Twelve
 

Yes watching it on the news, its so emotional! :bigcry::watereyes:

It truly is. I grew up in a coal mining area in Pennsylvania, and can just imagine the relief the loved ones are feeling. Can you see the pride and strength in the rescued and the rescuers. Plus the Chilean President has been there all nght too. Amazing *!!

Chilean President Sebastian Pinera was euphoric in the early hours of Wednesday, minutes after the first of 33 miners reached the surface.

“In this rescue operation we Chileans have shown the best of us,” Mr. Pinera told a press conference at the San Jose copper mine. The miners were trapped August 5 by a shaft collapse in this barren northern Chile desert landscape.

He described the experience as “a wonderful night that Chileans and the whole world will never forget.” “Let the miners’ example stay with us forever,” Mr. Pinera said.http://web7.bernama.com/bernama/news...818-4-pic0.jpg

The Assoc. of Christian Schools International, Agenda
 

Christian schools lose appeal bid in UC case

Bob Egelko, Chronicle Staff Writer

Wednesday, October 13, 2010
The U.S. Supreme Court rejected an appeal Tuesday from Christian schools that want the University of California to grant college-prep credit for courses with religious viewpoints - using textbooks, UC says, that replace science with the Bible.

The justices, without comment, denied a hearing to the Association of Christian Schools International, which accused the university of violating freedom of speech and religion with its policy on the classes applicants take in high school.

UC requires certain high school courses for admission and says it reviews their content to make sure they cover subjects that incoming students need. University officials said some of the Christian schools' classes in biology, history, English and religion didn't pass the test - a conclusion that the schools blamed on discrimination.

The association's 800 high schools in California teach "standard course content" and "add a religious viewpoint in each subject ... as an integral part of their reason for existence," the group's lawyers said in their Supreme Court appeal.

But a federal judge said experts testifying for the university refuted those claims in reviewing textbooks.

Biology texts, one professor concluded, teach students to reject any scientific evidence that contradicted the Bible. A history text declared the Bible to be the "unerring source for analysis" of past events, in the view of another expert, and gave short shrift to women, non-Christians and some ethnic groups.

Another UC evaluator said an English literature course did not require students to read novels or plays, but instead presented an anthology, "Classics for Christians," that "insists on specific interpretations" of excerpted works.

Those and similar assessments showed that the university had rational grounds for denying college preparatory credit for the courses, U.S. District Judge James Otero said in a 2008 ruling.

The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco upheld his decision in January. A three-judge panel said the evidence showed that UC has approved other high school courses with "religious content and viewpoints," and classes that used religious textbooks, as long as they met academic standards.

UC officials praised the court decisions and said the university has similar rates of approval for courses in religious and secular schools. Lawyers for the Christian school association denounced the ruling in their Supreme Court appeal.

"In the Ninth Circuit," they said, "religious speech in religious schools is less protected than commercial speech, flag burning and pornography."

The case is Association of Christian Schools International vs. Stearns, 09-1461.


E-mail Bob Egelko at begelko@sfchronicle.com.


If you have any doubt about ACSI go take a look. http://www.acsi.org/About/Presidents...6/Default.aspx

Porn Star Tests Positive for HIV, Shuts Down Production at 2 Companies


http://newsfeed.time.com/2010/10/13/...stry-shutdown/

Mistresses and wives clash over trapped Chilean miners
Tensions are rising above ground as wives and mistresses of the 33 miners trapped deep within the San Jose mine make rival claims for compensation.

By Fiona Govan at the San Jose Mine

Published: 9:00PM BST 02 Sep 2010


Link to this video Authorities at Camp Hope have had to deal with a rush of women coming forward claiming to be first in the Chilean miners' affections in order to receive government handouts.

At least five wives have been forced to come face to face with mistresses whose existence was kept from them by their husbands, who have been trapped more than 2,300ft below since a cave in on August 5.

Chile begins rescue drilling One miner has four women fighting over him in an effort to claim compensation offered to the families of those facing between three to four months underground until a rescue shaft can reach them.

Government officials are considering asking the 33 trapped miners to name those they want to claim the benefits entitled to them in a bid to solve problems on the surface.

