WorldMovers resumes tomorrow!

 After a break for our anniversary celebration last week, we will be resuming WorldMovers Sunday School class tomorrow.

Rarely would I repeat a forward here on my blog, but I received a compelling one this morning from CFC friend Diane Reilly that bears repeating and thinking about. I'm sharing it here for WorldMovers because we are pretty familiar with Marco Rubio, ever since the cover story we read about him back before the elections last fall.

The Ticket Obama Fears Most

Bruce Walker
 August 29, 2011



Governor Rick Perry



The talking heads on Fox News Special Report this Friday concurred that Marco Rubio will be on the Republican ticket next year as the vice presidential nominee. I agree.

There is virtually no downside to Rubio and the advantages to the ticket are prohibitive. He is youthful, attractive, and articulate. Rubio won a tough three-way race in Florida last year. His life story is compelling as the child of Cuban parents who worked up the hard and legal way. His conservatism on social and economic issues is unwavering. Rubio is slightly too young and inexperienced to run as president, but eight years as vice president would make him ideal presidential timber.

If Senator Rubio becomes the running mate of Governor Perry, which I believe is increasingly likely, President Obama could face his worst electoral nightmare. At the outset, both men are excellent campaigners -- articulate, likeable, attractive, and accustomed to winning elections in the diverse and large populations of Texas and Florida.



Senator Marco Rubio



Unlike Republican nominees since Reagan, Rick Perry knows how to work crowds. Perry, like Rubio, has never lost a political race. Although it is a relatively small section of his resume, his time successfully selling Bible reference books door-to-door may be as important as background in running for president.

Both Perry and Rubio have life stories, which demonstrate that the American Dream really works. Perry grew up on a cotton tenant farm in the middle of nowhere and worked hard up every step in his path to success. Rubio's parents worked in menial jobs so that their son could have a better life.

Imagine Rubio campaigning in Las Vegas, where his parents worked like so many Hispanics today, cleaning rooms and tending bars. The greatest impact of these life stories is that the Republican ticket could say just how poor people need not stay poor if government gets out of the way.



Perry and Rubio are both social and economic conservatives.The left tries to downplay the appeal of social conservatism, but to take just a single social conservative issue, abortion, the latest Rasmussen Poll shows that 55% of Americans believe that abortion is morally wrong while only 30% believe that abortion is morally acceptable and 41% of Americans believe that it is too easy to get an abortion in America while only 14% believe that it is too hard to get an abortion.

The vanilla question about whether Americans are "pro-choice" or "pro-life" is meaningless, if Republican candidates have the gumption to ask Obama in a debate whether he believes abortion is moral or immoral -- leaving the question of federal policy on abortion aside.



This particular ticket would also have profound appeal to Hispanic voters, whose support for Obama has dropped a dramatic 36 points since he took office. The impact of Rubio on the ticket, of course, is obvious: he would be the first Hispanic on a major party ticket in American history. Big chunks of Hispanic voters in 2008 voted for Obama because he was a "person of color." Reelecting a black man president has much less psychological value to Hispanic voters than electing a Hispanic who could easily be president in eight years.



The impact of Rick Perry is real, but underestimated by Beltway punditry, which listens more to high-ranking Hispanic organizational leaders rather than ordinary Hispanics. Perry has won many statewide elections in Texas, including three as governor. Almost 40% of the state is Hispanic. Governor Perry speaks Spanish, but more than that, just as a New York City or Chicago politicians grasp the nuances of European ethnic differences, so Perry understands the largely Mexican-American minority and has steadily improved his percentage of the Hispanic vote in Texas elections.



Politically savvy Perry with the first Hispanic on a national ticket as his running mate could disarm the traditional skittishness that some Hispanics have had about voting Republican. Combine that with the very real success that Perry has had in creating jobs in Texas -- compared with Obama nationally or California Democrats -- and he could make a strong argument that Perry-Rubio is precisely what most Hispanics really want in Washington.



This could be complemented by the rise of Hispanic Republicans in 2010. Susana Martinez, the conservative Republican governor of New Mexico, next door to Texas, is a prime example. The first female Hispanic governor in American history could travel throughout the Rocky Mountain region touting a Perry-Rubio ticket. It is not just Hispanic "people of color" that could connect with Hispanics. Bobby Jindal and Nikki Haley, both articulate and strongly Republican governors could both show that conservatives welcome immigrants from lands as distant as India.

