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Shamans can tie strings around a neck and wrist. A red string around the neck helps in healing, and a white string around a wrist maintains a soul during hospitalization. A shaman, or "txiv neeb" in Hmong, can ask the Mercy hospital staff for permission to do ceremonies that go beyond chanting. An example would be a request to sprinkle water over incisions. According to Mercy's policy, hospital staff are to try to make accommodations. The ceremonies can occur in patient rooms, in the emergency department or in surgery preparation areas. The hospital ceremonies are brief -- 10 to 15...

According to Democrats, health care reform must be passed this very moment even though it would not kick in until 2013. But don't worry, it would start taxing Americans in 2010, three years before you get nothing. All of this probably adds up to the most expensive dependency program yet devised.

...Patterns In Irrationality A first obvious common point in all the justifications for government: they all suppose that government somehow provides some kind of goods for free, without any costly counterpart. The existence of this pattern among statists is not anything new; we libertarians even have a mantra to dispel this pattern: TANSTAAFL [28]. However, what is remarkable is that all statist justifications include this pattern, albeit sometimes in a less than obvious way... ...Ultimately, what government is supposed to bring is some kind of a warranty that evil won't happen; some special sense of security.... ...A second pattern that...

He is back from the dead, literally. The former lover of Olivia Newton John, Patrick McDermott, is said to be alive and keeping well. McDermott had disappeared from the public eye abruptly, way back in 2005 and was assumed to be dead. Over the year, private investigators have been trying to sniff out his trail and it seems now they have achieved the feat. Patrick had gone missing after he had left for a fishing trip off the coast of California. His wallet, keys and boat were left behind but there was no trace of him. Though, at that moment...

Facilitated variation is the first comprehensive theory of how life works at the molecular level, published in 2005 by systems biologists Marc Kirschner and John Gerhart in their book The Plausibility of Life: Resolving Darwin’s Dilemma. It is a very powerful theory, is supported by a great deal of evidence, and the authors have made it easy to understand. It identifies two basic components of heredity: (a) conserved core processes of cellular structure, function and body plan organization; and (b) modular regulatory mechanisms that are built in special ways that allow them to be easily rearranged (like ®Lego blocks) into...

The Lakers win their 15th organizational title, and 10th in Los Angeles, in their 30th Finals appearance. They defeat the Orlando Magic, 99-86 in Game 5, and win the series 4 games to 1. Kobe Bryant was named MVP of the Finals.

Orlando defeats Cleveland 4 games to 2 and will travel to Los Angeles for Game 1 on Thursday.

ORLANDO, Fla. -- Superman swooped in just in time. Dwight Howard scored 10 points in overtime and the Orlando Magic, raining down 3-pointers like a Florida thunderstorm, withstood 44 points and a last-second shot by LeBron James for a 116-114 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Tuesday night to take a 3-1 lead in the Eastern Conference finals.

Creation Essay Contest offers $1,000 in cash Jesus Created Ministries (JCM) is sponsoring a Creation Essay Contest with $1,000 in cash prizes. The goal of the contest is to motivate students to examine the claims of and debate between creation and evolution - including the logical implications of each claim with respect to one’s view of origin, purpose, morality and destiny. JCM will be awarding cash prizes of $500, $300 and $200 for first, second and third place. The contest is open to all Oklahoma students ages 12-18 (as of June 15, 2009) whose parent/legal guardian has completed a JCM...

I love the sound of a quiet Garden. Orlando 101, Boston 82. So the "Final Four" is set: Denver vs. LAKERS, starting Tuesday; Orlando vs. CAVALIERS, starting Wednesday.

Magic fan angry at 'raging' Davis Posted by Chad Finn, Globe Staff May 11, 2009 02:35 PM Orlando Magic fan Ernest Provetti, whose son, 12-year-old Nicholas, was nearly run over by Glen Davis after his buzzer-beating, game-winning shot last night, is demanding an apology from the Celtics forward.The Video

Thousands of Malaysian Hindus are seeking blessings from a group of wild boars believed to possess magical powers, shrugging off concerns about a global outbreak of "swine flu," a local newspaper reported Monday. The Sun reported a Hindu temple in the northwestern Malaysian state of Perak has been drawing a steady stream of thousands of visitors daily, eager to feed and touch dozens of wild boars. The boars, which started to appear near the temple about a year ago, are believed by devotees to possess magical powers and can bring good luck. Among the busloads of devotees and visitors from...

