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I've never been able to explain Halloween to the kids, with its odd thematic confluence of pumpkins, candy and death. But Halloween is a piece of pumpkin cake compared to Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week, which commences today. In this special week, organized by conservative pundit David Horowitz, we have a veritable witches' brew of Cheney-style anti-jihadism mixed in with old-fashioned, right-wing anti-feminism and a sour dash of anti-Semitism.
A major purpose of this week is to wake up academic women to the threat posed by militant jihadism. According to the Week's website, feminists and particularly the women's studies professors among them, have developed a masochistic fondness for Islamic fundamentalists. Hence, as anti-Islamo-Fascist speakers fan out to the nation's campuses this week, students are urged to stage "sit-ins in Women's Studies Departments and campus Women's Centers to protest their silence about the oppression of women in Islam."
Leaving aside the obvious quibbles about feminist pro-jihadism and the term "Islamo-Fascism," which seems largely designed to give jihadism a nice familiar World War II ring, the klaxons didn't go off for me until I skimmed down the list of Islamo-Fascist Awareness Week speakers and found, incredibly enough, Ann Coulter, whom I last caught on TV pining for the repeal of women's suffrage. "If we took away women's right to vote," she said wistfully, "We'd never have to worry about another Democrat president. It's kind of a pipe dream; it's a personal fantasy of mine."
Coulter is not the only speaker on the list who may have a credibility problem when it comes to opposing oppression of women in Islam or anywhere else. Another participant in the week's events is former Senator Rick Santorum, whose book, It Takes a Family blamed "radical feminism" for pushing women into the workforce and thus destroying the American family. A 2005 column on that book in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, began with: "Women of America, I hope you look good in a burqa. If Senator Rick Santorum,R-PA, has his way, we will all be wearing the burqas discarded by our recently liberated sisters in Afghanistan…" (This was the before the Taliban re-emerged.)
Not quite in the burqa-promoting league, but close, is another official speaker for the week, Christina Hoff Sommers, who has made her name attacking feminism for exaggerating the problem of domestic violence and eliminating opportunities for boys. These are the people who are going to save us from purdah?
Another disagreeable feature of jihadism–anti-Semitism–is also represented on the list of speakers for Islamo-Fascist Awareness Week, again by the multi-faceted Coulter. Just last week on CNBC, she referred to America as a "Christian nation." Asked where this left the Jews (not to mention the Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, Wiccans and atheists), she said they could be "perfected" by converting to Christianity.
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You might imagine that this view of Jews as "imperfect" would bother Horowitz, who is famously alert to any hint of anti-Semitism on the left. But no, he defends Coulter, writing that "If you don't accompany this belief by burning Jews who refuse to become perfected at the stake why would any Jew have a problem?" Sure, David and if that's the threshold for intolerance, Osama bin Laden could probably win an award for humanitarianism.
Maybe none of this should be surprising. When Mel Gibson, who is not known to be a member of the Hollywood left, unleashed a drunken anti-Semitic tirade on his arresting officers, Horowitz also rose to his defense, arguing that ensuing outrage reflected a "hatred"–not of anti-Semites but of Christians.
As for the anti-feminism of Islamo-Fascist Awareness Week: This fits in neatly with the thesis of Susan Faludi's brilliant new book, The Terror Dream: Fear and Fantasy in Post-9/11 America. She shows that, in the wake of an attack by the ultra-misogynist Al Qaeda, Americans perversely engaged in an anti-feminist campaign of their own, calling for an immediate restoration of traditional gender roles. Coulter was part of that backlash, opining in 2002 that "feminists hate guns because guns remind them of men."
Before you put on your costumes to celebrate Islamo-Fascist Awareness Week, let me set the record straight. American feminists do not condone, defend, or ignore jihadist misogyny. In fact, we were warning about it well before Washington turned against the Taliban and have been consistently appalled by the gender dictatorships of Saudi Arabia and Iran.
But if the facts don't fit in with Islamo-Fascist Awareness, they have to go. For example, in a May '07 column in The Weekly Standard Christina Hoff Sommers listed me as one of the "feckless" feminists who refuse "to pass judgment on non-Western cultures." What? If Sommers had even done ten minutes of research she would have noticed, among other things, a column I wrote in the New York Times in 2004 stating that Islamic fundamentalism aims to push one-half of the Muslim world–the female half–"down to a status only slightly above that of domestic animals."
Yes, feminists tend to hate war and sometimes even guns and this may be why Horowitz and company hate us. They should know, though, that we especially hate a war that seems calculated to inflame Islamic fundamentalism worldwide. If many Muslim women around the world willingly don head scarves today, it's in part because our war in Iraq has, tragically, pushed them to value religious solidarity above their feminist instincts.
Or maybe I'm missing the point of Islamo-Fascist Awareness Week. Maybe it's really an effort to show that our own American anti-feminists (and anti-Semites) are just as nasty as the ones on the other side. If so, good job, guys! No need to continue with the trick-or-treating, you've already made your point.


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MANILA » The Philippine government said Syrian rebels failed to release 21 Filipino U.N. peacekeepers Friday (Thursday in Hawaii) and stuck to their demands for repositioning of Syrian government forces before any handover.
The 21 peacekeepers were seized Wednesday near the Syrian village of Jamlah, just a kilometer (less than a mile) from the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights, where the U.N. force has patrolled a cease-fire line between Israel and Syria for nearly four decades.
The spokesman for the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs, Raul Hernandez, said the rebels had been expected to free the peacekeepers early Friday.
"I don't know exactly know what happened, why the expected release did not happen, but the demand is still there" for the Syrian forces to pull back, he told reporters in Manila.
He said that the Philippine government continues to "work with all stakeholders for the expeditious release of our Filipino U.N. peacekeepers."
The rebels demand that Syrian troops pull back from the area around Jamlah, the village near the Golan Heights, which Israel captured from Syria in the 1967 Mideast war. U.N. peacekeepers have been monitoring the armistice line since 1974.
Last week, rebels from the Martyrs of the Yarmouk Brigades, the group that is holding the peacekeepers, overran several Syrian army checkpoints in the area, said Rami Abdul-Rahman, head or the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
However, there are still regime positions nearby because of the strategic importance of the area. Rebels apparently fear that the regime will push to retake the territory if the peacekeepers are released, raising the possibility of a prolonged standoff.
The peacekeepers said in videos posted online that they were being treated well.
"To our family, we hope to see you soon and we are OK here," said a peacekeeper shown in one video. He was one of three troops dressed in camouflage and blue bullet-proof vests emblazoned with the words U.N. and Philippines.
However, a rebel spokesman seemed to suggest the hostages were also serving as human shields. If the U.N. troops are released and leave the area, the regime could kill "as many as 1,000 people," said the spokesman, who spoke via Skype and did not give his name for fear of reprisals.
Associated Press writer Karin Laub in Beirut, Lebanon, contributed to this report.

subset: commoncrawl


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Ouya's Failure Exemplified By Miserable Sales Of 'Best Sellers'
Towerfall, a game that has reignited a love of local multiplayer, is a favorite in offices (including ours) and has homes on three different platforms now. Matt Thorson's master class in ending friendships began its life on the Ouya, where it is the best-selling title.
"Best selling" is a term that requires context, though. For instance, last year's best selling title was Grand Theft Auto V, which sold $1 billion worth of copies to consumers in three days.
Ouya's best selling game? Has sold 7,000 copies life to-date, inclusive of the nine-month exclusivity period on the Android-powered console.
Thorson tells Eurogamer that the title has grossed $500,000 across all platforms. He cited Sony's support and promotion of the title as one of the reasons it has done so well on PS4.
[Source: Eurogamer]
Our Take
The Ouya is almost a memory, especially now that Amazon has entered the Android console market. It was a valiant attempt that garnered curiosity and support via Kickstarter, but the company simply doesn't have the resources to make a bigger splash.


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Feminized Marijuana Seeds | hybrid | THC >20% | High yield
Most cannabis seeds today have a high yield. Thanks to modern breeding methods and years of selection, modern cannabis varieties are not only much better in taste than a few years ago. Yields have also increased many times over. Compared to the 70s and 80s of the last century, when only a few cannabis seeds with high yields were on the market. With new and current marijuana varieties, many varieties can be expected to yield high yields. A guideline for a high yield of marijuana seeds is the 1 gram per watt ratio. This means that one gram of marijuana per given watt of light is produced by the plant. Of course, this only applies if there are no complications during cultivation and the grower already has some experience. This ratio refers to the use of discharge lamps, NDL for short. For LED lighting, other values apply, but these cannot be assessed in a standardised way due to the different luminaires.
Please let me know when the product is available again:


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Just in case the grins on the faces of reporter Kate Sheppard and news editor Dan Schulman don't tell you everything you need to know—yes, we are honored and proud today to have won the Online News Association award for Online Topical Reporting/Blogging for our team coverage of the BP spill. For much of the summer, Mother Jones actually had more reporters covering the disaster than most dailies or TV news operations around the country: Our human-rights reporter Mac McClelland was on the scene for four months while Kate in Washington kept up the heat on agencies and politicians, and environmental correspondent Julia Whitty explored the stunning new science that shows the true impact of BP. It was an amazing endeavor, involving literally everyone at MoJo at one point or another and drawing on major effort from many (reporters, editors, factcheckers, tech crew—you know who you are). You can read the results here.
Fun fact: As far as we can tell, Mother Jones was the only magazine (that doesn't publish exclusively online, a la Salon) honored at the ONA awards last night; the event has long been dominated by daily newspapers, broadcasters, and online-exclusive news sites, which makes sense given that much of the magazine industry has not exactly stampeded into digital news. Here at MoJo, though, we pretty much tore down the distinction between print and digital several years ago, and now aim to bring you sharp, sassy investigative reporting 24/7 via the Interwebs as well as in our award-winning print magazine (you do take advantage of our dead cheap subscriptions, right?). So hooray for an award confirming that that's working out okay—and an extra hooray for all the other great journalism shops honored last night, including our fellow nonprofits at NPR, ProPublica, the Center for Investigative Reporting, and California Watch. (Bonus hooray for these last two, fellow Bay Area operations. Now back to the World Series already in progress.)