Black voters will go overwhelmingly for Obama, but black voters vote overwhelmingly for Democrats no matter what Republicans have tried. If Hispanic voters, already accustomed to conservative Republicans senators and governors, vote in substantial numbers for conservative Republicans at the national level, then not only is Obama in trouble, but so is his party. That is why Perry-Rubio could be the ticket Democrats fears most.





It's all Steve's fault

Back on August 25, I reported in this blog a letter Steve Johnson wrote to the Star in reply to a scurrilous slam by a pro-abortionist.  I linked to it as well.  

Today the fun continues. Since there is some kind of moratorium on how often one can get a letter printed in the Star, Steve twisted my arm to reply to the latest irrational screed published by a pro-deather. You can read my reply in Star just by clicking here. You have to scroll down a bit. Refuting the rhetoric of baby-killers was not as important as a reminder to Tucsonans to remove dead plants from their yards. 

In the midst of our busy lives:  taking care of ourselves w/o government handouts, "bearing one another's burdens" in the Body of Christ, keeping the car running and the clothes clean, and communing with the Creator of the Universe, it's fun to take a few pot shots every now and then at the witless tools of enemy.

Back to School issue(s)

This is the issue we'll be discussing tomorrow at WorldMovers, along with a hot book that was delivered into my hands this week :  Why America Needs School Choice. Written from a secular perspective in order to influence legislators, this small volume by Jay Greene is chock full of quotable one-liners, such as:  "Asking the teachers' unions about what voucher research shows is a bit like asking  the Tobacco Institute about the research on smoking and cancer."  See you in Sunday School!

And now for Round Two....

This is the issue we'll be discussing in WorldMovers tomorrow, virtually anything except the cover story. 

Items I recommend include:

• The tribute to John Stott on p. 13
• Cheaney's article on computerized dating, p. 22
• the book reviews, p. 28
• the interview with Tony Early, p. 31
• Belz's editorial on famine-struck Somalia, p. 34
• "Fetal Attration," p. 49
•  the two closers by Andree Seu and Marvin Olasky (pp. 79-80).

Taking aim at Bachmann...and her God

One thing that pundits like Charles Krauthammer, politicos like Donald Rumsfeld, and academics like Judith Liu can all agree on: “Democracy is messy.” It’s also noisy, and nothing brings out the noisy mess like the anticipation of the next national election.

In the recent Iowa straw poll, the landscape of challengers to unseat incumbent President Obama was pruned somewhat as Congresswoman Michele Bachmann surged to a surprising first place finish. Both Bachmann and second place finisher Ron Paul nearly doubled the votes received by third place Tim Pawlenty, causing the latter to remove himself from the race for the nomination.

Although some of the media “noise” had begun before the Iowa vote, it has clearly escalated since then, and not very favorably for Bachmann.   Read more...

Hot off the presses!

Following up on our Manhattan Declaration commitments and the discussion last Sunday in WorldMovers class, our own Steve Johnson had this letter published in yesterday's Star:

Planned Parenthood wants to punish babies

Re: the Aug. 22 letter to the editor, "Abortion cutbacks punish women."

Since the safety of women is the abortion machine's favorite smokescreen, wouldn't a bill forcing trained doctors to do the procedures offer the safest path for the "hundreds of women" seeking them? I know when I go in for a major surgery, I want a doctor holding the scalpel.

As for "religious fundamentalists" alleged to be behind this, 51 percent of Americans find abortion morally wrong, according to a May Gallup Poll (hardly a minority). Accusing legislators of being "happy anytime they can punish a woman for being pregnant" is ridiculous.

Planned Parenthood wants to punish the baby for a woman being pregnant.

Steve Johnson

Director of families, Dove Mountain Church, Oro Valley

(Should have read, as we know, Director of Family Discipleship;  but discipleship is a concept the Star would not understand).

Incremental victory for life!

Planned Parenthood has chosen to end their services rather than raise the standard of care they provide women to be at the same level as all other medical care in the state. For years, life advocates at the legislature have been saying that Arizona women deserve better than the substandard care Planned Parenthood provides.


The fact that Planned Parenthood can’t find doctors to work at their clinics is telling. Caring healthcare professionals, particularly doctors, don’t want to be a part of an industry that harms women and takes the lives of preborn children.

Thanks to the many pregnancy care centers throughout our state, women in rural Arizona will be able to find the support they need from loving individuals.

This news came to us in WorldMovers tlast Sunday via Steve Johnson and was seen as a tremendous answer to prayers we have been praying since the former Manhattan Declaration Sunday School class.  We realize the war is far from over, but this was a significant "battle" victory.  Let us together give thanks to Almighty God!

