Category Archives: Current Events

Great Britain will be under Sharia Law in less than a year

According to BBC news, Rowan Williams (Archbishop of Canterbury) has concluded that Sharia law in UK is ‘unavoidable.’

This is not good news and it means that the positive results of the Crusades over 800 years ago are now being overturned without even a fight by the Europeans. Muslim rule is being handed over to Muslims without any questions asked or any struggle at all. THIS IS NOT GOOD NEWS!

Here is an excerpt from the article:

‘Sensational reporting’

In an exclusive interview with BBC correspondent Christopher Landau, ahead of a lecture to lawyers in London on Monday, Dr Williams argues this relies on Sharia law being better understood.

At the moment, he says “sensational reporting of opinion polls” clouds the issue.

He stresses that “nobody in their right mind would want to see in this country the kind of inhumanity that’s sometimes been associated with the practice of the law in some Islamic states; the extreme punishments, the attitudes to women as well”.

But Dr Williams said an approach to law which simply said “there’s one law for everybody and that’s all there is to be said, and anything else that commands your loyalty or allegiance is completely irrelevant in the processes of the courts – I think that’s a bit of a danger”.

“There’s a place for finding what would be a constructive accommodation with some aspects of Muslim law, as we already do with some other aspects of religious law.”

‘Other loyalties’

Dr Williams added: “What we don’t want either, is I think, a stand-off, where the law squares up to people’s religious consciences.”

“We don’t either want a situation where, because there’s no way of legally monitoring what communities do… people do what they like in private in such a way that that becomes another way of intensifying oppression inside a community.”

The issue of whether Catholic adoption agencies would be forced to accept gay parents under equality laws showed the potential for legal confusion, he said.

“That principle that there is only one law for everybody is an important pillar of our social identity as a western democracy,” he said.

“But I think it is a misunderstanding to suppose that means people don’t have other affiliations, other loyalties which shape and dictate how they behave in society and that the law needs to take some account of that.”

[HT: George Grant]

Baptist Press opens blog for Union Univ. updates

UPDATE: UUEmergency Blog – Union University has started their own emergency update blog to keep everyone up-to-date.

Baptist Press has created a blog site for news and updates from Union University, which sustained severe damage in a Feb. 5 tornado.

The blog site, which will be updated as information is received, can be accessed at www.bpnews.net/blog/, or simply by going to Baptist Press’ homepage and clicking the “Union University Tornado Updates” in the upper right hand corner. An RSS feed also is available.

[HT: BP]

NTSB Says Design Flaw Found in I-35W Bridge

For those of you who don’t know, my full time job is practicing Structural Engineering at a local Engineering firm in the Chattanooga area. If you recall the I-35W bridge that collapsed in Minneapolis last year… On January 15, 2008, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) announced their findings and it doesn’t look good. Below is a summary that I received from my American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) news updates. You will also find a link to the NTSB report in PDF. Given the consecutive popping noise that people heard while they were on or near the bridge, I would agree that it was most likely one gusset plate after another that failed once the first one gave way. This would be comparable to someone unzipping a zipper. Once the first plate went the rest had no chance of carrying the weight…

Dear ASCE Member:

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) today announced that a serious design flaw was found in some of the gusset plates on the I-35W bridge in Minneapolis, which collapsed on August 1, 2007. As a result, the NTSB issued a recommendation that the Federal Highway Administration (FHwA) require bridge owners to verify that the stress levels in all structural elements, including gusset plates, remain within applicable requirements whenever planned modifications or operational changes may significantly increase stresses. This would apply to all non-load-path-redundant steel truss bridges within the National Bridge Inventory.

The collapse of this bridge led to 13 deaths, 145 injuries and serious disruption to the lives of thousands of motorists and residents in the region. ASCE again extends it condolences to the victims of this tragedy. As a profession, it is our obligation to learn all that we can from such events. ASCE will continue to monitor the NTSBÂ’s investigation and will incorporate the recommendations and lessons learned into our future technical and professional policies and standards.

ASCE urges its members to review the NTSBÂ’s report and recommendations.

NTSB Safety Recommendation Letter

FHwA Turner-Fairbank Highway Research Center Interim Report

Adequacy of the U10 & L11 Gusset Plate Designs for the Minnesota Bridge No. 9340 (I-35W over the Mississippi River)

Sincerely,

David G. Mongan, P.E., F.ASCE

President

The Car of the Future!

Well, it’s finally in the works and even out on the streets… that’s right, the car of the future is just around the corner! Within the next decade for sure!

And guess who is leading the way… CHEVY!

chevy1chevy2chevy3

Chevy has designed and built the first vehicle for average consumers that runs on water… well, actually it’s hydrogen fuel cell tanks that produce energy by fusing hydrogen and oxygen together to produce electricity for power and water vapor as its byproduct… but you get the point.  😉

FOXNews has a great article telling you all about it. So, go and read and if you live in the right area, you may even be able to sign up to drive one of these vehicles for three whole months!

Visit Chevy.com for more details on how to sign up and exactly what area of the country you need to be in to actually be able to fill up the fuel cell tanks.

Finally… we might just be moving away from reliance on petroleum fueled cars! Just give it another 5 to 10 years and the price of these Chevy SUVs might actually be affordable. I cannot wait!

Happy New Year!

I wish all of you a great and blessed 2008 as you seek to fulfill your calling in Christ Jesus, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. May God be with you all and may Jesus be the joy of your heart from now unto eternity!

Revelation 21 says…

1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. 2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. 4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”

5 And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” 6 And he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment. 7 The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son. 8 But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”

May the start of this new year remind of the coming new creation that has already begun in the Resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth from the death! Glory to God in the highest! And may all that is good in this world proseper and all that is evil perish this new year of 2008!

In Christ and In Defense of the Faith,