By Dave Pidgeon, Intelligencer Journal Staff
Intelligencer Journal
Published: Mar 14, 2006 8:15 AM EST
LANCASTER COUNTY, PA - More than a dozen people from Mountville-based Vision of Hope Metropolitan Community Church will attend a rally today at the state Capitol opposing the Marriage Protection Amendment.
The Rev. Deborah Coggins, pastor of Vision of Hope, said the proposed amendment -- which would change the state constitution by defining marriage as between "one man and one woman" -- discriminates against gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgendered people.
"There's no evidence at all to indicate that giving marriage rights to gay and lesbian couples would hurt heterosexual marriage in any way, shape or form," she said.
Coggins said the Vision of Hope contingent will try to meet with three Lancaster County legislators to express opposition to the amendment.
The lawmakers are state Rep. Scott Boyd, a Lampeter Republican who is the amendment's prime sponsor, and Republican co-sponsors state Reps. Katie True and Gibson C. Armstrong.
Lancaster County's four other Republican House delegates also support the measure.
Armstrong said Monday he is willing to meet with the Vision of Hope group.
" ... In every state that has put this amendment up, it has passed," he said. "What this is about is stopping judicial tyranny."
Supporters say the amendment would strengthen an 11-year-old state law defining marriage as a relationship between a man and woman against legal attack.
A judge in Maryland earlier this year struck down a similar law in that state. That decision prompted Pennsylvania legislators to support an amendment here.
"Why should a judge be willing to set aside 5,000 years of recorded history?" Armstrong said. "Every civilization we know of has been based on the traditional family."
But Coggin wonders: What is traditional?
"In marriages up until the latter part of the 20th century, women were still considered property," she said. Are amendment supporters "talking about the traditional marriage in the Bible, where men had more than one wife?"
The earliest the amendment could take effect is late 2007.
The House and Senate would have to approve identical language in consecutive sessions before the proposed amendment could be put before voters as a referendum.
If voters approve the measure, the constitution would be changed.
Supporters say voters, not judges, should be the ones to define marriage. They also claim a heterosexual marriage is better for children than nontraditional unions.
Opponents have said the amendment could jeopardize health care benefits and hospital-visitation rights for domestic partners.
"Gays and lesbians -- we pay our taxes," Coggin said. "We contribute to our community. We pay our bills. ... Why shouldn't we receive the same rights as other people?"
The Philadelphia-based Center for Lesbian and Gay Civil Rights is coordinating the rally, which will begin at 2 p.m. in the Capitol Rotunda.
Dave Pidgeon's e-mail address is dpidgeon@lnpnews.com.
------------
Sad, folks, really sad. Why is this even an issue? We have health care and the economy to worry about! Let these people marry if they want to!
My nurse, Chris, said she doesn't have any sympathy for AIDS paitents as many of them are gay. Well, I don't pity AIDS paitents, either. Pity isn't what they need--it's care and help. I really feel sorry for people that cannot get past their own narrow views and see the big picture: we're all human and we have rights...yes, even the right to hate, even though we must do so quietly. But it is infinitely better to love all, even your so called "enemies". It is easier to take the easy way out than to question the norm--to dare question those who hold office or any powerful positions. Most, if called upon, will take the easy way out, but it is the few that do not who bring about the most orginality in life and the best of changes in this world. Someday, humanity will overcome this and shine. I hope to be a part of that process even if it is in a small way.
Tuesday, March 14, 2006
"Some things are worth dying for!"
The following is an excerpt from an essay by Brad J. Kallenberg:
In April of 1992, Kristen French, a 15 year-old girl was kidnapped and held as a
sex slave in suburban Ontario. For two days she was raped and threatened with
death. Surprisingly, on the third day she grew defiant, refusing to perform a
particular sexual act even after she was shown pre-recorded videotape of her
predecessor, Leslie, being strangled by her captors with an electrical cord.
(Leslie's corpse was sawn into 10 pieces before disposal.) A record of Kristen's
suffering was preserved on video tape too. Of interest is Kristen's dying claim:
"Some things are worth dying for."2
Kristen's story strikes me as a pointed example of the sort of suffering
Some have offered as the basis for an evidential argument from evil. For
example, William Rowe captures the heart of the argument in proposition P: "No
good we know of justifies an omnipotent, omniscient, perfectly good being in
permitting E1 and E2." Yet I think Kristen's tragedy is more troubling than that
of E1, the case of the fawn languishing for days horribly and alone in the forest
before succumbing to third degree forest fire burns, because I do not know what
it means to say that animals are conscious of their pain. Kristen's case seems also
more pointed than E2, the case of the rape, beating and death of a five year-old,
since 5 year-olds lack conceptual skills to fully cognize the evils of rape much
less the sense that death is impending.
Given that her story epitomizes gratuitous evil, there is something
unnerving about Kristen's assertion that some things are worth dying for. Taken
at face value, Kristen claims to know of a good causally connected to some evil,
namely, death-by-rapist, that makes the evil of some value, "worth it" in her
words. Granted, she may have had a privative rather than a substantive good in
mind (viz., the cessation of rape). Still, her story is reminiscent of others who
insisted that some things are worth dying for. For example, at the turn of the 20th
century, a 12 year-old peasant girl named Maria Goretti was killed for refusing
sex with the son of a tenant farmer with whom Maria's family shared cramped
living quarters.3 By all accounts Maria wasn't very bright, but she had been
catechized and faced her assailant with resolution: "No, it's a sin! God does not
want it." (Incidentally, her words are known to us today because the 18 year-old
would-be rapist, Alessandro Serenelli, recorded them. Serenelli was haunted by
the image of Maria who, as she lay dying, spoke words of forgiveness to him.
Serenelli not only confessed, while in prison he repented, and much later lived
out his days working in a monastery garden.)
----------
Granted, what is considered "good" is not absolute. It varies from individual to individual. And what is "worth" an entire life does, too. Kristen and Maria, in the face of death, held on to their character and principal to the last stroke of their short lives choosing death over life...but it meant a life of pain if they were to somehow survive and go on living. To give into their agressors meant to forsake their souls, so they'd rather die then give up their spirit and moral values. It is a brave thing to do in the darkest hour: to die for the sake of all spirit and life itself. Even in the face of death and fear, their are champions who triumph over it. Their bodies may be gone, but their spirit cannot decay and is not limited to the prison of their violated flesh.
In April of 1992, Kristen French, a 15 year-old girl was kidnapped and held as a
sex slave in suburban Ontario. For two days she was raped and threatened with
death. Surprisingly, on the third day she grew defiant, refusing to perform a
particular sexual act even after she was shown pre-recorded videotape of her
predecessor, Leslie, being strangled by her captors with an electrical cord.
(Leslie's corpse was sawn into 10 pieces before disposal.) A record of Kristen's
suffering was preserved on video tape too. Of interest is Kristen's dying claim:
"Some things are worth dying for."2
Kristen's story strikes me as a pointed example of the sort of suffering
Some have offered as the basis for an evidential argument from evil. For
example, William Rowe captures the heart of the argument in proposition P: "No
good we know of justifies an omnipotent, omniscient, perfectly good being in
permitting E1 and E2." Yet I think Kristen's tragedy is more troubling than that
of E1, the case of the fawn languishing for days horribly and alone in the forest
before succumbing to third degree forest fire burns, because I do not know what
it means to say that animals are conscious of their pain. Kristen's case seems also
more pointed than E2, the case of the rape, beating and death of a five year-old,
since 5 year-olds lack conceptual skills to fully cognize the evils of rape much
less the sense that death is impending.
