May 25, 2010

Atheist app for Iphone


Apple has come out with an interesting app for its Iphone. It is the mAtheist for Iphone by Perception Health.

The Itunes description for the mAtheist says,

"An unbeliever, agnostic, atheist, rationalist, or not quite sure; but looking for rational inspiration? mAtheist is a database of over 700 quotes from most of the world's best known freethinkers through the centuries. Dawkins, Ingersoll, Voltaire ... authors, scientists and rationalists who challenged the status quo. You'll find a random quote at every launch; but for more in-depth study, you can browse through the quotes categorized by author, source, or year. With mAtheist, you can also manage your own list of favorite quotes for ready reference. The developer has made every attempt to verify the authenticity of the quote and the accuracy of the data; but if you find errors, please point them out to us so that we can correct them in a future release. Enjoy and be inspired!"


May 15, 2010

U.S. Government: Israel has 122 Trillion Cubic Feet of Gas and 1.7 Billion Barrels of Oil Offshore


Joel Rosenberg has a most interesting piece on his blog today!

Rosenberg points out that
"'The U.S. Geological Survey estimated a mean 1.7 billion barrels of recoverable oil and a mean of 122 trillion cubic feet of natural gas in the Levant Basin Province using a geology based assessment methodology,' stated the report’s executive summary."

This is amazing news! And potentially it could be one day -especially given the current global economy - that Israel could emerge as one of the most stable if not one of the strongest economies in the world, which could be used as an excuse by many to aggressively oppose if not attack Israel.


May 9, 2010

Episcopal Church To Begin New Church Service For Pets


Calvary Episcopal Church in Danvers, Massachusetts will start a new church service for its parishioners on May 16. That sounds pretty normal. The service, however, is anything, but normal. The service the Calvary Episcopal Church plans to begin is for people and pets. It also sounds like a joke, but apparently it's true.

The Service Schedule on the church's website states:

SUNDAY SERVICE SCHEDULE:

altar_glass
  • FALL, WINTER, SPRING (through June 1) 8 a.m. & 10 a.m.

  • Holy Eucharist and Sermon

  • SUMMER 9:00 a.m.Holy Eucharist and Sermon

  • Starting May 16, 2010 -- and every 3rd Sunday thereafter --CALVARY PEOPLE-AND-PETS SERVICE 5 - 5:30 p.m. in Parish Hall All leashed dogs are welcome.


May 8, 2010

Mormon Missionaries Call Home on Mother's Day and Christmas Only


The Chicago Tribune has an interesting story on Mormon moms. In particular, Mormon moms whose son's are LDS Missionaries.

The significant part of the story relates to how often Mormon Missionaries are allowed by the LDS Church to call their families while on their mission. The Chicago Tribune piece notes, "young Mormon missionaries can talk to their families only twice a year. The cherished semiannual ritual falls on Christmas and Mother's Day.....The semiannual telephone calls are usually limited to 45 minutes or an hour."

The piece also notes, "More than 50,000 full-time missionaries — mostly men — ages 19 to 30 serve as missionaries for the Latter-day Saints. Young men can serve 24 months beginning at age 19. Young women can serve 18 months beginning at age 21."


May 6, 2010

UN Security Council Voice Support for Nuclear-Free Middle East


Haaretz reported yesterday that the UN Security Council is backing a move to make the Middle East free of nukes. This sounds good, but it is a direct move against Israel.

The Haaretz piece stated, "
The United States, Russia, Britain, France and China on Wednesday voiced support for making the Middle East a nuclear-arms-free zone, which would mean Israel would have to scrap any atomic bombs in its possession."

Joel Rosenberg notes on his blog, "What makes the new U.N. announcement so dangerous is that it does nothing to stop Iran from continuing to build its own nuclear weapons. Rather, it turns the world’s attention away from stopping Iran from getting offensive nukes and towards pressuring Israel to give up its defensive nukes. The world will now ramp up unbearable pressure on Israel first to disclose and second to dismantle all of its nuclear arsenal, and claim that no more action can be taken to stop Iran until the “double standard” of Israel is dealt with. "