Happy Fourth, everyone, and particularly those who are celebrating one or more birthdays today!

I'll ask my fellow Americans (non-Americans welcome to join in as well, of course) what your plans are to observe Independence Day?

My plans are always also colored a bit by the fact that it is my birthday (as mentioned in this comment by a friend), but still tied to the general holiday.

Each year I wait in bed until I hear NPR's reading of the Declaration of Independence - it sort of sets the tone of the day for me. (Bonus question - how many framed copies of the Declaration do you have on display?) One thing I like to do each year is to watch the movie Gettysburg (all 4+ hours of it), which is an excellent adaptation of the book The Killer Angels. Why? Well, primarily due to the role that the Battle of Gettysburg played as a turning point in the Civil War, and therefore (as I see it) in redeeming the promise initially made in the Revolution.

Ah, yes, gotta love them churches what thinks they's above the law:

Burlington May Stop Archdiocese Radio's Use Of Tower

The town of Burlington is trying to prevent the Archdiocese of Hartford from using its radio tower on Johnnycake Mountain because of its recent decision to pull ecumenical programming from the airwaves.

The town believes the transformation of WJMJ-FM from an ecumenical station to an all-Catholic station violates a 1987 agreement between the town and the archdiocese over the use of the tower, First Selectwoman Kathleen Zabel said.

"It's a black and white matter," Zabel said. "[The archdiocese] is in violation of the stipulated agreement."

They're the church - the Most Holy Roman Catholic Church - so of course they can do what they want.

Fourth of July is coming up tomorrow, and Mrs. Inscrutable always feeds me a lot of watermelon during this holiday. I used to tell myself that it was becuase it's really hot out here in Arizona - but now I'm not so sure...

[link] Watermelon yields Viagra-like effects

LUBBOCK, Texas (AP) — A slice of cool, fresh watermelon is a juicy way to top off a Fourth of July cookout and one that researchers say has effects similar to Viagra — but don't necessarily expect it to keep the fireworks all night long.

Watermelons contain an ingredient called citrulline that can trigger production of a compound that helps relax the body's blood vessels, similar to what happens when a man takes Viagra, said scientists in Texas, one of the nation's top producers of the seedless variety.

Found in the flesh and rind of watermelons, citrulline reacts with the body's enzymes when consumed in large quantities and is changed into arginine, an amino acid that benefits the heart and the circulatory and immune systems.

I knew it!

[link] Q. Dad, will you explain the theory of relativity to me? I don't understand why time goes slower at great speed.
A. It's because you keep changing time zones. See, if you fly to California, you gain three hours on a five-hour flight, right? So if you go at the speed of light, you gain more time, because it doesn't take as long to get there. Of course, the theory of relativity only works if you're going west.

Here in the Midwest there is a real and significant problem with meth - to the point of paranoia on the part of both the population and government. This has led to laws restricting access to certain precursor drugs and chemicals, reports of environmental damage (meth labs tend to produce some really nasty chemical contamination), and the development of special task forces of local, state and federal police agencies to target meth production and distribution. It is the War on (Some) Drugs on steroids.

So it is fairly easy to see how something like this can happen:

Town Finds Drug Agent Is Really an Impostor

GERALD, Mo. — Like so many rural communities in the country’s middle, this tiny town had wrestled for years with the woes of methamphetamine. Then, several months ago, a federal agent showed up.

Have you ever been a tourist, and taken pictures of your trip? Have an interest in architecture or large engineering projects? Perhaps like to draw or paint plein air? Or maybe you're a writer wanting to make notes about a particular location you want to use in a book or story?

Welcome to the Terror List:

Terror watch uses local eyes

Hundreds of police, firefighters, paramedics and even utility workers have been trained and recently dispatched as "Terrorism Liaison Officers" in Colorado and a handful of other states to hunt for "suspicious activity" — and are reporting their findings into secret government databases.

It's a tactic intended to feed better data into terrorism early-warning systems and uncover intelligence that could help fight anti-U.S. forces. But the vague nature of the TLOs' mission, and their focus on reporting both legal and illegal activity, has generated objections from privacy advocates and civil libertarians.

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This is my first original post, so I hope I get the damned thing right.

Did you know that the Texas Supreme Court takes separation of Church and State very seriously? They do, really. In fact, they take SoCS so seriously that they ruled that they couldn't let a church be punished for abusing a girl because "the case unconstitutionally entangled the court in religious matters."

In a 6-3 decision, the justices found that a lower court erred when it said the Pleasant Glade Assembly of God's First Amendment rights regarding freedom of religion did not prevent the church from being held liable for mental distress triggered by a "hyper-spiritualistic environment."

So the Church's freedom of religion does mean that they can get away with abusing a girl (they call it "exorcism"), cutting and bruising her, and scaring the hell out of her (no pun intended). Ruling otherwise infringes not only on their rights, but "entangles the court in religious matters."