Given that her story epitomizes gratuitous evil, there is something
unnerving about Kristen's assertion that some things are worth dying for. Taken
at face value, Kristen claims to know of a good causally connected to some evil,
namely, death-by-rapist, that makes the evil of some value, "worth it" in her
words. Granted, she may have had a privative rather than a substantive good in
mind (viz., the cessation of rape). Still, her story is reminiscent of others who
insisted that some things are worth dying for. For example, at the turn of the 20th
century, a 12 year-old peasant girl named Maria Goretti was killed for refusing
sex with the son of a tenant farmer with whom Maria's family shared cramped
living quarters.3 By all accounts Maria wasn't very bright, but she had been
catechized and faced her assailant with resolution: "No, it's a sin! God does not
want it." (Incidentally, her words are known to us today because the 18 year-old
would-be rapist, Alessandro Serenelli, recorded them. Serenelli was haunted by
the image of Maria who, as she lay dying, spoke words of forgiveness to him.
Serenelli not only confessed, while in prison he repented, and much later lived
out his days working in a monastery garden.)
----------
Granted, what is considered "good" is not absolute. It varies from individual to individual. And what is "worth" an entire life does, too. Kristen and Maria, in the face of death, held on to their character and principal to the last stroke of their short lives choosing death over life...but it meant a life of pain if they were to somehow survive and go on living. To give into their agressors meant to forsake their souls, so they'd rather die then give up their spirit and moral values. It is a brave thing to do in the darkest hour: to die for the sake of all spirit and life itself. Even in the face of death and fear, their are champions who triumph over it. Their bodies may be gone, but their spirit cannot decay and is not limited to the prison of their violated flesh.
Friday, March 10, 2006
Don't sue me, Professor Andy!
But I just thought your blog post was so brilliant that I had to repost it here in my OWN blog (remember, these are Andrew Lamers' words, not mine):
I was just thinking...
(Warning: My Christian friends should skip this post. You'll want to save my soul or perform an exorcism on me, neither of which will help in the slightest.)
A friend of mine is SO proud because her daughter is going on a mission to China, sponsored by a local church here. The goal of her daughter's mission, she tells me, is to do good deeds and bring the word of Christ to rural parts of China.
"Don't these people already have a religion?" I asked.
"Yes," she laughed. "But they're Buddhists! That's not even a real religion. They need to know Jesus as their personal savior so they can enter the kingdom of heaven."
-- Last warning to my Christian friends! Continue at your own peril! --
If you know me, you know where I'm going with this. I looked at my friend and said "And you see absolutely nothing wrong with trying to make these people convert?"
"No! Are you kidding? These people need to be saved!"
I took a deep breath. Obviously, self-control didn't win, because I finally said to her "Wouldn't you find it just a little offensive if Buddhist temples in China started sending Buddhist missionaries to Arkansas or New Mexico to try to 'save' poor, misguided Christians from their foolish, made-up belief in Jesus? And if these Buddhists insisted that the only way you could enjoy a blissful afterlife was to embrace Buddha as your lord and personal savior, wouldn't that be morally repugnant to you?"
She stopped smiling. "But they're WRONG."
Yes, I kept my mouth shut, but I started thinking "That's what most religious people believe about members of any other religion: they're the ones who got it right, and everyone who doesn't agree is wrong. Therefore, they get to go to heaven and everyone else gets to burn in hell."
I also started thinking about why I like Buddhists so much. Here are a few examples:
When was the last time a Buddhist showed up at your door trying to get you to attend his temple, or wanting to testify to you about his faith in Buddha? Probably never.
Has a Buddhist ever tried to shove a copy of the Tao Te Ching into your hands as you walked by? Probably not.
When's the last time you heard something on the news about Buddhists blowing up buildings or marketplaces to punish the infidels who don't believe in Buddhism, or in the right kind of Buddhism? Go ahead, do some research on Google. Get back to me when you find something.
Tell me the last time Buddhists ever declared a war on a non-Buddhist country to try to force that country to become Buddhists? Or the last time a Buddhist nation declared a war and proudly shouted "Buddha is on our side!"
Do governments in Buddhist countries describe themselves as "Fair and Buddhist nations, founded on the basic truths of Buddhism"? Do they insist that the parables of Lao-Tzu, Mo-Tzu, or Han-Fe-Tzu be published in courthouses and in schools?
Do Buddhists put stickers on their cars saying "What Would Buddha Do?", or "Buddhists aren't perfect -- just forgiven!" or "Let Go and Let Buddha"?
This is what I'm trying to say: there's something very, very admirable about a religion that doesn't feel a maniacal need to go out shove its beliefs into the hearts and minds of others. About a religion that believes that building temples is enough, and if anybody truly wants to know more, they'll walk inside. About a religion that believes that other religions are perfectly suitable ways for people to deal with life, and that converting others is neither mandatory nor desirable!
Anyway, there's my rant. Pray for my soul if you must.
Oh, and Buddha go with you.
I was just thinking...
(Warning: My Christian friends should skip this post. You'll want to save my soul or perform an exorcism on me, neither of which will help in the slightest.)
A friend of mine is SO proud because her daughter is going on a mission to China, sponsored by a local church here. The goal of her daughter's mission, she tells me, is to do good deeds and bring the word of Christ to rural parts of China.
"Don't these people already have a religion?" I asked.
"Yes," she laughed. "But they're Buddhists! That's not even a real religion. They need to know Jesus as their personal savior so they can enter the kingdom of heaven."
-- Last warning to my Christian friends! Continue at your own peril! --
If you know me, you know where I'm going with this. I looked at my friend and said "And you see absolutely nothing wrong with trying to make these people convert?"
"No! Are you kidding? These people need to be saved!"
I took a deep breath. Obviously, self-control didn't win, because I finally said to her "Wouldn't you find it just a little offensive if Buddhist temples in China started sending Buddhist missionaries to Arkansas or New Mexico to try to 'save' poor, misguided Christians from their foolish, made-up belief in Jesus? And if these Buddhists insisted that the only way you could enjoy a blissful afterlife was to embrace Buddha as your lord and personal savior, wouldn't that be morally repugnant to you?"
She stopped smiling. "But they're WRONG."
Yes, I kept my mouth shut, but I started thinking "That's what most religious people believe about members of any other religion: they're the ones who got it right, and everyone who doesn't agree is wrong. Therefore, they get to go to heaven and everyone else gets to burn in hell."
I also started thinking about why I like Buddhists so much. Here are a few examples:
When was the last time a Buddhist showed up at your door trying to get you to attend his temple, or wanting to testify to you about his faith in Buddha? Probably never.
Has a Buddhist ever tried to shove a copy of the Tao Te Ching into your hands as you walked by? Probably not.
When's the last time you heard something on the news about Buddhists blowing up buildings or marketplaces to punish the infidels who don't believe in Buddhism, or in the right kind of Buddhism? Go ahead, do some research on Google. Get back to me when you find something.
Tell me the last time Buddhists ever declared a war on a non-Buddhist country to try to force that country to become Buddhists? Or the last time a Buddhist nation declared a war and proudly shouted "Buddha is on our side!"
Do governments in Buddhist countries describe themselves as "Fair and Buddhist nations, founded on the basic truths of Buddhism"? Do they insist that the parables of Lao-Tzu, Mo-Tzu, or Han-Fe-Tzu be published in courthouses and in schools?
Do Buddhists put stickers on their cars saying "What Would Buddha Do?", or "Buddhists aren't perfect -- just forgiven!" or "Let Go and Let Buddha"?
This is what I'm trying to say: there's something very, very admirable about a religion that doesn't feel a maniacal need to go out shove its beliefs into the hearts and minds of others. About a religion that believes that building temples is enough, and if anybody truly wants to know more, they'll walk inside. About a religion that believes that other religions are perfectly suitable ways for people to deal with life, and that converting others is neither mandatory nor desirable!
Anyway, there's my rant. Pray for my soul if you must.
Oh, and Buddha go with you.
