Three people were arrested here in Atlanta, the Coca-Cola capital of the world, for trying to sell Coke secrets to Pepsi. One is out on bond and two have hearings next week.

Arrested for trying to sell cola secrets. Hmm. Perhaps we should charge Mr. Lichtblau or Mr. Keller of the NY Times with selling details of our War on Terror secrets to Pepsi. In today’s America, it appears that’s the worse offense.

I can imagine a number of our old family photos showing up, like this did, on some Hallmark card. Y’know, might be a lucrative business!

Terror plot thwarted.

Authorities have disrupted planning by foreign terrorists for an attack on New York City tunnels, two law enforcement officials said Friday.

FBI agents monitoring Internet chat rooms used by extremists learned in recent months of the plot to strike a blow at the city’s economy by destroying vital transportation networks, one official said.
…
Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., said, “This is one instance where intelligence was on top of its game and discovered the plot when it was just in the talking phase.”

Imagine that; Sen. Schumer coming out in support of pre-emption. Bush is winning the hearts and minds, no? >grin<

Georgia Same-Sex Marriage Amendment Update: This will be the last one, unless it’s appealed for some other reason. The constitutional amendment stands.

The Georgia Supreme Court’s decision Thursday upholding a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage capped a two-year battle that mobilized the gay community, brought conservative voters to the polls in 2004 and threatened to become a politically charged issue in this year’s election.

The state’s highest court unanimously affirmed the constitutional amendment – approved by 76 percent of voters in 2004 – that defines marriage as the union of a man and a woman.

The amendment was appealed on the grounds that it violated Georgia’s rule that constitutional amendments must deal with one topic only; the “single subject rule”. Opponents said it dealt with both marriage and civil unions, thus more than one subject. The Georgia Supreme Court ruled, rightly in my opinion, that there truly was one subject.

But Justice Robert Benham, who was appointed to the court in 1989 by then-Gov. Joe Frank Harris and wrote the short, six-page opinion, refuted that claim. He wrote that the objective of the amendment is “reserving marriage and its attendant benefits to unions of man and woman.”

He went on to say that the prohibition against civil unions was not “dissimilar and discordant” with that objective.

The decision ends the opponents’ appeal process on the “single-subject rule” issue.

The single subject rule was to keep unrelated items from appearing in the same amendment, but this was a single subject–marriage–dealt with on two fronts, not two subjects.

As has been the case all over the country, same-sex couples have been using the courts to get their way rather than using the legislative process. (See here for another example of some courts rightly pushing this to the legislature, and Democrats reliably upset that their hopes of ruling by judicial fiat have been dashed. Legislation has become the fall-back position rather than the front line.) This is why an amendment was necessary; to meet them on the playing field of their own choosing.

Both gay marriage and civil unions were already illegal in Georgia. Supporters of the amendment said that defining marriage as the union of a man and a woman in the state Constitution would make it harder for judges to overturn the law.

Not impossible, for a judge enamoured with the whole “it’s a living document which means what I want it to mean…today” mentality, but certainly harder. Opponents of the amendment have no one to blame for requiring this step but themselves. Some people, however, either still don’t get it, or are playing things up for their own base.

Chuck Bowen, executive director of Georgia Equality, a political advocacy group dedicated to gay rights, said while he is disappointed with the decision, he is pleased that gay marriage most likely will not be a big election issue this year.

“Our families and our lives should never be used to pander for votes,” Bowen said.

This had absolutely nothing to do with pandering. Sure, it revved up the conservative base, but again that was a response to legal moves being made by same-sex marriage proponents. They forced the issue, not conservatives or Republicans or the Religious Right.

Here’s an interesting line in the story:

The constitutional amendment banning gay marriage first came before the General Assembly in 2004 and immediately became the most controversial and emotional issue debated by lawmakers that year.

“Controversial” only in the sense that it brought rather loud opponents out of the woodwork. Those were the folks stirring controversy. Something that passes with 76% of the vote is hardly controversial.

This sums it up well:

“Today’s decision by the Supreme Court was the correct one,” state Attorney General Thurbert Baker said in a statement. “The people of Georgia overwhelmingly ratified the constitutional amendment stating that marriage should be reserved for a union between a man and a woman. I am pleased with the court’s ruling respecting the voters’ choice.”

That difficult fact is why same-sex marriage proponents have decided to do an end-run around the people’s representatives and shop for a small group of favorable judges. And that is why this amendment became necessary. Alleged “pandering” had nothing to do with it. If you want to debate in the legislature, that’s where the debate will take place. If you try to sneak it in via some sympathetic judges, don’t be surprised or upset in the slightest when you’re met on that field as well. That is where the Left is taking the cultural and social issues, and that’s where we have to deal with them, even if, as I believe, this isn’t the place for them. They chose this venue, so they better learn to live with the outcome.

(Cross-posted at Stones Cry Out and Blogger News Network. Comments welcome.)

North Korea has indeed launched, not 1, but 7 or more missile tests into the Sea of Japan. According to the news article, more could be on the way. Fortunately, the longest-range one, the Taepodong-2, failed shortly after take-off, which is no doubt a setback for their missile program. It happened quite a bit later than previously thought, but it did happen.

Some folks thought we were being played for fools (link to the cross-post at Stones Cry Out). Truth is, we were played almost 30 years ago when Jimmy Carter trusted a tyrant to keep his word. Some folks think that if we just speak more nicely to them, they’d calm down (see the comments to the cross-post of that same post at Blogger News Network). Carter, too, put the lie to that by being non-confrontational to a sworn enemy and allowing missile tech development to continue unabated.

