Board Can't Have Sectarian Prayers
Today was a big day today! Two important decisions that will improve the worth of livin gin this country happened. The more important of them was the decision by US District Court judge Dennis Dohnal that the refusal of the Chesterfield County Board of Supervisors to allow Wiccan Cyndi Simpson to give an invocation to the Board earlier this year violated the principle of separation of church and state and was discriminatory as well. Specifically, he said that "prohibition against utilizing prayer to proselytize or advance any particular religion by sanctioning a preference for a particular set of beliefs. She was presumptively excluded because of a stated governmental preference for a different set of religious beliefs and viewpoint, albeit the beliefs of a large segment--if not the majority--of the population".
This means either the Board must eliminate prayer or invocations altogether, or it must allow anyone to give the prayer or invocation. This was the correct decision, in my opinion. The Chesterfield County Board of Supervisors is a public institution. It is answerable to the people. It is not a private club (despite what one newly elected Board member says) for the supervisors by themselves. Therefore, invocations to this Board are public acts, and therefore the Constitution prevails.
I now only hope that the Board adheres to this decision and not try to challenge it in the courts.
A Journey through Blogrealm
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2003/11/14
2003/11/13
Heart of Virginia Council Changes Names
The other good decision of today was the decision of the Robert E. Lee Council of the Boy Scouts of America, which serves central Virginia, to change its name to the Heart of Virginia Council. The council has had the name of Robert E. Lee for over fifty years. Many think of him as a valiant soldier. But first things first. He did choose to abandon allegiance to the nation that forged the path to democracy and freedom for its citizens in favor of one that enslaved a huge percentage of them. He was a brilliant general, so his siding with the Confederates ensured a bloody, violent war and guaranteed that he would be responsible for more American deaths than any other person in our nation's history, even Hitler and Tojo. Further, he is a symbol of racism to a good part of our population. Therefore, his removal from the name of the council was a good decision. General Lee's name belongs in history books and in museums, and certainly not in the name of a widespread organization for boys.
I therefore commend the Council on its decision. Now they need to go further. They need to defy the national Boy Scouts of America organization and declare a policy of non-discrimination against gays, atheists, and agnostics, as the Girl Scouts have.
The other good decision of today was the decision of the Robert E. Lee Council of the Boy Scouts of America, which serves central Virginia, to change its name to the Heart of Virginia Council. The council has had the name of Robert E. Lee for over fifty years. Many think of him as a valiant soldier. But first things first. He did choose to abandon allegiance to the nation that forged the path to democracy and freedom for its citizens in favor of one that enslaved a huge percentage of them. He was a brilliant general, so his siding with the Confederates ensured a bloody, violent war and guaranteed that he would be responsible for more American deaths than any other person in our nation's history, even Hitler and Tojo. Further, he is a symbol of racism to a good part of our population. Therefore, his removal from the name of the council was a good decision. General Lee's name belongs in history books and in museums, and certainly not in the name of a widespread organization for boys.
I therefore commend the Council on its decision. Now they need to go further. They need to defy the national Boy Scouts of America organization and declare a policy of non-discrimination against gays, atheists, and agnostics, as the Girl Scouts have.
Girl Scouts not all that good?
Unfortunately, the Girl Scouts do have their problems. A troop of them in Fairbanks learned how to kill and skin beavers and to prepare their meat for cooking. This is a practice that should have gone out long ago. We no longer need to kill animals to make a living. Beavers have as much right to life as we do. Animal killing and skinning is something we should abandon in favor of farming and other vocations. This may be the only life that people in Fairbanks know, but times are changing there as anywhere else. Fortunately, the national organization does not support this troop's activities.
Unfortunately, the Girl Scouts do have their problems. A troop of them in Fairbanks learned how to kill and skin beavers and to prepare their meat for cooking. This is a practice that should have gone out long ago. We no longer need to kill animals to make a living. Beavers have as much right to life as we do. Animal killing and skinning is something we should abandon in favor of farming and other vocations. This may be the only life that people in Fairbanks know, but times are changing there as anywhere else. Fortunately, the national organization does not support this troop's activities.