My sister and I in 1988. I'm 6 here, I think, so Chloe would've been 4 or 5. I'm on the left, she's on the right. We are in our "Spring time dresses". I brought my bunny, she brought her chick! :-D
Posted by Picasa
Tuesday, March 07, 2006
Dearest Eric
Dearest Eric
I won’t even try to wear a mask now in this letter. Again, today, the sheer anguish is almost more than I can bear. I want to scream…I want to rip something irreplaceable apart, like all those damned pictures of me as a baby and small child. Sometimes, I just want to give up and say you were wrong about me—I have no talent, no “magic” in me as you once so beautifully put it.
I’m having a hard time completing my thoughts here. Your passing is the perfect excuse to be depressed and to stay that way. I’m reminded of Ordinary People—the film, since I have yet to read the book. You are the perfect Buck and I a perfect Conrad here. Where I was sure you would hold on, you let go, and where I was sure I would fall, I still hung on somehow by chance or a miracle.
And the world around me, like the world around Conrad, doesn’t seem to understand how much he hurts and struggles inside to still exist and function in the ordinary world that is far less than forgiving. Why do I feel anger towards you? I know it isn’t right to blame you for dying, but you are, hard though it is to admit, responsible for your death. And I am choosing to grieve like this.
How difficult even the simplest task is: eating, waking up, breathing. How I hated the world for a time because it seemed that it did not even slow down to acknowledge your death as a real loss—how dare the world keep going?! A man, a sweet, kind, gentle man…of laughter, and magic…is GONE! Nothing can ever bring him back! But it mattered not—death is an every day occurrence, like the sun rising and setting.
I wish I could say that though you are gone away I still felt you as much as I did in your actual presence. I wish I could say that it was getting easier now that more months have gone by; indeed, it’s just the opposite—the longer time ticks away between your half-life and sudden death, the worse it becomes, the more worried I’ll start to forget things I once could clearly recall—like the sound of your distinctive voice and laugh, or the way your face became so animated when you talked.
Your voice: mmmm…it was deep, but not base deep. It would become very southern sometimes, but without the twang so many are accustomed to hearing. It was easy on the ear to listen to…not a tone one could grow tired of hearing at length. You were an actor, after all. Shh! Listen, he speaks! Did you hear him?
You never used your voice to your advantage…only for ours, the students. Very seldom were you ever angry, for you had the most marvelous intuitive understanding of children and the novice performer. And if disagreements were had, you’d settle them in unorthodox ways that were compromise. It seemed you never took the easy way out of sticky situations which showed unusual depth of courage in you.
Remember that morning you asked me how my weekend was?
I replied, “Not very good.”
“Why?” you wondered.
“Well, Mr. Bailey, I guess because I didn’t make it a good weekend,” I answered after thinking about it.
“I have more respect for you now,” you said in turn, behind me, just in my ear, in your voice made gentle.
Here, again, I suppose, I’m making this a “sad” day and not a “happy” one full of smiles and light heartedness that you so often saw when I was in your class. But certainly you knew that even “squirrel-baits” had there blue periods.
People often will brush aside a terrible death by saying, “Well, he/she is in a better place now.” I don’t believe this is always the case. In fact, I have imagined you very bored in Heaven, if it is so perfect the way everyone says it is. If you are in Heaven, I hope you aren’t bored. I suppose even in Heaven, angels have “sad” days where they miss their former lives and people they love on Earth. Do you ever get sad still? Do you ever miss me?
What is dying like and death? I dearly hope and pray that you were not in pain while you were dying and just couldn’t breathe anymore…(sigh) Or, even if you were, the pain was slight, dull, or brief until the end. You must’ve been scared and lonely when you realized you were no longer inside the body you were so used to. I know I would’ve been. It’s childish on my part, I know, but if I could’ve, I’d have given you my teddy dad gave me at like 3 weeks old just so you wouldn’t be so lonely and scared and that everything for you would be all right soon enough.
I wonder if in Heaven…one has to learn to move about again, how to hear and see again. Is it very different than Earth? Do you talk differently now? I’m sure you see things so differently now away from earthly worries and thoughts and cares.
What’s God like, now that you know him? I sort of envy you now, because you met celebrities from all over the world and even did scenes with them, like Gary Oldman, and now, you’ve met and know God—the ultimate celebrity! I bet you even have his autograph displayed proudly on your mantle or on a bedside table.
I have a feeling you met my friends the England kids because you, after all, knew both me and Chloe, so that’s how you probably found each other. Did they tell you “embarrassing” stories when I was 5 and 6? I would bet that they were thrilled to know I came out of my shell thanks to you.
And, now that you are with your little boy again, what’s he like? Wonderful, I’m sure, and the image of you, as are Taylor and Jordan.
This letter has no definite or real ending; it’s ongoing and therapeutic for me. As I know plain as day you cannot for the most obvious reasons answer this letter in the conventional hand written or typed way, that’s okay. I really don’t need your answers because I pretty much know how you’d reply anyway: some would come very straight-edged and be matter-of-fact, some would be silly and loopy just to yank my chain and make me laugh, and others would be mysterious and have two or more possible meanings.
To know you was to love you, to find joy in the tiniest of things and places and the worst of circumstances. To love you was an honor and great peace for me and for all others, I’m quite sure. To love you was to be content and love is forever.
I thank you for loving me. The very least thing I can do is to go on loving you the remainder of my earthly days which I can more than promise you I will do.
Lots of LOVE,
Celia Foster, aka “little girl” aka “squirrel-bait”
I won’t even try to wear a mask now in this letter. Again, today, the sheer anguish is almost more than I can bear. I want to scream…I want to rip something irreplaceable apart, like all those damned pictures of me as a baby and small child. Sometimes, I just want to give up and say you were wrong about me—I have no talent, no “magic” in me as you once so beautifully put it.
I’m having a hard time completing my thoughts here. Your passing is the perfect excuse to be depressed and to stay that way. I’m reminded of Ordinary People—the film, since I have yet to read the book. You are the perfect Buck and I a perfect Conrad here. Where I was sure you would hold on, you let go, and where I was sure I would fall, I still hung on somehow by chance or a miracle.
And the world around me, like the world around Conrad, doesn’t seem to understand how much he hurts and struggles inside to still exist and function in the ordinary world that is far less than forgiving. Why do I feel anger towards you? I know it isn’t right to blame you for dying, but you are, hard though it is to admit, responsible for your death. And I am choosing to grieve like this.
How difficult even the simplest task is: eating, waking up, breathing. How I hated the world for a time because it seemed that it did not even slow down to acknowledge your death as a real loss—how dare the world keep going?! A man, a sweet, kind, gentle man…of laughter, and magic…is GONE! Nothing can ever bring him back! But it mattered not—death is an every day occurrence, like the sun rising and setting.
I wish I could say that though you are gone away I still felt you as much as I did in your actual presence. I wish I could say that it was getting easier now that more months have gone by; indeed, it’s just the opposite—the longer time ticks away between your half-life and sudden death, the worse it becomes, the more worried I’ll start to forget things I once could clearly recall—like the sound of your distinctive voice and laugh, or the way your face became so animated when you talked.
Your voice: mmmm…it was deep, but not base deep. It would become very southern sometimes, but without the twang so many are accustomed to hearing. It was easy on the ear to listen to…not a tone one could grow tired of hearing at length. You were an actor, after all. Shh! Listen, he speaks! Did you hear him?
You never used your voice to your advantage…only for ours, the students. Very seldom were you ever angry, for you had the most marvelous intuitive understanding of children and the novice performer. And if disagreements were had, you’d settle them in unorthodox ways that were compromise. It seemed you never took the easy way out of sticky situations which showed unusual depth of courage in you.
Remember that morning you asked me how my weekend was?
I replied, “Not very good.”
“Why?” you wondered.
“Well, Mr. Bailey, I guess because I didn’t make it a good weekend,” I answered after thinking about it.
