Random Politics & Religion #09

You can believe whatever you want to believe religion or no religion. But Science acts like it is holier than religion. That is why scientist always seem off putting to me.

Science looks for objective truths. It questions itself.

Religion requires uncritical belief. Questions are rarely permitted.

Washington (CNN)Election officials in Indiana have concluded that former Sen. Evan Bayh is an "inactive" voter in their state after they failed to confirm he lives in Indianapolis, creating a new problem for the Democrat as he mounts a late effort to win back his old Senate seat.
According to records obtained by CNN, Bayh has been listed as an inactive voter twice since leaving office -- once in July 2014 and the second time last week.

In both instances, election officials had sent multiple postcards to Bayh's Indianapolis address to determine that he lives there. Both times the post office could not reach Bayh at the condo he owns in Indianapolis despite multiple attempts, prompting the Indiana Election Division to list him as inactive, according to copies of the mailers and state voting records.

Bayh is still a registered voter, and being listed as inactive does not prevent the former two-term senator and governor from voting in the state. But being considered inactive is the first step from being removed altogether from the voter rolls.

Bayh has voted by absentee ballots in Indiana elections since leaving office, requesting those ballots be sent to his home and office addresses in Washington, the records show. (He voted in person in May, his office said.)

Perhaps more significantly, the inactive designation is only bound to intensify GOP accusations that the former senator had swiftly abandoned his state for Washington in his nearly six years since leaving office, only to come back to Indiana last month in a last-ditch effort to return to power.

The new revelations come just days aftear a CNN report showed Bayh consistently listing his two multi-million-dollar homes in Washington as his main places of residence, not his $53,000 condo in Indianapolis, contradicting his public claims that he "never left" the state after giving up his seat in 2011.

It is similar to the problems that dogged former Sen. Richard Lugar, the veteran Indiana Republican who lost his 2012 primary after he was sharply criticized for not owning a home in Indiana and for living in the Washington suburbs instead.

On Thursday, Bayh's campaign did not dispute the "inactive" status but downplayed the significance, noting that he still votes in Indiana elections and hundreds of thousands of other voters have also been listed as inactive.

But the Democrats argued that Republicans have been engaged in a long-running effort to discredit Bayh's ties to Indiana with little success -- dating back to 1988 when Republicans challenged Bayh's eligibility to run for governor of Indiana, only to be rejected by the Indiana Supreme Court. Bayh's aides accused their GOP opponent, Rep. Todd Young, of playing dirty tricks.

"Congressman Young's party bosses realized as far back as 1988 that the only way they can beat Evan Bayh is to take the choice away from voters, and they've been trying and failing to do that ever since," said Bayh spokesman Ben Ray. "This latest attempt to make a mountain out of a molehill -- from a bunch of folks that couldn't count to 500 to get their congressman on the ballot, no less -- is the definition of something a losing campaign does."

Bayh's office was referring to problems earlier this year that hounded Young over whether he obtained the requisite number of signatures to get onto the ballot.

Young campaign officials declined to comment.

(CNN)Germany could become the next European country to ban face veils under a proposal announced on Friday by officials in the ruling coalition.
The officials intend to have the face veils banned in public places where identification is required -- such as registry offices, schools, kindergartens and government offices -- saying that they did not fit in with Germany's society.

"Full-face veils, as mentioned, we reject this. Not just the burka, any full-face veils that only shows eyes of a person," said Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere at a press conference held by members of the Christian Democratic Union and their allied Christian Social Union, which govern in a coalition.
"It does not fit into our society for us, for our communication, for our cohesion in the society.... This is why we demand you show your face."



The proposed partial ban is to promote security and national cohesion, de Maiziere said, denying that plans for the ban were to appease the increasingly popular right-wing AFD party.
"We do what we deem is right, and the AFD can behave in their own way," he said.
Berlin Interior Minister Frank Henkel supported the proposal, adding that the full-face veil "does not fit in with our understanding of a tolerant, free society. It does not fit in with our view of women."
De Maziere also said that Germany would mull stricter child marriage laws and that the justice minister was already looking into the issue, adding that "a child marriage is not accepted in Germany."

The proposal follows a series of bans on clothing deemed religious -- including burkinis -- at some French beaches.
Cannes, a city on the French Riviera famous for its annual film festival, banned the religious swimwear in the wake of recent terror attacks in France and other western European countries.
Those breaking the temporary ban, which runs from July 28 until August 31, face fines of €38 ($42), said the Cannes mayor's office.