I say, Thank God Penn & Teller reveal the workings of their magic tricks. We’re all used to it now, but when they first got going they caused a lot of angst and delicate hand-wringing among the brotherhood. No one will watch magic if they know how the tricks work! went the standard lamentation. But it wasn’t shouted too loudly. Sympathy for secrecy wasn’t exactly on the wane when the boys showed up, but complaints against violations were reflexive more than strident. Penn & TellerThis is because magic had fallen into the doldrums. There were a plethora of exaggerated hand-waving...

Swine Flu, Viruses, and the Edge of Evolution A few years ago, the media was abuzz over the scare of the avian flu virus, which led me to write a post titled Avian Flu: An Example of Evolution?. At the time, it wasn't clear whether the avian flu would evolve and "jump" into a highly virulent form that easily infected humans. Had the avian flu virus made the jump, then we would have witnessed a sort of evolution where viruses swap genetic material in a process known as "reassortment" and can then more easily infect new hosts, such as humans....

Dinosaur Blood Protein, Cells Recovered (see article link for picture links!) April 30, 2009 — It’s official: soft tissue, including blood vessel proteins and structures resembling cells, have been recovered from dinosaur bone. Mary Schweitzer’s amazing claim in 2005 (03/24/2005) was subsequently disputed as possible contamination from biofilms (07/30/2008). Now, Schweitzer and her team took exceptional precautions to avoid contamination by excavating hadrosaur bone from sandstone said to be 80 million years old. A short description of her findings, and a picture of the tissue, was announced today by New Scientist. The paper was published in the May 1 issue...

Listening to the Today programme this morning, I was irritated once again by yet another misrepresentation of Intelligent Design as a form of Creationism. In an item on the growing popularity of Intelligent Design, John Humphrys interviewed Professor Ken Miller of Brown University in the US who spoke on the subject last evening at the Faraday Institute, Cambridge. Humphrys suggested that Intelligent Design might be considered a kind of middle ground between Darwinism and Creationism. Miller agreed but went further, saying that Intelligent Design was nothing more than an attempt to repackage good old-fashioned Creationism and make it more palatable....

Bacteria trapped for “millions of years” under Antarctic ice by Carl Wieland Published: 23 April 2009 Science news sites are abuzz with the discovery of an ecosystem trapped under an Antarctic glacier for an alleged time of “at least 1.5 million years”.[1] It was not that long ago that the world of science believed that nothing could survive in an environment that was not only near freezing, but totally dark and lacking oxygen...

Biblical creation impedes evangelism? Plus yet another uninformed atheist. Published: 4 April 2009 First, Matthew P, a Christian evolutionist from the UK asserts that young-earth creation is harmful to evangelism. Dr Jonathan Sarfati shows the opposite, and explains the baneful consequences to the Gospel of denying its foundation in Genesis. Then Nigel H, an atheist from the US, hurls elephants about science and asserts that God deceived us and set up Adam and Eve to fail. Dr Sarfati explains some of the science and why God did NOT entrap the first couple...

What does one TRILLION dollars look like?

In September of 2006, Kelly J. McCrum sold 1525 S Sangamon St. Unit 707, Chicago IL to a person named Osama Barakat. Kelly J. McCrum is the wife of Craig M. Robinson. Craig Robinson is Michelle Obama's brother. The part of the transaction that I found odd was the creditor. Burlew Plumbing & Heating of New Jersey issued credit for the transaction. Burlew also owns Magic Touch Construction Company Inc. This contractor does nonresidential construction, plumbing, heating, and air-conditioning. Knowing how New York and New Jersey share contracts for Port Authority work, I can't help but wonder if this is...

KINSHASA (Reuters) - Police in Congo have arrested 13 suspected sorcerers accused of using black magic to steal or shrink men's penises after a wave of panic and attempted lynchings triggered by the alleged witchcraft. Reports of so-called penis snatching are not uncommon in West Africa, where belief in traditional religions and witchcraft remains widespread, and where ritual killings to obtain blood or body parts still occur. Rumours of penis theft began circulating last week in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo's sprawling capital of some 8 million inhabitants. They quickly dominated radio call-in shows, with listeners advised to beware of...