2003/11/11
Grocery Stores
One of the first things I had experience with when I was young was grocery stores. My mother would take me to the local Wegmans in Rochester, New York when she went shopping. I was most interested in the cereal. Later on, the big company in town, Kodak, bought the land the Wegmans was on, but it opened elsewhere, including one store that looked really futuristic for its time in 1960, with conveyers that took your groceries to the outside. Since then Wegmans has continued to expand, now offering stores where you can do all your grocery and department store shopping in the same place, somewhat suggesting Wal-Mart but much better.
I eventually moved to Richmond, Virginia. In Richmond, the top store is Ukrop's. Since I have been here, Ukrop's has meant short lines becausae there was always enough help available, good quality but expensive food, and large stores with a restaurant facility. The one thing I find objectionable about Ukrop's is their closing on Sunday. The large Ukrop's stores remind me of Wegmans. I hear that both stores rate highly among grocery stores throughout the nation. They have a lot in common: large stores offering more than groceries, a CEO whose name is the same as the store (Joseph Ukrop at Ukrop's and Robert Wegman at Wegmans), so is a family business, and a regional extent.
As of late Wegmans has been expanding southward, into Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Now for the first time they will open a store in Virginia, early next year near Dulles Airport. Do they plan to expand into the rest of Virginia? I notice that Wegmans is about five times as big as Ukrop's and offers the same excellent environment. It would seem to me that if they want to expand into the rest of Virginia, a good first step would be for Wegmans to buy out Ukrop's. That would put Wegmans stores all over the place near Richmond, and from there they can expand to western Virginia and the Tidewater area. They would not have to construct a lot of new stores. Further, it would mean I can get the good deli and bakery items, the restaurant, and the good service I get now with Ukrop's from Wegmans, and further, it would be open on Sunday. I say go for it, Wegmans.
One of the first things I had experience with when I was young was grocery stores. My mother would take me to the local Wegmans in Rochester, New York when she went shopping. I was most interested in the cereal. Later on, the big company in town, Kodak, bought the land the Wegmans was on, but it opened elsewhere, including one store that looked really futuristic for its time in 1960, with conveyers that took your groceries to the outside. Since then Wegmans has continued to expand, now offering stores where you can do all your grocery and department store shopping in the same place, somewhat suggesting Wal-Mart but much better.
I eventually moved to Richmond, Virginia. In Richmond, the top store is Ukrop's. Since I have been here, Ukrop's has meant short lines becausae there was always enough help available, good quality but expensive food, and large stores with a restaurant facility. The one thing I find objectionable about Ukrop's is their closing on Sunday. The large Ukrop's stores remind me of Wegmans. I hear that both stores rate highly among grocery stores throughout the nation. They have a lot in common: large stores offering more than groceries, a CEO whose name is the same as the store (Joseph Ukrop at Ukrop's and Robert Wegman at Wegmans), so is a family business, and a regional extent.
As of late Wegmans has been expanding southward, into Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Now for the first time they will open a store in Virginia, early next year near Dulles Airport. Do they plan to expand into the rest of Virginia? I notice that Wegmans is about five times as big as Ukrop's and offers the same excellent environment. It would seem to me that if they want to expand into the rest of Virginia, a good first step would be for Wegmans to buy out Ukrop's. That would put Wegmans stores all over the place near Richmond, and from there they can expand to western Virginia and the Tidewater area. They would not have to construct a lot of new stores. Further, it would mean I can get the good deli and bakery items, the restaurant, and the good service I get now with Ukrop's from Wegmans, and further, it would be open on Sunday. I say go for it, Wegmans.
2003/11/10
Lunar Eclipse
Yesterday I observed one of nature's more interesting phenomena - a lunar eclipse. I was attending a meeting in Baltimore on 2003 November 9, and left a little early to be back to Richmond by 1800 (6 o'clock) to set up my equipment for the eclipse. I got back at 1740 and ate dinner at a nearby McDonald's. Then I went over to the Science Museum, where a public skywatch was taking place. I got out my eight-inch Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope and aligned it with the stars. I then pointed it at the moon. What followed was an interesting night.
The Moon first entered the Earth's shadow at 1833.Gradually the moon lost more and more of its lit surface, and an eerie red took its place. An eclipsed moon shows up red, because it is reflecting all of Earth's lovely red sunsets, sunrises, and suntouches around the world. If you were on the Moon, you would see a total eclipse of the Sun by the Earth. The dark or night side of the Earth would show, and it would be surrounded by a red circle or ring where the sunrises and sunsets are. It would look like a ring of fire in the sky, and that ring would be shining its red on the Moon, making the lunar landscape red. We see this redness from the Earth when we look at a total lunar eclipse.