The French beach ban also comes as a planned burkini-only day for Muslim women at a water park near Marseille was canceled by city officials, after threats were sent to the event's organizers.
The private event, organized by the women's community group Smile 13, sparked outrage among some politicians and French citizens who claimed it was an affront to France's rigorously enforced secularism.

Germany's proposal follows similar bans in France, Belgium and Switzerland.
In April 2011, France became the first European country to ban wearing in public the burqa, a full-body covering that includes mesh over the face, and the niqab, a full-face veil with an opening for the eyes.

Those breaking the law face fines of 150 euros (about $205) or public service duties.
The law was upheld by the European Convention on Human Rights in 2014 after a 24-year-old woman brought the case to court, claiming it infringed on her religious freedom.
The government also previously banned Muslim headscarves and other "conspicuous" religious symbols in French schools, in February 2004.
The laws have been criticized by religious freedom advocates but supported by others who see the Islamic veil as demeaning to women and inconsistent with France's rigorously enforced secularism.

You can't just look at only the good scientists.

Not holier.

Science looks for objective truths. It questions itself.

Religion requires uncritical belief. Questions are rarely permitted. Well, most do, we Jews are full of questions.

Begging your pardon but comparing the two is like apples and horse apples.

Former President Bill Clinton submitted a recipe for chocolate chip cookies to the “First Lady” cookie contest run by the Family Circle Magazine, but it’s the same recipe Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton used nearly 25 years ago.

Hillary is the first female presidential nominee, so Bill is the first man called upon to participate in the “First Lady” cooking contest, run by Family Circle. But all he did was reuse the oatmeal chocolate chip recipe Hillary used to win the first-ever cookie contest in 1992.

The cookie contest became an election tradition for potential first ladies, the wives of presidential nominees, when Bill first ran for president in 1992. During that campaign, Hillary was denounced for seeming to criticize women who chose to raise their own children as homemakers.

“I suppose I could have stayed home and baked cookies and had teas, but what I decided to do was to fulfill my profession, which I entered before my husband entered public life,” she told a group of reporters during the campaign.

The Clinton recipe is the safe bet: Hillary won twice for it, beating out Barbara Bush’s in 1992 and the pecan roll cookies of Elizabeth Dole, wife of Republican nominee Bob Dole, in 1996.

To compete with the Clinton’s oatmeal chocolate chip recipe, Melania Trump, wife of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, submitted a star-shaped sugar cookie recipe. According to Regina Ragone, food director at Family Circle, says looks distinctly Eastern European, according to NPR.

People can cast their vote for the best recipe at the Family Circle’s Facebook page until Oct. 4.

You got this wrong Philosophy is about finding "truth" Science is about getting government grants to work on endless "research" projects !

I'm not a fan of the burkas, but I'm also a sucker for a pretty face, so idk, maybe my judgement is clouded.

/shrug

sugar cookie

According to Regina Ragone, food director at Family Circle, says looks distinctly Eastern European, according to NPR.

Clinton Family's Chocolate Chip Cookies

Makes 4 1/2 dozen cookies

Prep 15 minutes

Bake at 350° for 12 minutes

1 1/2 cups unsifted all-purpose flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 cup solid vegetable shortening
1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs
2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
1 pkg (12 oz) semisweet chocolate chips

• Heat oven to 350°. Grease 2 large baking sheets.
• Combine flour, salt and baking soda in a medium bowl.
• Beat together shortening, sugars and vanilla in a large bowl until creamy. Add eggs, beating until light and fluffy. Gradually beat in flour mixture and rolled oats. Stir in chocolate chips.
• Drop batter by well-rounded teaspoons onto greased baking sheets. Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until golden. Cool cookies on sheets on a wire rack for 2 minutes. Remove cookies to wire rack to cool completely.

