Archive for August 21st, 2008
HOUSTON (AP) — East Texas jurors wrongly used a Bible during deliberations in a capital murder case, but there isn’t enough evidence to show they were prejudiced when they decided to send the perpetrator to death row, a federal appeals court said.
The ruling from the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals comes in the case of Khristian Oliver, who was condemned by a Nacogdoches County jury in 1999, a year after he and three companions were involved in a break-in in which Joe Collins, 64, was fatally shot and bludgeoned.
Oliver’s three accomplices received prison terms ranging from five to 99 years. He got the death penalty. In his appeals, his lawyers contended that jurors improperly consulted Bible verses that called for death as punishment for murder.
In its ruling posted Aug. 14, the New Orleans-based appeals court said that using the Bible “amounts to a type of private communication, contact or tampering that is outside the evidence and law.”
But the court said it didn’t see enough evidence to overturn decisions from the trial court and the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals that upheld the jury verdict.
Full Article
August 21st, 2008
Welcome to a new era of openness in medical care.
In this interactive USA TODAY graphic, you’ll find medicine’s best-kept secret revealed: death rates for heart attack, heart failure and pneumonia for every hospital in the nation.
USA TODAY created this graphic using data compiled by the federal government’s Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). The agency also has supplied the information to the more than 4,000 hospitals included and posted them on a government website called Hospital Compare.
Link
August 21st, 2008
BEIJING — Two weeks before leaving to compete in the Olympics, the archer Brady Ellison waded into a pool not far from the Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista, Calif., and was baptized in the Christian faith.
In the water with him was Kisik Lee, the head coach of the United States archery team and a Christian who has become a spiritual guide for Ellison, 19, and the larger group of athletes who train and live full time at the Olympic Training Center. He has also served as a sponsor in the baptism of three other resident archers.
During the Olympics, Lee and at least three of the five United States archers who qualified to compete in Beijing met every morning to sing hymns and read from the Bible, and to attend church together in the chapel at the Olympic Village. Lee believes having a strong faith makes for better archers because it helps quiet their minds. To that end, he tailored Ellison’s Olympic schedule to include spiritual and athletic objectives.
“I give him six tasks a day, including reading the Bible and education,†Lee said. “And he’s doing it.â€
But Lee’s advocacy has raised concerns in the United States Olympic Committee, and some in the elite archery community feel uncomfortable with his proselytizing. The mother of a teenage archer who lived at the center said she worried that complaining about it might jeopardize her daughter’s future in the sport.
Lee said coaching was more of a challenge for him when members of the team did not share his beliefs.
“I don’t want to have any favorites,†he said. “I would love to be fair for everyone. But sooner or later, if they can see through me God, that’s what I want to try to do. I’m not God, and I can’t drive them to God, but I can pray for them.â€
Full Article
August 21st, 2008
Here is what the Earth looks like during a solar eclipse. The shadow of the Moon can be seen darkening part of Earth. This shadow moved across the Earth at nearly 2000 kilometers per hour. Only observers near the center of the dark circle see a total solar eclipse – others see a partial eclipse where only part of the Sun appears blocked by the Moon. This spectacular picture of the 1999 August 11 solar eclipse was one of the last ever taken from the Mir space station.
Link
August 21st, 2008
The 30daysexchallenge book is intended to help couples succeed in the challenge by breaking the challenge up into four mini-challenges: spiritual, emotional, sexual, and physical. We use a holistic approach which incorporated with the new 30 days of questions, couples assessment, and workbook sections, will build intimacy into the relationship and give the couple a fresh passion for each other.
Link
August 21st, 2008
A response from Franklin Graham
The content lacks my father’s greatest passion: to preach the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ to the world and point men, women, and children to His saving power.
While the movie covers many aspects of my father’s early years, it depicts events that never happened or are greatly embellished.
My father’s life has been documented in many ways and I have always appreciated those who painstakingly sought to tell his story accurately.
Franklin Graham
President
Billy Graham Evangelistic Association
Link
And an article
Graham movie catches flak from Franklin
Son isn’t encouraging or discouraging people from seeing ‘Early Years’ – he just wants it clear some of it is fiction, and not backed by the organization.
August 21st, 2008
Ellensburg, Wash., is home to a truly unique young man: 12-year-old Brenden Adams, who is more than seven feet tall and, incredibly, still growing.
