-----Forwarded Message-----from Akira Kawasaki
>From: What's New <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Sent: Mar 2, 2007 2:41 PM >To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [BOBPARKS-WHATSNEW] What's New Friday March 2, 2007 WHAT'S NEW Robert L. Park Friday, 2 Mar 07 Washington, DC 1. FIRST AMENDMENT: HIGH COURT TAKES ON FAITH-BASED INITIATIVES. Early in his presidency, George W. Bush issued an executive order creating a White House Office of Faith-Based Initiatives that gives billions of dollars to religious groups of its choosing without oversight. No politician dares to challenge it, but a group of atheists who pay taxes sued in federal court, arguing that it violated the "establishment clause" of the 1st Amendment. An appeals court ruled that the case can go forward. However, the White House director short circuited the process by asking the Supreme Court, stacked with conservatives, to weigh in. The issue is whether taxpayers have standing under the establishment clause to challenge the way the executive branch uses money appropriated by Congress. The Court heard oral arguments this week and is expected to rule before adjourning for the summer. 2. NASA EXPLORATION: THE ROBOTIC MISSIONS ARE GOING JUST FINE. The speedy New Horizons probe has gotten a boost from Jupiter on its way to Pluto. As it left Jupiter yesterday, the Long Range Reconnaissance Imager on board New Horizons took a spectacular picture of the plume from the Tvashtar volcano on Io. The plume was discovered by Hubble just two weeks ago. 3. THE OTHER NASA: RETHINKING THE VALUE OF HUMAN SPACE FLIGHT. The arrest of astronaut Lisa Nowak on charges of planning to kidnap and murder a romantic rival raised questions about plans for dealing with instability in space. The Associated Press obtained NASA's written procedure. It calls for binding wrists and ankles with duct tape, tying down with bungee cords and injection with tranquillizers. Meanwhile, fuel is being removed from the shuttle before sending it back to the garage to repair damage from a hail storm, delaying launch until at least the end of April. The shuttle is expected to retire in 2010, "if a tree don't fall on it" first, as the song goes. A replacement won't be ready before 2005. Budget cuts are likely to delay plans for a new manned spacecraft to replace the shuttle to at least 2015. Inevitably, it raises questions the value of humans in space. 4. SUPERSTITION: MAYBE, "THE LOST TOMB OF A GUY NAMED JESUS"? The documentary, "The Lost Tomb of Jesus," airs on the Discovery Channel, Sunday. It claims to have found a tomb in Jerusalem that held the remains of Jesus, his wife Mary Magdalene, their son Judah, his mother Mary, and assorted other family members. Coming just before Easter, it outraged the faithful who point out it couldn't be the same guy, that one ascended bodily into heaven. The War Between Religion and Science, ignited by the Intelligent Design movement, is heating up. According a front page story in today's Weekend Journal section of the Wall Street Journal, it's now generational. The story says that the new thing in adolescent rebellion is to be excessively devout, driving liberated parents nuts. THE UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND. Opinions are the author's and not necessarily shared by the University of Maryland, but they should be. --- Archives of What's New can be found at http://www.bobpark.org What's New is moving to a different listserver and our subscription process has changed. To change your subscription status please visit this link: http://listserv.umd.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=bobparks-whatsnew&A=1