I took several pictures of the Moon by placing a digital camera right up to the eyepiece until the image shows on the digital display of what the camera sees. I then snap the shutter and this results in a picture. It is a fairly easy technique, and it produces good pictures. One visitor even wanted me to take pictures with her digital camera. I took it and she had a pictorial souvenir of the eclipse.
Later in the evening, the moon came out of the shadow of the eclipse. It was not a long eclipse. The Moon just barely came entirely inside one side of the Earth's umbra, or what might be termed the Great Shadow of Night (we were in it, too). There was one bright side to the disk of the moon, making it look as though it were not fully eclipsed. After the Moon started coming out of the eclipse, people wanted to see other things. It was a beautiful night, with only Richmond light pollution holding us back from seeing all the wonders of the heavens. I pointed the telescope at Mars. It was still a good object to observe, but it is not as easy to pick out markings on the planet now. Someone wanted to see Saturn. This is always a prizewinner at public skywatches, because of its unique appearance. So I told the telescope to point to Saturn. It went completely level, then rotated and pointed at some lights in a walkway near the Museum. It was too low to see. A little later, I saw it but when I tried to point the telescope at it, a light pole was in the way. It moved away from the light pole, and then I got the telescope on Saturn. Then I showed people Saturn with its rings through the telescope. They expressed great wonder at the planet, and some even said it didn't look real. But it was real. It was Saturn in the telescope, with its rings.
Given a clear dark sky, any skywatch held when Saturn and the Moon are both up will be a success.
Yesterday I observed one of nature's more interesting phenomena - a lunar eclipse. I was attending a meeting in Baltimore on 2003 November 9, and left a little early to be back to Richmond by 1800 (6 o'clock) to set up my equipment for the eclipse. I got back at 1740 and ate dinner at a nearby McDonald's. Then I went over to the Science Museum, where a public skywatch was taking place. I got out my eight-inch Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope and aligned it with the stars. I then pointed it at the moon. What followed was an interesting night.
The Moon first entered the Earth's shadow at 1833.Gradually the moon lost more and more of its lit surface, and an eerie red took its place. An eclipsed moon shows up red, because it is reflecting all of Earth's lovely red sunsets, sunrises, and suntouches around the world. If you were on the Moon, you would see a total eclipse of the Sun by the Earth. The dark or night side of the Earth would show, and it would be surrounded by a red circle or ring where the sunrises and sunsets are. It would look like a ring of fire in the sky, and that ring would be shining its red on the Moon, making the lunar landscape red. We see this redness from the Earth when we look at a total lunar eclipse.
I took several pictures of the Moon by placing a digital camera right up to the eyepiece until the image shows on the digital display of what the camera sees. I then snap the shutter and this results in a picture. It is a fairly easy technique, and it produces good pictures. One visitor even wanted me to take pictures with her digital camera. I took it and she had a pictorial souvenir of the eclipse.
Later in the evening, the moon came out of the shadow of the eclipse. It was not a long eclipse. The Moon just barely came entirely inside one side of the Earth's umbra, or what might be termed the Great Shadow of Night (we were in it, too). There was one bright side to the disk of the moon, making it look as though it were not fully eclipsed. After the Moon started coming out of the eclipse, people wanted to see other things. It was a beautiful night, with only Richmond light pollution holding us back from seeing all the wonders of the heavens. I pointed the telescope at Mars. It was still a good object to observe, but it is not as easy to pick out markings on the planet now. Someone wanted to see Saturn. This is always a prizewinner at public skywatches, because of its unique appearance. So I told the telescope to point to Saturn. It went completely level, then rotated and pointed at some lights in a walkway near the Museum. It was too low to see. A little later, I saw it but when I tried to point the telescope at it, a light pole was in the way. It moved away from the light pole, and then I got the telescope on Saturn. Then I showed people Saturn with its rings through the telescope. They expressed great wonder at the planet, and some even said it didn't look real. But it was real. It was Saturn in the telescope, with its rings.
Given a clear dark sky, any skywatch held when Saturn and the Moon are both up will be a success.
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