You can read more about this here.

This is the one

Last Sunday Betty Hill kicked off our WorldMovers class with a stunning answer-to-prayer story. Her ninety-seven-year-old dad, who live in California, has bladder cancer. Betty's brother in Arkansas wanted to come to see him, but the prospects looked bleak. Betty had been asking God for a miracle, and last Sunday morning her brother David and his wife showed up at her dad's house! They had rented a car and driven straight through from Arkansas in twenty-four hours! It was a total surprise to everyone, and her dad was overjoyed!

We will keep our commitment to discuss the cover story of each successive issue of World magazine, even though this one is dated now that the Iowa caucus has come and gone. Be prepared to discuss the latest developments with Rick Perry, Michelle Bachman, and Herman Cain. 

And pray.

The relevant question

WorldMovers know how much I do not like to miss Sunday School.  And we have also had an extra measure of congregational meetings, which have cut into Sunday School time in recent months.  Last Sunday we managed to still get in a decent class time, even after the congregational meeting (including the excellent book report by Marlene!).  Yet the voting meeting tomorrow may take even longer than usual.  Therefore, here is our new "rule of thumb":

If a congregational meeting lasts later than 11:40 at any time, WorldMovers class will not convene.

If we do meet this Sunday, we are still in the issue pictured here - any article other than the cover story (discussed last week).  I particularly like the editorial by Mindy Belz on p. 30.

Conspiracies - intentional and otherwise

What was it the Left raged against in the Cold War? "the vast military-industrial complex"?  Then in the Clinton era it became the "vast right-wing conspiracy." And for the apocalyptically minded, it's always been the "Illuminati-Rothschild-Rockefeller" triumvirate.

In the past I have always maintained that no matter how much these entities seem to be working in tandem, none of these so-called conspirators are really "together" enough to have thought it all up and pulled it off intentionally, at least not on a human level.  All such earthly alliances are corrupted by sin nature; one of the most common themes of literature is the betrayal of betrayers. And Scripture, of course, warns us: "For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places." (Ephesians 6:12). I can believe that demons thought all this up, but humans are just too flaky.

That groundwork having been laid, my current favorite conspiracy is the "vast pseudo-intellectual media/academia/entertainment alliance." Their favorite causes defy reason on a cosmic scale:  loving whales and hating unborn humans, creating an ever-increasing welfare dependency as a sign of a healthy nation, maintaining a porous border and fostering self-loathing for America's history and heritage...I could go on and on.

But my little corner of the "rage market" concerns education, and last week the New York Times, as a public service, came out with a convenient lesson plan for American teachers to use in teaching children how to understand and relate to the current debt crisis. Someone at the Times has done his homework:  the lesson plans are classroom-ready, leave little work for the teacher to do, supply relevant news articles from the Times itself, correctly state objectives for the lesson in "educationese," show alignment to national and state standards, provide appropriate interactive participation techniques, and even spell out exactly what "open-ended" questions to ask. The problem is, (Surprise! Surpirse!) it's a bit slanted:

1.  For an emotional "opener," the teacher is instructed to tell the story of a Cowboy Poetry Festival in Nevada that will now lose its federal sponsorship. Poor cowboys!  Poor Nevada!  How do the mean Tea Party folks expect poetry to survive without government funding?
2.  In naming the areas where cuts were not made, the lesson uses the word "successful" to describe President Obama's resistance to cutting Planned Parenthood. Clearly something all school chidlren should rejoice about!
3.  Other cases of "non-neutral" language abound: "Newly empowered Republicans"  have agencies with benign -sounding names in their "cross hairs."  Planned Parenthood provides "family-planning services."  Students are directed to links to such "non-neutral" groups as the National Priorites Project, which educates citizens on how to help government "create budget priorities" (without a word about eliminating any budget categories). The board of the National Prioirities Project, by the way, is a Who's Who of the most liberal universities in America.
4.  Now it gets fun!  Students are asked to name all the ways that life will be affected (read "worse") when and if further cuts are made to:  Pell Grants,the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), Head Start, Planned Parenthood, Medicare, Medicaid, Public Broadcasting and the National Endowment for the Arts, along with home-heating aid, high-speed rail financing, housing assistance programs, discretionary money for education and clean energy programs
5.  Finally, and most importantly, no mention is made of: the Constitution, what constitutes a budget, the consequences of indebtedness, the history and purposes of taxation, or the American traditions of self-reliance, thrift, and hard work. And certainly no mention of the sacrifices made by past generations for the sake of liberty.    

