Category: Points of Information

Very brief descriptions, with appropriate links, of current or recent news items.

Veterans Administration Settles with Veteran’s Groups at Houston National Cemetery

10:36 pm

A victory for freedom: The Veterans Administration has settled the lawsuit filed against it by veteran’s groups at Houston National Cemetery over the VA’s attempt to stifle prayer at funerals. The key terms of the settlement:

  • The VA will not interfere with prayers during burial services.
  • The VA will not edit or control the speeches of speakers at ceremonies or events at the cemetery containing religious messages or viewpoints and cannot ban religious words in verbal communications between the volunteers and veteran’s families.
  • The VA will not ban religious speech or words like “God” or “Jesus” in condolence cards or gifts.
  • Payment by the VA of the veterans groups’ $215,000 in legal fees.

That it took a court suit to make the First Amendment clear to the VA is beyond sad.

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Doctors rejecting the AMA over its support of Obamacare

10:23 pm

Repeal it! Doctors in large numbers are rejecting the AMA over its support of Obamacare. More significantly,

In February, the National Physicians Survey discovered that more than three times as many doctors believed that the quality of American health care would “deteriorate” rather than “improve” under ObamaCare. Nine of ten physicians think ObamaCare will have a negative impact on their profession.

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Petition to repeal Obamacare on White House website

2:31 pm

Want to repeal Obamacare? Well, someone has posted a petition to repeal the law on the White House’s own website.

Essentially, the new White House petition website allows anyone to create a petition. Once it reaches 150 signers it becomes public. Once it reaches 5,000 the administration promises an official response.

What will the White House say if their own website is overwhelmed with signatories to a petition calling for the repeal of Obamacare? To find out I’ve added my name. You should to!

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Obama: “You’ve got a governor whose state is on fire denying climate change.”

1:58 pm

Obama on Sunday at a fundraiser, attacking Rick Perry: “You’ve got a governor whose state is on fire denying climate change.”

Here is another example of a politician making a fool of himself. The wildfires in Texas have nothing to do with climate change. And if Obama thinks they do, he immediately shows himself to be completely ignorant of the science behind the Earth’s climate.

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Muslim students found guilty of conspiring to disrupt Israeli ambassador meeting

9:30 pm

Eleven Muslim students have been found of guilty of conspiring to disrupt a speech of the Israeli ambassador.

The defendants, who are all in their early twenties, were convicted of one count each of conspiracy and disturbing an assembly and could face jail terms of up to a year, probation or community service at sentencing.

As I’ve said previously, I think it a mistake to prosecute these students for their impolite and disgusting behavior. It only makes them martyrs, something they surely don’t deserve.

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Senate rejects House funding bill; shutdown looms

2:38 pm

Senate rejects House funding bill; shutdown looms.

While we chatter about superficial election debates and a falling satellite, the federal budget continues to crash and burn. What I find disturbing about the events in the Senate is this quote:

Democrats in the Senate, who are in the majority, oppose Republican efforts to roll back “green” energy programs to pay for aid for victims of Hurricane Irene and other disasters. They say disaster aid, usually a bipartisan issue, should not require cuts elsewhere — especially to programs creating green jobs — as the GOP majority in the House now demands. [emphasis mine]

So how do the Democrats expect to pay for this disaster aid? Will the money grow on trees?

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A second large satellite will rain debris down in October

10:06 am

Even if UARS misses you today, don’t relax! A second large satellite, the 2.4 ton ROSAT X-Ray space telescope, is going to rain debris down late in October or early November.

On its ROSAT website, DLR estimates that “up to 30 individual debris items with a total mass of up to 1.6 tonnes might reach the surface of the Earth. The X-ray optical system, with its mirrors and a mechanical support structure made of carbon-fibre reinforced composite – or at least a part of it – could be the heaviest single component to reach the ground.”

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An international team of scientists said on Thursday they had recorded sub-atomic particles traveling faster than light

5:03 pm

An international team of scientists said on Thursday they had recorded sub-atomic particles that travel faster than light.

A total of 15,000 beams of neutrinos — tiny particles that pervade the cosmos — were fired over a period of 3 years from CERN toward Gran Sasso 730 (500 miles) km away, where they were picked up by giant detectors. Light would have covered the distance in around 2.4 thousandths of a second, but the neutrinos took 60 nanoseconds — or 60 billionths of a second — less than light beams would have taken. “It is a tiny difference,” said Ereditato, who also works at Berne University in Switzerland, “but conceptually it is incredibly important. The finding is so startling that, for the moment, everybody should be very prudent.”

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