Signs of the Times

Platespotting

2005-03-23T12:29:00.000-08:00

A new national network of mobile cameras is to track criminals on the roads.Automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) cameras - linked to an extensive database - will pinpoint vehicles police want to trace.In other words, if you live in England and someone in the government decides they want to track your every move, all they need to do is enter your license plate number into a database

technical difficulties

2005-03-20T20:18:00.000-08:00

Please bear with us, dear loyal readers. Signs of the Times is experiencing severe technical difficulties. In other words, the computer is about as useful right now as a rock.

Bush on Israel, again

2005-03-16T15:18:00.000-08:00

U.S. President Bush said yesterday that Israel must remove the Jewish communities in Yesha. His spokesman later said that he meant only Gaza and the "unauthorized outposts."Bush made the statement at a press conference with Jordan's King Hussein at his side. He had warm words for Abu Mazen, saying the PA Chief "wants to develop a state that will live in peace alongside Israel," and acknowledging

Divesting from Israel illegal?

2005-03-16T15:13:00.000-08:00

By suddenly taking up the banner of divestment, the leaders of America’s mainline churches are actually in violation of U.S. law. Read the whole thing. It's intelligent and explained clearly. American mainline churches are heading right towards a major judgement if they don't back off of their anti-semitic stance towards Israel, and do it fast.FrontPage Magazine

China increases military spending

2005-03-15T08:03:00.000-08:00

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Tuesday the United States is concerned about China's military build-up due to Beijing's tensions with Taiwan, an island Washington has vowed to defend.To say the least. Not to be uncharitable towards China, but come on, folks. It should be concerning that the Chinese are building up their military, and not just because of Taiwan.Reuters

Unconstitutional to ban gay marriage in CA

2005-03-14T13:08:00.000-08:00

In the eagerly awaited opinion likely to be appealed to the state's highest court, San Francisco County Superior Court Judge Richard Kramer said that withholding marriage licenses from gays and lesbians is unconstitutional."It appears that no rational purpose exists for limiting marriage in this state to opposite-sex partners," Kramer wrote.Stop the world. I want to get off.AP

Give them the finger

2005-03-14T13:04:00.000-08:00

Customers of a German supermarket chain will soon be able to pay for their shopping by placing their finger on a scanner at the check-out, saving the time spent scrabbling for coins or cards.The technology is out there. The advisability, I'm not sure I see.Reuters

Things that make me want to scream

2005-03-10T19:08:00.000-08:00

A Christian college fired a professor for distributing Christian literature. In January, the panel tossed out the jury verdict that awarded the Christian administrative officer more than $10,000 in lost wages. The university had cut Price's pay, stripped her of all her titles, suspended her teaching duties, and placed her on probation, all for passing out Christian literature in class -- material

Is the Jordan all washed up?

2005-03-08T20:39:00.000-08:00

Decades of competition for water have turned the lower Jordan river, running between the Sea of Galilee and the Dead Sea, into little more than a drainage ditch. Dams and pumping stations have diverted almost 90% of the river's water to leave parts of the surrounding valley and the Dead Sea on the brink of ecological disaster.Huh. File that away under "things I had no clue about."The Guardian

Jews to storm temple mount?

2005-03-08T18:02:00.000-08:00

Extremist Jewish settlers are planning to storm Al-Aqsa Mosque, Islam's third holiest place, by next April, Al-according to Al-Aqsa Institution for Reconstruction of Islamic Sanctities. Leaders of Jewish settlers have declared some 10,000 settlers are planning to storm the holy mosque in a bid to perform Jewish “religious rituals” in the holy place, they claim to be the site of “Temple

An inadvertent truth

2005-03-06T23:11:00.000-08:00

A lesbian high school student near Jacksonville has caused a furor after she wore a tuxedo instead of a dress for a school photo. Why all the fuss over a tuxedo? Well, if you have to ask, you haven’t been paying attention to one of the biggest battlegrounds for the soul of America—high school.The rest of the article goes on to engage in the usual hyperbole and mocking of the people who might take

The problem with tolerance

2005-03-06T22:54:00.000-08:00

Hundreds of Mexican devotees of Saint Death — a cult worshipping the skeletal figure of death — marched through downtown Mexico City Friday to demand respect for their religion and its followers.I've said it before and I'm sure I'll find cause to say it again. The problem with crying "tolerance" all the time is that eventually you lose the ability to draw the line. Some things just aren't right

In the palm of my hand

2005-03-06T22:52:00.000-08:00

Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi has adopted the palm system for use on its ATMs, while Japan Post, Mizuho Bank and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp. have announced their adoption of a biometrics system that reads the pattern of veins in the index finger to identify customers.The Financial Services Agency is working on ways to standardize the system throughout the country so that you can use the palm of your

