Wednesday, May 30, 2012
The lawsuit argues that the Obama healthcare plan violates the religious
freedom of Catholic institutions by requiring them to cover the
contraception costs of employees. In the eyes of the Church, artificial
contraception violates the doctrine of Natural Law. If sexual intercourse
cannot lead to procreation it removes the sovereignty of God over Creation.
Try thinking that through while having sex. What are the odds of the Church
winning its suit? The Church hasn't won a case based on Natural Law since
615 when the Inquisition forced Galileo to recant his belief in a
heliocentric universe.
Founded in 2002 by PayPal entrepreneur Elon Musk, Space X last Friday
became the first private company to dock on the International Space
Station. Presidential science adviser John Holdren called it, "an
achievement of historic scientific and technological significance" and "a
key milepost in President Obamas vision for Americas continued leadership
in space." The cargo capsule, Dragon, delivered groceries and collected the
ISS garbage, but carried no people. That is indeed a big improvment over
the Shuttle.
Everest is closed. The climbing season normally runs from late March to
the first week in June, but 2012 was a deadly year on the mountain, with
several deaths and "traffic jams" due to the large number of climbers. Why?
People are driven to test themselves. But having reached the summit of the
tallest mountain, what do you do next? If you're Francis Slakey, PhD,
associate director of the Washington Office of Public Affairs of the
American Physical Society, who reached the Everest summit on 24 May 2000 at
10:51 AM, you make a To-Do-List: The tallest peak on each of the seven
continents. The final climb took place in September of 2002 on the highest
mountain in Indonesia, where an unrelated power struggle took the life of
an innocent climber in front of him. Nature is not cruel, only indifferent.
Cruelty comes from the struggle for power. Years earlier Slake had
requested a leave of absence to go climbing, "Sure, I said, do it now.
Once you have a family it will no longer be possible." "That's not the
path I'm on he replied." I left the APS office several years ago to return
to my full-time position as professor of physics at the University of
Maryland. Francis Slakey was changing, but he's was still not ready to give
up the To-Do-List; after all, 69 other climbers have done the seven
continent tour. Why not add a third category: "surf in every ocean?" The
To-Do-List began to look a little silly. No matter, the real story is that
Francis Slakey discovered himself. He married Gina, an Italian girl he
met climbing. They bought a house in Washington, where they are raising
twin daughters. He still works for the American Physical Society and
teaches at Georgetown University.
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