whereisjodi.

• An Australian art exhibit featuring photos of nude 13-year-olds got the go ahead after a brief police shutdown. Apparently some famous artists complained and the government decided it would be difficult to prosecute the photographer on child pornography charges. I'm not sure what would be so hard about it: ladies and gentleman of the jury, here is the photograph of an underage nude child; here is the person who took the picture. The child welfare advocate who made the complaint summed things up well IMHO: "This a picture of a naked 13-year-old child. We are just handing our children on a bloody plate to pedophiles."

• Closer to home, a couple in Ohio requested time in their local library to offer a financial planning seminar, using a room available to any and all non-profit organizations. Unfortunately they planned to quote the Bible occasionally in their discussions, an admission so heinous their request was refused. Maybe they should have said they were going to have a discussion on pornography -- that would have garnered them a top spot on the reservations list.
  

• Wonderful news out of England where a mother attempted to abort her baby, then found a few weeks later that the procedure hadn't worked. The language in this article surprised me -- the author continually referred to the baby surviving the abortion procedure, the son of the woman, etc. Don't they know it's supposed to be called a fetus, a by-product of conception? But I guess the Webster definition doesn't really apply anymore -- you call it a baby or a by-product based on whether or not the mother wants it. Yeah, that makes sense...

• And finally, England tries again for outrageous story of the week, and succeeds. A man got to laughing so hard at something on the telly that he fell off his couch, whereby the neighbor called the police because he thought something was wrong. The police came and eventually pepper-sprayed and arrested the aforementioned laugher after he got mad and tried to shut the door on them.
  

Posted by authorjodi at 12:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

• An interesting article in response to California's SB777 discusses a new call issued by the Campaign for Children and Families: remove your children from the public school system. A spokesman for another organization, the Exodus Mandate, was quoted as saying "If traditional minded people abandon that system in enough numbers, it will implode. By leaving your children there as a Christian you're exposing them to extreme moral danger. You can't immunize them with a few hours of Bible study during the week."

• A Norwegian pre-school teacher and a load of child psychologists have published their ideas that kindergartners should be encouraged to play sex games. A "vast majority" of Norwegians send their children to pre-school from the age of one until they start school at age six. It's during this period that the report argues children should learn about sexuality in terms I will not quote here. They can go ahead and call me "disturbed by children's sexuality" -- I can live with that criticism.  Read more.

• A bad news story out of Iraq I could never dream up: a story complaining that, because the death toll is falling, cemetary workers aren't making as much money. I read the whole story because I wondered if they were completely serious...and yes, they were. How greatly must you be committed to bad news in Iraq to spin a good story like the falling death toll into bad economic news? Read more.

• A new study seeks to identify a "gay" gene by focusing on DNA samples from 1,000 pairs of gay brothers. One such pair, the Cabreras, "hope the findings will help silence critics who say homosexuality is an immoral choice." Once again I say, even if a genetic predisposition is found <which is still highly doubtful>, it doesn't change the idea of personal responsibility. There are genetic predispositions to any number of conditions -- alcoholism, for one -- yet we still hold people responsible for making their own choice. Read more.

Posted by authorjodi at 11:20 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (1)

First of all, I'm sorry, but I find this topic pretty hilarious. Apparently a few cities are cracking down on saggy pants. I, for one, would be happy if I never saw another pair of men's underpants hanging out their jeans as they bee bop down the road...but a law against it? And racial profiling, seriously?

Second, I was too busy attending a team meeting for our upcoming medical mission project to watch the Emmy's last night <not that I probably would have anyway> ... but this morning I see that there's a dust-up over Fox cutting away from Sally Field's acceptance/anti-war speech. Poor gal, it's always a pity when actors can't get their political messages out at awards ceremonies, but apparently Fox would have stuck with her if she could have just kept herself from cussing.

And finally, apparently it's legal for sheriff's to taser unruly U.S. citizens and let them sleep on a pad instead of a bed in cases of overcrowding...but, according to the U.S. Office of Detention and Removal Operations, those things are not ok if jailers are dealing with illegal aliens. What? 

Posted by authorjodi at 11:26 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

• My brother sent me a really cool link where you can see a map of all the places mentioned in the Bible. It's called Bible Geocoding.