Where to draw the line

2005-03-06T22:42:00.000-08:00

The justices of the Supreme Court sounded frustrated Wednesday as they heard arguments about the display of the Ten Commandments on government property. Do the displays create an unconstitutional endorsement of Christianity? Do they only reflect an acknowledgment of religion's role in the nation's history, or of the Commandment's role in the nation's legal tradition? What difference is there

Something really sad

2005-03-03T12:17:00.000-08:00

According to a newly released study, born-again Christian parents are more likely to put an emphasis on seeing that their children get a good education than seeing them enter adulthood as followers of Christ.Sad. But it explains so much.. and I don't see it as a trend that's going to change anytime soon.WorldNetDaily

Is abortion a human right?

2005-03-01T10:22:00.000-08:00

The US has insisted abortion should not be recognised as a human right, at a review of progress 10 years after a major conference on women's rights.The issue has dominated the opening proceedings of the UN session organised to re-affirm the world's commitment to the Beijing declaration.Granted, I think that insistence will only last as long as GWB's presidency, if that long, and I'm not sure

Aaaaaaaaaaaa!

2005-02-28T08:39:00.000-08:00

Former President Clinton said Sunday that his wife, Hillary, would be an excellent choice as the first female leader of the world’s most powerful nation.That sound you heard was me screaming at the top of my lungs.MSNBC

Spousal units

2005-02-28T08:30:00.000-08:00

With the obscenely rapid, three-day introduction and passage of its same-sex “marriage” Bill 171, the Ontario government has advanced a revolutionary change in the way all laws and government programs and institutions refer to marriage and married persons. Everything referring to spouses must now be gender neutral. No longer can a married couple be referred to as “husband and wife” or “man

USE enter stage right

2005-02-27T15:56:00.000-08:00

Is it Europe’s destiny to become a superstate? Is the age of British independence at an end? Can we protect democracy and the rule of law in a fully united Europe? That would be an honest and historic debate. But it cannot be an honest debate so long as the Government pretends that the European constitution is anything other than a constitution for the United States of Europe. The Germans are

James Bond, where are you when we need you?

2005-02-24T09:03:00.000-08:00

U.S. intelligence officials say definitively that theft of Russian nuclear materials "has occurred," even as Russia's nuclear-powered plants remain ripe for terrorist attacks, Agence-France Presse reports.The question is.. should we take this as news?NewsMax.com

Bam! Earthquake shakes Iran.

2005-02-24T08:48:00.000-08:00

Ok I'm late blogging on this, of course. Everybody knows there was an earthquake in Iran. Nothing like the last big one that made it into the news, or with any of the same casualties, but I'm blogging on it nevertheless. Hundreds of rescue workers and soldiers were searching through the rubble with their bare hands as blocked roads made it impossible for heavy earthmoving equipment to reach some

If I forget thee, O Jerusalem

2005-02-24T08:38:00.000-08:00

U.S. and British rabbis participating in a Beirut conference on Palestinians' right of return said they did not recognize Israel, founded on Palestinian land. Rabbi David Weiss from New York was quoted Thursday in Beirut's daily An-Nahar as saying, "I am a Jew and not a Zionist ...We believe that Israel was founded in Palestinian territory and that is wrong." Weiss and three other Rabbis are

Israel must be prepared to strike Iran

2005-02-21T20:35:00.000-08:00

Israel Air Force Commander-in-Chief Major General Eliezer Shakedi said Monday that Israel must be prepared for an air strike on Iran in light of its nuclear activity. But in a meeting with reporters, Shakedi wouldn't say whether he thought Israel was capable of carrying out such a mission alone, as it did when it bombed an unfinished Iraqi nuclear reactor near Baghdad in 1981.In the meantime,

Oncoming plague?

2005-02-21T20:33:00.000-08:00

Avian flu poses the single biggest threat to the world right now and health officials may not yet have all the tools they need to fight it, the head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Monday.I just thought I'd brighten eveybody's evening.Reuters

The new cold war?

2005-02-21T10:52:00.000-08:00

A new nuclear arms race is gripping the world. Many experts believe the likelihood of such an attack is greater now than it was during the Cold War. North Korea has already claimed it has nuclear weapons, Iran could be on the brink of building them. Both nations could trigger arms races among their neighbours. The international system set up to stop the proliferation of nuclear weapons has sprung

Sharansky gets no respect

2005-02-20T15:43:00.000-08:00

'I understand that in the Soviet Union your ideas were important,'' Israel's current prime minister, Ariel Sharon, told [Natan Sharansky] last year, ''but unfortunately they have no place in the Middle East.'' No place, in other words, for the idea that peace between Israel and the Palestinians depends not on unilateral Israeli concessions, but on the transformation of the Palestinian Authority.

Bush on Israel and Iran

2005-02-19T10:50:00.000-08:00

"Clearly, if I was the leader of Israel and I'd listened to some of the statements by the Iranian ayatollahs that regarded the security of my country, I'd be concerned about Iran having a nuclear weapon as well. And in that Israel is our ally, and in that we've made a very strong commitment to support Israel, we will support Israel if her security is threatened."Once in a while George Bush says

Russia arms Israel's opponents

2005-02-17T11:50:00.000-08:00

Russian President Vladimir Putin has notified Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, that Russia will not cancel the sale of sophisticated anti-aircraft missiles to Syria, despite Israel’s objections.Israel is in for some tough times. Sharon's son is being indicted for breaking election-funding laws, many Israeli citizens are beginning to say things about civil war as a result of Sharon's incredibly

Hal Lindsey on Israel

2005-02-17T11:39:00.000-08:00

The fact that a re-established Sanhedrin is now considering the rebuilding of the Temple after 2,000 years is extremely important to students of Bible prophecy. I believe that we are very near the final climactic events that end with the Second Coming of Christ.Read the whole thing. In terms of news there isn't much of anything that hasn't been reported here at Signs of the Times, but I tend not

"Philly five" come out on top

2005-02-17T11:30:00.000-08:00

In what is being hailed as a victory for free speech, a judge in Philadelphia today dismissed all criminal charges against four Christians who were arrested for evangelizing at an outdoor homosexual event. Judge Pamela Dembe of the Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas dismissed the charges, saying that she found no basis whatsoever for any of them."We are one of the very few countries that

No more RFID badges for students in California

2005-02-17T11:24:00.000-08:00

The grade school that required students to wear radio frequency identification badges that can track their every move has ended the program because the company that developed the technology pulled out.No reason given as to why, that I could find. I'm actually very interested to find out, so if any of y'all know, leave a message and tell me. Was it the negative publicity or something else?SFGate

Israel says Iran will soon have technology for nukes

2005-02-16T10:43:00.000-08:00

Israel on Iran's nuclear capability:"The question is not if the Iranians will have a nuclear bomb in 2009, 10 or 11, the main question is when are they going to have the knowledge to do it," Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom said on a visit to London."We believe in six months from today they will end all the tests and experiments they are doing to have that knowledge."Reuters (Hat tip:

California still pondering mileage tax

2005-02-15T16:19:00.000-08:00

"Drivers will get charged for how many miles they use the roads, and it's as simple as that," says engineer David Kim. Kim and his team at Oregon State University equipped a test car with a global positioning device to keep track of its mileage. Eventually, every car would need one.A computer in the odometer would communicate with computers at gas stations to calculate the amount of tax

High school stages mock gay wedding

2005-02-15T12:30:00.000-08:00

From a press release sent out by the school.The Victor Valley Union High School District wishes to respond to parents’ concerns regarding the Gay-Straight Alliance’s same-sex “mock wedding” ceremony scheduled for Friday, February 11, 2005, at Silverado High School. Please be advised that this ceremony is neither pursuant to, nor a part of, the District’s Board-approved curriculum for

Will Jewish radicals attack the Temple Mount?

2005-02-15T10:14:00.000-08:00

Chances of an attack on the Temple Mount by Jewish right-wing extremists are far greater than the likelihood of an assassination attempt on Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, sources in the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) told The Jerusalem Post on Monday. "It is far easier to target a static building than a mobile figure such as the prime minister," one of the sources remarked. I don't see

Does Israel face a civil war?

2005-02-13T16:18:00.001-08:00

As tensions over the withdrawal/expulsion plan intensify, talk of a civil war or violence between Jews is also heating up. Some fear another Avishai Raviv-type provocation against the right-wing.With any good fortune, it will come to nothing. . but many of the citizens of Israel aren't pleased. I don't blame them. I wonder how I'd be feeling if President Bush decided to give the southern part of

RFID tags for elementary schoolers

2005-02-10T11:49:00.000-08:00

Angry parents, saying their children's privacy rights are being violated, have asked the board of the tiny Brittan School District to rescind a requirement that all students wear badges that monitor their whereabouts on campus using radio signals.I've read a couple different articles about this and what this really is at this point are badges for all students, but only the 7th and 8th graders are

Buy & sell.. with just the touch of a finger

2005-02-10T11:46:00.000-08:00

BioPay announced that Winston-Salem, North Carolina-based Lowes Food Stores, Inc. will begin offering biometric payments to its customers, giving people a more convenient and easy way to pay for groceries.There are times when I work on this blog and I feel a little bit like the girl version of Mel Gibson in Conspiracy Theory. There are other times when I work on this blog and think maybe I'm not

It's been a while...

