Homosexuals awash in tears over gay marriage defeat
By joshuah | November 5, 2008
Source: breitbart.com
In a heartbreaking defeat for the gay-rights movement, California voters put a stop to gay marriage, creating uncertainty about the legal status of 18,000 same-sex couples who tied the knot during a four-month window of opportunity opened by the state’s highest court.Passage of a constitutional amendment against gay marriage—in a state so often at the forefront of liberal social change—elated religious conservatives who had little else to cheer about in Tuesday’s elections. Gay activists were disappointed and began looking for battlegrounds elsewhere in the back-and-forth fight to allow gays to wed.
“There’s something deeply wrong with putting the rights of a minority up to a majority vote,” said Evan Wolfson, a gay-rights lawyer who heads a group called Freedom to Marry. “If this were being done to almost any other minority, people would see how un-American this is.”
Legal skirmishing began immediately, with gay-rights groups challenging the newly passed ban in court Wednesday and vowing to resist any effort to invalidate the same-sex marriages that took place following the state Supreme Court decision in May.
The amendment, which passed with 52 percent of the vote, overrides that court ruling by defining marriage as the union of one man and one woman. Thirty states now have adopted such measures, but the California vote marks the first time a state took away gay marriage after it had been legalized.
Gay-marriage bans also passed on Tuesday in Arizona and Florida, with 57 percent and 62 percent support, respectively, while Arkansas voters approved a measure aimed at gays that bars unmarried couples from serving as adoptive or foster parents.
Massachusetts and Connecticut are now the only states to allow same-sex marriage.
Even as the last votes were being counted in California, the American Civil Liberties Union and other opponents of the ban filed a challenge with the state Supreme Court. They contended that California’s ballot cannot be used to undermine one group’s access to rights enjoyed by other citizens.
The measure’s passage casts a shadow of uncertainty over the marriages performed in the past four months. California State Attorney General Jerry Brown has said existing gay marriages will remain valid, but other legal experts said challenges are likely.
Amid the uncertainty, some gay couples continued applying for marriage licenses Wednesday. They succeeded in some jurisdictions and not others.
Jake Rowe, 27, and James Eslick, 29, were in the midst of getting their marriage license at Sacramento City Hall when someone from the clerk’s office stopped the wedding Wednesday morning.
“I’m thoroughly surprised,” Rowe said. “I thought Californians had come to the point where they realized discrimination wasn’t right.”
Some newlyweds took a positive approach.
“I’m really OK,” said Diana Correia of Berkeley, who married her partner of 18 years, Cynthia Correia, on Sunday in front of their two children and 80 relatives and friends. “I hope the marriage holds, but we are already married in our hearts, so nobody can take that away.”
Proposition 8 became the focus of the most expensive social-issues campaign in U.S. history, with the rival sides raising a combined $74 million. Religious groups, including the Mormon church and the Roman Catholic Church, played pivotal roles in pushing for the ban.
“People believe in the institution of marriage,” said Frank Schubert, co-manager of the Yes on 8 campaign. “It’s one institution that crosses ethnic divides, that crosses partisan divides.”
Exit polls revealed dramatic demographic gaps in the gay-marriage vote. While 63 percent of voters under 30 opposed the ban, 59 percent of those 65 and older supported it. There were sharp racial discrepancies as well. Even as black voters overwhelmingly backed Barack Obama—a gay-rights supporter—in the presidential race, 70 percent of them voted against gay marriage, compared with 47 percent of white voters.
Denise Fernandez, a 57-year-old black woman from Sacramento, said she voted for Obama and Proposition 8. “I believe a Christian is held accountable,” she said.
Obama had a nuanced position on the issue, saying he opposes gay marriage while also speaking out against Proposition 8.
Rea Carey, executive director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, did not directly criticize Obama, but said: “We’d hope for a day when candidates who are supportive of same-sex marriage are unafraid to clearly state that to the voters.”
Gay-marriage proponents say New York, where the Democrats now control both the Legislature and the governor’s office for the first time in 35 years, may be a promising battleground. New Jersey also is considered a gay-marriage prospect.