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Leno returns to late night, but can he rule?
LOS ANGELES ñ The chin is coming back to late-night on NBC. So is the desk, the couch and, the network fervently hopes, the audience.
When Jay Leno reclaims "The Tonight Show" on Monday, NBC is banking that the ratings spiral that marked Conan O'Brien's brief tenure as host will quickly fade to a dim memory.
If viewers want to dwell on the messy dithering that led to this point ó Leno moved to prime-time, NBC affiliates rebelling at his low ratings, O'Brien balking at NBC's directive that he and "Tonight" shift to midnight, O'Brien exiting and leaving a diminished audience behind ó the network is focused on the end result.
With the Winter Olympics providing a big platform, NBC aired a promotional spot advising that "the chin" was back. Another spot had Leno breezing down a coastal highway in a snazzy convertible that shed the number "10" for "11:35." It cast him as a happy traveler headed home, back where he belongs, after a misadventure not even worth a postcard.
Lisa Howfield, general manager of NBC affiliate KVBC in Las Vegas, thinks Leno's fans will be right behind him.
"I suspect he'll get the same numbers (ratings) he had in prime-time, which are the same numbers he had in late-night. … I think it's probably going to get right back into normal viewing patterns," Howfield said.
Media analyst Steve Sternberg agrees Leno should regain the late-night lead, which he held for most of his run, despite some observers' assertions that he ended up cast as the villain when O'Brien took a powder.
"I don't think Leno's image took much of a hit with his fans at all," said Sternberg. "That was more of a press and Conan fan-Twitter creation than anything else. Half of Leno's audience is over 55, a group that tends to be very loyal."
Leno averaged 5.2 million viewers nightly in his final season of "Tonight" before O'Brien took over last May, and was drawing virtually the same number ó 5.3 million ó to his prime-time show.
Expectations were higher for the new show, however, because more people watch TV in prime-time, and affiliates complained loudly to NBC because their local newscasts were taking a viewership hit because of the weak lead-in. NBC eventually bowed to the pressure.
Aside from the Olympics spots, the network has taken a relatively low-key approach to Leno's comeback, especially compared to his splashy debut last fall with "The Jay Leno Show."
The comedian has declined interviews and NBC, which proudly toured reporters through the Burbank set built for Leno's new show, is keeping the now-revamped studio largely under wraps. It will include the time-honored desk-chair-couch setup, which was banished from prime time, and a new color scheme.
Bill Carroll, an analyst with media-buyer Katz Television in New York, said NBC is taking a wise approach by reminding viewers that "Tonight" again has Leno but not "overhyping" the event so expectations remain reasonable.
As for content, Leno will bring along some elements introduced in prime-time, including field reports from comedians and the "Cop N Kitty" sketch, a parody of police teams. These will be blended with the "Tonight" bits Leno has kept alive, including odd headlines and his "Jaywalking" man-in-the-street interviews.
His first-night guests will be Jamie Foxx, Olympic skier Lindsey Vonn and Brad Paisley. Sarah Palin is set for Tuesday, along with Olympic snowboarder Shaun White and a performance by Adam Lambert.
Leno is facing a changed landscape. O'Brien had lost half the audience that his predecessor had drawn to "Tonight," with CBS' David Letterman and other shows the beneficiary.
Whether Leno can reclaim those scattered viewers and his No. 1 status is unclear. A benchmark moment, such as the Hugh Grant interview that helped Leno get traction when he started as "Tonight" host, could make the difference, analyst Carroll said.
But whether that moment belongs to Leno or Letterman remains to be seen.
"Over the long haul, it could go either way. Late night is so fickle," Carroll said.


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Joanne Silberner
This story is part of a special series, Cancer's New Battleground -- the Developing World.
In an open ward at Mulago Hospital in Uganda's capital city, Kampala, an elderly woman named Joyce lies in the fifth bed on the left.
Joanne Silberner
Joyce has cancer – it has spread throughout her body – and until a few days ago, she was on morphine. Then it ran out.
"She's consistently had pain," says a nurse. "And she describes the pain to be deep – kind of into her bones."
The Ugandan government makes and distributes its own morphine for use in hospitals, but poor management means the supply is erratic.
"We're in a very difficult situation," says Lesley Henson, a British pain specialist on duty at Mulago Hospital. "[We have] patients who've been established and well controlled on morphine, and running out and not having access to that medication now."
Global Divide
In many ways, morphine is an excellent drug for use in developing countries. It is cheap, effective, and simple and easy to administer by mouth.
Yet according to the World Health Organization, every year more than five million people with cancer die in pain, without access to morphine.
"The fact that what stands between them and the relief of that pain is a drug that costs $2 a week, I think is just really unconscionable," says Meg O'Brien, head of the Global Access to Pain Relief Initiative, a non-profit that advocates greater access to morphine.
O'Brien says in well-off countries like the United States, there's enough morphine to treat 100 percent of the people in pain. "In low-income countries, it's just eight percent," she says.
In many low- and middle-income countries – 150, by some counts – morphine is all but impossible to get. Some governments don't provide it, or strictly limit it, because of concerns that it will be diverted to produce heroin.
And many doctors are reluctant to prescribe morphine, fearing their patients will become addicted – something that studies have shown rarely happens.
Land of Haves and Have-Nots
In India, whether you can get morphine depends largely on where you're treated.
Kim Ducharme, Zia Sobhani
"We have all the medicines [that are] necessary," says Dr. Mary Ann Muckaden, head of pain relief at the hospital. "We never run out."
But in other parts of the country, it's a different story. Muckaden estimates only one to two percent of Indians with cancer pain get morphine.
Dinesh Kumar Yadav, 28, has come to Tata Memorial – a 30-hour bus ride from his home – to get morphine for his wife.
He tells me she is bedridden with pain but can't get morphine in the North Indian state where they live.
Dr. Muckaden says part of the problem is a stifling bureaucracy.
"Many physicians in the North, they don't want to go through the rigorous licensing to store morphine," she explains.
"Heaven on Earth"
There is a place in India where there are no barriers to morphine. But even here – at the CIPLA Palliative Care Center in the city of Pune – there are challenges.
You don't see the challenges when you walk through the cool courtyard gardens with fountains and manicured walkways, or in the beautiful whitewashed buildings with large airy wards, each named for a flower.
"This is heaven on Earth," says Asha Dikshit, whose mother came here last year in the last stages of breast cancer.
"She was in agony. Her shoulder had dislocated, it could not be fixed back," says Dikshit. "She had pain in the back, and sometimes there were hallucinations."
But she says her mother died – peacefully – on morphine.
Every patient here has cancer, and the care is free. Indian generic drug manufacturer CIPLA supplies the morphine and pays all the other expenses.
But even with all the center offers, the occupancy rate runs at only about 60 percent. One big reason, says director Priya Kulkarni, is a result of patients' own concerns about morphine. They often think morphine equals death, and they recoil when doctors suggest it.
Kulkarni says many local oncologists don't want to send patients here for that reason.
"They don't want to give up on [patients] when it comes to giving them hope," she says. "And saying [to] them something like, 'I am going to refer to a palliative specialist,' is indirectly saying [to] them that there is nothing more I can do for you."
Slow Change
Despite all the obstacles to morphine's use in the developing world, Kulkarni and others say things are starting to move in their direction.
Overall in low-income countries, morphine consumption is up tenfold since 1995, according to the International Narcotics Control Board. And several countries where not too many years ago there was no morphine – like Uganda – have at least some today, even if the supply is unreliable.
Back at the hospital in Kampala – where the pharmacy ran out of morphine and Joyce, the cancer patient, had to go without – palliative care specialist Leslie Henson finds a bit of luck. After leaving her patient, she steps into an office, glances at a bookshelf, and sees a forgotten bottle of morphine. It's enough to treat two or three people.
"Hopefully, we'll go take this to her and see what we can do," she says as she troops back to Joyce's room.
Soon, a doctor administers the morphine.
Joyce smiles. Her face untwists. And her husband looks ecstatic.
I ask Joyce if she's glad to get the morphine. Her husband answers. "Very much, indeed."
Other people in the hospital will remain in pain – there is not enough morphine to go around – but for the next few hours, at least, Joyce will be pain-free.
This series was produced with support from the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting.
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SpaceX managed to successfully launch its third flight to the International Space Station (ISS) this morning despite an issue with the Dragon spacecraft's thruster pods.
"System inhibiting three of four from initializing," tweeted SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, who confirmed the thruster issue was keeping SpaceX from deploying its solar arrays.
"Holding on solar array deployment until at least two thruster pods are active," Musk subsequently tweeted, later announcing that the panels had been successfully configured.
The above-mentioned issue apparently occurred immediately following Dragon's separation from the rocket upper stage, nine minutes into the flight. The launch itself appeared to have gone without incident.
Today's flight to the ISS includes a number of scientific experiments and supplies, including mouse stem cells, protein crystals, plant seeds and other research items.
If all remains on track, the Dragon should arrive at the space station on Saturday morning. The six-member station crew will then use the station's robot arm to grab the Dragon and attach it to the orbiting complex.
This will be the third space station visit for SpaceX and the second contracted cargo run to the aging station. NASA is paying the the private corporation to supply the orbiting lab in the context of a $1.6 billion contract for 12 delivery runs.