2005-02-10T11:20:00.000-08:00

... so it's time for another earthquake watch! 7.2 in the Philippines. 6.7 near Vanuatu. 6.2 in Aceh province, Jakarta. 6.1 off the coast of Papua New Guinea. 4.8 near Tokyo. A not-too-shabby 4.0 in Arkansas. 3.0 off Puget Sound in Washington state. 3.0 in the South Kuril Islands (Russian far East).

North Korea: Nuke-tastic

2005-02-10T11:16:00.000-08:00

Well this is in the news everywhere else and it is pretty big so here I go, jumping onto the bandwagon! North Korea on Thursday announced for the first time that it has nuclear arms and rejected moves to restart disarmament talks anytime soon, saying it needs the weapons as protection against an increasingly hostile United States.Of course, the whole "we have nukes because you don't like us" vs.

Sanhedrin discusses temple site

2005-02-09T23:42:00.000-08:00

The Sanhedrin is now hearing expert testimony on the current prevailing theories about the location for the temple site, which is necessary to know before anybody can hope to reinstitute certain sacrifices or begin to build the third temple. The opinions were delivered by rabbis, professors and archaeologists, all experts in the matter of the Temple Mount. A final presentation on the matter will

mea culpa

2005-02-09T22:14:00.000-08:00

So I fully confess that I am not as good a person as I should be and if I were as good a person as I should be, I would have updated the blog today. I have a better excuse than usual, however, which is that I have been working almost nonstop all day on a piece of writing that will be published on the blog as soon as I am done with the editing process. Yes, folks, that's right, you'll finally get

The power of positive thinking

2005-02-08T22:09:00.000-08:00

"For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths." (2 Timothy 4:3-4) I'm a bit late in the game picking it up, but I want all you readers to go have a look at Michael Spencer's blogging on Joel Osteen.

I do, I do, I do, I do

2005-02-08T10:28:00.000-08:00

So much for all of those people who said that allowing gay marriage was never going to go any further in derailing the meaning of marriage in America. The Utah supreme court is thinking about decriminalizing polygamy. It's no coincidence that the Utah justices debated among themselves the ramifications of the 2003 U.S. Supreme Court decision that struck down a Texas anti-sodomy law as a violation

Too much tolerance

2005-02-07T14:58:00.000-08:00

Britain's Catholic bishops have decreed that gays and cohabiting couples can no longer be denied employment by the Church under a new set of guidelines issued by the Bishops' Conference of England and Wales, which they said they hope will help "create a more just society."Sadly, permissiveness and justice rarely go hand in hand. It is precisely because God is just that he is not permissive.

No more intifada

2005-02-06T14:49:00.000-08:00

The Palestinians will officially declare an end to four years of armed confrontation with Israel when they announce a ceasefire at a summit in Egypt next week, Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority, said yesterday. Telegraph

No break for Philly 5

2005-02-06T14:34:00.000-08:00

In another blow to the "Philly 5" – the Philadelphia Christians facing possible 47 year jail terms for evangelizing at a homosexual event – a federal judge has refused a request to stop the local prosecution of the group.I think it isn't overly alarmist to say it's important to watch the proceedings of this case. Proselytizing is already more or less illegal in some "free" Western countries. It

Next year in the Holy Land

2005-02-06T14:30:00.000-08:00

Statistics released by the Jewish Agency at a press conference today showed that North American aliyah has climbed to its highest level in 20 years with 2640 Jews arriving [in Israel] this year, an 11% jump from last year’s levels. Aliyah from Western Europe has shot up by 13% in 2004, a figure that includes 2415 new immigrants from France, a 16% rise over the previous year.It isn't as though

Witch would you take?

2005-02-03T10:50:00.000-08:00

From the University of Texas listing of "Informal Classes" One of the fastest growing 'religions' today is becoming more and more a part of our society. Learn the history of the Pagan Mysteries while learning the way of the Modern Witch. This class will cover basic history, philosophy, and the principles of ritual and magick. Bring $25 for handouts and supplies to make an amulet. Men and women

Jews study scripture like never before

2005-02-01T21:27:00.000-08:00

If you write it in English, they will come. That's the lesson Shmuel Blitz has learned. "Never before in history have so many Jews learned so much Torah," said Blitz, who runs Artscroll Publishers' Israel office. Kind of a cool thing when you think about it. May their study be rewarded with the truth. Jerusalem Post

And give us your lunch money!