"There has been a lot of conflict between women," admitted Marta Flores a Red Cross worker at the makeshift camp where relatives wait for news of their loved ones.

"We had a big bust up in the canteen tent when a wife came across a woman who claimed to be her husband's lover – we had to step in and pull them apart before things got physical." At stake are welfare packages issued to the families of the trapped miners as well as future compensation claims that could run into tens of thousands of pounds.

"Unfortunately the conflict stems from money issues," said Mrs Flores. "Some of the men have children from numerous women and all of them have arrived here to stake their claim. I've met five families in this situation but I'm sure there are more." Some women turned up at the camp to discover that their partners already had a wife and children who they knew nothing about.

"Those that truly love their men have slipped away quietly not wanting to cause any more pain to the families but others are putting up a fight." Special welfare officers trained in marital issues have been brought in to provide help to women faced with their husband's infidelity.

One miner, who has not been named, has a first wife he never divorced, his live-in partner, a mother of a child he had several years ago, and a woman who claims to be his current girlfriend all visiting the camp.

"It's a logistical nightmare trying to keep them apart and of course they all want to send messages," said Mrs Flores.

The team of psychologists charged with ensuring the mental welfare of the men below ground are attempting keep such developments from the miners.

"We read all the letters before they are sent down to make sure the miners do not experience any extra anxiety," said Alberto Iturra, head of the psychological team.

One of the trapped miners, Yonni Barrios Rojas, who is using his first aid training to treat medical problems underground is among those who faces difficult questions when he finally makes it the surface.

His wife, Marta Salinas, 56, discovered he had a mistress when she came across another woman holding a vigil for him. The other woman, Susana Valenzuela, said they met on a training course five years ago and he was planning to leave his wife for her.

"He is my husband. He loves me and I am his devoted wife," insisted Mrs Salinas. "This other woman has no legitimacy."



http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worl...an-miners.html

Greyson - that's heart-wrenching for all parties. Thanks for posting.

There ya go!

The House is going to try to get another $250 bucks to folks to offset the missing cola. If the Senate says 'no', then millions are screwed by a handful of Senate Repugs.

They tried to put through a second $250 check last year, but a few little-d democrats joined the Senate Repugs on the 'no' vote.

The moral of the story is, one should not only vote democrat, but one should vote liberal democrat. Conservidems aren't as disgusting as Senate Repugs, but they're sometimes also quite willing to fuck over folks.

I know in this area, utility costs alone have increased by double digit percentages in the past two years. Added to the loss by many of their retirement funds with the big crash, the cost of living DID go up, or at the very least, the availability of funds other than Social Security benefits.

I'm not sure which "consumer prices" didn't increase, perhaps they are basing the numbers on all of the marked down prices companies are offering due to the economy and unemployment.

I don't think that $250.00 is gonna solve anything, the COLA should have been passed and not passed over with a band-aid being dangled instead.

One article plus a link to AARP's site for more info:

http://www.enewspf.com/index.php/opi...-of-americans-

You folks who owe the government anything such as a school loan etc...will get the 250 check taken away by the government (you simply won't receive one). The COLA raise was added directly onto folks checks whether they owed the government any money or not.

Actually, the $250 was fairly close to the equivalent of the median (I think it was median, might have been average) COLA increase from the year before, so it did 'solve something'.

Income losses due to the market crash aren't costs of living, they're sources of income. It's like when Walmart cuts your hours, it's not an increase in your costs, it's a decrease in your income. Vote republican and you can look forward to more income slashing as social security moves to the stock market.

COLA uses CPI-W. Here's a link where you can learn about what that entails, and you can google for more information. I find that researching something about which I am curious is more fruitful than just wondering about it. linkyloo

Yep, and if the government didn't do that then conservatives would be pissing a fit over "giving away money to irresponsible people". I can almost envision the tea party signs and sanctimonious righteousness.

fascinating, indeed!

...go Canada! lmao!

Thanks Nat. Fun reading.

Lesbian couple ejected from mall meet with property managers

p.s. one half of the couple--Caitlin Breedlove--identifies as a queer femme. :)

http://www.southernersonnewground.org/contact-us/staff/

Did this happen in Delaware by any chance? :lol2: