Girl Dies After Parents Pray for Healing

FOXNews.com - Police: Girl Dies After Parents Pray for Healing Instead of Seeking Medical Help - Local News | News Articles | National News | US News

This is obviously an extreme case, but where do you draw the line? I can't help but to think these parents WOULD have gotten medical help IF they had known what was involved and how serious it was. Nothing in this says the parents were adamantly opposed to modern medicine. They just seem to have avoided it.

But what if they were religiously (or otherwise) opposed? Can parents refuse treatment for situation where treatment is possible and effective? (ignoring the cases at the limits of our medical knowledge right now)

I think state involvement to FORCE a limited examination and diagnosis is acceptable in most cases. And I hope that would have been enough in this case (but I have no way of knowing). But treatment cannot (or should not) be forced in my opinion, even to prevent a death like this.

But a senseless and avoidable death of a young child like this is almost enough to make me support or consider supporting more state power to prevent them. I just have to be careful and remember the down side of too much state power. [This Post Continues after the jump...]

What Will Life Be Like in the Year 2008?

What Will Life Be Like in the Year 2008?

The really interesting part of this is HOW MUCH they were RIGHT... Except for vactiooning in orbit, domed cities and automatic cars, the parts about computers and TV is pretty close to what we actually have (except for the user interface). [This Post Continues after the jump...]

Why Do Palestinians Get Much More Attention than Tibetans?

Why? indeed....

RealClearPolitics - Articles - Why Do Palestinians Get Much More Attention than Tibetans? [This Post Continues after the jump...]

'Road-rage' bill targets lane-blocking drivers

I see a good law suit if this passes. I don't know if there is any legal basis for "consistency" in laws, but there should be.

If this were to pass, it would PROVE that speed limits are NOT really based on public safety, but are in fact a revenue source. This law essentially says that if two people are driving the speed limit side by side, then the driver in the left lane can get a ticket for not "allowing" others to pass, even thought to pass them, the other person would have to be SPEEDING.

If a law encourages and facilitates breaking the speed limit, then I would argue the the speed limit law is inconsistent and therefore should be struck down. Granted, I don't know what legal basis there is for a law to be required to be consistent with other laws, but common sense says there should be such a requirement for laws.

Personally I think speed limits are set more to get money from tickets than for any other reason. Speeds could be raised considerable and only effect a small percentage of truly reckless drivers if safety was the only concern. But they aren't because then there would be no money coming in for traffic tickets.


'Road-rage' bill targets lane-blocking drivers | floridatoday.com | FLORIDA TODAY [This Post Continues after the jump...]

Creation-Evolution Debate Spawns Academic Freedom Bill

Academic Freedom was all the rage by liberals in the 60's and 70's... now they seem to have forgotten the need for it.

Creation-evolution debate advances to House | floridatoday.com | FLORIDA TODAY



[This Post Continues after the jump...]

Clinton's Unsavory religious Affiliations

Can this be true? Hillary a closet conservative? Even "fascist-leaning"?
All this because she goes to a Bible study remotely connected with all of this?


Hillary's Nasty Pastorate, The Nation: When It Comes To Unsavory Religious Affiliations, Clinton Is A Lot More Vulnerable Than Obama - CBS News [This Post Continues after the jump...]

Can Obama deliver on his promise of a new majority?

I've been pulling for Obama to win the nomination because I don't see how he can win the general election. Are American's desperate enough to actually elect this guy? He gives great speeches that are short on details. I could give the guy a chance if I could hear his policies and not just his "ideas". But when I hear specifics it's how he wants to cut NASA spending to pay for more social programs. If that's the "new progressivism"... NO THANK YOU.

Obama's promise of a new majority, and the question it prompts - International Herald Tribune [This Post Continues after the jump...]

Climate facts to warm to

Interesting.... very Interesting.... and convenient truths...

Climate facts to warm to | The Australian [This Post Continues after the jump...]

