Supremes decline to hear creationist appeal

MoonHowler

Americans United for Separation of Church and State:

The U.S. Supreme Court this morning [Oct. 6] declined to hear the appeal of a former Ohio public school science teacher who was fired for introducing creationism into his classes.
 
The high court’s decision not to hear the Freshwater v. Mount Vernon City School District Board of Education case brings the matter to a close. Last year, the Ohio Supreme Court ruled that Mt. Vernon City School District had the right to fire eighth-grade science teacher John Freshwater because the First Amendment does not permit him to ignore orders from his bosses or display whatever religious items he pleases in his classroom.
“This case should serve as a reminder to public school teachers and administrators that classrooms are not churches,” said the Rev. Barry W. Lynn, executive director of Americans United. “School-sponsored religious activity is a violation of students’ rights.”

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Climate change: a new pro-life position?

MoonHowler

Huffingtonpost.com:

 

A group of evangelical Christians is taking to the airwaves in Florida to urge Republican Gov. Rick Scott to take action on climate change, arguing that it, too, is a “pro-life” issue.

“I’m pro-life, and I’m pro-family,” says one female voice featured in the ad, sponsored by the Evangelical Environmental Network. “And I do believe we should do all we can to protect our environment. It was given to us by God.”

“Climate change is real. It endangers the health of our children, worsens poverty throughout the world, and threatens our economy,” says a male voiceover. “Call Governor Rick Scott and tell him as pro-life Christians we believe care for God’s creation is one of the greatest moral challenges of our time. Tell Governor Scott now is the time to act to curb climate change.”

Scott has been a target of a number of campaigns asking him to acknowledge the reality of climate change. Earlier this year, Scott avoided a question from a reporter about whether he believes climate change is happening, after previously saying he did not believe it was. A group of climate scientists recently organized a meeting with Scott to encourage him to take action on climate, and billionaire investor Tom Steyer’s group NextGen Climate Action recently launched an ark tour to call him out on the issue. Scott is currently up for reelection in the state, and is facing former Gov. Charlie Crist in a close race.

Evangelical Christians have also been working to convince Scott. The latest ad is running on Christian radio stations throughout the state.

If we are  directed to be stewards of the earth, what these Christians are saying makes a great deal of sense.   If climate change is real, and many folks believe it very much is,  then shouldn’t we all concern ourselves with making the earth as habitable as possible?

All too often, some of those on the right snicker and carry on over any suggestion that we do anything pro-environment.  They act like “tree hugging” is a nasty word and those who do want to conserve the Earth are a batch of sissies.  This mentality needs to be extinguished.

 

Okra plant seized in raid

MoonHowler

Good old boys with two much time on their hands or what? You would think in Georgia that law enforcement should know what okra looks like.   Someone needs to serve a lot of desk duty over this one.   Is there any way that a simple “I am sorry” makes up for this blunder?

Washingtonpost.com:

Georgia police raided a retired Atlanta man’s garden last Wednesday after a helicopter crew with the Governor’s Task Force for Drug Suppression spotted suspicious-looking plants on the man’s property. A heavily-armed K9 unit arrived and discovered that the plants were, in fact, okra bushes.

The officers eventually apologized and left, but they took some of the suspicious okra leaves with them for analysis. Georgia state patrol told WSB-TV in Atlanta that “we’ve not been able to identify it as of yet. But it did have quite a number of characteristics that were similar to a cannabis plant.”

Indeed! Like cannabis, okra is green and it has leaves.

Let the stupidity continue….

 

Gay marriage legal in Virginia! 10.6.14

MoonHowler

gay scary

The Supreme Court has refused to hear the challenges to same-sex marriages in 5 states, making it legal for gays in Virginia to marry.

Washingtonpost.com:

The Supreme Court on Monday decided not to review rulings that cleared the way for same-sex marriage in Virginia, Utah, Oklahoma, Indiana and Wisconsin, a surprising decision that shows the court is comfortable with the expansion of such unions throughout the nation.

The court’s decision came without explanation and puts off a decision about the constitutionality of gay marriage that would apply to all 50 states. But it sent a clear signal that a majority of the court did not feel the need to overturn lower court decisions that found state prohibitions were unconstitutional. According to a spokesman for Virginia’s Attorney General Mark Herring (D), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit will issue an order at 1 p.m. that will allow same-sex marriages to begin. At the same time, the commonwealth will recognize marriages performed in states where they already are legal.

