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The place where the world comes together in honesty and mirth.
Windmills Tilted, Scared Cows Butchered, Lies Skewered on the Lance of Reality ... or something to that effect.


Friday, October 3, 2008

Atheist group sues the shrub over national prayer day

The nation's largest group of atheists and agnostics is suing the shrub, the governor of Wisconsin and other officials over the federal law designating a national day of prayer.

The Freedom From Religion Foundation sued Friday in U.S. district court, arguing that the shrub's mandated proclamations calling on Americans to pray violates a constitutional ban on government officials endorsing religion.

The day of prayer, held each year on the first Thursday of May, creates a "hostile environment for nonbelievers, who are made to feel as if they are political outsiders," the lawsuit said.

The national proclamation issued this year asked god's blessings on our country and called for Americans to observe the day with appropriate programs, ceremonies and activities.

Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle is named in the suit because he is one of 50 governors who issued proclamations calling for the prayer day. The foundation is based in Madison.

Shirley Dobson, chairwoman of the National Day of Prayer Task Force, and White House press secretary Dana Perino also are named.

Seventeen Hundred


Keeping it real.

Officials finish at Fossett site as storm blows in

Investigators finished up Friday at the scene of Steve Fossett's plane crash in the wilderness of the Sierra Nevada just as dark clouds rolled in and winds picked up ahead of a storm that threatened to bury any remaining evidence under 2 feet of snow.

They discovered three more bone fragments Friday, said Madera County Sheriff's Department spokeswoman Erica Stuart. Like a piece found the day before, they will be sent to a lab to determine whether they are human and a match for Fossett, the famous adventurer.

Teams of volunteers, as well as local and federal search crews, had furiously combed the site for any evidence that could help piece together the mystery of Fossett's plane crash more than a year ago.

Mangled and charred plane parts and other bundles of debris were headed to a warehouse in Sacramento where investigators planned to lay them out for examination. There were a lot of pieces, "consistent with a high-energy impact, which means the aircraft was traveling at great speed," Mark Rosenker, acting chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board, said at a media briefing.

"We'll be looking at the entire fuselage to make sure nothing broke off to cause the accident," he said.

Fossett vanished Sept. 3, 2007, during what was supposed to be a short pleasure flight from a Nevada ranch owned by his friend Barron Hilton.

Despite several searches by air and on the ground over the past year, efforts to find his single-engine plane had been unsuccessful. The break came this week when a hiker found Fossett's identification cards in a remote wilderness area near Mammoth Lake about 65 miles southwest of Hilton's ranch.

Thrill-seeker Fossett gained worldwide fame for setting records in high-tech balloons, gliders, jets and boats. In 2002, he became the first person to circle the world solo in a balloon. Investigators wondered if weather had anything to do with the fatal crash.

"Mr. Fossett is an accomplished aviator who flew very complicated aircraft; yet on this day, he was flying one relatively simple to fly," Rosenker said. "It will take us awhile to understand this very interesting and very tragic accident."

The NTSB is attempting to gather radar and weather data to determine what the conditions were in the area the day of the accident. They hope the radar data will help them pinpoint the time of the crash.

"Maybe we'll be able to grab radar data and get lucky," Rosenker said.

Fossett left the ranch around 9 a.m. and was due for lunch with Hilton at noon. He was last seen about an hour before the planned lunch flying less than 100 feet above the ground not far from the ranch, according to a report last month by the NTSB.

Weather records should allow investigators to "have a better understanding of potential winds, clouds and turbulence. The process is not simple," Rosenker said.

According to the National Weather Service, it was generally clear and calm in the Mammoth Lakes region the morning of the crash. Local officials say some storm clouds did move in, however.

Investigators also have recovered gauges from the plane they hope will show speed and altitude.

Bill Manning, airport and transportation director at Mammoth Yosemite Airport, said the high Sierra is a beautiful but dangerous area to fly, estimating that the region sees three to five small plane crashes every year.

"It's hugely rugged. ... It's a fabulous environment but unforgiving, for sure," he said. "Anytime you fly in the mountains, it's not like you're going to land on a highway. There just aren't many places you can put an airplane down and walk away."

And I Quote

Perhaps governor Palin should have considered actually answering a question posed in the debate last night.

She ducked questions with a skill and grace not seen since Muhammad Ali rope-a-doped George Foreman.

~ Jaime Abeytia


Jaime Abeytia writes for the El Paso Newspapertree.com

Catawba River Focus

Water quality and protection on the Catawba River District is the focus of the third annual Economic Development Conference in downtown Mount Holly on Tuesday.

Guest speakers include Rusty Rozzelle of the Mecklenburg County Land Use and Environmental Services. He will provide details of the river district concept for northwest Mecklenburg and northeast Gaston counties.

The district is a marketing concept representing a branding opportunity for the two counties. Members include developers and environmental advocates and an organizational structure is expected to be in place by January.

Also at the conference will be Peter Raabe, southeast director of the Government Affairs & Outreach of American Rivers. He'll discuss the importance of protecting the Catawba River.

The conference is sponsored by the Mount Holly Community Development Foundation and the Gaston Regional Chamber of Commerce.

The event is from 7:30 until 10 a.m. at the City Café, 128 Main St. in Mount Holly.

Registration is available online at www.gastonchamber.com or by calling June Jones at 704-864-2621.

For more information on the foundation, go to www.mounthollyfoundation.org.

Library celebrates Banned Books Week with window-display featuring volunteers reading banned works


"We've created a 'live' Banned Book Display at our library [Twin Hickory Public Library, Glen Allen, VA]. We have volunteer readers who sit in the display and read (silently) banned and challenged books. So far it's gotten a lot of attention – we hear a lot of 'Mom, what are those people doing in there?' The best part has been hearing parents explain to their kids what the display is all about which is exactly what we wanted to happen!"

Birth of the presidential "sound bite"

The 1908 presidential campaign was the first time that the candidates, William Jennings Bryan and William Howard Taft, recorded their voices for voters to hear. The recordings on early phonographs were used to rally support, or simply demonstrate the technology, at political gatherings, concert halls, and even shops selling the Edison phonographs. Science News has a fascinating history of the "first sound bites," including audio samples.

From Science News:

NY man survives lightning strike at gas station

Authorities say a man filling up his truck at an upstate New York gas station was struck by lightning but survived with barely a scratch.


A surveillance camera at the K&K Food Mart in Barker shows the lightning bolt hitting the parking lot in a burst of smoke and orange light Wednesday.

Forty-four-year-old William Hall is shown on the damp concrete near his pickup.

Hall says he was unconscious for about five minutes but felt the current travel through him before he passed out.

His muscles are sore and he has slight blistering, but he says otherwise he feels fine.