Without expensive support from the New York Times Learning Network, here is a snapshot from the lesson plan I will be using with my students (in the "free world" of private education):

"If the US Government was a family, they would be making $58,000 a year, they spend $75,000 a year, and are $327,000 in credit card debt. They are currently proposing BIG spending cuts to reduce their spending to $72,000 a year. These are the actual proportions of the federal budget and debt, reduced to a level that we can understand." (from Dave Ramsey).

Back on Schedule

WorldMovers is back on schedule this week!  We will be discussing the cover story for the July 30 issue (pictured here):  "Life or Death."  

I will be bringing the four copies that the church supplies. I will also print out several copies of the cover article from the online version. If you have subscribed but have not yet begun receiving your hard copies in the mail, remember that you can request a password and read (and print) the online edition.

Watchdogs take on Pentagon

  Who defines morality - Congress or Scripture?

Once again watchdog groups are on the prowl in Washington, this time attacking possible bias in the data used to support the current repeal of the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (DADT) policy in regard to homosexuality.

DADT was formulated in 1993 as conciliation between then-President Bill Clinton and a conservative Congress. The military has discharged roughly 13,000 troops from the military under the policy. In December 2010, Congress passed the repeal – as was pledged by President Obama when he took office. The Obama administration has cleared the last hurdle in ending DADT, and the ban will end after the 60-day waiting period on September 20, 2011.

From the time the repeal was passed, a host of conservative groups have spoken out about the moral implications of this repeal.   Read more here.

A Rare Cancellation

Coming from my Southern Baptist background, one of the things that has fascinated me is how often other groups (especially Presbyterians) pre-empt Sunday School. At many churches - Catalina Foothils is a good example - there is a huge summer break, and then any other unusual event during the school year causes a cancellation, as well. Of course the Sunday nearest any holiday is verboten - before Thanksgiving, practically the whole months of December and January, Rodeo Week (for crying out loud!) and so on. Meanwhile, back in my upbringing I can remember "business as usual" with both Sunday School and church at their regularly scheduled times once when Christmas fell on a Sunday!

When I started the WorldMovers class a little over  a year ago, several people asked my, "How long are you planning on?"  I toyed with so many answers, most of which were too sarcastic:  "Until we've solved all the world's problems - probably a couple of months" was my favorite. Others:  "We'll stop when all the prayers have been answered," "Until there's no more news," and "As long as the world turns," were other favorites. Sometimes at church when people ask if we are meeting today I reply, "Let's see, did the sun come up?  Then I guess we'll meet!"

Please forgive the sarcasm. Tomorrow we will not meet, for the very deserving reason that we will enjoy a potluck with our entire Dove Mountain family followed by a Town Hall "Q and A" with our current pastoral candidate. Hope to see you there!

The cover story of the issue pictured here (July 30) will be our next discussion and prayer focus, for Sunday, August 7. See you then, as well, I hope!

Clarity from the Bayly Brothers

The televised statements of President Obama and Speaker Boehner on Monday night left us with the best crafted statements of each side of the current budget crisis.  Before I had time to write my own analysis, I found this very excellent anaylsis from the Bayly brothers' blog:

"The battle over money going on between President Obama and the House of Representatives is worth watching because, for years to come, it will be used as an example proving something. Just ask Newt Gingrich.

Exactly what it proves remains to be seen and is largely a function of the degree to which those of us who oppose government-gone-wild make our voices heard in support of what the freshman class and Speaker Boehner are trying to do.

So, good citizens, speak up.

Last night in his plea for support of unlimited government, President Obama said:

Most Americans, regardless of political party, don't understand how we can ask a senior citizen to pay more for her Medicare before we ask corporate jet owners and oil companies to give up tax breaks that other companies don't get.

To understand such deceptions...
...keep in mind that "to give up tax breaks" is the opposite of asking an elderly woman to "pay more for her Medicare." What that elderly woman is paying more for is not, actually, her Medicare, but the services and products she's buying from doctors, hospitals, and pharmacists. And the tax breaks President Obama is asking the rich man to give up are not, actually, money that belongs to the elderly woman that the rich man is selfishly keeping from her.

Either implicitly or explicitly, what government-gone-wild men always try to do to confuse the matter is speak as if government is a commodity both the poor elderly woman and the nasty rich man are purchasing, and the problem is that the nasty rich man is refusing to pay his fair share, thus leaving the frail elderly woman to pay more than she can or ought.