"If Jesse Jackson were not black, he wouldn't be in the race," she said. Really. The cite is an April 15, 1988 Washington Post story (byline: Howard Kurtz), available only on Nexis. Here's the full context: Placid of demeanor but pointed in his rhetoric, Jackson struck out repeatedly today against those who suggest his race has been an asset in the campaign. President Reagan suggested Tuesday that people don't ask Jackson tough questions because of his race. And former representative Geraldine A. Ferraro (D-N.Y.) said Wednesday that because of his "radical" views, "if Jesse Jackson were not black, he wouldn't...

It's the Barack Obama Magic 8-Ball! Obama knows all! Obama tells all! Just ponder any concern, then click the magic 8-Ball for Barack Obama's response. From your friends at News Talk 100.3 KTLK Minneapolis.

Presidential candidate, Senator Mrs. Bill Clinton (D-N.Y.), told a crowd of New Hampshire Democratic voters that all they need to do in order to ensure lower fuel prices is elect her president next November. “My ‘two-pronged plan’ to lower fuel prices will mean lower heating bills and driving costs,” the New York senator promised. The “supply side prong” calls for comprehensive price-controls. “Under my administration, oil profiteering will come to an end,” Clinton said. “Corporate greed feeding off of human need will be stopped. If we have to seize control of fuel producers to accomplish this—well, they’ve been warned.” The...

Yanadi Kondaiah, who claimed that those who touched his leg would be cured of illness or have wishes granted, was hospitalized in serious condition after the attack Tuesday, said R. Ravindranath Reddy, a senior police officer. "We are looking for the miscreants as well as the leg," Reddy told The Associated Press by telephone from the Chittoor district, a remote area 340 miles south of Hyderabad, the capital of Andhra Pradesh state. "This seems to be a case of superstition. The two people might have taken away the leg hoping to benefit from its magical powers," said Pendakanti Dastgiri, the...

DUTCH magician Ramana has been doing his best to freak out American people by levitating in Times Square and in front of the White House. The illusionist, real name Wouter Bijdendijk, hovered several feet above the pavement with apparent ease. His only "prop" was a stick that he held with his left hand.

Click the link. Watch and listen. :)

Federal authorities in Seattle apparently are involved in an investigation of magician David Copperfield, and a source with knowledge of the investigation told the Las Vegas Review-Journal the case involves "possible sexual misconduct by the illusionist." P-I reporter Levi Pulkkinen inquired Thursday night with the newspaper and called local authorities here for comment. Robbie Burroughs, spokeswoman for the FBI's Seattle office, declined to discuss any aspects of the case on the grounds that the investigation is pending. She did say that the case originated in Seattle, Pulkkinen reports. According to the Las Vegas newspaper, Copperfield's accuser said the misconduct occurred...

David Copperfield -- Investigated by FBI Posted Oct 18th 2007 7:52PM by TMZ Staff Filed under: Celebrity Justice Magician David Copperfield is being investigated by the FBI. Authorities won't comment about the investigation, but did confirm that agents raided Copperfield's personal belongings Wednesday night. We're told agents searched a warehouse in Las Vegas where Copperfield stores items for his show. The raid reportedly stems from an ongoing case in Seattle. TMZ spoke to an FBI spokesperson who refused to comment, saying only that there was an ongoing investigation. Eyewitness News in Vegas is reporting that 12 agents "stormed the warehouse,"...

The speed of light is the speed of light, and that's that. Right? Well, maybe not. Try and figure this out. Astronomers studying radiation coming from a distant galaxy found that the high energy gamma rays arrived a few minutes after the lower-energy photons, even though they were emitted at the same time. If true, this result would overturn Einstein's theory of relativity, which says that all photons should move at the speed of light. Uh oh Einstein. The discovery was made using the new MAGIC (Major Atmospheric Gamma-ray Imaging Cherenkov) telescope, located on a mountain top on the Canary...