2005-02-01T21:05:00.000-08:00

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice says that disengagement from Gush Katif and northern Shomron is fine, but only as a first step towards a full-fledged PLO state. Rice met with Prime Minister Sharon's top aide Dov Weisglass in Washington on Monday. She explained to him the U.S. position that the unilateral withdrawal from Gaza is acceptable only as a prelude to the full

From Russia with love

2005-01-31T16:28:00.000-08:00

Russia is moving steadily into the Middle East. While an impoverished Syria needs to maintain and modernize its army, Russia also needs a foothold in the Middle East in view of the security and strategic significance of the region and Euro-American

Bird flu transmitted between people

2005-01-31T16:18:00.000-08:00

The latest spate of deaths from bird flu in Vietnam is raising fears that the disease is re-emerging after last year's outbreak in 10 Asian countries. This time, however, there is a new, more ominous concern: A recent medical study reports the first case of bird flu transmission among humans.I'm just going to assume that everybody who reads this is going to have some awareness of what that could

Sharon sells out?

2005-01-31T15:51:00.000-08:00

Israel will transfer security control over several West Bank towns to the Palestinians in coming days, Israel's defense minister said Sunday, hours after meeting with a top Palestinian negotiator to work out the details of Israel's troop redeployment.Meh. NewsMax

The results of public education

2005-01-31T15:48:00.000-08:00

One in three U.S. high school students say the press ought to be more restricted, and even more say the government should approve newspaper stories before readers see them, according to a survey being released today. The survey of 112,003 students finds that 36% believe newspapers should get "government approval" of stories before publishing; 51% say they should be able to publish freely; 13%

African bishops rebuff Americans

2005-01-29T14:28:00.000-08:00

African Anglican Archbishops yesterday rejected the apology by the American Episcopal Church over the ordination of a homosexual bishop and the wedding of gay couples. The clerics, representing 50 million faithful, asked their American counterparts to repent instead. "They have only apologised and not repented," said Dr Reverend Bernard Malango, the Archbishop of Zambia.The American Episcopal

Bigotry from Time Magazine

2005-01-28T13:20:00.000-08:00

Disgusting. Time (Hat tip: The Minor Prophet)

Business owners can't be trusted

2005-01-28T11:44:00.000-08:00

Mikhail Fradkov, Russia’s Prime Minister, has stunned the business community by saying his country's secret service must spy on large corporations to guarantee economic growth.Ok, who remembers Blast from the Past? It was that Brendan Fraser film in which he plays the son of an eccentric scientist who buried his family in an underground nuclear bomb shelter in the 60's for 40 years. Well. At the

Unrest in Israel

2005-01-28T11:17:00.000-08:00

Religious and Zionist Jews are increasingly upset with Sharon's handling of the situation in the Gaza strip. Haaretz interviewed one Rabbi who seems to believe that Sharon is basically set against the idea of peace in Israel and against the idea of a full restoration to the Jews of the historical boundaries of the country. Thus the pullout from Gaza. Don't they see what is already happening?

You're it

2005-01-28T11:01:00.000-08:00

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security plans to begin issuing special identification devices to foreign visitors arriving by foot and by car by July 31, according to a Tuesday announcement from the agency. The devices will contain microchips storing a unique identification code that's linked via government computers to document holders' names, countries of origin, dates of entry and

Rushing into things

2005-01-28T10:41:00.000-08:00

Russia and Syria this week signed a major weapons agreement in addition to the energy and trade deal the two countries reportedly reached Wednesday, prompting American and Israeli officials to privately voice concern over Russia's assistance to countries accused of aiding the insurgency in Iraq.So Russia and Syria are now officially in bed together. Big surprise. WorldNetDaily

Someone's hungry for attention

2005-01-28T10:25:00.000-08:00

North Korea appears to have bought a complete nuclear weapon from either Pakistan or a former Soviet Union state, a South Korean newspaper said on Thursday quoting a source in Washington. Seoul Shinmun quoted the source as saying the United States was checking the intelligence. Happily, checking the intelligence means that it isn't necessarily true. Let's hope it's not. North Korea isn't

Degenerate indeed

2005-01-26T11:21:00.000-08:00

Today seems to be a day to discuss moral relativism and the general lack of moral sensibility displayed in our culture today. For your consideration, from the Georgia State University student paper: One of the most thorough deterrents to becoming pregnant or obtaining a sexually transmitted disease is to abstain from sexual behavior. However humans are sexual beings; it would be degenerate for

Are biometrics evil?