North Korea has come (further) out of the closet, so to speak. Since they have to go back to drawing board on the long-range missile, we do have more time to deal with this, though it’s only because we got lucky. Do we need direct talks with North Korea? Possibly, but only if there’s some sense that it could be constructive and that it wasn’t just a delaying tactic on their part. Carter-esque appeasement, with non-verified agreements on their side, have obviously not worked. If we aren’t allowed to verify compliance, there really is no point in talking; we know what the result will be.

If your birth control pill only worked 70% of the time, would you consider that successful? Apparently, some folks would.

A new study on condom effectiveness in protecting against the cancer-causing human papilloma virus has shown a discrediting 30% failure rate. The report, however, is being praised as a breakthrough for its claim that condom use offers “significant” protection against the virus.

The study relied on the journals of 82 female university students who kept daily records of their sexual behaviour, and found that 70% of the women, who reported 100% consistent condom use, were virus-free at the end of three years.

The Illinois Family Institute criticized news reports of the study as misleading and inaccurate, saying the 30 per cent failure rate was far more important information than the limited success of the study.

“In fact, the study reports that 12 out of 42 women whose partners always used condoms did get HPV. Thus, 28.5% of the women got HPV even with 100% condom use,” said William Beckman, executive director of Illinois Right to Life Committee.

“Why isn’t the fact that condoms, even under ideal usage conditions, failed 28.5% of the time the real story here? Who would consider this an acceptable failure rate when dealing with a cancer-causing virus?”

Well yeah, 70% is significant, but which is better; being sexually active and having a 30% chance of killing yourself with an STD, or being abstinent with a 0% chance? The folks trumpeting this study are, of course, highlighting the fact that condom’s are better than nothing. But even considering just that comparison, is 30% worth your life? If not, then this is not a “success”; it’s a dismal failure.

Maybe with a better sampling, the results might be different.

Furthermore, Beckman points out, the study itself is inconclusive since it relies on the self-reporting of just 82 university-aged women.

“For those who are still impressed by the “70% less” infection rate, remember that with only 82 women, the sample size is so small that the results have very little statistical significance.”

So what we have is a fatally flawed study, praised by people who consider it’s 30% failure rate a success. Here’s an example.

Among those applauding the report was Markus Steiner of Family Health International in Research Triangle Park, NC, who co-wrote an accompanying commentary. He told the New Scientist that the research should put an end to calls for FDA warnings against condom failures in protecting against HPV, by groups advocating abstinence.

“We’re hoping the findings of the paper will dissipate this pressure,” he said.

I doubt Mr. Steiner would accept a 30% failure rate in many other, non-life-threatening parts of his life, but he’s more than willing to do what he can to give others a false sense of security. Is this what his company considers family health?

(Cross-posted at Stones Cry Out. Comments welcome.)

Oh, that Bush economy.

The
Commerce Department reported Thursday that economic activity expanded at a 5.6 percent annual rate in the January-to-March period. The revised reading on gross domestic product was an even stronger showing than the 5.3 percent pace estimated for the quarter a month ago.

The new estimate — based on more complete information — matched economists’ forecasts.

The stronger GDP figure mostly reflected an improvement in the country’s trade deficit, which was much less of a drag than previously estimated.

Gross domestic product measures the value of all goods and services produced within the United States and is considered the best barometer of the country’s economic fitness.

But not content with good news during a Republican administration, we have to have the obligatory follow-up.

Fresher barometers, however, suggest the economy is slowing.

In a separate report, the Labor Department said new claims filed for unemployment benefits last week rose by 4,000 to 313,000 — a bit more than economists were expecting.

Analysts believe economic growth in the April-to-June quarter could turn out to be half the pace of the first quarter’s. They are predicting growth in the range of 2.5 percent to 3 percent. High energy prices and a more moderate housing market will play roles in the expected slowdown.

“I think the economy is moving from a boil to a simmer,” said Richard Yamarone, economist at Argus Research.

So after coming to the top of the hill, analysts believe we’ll be going down now. What would we do without experts?

Today’s Odd “Considerettes” Search Phrase – wax eloquent snoopy [#5 on Google]

Homeschooling in the US continues to grow, and slowly public educators are accepting it as a reasonable alternative given the studies that show how kids excel in it. However, in Germany, it’ll get you jailed, and folks are fighting back.

German homeschooling parents who face fines or jail sentences are prepared to take their cause to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.

The German Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe recently turned down an appeal by Christian parents. According to the justices, the parents are required to send their children to state registered schools.

Homeschooling is illegal in Germany, even if parents object to institutional education for religious reasons. Many Christians, however, are defying legal requirements. Some have been fined or incarcerated after refusing to pay the fines. It is estimated at least 1,000 children in Germany are taught by their parents.

Germany is rather unique in this stance.

Germany takes a tougher line against homeschooling than other European democracies. France, the United Kingdom, Italy, Switzerland and Austria also require children to receive school education but leave the form of education up to the parents.

If you can’t trust parents to make decisions for their own children, who can you trust?

Israel moved out of Gaza last August as part of the land-for-peace roadmap. Since the following September, the Palestinians have used it for a place to launch rockets; more than 500 in the 10 months they’ve had it. The Israel Project has the details.

Yesterday, Hamas and Fatah agreed to recognize Israel. Well, “implicitly”. Well, they agreed on a plan to endorse a document that implies Israel’s right to exist, because they want to resume getting money. How far can we trust that plan? As far as a rocket can fly from Gaza?