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Let’s talk about Fall

MoonHowler

fruit trees

What is going on out there?  This is the beginning of October and trees are dropping their leaves like its November.  Leaves don’t usually fall like this until the third week of October.  Many of the leaves haven’t even begun to change colors.   The leaves are doing strange things.  Many trees have excessive fruit also.  The oak trees next door had large amounts of green acorns 6 weeks ago. It looked like bunches of green olives just hanging there.  The squirrels went nuts. (no pun intended.)  They jumped from cluster to cluster, stuffing their cheeks and gorging on the green fruit.  The acorns turned brown overnight and then began falling.  It sounded like rain for a day or two.

 

Other trees have had huge amounts of fruit and seeds.  Usually when the plants act strange and there are heavily laden fruit trees, , I have found it is a harbinger of blizzards and memorable snow storms.

What have our contributors read?  What have been your experiences?  Should we expect an unusually cold winter or many snow storms?   Your predictions please.

 

Captain Obvious: Free Contraceptive choices reduce pregnancy

MoonHowler

Washingtonpost.com:

 [R]esearchers at Washington University in Saint Louis provided free contraception to thousands of local women through the CHOICE Contraceptive Project. They were given their choice of method after being informed of effectiveness rates, potential side effects and the risks and benefits of each. Of the 1,404 teens in the NEJM study spanning 2007 to 2011, 74 percent chose long-acting methods — more than 16 times the reported rate of usage for U.S. teenage women.

The results were pretty stark. Teens in the CHOICE program, when compared to the national average, were five times less likely to get pregnant or give birth, and they were about four times less likely to have an abortion.

The average annual birth rate in the CHOICE group — in which three-quarters used a long-acting contraceptive — was 19.4 per 1,000 teens, which was 36 percent lower than the CDC’s 2015 goal of 30.3 per 1,000 teens. And two-thirds of teens in the CHOICE program who chose a long-acting method were still using it after two years, much better than the rate for those using a different method (one-third).

 

The NEJM study also comes just months after Colorado reported a state health initiative reduced the teen birth rate by 40 percent over five years by providing IUDs and other implantable devices to low-income women. That program was funded by an anonymous donor, so it’s not the kind of thing that could be easily recreated across the country. Notably, though, the Affordable Care Act requires most health plans to provide no-cost birth control, which is at the heart of the Supreme Court’s Hobby Lobby decision and still-pending religious challenges to the law’s contraceptive coverage mandate.

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No, there is no war on women….

MoonHowler

Washingtonpost.com:

As the Islamic State marched through Iraq and Syria this summer, its refrain was “convert or die.” For many, refusal to swear fealty to the Islamic State and adopt its violent, repressive ideology meant a bullet to the head.

But some women and children imprisoned by the Islamic State who refuse to convert have been dealt a fate some might consider worse than death.

By the end of August, the Islamic State had abducted up to 2,500 Iraqi civilians, most of them women and children, according to a new United Nations report based on more than 450 interviews with witnesses.

Some have been awarded to fighters, others sold as slaves in markets in Mosul, Iraq, and Raqqa, Syria.

There were several reports of an office in Mosul where women and girls are tagged with a price and offered for sale to buyers.

Some women have reportedly been sold to young men to entice them into fighting for the Islamic State

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Sky Ranger drone searches for missing student

MoonHowler

Apparently drones aren’t just for wars and Amazon any more. Charlottesville police borrowed Sky Ranger from Va Tech to help them look for missing student Hannah Green.

The Daily Progress:

As crews today followed tips in their search for Hannah Graham, authorities in Orange and Newport News said they were reviewing the cases of four other women who went missing, never to be found.

Jesse Leroy Matthew Jr., 32, of Albemarle County, faces a Dec. 4 preliminary hearing on a charge of abducting Graham with intent to defile, his attorney Jim Camblos said today. Matthew is scheduled to face a bond hearing this morning in Albemarle County General District Court on reckless driving charges.

Christopher Newport University also confirmed Matthew had been questioned in a sexual assault case that occurred on Sept. 7, 2003, on the campus where he was a student.

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