• For those of you who don't read my newsletter, here's a story about 36 Iraqi Christians kidnapped from one Baghdad church last week. 

• The Chinese military apparently hacked into our Pentagon computers last June. 

• The Canadian Mennonites I wrote about a couple weeks ago -- threatened with losing their children to foster homes unless they sent them to public school to learn about evolution and alternative lifestyles -- have begun moving from Quebec.

• An encouraging story about the conversion of the lead guitarist for the band Korn, detailing how he found Christ in the midst of fame, fortune and addiction.

Posted by authorjodi at 01:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

• Thank God! The last of the South Korean hostages were released today.

• According to a new study, less than half of published scientists worldwide endorse the theory that man is a major cause of global warming, nor that global warming is a catastrophic phenomena.

• A car dealer in Florida is taking heat for producing ads in Spanish for the regular network channels. I didn't realize this was news -- I saw Spanish ads in New Mexico last year on several major stations -- but apparently this man is "destroying America."

• A "huge new abortion facility" in Chicago was built by Planned Parenthood after their sub-company allegedly lied on building permits. In response to the news, 1,200 protesters showed up over the weekend.

• And finally, disheartening news out of China about their one-child policy. A woman who was forced to have an abortion in her last month of pregnancy is suing the government for redress.
  

Posted by authorjodi at 09:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I haven't felt much like posting the last several days -- I think I've been in a little bit of shock at the rapid return to a more normal life evidenced by moving into my parents basement for a few months and beginning to ask myself how I'll attempt to make some money in this phase. :p

However, I have been glancing at the news and a few headlines caught my eye. In no particular order:

• The Palestinian Authority continues to show its love of peace and harmony, this time by naming a soccer tournament after a well-known terrorist. The winning team was named after a group of jihadists.

•  The Arkansas Legislature made a bit of a booboo in the last session...they legalized marriage for anyone under the age of 18 as long as they have parental consent. Apparently they were trying to say if someone was pregnant under 18 they could get married with the folks ok, but an errant "not" got into the text so anyone not pregnant under 18, etc. The funniest part is that the Governor will have to call a special session if he wants to fix it before the regular legislative season begins. Until it's fixed, 10- and 11-year-olds, or infants, will be allowed to marry.

• Some Indian tribes have been scamming illegal immigrants, selling membership in the tribe as a way to smooth the citizenship process. It's a total crock, but they're making money left and right.

Posted by authorjodi at 11:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Homeschoolers have surpassed their public school rivals, outscoring them on the ACT test for the tenth year in a row.

A seven year old in North Carolina chased an armed gunman out of a convenience store where her mom was working.

And in not so weird news, the Buddhist government in Cambodia has banned door-to-door evangelism because it "disrupts society" and "causes other insecurities." 

Posted by authorjodi at 08:26 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

A few articles that have interested me this week:

• Some of you may remember the Gideons arrested for handing out Bibles outside a Florida public school -- the charges have finally been dismissed.

• According to some reports, every year nearly five million girls are aborted in India. If you didn't know this, I highly recommend reading this quick article to familiarize yourself with the phenomenen.

• I'd never heard of the Vitae Caring Foundation before reading this article, but it sounds like they're doing some wonderful work in the pro-life arena. This is my good news article of the day because of the true story related about halfway through.

• A family in Florida has successfully sued a geneticist for the "rotten advice" that led them to continue with the pregnancy of a second child born with a debilitating illness. The suit was for "wrongful birth" and they were awarded $23.5 million dollars. This bothers me for a number of reasons, but the top two have to do with the idea that there could be a "wrongful birth" and that someone could sue a doctor for negligence because he didn't advise an abortion.

• I've had this article sitting on my desktop for a couple days, trying to decide whether to link to it or not because of the violence described. It's about a woman in London who was brutalized by her father and other male family "friends" before they committed the "honor" killing called for by the religion of peace when a woman "dishonors" her family. In this instance, the dishonor was a young woman leaving her forced marriage for another man.

• And wrapping things up, the tragedy we're more concerned about in America, Starbucks is raising prices .09 cents.