2005-01-26T11:11:00.000-08:00

Federal workers and privacy advocates are worried about a presidential directive requiring all federal employees and contractors to carry biometric smart cards to access federal buildings and computer systems.I'm amused by the way that Christians--and, for that matter, dystopian non-Christians--freak out at the word "biometric." I think that's one reason why news organizations like to use it. I

Hamilton College: Morally irellevant

2005-01-26T11:05:00.000-08:00

Hamilton College in Clinton, NY has invited Ward Churchill to lecture on their campus. Churchill is controversial for having referred to the victims of the 9/11 attack as "little Eichmanns" in a reference to one of the chief architects of the Holocaust. Organizers of the lecture series says allowing diverse viewpoints to be presented on campus is what academic institutions are supposed to

Call me paranoid

2005-01-25T22:12:00.000-08:00

VeriChip Corporation, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Applied Digital, a provider of Security Through Innovation(TM), announced today that John D. Halamka, MD, MS, Chief Information Officer of Harvard Medical School, was implanted with a VeriChip(TM) in December 2004 and began an assessment of the technology.Basicaly, it's an RFID tag for people. If nothing else, I'd never get one before seeing the

Are London Jews safe?

2005-01-25T22:08:00.000-08:00

Jews in one area of London have been keeping vigilant after several Orthodox Jews were attacked by a gang. [A] spokesman for the Community Security Trust, an agency which provides defence information and advice to British Jews, said the sustained nature of the attacks on a close-knit community was intimidating. But he was even more worried that they were symptomatic of a general upsurge in

It's tough to lose track of your fingers

2005-01-25T21:28:00.000-08:00

Some schools in Pennsylvania are now using biometric identification to let kids access a pre-paid account when it's time to buy their lunch. Using fingerprints for ID, K-12 food service operators are speeding lunch lines, simplifying payment and improving reimbursement for programs linked to school lunch. Students simply place a forefinger on a small reader by the register. The older I get, the

Kenya facing famine?

2005-01-25T21:20:00.000-08:00

The United States funded Famine Early Warning System Network (Fewsnet), has warned that Kenyans must prepare for a major deterioration in their food security situation from April through to July 2005 and even much longer, should cross-border imports remain low and government fail to take judicious imports.The Standard

EU considers lifting China arms sale ban

2005-01-25T21:00:00.000-08:00

The new Chinese leadership is set to get a major boost to its legitimacy and military ambitions as British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw has confirmed in Beijing that the European Union is ready to lift its 15-year-old ban on arms sales to

Look ma, no shirt!

2005-01-24T21:06:00.000-08:00

Some stores are selling a prom dress now featuring a top half that involves.. well.. just about nothing. Our culture has a serious problem when garments that wouldn't even qualify as suitable for underwear are being marketed to 17 and 18 year old girls. At least some of the stores selling them require signed parental permission first. NY Post

Evolution Shmevolution

2005-01-24T19:53:00.000-08:00

Last week, the town of Dover became the first school district in the nation to officially inform students of the theory of "intelligent design" as an alternative to Darwin's theory of evolution. With the exception of about 15 students who opted out, the rest of the community's 170 ninth-grade biology students were read a four-paragraph statement that referred to evolution as a theory, not a fact.

Wicca way to go?

2005-01-21T10:51:00.000-08:00

Apparently Seventeen magazine published an article about a girl who left Christianity to practice Wicca. In the article, entitled "My Religion Isn't Evil," the girl describes how she became disillusioned after her parents started attending an evangelical Christian church that, according to the article, "railed against homosexuals and taught ... that people of different religions were damned."

Alethia

2005-01-21T10:46:00.000-08:00

Every God-conscious person who submits to His existence, who acknowledges his rightful place in relation to His, regardless of how he practices it (in Christian, Hindu, Buddhist culture etc) is, in every sense of the word, a Muslim. . . .These are all cultural manifestations of the true religion sent by one God which can be portrayed as one single line throughout the evolution of spiritual

Iran's so far away

2005-01-21T10:23:00.000-08:00

"If, in fact, the Israelis became convinced the Iranians had significant nuclear capability, given the fact that Iran has a stated policy that their objective is the destruction of Israel, the Israelis might well decide to act first, and let the rest of the world worry about cleaning up the diplomatic mess afterwards," Cheney said.I do believe that, but I'm not sure it's a smart idea to go

Apologies again

2005-01-20T11:29:00.000-08:00

Dear reader(s), I must ask you to please excuse the lack of content on the blog over the last..well.. almost a week now. There's really no excuse for it, I know. Actually, there is. Our other computer broke and I've been forced to share this one with one family member who works from home on the computer and one family member who does homework all evening on the computer. With only about an hour

Are Israel and Russia on the outs?

