeting our own financial needs for 500 years," Martin wrote. "How relieved I am to rely on the voluntary sharing of my own church community."

If our policies were built upon the simple faith of the Mennonites, this crisis would have never happened because the good of the community would have been put ahead of personal gain. The families who made it through the Great Depression helped and relied on one another. It may be that we all have to do that again.

Martin believes the Mennonite and Amish form of mutual aid and a community support system will endure. "After all, it springs from a 2,000-year-old imperative," Martin writes. "Bear one anothers burdens" Galatians 6:2.

Coming Soon to Computer Near You

One of world’s oldest Bibles to be put online

One of the worlds oldest Bibles, the Codex Sinaiticus, which was discovered in Egypt in the 19th century, is to be made available online this week, the Leipzig University library said Monday.

The Codex Sinaiticus, which dates from the fourth century, is one of the two most ancient copies of the entire Bible in Greek. The other is the Codex Vaticanus.

[…]

As of Thursday, “more than 100 pages, those from Leipzig and 67 from the British Museum, will be available online at www.codex-sinaiticus.net,” according to Leipzig library curator Ulrich Johannes Schneider.

Another part of the Codex will be made available in November and the remainder by next year, according to Schneider.

The codex, which is believed to contain the most accurate version of the New Testament, can be viewed online in high-definition pictures, with a full transcript of the Greek text, and translation into English and German of some key passages.

I think that’s pretty neat.