“I have more respect for you now,” you said in turn, behind me, just in my ear, in your voice made gentle.
Here, again, I suppose, I’m making this a “sad” day and not a “happy” one full of smiles and light heartedness that you so often saw when I was in your class. But certainly you knew that even “squirrel-baits” had there blue periods.
People often will brush aside a terrible death by saying, “Well, he/she is in a better place now.” I don’t believe this is always the case. In fact, I have imagined you very bored in Heaven, if it is so perfect the way everyone says it is. If you are in Heaven, I hope you aren’t bored. I suppose even in Heaven, angels have “sad” days where they miss their former lives and people they love on Earth. Do you ever get sad still? Do you ever miss me?
What is dying like and death? I dearly hope and pray that you were not in pain while you were dying and just couldn’t breathe anymore…(sigh) Or, even if you were, the pain was slight, dull, or brief until the end. You must’ve been scared and lonely when you realized you were no longer inside the body you were so used to. I know I would’ve been. It’s childish on my part, I know, but if I could’ve, I’d have given you my teddy dad gave me at like 3 weeks old just so you wouldn’t be so lonely and scared and that everything for you would be all right soon enough.
I wonder if in Heaven…one has to learn to move about again, how to hear and see again. Is it very different than Earth? Do you talk differently now? I’m sure you see things so differently now away from earthly worries and thoughts and cares.
What’s God like, now that you know him? I sort of envy you now, because you met celebrities from all over the world and even did scenes with them, like Gary Oldman, and now, you’ve met and know God—the ultimate celebrity! I bet you even have his autograph displayed proudly on your mantle or on a bedside table.
I have a feeling you met my friends the England kids because you, after all, knew both me and Chloe, so that’s how you probably found each other. Did they tell you “embarrassing” stories when I was 5 and 6? I would bet that they were thrilled to know I came out of my shell thanks to you.
And, now that you are with your little boy again, what’s he like? Wonderful, I’m sure, and the image of you, as are Taylor and Jordan.
This letter has no definite or real ending; it’s ongoing and therapeutic for me. As I know plain as day you cannot for the most obvious reasons answer this letter in the conventional hand written or typed way, that’s okay. I really don’t need your answers because I pretty much know how you’d reply anyway: some would come very straight-edged and be matter-of-fact, some would be silly and loopy just to yank my chain and make me laugh, and others would be mysterious and have two or more possible meanings.
To know you was to love you, to find joy in the tiniest of things and places and the worst of circumstances. To love you was an honor and great peace for me and for all others, I’m quite sure. To love you was to be content and love is forever.
I thank you for loving me. The very least thing I can do is to go on loving you the remainder of my earthly days which I can more than promise you I will do.
Lots of LOVE,
Celia Foster, aka “little girl” aka “squirrel-bait”
Friday, March 03, 2006
Quote of the moment...
If it turns out that there is a God, I don't think that he's evil. But the worst that you can say about him is that basically he's an underachiever.
Woody Allen
US movie actor, comedian, & director (1935 - )
Woody Allen
US movie actor, comedian, & director (1935 - )
Sunday, February 19, 2006
On the Gentleness Test I scored...
| Gentle and sweet So, it looks like you're 72% as gentle as possible. You show 91% humility and 57% ability of making people feel good. On a test variable that means nothing yet, you scored 93%. |
| Good for you! You're a gentle person who would take on some embarassment before you would hurt someone else's feelings. People should generally feel comfortable relying on you, as you are unlikely to hurt people or make them uncomfortable. You're really good at doing this, and you're willing to look bad so others can feel good. You rock! :) |
My test tracked 4 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender:
|
| Link: The GENTLENESS Test written by kp0041 on Ok Cupid, home of the 32-Type Dating Test |
Okay, I'm not gay.
| Maybe a tomboy Congratulations! You scored 0! |
| You might like sports and wear jeans but you are certainly no lesbian. |
 |
My test tracked 1 variable How you compared to other people your age and gender:
|
| Link: The The am I gay (female) Test written by rainsigma on Ok Cupid, home of the 32-Type Dating Test |
Monday, February 06, 2006
According to a website, this is who I was in my last human life. Not bad at all--I absolutely love the part about magic being all around me in my past and present life! :-D
Posted by Picasa
Saturday, February 04, 2006
Saturday, January 28, 2006
Loss and losing...
While I am glad to be home rather than in the hospital, I find it really sad the way an ER only puts a "bandaide on the problem". The night before I went to the hospital, I knew something was wrong. I had been having head rushes all day. It happened even when I sat up, but I didnt want to tell mom or cause anyone to worry. I went to bed at 7:30 and woke up the next morning to take Jenn to school at 6. By the time that night came again, I called mom at work and finally told her "Something isnt right, I think we need to go in".
So Mom came home and we made our way to St. Peters. Itw as packed, and I remember telling mom that I couldnt handle waiting too long: I would have a panic attack. I have been having some really bad ones, especially at night when I wake myself up to make sure I'm still here. It's like I am terrified to die.
Anyways, they took me into admit me and did my vitals. Heartbeat 47 sitting up. Blood pressure 80/52. And weight 50 Kilos? fully clothed: with shoes, whatever that means.
The lady put me into a wheel chair and instead of going into the waiting room we went right back to a room, where they took blood, gave me an IV and some special medicine that enabled me to get down an Ensure without throwing it up.
After 6 hours, we were sent home and I was exhausted. The ER knew that I was about to have surgery. And they told me that if I needed to, in the mean time, that I could come back in and get IV nutrition once again. And I could keep doing that for as long as we needed to.
I think its pretty sad, that I was as sick as I was, with those vitals: and was sent home with the understanding that "I coudl come back"
With as much as I didnt want to, why didnt they keep me for a few days? Why didnt they give me more of that medicine in the hospital for my stomach so I could drink Ensure in front of them.
Why are they letting me die???? Why are they allowing it???
So now we wait. We wait to find out of this stomach surgery is going to happen. If it doesnt happen, we meet the surgeon for the stomach IV, where I will recieve nutrients Through a tube that sticks out of my stomach(how nice).
Anywyas , I am sooooo tired. I ddont understand, and I've spent that last few days trying to understand and I cant.
I am so scared of my mom not being able to stay with me when we do this gastric pacemaker. But she said her and Jenn would sleep in the car if they had to.
Everyone doesnt want me to die. Everyone is WATCHING me die. Everyone wants me to fight.
How do I fight???
"You're going to disappear" Michelle told me a week ago.
I'm so scared of that coming true.
-Nanny (image placeholder)
I love you, my family, please know you did all you could and you NEVER did anything wrong. YOu did everything right.
And especially:
PS. I will always love YOU. Always. Even tho we are hurting (image placeholder)
My own worries and selfish needs and wants are nothing compared to this sweet woman’s, now fighting for her very life. She’s beginning to die. It hurts. There’s nothing I can do. I can still be her friend, sure, but I can’t add to her life.
I don’t deal well with loss. I’m a depressive. I have a really hard time letting go of people.
I have been doing far too much complaining lately and I vow to myself the only way I’ll do it again is if I know it will literally save my life. I promise no more of that. I don’t know where else to vent my frustrations though. People read this blog of mine, so I have to tone down what I say or else not say it at all.
Sometimes people can say insensitive things without meaning to be that way. I’m still dealing with my personal hell of losing and complete loss. Some days, I think it is going to get better—there are even days when I don’t think about it at all. But some days…it’s like it just happened…I’ll dream he’s still alive and well, and then when I wake up I remember painful reality: he’s dead, and never coming back. It really doesn’t get any easier.