Melania Trump's Star Cookies

Makes 4 dozen cookies

Prep 15 minutes

Bake at 350° for 10 minutes per batch

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
6 tbsp unsalted butter, softened
1 cup confectioners' sugar
2 egg yolks, 1 egg white
2 tbsp sour cream

• Combine flour and baking soda. Set aside.
• Beat butter and sugar until blended. Add egg yolks, egg white and sour cream. Beat until smooth.
• Beat in flour mixture until dough just comes together. Form into 2 disks, wrap in plastic and refrigerate at least 30 minutes.
• Heat oven to 350°. Roll out one disk on liberally floured wax paper with a floured rolling pin to 1/8-inch thickness. Using a 2 1/2-inch star cutter, cut out star shapes and place on a wax-paper-lined baking sheet. Repeat with second disk. Gather up scraps, form into a disk and refrigerate.
• Bake 10 minutes per batch, until lightly golden. Slide cookies onto a cooling rack and cool.
• Re-roll scraps, cut out additional stars and bake.

I'm not a fan of the burkas, but I'm also a sucker for a pretty face, so idk, maybe my judgement is clouded.

/shrug

The Wall Street Journal has said that the outcome of the October referendum on constitutional reforms is “more important than Brexit”, with the future of pro-Brussels PM Matteo Renzi riding on the result.

Other international news organisation have suggested that Italy could become the weak link of European growth and the possible centre of a new political shock ready to weaken the EU.

The Spanish newspaper El Pais called Italy “the new sick patient of Europe that could drag the continent back into crisis”.

Like Brexit, the decision to hold the referendum in Italy could destroy the man who suggested it - Prime Minister Matteo Renzi.

The main proposal of the referendum would be to reform the senate to make it more efficient, but there are concerns it could be used by a fed up Italian electorate to voice their frustrations with Brussels.

Mr Renzi has said that he will resign if the vote goes against him, with the eurosceptic Five Star movement riding high in the polls and ready to pounce at a snap General Election.

The referendum is a last attempt to address Italy’s democratic problems through constitutional change.

The New York Times has given four outcome possibilities, three of which are negative for the country.

Italy is slowing down the growth of the eurozone as the youth employment of the country has reached 36.5 per cent against a European average of 20.8 per cent.

The Economist had a front cover in July where the publication said that Italy has the “fourth economy of Europe and has a high public debt, one of the highest unemployment rates after Greece and an economy in anger”.

The Italian newspaper La Repubblica has said that monetary policy alone is not enough to save Italy, a budget package to revive the sick economy with more public investment is needed for Renzi to win the autumn referendum.

There are concerns that many Italian voters will understand to the complicated substance of the reforms and could use it as an opportunity to vent their frustrations against the political establishment.

The Financial Times has warned that the Italians will vote against the increasingly unpopular Government.

(CNN)When Massachusetts law enforcement surrounded the house of a 31-year-old suspected drug dealer Thursday, the person in the home didn't initially match the description.
That's because police encountered what appeared to be an elderly man.
Authorities had been looking for a much younger Shaun Miller, who police say was suspected of drug trafficking.

"Upon further investigation, officers determined that the 'elderly man' was in fact Miller," Yarmouth police said in a press release. "At that point, officers pulled off Miller's realistic disguise and placed him under arrest."
Police said they seized two loaded weapons and almost $30,000 in cash.

Shea? You mean Seha?

Seoul (CNN)North Korea said its diplomat who recently defected to South Korea is a "criminal" who had been under investigation for "intentionally leaking secrets, embezzling state property" and a "sex offense."
The comments were reported Saturday by the state-run news agency, KCNA.

Thae Yong Ho, the deputy ambassador of the North Korean Embassy in the United Kingdom, recently defected to South Korea with his wife and children, the South Korean Unification Ministry said this week.
It is the highest-level diplomatic defection from North to South Korea in history.
North Korea accused the UK of handing over Thae to South Korea and "instigating the fight" between North Korea and South Korea.
The diplomat left for the sake of his family and because he was "tired of Kim Jong Un's regime," South Korean Unification Ministry spokesman Jeong Joo-hee said Wednesday.
CNN has been trying to reach the diplomat for comment.

The defection was a "unique situation," and could lead to threats of retaliation from North Korea, said Sokeel Park, director of research at Liberty in North Korea, a California-based group that helps North Korean refugees.
As with all high-profile defections, Park said the family of the diplomat still left in North Korea could possibly face punishment.
"At the very least there's going to be suspicion and more surveillance on those family members. This could include any brothers and sisters of the diplomat who defected, extending to cousins and extended relatives," he said.
Park said Thae belonged to an elite family in North Korea and is the son of a high-profile general.
The diplomat had been with his entire immediate family overseas when he was posted.