NEWS OF THE WEEK
Comer Appeal Denied...
The NCSE reported on July 2nd that "In a decision issued on July 2, 2010, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit upheld a lower court's decision that the Texas Education Agency's policy requiring "neutrality" of its employees when "talking about evolution and creationism" is not unconstitutional. The case, Comer v. Scott, was filed by Chris Comer, the former director of the Texas Education Agency, who was forced to resign from her post in November 2007 after she forwarded a note announcing a talk by Barbara Forrest. ... Writing for a three-judge panel of the Fifth Circuit, Fortunato Benavides explained, 'Upon review of the record and applicable law, we cannot conclude that TEA's neutrality policy has the 'primary effect' of advancing religion. The fact that Comer and other TEA employees cannot speak out for or against possible subjects to be included in the curriculum ... does not primarily advance religion, but rather, serves to preserve TEA's administrative role in facilitating the curriculum review process for the Board. ... Thus, we find it hard to imagine circumstances in which a TEA employee's inability to publicly speak out for or against a potential subject for the Texas curriculum would be construed or perceived as the State?s endorsement of a particular religion.' ..."
Source: http://ncse.com/news/2010/07/comer-loses-appeal-005612
Vietnamese Rapists Freed Because Acupuncturist Finds "Red Dot of Virginity"?!?
The AP reports on July 2nd that "An acupuncturist who claims she can detect a man's virginity based on a small dot on the ear has become a minor celebrity in Vietnam, where she is credited with helping to free three convicted rapists from prison. Traditional medicine practitioner Pham Thi Hong started lobbying for the men's release, pleading their case all the way to the president, because she believes all three men are virgins and therefore could not be guilty of rape. 'They all had small red spots on the back of their ears,' said Hong, 54. 'The spots should have disappeared if they had had sex. My many years of experience told me that these men did not have sex before.' Her claims are unusual even for a country where acupuncture and traditional medicine are still common remedies, but Hong's determination to have the case reopened — even threatening to light herself on fire — led to prosecutors re-examining the case. The convictions eventually were suspended due to flaws by initial investigators. ..."
Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38051788/ns/world_news/
Guy Malone on Roswell Crusade...
The De Void blog writes on July 7th on Guy Malone, who relocated in Roswell to put a proper Christian perspective on tales of aliens and abductions: "'As a Christian,' Malone says, '... Heaven's Gate got me to writing about it (UFOs), and to promote the gospel, especially to people who were inclined to believe in alien saviors. There are people out there who’ll tell you Jesus is an alien.' ... Malone is now an executive committee member of the city Festival and likely the only one who contends alien abductions can be derailed by invoking the name of Jesus Christ. During last weekend’s activities, he gave lectures based on two themes: 1) what crashed near Roswell in 1947 was experimental Nazi technology, and 2) the aliens are demonic entities. ..."
Source: http://devoid.blogs.heraldtribune.com/11034/answers-are-overrated/?pa=all&tc=pgall
Happy 85th Birthday, Scopes Trial...
CBS News reports on July 8th "Later this month Dayton, Tenn. will host a weekend festival capped off by a dramatization of the trial which engraved this small town's name into the nation's cultural narrative. Exactly 85 years ago today, a Dayton schoolteacher named John C. Scopes went on trial, accused of violating a state law prohibiting the teaching of the theory of evolution. What came to be known as the 'Monkey Trial' (subsequently immortalized by journalist H.L. Mencken), the case was a showdown between progressives and creationists, who wanted to ban the teaching of Charles Darwin's writing about evolution from local schools. William Jennings Bryan, a three-time candidate for president, led the prosecution. He was pitted against the famous Chicago attorney Clarence Darrow. The trial lived up to the hype, but it ended on a flat note. Toward the end of the trial, Darrow asked the jury to find Scopes guilty because he intended to appeal the verdict to the state's Supreme Court. The jury complied and Scopes was fined $100. The following year, Tennessee's Supreme Court reversed the decision on a technicality. ..."
Source: http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-501465_162-20010011-501465.html
NEW POSTINGS AT NMSR...
JULY 2010 PUZZLE - "All Downhill From Here"
http://www.nmsr.org/puzzles.htm
JULY 2010 NMSR REPORTS ON-LINE - New Puzzles, Proposed Bylaws, WonderQuest, 9-11 Debate Update, MORE!
http://www.nmsr.org/pdfnews.htm
ROSS GOERES' SUDOKU CORNER - NEW PUZZLES FOR JULY!!!
Try a 9x9 Standard, 16x16 Seek Word, or 9x9 Sudoku-X Puzzle; SOLVE ON-LINE (Or off-line, if you prefer...)
http://www.nmsr.org/sudoku.htm
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