But can we clarify matters, here? The elderly woman and rich man are not buying "government." The only thing being bought is doctoring and pills and that doctoring and those pills are being consumed by that elderly woman--not the rich man. Further, she isn't his mother--some other man not in the picture is the one who should be helping her pay for her doctoring and pills because she's his mother. But instead of honoring his own mother as he ought, he's demanding the president and his cronies force some other mother's son to fork over more of his own mother's support for the support of another son's mother.

Government isn't a commodity that the elderly woman pays for. Contrary to our unlimited government men like President Obama, no limited government man has ever asked any "senior citizen to pay more for her Medicare." What we've asked is for that senior citizen to pay more for her own pills and her own doctor and her own hospital room.

Medicare isn't a commodity that's paid for either by the frail elderly grandmother or the mean grasping rich man--take your pick and show us what you're made of. Medicare is products and services senior citizens holding membership in the AARP demand and want President Obama to force rich men to buy for them. And rich men don't give up "tax breaks." They look down the barrel of the gun held to their head by President Obama and pull out their wallet and pay for the pills and doctor and hospital of some other man's mother.

That's what it means to "give up a tax break." It's not to stop holding on to money that rightfully belongs to the government or another man's elderly mother. It's to fork over your own elderly mother's money so some other man doesn't have to support his own mother.

When the rich man gives up tax breaks, he is submitting to the government forcing him at gunpoint to work for that elderly woman rather than his own wife, children, parents, grandparents, church's diaconal fund, African orphans, crisis pregnancy centers, and on the list goes until the government steps in and forces his duty and charity to stop.

Never forget this. Unlimited government men are always trying to destroy marriage and the covenants of love binding us together as God ordained with goverment and its police and courts and social workers and transfers of wealth done at gunpoint.

Limitless government is always about it taking a village--thus rendering fatherhood impotent.

Ask African American men.

Does this mean I'm opposed to any transfer of wealth or ministry of compassion carried out under the aegis of government and funded by taxpayers?

No. There are times when this is right.

What I oppose is rhetoric intended to bamboozle the serfs or foment class hatred. Also the taxation without representation we habitually give ourselves to by spending the money of our great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great grandchildren who will be forced to spend their lives working to pay taxes that service debt they've inherited from us. Also the limitless goverment men hiding their pandering to the NEA and the AARP behind talk of "senior citizens" and "our children."

Also the transfer of our entire economy to the jurisdiction of King Obama and his cronies.

Also the transfer of authority over our own households and children to Queen Michelle and her dieticians.

Stuff like that."

Couldn't have said it better, myself.  

(HT:  Eddie Taylor.)

Reminder for WorldMovers

This is the issue we will be discussing this Sunday:  the cover article on Mitt Romney.  I've already given away the three copies paid for by the church, so remember to bring your own, as there will not be extras in class.

Thanks for all the participation on the books issue last Sunday.  And special thanks to Marlene for agreeing to report on the Tony Perkins book.

Some of you expressed interest in Brad Heath's advice for readers, so I  am reprinting it here:

1.  Read widely.  Do not be too specialized. Read from a broad range of topics and styles.

2.  Read deeply.  Read books that are hard for you.  Read important books that challenge and stretch your thinking.

3.  Read outside your own time.   Escape the smothering conformity of our popular culture by reading books from other times and cultures.

4.  Read classically.  Read the books that, through history and continued acclaim, form the canon of essential reading for any well-educated mind.

5.   Read with purpose.  Develop a plan.  Make a list.  Write it down.  Keep a journal.

6.  Read aloud to your kids.  Remember, the best children's books are the ones adults like the most.  If a child' book seems absurd or boring, do not inflict it on your child.

7.  Read and buy quality books.   The medium is nearly as important as the message.  When possible, buy new of used hardback editions instead of paperbacks.  Begin to build a family ibrary with quality hardbound books.

8.  Read down the footnote trail.  Where did your favorite authros get their inspiration?   To what books do they refer?  One good book generally leads to another.  Search the out and read them. 

9.  Read in a specified place.  We have a dedcicated place  for TV and eating, why not books?  Create a designated place in your home conducive to quietness and reflection. devoted to reading and studying.  Building a famly library cab be one of the greatest educational inducements you ever undertake.  It models a love of learning and leaves a legacy for future generations.

10.  Read enjoyably.  Make Anthony Trollope's words true for yourself, "this habit of reading, I make bold to tell you, is your pass to the greatest, the purest, and the most perfect pleasures that God has prepared for his creatures...It will make your hours pleasant to you as long as you live."