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Pic from Dirk Theron/ Magnus News. Pic shows what appear to be dead mangrove tree roots. Shocking images show a bone-dry desert where once boats used to sail on a reservoir as drought continues to rav
Add to Lightbox DownloadEXCLUSIVE: SHOCKING IMAGES OF CAPE TOWN'S BONE-DRY DAM WHERE ONCE LOCALS USED TO GO BOATING AND WATER SKIING WITH PIX By Magnus News Agency Shocking images show a bone-dry desert where once boats used to sail on a reservoir as drought continues to ravage South Africa. Theewaterskloof Dam once hosted yacht clubs and water skiing but today not even one vessel could be launched on the parched space. Photographer Dirk Theron visited the starved body of water last week and took these frightening images of the dried-up lake which should supply 40 percent of the water to Cape Town's four million residents. As Dirk's pictures show, skeletons of fish and muddy pools are much of what remains of the former 480 million cubic metre capacity site. Last week billionaire former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg toured Theewaterskloof as part of his role as UN special Envoy for Climate Action. He warned the reservoir and draught across the Western Cape should act as a wake-up call for the international community on climate change. Despite the drought, which has struck the area for the past few years, government officials in South Africa have been criticised for their handling of the crisis. A 'Day Zero' when municipal taps would be turned off has been pushed back from June 4 to July 9 despite chronic shortages continuing. South African Dirk lives just 30 minutes from Theewaterskloof, but said he was stunned by what he found there. He said: "Theewaterskloof dam is one of those places where everybody has a boat and people would go there for the weekend. "A friend of mine used to be a member of the Theewaters sports club, we used to go there all the time water skiing and playing on the water in his boat. "This was a massive, massive body of water. It's been a few years since last I've been there but when I saw it I was shocked to my core. "We all know about the water crisis but standing there and seeing it with your own eyes is so surreal. "I stood on dry ground
- Filename
- MEGA180787_008.jpg
- Copyright
- The Mega Agency
- Image Size
- 2000x1325 / 1.8MB
- http://TheMegaAgency.com
shocking images South Africa water skiing Photographer Dirk Theron Magnus News Agency South African Dirk cape town time water skiing Mayor Michael Bloomberg cubic metre capacity Theewaters sports club Theewaterskloof Dam BONE-DRY DAM Dirk's pictures parched space frightening images water crisis special Envoy muddy pools bone-dry desert yacht clubs chronic shortages dried-up lake massive body Western Cape Climate Action international community climate change municipal taps 'Day Zero government officials busy summer motor boats dry ground small yachts drought reservoir weekend wake-up billionaire PIX LOCALS skeletons draught metres percent everybody ENDS residents fish site York role core area handling BOATING places Dirk Theron Theewaterskloof Michael Bloomberg New York UN Theewaters 30 minutes 40 percent 15 metres
- Contained in galleries
- Bone Dry Dams - 12 March 2018, CPT Water Crisis Search - 5 June 2020


