Jonathan's blog

From The Week, September 15, 2006:

Strasbourg, France Two elderly sisters are suing the British government for the same right to inherit each other's property that gay couples enjoy. Joyce and Sybil Burden, ages 88 and 80, have lived together in their Wiltshire home all their lives. When one of them dies, the other will have no choice but to sell the home to pay the inheritance tax. If they were gay civil partners, though, they would be exempt from the tax. The Burdens have appealed to the Strasbourg-based European Court of Human Rights, arguing that British law discriminates against siblings. Even if the court eventually rules in their favor, it could be too late to save the house. Human-rights cases generally take years to reach a verdict.

I like the One Year Bible where each day you read a passage from the OT, one from the NT, one from Psalms, and one from Proverbs. I like the idea of reading the Bible from cover to cover each year but not getting bogged down in certain parts of the OT for weeks at a time. That's why I like the One Year Bible because it gives you a variety each day. Anyway, I've wished I had it in mp3 format so I could put it on the iPod and listen to it each day in the car. Well, I found a podcast here. I"m not sure which translation it is, but it's a modern one. It has some commentary that I could do without, but all-in-all I'm glad to have found it.

From an article by Ian Sample in The Guardian titled "For first time, doctors communicate with patient in persistent vegetative state":

A 23-year-old woman who has been in a vegetative state since suffering devastating brain damage in a traffic accident has stunned doctors by performing mental tasks for them. Brain scans revealed that the woman, who has shown no outward signs of awareness since the accident in July last year, could understand people talking to her and was able to imagine playing tennis or walking around her home when asked to by doctors. The discovery has astounded neuroscientists who believe it could have dramatic implications for life and death decisions over other patients diagnosed as being in a persistent vegetative state (PVS)... "This is extremely important. It's the difference between life and death. From cases in the UK and the US, we know that end-of-life decisions are of course extremely important and this will definitely change the way we deal with these patients. When you have signs of consciousness, you cannot decide to stop hydration and nutrition," said Steven Laureys, a neurologist at the University of Liege and co-author of the study which appears in the journal Science today... Persistent vegetative state was first described in 1972 by Scottish and American neurologists and only came to medical attention because of extraordinary advances in keeping severely brain-damaged patients alive for longer. Neurologically, the condition is a slight improvement on a coma. Patients diagnosed as PVS show no signs of consciousness or awareness, but unlike those in a coma, have periods of sleep and wakefulness and periodically open their eyes. The condition is a source of huge controversy in medical and legal fields, largely because of the difficulty in proving a patient is unaware and the extreme difficulty in predicting whether a patient will ever recover. Adults typically have a 50% chance of recovering from a persistent vegetative state within the first six months, but after a year, the chances of recovery drop dramatically. Those who recover after longer periods usually experience serious disabilities. The mysterious condition continues to confound scientists. In May, a team of British and South African doctors announced they had given sleeping pills to a PVS patient to help calm restless movements at night. The patient woke up 15 minutes later and was able to speak and even tell jokes. Doctors have kept the patient on the pills, and believe it works by acting on part of the brain that had been shut down in response to the patient's original trauma.

Can you imagine a whole country losing its internet connectivity because of an overdue bill? What about a country knocking 3 zeros off of its bank notes to curb inflation? From an article of the same title on BBCNews.com:

Zimbabwe's internet services have been fully restored after a $700,000 debt was paid to restore the satellite link. Zimbabwe's Reserve Bank bailed out telephone operator TelOne, which owed the sum to Intelsat. The disconnection earlier this month cut surfing and e-mail activities by 90%, Zimbabwe's ISP association said... Zimbabwe is in the midst of an economic crisis, with 1,200% inflation, 70% unemployment rates and shortages of basic goods like fuel and maize. Earlier this year, Zimbabwe knocked three zeros off the denomination of its banknotes in an effort to contain inflation. The opposition says President Robert Mugabe has destroyed one of Africa's most developed economies through his policies. He blames the problems on a western plot to remove him from power.

Grandma and Grandpa Moore are in town this weekend, and Lisa is out of town at a church ladies' retreat. Elliot's soccer game this afternoon was in 50 deg F and rainy weather. After losing the first two games and tying the third, the Kickin' Chickens (in the rain today, they were known as the Ducks) finally won one today. 5 to 0. Elliot scored three goals!