I’m angry, yes, but mostly, just very sad. Please understand, I’m not feeling sorry for myself, I just feel extreme sadness and melancholy. It destroys me in ways I can’t understand that I am about to lose 2 people I have come to love deeply! These last 3 months have been nothing short of hell. If it were at all possible, I’d go to hell and back and everywhere in between to bring Eric Bailey back. And if it were at all possible, I’d give Nanny my functioning stomach and large chunks of my vital organs so that she might live another 40 years. That’s what kind of friend I think I am and should be, and believe me I’m not trying to gloat here. I’m nobody, really. I’m reminded so everyday. God, I hope there’s a Heaven or an afterlife! It would be devastating if Eric Bailey and Nancy Kelly had nowhere else to go.
So Mom came home and we made our way to St. Peters. Itw as packed, and I remember telling mom that I couldnt handle waiting too long: I would have a panic attack. I have been having some really bad ones, especially at night when I wake myself up to make sure I'm still here. It's like I am terrified to die.
Anyways, they took me into admit me and did my vitals. Heartbeat 47 sitting up. Blood pressure 80/52. And weight 50 Kilos? fully clothed: with shoes, whatever that means.
The lady put me into a wheel chair and instead of going into the waiting room we went right back to a room, where they took blood, gave me an IV and some special medicine that enabled me to get down an Ensure without throwing it up.
After 6 hours, we were sent home and I was exhausted. The ER knew that I was about to have surgery. And they told me that if I needed to, in the mean time, that I could come back in and get IV nutrition once again. And I could keep doing that for as long as we needed to.
I think its pretty sad, that I was as sick as I was, with those vitals: and was sent home with the understanding that "I coudl come back"
With as much as I didnt want to, why didnt they keep me for a few days? Why didnt they give me more of that medicine in the hospital for my stomach so I could drink Ensure in front of them.
Why are they letting me die???? Why are they allowing it???
So now we wait. We wait to find out of this stomach surgery is going to happen. If it doesnt happen, we meet the surgeon for the stomach IV, where I will recieve nutrients Through a tube that sticks out of my stomach(how nice).
Anywyas , I am sooooo tired. I ddont understand, and I've spent that last few days trying to understand and I cant.
I am so scared of my mom not being able to stay with me when we do this gastric pacemaker. But she said her and Jenn would sleep in the car if they had to.
Everyone doesnt want me to die. Everyone is WATCHING me die. Everyone wants me to fight.
How do I fight???
"You're going to disappear" Michelle told me a week ago.
I'm so scared of that coming true.
-Nanny (image placeholder)
I love you, my family, please know you did all you could and you NEVER did anything wrong. YOu did everything right.
And especially:
PS. I will always love YOU. Always. Even tho we are hurting (image placeholder)
My own worries and selfish needs and wants are nothing compared to this sweet woman’s, now fighting for her very life. She’s beginning to die. It hurts. There’s nothing I can do. I can still be her friend, sure, but I can’t add to her life.
I don’t deal well with loss. I’m a depressive. I have a really hard time letting go of people.
I have been doing far too much complaining lately and I vow to myself the only way I’ll do it again is if I know it will literally save my life. I promise no more of that. I don’t know where else to vent my frustrations though. People read this blog of mine, so I have to tone down what I say or else not say it at all.
Sometimes people can say insensitive things without meaning to be that way. I’m still dealing with my personal hell of losing and complete loss. Some days, I think it is going to get better—there are even days when I don’t think about it at all. But some days…it’s like it just happened…I’ll dream he’s still alive and well, and then when I wake up I remember painful reality: he’s dead, and never coming back. It really doesn’t get any easier.
I’m angry, yes, but mostly, just very sad. Please understand, I’m not feeling sorry for myself, I just feel extreme sadness and melancholy. It destroys me in ways I can’t understand that I am about to lose 2 people I have come to love deeply! These last 3 months have been nothing short of hell. If it were at all possible, I’d go to hell and back and everywhere in between to bring Eric Bailey back. And if it were at all possible, I’d give Nanny my functioning stomach and large chunks of my vital organs so that she might live another 40 years. That’s what kind of friend I think I am and should be, and believe me I’m not trying to gloat here. I’m nobody, really. I’m reminded so everyday. God, I hope there’s a Heaven or an afterlife! It would be devastating if Eric Bailey and Nancy Kelly had nowhere else to go.
Friday, January 27, 2006
When nothing goes right and my mouth gets me in trouble again...
I’ve gone and done it again, John…I’m in hot water. I guess I don’t have a right to get frustrated with the things I do in my life. I don’t tell lies to Kathleen. I never have. We don’t talk about the site. Tim is mad at me, and I understand why. Stupid me! Damn, I blew it. I’ll be so glad when Ryan moves in so I can leave the site for good. There’s been such sadness and it wares me down like a file. I think Timby now sees me as slime. I just want a “good job” every now and then. I know he works hard—he does all upgrades and board maintenance, which I can’t do myself because the site is much too huge I would barely know where or how to start. I look forward to leaving more than ever this Spring. I’m no use to anyone at the Heather site anymore—all I am is trouble…Stephen Sands was right all along!
Today, the dreams that are coming...
Today I am doing better. I no longer dread whatever lurks behind me. Now it seems there's nothing lurking at all. Tim accidentally deleted some photos last night. It seems that we can all make mistakes no matter how perfect we try to be. There's no such thing as perfection, is in the mind. How very odd that we use human beings need to set the standard for ourselves even though we know we cannot reach it.
The really wonderful thing about being imperfect is that it makes one a constant learner; I know I learn so much for my own mistakes. And there’s so much to learn, so much to know; so many positives come from this: that is, being a lifelong learner. I really hope they keep learning even when I’m 83 years old! Even if it’s just as simple as a new name or a new phone number -- -- it won’t matter! Oh, life is so beautiful sometimes! Yes, especially when one is in love, as I am. It’s been so much fun to look at apartments that, and consider our possibilities in this new exciting adult life. I never thought I could know it before, or even deserve to know. The best part is my own views of myself: that is to say, my self esteem, which previously barely even existed, is now for the first time truly been nurtured! This means that I -- -- yes I -- -- really do feel good about myself for just being me. Maybe I really am a beautiful person, just like Ryan says. I constantly wonder what our future holds, but I am very optimistic. True, there’s no such thing as perfection, but some things and some people are awfully close! In my heart of hearts, I know Ryan is!
The really wonderful thing about being imperfect is that it makes one a constant learner; I know I learn so much for my own mistakes. And there’s so much to learn, so much to know; so many positives come from this: that is, being a lifelong learner. I really hope they keep learning even when I’m 83 years old! Even if it’s just as simple as a new name or a new phone number -- -- it won’t matter! Oh, life is so beautiful sometimes! Yes, especially when one is in love, as I am. It’s been so much fun to look at apartments that, and consider our possibilities in this new exciting adult life. I never thought I could know it before, or even deserve to know. The best part is my own views of myself: that is to say, my self esteem, which previously barely even existed, is now for the first time truly been nurtured! This means that I -- -- yes I -- -- really do feel good about myself for just being me. Maybe I really am a beautiful person, just like Ryan says. I constantly wonder what our future holds, but I am very optimistic. True, there’s no such thing as perfection, but some things and some people are awfully close! In my heart of hearts, I know Ryan is!
Tuesday, January 24, 2006
'With what I most enjoy contented least'...
That's right, I'm quoting Shakespeare sonnet 29, my favorite sonnet of his here, and there's a very good reason for it...it seems that all my webwork is taking another one of its heavy, taxing tolls on me...it interferes with my close relationships...but I've always known that. It just seems to be doing it so much more here lately. Instead of feeling worthwhile, productive, helpful, accomplished, beautiful, and even proud, I feel...miserable, like I'm really helping no one--least of all me. Instead of geting thank yous and praise, the demands keep coming and the 'what have you done for me latelys'. The more I work and give, the less I am appreciated, the more I seem to let down and disappiont. Is it me...I don't know. I don't really have the drive I need to do this like I used to. My Heather O'Rourke site drives me particularly crazy with this issue. I rarely get thanks for my very hard work there. If it weren't for the fact that I love Heather so very, very much and I know that no one else--except occasionally Paul--works as hard as I do on the site, I would've given it a rest long ago...but I cannot let Heather down. Not when I put so much of my life and effort into her. She, herself, alone makes it worth the lack of praise and thanks.