Attention Gen Y

Attention Gen Y | NASA Watch
Generation Y grew up with all the high tech toys the previous generations invented... so what are they doing with it? Other than telling us old folks that they are brighter, better, and "different" than us.

The way I see it, we have them some pretty great shoulders to stand on, and they're wasting it playing HALO and posting on Facebook... [This Post Continues after the jump...]

Shroud of Turin debate rekindled

It's interesting how this never goes away....

The interesting thing about this to me is how SCIENCE can't really ever conclude anything in absolut finality. No matter what tests are done, they will always be done by people, and people can make mistakes. The test results will aways be open to "interpretation" and different people will come to different conclusions given the same data.

This proves my contention that SCIENCE can never settle a debate. There is no such thing as a SCIENTIFIC CONCLUSION. Science is a tool used by many people to reach their own conclusion, but any conclusion is by definition a subjective opinion of the person making the conclusion, therefore it can't be considered an "objective" conclusion.

And that's the problem with Science. It can never go the final step. It can never reach a conclusion independent of science-ISTS or the people using science.

Whether it's the Shroud or Turin, Global Warming, Evolution, or Abortion, SCIENCE is powerless to solve the issue.

Shroud of Turin debate rekindled - TODAY: People - MSNBC.com [This Post Continues after the jump...]

Who Killed the Electric Car: GM and Chevron

Who Killed the Electric Car: GM and Chevron

This sounds like a great website. I can't verify any information on it, but I have no reason to doubt it. There would seem to be not technologically reason why there isn't a fully electric car by now, and the oil companies sitting on battery patents sounds like something they would do.

But if this is so well known, I don't see why nothing is being done about it. All it would take is one congressman to raise a stink about this, or Ralph Nader, or Ron Paul.

I know I would buy a Chevy Volt today if it were available. And according to this website better electric cars were available 10 years ago.

SO I don't think its as one sided and clear cut as this website suggests. But I have no other information. [This Post Continues after the jump...]

Feds might be looking into your finances

Right now, feds might be looking into your finances

Each year, federal agents peek at the financial transactions of millions of Americans — without their knowledge.

This is troubling to me. I realize it is a useful tool to fight crime but it also can be abused. As Christians, it is commonly believed that a day will come that you will not be able to buy or sell things without government approval. This seems like a step in that direction. We just need to be careful what power we give the government to look into our private lives.

Full Story after the jump...

By Thomas Frank
USA TODAY

WASHINGTON — Each year, federal agents peek at the financial transactions of millions of Americans — without their knowledge.

The same type of information that raised suspicions about New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer is reviewed every day by authorities to find traces of money laundering, check fraud, identity theft or any crime that may involve a financial institution.

As concerns about fraud and terrorist financing grow, an increasing number of suspicious deposits, withdrawals and money transfers are being reported by banks and others to the federal government. Banks and credit unions as well as currency dealers and stores that cash checks reported a record 17.6 million transactions to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network in 2006, according to a report from the network, a bureau of the U.S. Treasury Department.

"I don't think Americans understand that their financial transactions are being reported and routinely examined," said Barry Steinhardt of the American Civil Liberties Union.

The Treasury Department's database now contains records of more than 100 million financial transactions going back to at least 1996, said network spokesman Steve Hudak.

Teams of agents from the FBI, IRS, Drug Enforcement Administration and other agencies regularly review newly filed financial reports and launch investigations. Federal and local authorities search the database to find information about people that can help ongoing probes. Treasury Department analysts study the reports to detect trends in fraud and issue reports alerting financial institutions.

"The government has access to untold volumes of records and can draw all sorts of conclusions about us, and many are going to be wrong," Steinhardt said.

Bankers disagree. "For the typical bank customer, this means very little because there's nothing they're doing that's likely to be viewed as out of the ordinary," said Richard Riese, head of regulatory compliance for the American Bankers Association.

