Clipmarks | wiccantexan's clips

Healthcare Provision Seeks To Embrace Prayer Treatments

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 03:49:49 GMT

clipped by: wiccantexan

Backed by some of the most powerful members of the Senate, a little-noticed provision in the healthcare overhaul bill would require insurers to consider covering Christian Science prayer treatments as medical expenses.

The provision was inserted by Sen. Orrin G. Hatch (R-Utah) with the support of Democratic Sens. John F. Kerry and the late Edward M. Kennedy, both of Massachusetts, home to the headquarters of the Church of Christ, Scientist.

The measure would put Christian Science prayer treatments -- which substitute for or supplement medical treatments -- on the same footing as clinical medicine. While not mentioning the church by name, it would prohibit discrimination against "religious and spiritual healthcare."

But critics say the measure could have a broader effect, conferring new status and medical legitimacy on practices that lie outside the realm of science.

Tags: religion, healthcare, legal, government

In San Antonio, Muslims stand with the massacre victims

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 17:12:29 GMT

clipped by: wiccantexan

Clip Source: www.mysanantonio.com

As Muslims met for weekly prayers in mosques here and nationwide, they underscored their solidarity for the victims of Thursday's rampage at Fort Hood, allegedly by a man whose very name manifests his Muslim heritage.

Muslims have condemned the attack blamed on Army psychiatrist Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan as cowardly and antithetical to core Islamic beliefs and practices, while also issuing warnings to the public and their own communities about the potential for backlash.

Several hundred Muslims gathered in the city's largest mosque, the Islamic Center of San Antonio, where they denounced the shooter's violence and distanced themselves from his version of Islam.

“Most Muslims that do join the Army are Americans first,” he said, “and they're there to protect their country first.”

“I just want to show myself in a positive way for the religion I represent,” he said. “I just hope people don't stereotype.”

Tags: texas, muslim, islam, soldiers, religion, belief

Hero Cop's First Words After Surgery: 'Did Anybody Die?'

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 16:15:49 GMT

clipped by: wiccantexan

Clip Source: abcnews.go.com

After Sgt. Kimberly Munley stopped the Fort Hood massacre by shooting Major Nidal Malik Hasan several times, she collapsed from her wounds and doctors who treated her were afraid she wouldn't survive.

Munley, a 34-year-old former soldier who became a civilian cop on the Fort Hood base, was shot twice in both legs during Thursday's confrontation. Two powerful "cop killer" rounds allegedly fired by Hasan tore through her left thigh, exited and blasted through her right thigh as well. She was also struck in the wrist.

Munley proved to be as tough in the operating room as she was while confronting Hasan in their close range shootout.

Dr. Kelly Matlock, who treated Munley, said her first words in recovery were concern about Hasan's victims.

"She opened her eyes and said, 'Did anybody die?' That's what she said, 'Did anybody die?'" Matlock told "GMA."

Chuck Medley, the director of emergency services at Fort Hood, said many more would have died if Munley hadn't leaped into action.

Tags: ft hood, military, army, hero, cop

Child Dying of Cancer Leaves Notes Behind

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 04:27:57 GMT

clipped by: wiccantexan

Clip Source: abcnews.go.com

Brooke and Keith Desserich of Cincinnati, Ohio, were told their daughter Elena had 135 days to live. She beat her diagnosis by 121 days.

But during that time, as she fought the cruelest form of pediatric brain cancer, 5-year-old Elena left a powerful legacy.

She began to hide little notes -- hidden in book shelves, CD cases, sock drawers -- for her family to find after she was gone.

"The first time I found a note caught between books, I thought nothing of it," said Keith Desserich, 34, and an entrepreneur. "But then I started to find 20 to 30 notes, and wondered if there was something more to it. One -- 'I love you Mom and Dad' -- was packed in a bag of clothes put away for the winter."

Soon, the family got calls from her grandparents, saying they, too, had colorful hand drawings from Elena. One aunt even found a note written to her chihuahua, which little Elena loved.

Tags: child, cancer, family, love

Ft Hood: 12 dead, 31 wounded, Soldier shooter ID'd

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 22:26:03 GMT

clipped by: wiccantexan

Clip Source: abcnews.go.com

Twelve people have been killed and 31 wounded in a shooting spree at a Texas military base by what officials believe was possibly carried out by an Army officer.

The suspected gunman was identified by ABC News as Major Malik Nadal Hasan.

The shooter was killed and two other suspects have been apprehended, Lt. Gen. Robert W. Cone said.

The extent of the injuries of victims "varies significantly," according to Cone.

Cone said the motive for the attack, which took place just after 1:30 p.m. CT, is unclear.