“We pick ourselves up and trudge on,” said Kate Kendell, executive director of the National Center for Lesbian Rights. “There has been enormous movement in favor of full equality in eight short years. That is the direction this is heading, and if it’s not today or it’s not tomorrow, it will be soon.”
Technorati Tags: California Gay Marriage
Topics: Gays | No Comments »
Earliest Known Hebrew Text In Proto-Canaanite Script Discovered In Area Where ‘David Slew Goliath’
By joshuah | November 3, 2008
Source: sciencedaily.com
The earliest known Hebrew text written in a Proto-Canaanite script has been discovered by Hebrew University archaeologists in an ancient city in the area where legend has it that David slew Goliath – the earliest Judean city found to date. The 3,000 year old finding is thought to be the most significant archaeological discovery in Israel since the Dead Sea Scrolls – predating them by 1,000 years.
The ostracon (pottery shard inscribed with writing in ink) comprises five lines of text divided by black lines and measures 15 x 15 cm. and was found at excavations of a 10th century B.C.E. fortress - the oldest known Judaic city.
The ostracon was found lying on the floor inside a building near the city gate of the site, known as the Elah Fortress at Khirbet Qeiyafa.
Excavations are being led by Prof. Yosef Garfinkel, the Yigal Yadin Professor of Archaeology at the Institute of Archaeology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and his partner Saar Ganur, in partnership with Foundation Stone, a non-profit educational organization which works to provide a contemporary voice to ancient stories. The excavations and analysis are also being supported by J.B. Silver and the Brennan Foundation.
Full article at: sciencedaily.com
Technorati Tags: Biblical Archaeology
Topics: Archaeology | No Comments »
Boy Sent Home From School For Dressing As Jesus
By joshuah | November 1, 2008
Source: wcbstv.com
A Paramus middle school student was sent home Friday after he came to school dressed up as Jesus for Halloween.For a few hours, Alex Woinski was the messiah of West Brook Middle School, but like the real Jesus, Woinski was condemned, so to speak.
“Sort of like a new remake of what supposedly happened,” Woinski told CBS 2.
Decked out in sandals, a robe, fake beard and thorns, the 13-year-old joined 500 other students at his school’s Halloween celebration, and on this day, he was the chosen one - to go home.
“It was offensive to some students,” Woinski said, when asked what school officials told him the reason for being sent home was.
Woinski says he wore the costume because friends say his long hair makes him a Jesus lookalike, and were not offended by his costume.
The school says thes costume was a disruption and denies its religious nature had anything to do with it.
“I don’t think I overreacted,” Principal Joan Broe told CBS 2.
Broe said too many students were drawn to the costume, and that was reason enough.
“Children were [asking], where is the boy who is Jesus Christ?” she said. “It was disrupting the education process.”
Woinski’s parents agree it was political correctness gone amok.
“I think the whole freedom of speech and expression has definitely had a damper put on it, and this is proof of that,” says Kim Woinski, Alex’s mother.
But it won’t put a damper on Woinski’s trick or treating. This Jesus has been resurrected for Friday night.
Woinski has developed an interest in religion. His mother is Catholic and his father is Jewish. He recently celebrated his Bar Mitzvah and his also studying Bible scripture.
His school says this was the first time anyone had ever dressed up like Jesus. They say other students were ordered to alter their costumes because they were deemed inappropriate.
Topics: christianity today | No Comments »
Blue-eyed Humans Have A Single, Common Ancestor
By joshuah | October 15, 2008
Via: ScienceDaily
New research shows that people with blue eyes have a single, common ancestor. A team at the University of Copenhagen have tracked down a genetic mutation which took place 6-10,000 years ago and is the cause of the eye colour of all blue-eyed humans alive on the planet today.
“Originally, we all had brown eyes”, said Professor Eiberg from the Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine. “But a genetic mutation affecting the OCA2 gene in our chromosomes resulted in the creation of a “switch”, which literally “turned off” the ability to produce brown eyes”. The OCA2 gene codes for the so-called P protein, which is involved in the production of melanin, the pigment that gives colour to our hair, eyes and skin. The “switch”, which is located in the gene adjacent to OCA2 does not, however, turn off the gene entirely, but rather limits its action to reducing the production of melanin in the iris – effectively “diluting” brown eyes to blue. The switch’s effect on OCA2 is very specific therefore. If the OCA2 gene had been completely destroyed or turned off, human beings would be without melanin in their hair, eyes or skin colour – a condition known as albinism.