Harry Potter: The Archetype of an Abortion Survivor By Marie Peeters-Ney, MD and Philip G. Ney, M.D., M.A., FRCP(C), FRANZCP, RPsychOriginally published in Catholic Insight December 2003Republished with permission and encouragement of authors One could speak about a worldwide "Harry Potter phenomenon," appearing soon after the Pokemon craze. The object of this discussion is to reflect on the possible reasons for the remarkable popularity of Harry Potter. Can the current craze be only due to good marketing skills? Does this book have exceptional literary value? Could the book be an indicator of a deeper cultural trend?  We wish to hypothesize...

Harry Potter and "the Death of God" - by Michael D. O'Brien Special to LifeSiteNews.com Editor's Note: LifeSiteNews.com, the news service which first put online the letter signed by Cardinal Ratzinger - now Pope Benedict XVI - against the Harry Potter books, is proud to present Michael O'Brien's latest essay on the Potter series.  The author, North America's foremost Potter critic, has written many articles that analyze in detail the Harry Potter novels. Here he reflects on the significance of the series as a whole. Well, July 21st has come and gone and the world is muggling onward. The date,...

Lesson 34: The First Commandment "Come let us praise the Lord with joy:  let us joyfully sing to God our savior.  Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving; and make a joyful noise to Him with psalms.  For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods.  For in His hand are all the ends of the earth:  and the heights of the mountains are His.  For the sea is His, and He made it:  and His hands formed the dry land.  Come let us adore and fall down:  and weep before the Lord that...

A Westminster family planning doctor prescribed an exorcism to a patient seeking contraceptive advice, a medical tribunal has heard. Dr Joyce Pratt, 44, is said to have told the woman she was possessed by an evil spirit and had "something moving inside her". The patient - known as Mrs K for the hearing - mentioned she was experiencing pain and bleeding during an appointment for a routine contraceptive injection, the General Medical Council heard. During the "bizarre" consultation at Westside Contraceptive Services in Westminster, Dr Pratt told Mrs K she would use her "black magic powers" to help her, the...

MUSLIM WORLD LEAGUE CALLS TO REMOVE TV MAGIC SHOWS; ARABSAT AGREES ARABSAT, one of the Arab world's leading satellite operators, has caved in to pressure exerted by the Muslim World League to remove television channels broadcasting magic shows, the London-based daily A-Sharq Al-Awsat reported. “We will take the necessary steps to remove these channels off the air in the next two weeks unless they cease to broadcast these programs,” said Khalid Bin Ahmad Balkhayour, acting president of ARABSAT, an organization founded in 1976 by the 22 member states of the Arab League. ARABSAT has already begun the legal proceedings to...

Swedish magician Joe Labero has provoked a strong reaction with suggestions that Las Vegas is controlled by "Jewish business syndicates, American dollar millionaires and homosexual booking agents". The magic master's comments were made in an interview with rail company SJ's on-board magazine Kupé. As a prelude to his controversial thesis, Labero explained that he has long been close to getting his own show in Las Vegas. "But at the end of the day it seems to be impossible - unless you are a homosexual, a Jew or an American. "I don't mean to sound prejudiced of course, I'm just cynical....

Barack Obama, caught up in the fervor of a campaign speech Tuesday, drastically overstated the Kansas tornadoes death toll, saying 10,000 had died. The death toll was 12. "In case you missed it, this week, there was a tragedy in Kansas. Ten thousand people died—an entire town destroyed," the Democratic presidential candidate said in a speech to 500 people packed into a sweltering Richmond art studio for a fundraiser. Obama mentioned the disaster in Greensburg, Kan., in saying he had been told by the office of Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius that the state's National Guard had been depleted by its...

AN elderly Indian husband and wife were burnt to death after villagers accused them of practising black magic, tied them together on a pyre and set them on fire. “The aged couple died screaming for help,” police superintendent P V KuMarch said. Sayanna, 70, and his 61-year-old wife, Pochamma, were set ablaze after being doused with kerosene. Both were farm labourers near the southern city of Hyderabad who also practised traditional medicine. Police have arrested six villagers for the incident.