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The Content and Extent of the Old Testament Canon
Related MediaIntroduction
The Apostle Paul wrote, regarding the Old Testament, "Now these things happened to them as an example, and they were written for our instruction, upon whom the ends of the ages have come" (1 Cor. 10:11). The use of the Old Testament Scriptures by the church of Christ has been the subject of some debate from the early church fathers up to the present day. The debate is primarily concerned with the question of what writings are truly in the canon of the Old Testament Scriptures. The word "canon" is from a Greek word that means a "rule" or "standard"; in the second century Christian church it came to be understood as "revealed truth."1 Yet for some Christians the "revealed truth" represented more than for others. Augustine is a fine example of this, as he ". . . regarded the church to be the custodian of Scripture and thus may easily have concluded that on matters of the extent of the canon the church had the authority to decide. . . Augustine seemed to consider church reception to be sufficient warrant for canonical authority; this he gave as the reason for accepting the Maccabean books as canonical."2 Initially, it was not as if the canon itself was debated as much as it was looked at differently. Some held that the canon was extensive enough to encompass all the books read in the church for edification, which would include the Apocrypha and sometimes the Pseudipigrapha (anonymous apocalyptic writings). Others held that the canon was simply that of the Jewish Bible, representing also the Protestant Bibles of today.3 It was not until the age of the Reformation that the debate began to rage. In 1546 when the Council of Trent made a formal statement that all not accepting the selected Apocryphal writings should be damned, the Protestants retorted with an equally resolute voice.
The question of canonicity is completely valid. If there are disputes about what is Scripture, the validity of faith itself is greatly at stake. For as Beckwith puts it so well, ". . . with no canon there is no Bible."4 This paper will briefly discuss the major issues of the Old Testament canon attempting to show the contents and extent of the canon.
The Concept of the Old Testament Canon
How ironic it is that evangelicals today base their beliefs solely on Scripture, and yet their canon was recognized by tradition. The way that canon was regarded in history past plays an integral role in the recognition of the canon. The tradition and authority of the people of God throughout history have attested that there was a group of writings, divinely inspired, which were recognizable as such. The internal evidence within the Old Testament itself affirms that it is Scripture. Deuteronomy 31:24-26 says, "And it came about, when Moses finished writing the words of this law in a book until they were complete, that Moses commanded the Levites who carried the ark of the covenant of the LORD, saying, 'Take this book of the law and place it beside the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God, that it may remain there as a witness against you.'" Deuteronomy itself, ". . .also reaffirms in Israel the idea of a 'canon,' a collection of written materials by which the life of the nation would be administered."5
The inter-testament saints held that there was a known corpus of Scripture, for in their writings they would often refer to it with the authoritative phrase, "as it is written," or "according to Scripture," or "it is written." In fact, references to almost all of the books of the Old Testament are considered to be Scripture by the writers of the inter-testament and the New Testament period. Beckwith says of this period that
. . . with the exception of the three short books of Ruth, Song of Songs and Esther, the canonicity of every book of the Hebrew Bible is attested, most of them several times over. . . it is very striking that, over a period ranging from the second century BC (at latest) to the first century AD, so many writers, of so many classes (Semitic, Hellenistic, Pharisaic, Essene, Christian), show such agreement about the canon. . .6
In addition, there are at least 28 documented separate titles for the Old Testament canon proving that the individual books had become a collection sufficient enough to warrant various titles to the group (i.e. canon) as a whole.7
Church history took very heavily into consideration what Jesus and the New Testament writers thought about the Old Testament in determining canonicity. The number of references to the Old Testament by New Testament writers is abundant, and it attests to the fact that there was an established canon at the time of their writing.
Probably the fullest evidence (in secular writings) on the concept of there being a canon is in the work of Josephus. In Against Apion 1.7f., or 1.37–43, Josephus gives his understanding that, not only was there a canon, but he also lists what he believes that canon is. This list is identical to the Jewish and Christian canon with one exception, that of omitting either the Song of Songs or Ecclesiastes.8 Josephus mentions that there were copies of Scripture in the Temple itself, and before its destruction in AD 70 it contained a collection of books. This collection was considered by the Jewish community to be canon, for "the main test of the canonical reception of a book must have been whether or not it was one of those laid up in the Temple."9
This evidence reveals not what the books of the canon are, but the fact that the concept of a canon did indeed already exist before the beginning of the Christian era.
The Construct of the Old Testament Canon
Not only does the literature testify to the concept of there being a canon, but also to the construction of that canon as being in three parts: the Law, the Prophets and the Hagiographa. This is a method of arranging the various books evidenced from many sources outside the canon itself. The earliest evidence is from the prologue to the book Ecclesiasticus which specifically mentions three times the three parts of the canon. The author says, ". . . many great things have been communicated to us through the Law and the prophets, and the others who followed after. . . my grandfather Jeshua, after devoting himself for a long time to the reading of the Law and the prophets and the other books of our forefathers. . .". Here the author, writing about 180 BC, clearly delineates the construction as being in three recognized parts, and these parts, having titles and sections, show that by the writer's time the canon was considered closed.
Jesus Himself, the most authoritative witness for the Christian, states in Luke 24:44 the three sections of the Old Testament as "the Law of Moses and the Prophets and Psalms . . ." "Psalms" undoubtedly means the whole Hagiographa, for Christ often referred to Daniel, which was a part of that third section, as well as the book of Psalms itself, after which the section was named. Philo and the tenth century Arabian writer al-Masudi both refer to the Hagiographa as the "Psalms."10
Since the Jews traditionally placed the book of Chronicles in the Hagiographa, another statement of Jesus alludes to the three sections of the completed canon. He said in Luke 11:50-51 (also in Matthew 23:35), ". . .in order that the blood of all the prophets, shed since the foundation of the world, may be charged against this generation, from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who perished between the altar and the house {of God;} yes, I tell you, it shall be charged against this generation." The Zechariah referred to is certainly the one in 2 Chronicles 24:21, and this is significant because His statement is, in a sense, referring to the first part of the three sections (Genesis) and to the last (Chronicles), implying the inclusion of the second section as well. Christ's point also is in His mentioning the prophets, for ". . . prophecy, as the Jews knew well, had virtually ended with the composition of the latest book of Holy Scripture. . .," which was the book of 2 Chronicles, written about 400 BC.
Judas Maccabaeus and his associates, in 164 BC, compiled a list of the Prophets and Hagiographa at least 250 years prior to the generally assumed date of the closing of the canon (AD 90, at the Synod of Jamnia). The historical book of 2 Maccabees 2:14f describes it this way: "And in like manner Judas (Maccabaeus) also gathered together for us all those writings that had been scattered by reason of the war that befell, and they are still with us. If therefore ye have need thereof, send some to fetch them unto you." Beckwith says,
Judas knew that the prophetic gift had ceased a long time before (1 Macc. 9:27; cp. Also 4.46; 14;41), so what is more likely than that, in gathering together the scattered scriptures, he and his companions the Hasidim classified the now complete collection in the way which from that time became traditional. . .The manner in which Judas Maccabaeus did his work was presumably by compiling a list, not by combining books in large scrolls. . . If Judas gave such structure to the canon, he must have had a definite collection of writings to work on.11
The Old Testament books, as grouped in the canon, also had an established order. The relevancy that there was an established order--even though that order was different for different people--implies that the books in that order, however arranged, were recognized as canonical and that the canon was closed at the time of its ordering.
The number of the books is also a relevant issue, and the evidence shows that the number of the canonical books was always assumed to be 22 or 24. The books themselves were the same in both renderings; they would simply be grouped differently. "In earlier days they combined Ruth with Judges, and Lamentations with Jeremiah and thus made twenty-two books equivalent to the twenty-two letters in the Hebrew alphabet."12 It is ". . . difficult to conceive of those books being counted, and the number being generally accepted and well known, if the canon remained open and the identity of its books uncertain. . . agreement about their number implies agreement about their identity."13
The Contents of the Old Testament Canon
The Canonical Books
It would be logical that upon completion of an Old Testament book the book was canonical. Theoretically, this must be true, but actually, a book of Scripture was considered to be such by virtue of the authority of the human author. So while the Pentateuch was completed with the death of Moses, and the Prophets and the Hagiographa with their authors, the recognition of their canonicity may have been centuries after their actual completion. Consequently, as recognitions differ, there was some dispute about mainly five books of the Old Testament, sometimes called the "antilegomena" or the "books spoken against." These were: Ezekiel, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs, and Esther. The secular motifs in these books were the leading cause of concern to some scholars as well as was the apparent contradictions with other canonical books which were not disputed. The disputes themselves imply that the books in question were considered canonical, because contradictions in un-inspired texts would have been assumed, and therefore, non-existent. It is usually assumed that the presence of the dispute proves that the canon was still open and up for grabs and that it was not settled until the Council of Jamnia in AD 90. The motivation behind such an assertion is the desire to canonize some Apocryphal and books of the Pseudepigrapha as well. Beckwith makes a good argument14 that Ezekiel was not debated, it being part of the already closed Prophets, and not the Hagiographa, which was the subject of debate at Jamnia. In particular only the Song of Songs and Ecclesiastes were debated, or according to the Rabbi Akiba, only Ecclesiastes. Green quotes Rabbi Akiba from the Talmud regarding the Jewish opinion of the inspiration of the Song of Solomon. "'Silence and Peace! No one is Israel has ever doubted that the Song of Solomon defiles the hands [i.e. is Scripture]. For no day in the history of the world is worth the day when the Song of Solomon was given to Israel. For all the Hagiographa are holy, but the Song of Solomon is a holy of holies. If there has been any dispute, it referred only to Ecclesiastes. . . So they disputed and they decided."15 And what did they decide? "'The wise men desired to withdraw (ganaz) the Book of Ecclesiastes because its language was often self-contradictory and contradicted the utterances of David. Why did they not withdraw it? Because the beginning and the end of it consist of words of the law.' Sabbath 30b."16 The book of 2 Esdras shows that Ezra republished the 24 books of the inspired law. "How could such an assertion be made if five of the 24 books were known to have been added to the canon about AD 90, only ten years or so earlier?"17 In the end the Hagiographa triumphed. For two factors helped, says Pfeiffer: "The first was mere survival. In ancient times, when books had to be copied laboriously by hand on papyrus or parchment, no literary work could survive for a few centuries unless it had attained considerable circulation. . . We may wonder, for instance, why Esther should have survived among the Jews, while Judith perished, since the appeal of both was mainly patriotic."18
The Non-Canonical Books
The non-canonical books which were excluded from the canon had a foot in the canonical door mainly by virtue of the disputed books' arguments. The thought was, "If we can dispute about these five canonical books, can we not also dispute about these other books as being canonical too?" For the most part, the books in question from the Pseudepigrapha (anonymous authors) and Apocrypha could not be included in the canon, for one reason, because their date is much later than the previously attested date of the closing of the canon recognized by Judas Maccabaeus in 164 BC. The confusion comes in that many of the books in question are impeccable historical sources, and are true in what they say, but truth does not necessarily equate with canonicity. The books such as 1 Maccabees, Judith, Wisdom of Solomon, and Ecclesiasticus, just to name a few, contain great value in and of themselves. But value is not enough to warrant canonicity. Even within the book of such value as Ecclesiasticus are personal biases that Holy Scripture would not commend. The author, Jesus the son of Sira, reveals a great deal of his personal character as he "not only expresses his views quite frankly on a variety of subjects, making no secret, for instance, of his intense dislike for the fair 'weaker' sex (9:8; 23:22-27. . .)."19
Augustine believed that some of the Apocrypha was inspired.
Nevertheless, in the heat of the argument, Augustine limits his Old Testament to the Jewish canon when he writes in his tract on 'Faith of Things not Seen' appealing to the Scriptures as follows: 'Unless haply unbelieving men judge those things to have been written by Christians, in order that those things which they already believed might have greater weight of authority if they should be thought to have been promised before they came. If they suspect this let them examine carefully the codices of our enemies the Jews. There let them read those things of which we have made mention.'20
"Philo, the Egyptian Jew of the first century AD, evidently accepted the twenty-two Hebrew books, for he quotes from many of them and from them only, as authoritative."21 Jerome as well as Rufinus
. . . were crystal clear on the matter [of not considering them canonical] but their reaction to the pressure exerted on them indicates that many leaders thought the additional books ought to be recognized as inspired. . . Jerome yielded to the popular request in furnishing a translation to the church at large but never permitted his scholarly convictions to yield to the point of recognizing these books as canonical.22
The Essene canon contained some of the Pseudepigrapha which they claimed to be divine. Most of these writings were midrash on canonized books and logically therefore would not be Scripture. For if the Pseudepigrapha contained a copy of a canonical book as well as commentary on it, why would it not negate the original canonical book, because the Pseudepigrapha with its inspired commentary would be much more valuable? In addition, "If they were conscious of being inspired, why did they not have the confidence to use their own names?"23 Even the quote in Jude 14 of 1 Enoch 1:9 does not require that 1 Enoch is Scripture. To quote what is true in Scripture is different than saying that what is quoted is Scripture. Even Paul quoted a pagan poet in Acts 17:28, yet he certainly did not regard it as Scripture but as simply true. The Pharisees, the Sadducees and the Essenes also all recognized a closed canon and generally saw that prophecy had ceased before the Pseudepigrapha and Apocrypha were even written. None of the Pseudepigrapha and Apocrypha were in the canon of the Jews and it was to this canon that Jesus Himself and the Apostles appealed.
Implications and Conclusions
The implications of such a study are two-fold. For those who have held that the writings other than the Jewish and Protestant Old Testament are inspired, there needs to be serious reconsideration. Jesus Himself implied that the last prophet was Zechariah in the book of Chronicles. The previous section alone is sufficient to warrant solemn attention. The value of the Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha is not the question but only whether they were even candidates for canonicity. There is no shame in a change of position, only in resolute rejection of the historical and logical data.
For those who have held to the Jewish and Protestant Old Testament there is the implication of comfort, assurance, as well as a deepening devotion to what God has not only seen fit to reveal to us, but that which He has seen fit to uphold and confirm to us through many different agencies.
1 Bauer, Walter, William F. Arndt, F. Wilbur Gingrich, and Fredrick W. Danker (BAGD), A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and other Early Christian Literature, Chicago: Univ. Of Chicago, 1979, "kanwn," 403
2 Schultz, Samuel J. "Augustine and the Old Testament Canon," Bibliotheca Sacra , Vol. 112 #447 -- July, 1955, 230, 232
3 Beckwith, Roger. The Old Testament Canon of the New Testament Church. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1985, 2
5 Dillard, Raymond B. and Tremper Longman III. An Introduction to the Old Testament. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1994, 103
12 Harris, R. Laird. "Canon of the Old Testament," Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible. Grand Rapids: Regency, 1976, 189
15 Green, William H., General Introduction to the Old Testament: The Canon, London: Murray, 1899, 139
18 Pfeiffer, Robert H. Introduction to the Old Testament. New York: Harper & Row, 1948, 62
19 Pfeiffer, Robert H. History of New Testament Times with an Introduction to the Apocrypha. New York: Harper & Row, 1949, 366
Related Topics: Canon


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Lindsay Lohan -- Blaming Jewelry Theft On Suge Knight's 'Son'
Lindsay Lohan Blaming Jewelry Theft On Suge Knight's 'Son'
Lindsay Lohan claims she's been framed in the theft of $100,000 of watches and sunglasses, telling friends the real culprit is a man claiming to be Suge Knight's son. Problem is ... cops aren't buying what she's selling.
We broke the story ... Lindsay is now officially a suspect in the theft, which occurred at the lavish home of Sam Magid, a good friend of LiLo's.
Magid told cops Monday ... he was in touch with 2 of Lindsay's friends -- one of whom is Andrew Knight -- and they said the night of the theft Lindsay had handed them a bag with 2 or 3 pieces of the stolen items wrapped in her t-shirt. The 2 men returned the items to Magid. Other items were still missing.
Magid also said he was in touch with Lindsay, who told him she had hidden some of the other items around the house because she was afraid they would be stolen by burglars. We're told Magid told cops Lindsay confessed she was on Ambien at the time she hid the jewelry and was hazy about exactly what happened.
Now Lindsay claims Knight is the real culprit, something Knight strongly denies. And apparently cops buy his story, because Lindsay is the target of the investigation.
Magid told cops Lindsay contacted him recently and said, "I'm sorry. Please pray for me."
We're told yesterday Magid gave cops Ziploc bags containing some of the stolen items. In addition to the watches and sunglasses, we're told Tiffany monogrammed silverware was also taken.