Topics: brethren | No Comments »
‘Great Schlep’ pitches Obama to Florida Jews
By joshuah | October 14, 2008
Uh huh…
Source: CNN.com
A Yiddish word meaning to pull, yank or tug, schlep is a good way of describing what it took for Mike Bender to persuade his grandparents to vote for Sen. Barack Obama for president.Bender’s grandparents, Kenny and Selma Furst, 90 and 87 years old, should have been an easy sell to support the Democratic nominee for president.
Like many of the estimated 650,000 Jews living in Florida, the Fursts are lifelong, passionate Democrats and a crucial vote for any Democratic candidate hoping to win the battleground state.
But when Bender — who is not affiliated with Obama’s campaign but supports him — brought up the idea of voting for Obama over Thanksgiving dinner last year, he was met with an uncharacteristic silence.
“Their reaction was, as they said, ‘I’m a little meschugah,’ ” Bender said, adding that the expression meant “crazy.”
For Selma Furst, voting for an African-American for president seemed unthinkable.
Topics: Jews | No Comments »
Economic meltdown brings out anti-Semitism
By joshuah | October 3, 2008
Source: Boston.com
The economic meltdown has brought an upsurge in anti-Semitism, says a prominent Jewish leader.
Abraham Foxman, director of the Anti-Defamation League, says that what he calls “age-old canards” about Jews and money “are always just beneath the surface.”
And he says that whenever there is a downturn in the economy, the level of anti-Semitism rises.
The ADL cited references on the Web to the “Jew world order” and the like — not only on neo-Nazi or white supremacist sites, but also on widely used message boards like Yahoo.
One comment said Jews have “infiltrated Wall Street and government and have ruined our country.”
Topics: Anti-Defamation League | 2 Comments »
Medicaid long-term health care costs to soar
By joshuah | September 29, 2008
The money will never be there in sufficient quantity to take care of all these elderly. This is all the more reason to come together in a Biblically Patriarchal multi-generational family, where the needs of the elderly are met with the proper levels of love and commitment, and do not rely on the State to meet your needs at any age, as they will always let you down.
“Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you. Exodus 20:12
“But if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of h peopleis household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.” 1Timothy 5:8
Source: Reuters
Fueled by the needs of a growing elderly population, spending on long-term health care under the Medicaid program will soar in the next 20 years, a report released Monday predicted.Spending for long-term care for elderly and disabled people under the Medicaid health insurance program for the poor will total $3.7 trillion in the next two decades, according to the report by America’s Health Insurance Plans, an industry group.
That includes $1.6 trillion projected to be spent by individual U.S. states and $2.1 trillion in federal money, according to the report. Long-term care includes nursing homes and in-home care for people unable to live independently.
“Medicaid’s position as the payer of last resort for long-term care — despite the presence of long-term care insurance available in the marketplace today — will continue to create budgetary difficulties for states and the federal government over the next two decades,” the report read.
Topics: simple living | No Comments »
Church of England accused over short selling
By joshuah | September 26, 2008
Source: FT.com
The Church of England was facing charges of hypocrisy yesterday over its leaders’ attack on short selling and debt trading after hedge funds pointed out it uses some of the same practices when investing its own assets.Rowan Williams, the archbishop of Canterbury and head of the Anglican Church, said it was right to ban short selling, while John Sentamu, archbishop of York, called traders who cashed in on falling prices “bank robbers and asset strippers”.
Hedge funds pointed to the willingness of the Church commissioners to lend foreign stock from their £5.5bn ($10.2bn) of investments – an essential support for short selling – and derided the pair for not understanding shorting.
“They are trying to shoot the messenger and … deflecting attention away from the dramatic incompetence of bank executives,” said Hugh Hendry of Eclectica Asset Management, a London hedge fund. “Short selling is the pursuit of truth.”
Topics: Apostate Churches | No Comments »
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