China's Purple Army Made for Magic Jennifer Viegas, Discovery News April 10, 2007 — China's terracotta army, a mysterious collection of 8,000 life-size figures of warriors and horses found "ready for battle" in a 2017-year-old tomb, was painted in many colors, most distinctively bright purple. New research on the purple paint suggests it was due to Taoist experiments in creating fake jade, which was thought to bestow immortality. The discovery explains why the otherwise fierce army sports a springtime shade. It also suggests a religious link with the army and reveals how inventive China's early chemists were, even when they...

BOGOR, Indonesia - A renowned black magic practitioner performed a voodoo ritual Thursday to jinx President George W. Bush and his entourage while he was on a brief visit to Indonesia.

Democrats must be cursing that damn Karl Rove. How does he do it? From where in the black depths of his soul did he conjure the idea of putting a microphone in front of John Kerry’s mouth during the last week of a campaign season? We all know the truth now, and it is incontrovertible: Karl Rove is one magnificent bastard! For those of you late to the party, here’s the source of the controversy: According to the Pasadena Star-News: "Kerry then told the students that if they were able to navigate the education system, they could get comfortable jobs...

Vatican's Chief Exorcist Repeats Condemnation of Harry Potter Novel ROME, March 1, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The Vatican's chief exorcist, Rev. Gabriele Amorth, is reported to have repeated his condemnations of the Harry Potter novels yesterday.  According to press reports, Fr. Amorth, said of the books, "You start off with Harry Potter, who comes across as a likeable wizard, but you end up with the Devil. There is no doubt that the signature of the Prince of Darkness is clearly within these books."  "By reading Harry Potter a young child will be drawn into magic and from there it is a...

David Copperfield says he's found Fountain of Youth By Jane Sutton Tue Aug 15 The man who made the Statue of Liberty appear to vanish may soon claim to do the same for unsightly bags and wrinkles. Master illusionist David Copperfield says he has found the "Fountain of Youth" in the southern Bahamas, amid a cluster of four tiny islands he recently bought for $50 million (26.4 million pounds). One of his islands in the Exuma chain, Musha Cay, is a private resort that rents for up to $300,000 a week and the other islands serve as buffers to keep...

7/11/2006 - SAN ANTONIO (AFPN) -- Lights, camera, action! Airmen at Holloman Air Force Base, N.M., home to the Air Force's only operational F-117 wing, got to experience a new kind of rush as Hollywood invaded their base. The DreamWorks/Paramount Pictures live-action film "Transformers," set to release in July 2007, will feature several different aircraft including the F-117 Nighthawk from Holloman and the CV-22 Osprey from Kirtland Air Force Base, N.M. More than 300 Airmen participated as extras in the movie and providing logistical support during the filming. "It's a thrill to know my face will be seen in a...

Borders, Culture, Language, Morals, SAVAGE, Truth! Happy Tuesday everyone!

MIA Peter Arnett magically appears in Vietnam journo reunion pic In its December 2005 issue, Vanity Fair magazine manipulated a photograph to make it appear that veteran journalist Peter Arnett was among a group of war correspondents gathered on a teeming Ho Chi Minh City street during a reunion of the Vietnam press corps. In fact, according to a source familiar with the photo shoot, Arnett was not present when photographer Jonas Karlsson shot a group portrait of eight journalists last April. Instead, the former CNN star (who covered the war for the Associated Press) was subsequently photographed solo and...

In John They TrustSouth Pacific villagers worship a mysterious American they call John Frum - believing he'll one day shower their remote island with riches By Paul Raffaele   In the morning heat on a tropical island halfway across the world from the United States, several dark-skinned men—clad in what look to be U.S. Army uniforms—appear on a mound overlooking a bamboo-hut village. One reverently carries Old Glory, precisely folded to reveal only the stars. On the command of a bearded “drill sergeant,� the flag is raised on a pole hacked from a tall tree trunk. As the huge banner...

I went to see the Harry Potter movie yesterday and I was struck by the lack of any controlling moral authority. I've been living in Asia the last couple years and meet lots of Europeans in Thailand. It's amazing how shallow and vacuous they have become. I was immediatly struck by the message in Harry Potter, "nobody has to work. Nobody plants a seed or hammers a nail. Everyone, and I mean EVERYONE, gets all the food, cakes, dessert, luxuries, protection, and priviledge they want". Almost just as I was thinking that, Harry (in the movie, of course) walks into...