My mother is again upset with me for the same reason she usually is but she need not worry as I am going to close my account again, and this time forevermore. And it's not like I'm overdrawn this time, either. ''Distructive behavior'' she calls it, as though I am on illegal drugs or self-mutalate myself...well, compulsive, continuous buying is an addiction, but not one that disrupts and gambles with my health like a substance abuse problem. But it is a problem, yes, and it causes me emotional anguish. I have a feeling this problem of mine is not superifical, nor is it easily fixable--it is psychological. I do not say this to lean on a false crutch. I don't feel as if I'm fabricating this although I can hear my mother laughing bitterly and saying, ''bullshit, daughter'' so it's more than likely best that she not know my theory on why I do this so much. It could be that I am so lonely I want to get any sort of attention from her, be it positive or negative. I am not entirely sure.
I seem to rarely get any positive attention by day. I have always prefered evenings and nights over the garish, demanding, rude day for it is then that I am reminded that I AM loved indeed. I can be simply myself at night and finally wear no masks, no brave, stoic or business-like faces. The night is my ally; it belongs to me. I can recharge my ''batteries'' and forget who I am and my problems and troubles most times when I am asleep. Night is bliss compared to hellish day.
Ay, my ranting is almost spent...hooray, hurrah, hoo-zay, huzzah...I am deeply cleansed once more by the river of my own words.
My mother is again upset with me for the same reason she usually is but she need not worry as I am going to close my account again, and this time forevermore. And it's not like I'm overdrawn this time, either. ''Distructive behavior'' she calls it, as though I am on illegal drugs or self-mutalate myself...well, compulsive, continuous buying is an addiction, but not one that disrupts and gambles with my health like a substance abuse problem. But it is a problem, yes, and it causes me emotional anguish. I have a feeling this problem of mine is not superifical, nor is it easily fixable--it is psychological. I do not say this to lean on a false crutch. I don't feel as if I'm fabricating this although I can hear my mother laughing bitterly and saying, ''bullshit, daughter'' so it's more than likely best that she not know my theory on why I do this so much. It could be that I am so lonely I want to get any sort of attention from her, be it positive or negative. I am not entirely sure.
I seem to rarely get any positive attention by day. I have always prefered evenings and nights over the garish, demanding, rude day for it is then that I am reminded that I AM loved indeed. I can be simply myself at night and finally wear no masks, no brave, stoic or business-like faces. The night is my ally; it belongs to me. I can recharge my ''batteries'' and forget who I am and my problems and troubles most times when I am asleep. Night is bliss compared to hellish day.
Ay, my ranting is almost spent...hooray, hurrah, hoo-zay, huzzah...I am deeply cleansed once more by the river of my own words.
My sister, the news journalist...
U. Michigan researchers propose solution to spam e-mail
By Chloe Foster
Michigan Daily (U. Michigan)
06/14/2004
(U-WIRE) ANN ARBOR, Mich. — The battle between the common Internet user and spam e-mail drags on — a state of war in which there are no rules and no higher authority to whom one can appeal for justice.
But a research team at the University's School of Information suggests that some level of accord may be in sight.
Doctoral students Thede Loder and Rick Walsh and Assistant Professor Marshall Van Alstyne said their solution for reducing spam is setting a price for spam senders in hopes that sending spam will ultimately become too expensive.
"This mechanism hits spammers where it hurts most — their wallets," Van Alstyne said.
The team's plan is called Attention Bond Mechanism and is unique because it is designed to strike a deal between e-mail senders and the recipients by requiring senders to pay those recipients who do not want their email.
(The purpose of ABM is) "to provide an efficient means for two parties to discover if they have a potentially fruitful relationship (where both might benefit), while forcing senders to think carefully about who is receiving their e-mails so that they do not waste the time, effort and resources of the intended recipient," Loder said.
The ABM software will filter the inbox, noting which senders are not pre-approved by the user, or not on their "whitelist." When a spammer sends an e-mail to someone who has not already agreed to receive the message, ABM will send the spammer a "challenge message."
Loder said the the message will read, "Dear sender of an e-mail, you have attempted to contact a user of ABM, but this user does not have you listed as someone pre-approved for contact. If you still wish to reach this person, please authorize the transfer of 10 cents to his escrow account, then resend the e-mail and reference your proof of payment."
He added, however, that the 10 cents is an arbitrary number. The ABM user decides how much an email sender must risk in order to send the e-mail successfully. Therefore, if an ABM user sets his price at 60 cents per message, senders who are only willing to pay an amount lower than this sum will not have access to the user's inbox.
Once the sender receives the challenge message and decides it is worth risking whatever sum of money the ABM user has posted, the sender authorizes the payment and resends the message. If the user decides not to accept the message or that the message was abhorrent or simply uninteresting, he claims the money.
But will this be forever farewell to "Enlarge your penis" and "Lose 50 pounds in two weeks" e-mails?
"It would certainly reduce the volume of spam because illegitimate senders simply cannot afford to get into anyone's mailbox," said Van Alstyne in a written statement.
"I would like to have access to software like (ABM). Anything that would stop spam because I hate it so much," said LSA senior Dave Mallozzi.
But other students felt that ABM could create problems.
LSA senior Dana Ciccone said that she fears the system may have some unintended effects, such as complicating e-mail communication even further.
"It seems like something that looks good on paper but nothing else," she said.
The next step for the team may be to market their idea, but for now, they said they simply want to provide an impetus for the market and consumers to realize that they can both benefit.
"We're just as tired of spam as anyone else," said Loder, "But if we received 50 cents for each spam, that might be tolerable."
Spam now represents about half of all e-mail traffic on the Internet, according to Brightmail Communications, a company that provides software for secure e-mail exchange.
Copyright ©2004 Michigan Daily via UWire
----------------------------
Spacecraft to Mercury lifts off
By Chloe Foster
Michigan Daily (U. Michigan)
08/02/2004
(U-WIRE) ANN ARBOR, Mich. — MESSENGER — a spacecraft designed to capture photographs and other data of Mercury — begins its itinerant journey to the planet Monday, making it the first spacecraft to travel there since the National Aeronautics and Space Administration sent Mariner 10 in 1973.
MESSENGER, designed to provide scientists with more detailed observations of Mercury, includes an instrument created by University scientists, called Fast Imaging Plasma Spectrometer.
Engendered to capture photographs and other data from a planet, flyby spacecrafts like MESSENGER encounter a wide variety of tumult and hazard in its lifetime. Faced with strong solar winds, high radiation levels and extreme temperatures, the spacecrafts must be designed specifically to avoid calamity while sending valuable information back to Earth. NASA has sent more than 20 flyby spacecrafts into our solar system.
The Solar Helospheric Research Group, made up of faculty and students from the department of Atmospheric, Oceanic and Space Sciences at the University of Michigan, has developed FIPS in part to be a solution to the hostile environment a spacecraft encounters while circling Mercury. Because of its proximity to the sun, the plasma surrounding Mercury is characterized by extremely hot temperatures and high density. FIPS has the capability to counter these harsh conditions while providing scientists with highly accurate measurements of Mercury's atmosphere.
Pat Koehn, assistant resident scientist on the Research Group, said FIPS acts like a camera, recording the mass, direction and speed of particles floating around Mercury's orbit. It will also determine exactly what type of particles exist in its atmosphere.
In NASA's first attempt to glean information from Mercury 30 years ago, the plasma spectromete — Mariner 10's instrument comparable to FIPS, did not work because the door failed to open, Koehn said.