Another hit and run post...This is all you'll likely see out of me for at least 2 more weeks.

We didn't really see Carl Buell. What we did see is one of his drawing at the Petrified Forest National Park! I think it's awesome to run in to work away from the tubes by people you see on the blogosphere.

OK, Kiddies, gather round - it's time to confess your sins and receive absolution once again!

Today's topic: technological ineptitude.

A lot of people expect me to be tech savvy, what with being a SF author and all. But the truth is, I tend to be a late-adopter. For the most part, a computer or cell phone or MP3 player that is one iteration behind the curve is good enough for me.

My stereo system is 15 years old. My computer is 7. Forgive me, for I have sinned against being a good consumer.

Actually, I will probably get a new computer system before the summer is out. It's finally time. There's a good local small business that builds systems to suit at reasonable prices that my wife has worked with for years (she's much more tech savvy than I am). I'll tell them my needs, let them put together a decent system for me.

One thing I have been considering is making the jump to an Open Source OS, since those have now become more user-fondling. Anyone want to offer opinions on this?

Jim Downey

(And there, I just posted blog #1958 - the year I was born!)

An Honor That Bush Is Unlikely to Embrace

SAN FRANCISCO — Reagan has his highways. Lincoln has his memorial. Washington has the capital (and a state, too). But President Bush may soon be the sole president to have a memorial named after him that you can contribute to from the bathroom.

From the Department of Damned-With-Faint-Praise, a group going by the regal-sounding name of the Presidential Memorial Commission of San Francisco is planning to ask voters here to change the name of a prize-winning water treatment plant on the shoreline to the George W. Bush Sewage Plant.

The plan, naturally hatched in a bar, would place a vote on the November ballot to provide “an appropriate honor for a truly unique president.”

Excellent! And how very appropriate. This goes into effect, I may need to schedule a trip to SF just in order to make a contribution in W's name.

OK, if I was smart enough to post the actual cartoon, I would. But since I seem to be computer illiterate this morning, for now I'll just direct you to today's Cectic strip. He nails perfectly.

Oh, and if Brent wants to put the image in, this blathering can go.

(Nah... We love your blathering, Jim! :) -Brent)

Jim Downey

Is your dog psychic? Does your dog jump around like an idiot right before you get home, and seem to "know", you know, telepathically, when you're coming home? Ours seem to. We have two ginormous English Mastiffs who hop around like morons whenever someone comes to the door - sometimes they start even before we realize that there is someone at the door! Amazing! They love meeting new people, and it's almost like they have a keener sense of smell and hearing than we do! But of course, it's probably because they're psychic. Yeah. That's the ticket.

If your dogs do this too, then Dr. Rupert Sheldrake wants to pay you a thousand bucks to perform totally scientifical-sounding experiments on your dog. And he would too...

...except for those darned skeptics and atheists! Those guys are always hanging around, whining about "evidence" and whatnot. *shaking fist at the dirty unbelieving atheist skeptics*

From his interview at Alex Tsakiris' breathtakingly credulous woo-factory, Skeptiko.com (That's SkeptiKo.com, NOT NOT NOT our good friend SkeptiCo.com folks!):

[link] Dr. Sheldrake: Well, I mean, I’ve had to think long and hard about this because, of course, I often have encountered some skeptics and… I think that, for many of them, it…they’ve made science, not into a method of inquiry, but into a kind of ideology. Michael Shermer likes to say, “Skepticism is a method not a position.” But, actually, for him, it is a position. And, so it is for most skeptics.

I think, what lies behind it for many of them is that they’ve…many of them are atheists, dogmatic and often militant atheists.

Alex: Right.

More below the fold...

. . . because I sure feel like celebrating with the *good* scotch:

Court: A constitutional right to a gun

Answering a 127-year old constitutional question, the Supreme Court ruled on Thursday that the Second Amendment protects an individual right to have a gun, at least in one’s home. The Court, splitting 5-4, struck down a District of Columbia ban on handgun possession.

Justice Antonin Scalia’s opinion for the majority stressed that the Court was not casting doubt on long-standing bans on gun possession by felons or the mentally retarded, or laws barring guns from schools or government buildings, or laws putting conditions on gun sales.

In District of Columbia v. Heller (07-290), the Court nullified two provisions of the city of Washington’s strict 1976 gun control law: a flat ban on possessing a gun in one’s home, and a requirement that any gun — except one kept at a business — must be unloaded and disassembled or have a trigger lock in place. The Court said it was not passing on a part of the law requiring that guns be licensed.

(Do NOT click the image if you are at work. NSFW. You have been warned.)

A 16-year old boy in Brisbane, Australia has been arrested and charged with "offensive behavior" under the "Summary Offenses Act 2005" for "public nuisance" for wearing a t-shirt that says "Jesus Is A Cunt" with an image of a nun masturbating on the front.

Hmnn.