2005-01-15T14:35:00.000-08:00

Last week, Aluf Benn published an item (Haaretz, January 6) reporting that Prime Minister Ariel Sharon had called for a special discussion about the deterioration of relations with Russia, which is related to "a very classified problem." Two days ago we were allowed to publish the fact that the focus of the tension is the upcoming visit to Moscow by Syrian President Bashar Assad on January 24,

Abbas steps up

2005-01-15T14:28:00.000-08:00

The Palestinians have a new leader. Mahmoud Abbas extended his hand in peace to Israel as he was sworn in as the new Palestinian leader Saturday, but the Israeli army killed eight Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and 46 election officials resigned over alleged ballot irregularities, crushing optimism for an early resumption of the peace process.AP

Anti-evolutionism = religion?

2005-01-15T14:15:00.000-08:00

A judge has ruled that putting disclaimers on textbooks that call evolution a theory and not a fact constitutes an establishment of religion. He cited the so-called Lemon test, based on a 1971 U.S. Supreme Court decision that said a government-sponsored message violates the Establishment Clause if it does not have a secular purpose, advances or inhibits religion, or "creates an excessive

ACLU omits freedom of religion

2005-01-15T13:53:00.000-08:00

The ACLU has taken it upon itself to edit out all reference to religion in the first amendment, which by the way comes ahead of free speech. Here's the actual text in question: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise

Privacy takes another hit

2005-01-15T13:47:00.000-08:00

Laws and legal precedent are often unclear about when and how GPS devices can be used. A federal judge in New York recently ruled that police have a right to place tracking devices on vehicles without a warrant because the drivers should have no expectation of privacy on public roads. But on Jan. 1, California became the first state to restrict car rental companies' use of GPS to track customers.

Red state privacy incursions

2005-01-14T15:22:00.000-08:00

Officials in Alabama are starting to look at high-tech ways to curb traffic crimes. You may soon pay the price if you don't brake for red. Huntsville city leaders want to see cameras mounted at intersections. The camera would be mounted on top of the red light and take a snapshot of the license plate. If you run it, then you pay the traffic ticket.I don't live in Huntsville, nor do I run red

FBI holding records

2005-01-14T15:12:00.000-08:00

Apparently the FBI is holding passenger flight records from the months previous to 9/11. The Electronic Privacy Information Center is saying that the FBI has a legal responsibility to alert all of those people that their records are being held and may be subject to investigation. The 12 pages [of records obtained by EPIC] do show that the bureau obtained 82.1 million passenger manifests, or lists

Gay hate speech

2005-01-14T14:52:00.000-08:00

Since much of the persecution against homosexuals comes from Christian and Muslim fundamentalist religious institutions, fundamentalist beliefs that condemn gay men should be outlawed in the interest of national security and international stability.What bothers me most about this article is that literally in the same sentence someone could condemn Christian and Muslim "fundamentalist beliefs" for

Getting religion out of prisons

2005-01-14T14:29:00.000-08:00

Many prisoners have their access to religious documents or paraphernelia (such as yarmulkes) strictly limited, in spite of research that shows that genuine religious rehabilitation is very effective in altering the lifestyles of convicted criminals. The issue is currently being argued in court for church-state separation reasons. But, as Chuck Colson points out.. . . .We don’t enjoy religious

Tortured for faith.. sort of

2005-01-14T13:06:00.000-08:00

An Oxford lab is planning to torture human subjects to see if faith helps them deal with it better. . . .The experiments would involve non-invasive simulation of burns and will be conducted according to strict ethical rules. As they suffer, the human guinea pigs will be asked to access a belief system, whether religious or otherwise.I'm rather curious about the outcome of the study. There's

The name of the Lord is a strong tower

2005-01-14T11:29:00.000-08:00

A documentary filmmaker who happened to be interviewing the leader of 11 Christian protesters on the day they were arrested at an outdoor homosexual event in Philadelphia says the extent of the charges against five of the people – which could lead to 47 years in prison – amounted to a "Christian Rodney King" scenario.I think that the story of how there came to be a documentary filmmaker from, of

Outlawing charity

2005-01-14T11:25:00.000-08:00

In early 2003, Americans United for Separation of Church and State ("AUSCS"), often the ally of the ACLU in lawsuits, filed its own action against Prison Fellowship Ministry, a non-profit entity, challenging Prison Fellowship Ministry's operation of a voluntary faith-based rehabilitation program for inmates in Iowa's Newton Correctional Facility. In the lawsuit, AUSCS argued that Prison

Give us a king!