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Completely crashing on a deadline for a project, expect few posts for the next three or four days
Labels: Other
Welcome! Follow me on twitter at @johnrlottjr or at https://crimeresearch.org. Please e-mail questions to email@example.com.
Labels: Other
Stimulus Bill Includes Billions of Dollars in Help for Students and Colleges
By SARA HEBEL
Students, researchers, and colleges would benefit from new spending and tax breaks included in an $825-billion economic-stimulus plan that Democratic leaders in the U.S. House of Representatives unveiled on Thursday.
Higher-education lobbyists gushed . . .
WELLINGTON (Reuters) - New Zealand police have arrested a safe burglar by using the popular social networking website Facebook to identify and track him down.
Queenstown police in southern New Zealand posted security-camera footage and pictures showing the man's face as he tried to break into the safe of a local tavern on Monday.
"The offender was identified after a movie and images of him were displayed on Facebook. He was identified from members of the public viewing him on Facebook and also seeing him on TV after the Facebook images were displayed on the news," the police station said in a statement on its Facebook page.
Police said the unnamed, 21-year-old Queenstown native would appear in court on Wednesday.
Local media said the man got too hot while trying to break into the safe, took off his balaclava and revealed his face to a hidden security camera.
"He was a very silly young boy. The room is really small and it gets really hot in there at the best of times," the bar's assistant manager, Mel Kelly, was quoted as saying.
"Clearly, he didn't realize there was a video camera there until the last moment. He looks round and sees it and there's just a shocked look ... His face definitely drops."
Staff at the bar did not recognize the man, but Kelly suspected he was a former employee because of his knowledge of the property.
This is not the first time that Facebook, the world's largest online social network, has been used to track down criminals.
Labels: Crime, technologysolvingcrime
The package is a mixture of $550 billion in spending programs and $275 billion in temporary tax cuts that Democrats hope will add 3 to 4 million jobs to the American workforce. . . . .
The measure calls for $87 billion to help the states meet the rising cost of providing health care for the poor in the recession, and another $39 billion to subsidize coverage by out-of-work wage-earners who cannot afford the cost of their employer-covered health care.
More than $100 billion is ticketed for education, including money for school districts to shield them from the effects of state cutbacks in services. Democrats also provided tens of billions in spending and tax breaks designed to lessen the nation's dependence on oil as a principal source of energy.
Obama's top aides have worked closely in recent days with Democrats in Congress to shape legislation that generally adheres to the president-elect's wishes.
At the same time, lawmakers departed dramatically in one area, jettisoning the incoming administration's call to give a $3,000 tax credit for each new job created by private companies.
Another key priority of the new administration was preserved, though. The summary calls for a tax credit of $500 per worker and $1,000 per working couple.
The measure does not include money to help middle- to upper-income taxpayers ensnared in the alternative minimum tax, which was originally designed to prevent the extremely wealthy from avoiding payment of taxes but now threatens more than 20 million tax filers. Several officials said the Senate was likely to include that provision in its version of the bill, a step that could push the overall total close to $900 billion.
With unemployment rising, and applications for various forms of federal aid keeping pace, the legislation calls for increased spending on food stamps, unemployment insurance and job training. It also proposes an increase in Pell Grants for college students of $500.
House leaders called for $30 billion for highway construction and $10 billion for mass transit and rail. . . .
Asked about the economic-stimulus package, now estimated to cost $850 billion over two years, 43% of people surveyed called it a "good idea," while 27% said it is a "bad idea." The rest didn't have an opinion. . . .
As expected, the House rushed to pass a bill on Wednesday to continue funding for the State Children's Health Insurance Program. At 285 pages, you can be sure it delivers a lot more than money.
One example: The bill changes the rules of the game, making it much easier for states like New York to put children from families making up to $84,800 a year on this publicly-funded program.
In addition, generous "income disregards" will be allowed, which means that a family can subtract things such as rent or mortgage payments, heating, or food costs from its income in calculating eligibility. That means that children in families making well over $100,000 a year will be eligible for SCHIP. . . .
Dip in oil forces Venezuela to court Western companies
Journal Staff and Wire Report
Published: January 15, 2009
CARACAS, Venezuela - President Hugo Chavez, buffeted by falling oil prices that threaten to unravel his efforts to establish a Socialist-inspired state, is courting Western oil companies once again.
Until recently, Chavez had pushed foreign oil companies here into a corner by nationalizing their oil fields, raiding their offices and imposing higher royalties. But faced with the drop in prices and a decline in domestic production, senior officials here have begun soliciting bids from some of the largest Western oil companies in recent weeks, according to energy executives and industry consultants here.
Apple Inc. shares dropped as much as 10% Wednesday evening after the technology company said that Chief Executive Steve Jobs will take a medical leave of absence until the end of June.
Apple (AAPL: 85.33, -2.38, -2.7%) shares were last down 7.6% to $78.80. They finished the regular-session at $85.30.
Jobs, in a statement, said that during the past week he's learned that his health-related issues "are more complex than I originally thought."
Chief Operating Officer Tim Cook will be responsible for day to day operations.
"Unfortunately, the curiosity over my personal health continues to be a distraction not only for me and my family, but everyone else at Apple as well," said Jobs.
Labels: Economics
A nearly decade-old lawsuit seeking to hold gun makers responsible for the city of Gary's rampant crime received a green light Monday to head to trial.
The Indiana Supreme Court declined to review a lower court ruling, ending the second round of appeals since the case was filed in 1999. Gary's suit alleges that 16 gun makers, including Smith & Wesson and Beretta, and six Northern Indiana gun dealers sold handguns they knew would get into the hands of criminals barred from owning them.
The court's order let stand an October 2007 Indiana Court of Appeals ruling that the federal Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act didn't bar the suit from proceeding. Congress approved the measure in 2005 to provide some immunity to the firearms industry from such suits.
The Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence, whose lawyers represent Gary, hailed the state high court's decision, called a denial of transfer.
"The Indiana Supreme Court's ruling is an important victory for the people of Gary and particularly those who have suffered from the gun industry's supply of guns to criminals and gun traffickers," Paul Helmke, president of the Washington-based Brady Center and a former Fort Wayne mayor, said in a statement Monday.
Attempts to reach attorneys for the gun manufacturers Monday night were unsuccessful.
Before the Court of Appeals ruled, gun makers had countered that the federal law was aimed directly at lawsuits such as Gary's; it was even mentioned by name during debate in Congress. . . . .
Labels: gunmakers
OCOEE, Fla. - A convenience store customer in Ocoee turned the tables on suspected robbers Monday night, and authorities continued to search for two people Tuesday evening.
Authorities said the man grabbed a gun and shot and killed the bottle-wielding bandit.
The customer, who was only identified as Chris to protect his identity, said he walked into a Kangaroo convenience store on Franklin Street and noticed at least two suspicious men.
The customer said he walked out to his car to get his phone and heard the clerk inside screaming for help. He said he grabbed his gun and went back inside and saw the suspected robber beating a female clerk with a beer bottle.
The customer said he told the assailant he had a gun, but the man turned toward him and the customer fired two shots, killing the suspect.
"I feel very shaken. I feel very glad that I was here, that I could help my friend because I come to this store. I've lived in Ocoee for 20 years, and I'm glad I could be here, and I'm glad I was able to help," the customer said.
The customer was asked whether he had a permit to carry a concealed weapon, and he responded that he did.
Chris said he doesn't consider himself him a hero.
"I saw a lady that was in distress and I came in and took the action that I thought was necessary," he said. "Hearing a lady scream to where it sounds like bloody murder to where I thought she was going to be killed, I decided to help the lady. I've known her for years. She's a friend of mine, and I wanted to go in and help."
Investigators said the one suspect shot was killed, and two other people are sought in the case. Police identified the deceased as Freddie Carson, 40, of Orlando. . . . .
Labels: ConcealedCarry, DefensiveGunUse
At first glance, Citigroup's endorsement last week of a Senate plan to allow bankruptcy judges to break mortgage contracts looks like a scene from "Goodfellas."
Since October, the government has invested $52 billion in Citi, while agreeing to eat up to $249 billion in losses on the bank's toxic real estate portfolio. And so it's really hard to say no when those Washington "investors" call for a favor. In the 1990 Martin Scorsese movie, a restaurant owner realizes too late that a partner big enough to protect him is big enough to take everything he has. As Ray Liotta narrates, "Now he's got Paulie as a partner. Any problems, he goes to Paulie. Trouble with a bill, to Paulie . . . But now he has to pay Paulie."
The problem with Citi's capitulation is that it means that not just Citi will have to pay the Beltway outfit if the bill passes. Other banks, borrowers and taxpayers will also suffer. In fact, this deal is looking more and more like a case of Citi colluding with its new political owners in order to force competing banks to break contracts and take more losses. This kind of politicized banking is precisely why the Bank of the United States was shut down in the 19th century.
After years of resisting, Citi has suddenly signed off on Senator Dick Durbin's plan to allow judges to rewrite mortgage contracts for borrowers in Chapter 13 bankruptcy. Under the Illinois Democrat's plan, which is earmarked for inclusion in the pending stimulus bill, judges could reduce the amount of principal, lower the interest rate, and change the length of the mortgage term.
Until Washington embraced the politics of housing panic, even sensible Democrats recognized that allowing such mortgage "cramdowns" was a terrible idea, sure to punish future borrowers with higher rates as lenders calculate the increased risk. The Congressional Budget Office warned in January 2008 that such a change could result in higher interest rates for homeowners and bigger caseloads in bankruptcy courts. In 2007, 16 House Democrats signed a letter opposing similar legislation. . . .
Labels: bailout, mortgagecrisis, Regulation
Physics professor William Happer GS '64 has some tough words for scientists who believe that carbon dioxide is causing global warming.
"This is George Orwell. This is the 'Germans are the master race. The Jews are the scum of the earth.' It's that kind of propaganda," Happer, the Cyrus Fogg Brackett Professor of Physics, said in an interview. "Carbon dioxide is not a pollutant. Every time you exhale, you exhale air that has 4 percent carbon dioxide. To say that that's a pollutant just boggles my mind. What used to be science has turned into a cult."
Happer served as director of the Office of Energy Research in the U.S. Department of Energy under President George H.W. Bush and was subsequently fired by Vice President Al Gore, reportedly for his refusal to support Gore's views on climate change. He asked last month to be added to a list of global warming dissenters in a Senate Environment and Public Works Committee report. The list includes more than 650 experts who challenge the belief that human activity is contributing to global warming
Though Happer has promulgated his skepticism in the past, he requested to be named a skeptic in light of the inauguration of President-elect Barack Obama, whose administration has, as Happer notes, "stated that carbon dioxide is a pollutant" and that humans are "poisoning the atmosphere."
Happer maintains that he doubts there is any strong anthropogenic influence on global temperature.
"All the evidence I see is that the current warming of the climate is just like past warmings. In fact, it's not as much as past warmings yet, and it probably has little to do with carbon dioxide, just like past warmings had little to do with carbon dioxide," Happer explained. . . . .
Labels: Environment, GlobalWarming
Despite a huge Democratic majority, Eric Holder's confirmation hearings are going to be difficult. He has a long record to defend. Whether it is his involvement and inconsistent statements about Bill Clinton's pardon of fugitive financier Marc Rich's pardon or his pushing Clinton's clemency of the FALN terrorists or his failure to disclose his work for troubled Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich after Blagojevich's legal problems surfaced, he faces tough questions.
But Holder's nomination raises other questions about what President-elect Barack Obama claimed that he believed during the campaign. Numerous times he promised that he supported an individual right to own guns and that he wouldn't do anything to take away people's guns. . . .
Labels: ObamaAdministration, op-ed
Police: Would-be robbery victim shoots, kills assailant
BY TIMES STAFF | Sunday, January 11, 2009
HAMMOND | An attempted robbery early Sunday morning turned fatal for one of the suspects, police said.
A 38-year-old man and his girlfriend were exiting their sport-utility vehicle in the parking lot of McTaverns bar in the 7400 block of Indianapolis Boulevard when two people attempted to rob the couple, a Hammond police news release shows.
Another person is believed to have been an accomplice in the attempted robbery, Police Chief Brian Miller said.
The man took a handgun from the SUV and shot one of the suspects in the chest, the release states. The shooting victim died at the scene before Hammond Fire Department personnel could provide further treatment and he could get to a hospital.
Kenneth Denson, 17, of the 600 block of East 131st Street in Chicago, was pronounced dead from a gunshot wound to the chest about 1:30 a.m., a Lake County coroner's office spokeswoman said Sunday.
The second robbery suspect and an accomplice fled from the scene in a vehicle and traveled north on Indianapolis Boulevard into East Chicago, where they crashed and police apprehended them. Miller said an illegal narcotic drug was found in the vehicle.
Police said the investigation continues, and the man who shot Denson has cooperated with police and has turned over his handgun.
Charges could be filed today against the two suspects who are in custody, Miller said.
In September, a 40-year-old Gary man, Eric Lowe, was shot and killed outside of McTaverns following a dispute. Lowe was a security worker for the bar.
Labels: ConcealedCarry, DefensiveGunUse
Performing two Google searches from a desktop computer can generate about the same amount of carbon dioxide as boiling a kettle for a cup of tea, according to new research.
While millions of people tap into Google without considering the environment, a typical search generates about 7g of CO2 Boiling a kettle generates about 15g. "Google operates huge data centres around the world that consume a great deal of power," said Alex Wissner-Gross, a Harvard University physicist whose research on the environmental impact of computing is due out soon. "A Google search has a definite environmental impact."
Google is secretive about its energy consumption and carbon footprint. It also refuses to divulge the locations of its data centres. However, with more than 200m internet searches estimated globally daily, the electricity consumption and greenhouse gas emissions caused by computers and the internet is provoking concern. A recent report by Gartner, the industry analysts, said the global IT industry generated as much greenhouse gas as the world's airlines - about 2% of global CO2 emissions. "Data centres are among the most energy-intensive facilities imaginable," said Evan Mills, a scientist at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California. Banks of servers storing billions of web pages require power. . . .
Labels: Environment, GlobalWarming
The first proposal was advanced by the Teamsters union, which holds 2,569 shares of the company. It asks Apple to report all of the company's direct and indirect political contributions and expenditures, twice annually. Apple's directors say the proposal is "unnecessary and unproductive" and would reveal information on its private negotiations with trade associations to its competitors.
The second shareholder proposal was advanced by the AFL-CIO union, which holds 500 shares of Apple. It asks the board to adopt heath care reform principles outlined by the Institute of Medicine. Apple's directors say the measure will not benefit the company, its employees, or its shareholders, and that health care reform is a matter for the new US President and Congress to address.
A third proposal has been made by individual with less than 100 shares in Apple, but is cosponsored by the New York City Office of the Comptroller (with over two million shares) and Green Century Equity Fund (with another nearly 8,000 shares). It asks the company to deliver a report on sustainability including all corporate strategies related to climate change, the environmental impacts of toxics and recycling programs, and all employee and product safety issues. Apple's directors say the company already reports much of this information on social and environmental issues on its website, and that additional reporting obligations are unnecessary.
The last shareholder proposal is from the AFSCME Employees Pension Plan, a public health union which holds over 21,000 shares in Apple. It request the company issue a shareholders' advisory vote on executive compensation. Apple's directors say that setting executive compensation is the job of the board itself, and that limitations imposed by shareholder voting could have an adverse impact on the company's ability to recruit and retain top talent. . . .
Ballard's $773,000 'No-Contract' Work
Rendell's Former Firm Went Beyond 'No-Bid' Contracts
By Chris Freind, The Bulletin
Published: Friday, January 09, 2009
Gov. Ed Rendell,D-Pa., has recently come under fire as more information emerges regarding the frequency and high-dollar amounts of no-bid state contracts that have been distributed to his political donors and friends. The details of such contracts have been previously revealed by The Bulletin.
Many eyebrows have been raised on these lucrative no-bid contracts, especially since the records from past administrations were "lost" under Mr. Rendell's tenure — ostensibly the only way to compare the frequency, amounts and recipients of these types of contracts.
The state Senate passed a reform bill 50-0 last session amending how contracts are awarded, but it was stifled in the Democratic-controlled House. The legislation, sponsored by Republican Majority Whip Jane Orie, R-40th of Allegheny, will be re-introduced early this term.
While conflicts of interest abound, the awarding of no-bid contracts to political donors is not illegal, so long as no pay to play arrangement exists.
But in 2007, the ethical line was taken to a whole new level when Ballard performed $773,000 of state legal work without a state contract, leaving many questions unanswered.
On March 1 of that year, the firm began work on the proposal to privatize the Pennsylvania Turnpike. Over the next 83 days, Ballard utilized 55 attorneys (more than 10 percent of its legal staff), and billed the state for 2,300 hours, which equates to an average of 27.38 hours per 24 hour day. The hourly rates varied based on seniority, with firm Chairman Arthur Makadon billing $637.50/hour, and partners Ken Jarin and Adrian King Jr. billing $531.25/hour and $403.75/hour, respectively.
Mr. Makadon, a close friend to the governor, has contributed $87,500 to his campaigns. Mr. Jarin is listed as the "relationship partner" on the $773,000 project. He is a longtime confidante and fundraiser to Mr. Rendell, having contributed $90,000 to the governor's coffers. He also serves as treasurer to the Democratic Governor's Association, an entity that has contributed over $1.5 million to Rendell. Mr. Jarin is married to Robin Wiessmann, who had served as state treasurer until this week. Her office approved and issued payments for the Ballard invoices. Adrian King, Jr., served as the governor's deputy Chief of Staff and in a Cabinet position prior to rejoining Ballard as a partner. . . . .
In 1999, after serving eight years as Mayor of Philadelphia, Ed Rendell joined the Ballard Spahr law firm, headquartered in Center City. Two years later, during his campaign for Governor, Rendell stated, "I have, for the last two years, done practically nothing for [Ballard]," according to numerous press reports.
Upon assuming office, he appointed himself Chairman of the Delaware River Port Authority, the entity overseeing the four major bridges in Philadelphia. One of the major beneficiaries of Mr. Rendell being DRPA Chairman has been his former firm. In the three years preceding Rendell's election, Ballard received $25,000 in legal fees from the Port Authority, including only $480 in 2001. From 2002 until the present, Ballard has received over $2.7 million. . . .[the link has a much longer discussion]
Now, some are raising the question: Are the paychecks given with the expectation that Gov. Rendell would steer lucrative state business to the firm -- Ballard, Spahr, Andrews & Ingersoll? . . .
Labels: Corruption, Democrats, Rendell