The reporting system dates to the early 1970s when federal agents sought to pinpoint drug dealers by looking for people making large cash deposits.

Financial institutions have long been required to report cash transactions over $10,000. Those reports — simple notices of a deposit or withdrawal — account for more than 90% of the records the enforcement network gets each year.

Far more controversial are secret "suspicious activity reports" filed by financial institutions and reviewed by teams of agents spread around the country. The investigation of Spitzer began when a bank spotted potentially suspicious transfers from several accounts and filed reports with the IRS, according to a federal official who spoke on condition of anonymity. The official did not want his name used because he's not authorized to discuss the case publicly.

The number of suspicious activity reports soared from 413,000 in 2003 to 1 million in 2006, according to the enforcement network.

Federal law requires the reports to remain secret. They are written by officers at financial institutions who specialize in detecting suspicious activity, such as a series of large transactions.

The analysis can protect customers by spotting unusual withdrawals that may indicate fraud, said Robert Rowe, senior regulatory counsel of the Independent Community Bankers of America.

Many of the reports are a waste, said Riese of the bankers association. "We're reporting on a lot of things everybody knows law enforcement doesn't have the resources to pursue," he said.

Hudak said the "vast majority" of reports "are filed for a good reason. … There are law enforcement officials and investigators who use these reports and read them every day."
[This Post Continues after the jump...]

China Locks Down Tibet, Screws up Olympics

Well this isn't surprising. Anyone that has a beef with China's government is going to cause problems from now until August. If China overreacts, the world will condemn them and may boycott the games, if they under react, it will encourage other groups to protest and cause trouble. It almost sounds like a win-win situation except (obviously) for the people killed. And China has a history of over reacting in situations like this. International condemnation is better in some cases than embarrassment. But the people will have to get sick of it eventually, and maybe event he military will refuse to carry out orders to kill protesters.

I just pray that the communist government gives in some in a meaningful and permanent way. Otherwise allowing them to host the Olympics will have been a mistake.


FOXNews.com - China Locks Down Tibet's Capital Amid Riots</br>As Tibetan Exile Group Reports at Least 30 Dead - International News | News of the World | Middle East News | Europe New: [This Post Continues after the jump...]

Glenn Beck: Learning to say "Too bad"

Glenn Beck: Too bad, Michigan and Florida - CNN.com

NEW YORK (CNN)

What do these stories all have in common?

• A woman who says she lost more $1 million gambling in Atlantic City sues some casinos for $20 million, claiming they should've stopped her compulsive gambling

• People who bought houses they couldn't afford with loans they didn't understand want their lenders to change the terms.

• Congress authorizes a war and then tries everything it can think of to get out of it.

• Our country gets addicted to oil and then blames OPEC when it doesn't like the price.

These stories prove how personal responsibility has all but vanished in America, and our government is leading the way.

Remember the kid from that interminable 1980s commercial whose father caught him using drugs? The father incredulously asked, "Who taught you how to do this stuff?" and the kid responded, "You, alright? I learned it by watching you."

Well, we are that kid and our government is that drug-using father who doesn't think that anyone notices his bad habits.

Our government is leading us by example, and I don't mean that in a good way. For years, it has spent us into oblivion, mortgaging our future for programs we can't afford, and Americans have happily followed suit, running up credit card bills and home equity loans for things they never should've bought.

Unfortunately, we're also learning something else from our government: how to avoid taking responsibility for our actions.

From Eliot Spitzer's alleged hooker craze to the revelation that Arnold Schwarzenegger commutes to work in a large private jet even as he preaches the dangers of carbon dioxide emissions, there's never been a shortage of "do what I say, not what I do" hypocrites in politics.

But that same attitude has seemingly spread from individual politicians to an entire party.

Democrats aren't happy that delegates from Florida and Michigan won't be seated at the national convention because those states broke clear party rules. Well you know what? Too bad. We don't say that enough anymore. Too bad. You agreed to the rules; you broke them. Now you've got to deal with the consequences.