The military said today that "more than one shooter" opened fire in the Soldiers Readiness Processing Center and the Howze Theater on the base.

The processing center is where soldiers go to get last minute dental and medical clearance before going to war.

A message on Fort Hood's public affairs office Web site reads, "Organizations/units are instructed to execute a 100 percent accountability of all personnel. This is not a Drill. It is an Emergency Situation."

Tags: soldiers, military, mass shooting, texas, army

Queens Elects America's First Heathen

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 20:38:17 GMT

clipped by: wiccantexan

Clip Source: blogs.villagevoice.com

Holy Tyr! Queens voters made American history tonight, when they chose Dan Halloran as the nation's first openly heathen elected official.

Halloran will serve as the City Council member from the 19th district, representing Bayside, Auburndale and part of Flushing. He and Kevin Kim were involved in a bruising campaign to the finish, which included many religious and racial fights and allegations.

Breaking with typical American tradition on Election Night, Halloran did not end his acceptance speech with "God bless America," or even "Gods bless America." But he did acknowledge the controversy his religion brought to his campaign. While thanking his law partner, he said "The next time you give me advice to take a website down, I'll do it." He joked about it again in relaying news to the assembled tea baggers of Republican victories in New Jersey and Virginia. "I would call this a Reagan revolution, except I'm not a protestant Irishman."

Tags: government, politics, pagan, heathen, religion, belief

List your guns on your 1040?

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 01:32:22 GMT

clipped by: wiccantexan

Clip Source: www.politifact.com

It's a scary time to be a gun owner in the United States — at least if you believe some of the claims made by gun-rights groups and spread in chain e-mails.

We recently investigated a claim made by Gun Owners of America that a version of a health care bill currently in Congress "could be used to ban guns in home self-defense," and rated it False. We gave the National Rifle Association a Pants on Fire for making a similar claim during the 2008 election.

So we were skeptical when a reader forwarded us a chain e-mail that claims the following:

"Now 'all Guns' must be listed on your next (2010) tax return! As if we didnt [sic] have enough to get upset about! If you have a gun, I hope it isn't registered! Senate Bill SB-2099 will require us to put on our 2009 1040 federal tax form all guns that you have or own. It will require fingerprints and a tax of $50 per gun."

The e-mail is wrong in so many ways that it's hard to know where to begin. But here we go:

Tags: guns, obama, taxes

First Amendment doesn’t shield us from private infringements

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 01:30:35 GMT

clipped by: wiccantexan

Clip Source: www.firstamendmentcenter.org

Every American is protected by the guarantees of the First Amendment, but protections for religious liberty and free expression apply only when government actions are involved — and therein is the rub for some of our fellow citizens.

In both instances, the concept that as citizens we are free to express ourselves as we see fit runs smack into the legal reality that private employers, associations, Internet companies and such aren’t restrained by First Amendment protections regarding religion, speech, press, assembly or petition.

Public officials, public schools and public agencies all must present such strong proof of significant public benefit or safety concerns before our First Amendment protections can legally be overridden.

But for now, although the First Amendment protects your right to speak in the marketplace of ideas from government interference, it doesn’t automatically shelter what you want to say at work or on the Web.

Tags: first amendment, free speech

Texas Eminent Domain Proposition Wins Passage

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 02:51:02 GMT

clipped by: wiccantexan

Clip Source: www.ksat.com

Texans gave overwhelming support to a proposition that limits the government's power of eminent domain.

Proposition 11 had 80 percent of the vote favoring it, and 20 percent against, after more than 300,000 votes were counted in Tuesday's election.

It was the last of 11 proposed constitutional amendments on the ballot, but it was the among those that got the most attention. The Texas Farm Bureau, Gov. Rick Perry and his Republican primary rival, Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, all campaigned in favor of it.

The amendment bans governments in Texas from seizing private property and giving it to a private developer to boost the tax base.

Tags: texas, legal, eminent domain, government

La. official quits after interracial marriage flap

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 00:30:47 GMT

clipped by: wiccantexan

Clip Source: www.msnbc.msn.com

A Louisiana justice of the peace who refused to marry a couple because the bride was white and groom was black resigned Tuesday.

Keith Bardwell, who is white, quit the post with a one-sentence statement to Louisiana Secretary of State Jay Dardenne and no explanation of his decision: "I do hereby resign the office of Justice of the Peace for the Eighth Ward of Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana, effective November 3, 2009."

Gov. Bobby Jindal called Bardwell's resignation "long overdue."

Bardwell refused to perform the ceremony for Beth Humphrey and Terence McKay because they are of different races.