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In the shadow of the heralded boys' state hockey tournament, another battle is being joined regarding top players who are steadily leaving Minnesota high schools to pursue their puck dreams out of state.One of them, Benilde-St. Margaret's freshman Alec Baer, will watch his former teammates play Wednesday night for a chance to return to St. Paul, where last March they won one of the most stirring state championships in recent memory.
The 15-year-old missed a practice earlier this month to visit Vancouver of the Western Hockey League. Three days later he found out he was no longer a Red Knight.
Last spring, a member of the state's high school hockey coaches association, which advocates for players to remain in high school through their senior years, left the executive board after his highly regarded son left to play in the WHL, part of Major Junior hockey.
Six promising high school players left to join the league in the past two seasons. They share the ice with others who have signed NHL contracts. In part because they are paid, they lose their NCAA eligibility.
High school hockey advocates, while acknowledging player departures are inevitable, say it's time to draw a line.
"I don't think we're trying to send a message of, 'Don't come into our backyard,' " said Ken Pauly, coach of Benilde-St. Margaret's and president of the Minnesota Hockey Coaches Association. "But we want it to come through loud and clear what we are about, what the high school experience is about and continuing to stand by those things."
Conflicting visions
Baer made an impression at the Vancouver Giants rookie camp in August. Rated the No. 1 freshman in Minnesota by a college hockey blog, Baer led the camp in scoring and drew comparisons to Giants alum Gilbert Brule, a former first-round NHL draft pick.
Making good on what Bob Baer, Alec's father, called a "sort of open invite" to attend a game at Vancouver, the two of them visited on Feb. 1. Three days later, Bob Baer said, Pauly told Alec "he was not on the team and didn't really see a way it could be reversed."
"It's clear to me that our son's consequence had a lot more to do with this ongoing battle than missing a team practice," Bob Baer said. "If he is being used to send some type of signal to others, that is quite infuriating."
Out of playing options, Baer signed with Vancouver on Feb. 15. He plans to make his on-ice debut with the Giants on Friday. Bob Baer said his son will finish this year at Benilde-St. Margaret's, a Catholic school located in St. Louis Park, and play with the Giants on weekends.
Darryl Wolski, an agent with The Sports Corporation working as the Baer family advisor, said he is "concerned a kid can go visit Duluth or Wisconsin on a weekend without repercussions."
Pauly said his decision to dismiss Baer "is related to Major Junior hockey" but declined to comment further because Baer remains a student.
Speaking as the president of the coaches' group, Pauly said: "A trip to a college is in keeping with the overall mission and vision of high school athletics. I don't believe the Major Junior and Minnesota high school model are complementary pieces."
Major Junior is seen primarily as pipeline to play pro hockey, not graduate from college. Players who don't sign a professional contract can get scholarships to a postsecondary institution of their choice.
Crookston coach Jon Bittner remains an advocate of the Minnesota high school hockey mission even though his son, Paul, left to play in the WHL. Bittner later had an hour-long phone conversation with Mike MacMillan, executive director of the Minnesota Hockey Coaches Association. They agreed Bittner, the board's executive dirctor for about 10 years, should resign.
Bittner, a social studies teacher and high school hockey coach for 28 years, said he understood the "contradictory" nature of his decision.
"I still take pride in community-based programs," Bittner said. "The only problem is I had one of those kids" who wanted to play in the WHL.
Paul Bittner joined Cody Corbett, Keegan Iverson, Travis Wood and brothers Ben and Jack Walker as players who left local high school programs early for Major Junior.
Seeking boundaries
Competing hockey interests also affected Tommy Vannelli, a top Minnetonka defenseman, who was asked by USA Hockey to play with the Under-18 team for two games in February. One of those games would have meant missing a key game against Eden Prairie.
Top boys' and girls' players often compete with national teams overseas, generally in lieu of local holiday tournament games with less at stake.
Minnetonka coach Brian Urick said a compromise was reached, allowing Vannelli to play against Eden Prairie and with the U-18 team on a Sunday.
"Families have a choice in terms of what's best for their kids, and I'm not here to tell them what that is," Urick said. "But once you commit to your team, the borders should be closed for that season."
Baer said he learned too late "that showing interest in a non-NCAA program might not be met with roses at a college preparatory school."
WHL Vice President Richard Doerksen said Baer's situation raised awareness about keeping better boundaries with Minnesota players and their teams.
"We're going to do everything we can so that this doesn't happen again," Doerksen said. "We weren't bringing him in as anything different than a recruiting trip. It's just unfortunate that high school hockey in Minnesota looks at us as something other than an opportunity to develop hockey skills."
David La Vaque • 612-673-7574