2005-01-13T13:07:00.000-08:00

The group composed largely of Kahane sympathizers that gave itself the name Sanhedrin in October, however, met Sunday to discuss the creation of a Jewish monarchy in the State of Israel. For the past several years a group called the Monarchists has conducted extensive research into the lineage of several families in an effort to discover who has the closest bloodline to the biblical King

All the DNA in Truro

2005-01-13T10:02:00.000-08:00

Jackett said getting a DNA sample from every man in Truro as a way to zero in on a suspect is a good idea. Police say Worthington had a sexual encounter with someone around the time she was murdered in her Truro home. Investigators recovered the man's DNA, but his identity remains a mystery. . . . Seed is so outraged by the idea he called the American Civil Liberties Union which has asked

Slightly off topic

2005-01-13T09:54:00.000-08:00

I'm posting this here just because it won't get much play anywhere else. The U.S. government ran a $1 billion budget surplus in December, helped by a rise in corporate tax payments, the Congressional Budget Office said in its latest budget report released on Friday. The surplus, which compared with an $18 billion deficit in the previous December, helped create a smaller fiscal deficit for the

Add fingerprints to passports?

2005-01-13T09:35:00.000-08:00

Americans' fingerprints should be added to their passports, outgoing Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge said Wednesday, hoping to include the United States in a growing global security standard but risking a privacy fight at home. Ridge said passports could ideally include biometric finger scans — for all 10 fingers — to help customs officials quickly and accurately identify U.S. travelers.

Keeping an eye on things

2005-01-10T21:16:00.000-08:00

In preparation for GWB's second inauguration, DC police officers are being trained to be more vigilant, and to watch for suspicious behavior. The officers are targeting people who avoid eye contact, loiter or appear to be looking around transit stations more than other passengers, officials said. Anyone identified as suspicious will be stopped and questioned about what they are doing and where

Once again they miss the point

2005-01-10T21:10:00.000-08:00

Yet out in the world, a consequence-rich zone, studies find that most people find it mentally exhausting to hold onto inflammatory secrets - much less lives - for long. The very act of trying to suppress the information creates a kind of rebound effect, causing thoughts of an affair, late-night excursions or an undisclosed debt to flood the consciousness, especially when a person who would be

Weather or not

2005-01-10T21:02:00.000-08:00

I apologize for the recent slow posting. A nasty cold has been making the rounds and I have been in bed attempting to recuperate. In other news, the weather continues to be insane. We got somewhere in the vicinity of a foot (some people are calling it a foot and a half) here starting on Friday. They didn't get all the main roads clear until today, and not all the back roads are done yet. In

Renovations

2005-01-07T17:31:00.000-08:00

I don't usually comment on non-news items, but this is sorta kinda news. It's SotT news, anyway. As any repeat visitors to SotT may have noticed, I've been messing around with the blogger template. After several very frustrating hours, I deleted all the modifications I'd made and started over with a clean slate. Thing. Anyway, I'm going to take a bit of a breather from code wranglin' and go

Still the Lord thy God

2005-01-07T09:09:00.000-08:00

In an apparent protest against displaying religious values at a public park, a vandal spray-painted a Ten Commandments monument in the city of Winona's Lake Park. Winona Police said an officer spotted the graffiti Saturday. The black words "state" and "church" were separated by a thick black line through the phrases "Ten Commandments" and "I am the

Separation anxiety, part 2

2005-01-06T10:27:00.000-08:00

Well, I suppose it was only a matter of time. Dr. Michael Newdow, the California atheist who sued to get "under God" removed from the Pledge of Allegiance, says he has refiled a suit regarding the pledge and filed an additional suit to try to prevent members of the clergy from praying at President Bush's inauguration.What I fail to understand is how atheists can be so insecure that when other

Separation anxiety

2005-01-06T09:44:00.000-08:00

City Council members are accusing Mayor Don Williamson of going biblical on them. Williamson cited Psalms 64, verses 1-10, in a message to residents published in the Dec. 26 edition of The Courier, the weekly publication of the Concerned Pastors for Social Action. . . ."I just think it was bad taste," Sims said. "We should continue to keep church and state separate. " I take it

We don't need no stinking privacy

2005-01-06T09:15:00.000-08:00

The heart of the Identity Cards Bill is the creation of a national database to contain 51 categories of detailed information on every British citizen and resident, including fingerprints and an iris scan. The bill calls for a 2,500-pound ($4,760) fine for refusing to register for the card, and a 1,000-pound ($1,904) fine for failing to inform the government of changes in personal information