"But Glenn. ... Neither Hillary Clinton nor Barack Obama will have enough delegates to win the nomination. We don't want this to be decided in some backroom by superdelegates."

Too bad.

"But Glenn. ... You don't understand. If we don't seat delegates from those states now, then we might lose their votes in the general election."

Too bad.

"But Glenn. .... The voters in these states are going to be disenfranchised if we don't let their voices be heard."

Too bad.

If you want to talk about disenfranchised voters, then let's talk about why just 17 percent of Americans have a positive view of Congress. Let's talk about why we still have wide open borders despite most Americans wanting them sealed. Let's talk about why we keep selling out our sovereignty and our security by borrowing billions of dollars from-less-than friendly countries, such as China.

Americans aren't disenfranchised because our leaders won't count votes in a couple of states. They're disenfranchised because our leaders aren't doing their jobs. They're disenfranchised because after working hard to support their families and to raise kids who understand the difference between right and wrong, their leaders do exactly the opposite.

In the cases of Florida and Michigan, I've patiently listened to all the moving arguments about why there should be a "do-over," but quite honestly, they're not arguments at all. They're excuses. If this race wasn't so close, or if these states offered a combined 36 delegates instead of 366, do you really think anyone would care? Of course not.

But no matter what you think should happen, you have to admit that Clinton's idea that we should simply count her "wins" in Florida and Michigan is completely ridiculous.

In fact, if you played a rimshot and a laugh track behind her every time she recited that line, people might actually agree to a two-drink minimum to see her speak. How could you possibly count the results from an election when your main opponent wasn't even on the ballot (at least in Michigan)? You can't -- unless you think the rules are simply there for your own amusement.

Last year, when the punishment against Florida was first approved, Donna Brazile, a member of the Democratic National Committee rules panel, said she hoped that the harsh consequences would "send a message to everybody in Florida that we are going to follow the rules." And Brazile knows a little something about that ... she ran Vice President Al Gore's presidential campaign in 2000.

Voters in Florida and Michigan should ask themselves one important question before they blindly follow their party: Why did no one seem to care about "alienating" them last year when the rules were intentionally broken? It's only now, when their vote really matters, that everyone is suddenly so concerned about "enfranchising" them.

Florida and Michigan have a golden opportunity to stand up and say enough is enough, to send a message that it's time to not only take responsibility for their actions but for those of our leaders as well.

After all, what would it say about personal responsibility in this country if we allow the two states that broke all the rules to end up having the biggest say of all?

[This Post Continues after the jump...]

Parents must have teaching credentials to home school their kids

But of course, public schools, don't have to be accountable to anyone.

I think any parent should be allowed to home school their children until the child fails a grade twice or fails several standardized tests. But if the parents can successfully teach the children, I don't care what pieces of paper they have or don't have.

Homeschoolers' setback sends shock waves through state [This Post Continues after the jump...]

Space: ESA's Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) Blasts Off Tomorrow

This is going to be neat...
http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewsr.html?pid=27279



Space: ESA's Autonomous Space Truck Blasts Off Tomorrow [This Post Continues after the jump...]

Plastic Bags Evil? Or just Bad Science?

This is just another "bandwagon" that people are jumping on.

FOXNews.com - Plastic Bags Evil? Think Again, Some Scientists Say - Science News | Science & Technology | Technology News [This Post Continues after the jump...]

Be careful what you wish for

I agree... the sooner Clinton looses, the better....
...and I don't think Obamania can continue until the election...

BobKrumm.com » Be careful what you wish for, Rush [This Post Continues after the jump...]

Neither Intellectual, Nor Property

I don't have time to comment on this, but I agree whole heartedly. The limitations of physical objects just do not apply to ideas or anything that can be stored in a digital file these days.

Techdirt: If Intellectual Property Is Neither Intellectual, Nor Property, What Is It? [This Post Continues after the jump...]