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Feedback archive → Feedback 2003
If you are truly scientists / There will be skeptics
Our first letter (below) is from R.S. of CA, USA. He ostensibly writes about Dr Wieland's article on Davies and c-decay, but he uses it to raise other issues about creation in general. However, he ignores what we frequently point out about the roles of biases to form the paradigm (framework) from which data are interpreted. He also appears to have a fairly naïve view about the philosophy of science in other areas. Finally, he seems unaware of the answers we've long provided to the 'distant starlight' problem that have nothing to do with c-decay.
Although R.S. has violated our feedback rule about checking our site first before writing, as shown below, we believe that the letter and response by Dr Wieland would be instructive.
[Note added 2006: This has been updated with some new information from the RATE group on helium diffusion and the tu quoque argument that big bangers have their own difficulties with light travel time.]
second letterOur (following) is from Sara Marie of PA, USA—a former skeptic.
If you are truly scientists …
Dr. Wieland,
I found your article regarding Paul Davies paper on the variable nature of the speed of light well balanced and informative. Nevertheless, I believe it is still beside the point when it comes to the position of young earth creationists on the age of the Universe.
Specifically, YECers take a theological position with regard to scripture (one that I do not share), and then attempt to search for facts that will support it.
The comment about 'searching for facts' is most inappropriate, since the very article you cite advised against using this alleged support for c-decay as evidence for a young earth. We have also advised against a number of arguments (see Arguments we think creationists should NOT use), and (with a heavy heart) pointed out fallacious arguments in the work of fellow creationists (see Maintaining Creationist Integrity and Unleashing the Storm). These all show that we are careful not to use fallacious or even speculative evidence to support our view.
This both seems backwards for the purpose of science, and in the case of the speed of light ridiculous.
If you are truly scientists, …
Many creationists are scientists by any normal criterion, e.g. a number of CMI staff have earned Dr titles and have published in secular scientific journals. The only way this can be denied is by a stipulative definition that no creationists are scientists, an example of what's sometimes called the 'No true Scotsman fallacy' [Note added 2006: see subsequent feedback discussion].
We have also pointed out the materialistic bias behind evolutionary theory, but I don't often notice them being denigrated for their faith positions. A few evolutionists are honest enough to own up to their biases, e.g. Lewontin and Todd.
and your hypothesis is that the earth and the universe are less then 10,000 years old, you should set up an experiment to test that position. For example, given such a time period, what would be a unique feature of star light that you would expect to see in the night sky? Based on this hypothesis, go perform an experiment as to the existence or non-existence of that feature, and then publish the findings (regardless of the results).
You're in effect saying that a scientist may not have a broad historical model which has all sorts of supporting data, if one aspect of that model has prima facie problems. You seem to be adopting the Popperian falsification criterion after Karl Popper. Evolutionists tend to regard Popper as a great philosopher of science when they can use this criterion to bash creationists, but regarded him as naïve when he attacked evolutionary theory on the same grounds!
It's unproductive for us to get embroiled in debates on what counts as 'science', since philosophers of science can't agree. This is especially so when many evolutionists, surprisingly including one as astute as the late Stephen Jay Gould, first attack creation as being 'untestable', then go on to explain how it has been examined, i.e. tested, and proven false!
Thomas Kuhn's famous book on scientific revolutions showed that real scientists don't work the way Popper said. In reality, scientists can tolerate many anomalies in the ruling paradigm, and it takes a lot for this to be overthrown and replaced with a new paradigm (see also this confirmation by Professor Evelleen Richards, Science Historian). And Imre Lakatos pointed out on a logical level that theories don't stand on their own, but are protected by auxiliary hypotheses. The falsification can be applied to one or more of these, while leaving the core theory intact. See this logical discussion on verification and falsification.
To apply this to the point at hand: it would be just as philosophically invalid for someone to have said to Darwin that he could not support evolution simply because the expected fossil links (by his own admission) were not there in the rocks. His comment back then was they hadn't been found yet. Later evolutionists postulated other explanations for the paucity of links. Using Lakatos's terminology: a major prediction of the core theory (goo to you evolution) would be lots of transitional forms, with an associated (implicit) hypothesis that the transitional forms would fossilize readily. All that had been found in Darwin's day, and the situation is largely unchanged today, were a handful of debatable ones. Darwin could reasonably appeal to an auxiliary hypothesis to protect this core theory, namely that there had not been enough collecting yet. Other evolutionists have appealed to a (related) auxiliary hypothesis, the poverty of the fossil record, which implicitly denies the associated hypothesis mentioned first. Both auxiliary hypotheses have since been falsified by the passage of time and the immense richness of the record that has been revealed.
We do not respond by denying people the right to appeal to auxiliary hypotheses.
The Occam's razor hypothesis (analogous to yours about the light-travel time) was, all along, that the transitional forms never existed in the biosphere. I.e. frog-to-prince evolution has not happened. But even though there is an element of ad hoc to it, it is nevertheless philosophically valid for evolutionists to postulate secondary explanations to try to solve the problem without abandoning their axiom (materialism) and the core theory to explain this. (I think of course that overall, their axiom is overwhelmingly worthy of abandonment, I merely seek to introduce a point).
One is free to abandon one's axiom, but that would be when the evidence was overwhelmingly against it. In the case of our axiom of a young world, the Scriptural evidence is overwhelmingly in its favour, and the inconsistencies that mount up for the 'old-age' Bible-believer are staggering. (Death and disease before the Fall, Jesus becomes a deceiver regarding people created at the beginning, etc. etc.).
If you are not prepared to do that why should anyone anywhere ever take the concept of a young earth seriously? Barring a test as proposed above, I cannot see any reason they should; if for no other reason then that the contrary evidence is over their heads every night. That is star light that, as far as anyone can currently tell, took millions and in certain cases billions of years to reach the earth.
Until you can resolve this problem, young earth creationists are just spitting in the wind.
The starlight per se tells us nothing about how long it took to get here. One has to interpret that based on assumptions/presuppositions. They are certainly overwhelmingly reasonable ones. I.e. that light has always behaved just as it does now, that constants don't change, that time is constant. But then, since Bohr, Planck, Einstein and Heisenberg, we have learnt that the most reasonable, commonsense assumptions on the nature of the universe are not always appropriate.
And while we are cautious about c-decay theories, they were first proposed by evolutionists, and still are being proposed by them. So it was not unreasonable, from a logical perspective, to regard the constancy of c as an auxiliary hypothesis that could be questioned.
For instance, it is reasonable at first glance to believe that radiometric decay rates have not changed, since they are not seen to be changing now in our observations of the natural world. But then one would expect that the helium in hot rocks, generated by radioactive decay, would not be excessive in the rocks, yet deficient in the atmosphere. However, that is the case. That overwhelmingly suggests, given the measured diffusion rates of helium through rocks, a burst of accelerated decay. Apart from its obvious implications for radiometric dating, this might have all sorts of consequences for other quantum/subatomic processes, with which the behaviour of light is mathematically intertwined.
[Note added 2006: Dr Russell Humphreys has updated this argument considerably, including quantitative measurements of helium diffusion. See our summary, Dr Humphreys' technical paper, his chapter in Radioactive Isotopes and the age of the Earth 2 ch. 2 (technical), and his responses to critics.]
How would you, though, react if, following your lead, I said that the helium molecules in that 'wind' to which you refer were overwhelmingly testifying, day in, and day out, to the ridiculousness of long-age belief based on radiodecay? No doubt you would try to come up with secondary explanations (auxiliary hypotheses) for the data. But that is exactly the privilege you seek to deny us! And the logical corollary to your challenge re the 'experiment on starlight' would be for me to say 'until you make a prediction of what you would expect to find in studying those helium molecules, and confirm it, you have no right to hold to your belief in the interim and still claim to be scientific.' You would rightly respond that the 'answer' to the helium dilemma may have nothing to do with observations on the helium molecules themselves.
The same, of course, is applicable to the light one observes. I hope the analogy helps make the point.
In our case, we also point out that the anti-YEC presupposes a pre-relativistic notion of absolute time. But Einstein's General Relativity shows that gravity slows time itself, therefore it is possible to have time moving slowly on Earth (the reference frame of the Bible) and faster in distant galaxies. And questioning a key assumption of the 'big bang', i.e. that the universe has no centre and no boundary (edge), but keeping GR, has led to an alternative cosmology that appears to solve the distant starlight problem. See How can we see distant stars in a young Universe?—you need to address what we actually say before dogmatically declaring that there is no possible answer.
[Note added 2006: Also, you should be aware that big-bangers have their own enigma with the travel time of light, called the horizon problem. So beware of pointing the finger at creationists because of light travel time, because you will have three of your own pointing back at you for the same reason!]
May I recommend JP Moreland's Christianity and the Nature of Science? He cannot be classed as a committed young-earth supporter, but he is a sophisticated and up-to-date philosopher of science, and it should become apparent that you have relied upon a rather simplistic view of the scientific enterprise in your e-mail.
Most importantly, if you are a Christian, you are being an accessory (hopefully unwittingly) to the undermining, in our culture, of the Word of the One who sought and bought you.
Sincerely, Carl Wieland
Dr Carl Wieland
Managing Director, Creation Ministries International–Australia
Editor, Creation magazine.
There will be skeptics …
To Everyone who labors for the Cause of Christ Jesus Our Lord:
I want to thank you for being faithful in providing resources to believers and even answering the sceptics and opposers. There will be skeptics. And being a former skeptic, I have to say that often the 'evolution' issue is used as a reason, or excuse, to hang on to our own sin and sinful ways and a reason to grumble against God and/or his representatives. Keep being faithful to God's calling. I will join you in praising God at the life changing of even the hardest skeptics.—Tuyo en Cristo,
—Sarah M.
Re-featured on homepage: 9 September 2006


