gregladen | April 17, 2009Same-sex domestic partners would have all the rights and benefits that Washington state offers married couples under a bill passed Wednesday by the state Legislature.
The Democratic-controlled House approved the Senate-passed measure on a mostly party-line 62-35 vote after nearly two hours of debate. It next goes to Gov. Chris Gregoire, who said she will sign it into law.
"Our state is one that thrives on diversity," Gregoire, a Democrat, said in a statement. "We have to respect and protect all of the families that make up our communities."
Washington = Sane
gregladen | April 17, 2009From a Michigan State University Press Release:
A Michigan State University researcher has developed a working vaccine for a strain of E. coli that kills 2 million to 3 million children each year in the developing world.
Enterotoxigenic E. Coli, which is responsible for 60 percent to 70 percent of all E. coli diarrheal disease, also causes health problems for U.S. troops serving overseas and is responsible for what is commonly called traveler's diarrhea.
A. Mahdi Saeed, professor of epidemiology and infectious disease in MSU's colleges of Veterinary Medicine and Human Medicine, has applied…
gregladen | April 17, 2009this:
Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy
gregladen | April 17, 2009Who knows what might come of it!?!?
Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy
gregladen | April 17, 2009
Eight of Scotland's primary police department have listed their religion as Jedi.
Strathclyde Police said the officers and two of its civilian staff claimed to follow the faith, which features in the Star Wars movies.
The details were obtained in a Freedom of Information request by Jane's Police Review.
Strathclyde was the only force in the UK to admit it had Jedi officers.
Apparently there are close to four hundred thousand Jedi in England and Wales. Scotland has fourteen thousand.
details
gregladen | April 16, 2009The Episcopal Church has filed a lawsuit seeking to regain control of church property from the breakaway Diocese of Fort Worth.
The lawsuit was filed Tuesday in Tarrant County district court. Defendants include Fort Worth Bishop Jack Iker, who led the theologically conservative diocese to split from the national church over issues including gay clergy and women in the priesthood.
Texans = Cry Babies
gregladen | April 16, 2009Lynn Fellman, the Ira Flatow of the Twin Cities, has a guest post at Quiche Moraine about her recent trip to the Origins Symposium.
Rusty-red rocks against an electric blue sky were an exact color match for the mix of brilliant intellect I knew to be in Phoenix on Monday. I had just flown into Sky Harbor Airport from Minneapolis, and any Minnesotan will tell you that we don't waste a day like that indoors. It was a sparkling spring morning alive with color and radiant sunshine. But I happily joined 3,000 other science fans inside a dark auditorium for a full twelve-hour day of physics,…
gregladen | April 16, 2009Texas is going to secede from the union! Seriously! The governor of Texas has laid down the gauntlet, and unless we get rid of that Black Guy as president and that Damn Woman as speaker of the house, it's vamoose for Texas!
And I couldn't be happier. Texas should not be part of the Union. Why? Well, there are a lot of reasons, but here are the top three:
Texans are stupid. They bring our total national average down too much.
Texans are regressive. Two steps forward, ten steps backwards, politically. I'd rather not live in the middle ages, thank you very much.
Texans smell bad, look…
gregladen | April 16, 2009"Just in time for the bicentennial observance of Charles Darwin's birth, a new survey of Louisiana residents shows 40 percent of the respondents believe evolution is not well-supported by evidence or generally accepted within the scientific community," the Baton Rouge Advocate (April 14, 2009) reports. The Louisiana Survey, sponsored by the Manship School of Mass Communication's Reilly Center for Media & Public Affairs at Louisiana State University, asked (PDF), "Do you think the scientific theory of evolution is well supported by evidence and widely accepted within the scientific…
gregladen | April 15, 2009I am not an anti-Semite. But I did learn how to be one in school. Catholic school, that is, which I attended for first, second, and third grade, in that order.
I was reminded of this by a conversation with a cousin-in-law who had similar experiences. We exchanged our Catholic school stories at the recent Easter gathering. He was enjoying this exchange because his experience has been that people have not believed what he tells them about Catholic school, as it all seems so extreme. It is true that many Catholic school stories do sound unbelievable, or at least, they sound like jokes, and…
gregladen | April 15, 2009.... well, ok, not really the worst. But pretty bad. Only read this if you don't have any phobias related to cartoons, small pets, or zeppelins.
gregladen | April 15, 2009I told you this Obama dog thing was going t be big. Here's an overview of the situation from NPR. And, you may recall this:
Many of you heard the question at President Elect Obama's first news conference, which was mainly about the economy, regarding what kind of dog the girls would be getting as per a deal apparently made some time ago. The only safe answer to that question would have been to give the secret signal that cuts the power feed to the cameras, then have the reporter bagged and dragged out of the room and appropriately disciplined. But no, instead, Obama answered the question…
gregladen | April 15, 2009... so, I'm guessing that the "Re-Education Camps" .. also known as AmericCorps ... are a good idea.
This concern on the part of Wackaloon Congresswoman Bachmann (WCB) is is probably valid, to the extent that AmericCorps is in any way educational. Education is always bad for Republicans. This is why in the late days of the Bush Administration and the ultra dumbed down Palin-McCain campaign, high-IQ Republicans were running away from the party. This is why Republicans push for teaching bad science in the schools. This is why ... oh, never mind, I'm sure you totally get it.
Anyway, here is…
gregladen | April 15, 2009"I discovered the new species in 2007 while doing a survey for lichen diversity on Santa Rosa Island in California," said Kerry Knudsen, the lichen curator in the UCR Herbarium. "I named it Caloplaca obamae to show my appreciation for the president's support of science and science education."
It's a lichen
gregladen | April 15, 2009If you carry out illegal on line activities and do so using a proxy to anonomize your activities, the crime could be considered "sophisticated" and thus a higher form of felony.
A key vote Wednesday on new federal sentencing guidelines would classify the use of proxies as evidence of "sophistication," increasing sentences by about 25 percent - which could mean years or even decades longer behind bars, depending on the crime. It's akin to judges handing down stiffer sentences when a gun is used in a robbery.
Yet digital-rights advocates are worried. Although they aren't absolving criminals,…
gregladen | April 15, 2009It is being suggested, according to this article (which was pointed to by this blogger), that the woman who leaped into the Berlin Zoo polar bear enclosure a couple of days ago was seeking her own death, having become depressed over her job situation. She was an out of work teacher.
It has also been revealed that during the incident, the Zoo staff had already broken out rifles and issued them to staff snipers, who were prepared to kill one or more polar bears.
I didn't think they had out of work teachers in Germany.
Mandy remains in critical condition in hospital.
Flashback to an…
gregladen | April 15, 2009 The voice of the Republican Party appears to be unable to converse.
Originaly from Dusty Trice, via the D.B. web site.
gregladen | April 15, 2009Over the last several hours pirates have attacked a US freighter on the way to Mombasa (carrying humanitarian aid). These pirates did not use the usual method of operation. Rather, they ran at the ship with guns blazing and fired rocket propelled grenades right away. The bridge of the ship was apparently badly damaged but none of the crew were hurt.
The US Navy is bearing down on the situation, and have placed armed seamen on board the freighter. The same destroyer that currently is carrying the recently freed US captain is now escorting the freighter to its port.
Elsewhere, news sources…
gregladen | April 15, 2009Facebook users have lower overall grades than non-users, according to a survey of college students who also ironically said the social networking site does not interfere with studying.
source