Current Events
According to CNN, Supreme Court Justice David Souter, 69, is retiring after the current court term recesses in June. Justice Souter has served more than 18 years on the Supreme Court.
This will be the first empty seat on the court in 3 years and filling Souter's seat will be President Barack Obama's first Supreme Court appointment. With the Senate and House in Democratic hands, this should be a relatively easy event. One hopes, at least. GOP president's have appointed most of the court, including Souter, so it'll be nice to shift things a bit to the left again.
Despite being appointed to the court by President George H.W. Bush, Justice Souter was a moderate voice on the bench. Conservatives weren't pleased, and speaking of Conservatives...
A second story on CNN involves conservative church goers in the USA. According to the story: "The more often Americans go to church, the more likely they are to support the torture of suspected terrorists, according to a new survey."
No huge surprise there. Christians do have a tendency to be a mite... bloodthirsty. Just hearing that phrase "blood of the lamb" is spooky to me. Any group of people that idealize being nailed alive to a big cross and left there to die from shock and exposure probably thinks that torture somehow improves the spirit. Witness those odd rituals around Easter in the Philippines. *shiver*
Here's a bit more from the story:
Anyway, not that I have a bias regarding religion. Heavens, no! :-D
I'm not going to bother with the swine flu story. Man, they're pushing that one hard on the news sites. You'd think having a flu make the rounds is a novel thing. Thousands of people die in the US every year from one flu or another. Not good but not surprising either. Damn things mutate like crazy.
This will be the first empty seat on the court in 3 years and filling Souter's seat will be President Barack Obama's first Supreme Court appointment. With the Senate and House in Democratic hands, this should be a relatively easy event. One hopes, at least. GOP president's have appointed most of the court, including Souter, so it'll be nice to shift things a bit to the left again.
Despite being appointed to the court by President George H.W. Bush, Justice Souter was a moderate voice on the bench. Conservatives weren't pleased, and speaking of Conservatives...
A second story on CNN involves conservative church goers in the USA. According to the story: "The more often Americans go to church, the more likely they are to support the torture of suspected terrorists, according to a new survey."
No huge surprise there. Christians do have a tendency to be a mite... bloodthirsty. Just hearing that phrase "blood of the lamb" is spooky to me. Any group of people that idealize being nailed alive to a big cross and left there to die from shock and exposure probably thinks that torture somehow improves the spirit. Witness those odd rituals around Easter in the Philippines. *shiver*
Here's a bit more from the story:
More than half of people who attend services at least once a week -- 54 percent -- said the use of torture against suspected terrorists is "often" or "sometimes" justified. Only 42 percent of people who "seldom or never" go to services agreed, according to the analysis released Wednesday by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life.
White evangelical Protestants were the religious group most likely to say torture is often or sometimes justified -- more than six in 10 supported it. People unaffiliated with any religious organization were least likely to back it. Only four in 10 of them did.
Anyway, not that I have a bias regarding religion. Heavens, no! :-D
I'm not going to bother with the swine flu story. Man, they're pushing that one hard on the news sites. You'd think having a flu make the rounds is a novel thing. Thousands of people die in the US every year from one flu or another. Not good but not surprising either. Damn things mutate like crazy.
Comments
As for the flu thing... I'm baffled as to why it's getting this attention. I know it was an unexpected strain (not covered in the current vaccine), but millions of people get the flu every year and I don't see anything unusual about this one... I guess it's good to know that it's around so you can take precautions, but I found it hard to understand why they broke into regular programming twice this morning to say that 7 people suspected of having the swine flu in NJ actually did have it... and that none of the cases are serious and they are recovering at home. LOL. Scary!
I can't wait to see who gets into the court!!
I think some people get comfort from religion and are not overly fearful in their lives, but I bet the ones who support torture are really fearful, and go for the more fire and brimstone approach to religion. Sorta old testament violence vs new testament kindness kind of thinking.
I am a devoted follower of Jesus, who was tortured, died, and was resurrected. I am human and have harmful thoughts, and do want revenge on my enemies, but then God says revenge belongs to Him, so I go about doing what he has given me to do, and living beautifully on this amazing planet of ours.