When questioned about his refusal, Bardwell acknowledged he routinely recuses himself from marrying interracial couples because he believes such marriages cause harm to the couples' children. In interviews, he said he refers such couples to other justices of the peace, who then perform the ceremony, which happened in this case.

Tags: race, marriage, legal

Uproar over court crucifix ruling

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 00:29:16 GMT

clipped by: wiccantexan

Clip Source: www.reuters.com

The European Court of Human Rights ruled on Tuesday that crucifixes should be removed from Italian classrooms, prompting Vatican anger and sparking uproar in Italy, where such icons are embedded in the national psyche.

"The ruling of the European court was received in the Vatican with shock and sadness," said Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi, adding that it was "wrong and myopic" to try to exclude a symbol of charity from education.

The ruling by the court in Strasbourg, which Italy said it would appeal, said crucifixes on school walls -- a common sight that is part of every Italian's life -- could disturb children who were not Christians.

Italy has been in the throes of national debate on how to deal with a growing population of immigrants, mostly Muslims, and the court sentence is likely to become another battle cry for the center-right government's policy to restrict newcomers.

Tags: belief, culture, religion, vatican, italy

Claude Levi-Strauss, Scientist Who Saw Human Doom, Dies at 100

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 23:59:20 GMT

clipped by: wiccantexan

Clip Source: www.bloomberg.com

Claude Levi-Strauss, the French social anthropologist who influenced generations of intellectuals with his ideas on culture and said the human species would become extinct, has died. He was 100.

Levi-Strauss’s method, known as structuralism, reduced mythology and rituals to their basic components to find an underlying pattern. His theories on primitive societies held that the characteristics of the native mind are equal to those in Western civilization and that all communities function using folklore based on opposites.

“I therefore claim to show, not how men think in myths, but how myths operate in men’s minds without their being aware of the fact,” he said.

The Marxist social scientist who dedicated more than three decades examining the behavior of Amazonian and American Indian tribes applied the structural approach employed in linguistics to discover a common form in myth.

Tags: science, human, anthropology, culture, myths

The 5 secrets of happy families

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 17:50:25 GMT

clipped by: wiccantexan

Clip Source: www.cnn.com

In the hubbub of life with kids, it's amazing how fragile happiness can seem.

One minute everyone is enjoying breakfast together, and the next the orange juice is toppled and the drawing is ruined and nobody wants the pancakes anymore. Blown out of proportion by a cranky preschooler, sulking tween, or grudge-holding parent, a single mishap can expand into a gloom that lasts for hours.

Instead, as Tolstoy said, happy families actually are all alike -- at least in that they practice common habits that help inoculate them against setbacks large and small.

Give thanks -- no matter what

Seek Out Satisfaction in Your Choices

Lose yourself in the moment

Spread out the joy

Focus On Your Circle

Tags: family, happiness

For ‘Big Bang’s’ Sheldon, the nerd is the word

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 17:48:07 GMT

clipped by: wiccantexan

Clip Source: www.msnbc.msn.com

Sheldon Cooper is narcissistic, socially awkward, childish, hurtful, naive, irascible, selfish, rude, and irrepressible.

He is also extremely popular with viewers and even lovable. As "The Big Bang Theory" character has said, "This would be one of those circumstances that people unfamiliar with the law of large numbers would call a coincidence."

As played by Jim Parsons, Sheldon is the ultimate sardonic outsider who's unaware and unconcerned of the implications of his observations, from which the show derives the bulk of the humor.

While his statements often stem directly from his vast intelligence, he's so smart and detached from normal human interaction that he's frequently a jerk.

His combination of immaturity and exceptional intelligence makes for a lot of witty humor, even jokes that play off of otherwise tired material.

Tags: tv, television, science, nerd, social, culture

'New Jews' stake claim to faith, culture

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 17:45:09 GMT

clipped by: wiccantexan

Clip Source: www.cnn.com

When Moses came down from Mount Sinai about 3,300 years ago, he couldn't have seen these Jews coming.

A blogger writes about how one of Judaism's holiest days ended, for her, in a strip club, while elsewhere a guy strolls into a tattoo parlor requesting a Star of David. Two women exchange wedding vows in a Jewish ceremony, and hipsters toss back bottles of HE'BREW, The Chosen Beer. A full-time software developer prepares to lead a group in Jewish prayer, as a PhD candidate in Jewish thought pens a letter criticizing Israel's policies.

Meet the "New Jews," as some call them: pockets of post-baby boomers -- or more accurately Generation X and Millennial (Gen Y) Jews -- who are making one of the world's oldest known monotheistic faiths and its culture work for them and others in a time when, more than ever, affiliation is a choice.

Tags: jews, jewish, culture, faith