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I've been thinking about shipping my beer to a fellow homebrewer on the opposite coast. I know the post office doesn't exactly condone this, but if you were to mail a bottle or two, how would you do it?
Are any particular boxes better than others, how much padding, who'd be the best company to ship with, any special bottling precautions (taping the cap maybe), etc, etc.


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Therese Murray plans to unveil a lengthy agenda Wednesday for her final full session as state Senate president, including expansion of early voting, a fix to the state's transportation system, and changes to the state's welfare system, the issue that brought her to prominence two decades ago when she began her Senate career.
Murray will outline her plans in a speech to senators after they are sworn in and convene for a new two-year session.
The remarks, which contain broad policy goals but few details, were provided by her office to the Globe. Murray declined an interview request, so her exact position on several issues, particularly the level of support she would lend to a tax increase for the struggling MBTA is not clear in her remarks.
House Speaker Robert A. DeLeo is also expected to outline his priorities in a speech to his members Wednesday, after their inaugurations, but the Globe did not receive an advance copy. Governor Deval Patrick will outline his priorities on Jan. 16, when he delivers the annual State of the Commonwealth address.
Murray, a Plymouth Democrat, was elected to the Senate in 1992 and has served as president since 2007. Under Senate term limits, she is required to give up her post by March 2015, meaning this is her last full two-year term as Senate leader, barring a rule change.
Murray is not known for public displays of sentimentality, but the speech she plans to deliver Wednesday reaches back to the early years of her legislative career as it sets what will probably be her final agenda as leader.
Murray, the first woman to lead the Senate, made her name in the chamber by championing a 1995 overhaul of the state's welfare system, which preceded the federal welfare overhaul, with limits on cash assistance and emphasis on finding work.
In Wednesday's speech, Murray is expected to credit the 1995 legislation with reducing the welfare rolls by half, but she also plans to say it needs unspecified tweaks.
"Those reforms were enacted with the goal of creating a system that gave people the help they need to exit a system that kept them in poverty and their children at risk," Murray plans to say. "It's time to revisit and identify loopholes that need to be closed to ensure that our system presents a clear path for our residents to reach economic independence and lead self-sufficient and successful lives."
Murray does not plan to outline the changes she would seek in Wednesday's speech. Broad changes could face resistance from Patrick, who depended on welfare while growing up on the South Side of Chicago and has been been wary of benefit changes that he has labeled as unnecessarily punitive.
Last year, Patrick accused the Legislature of "political grandstanding" on the issue as he sent back a measure banning welfare recipients from using benefit cards for alcohol, lottery tickets, tobacco, and certain other purchases. The Legislature rejected those changes.
Murray also plans to call for new discussion of early voting and liberalized absentee ballot policies that have been adopted in other states "to allow greater voter participation and convenience, and to ease polling place congestion."
Secretary of State William F. Galvin recently said that he supports changes to loosen restrictions on who can vote absentee and has filed a constitutional amendment that would allow them. He said some other forms of early balloting could create logistical challenges that would cost more money, but he would welcome the Legislature taking up the issue.
Many of Murray's other proposals dovetail with priorities previously discussed by DeLeo and Patrick.
She will propose measures to respond to the deadly massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School "that will protect the residents of Massachusetts without demonizing the mentally ill." Patrick has introduced a gun bill that would, among other provisions, increase the reporting of disqualifying mental health issues into the federal gun registry.
Murray will also propose reexamining the criteria for sex offender registration in response to the case of John Burbine, a Level 1 sex offender from Wakefield accused last month of raping and abusing at least a dozen infants and children at his wife's childcare service.
Patrick supports posting the identities of Level 2 and Level 3 sex offenders online, while making information about Level 1 offenders available in person upon request. Others have called for greater public access.
Murray also plans to urge the Senate to consider a proposal by Attorney General Martha Coakley to raise the maximum fine in corporate manslaughter cases from $1,000 to $250,000. That proposal is part of what is expected to be a package of measures to deal with the fallout from the deadly meningitis outbreak that has been linked to the New England Compounding Center in Framingham.
Patrick has appointed a special commission to look at the industry and its work is nearly complete, said Alec Loftus, spokesman for the Department of Health and Human Services.
Patrick has made transportation a top priority this year, and the Legislature has developed a consensus that something needs to be done to address an estimated shortfall of about $1 billion a year to maintain the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, regional bus systems, and state highways. Murray, in her speech, plans to cite significant needs, including a $2.2 trillion backlog of infrastructure projects at the MBTA.
But she does not specifically endorse a tax increase. Instead, she notes that the Legislature had previously demanded "reform before revenue," which sparked a 2009 overhaul that eliminated the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority. She said that change, plus an increase in the sales tax that staved off toll hikes and MBTA fare increases, helped the state "overcome some of its most immediate problems" with its transportation system.
"It is now possible to envision a better future for the Department of Transportation, where it was not before," she plans to say.
Noah Bierman can be reached at firstname.lastname@example.com. Follow him on Twitter @noahbierman.