Day: July 21, 2006

Vegas Makes It Crime To Feed Homeless People

Chris 10 Comments

But can you still feed the pigeons?

LAS VEGAS — A battle is brewing over a new Las Vegas ordinance that bans providing food or meals to the indigent at city parks.

The Las Vegas City Council unanimously passed a law, which went into effect Thursday, making it a crime to feed the homeless at city parks. It carries a maximum penalty of $1,000 and six months in jail.

The law bans giving away or selling food to anyone who could get assistance from official sources under state law, and officials said city marshals will get specialized training to enforce it.

The city’s mayor, Oscar Goodman, dismissed questions about how marshals will identify the homeless so that they can enforce the ordinance.

“Certain truths are self-evident,” Goodman said. “You know who’s homeless.”

(via What Really Happened)

How the Allies Estimated German Tank Production in WWII Using Serial Numbers

Chris 1 Comment

How a statistical formula helped win the war

One solution was to ask intelligence to guess the number by secretly observing the output of German factories, or by trying to count tanks on the battlefield. Both the British and the Americans tried this, but they found that the estimates returned by intelligence were contradictory and unreliable. Therefore they asked statistical intelligence to see whether the accuracy of the estimates could be improved.

The statisticians had one key piece of information, which was the serial numbers on captured mark V tanks. The statisticians believed that the Germans, being Germans, had logically numbered their tanks in the order in which they were produced. And this deduction turned out to be right. It was enough to enable them to make an estimate of the total number of tanks that had been produced up to any given moment.

(Thanks Mark)

Mormon Science and Space Doctrines

Chris 7 Comments

Since we’re on the topic:

– God’s home planet orbits a star named “Kolob.” See Abraham 3:3

– Kolob is “the great governing star of our universe” and “the residence of God.” See Prophet Joseph Fielding Smith’s “Church History and Modern Revelation” Volume 3, Page 60.

– When Adam and Eve lived in the Garden of Eden, the Earth was closely orbiting Kolob, like God’s home planet. But when Adam and Eve fell, so did the Earth and it was hurled across the cosmos and placed in orbit around our sun in this planetary system. After the Millenium, the Earth will return to its rightful place near God, orbiting Kolob. See Church Ensign, March 1997, Page 16 “The Book of Abraham: A Most Remarkable Book,” and Journal of Discourses, 17:143 and Journal of Discourses 7:163

– Mormonism directly explains the creation of at least one race by God. Mormon scripture taught that Cain was so evil, God cursed him and his lineage with black skin, creating the African race. See Moses 7:22.

Evangelist Kent “Dr. Dino” Hovind Arrested For Tax Evasion

Chris 4 Comments

kent_hovind.jpg

I guess his $250,000 prize to anyone who can provide scientific evidence of evolution is now off the table.

A Pensacola evangelist who owns the defunct Dinosaur Adventure Land in Pensacola was arrested Thursday on 58 federal charges, including failing to pay $473,818 in employee-related taxes and making threats against investigators.

Of the 58 charges, 44 were filed against Kent Hovind and his wife, Jo, for evading bank reporting requirements as they withdrew $430,500 from AmSouth Bank between July 20, 2001, and Aug. 9, 2002.

At the couple’s first court appearance Thursday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Miles Davis, Kent Hovind professed not to understand why he is being prosecuted. Some 20 supporters were in the courtroom.

“I still don’t understand what I’m being charged for and who is charging me,” he said.

Kent Hovind, who often calls himself “Dr. Dino,” has been sparring with the IRS for at least 17 years on his claims that he is employed by God, receives no income, has no expenses and owns no property.

Gay Divorce?

Chris Leave a comment

From Bay Windows:

Julie and Hillary Goodridge, the lead plaintiff couple in the 2003 lawsuit that brought same-sex marriage rights to Massachusetts, told Bay Windows through a spokeswoman this week that they have “amicably separated.” The confirmation follows several months of rumors about the couple within the LGBT community that had gained in intensity, and comes at a time when marriage rights are once again under fire…

Breslauer would not comment on whether the couple planned to seek a divorce. Nor would she comment on how long Julie and Hillary had been living apart or on the reasons for the separation. “Relationships are both precious and vulnerable at the same time,” Breslauer said. “Theirs is no different.”

(via Universal Hub)