Florida Property Tax-cut Plan - Take 2

Panel advances 2nd property tax-cut plan | floridatoday.com | Serving Brevard County and Florida’s Space Coast


Ok, we just passed an amendment just over a month ago and they are ALREADY proposing new amendments to repeal part of it. I wish someone would make up their mind!

Proposal A
A phased in 25% super exemption (instead of a fixed amount exemption) (half the first year, full the 2nd year)
A phased out 0.5% sales tax increase to replace some lost money (for 3 years)
If your current save our homes cap is better than the "super exemption" you can keep it somehow.

Proposal B
Somehow it would cut taxes by 25%
Repeal the requirement for property tax for schools
Replace money with a permanent 1% sales tax increase (and repeal of sales tax exemption)

Both Plans
Keep the 3% cap on increased for primary homes
Lower the new 10% cap on other property to 5% [This Post Continues after the jump...]

Real ID - Not as Bad as You Think?

I for one welcome an ID card that is hard to get and can quickly be scanned by government agencies to prove my identify and to get services from the government.

However, I don't want it scanned to get into a bar, or to rent a car, or by any private company selling me something or providing me something. There needs to be protection against this type of abuse, and the current system does not have it as far as I know.

DHS: Real ID is 'pro-consumer' and 'antiterrorism' | Tech news blog - CNET News.com [This Post Continues after the jump...]

Global Warming: Is It Really a Crisis?

Years from now, Scientist will look back on the whole "global warming" period and use it as an example of how Scientist should not jump on the band wagon no matter how popular it is.

FOXNews.com - Global Warming: Is It Really a Crisis? - Opinion [This Post Continues after the jump...]

Home Ownership has a downside too.

Owning your home isn't always the best thing to do.... especially in today's economy. But that's easy for me to say, We bought our house almost 8 years ago before everything went crazy. At one point a year or so ago, I honestly could not have afforded to buy my own house.

The book value of the house is still much higher than I owe on it, so much so that I was able to cash out some equity to pay for home improvements like a new roof and pool work.

We pretty much break even every month and I can't imaine how people cope with the payments on new homes at current market values.

My advice, like this article's would be for people to rent now and buy later. Otherwise you may end up like the poor guy in this picture.

(Picture from the New Yorker)

The New Yorker: When owning isn’t better - The New Yorker- msnbc.com [This Post Continues after the jump...]

Al Qaeda Condemns Militants Who Rejected Violence

The most recent renunciation came in 2007 from Sayed Imam, once a top leader in Egypt's Islamic Jihad group and an associate of Al Zawahiri.

Imam's writings in the 1980s laying an Islamic legal basis for violent action against "infidel" regimes, were highly influential among Al Qaeda militants. But his "revisions" argue that such violence is banned under Islamic law.

This is EXACTLY what needs to happen for the west to ever win the "war on terror". There will always be violent people that kill others for whatever reason. But we have to beat the "reasons" or "arguments" that justify the violence. The voice of Islamic leaders that denounce violence must be louder than the voice of the militants. Hopefully that is starting to happen now....

FOXNews.com - Al Qaeda Deputy Leader Al Zawahiri Pens Book Condemning Militants Who Rejected Violence - International News | News of the World | Middle East News | Europe News [This Post Continues after the jump...]

Marion Cotillard's 9/11 and Moon Conspiracy Theories

Well, apparently there's no accounting for intelligence when it comes to being an award wining actress

Miss Cotillard suggested that the towers, planned in the early 1960s, were an outdated "money sucker" which would have cost so much to modernise that it was easier to destroy them.

Turning to America’s space programme, she said: "Did a man really walk on the moon? I saw plenty of documentaries on it, and I really wondered. And in any case I don’t believe all they tell me, that’s for sure."

Marion Cotillard's 9/11 conspiracy theory - Telegraph [This Post Continues after the jump...]