The arrest has sparked a pretty healthy debate about the need for a Bill Of Rights in Australia. Baptist Reverend Matt Hunt, had this to say about the arrest:

[Rev. Hunt] "When someone comes to the point of saying Jesus is the devil or Jesus is 'expletive', the Bible does say be very careful because you're on thin ice."

Apparently the laws in Australia agree with the good reverend. Others, like civil rights lawyer Bill Potts aren't so sure:

[Lawyer Bill Potts] "One of the great problems with our country is that we talk about rights such as privacy and freedom of speech and the like but they are not enshrined or protected in any way as they are in America," he said.

"While there are always limits on freedom of speech, you can't incite violence or anything like that, it seems to be now more than ever that our rights to freedom of speech and freedom of expression should be protected.

"A Bill of Rights which enshrines that protection is long overdue in this country."

What do you think? I would personally be very uncomfortable wearing this shirt. However, I would fight for the freedom of expression rights of anyone who chose to wear it.

Via PZ, link to the amazingly absurd Ray Comfort blog wherein Ray answers this question:

"There've been several hundred gay marriages enacted in California in the past few days. Maybe a couple of thousand by now, I haven't checked the numbers. And in the non-gay-marrying Midwest, they're fighting floods, while in California it's fair and dry. How is The Golden State managing to escape the wrath of your imaginary friend, I wonder?" Weemaryanne

A perfectly reasonable dig, eh? Well, you're gonna love Ray's response:

In his own inimitable way, the Rude Pundit this morning posted about the absurd FISA legislation currently being debated in the Senate. The non-obscene central point:

If Madison or Benjamin Franklin could, they would bitch slap the Democrats in Congress for legalizing the ability of the President to authorize spying on Americans with no oversight, no cause other than whatever whim the President wants to call an emergency. And to the Republicans who pinched each other's nipples in joy at how the Democrats raised their haunches for easy access, the Rude Pundit hopes you trust the hell out of President Obama.

That's the thing that amazes me: the Republicans, almost without exception, are willing to turn this kind of power over to a Democratic president. Who will likely have a solidly Democratic House and Senate behind him.

Have they lost their minds?

A petition has sprung out of The Pledge Project by Alonzo Fyfe, the Atheist Ethicist.

[link] Congress undermined American unity in 1954 when it added "Under God" to our Pledge of Allegiance and again in 1956 when it replaced our 175 year old national motto, E Pluribus Unum ("Out Of Many, One"), with "In God We Trust", thus demoting to an implied outsider status the agnostics, atheists, deists, polytheists and other citizens who do not ascribe to this theology. Ideological contention is a necessary and desired result of the freedoms that are the real source of our unity and strength. These laws, by claiming that our unity rests on disregarding the reality of such sincere individual disagreement, are self-defeating.

I urge you to click the link and sign the petition. It won't change anything, but it might make you feel better.

The Pledge Project got me thinking about much the same sort of thing last week. But instead of starting a petition, I created a venn diagram. (Because that's what I do.) I was going to do something with it, but then remembered how lazy I was, so I just saved it on my hard drive to never be opened again. But I dug it out, finished it and I present it now, for your enjoyment. (It may not seem like much, but that says a great deal about how interested, engaged and excited I am by the whole Pledge Project thing.)

By sporkyy

Man named God arrested for selling cocaine - near a church

TAMPA, FL -- Whether his name is a blessing or curse the man named God Lucky Howard was arrested by undercover detectives for selling cocaine in his neighborhood.

If the delivery of cocaine charge isn't enough Howard is charged with the delivery of cocaine near a church, a school and public housing near North Avon Avenue in Tampa.

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Howard remains in jail on $86,500 bond.

Man, you can't make this shit up.

Jim Downey

We've lost one of the biggies:

Carlin, counterculture comedians' dean, dies at 71

LOS ANGELES - George Carlin, the dean of counterculture comedians whose biting insights on life and language were immortalized in his "Seven Words You Can Never Say On TV" routine, died of heart failure Sunday. He was 71.

He was a brilliant comedian. An unapologetic atheist. A social critic. And he will be missed.

I'm just happy he'd gotten word that he was to be awarded the Mark Twain Prize this year.

Thanks, George.

Jim Downey

Man, I loves me some Star Trek technobabble as much as the next guy. But get a load of this:

Amazon.com Product Description
Get the purest digital audio you've ever experienced from multi-channel DVD and CD playback through your Denon home theater receiver with the AK-DL1 dedicated cable. Made of high-purity copper wire, it's designed to thoroughly eliminate adverse effects from vibration and helps stabilize the digital transmission from occurrences of jitter and ripple. A tin-bearing copper alloy is used for the cable's shield while the insulation is made of a fluoropolymer material with superior heat resistance, weather resistance, and anti-aging properties. The connector features a rounded plug lever to prevent bending or breaking and direction marks to indicate correct direction for connecting cable.

And it can be yours for the low, low price of $499.99.

Seriously. A $5 ethernet cable.