Posted by authorjodi at 11:43 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Gosh, I haven't read much news in the last couple weeks...feels a little weird to be so out of the loop. Towhit, here's a roundup of stories I found interesting today:

• Keith Ellison, our first Muslim congressman, has been doing his fellow Minnesotans proud. Speaking in front of Atheists for Human Rights, he compared Bush to Hitler and suggested he was responsible for the attacks of 9/11. I realize there's a certain segment of our society who subscribes to that particular conspiracy theory...but a United States Congressman?

• An Army intelligence officer has listed "A Solution to the War in Iraq" on ebay. I wonder if he'd take a check?

• A new dating website recently popped up in the UK...for those with embarrassing illnesses such as irritable bowel syndrome, an illness afflicting the site's creator.

• The Pentagon is predicting five million children might turn to jihad if we don't get the situation in Iraq under control. The article I read quoted an interesting dialogue toward the end between a talk show host and President Bush. The host pointed out that children of extremists are being currently indoctrinated into jihad, and thus it won't matter whether we succeed or fail in Iraq. President Bush responded: "That's why I'm such a strong believer in advocating the march of democracy in the Middle East. And I fully understand that people call me a hopeless idealist...but I also think it's realistic to understand (that) unless we change the conditions of how people live, it's going to be hard to marginalize those who prey upon the young."

Posted by authorjodi at 01:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Are arranged marriages the next big trend in America? Here's an article by an author trying to explain the benefits, but I think it'll be a hard sell in America.

Larry King got triple ratings for his Paris Hilton interview Wednesday. 3.2 million! I can't believe 3.2 million people took the time to tune in and listen to that girl. Too bad we can't mobilize 3.2 million to call their congressman about something slightly more important...say responsible immigration reform?

Bill Clinton was forgiven because he "didn't inhale." A few years and a few decayed standards later, Barack Obama was forgiven because he admitted to using cocaine instead of waiting for reporters to dig it up. But poor Mitt Romney has yet to find forgiveness for putting his dog in a carrier on the roof of his car for a roadtrip almost 25 years ago. I'm not sure I'd feel that great about putting an animal on the roof, even well-protected, but it was 25 years ago! If we're talking about bad decisions as a younger person, I think I'd choose the guy who had a family to haul and not enough room for everything over the guy who used an illegal, highly addictive drug.

Posted by authorjodi at 07:34 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Looking for a new job over the next 17 months? Russia is looking for volunteers to live in their fake Mars mission capsule so they can observe human dynamics in tight quarters.

A hotel in East Berlin is recreating "Communist Chic" in their spartan rooms.

And in the not-so-humorous category: Britain issues an apology for knighting Salmon Rushdie. I know they should have the right to knight anyone they want, but just how naive are they that they didn't expect the requisite new fatwas and threats of suicide bombings? 

Posted by authorjodi at 08:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Greenpeace is building a replica of the Ark on the side of Mt. Ararat to protest global warming. What I'd like to know is how they got permission to go up there? It was my understanding that the Turkish government didn't let people go up there because the real ark might be found... Of course that could just be ye olde conspiracy theory talking. :p

ILLEGAL workers are suing a factory in Massachusetts for not being paid overtime. These ILLEGAL workers shouldn't have been working there anyway, but somehow they've managed to join a class action lawsuit against the factory where they ILLEGALLY were working when they allegedly didn't get paid correctly. I'm sorry, but why, why, why?

Continue reading "News Roundup." »

Posted by authorjodi at 03:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

A 12-year old girl was forced to watch Brokeback Mountain in school after being told by the substitute teacher "what happens in Ms. Buford's class stays in Ms. Buford's class." I'm so used to seeing lawsuits by the student offended at a moment of silence for possible personal prayer that it's kind of nice to see a lawsuit going the other direction. I wonder if the ACLU has offered to represent the girl? Sorry, couldn't resist. :p

Also in the standing up for your right not to be offended category, a Christian football player is claiming he was benched by coaches angry at the stand he took on a team bus. Apparently the coaches wanted to put in the uncut version of Wedding Crashers, which the player called semi-pornagraphic. When he asked them to play something else the coach cussed him out. He's been benched ever since.

Moving from the right not to be offended onto the right not to be exterminated: Muslims in Egypt went on a rampage and attacked Christians 50 miles outside Cairo. Sixty-nine Christians were injured in the riot and at least 27 of their homes and businesses were trashed. Egyptian police let the chaos continue for several hours before getting around to arresting 59 of the 500 Muslims present.

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