"Mariner 10 only did three flybys of the planet, but MESSENGER will be in orbit for at least one earth year — roughly four Mercury years. This trip to Mercury will be different in every way imaginable," he said.
One of the key goals of MESSENGER is to understand Mercury's surface, said Thomas Zurbuchen, a member of the team and an associate professor in the department of Atmospheric, Oceanic and Space Sciences. His team and NASA expect the spacecraft to return to Earth with high resolution maps and more information on Mercury's magnetic field.
Of the terrestrial planets Earth, Mercury, Mars and Venus, Mercury is the smallest. It also has the oldest surface and the most extreme variability in temperature, ranging from -297 to 800 degrees Farenheit. Because of this severe climate, Mercury has long been a mystery to scientists.
"Mercury still stands out as a fascinating story to tell. MESSENGER should complete the detailed exploration of the inner solar system - our planetary backyard - and help us to understand forces that shaped planets like our own," said Orlando Figueroa, director of Solar System Exploration Division at NASA, in a press release.
For the past 30 years, scientists at the University have been involved in nearly every major space project, Koehn said. Most recently, the University has contributed to CASSINI, a spacecraft that penetrated Saturn's orbit in June 2004 and Galileo, which entered Jupiter's atmosphere in September 2003.
"We here at U of M are specializing in understanding and predicting the space environment of planets, most importantly, the Earth," said Zurbuchen.
MESSENGER is scheduled to launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla. during a 13-day period that opens August 2, 2004. A year later, it will return to Earth for a gravity boost, then fly past Venus twice, in October 2006 and June 2007. It will finally reach Mercury in 2011.
Copyright ©2004 Michigan Daily via UWire
-----------------------------------------
Newdow protests Pledge of Allegiance
Newdow gives a lecture entitled "Upholding the Constitution: One Man's Pledge of Allegiance" at Hutchins Hall yesterday. (SHUBRA OHRI/Daily)
By Chloe Foster and Michael Lacher, Daily Staff Reporters
February 02, 2005
With an acoustic guitar and harmonica, constitutional activist Michael Newdow stood before a crowd of students in Hutchins Hall yesterday afternoon and crooned his song “Pledge of Allegiance Blues.”
Newdow, however, was there not only to entertain, but to talk about his ongoing struggle to remove “under God” from the Pledge of Allegiance.
Newdow, a Law School alum, lectured yesterday about his efforts to uphold the establishment clause, which forbids Congress from making a law that establishes a national religion.
“I don’t consider myself an atheist activist, I consider myself an Establishment Clause activist,” Newdow said.
Last year, in the case of Elk Grove Unified School District v. Newdow, Newdow represented himself at the U.S. Supreme Court, and challenged the constitutionality of the phrase “under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance, arguing that it was religious indoctrination of his 10-year-old daughter.
Newdow’s case was rejected in an 8-0 decision, on the grounds that he lacked standing, or the right to file suit, because he was not the legal guardian of his daughter.
Three justices, Clarence Thomas, Sandra Day O’Connor and William Rehnquist, opined that the phrase has historical significance to the nation and is therefore not unconstitutional.
“Under God” was added to the pledge on Flag Day in 1954 by an act of Congress.
“The pledge is a declaration of belief in allegiance and loyalty to the United States flag and the Republic that it represents. The phrase ‘under God’ is in no sense a prayer, nor an endorsement of any religion,” Rehnquist wrote in the opinion.
Five justices, John Paul Stevens, Anthony Kennedy, David Souter, Ruth Bader Ginsberg and Stephen Breyer rejected the case on standing while Justice Antonin Scalia did not hear the case because he publicly denounced the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal’s decision, which ruled in favor of Newdow, before the case came to the Supreme Court.
Because the majority of the justices did not rule on the constitutionality of the phrase ‘under God,’ the same case can be brought up again.
“I imagine the court was relieved to find a way to dismiss this case on standing, but they may not be able to avoid the question much longer,” Law School prof. Chris Whitman said.
Newdow expressed his intent to continue fighting the phrase. “I plan on continuing the case in every circuit in the nation,” Newdow said.
Most recently, Newdow challenged the recital of a prayer at the presidential inauguration. He compared the inaugural prayer to prayers before high school football games and at commencement ceremonies, which have been deemed unconstitutional by the Supreme Court. His request for an injunction to stop the prayer was rejected, but he said the case is still alive.
Newdow said the Constitution and the intents of the founding fathers’ bolster his case.
“I have the Constitution on my side. When it was written, it was clear the founding fathers wanted the separation of church and state,” he said.
He praised the Constitution, calling it “a phenomenal document.”
“To think our country is based on those 4,500 words is pretty amazing,” Newdow said.
The audience was generally supportive of Newdow’s aims.
“What he’s doing is really important, and his speech was enlightening,” law student Trish Rich said.
She said the argument that tradition or ceremony can defend religious language in state-sponsored activities is invalid.
“This causes non-Christians to be demonized,” she added.
Some students, however, voiced mild concern about Newdow’s activism.
“I think he is before his time. I agree that state and religion should be separate, but he may have polarized too many people,” LSA sophomore Peter Pienkowski said.
Newdow will speak again today at noon about the American family law system in Room 218 of Hutchins Hall.
Newdow protests Pledge of Allegiance
By Chloe Foster
Michigan Daily (U. Michigan)
06/14/2004
(U-WIRE) ANN ARBOR, Mich. — The battle between the common Internet user and spam e-mail drags on — a state of war in which there are no rules and no higher authority to whom one can appeal for justice.
But a research team at the University's School of Information suggests that some level of accord may be in sight.
Doctoral students Thede Loder and Rick Walsh and Assistant Professor Marshall Van Alstyne said their solution for reducing spam is setting a price for spam senders in hopes that sending spam will ultimately become too expensive.
"This mechanism hits spammers where it hurts most — their wallets," Van Alstyne said.
The team's plan is called Attention Bond Mechanism and is unique because it is designed to strike a deal between e-mail senders and the recipients by requiring senders to pay those recipients who do not want their email.
(The purpose of ABM is) "to provide an efficient means for two parties to discover if they have a potentially fruitful relationship (where both might benefit), while forcing senders to think carefully about who is receiving their e-mails so that they do not waste the time, effort and resources of the intended recipient," Loder said.
The ABM software will filter the inbox, noting which senders are not pre-approved by the user, or not on their "whitelist." When a spammer sends an e-mail to someone who has not already agreed to receive the message, ABM will send the spammer a "challenge message."
Loder said the the message will read, "Dear sender of an e-mail, you have attempted to contact a user of ABM, but this user does not have you listed as someone pre-approved for contact. If you still wish to reach this person, please authorize the transfer of 10 cents to his escrow account, then resend the e-mail and reference your proof of payment."
He added, however, that the 10 cents is an arbitrary number. The ABM user decides how much an email sender must risk in order to send the e-mail successfully. Therefore, if an ABM user sets his price at 60 cents per message, senders who are only willing to pay an amount lower than this sum will not have access to the user's inbox.
Once the sender receives the challenge message and decides it is worth risking whatever sum of money the ABM user has posted, the sender authorizes the payment and resends the message. If the user decides not to accept the message or that the message was abhorrent or simply uninteresting, he claims the money.
But will this be forever farewell to "Enlarge your penis" and "Lose 50 pounds in two weeks" e-mails?
"It would certainly reduce the volume of spam because illegitimate senders simply cannot afford to get into anyone's mailbox," said Van Alstyne in a written statement.
"I would like to have access to software like (ABM). Anything that would stop spam because I hate it so much," said LSA senior Dave Mallozzi.
But other students felt that ABM could create problems.
LSA senior Dana Ciccone said that she fears the system may have some unintended effects, such as complicating e-mail communication even further.
"It seems like something that looks good on paper but nothing else," she said.