And a reminder: If you would like to read Brad's whole book, you can find it on Amazon.  The title is Millstones and Stumblingblocks:  Understanding Education in Post-Christian America.

Planned Parenthood on the Run

Read about the latest trouble that Planned Parenthood is in:

http://www.presidentialprayerteam.com/issues/

One more Sunday...

This is still the issue (at right) we are discussing tomorrow - any article other than the cover story on the two creationist books.  We didn't really get to any of the other book reviews, so it might be nice to hear from anyone who is familiar with any of them.  Since Rags asked a somewhat provocative question about the value of reading last Sunday. I will be bringing the work of a friend of mine on why Christians should read.

It was great to see the Bailey's last Sunday!   We had a pretty full room, what with Pete being relegated to the couch. Speaking of those who were absent, remember to pray for Vera Likens.

I have three church-purchased copies of the next magazine (pictured at left).  Let me know in class tomorrow if your subscription has not begun yet, and I will give you one.

A reminder for WorldMovers

This is the issue we will be discussing this Sunday - the cover story on World's choices for books of the year.   Two of the most interesting ones are about "theistic evolution," which should be fun.

I really appreciated our prayer time last Sunday - lots of thoughtful participation.  And, of course, Millie's book report was delightful!

Since we can't move the World by force, we move it by prayer;  we set it on fire with small sparks!

Emergency response planning

Not long after becoming headmaster at Cornerstone Christian Academy, a parent approached me with some concerns about student safety.  That began is five year period of research on school safety plans, which resulted in Cornerstone Emergency Response Manual for teachers, regular training days and procedure rehearsals, and the assmebly of various emergency supply kits to cover a wide variety of situations.  To be honest, much of this work ws done by asssistant Headmaster Brian McKinley, but the whole faculty grew wiser in the process.  Many parents were involved, as well, and when Cornerstone was visited pursant to accreditation, both the parents' Saftey Committee and the Emergency Manual were commended as exemplars for other schools.

I thought of all those hours we invested in emergency preparedness when I read an article in the June 18 World about how Missouri churches had responded to the famillies afflicted by the recent tornado which struck Joplin.  One of the things that struck me was this paragraph: 

"Community Outreach Minister Jay St. Clair of College Heights Christian Church said his people were able to respond quickly because they already had a system in place to help and to serve  the community.  'Once you have a church that is working in community outreach, you already have a lot of the logistics in place...and this is just extended during a crisis.' "

Thank God that College Heights Church already had resources and systems in place to be used of God in response to the crisis in Joplin.  It would be great if all churches had a community outreach committee to think through and anticipate the kinds of emergencies that might strike in their area.  As with the case of   Joseph's preparation for the seven years of famine, people of faith could be a great testimony to God's grace and love in such circumstances.

Trivia time

Finishing up the issue of World that the WorldMovers class did not complete in class next Sunday, I bring attention to these items of trivia:

• Americans spend less on Fathers' Day gifts than on Mothers' Day gifts:  $94.32 for fathers and $126.90 for mothers.  And I think the mothers deserve even more!
• Earth's moon is shrinking, according to the Smithsonian Institute, because of cooling of the moon's core.   Okay... the scientists admit it's only "slight" shrinkage.
• The Supreme Court upheld Arizona's law that revokes or suspends the licenses of business that hire illegal immigrants.  The vote was 5-3, with Elena Kagan recusing herself.
• In another Surpeme Court decision,the state of California was given two years to reduce its prison population by 40,000 prisoner.  Supposedly, the prison system isn't treating the prisoners "right" becuase the failities are overcrowded.  So releasing 40,000 of them back into society is good for California...exactly how?
• During the Clinton administration, the CIA hatched a plan to sabotage Iran's nuclear program.  And now, nearly 15 years later, former CIA operative Jeffrey Sterling is on trial for leaking this information to the NY Times.
• Egyptologist Sarah Parcak has used satellite imagery to reveal the whereabouts of seventeen lost Egyptian pyramids.  Those ancient builders were even busier than anyone previously imagined! 
• "Noodling," the art of catching catfish by hand, in now legal in 17 states, with the addition of Texas recently.  In order to "noodle," one has to stick one's hand in a hole at the bottom of a lake or river and wait for the catfish to sink its teeth into one's flesh.  Then the bite victim hauls the catfish up before it lets go.  Really.  AND there's a web site - CatfishGrabbers.com - really.