Oregon climbers update – the body of Kelly James (cousin of reader Melissa in TX) has been found, and rescuers are still searching for the other two missing men. Melissa wrote
The other two are still up there somewhere. I continue to hope and pray that they are found alive.
The Lord can and has worked miracles.
I would like to thank all that are praying.
I would also like to thank those incredible individuals that are laying their lives n the line to find our loved ones.
I wish I could send them all a hug.
Thank you seems so inadequate.
These news stories always seem so distant, describing people we never expect to have any connection to, but the internet is making the world seem like a much smaller place.
Elizabeth Smart’s kidnapper is found unfit for trial for the second time – the next step is apparently to give him medication forcibly.
Americans watch entirely too much television and produce more waste than ever. Talk about a “dog bites man” story…
In spite of the massive publicity by canceling and then rescheduling the opera that inexplicably includes a beheading of Mohammed, Christ, and others as a protest against organized religion, it didn’t even sell out. Which is perfect, really. Germany said no to dhimmitude, and a stupid idea was treated appropriately. Everybody wins.
Is Steven King as prescient as Tom Clancy? It seems Captain Trips has been spotted in England. Okay, not really. But a headline like “Nurse killed by new strain of superbug had just given birth” just cries out for a Captain Trips reference.
Recent Holocaust conference attendee – and friend of Job – Ahron Cohen was quoted as saying “There is no question that there was a Holocaust and gas chambers. There are too many eyewitnesses. However, our approach is that when one suffers, the one who perpetrates the suffering is obviously guilty but he will never succeed if the victim did not deserve it in one way or another.” No wonder Ahmadinejad took the time to meet with him twice.
Now remember that according to many lefty bloggers, Bush = Hitler, we’re suffering under the worst fascist state evar, etc. But this Boston Globe article lists some interesting info about life as an Iranian blogger.
They have used fast-changing Web addresses, proxy sites, and other technological tricks to get around the restrictions.
“They block us and we evade the blocks,” Samiei said. “It goes on every day. They code, we decode.”
Gay marriage Civil unions might be a zero sum game in New Jersey. Can you refuse to perform civil union ceremonies and still remain a judge? This may have the effect of moving marriage purely into the religious category and civil unions purely into the secular, similar to how it is done in France.
The Legislature approved gay civil unions on Thursday, but no date has been set for Gov. Jon Corzine to sign the bill into law. Corzine, who supports civil unions, said he wants to review the bill to make sure it complies with a state Supreme Court ruling that calls for equality for gay couples. The law would take effect 60 days after the governor signs it, forcing mayors to decide if they are willing to officiate gay civil unions. Under the state statute, judges and mayors have the right to officiate weddings, but are not required to do so. The civil union bill gives mayors the same discretion, but does not specify if they would be penalized if they open their doors to heterosexual couples but turn away gay couples. Stephen Hyland, an attorney in Princeton who has tracked the bill closely, said mayors who pick ceremonies based on sexual orientation risk being sued under the state’s strong antidiscrimination laws. “What are the duties of a public official?” he said. “A public official cannot choose to carry out those duties on behalf of one person and not on another person.” Sally Goldfarb, a law professor at Rutgers University in Camden, said mayors would be obligated to follow the state’s antidiscrimination laws and perform ceremonies for straight and gay couples equally. At the same time, some mayors might decide to stop performing ceremonies altogether.
I wonder how the voters – who didn’t authorize this – feel about it as the ramifications become more clear?
Finally, when the church gets divorced, who keeps the house? In Diocese Declares Time Out on Lawsuits it seems a cooling off period of thirty days has been declared where the Virginia Episcopalian congregations who are breaking away from the national Episcopalian church will refrain from suing to keep the church property they’re currently using. Who actually owns those buildings? It’s going to take a lawsuit to find out. Perhaps the most interesting thing about the story, though, is the complete absence of an explanation why these Episcopalian congregations are breaking away from their national church – their unhappiness with the church’s increasingly liberal policies including ordination of women and culminating with the appointment of an openly homosexual bishop.