The next step for the team may be to market their idea, but for now, they said they simply want to provide an impetus for the market and consumers to realize that they can both benefit.
"We're just as tired of spam as anyone else," said Loder, "But if we received 50 cents for each spam, that might be tolerable."
Spam now represents about half of all e-mail traffic on the Internet, according to Brightmail Communications, a company that provides software for secure e-mail exchange.
Copyright ©2004 Michigan Daily via UWire
----------------------------
Spacecraft to Mercury lifts off
By Chloe Foster
Michigan Daily (U. Michigan)
08/02/2004
(U-WIRE) ANN ARBOR, Mich. — MESSENGER — a spacecraft designed to capture photographs and other data of Mercury — begins its itinerant journey to the planet Monday, making it the first spacecraft to travel there since the National Aeronautics and Space Administration sent Mariner 10 in 1973.
MESSENGER, designed to provide scientists with more detailed observations of Mercury, includes an instrument created by University scientists, called Fast Imaging Plasma Spectrometer.
Engendered to capture photographs and other data from a planet, flyby spacecrafts like MESSENGER encounter a wide variety of tumult and hazard in its lifetime. Faced with strong solar winds, high radiation levels and extreme temperatures, the spacecrafts must be designed specifically to avoid calamity while sending valuable information back to Earth. NASA has sent more than 20 flyby spacecrafts into our solar system.
The Solar Helospheric Research Group, made up of faculty and students from the department of Atmospheric, Oceanic and Space Sciences at the University of Michigan, has developed FIPS in part to be a solution to the hostile environment a spacecraft encounters while circling Mercury. Because of its proximity to the sun, the plasma surrounding Mercury is characterized by extremely hot temperatures and high density. FIPS has the capability to counter these harsh conditions while providing scientists with highly accurate measurements of Mercury's atmosphere.
Pat Koehn, assistant resident scientist on the Research Group, said FIPS acts like a camera, recording the mass, direction and speed of particles floating around Mercury's orbit. It will also determine exactly what type of particles exist in its atmosphere.
In NASA's first attempt to glean information from Mercury 30 years ago, the plasma spectromete — Mariner 10's instrument comparable to FIPS, did not work because the door failed to open, Koehn said.
"Mariner 10 only did three flybys of the planet, but MESSENGER will be in orbit for at least one earth year — roughly four Mercury years. This trip to Mercury will be different in every way imaginable," he said.
One of the key goals of MESSENGER is to understand Mercury's surface, said Thomas Zurbuchen, a member of the team and an associate professor in the department of Atmospheric, Oceanic and Space Sciences. His team and NASA expect the spacecraft to return to Earth with high resolution maps and more information on Mercury's magnetic field.
Of the terrestrial planets Earth, Mercury, Mars and Venus, Mercury is the smallest. It also has the oldest surface and the most extreme variability in temperature, ranging from -297 to 800 degrees Farenheit. Because of this severe climate, Mercury has long been a mystery to scientists.
"Mercury still stands out as a fascinating story to tell. MESSENGER should complete the detailed exploration of the inner solar system - our planetary backyard - and help us to understand forces that shaped planets like our own," said Orlando Figueroa, director of Solar System Exploration Division at NASA, in a press release.
For the past 30 years, scientists at the University have been involved in nearly every major space project, Koehn said. Most recently, the University has contributed to CASSINI, a spacecraft that penetrated Saturn's orbit in June 2004 and Galileo, which entered Jupiter's atmosphere in September 2003.
"We here at U of M are specializing in understanding and predicting the space environment of planets, most importantly, the Earth," said Zurbuchen.
MESSENGER is scheduled to launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla. during a 13-day period that opens August 2, 2004. A year later, it will return to Earth for a gravity boost, then fly past Venus twice, in October 2006 and June 2007. It will finally reach Mercury in 2011.
Copyright ©2004 Michigan Daily via UWire
-----------------------------------------
Newdow protests Pledge of Allegiance
Newdow gives a lecture entitled "Upholding the Constitution: One Man's Pledge of Allegiance" at Hutchins Hall yesterday. (SHUBRA OHRI/Daily)
By Chloe Foster and Michael Lacher, Daily Staff Reporters
February 02, 2005
With an acoustic guitar and harmonica, constitutional activist Michael Newdow stood before a crowd of students in Hutchins Hall yesterday afternoon and crooned his song “Pledge of Allegiance Blues.”
Newdow, however, was there not only to entertain, but to talk about his ongoing struggle to remove “under God” from the Pledge of Allegiance.
Newdow, a Law School alum, lectured yesterday about his efforts to uphold the establishment clause, which forbids Congress from making a law that establishes a national religion.
“I don’t consider myself an atheist activist, I consider myself an Establishment Clause activist,” Newdow said.
Last year, in the case of Elk Grove Unified School District v. Newdow, Newdow represented himself at the U.S. Supreme Court, and challenged the constitutionality of the phrase “under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance, arguing that it was religious indoctrination of his 10-year-old daughter.
Newdow’s case was rejected in an 8-0 decision, on the grounds that he lacked standing, or the right to file suit, because he was not the legal guardian of his daughter.
Three justices, Clarence Thomas, Sandra Day O’Connor and William Rehnquist, opined that the phrase has historical significance to the nation and is therefore not unconstitutional.
“Under God” was added to the pledge on Flag Day in 1954 by an act of Congress.
“The pledge is a declaration of belief in allegiance and loyalty to the United States flag and the Republic that it represents. The phrase ‘under God’ is in no sense a prayer, nor an endorsement of any religion,” Rehnquist wrote in the opinion.
Five justices, John Paul Stevens, Anthony Kennedy, David Souter, Ruth Bader Ginsberg and Stephen Breyer rejected the case on standing while Justice Antonin Scalia did not hear the case because he publicly denounced the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal’s decision, which ruled in favor of Newdow, before the case came to the Supreme Court.
Because the majority of the justices did not rule on the constitutionality of the phrase ‘under God,’ the same case can be brought up again.
“I imagine the court was relieved to find a way to dismiss this case on standing, but they may not be able to avoid the question much longer,” Law School prof. Chris Whitman said.
Newdow expressed his intent to continue fighting the phrase. “I plan on continuing the case in every circuit in the nation,” Newdow said.
Most recently, Newdow challenged the recital of a prayer at the presidential inauguration. He compared the inaugural prayer to prayers before high school football games and at commencement ceremonies, which have been deemed unconstitutional by the Supreme Court. His request for an injunction to stop the prayer was rejected, but he said the case is still alive.
Newdow said the Constitution and the intents of the founding fathers’ bolster his case.
“I have the Constitution on my side. When it was written, it was clear the founding fathers wanted the separation of church and state,” he said.
He praised the Constitution, calling it “a phenomenal document.”
“To think our country is based on those 4,500 words is pretty amazing,” Newdow said.
The audience was generally supportive of Newdow’s aims.
“What he’s doing is really important, and his speech was enlightening,” law student Trish Rich said.
She said the argument that tradition or ceremony can defend religious language in state-sponsored activities is invalid.
“This causes non-Christians to be demonized,” she added.
Some students, however, voiced mild concern about Newdow’s activism.
“I think he is before his time. I agree that state and religion should be separate, but he may have polarized too many people,” LSA sophomore Peter Pienkowski said.
Newdow will speak again today at noon about the American family law system in Room 218 of Hutchins Hall.
Newdow protests Pledge of Allegiance
All the comforts of home � Larry Oberle, left, and Theron Palmer, UNT doctoral student and driver of UNT's Mean Green Environmental Machine, will be the official drivers of the Winspear bus, UNT's posh new travel option.
Posted by Picasa
A screen cap I took of my stepdad, Theron Lee Palmer, Jr.'s webpage on the University of North Texas' official website. The picture he chose, the one of Flap the bluejay on his chest, is so hilarious.
Posted by Picasa
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