He towers over his classmates and even his teacher, Gretchen Holmstrom, who jokingly quipped, “I’m 5′9,” so I never look up to sixth graders — until this year…never say never!”
And though friends say Brenden is just a regular kid, he’s obviously not like anybody else. He has to duck through most doorways and sit sideways at his school desk because his knees don’t fit under it.
In his mom’s sport utility vehicle, he has to fold down the second row of seats, sit in the third row and stretch his legs out over the middle row in order to sit comfortably. His shoe size? 18 and still growing.
Brenden is one-of-a-kind, and it’s not just his height. Everything about him is different. His mom, Debbie Ezell, said he requires a team of doctors and multiple medical visits simply to stay on top of his ever-changing and expanding frame. He has enormous joints, fatty tumors, even extra teeth, 12 of which were recently removed.
Full Article
August 21st, 2008
ABC News’ Jennifer Parker reports: A 9/11 victims’ advocacy group is urging 2008 presidential candidates Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., and Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., to observe a “campaign moratorium” on the anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
MyGoodDeed.org, a nonprofit group trying to establish Sept. 11 as a national day of voluntary service, wrote to both campaigns Tuesday asking them to halt partisan campaign activities, including negative ads.
The Obama campaign told ABCNews.com they will not be running any negative ads attacking McCain on Sept. 11. The McCain campaign said they will pull all of their campaign ads altogether.
“We won’t be running ads on 9/11,” McCain spokesman Brian Rogers told ABCNews.com. “It’s a day for remembrance and unity, not political campaigning.”
Both candidates have been invited to speak at Service Nation Summit in New York on Sept. 11, where political and business leaders will meet to discuss how to boost volunteerism in the US.
Full Article
August 21st, 2008
Q: An ad of Southwest Airlines on a local radio station plays an excerpt from the Hallelujah chorus of Handel’s Messiah. It is a universal fact that the Hallelujah chorus exalts Jesus Christ as the King of Kings. Therefore, as a Christian, I find its use in an ad to be extremely offensive … Can you please give me the address of Southwest Airlines to which I can write to express my protest. – Beth
A: The address is Southwest Airlines, Box 36647-1CR, Dallas TX 75235-1647. Or you can call 1-800-435-9792 or (214) 792-4223.
Here’s a little background info on Southwest: The airline started more than 37 years ago. It has more than 500 aircrafts and is one of the youngest fleets in the nation. Today, Southwest Airlines flies more than 104 million passengers a year to 64 cities all across the country more than 3,400 times a day.
Link
August 21st, 2008
- I’ve had three minor accomplishments this week:
- First, I found that annoying rattle in my car.
- Second, I was able to get my energy efficient bulps to work in my garage door opener. How?  After a quick search on the Google I found all you need to do is unplug the thing and get some needle nose pliars to pull the metal thingy out a bit to make better contact. The energy efficient bulps are a little bit shorter than regular bulbs.
- Thrid . . . after two years, I finally was able to get my permalinks to display correctly. In other words, the the web address of an individual post usually displayed something like this, “www.bagofnothing.com/?p=123.” Now an individual post will have the month, day, year, and the actual title in the post which makes BON easier to be picked up by search engines. Why did it take two years? Because I didn’t want to ask for help and wanted to accomplish this on my own.
- For the last two nights Lester Holt has been in my dreams, and I don’t even watch the Today Show.
- Lots of rain in DFW lately, that just doesn’t happen in August.
- Glad I didn’t go to that Cowboys open practice with all that rain.
- Funny they would plan that open practice from 7-9 when Hard Knocks starts right at nine.
- I haven’t really been all that impressed with Hard Knocks.
- I think we are thin at receiver and I don’t like our new tight end. I say trade him for a receiver and take our chances at TE with Witten and Tony Curtis.
- I got a bit emotional when Misty May-Treanor spread her mother’s ashes. I remember doing the same, just not at a beach volleyball court.
- I’m working on finding some video of something I saw on the Olympics that made me shed a tear. It involved a weightlifter and his late wife.
- With my new job, I just haven’t got into a blogging routine. I’m not blogging at work, I just have a hard time getting into blogging when I get home.
- Speaking of blogging, today is going to be short and sweet. I’ll try to make up for it on Friday, and I’m not sure if there are going to be afternoon posts today.
August 21st, 2008