Reflections From a Murky Pond

Pope Benedict XVI said the debate over Creationism vs. Evolution raging in some countries — especially the United States and Germany was an “absurdity,” saying that evolution can coexist with faith.

“This clash is an absurdity because on one hand there is much scientific proof in favor of evolution, which appears as a reality that we must see and which enriches our understanding of life and being as such.”

— Pope Benedict XVI

This statement does not mean that the Pope, and through him Catholicism, endorses Darwin’s Theory of Evolution. In previous writings, both as Cardinal and as Pope, Benedict XVI has stated that Darwin’s theory cannot be proven and that science has narrowed humanity’s view of creation.

What does seem clear is that the Pope continues to maintain the stance that God and Evolution are not mutually exclusive. In previous writings he has made it clear that the science of evolution is valid, but has the in-built limitation that it cannot determine the cause, meaning or purpose for Creation and Life itself.

New York State has sued Exxon Mobil Corp on Tuesday July 17, 2007 to force the cleanup of a decades-old, 17 million gallon oil spill in New York City.

Besides requiring Exxon to perform the cleanup operation, the lawsuit asks Exxon to restore Newton Creek and is seeking substantial financial penalties and damages for the injuries to financial resources.

The lawsuit pertains to a leak that was discovered in 1978 in Newtown Creek, the waterway that separates the boroughs of Queens and Brooklyn. According to the lawsuit the spill has formed an underground contamination of over 55-acres of the Greenpoint section of Brooklyn.

This company cannot ignore the harm its oil spill has caused to the environment and residents of Greenpoint, Brooklyn.

This suit sends the message that even the largest corporations in the world cannot escape the consequences of their misdeeds

 

— New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo

The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, located in Brooklyn. U.S. District Judge Carol Amon has been assigned to hear the case.

Montgomery County Circuit Judge Katherine D. Savage dismissed the charges against and released Mahamu Kanneh, who was accused of repeated raping and otherwise sexually molesting a seven year old girl of the course of a year. The Liberian immigrant was not released due to lack of evidence but due to the fact that he supposedly didn’t speak enough English!

Judge Savage decided that, after three years of supposedly trying to get a translator for Mr. Kanneh’s native Vai tongue – a tribal language spoken by approximately 100,000 people worldwide – that Mr. Kanneh’s right to a speedy trial had been violated.

This is one of the most difficult decisions I’ve had to make in a long time

 

— Judge Katherine D. Savage

The Author wonders how it could be other a “most difficult decision” to release an accused child rapist back into society without first allowing a jury to determine his guilt or innocence. Judge Savage had to carefully weigh the facts that: Mahama Kanneh attended high school and community college in Maryland, spoke English to detective and court representatives throughout the proceedings, and had previously waved his right to a speedy trial so that his defense team could conduct its own analysis of DNA evidence. It must have been very hard for Judge Savage to twist the facts in such a way so as to be able to possibly release yet another pedophile back into society.

This must have been especially difficult for Judge Savage to accomplished since one of the primary purposes for The Right To A Speedy And Public Trial is to prevent undue and oppressive incarceration prior to trial. Mahamu Kanneh had only spent one night in jail and was released on a $10,000 bond with the restriction that he have no contact with minors.

Go to the Washingnton Post for the full story.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced a settlement with E.I. Du Pont de Nemours & Co. that is expected to reduce more than 13,000 tons of harmful emissions annually from four sulfuric acid production plants in Louisiana, Virginia, Ohio and Kentucky.

DuPont will spend at least $66 million on air pollution controls at the plants and pay a civil penalty of $4.125 million under the Clean Air Act settlement. The state governments of Louisiana, Virginia and Ohio colaborated with the federal government in the agreement and each will get shares of the civil penalty.

DuPont has agreed meet new, lower emission limits for sulphur dioxide (SO2) at its sulfuric acid production factories in Darrow, La.; Richmond, Va.; North Bend, Ohio; and Wurtland, Ky. At the plant in Darrow, the largest of the four, DuPont will install state-of-the-art “dual absorption” pollution control equipment by Sept. 1, 2009, at an estimated cost of $66 million. At the other three plants, DuPont has the option of installing appropriate control equipment or ceasing operations to meet the new lower emission limits. The additional cost of installing control technologies at all of the remaining three plants, if Du Pont does so, is estimated to be at least $87 million. All four plants must meet their lower emission limits by March 1, 2012. When fully implemented, the settlement with Du Pont will reduce sulfur dioxide emissions from the four plants by approximately 90 percent.

Go to Newsblaze for the Full Story
Go to the EPA for Details on Settlement

Sen. Robert Byrd (D-WV) wants Michael Vick to be executed if he’s found guilty of federal felony charges of conspiracy to travel in interstate commerce in aid of unlawful activities and to sponsor a dog in animal fighting venture.

The Senator is making an informed assertion. These is not the mouthings of a lily-livered dandy who doesn’t know the consequences of choices; he knows exactly what he’s asking for. Sen. Byrd has attended one execution before and claims he wouldn’t mind seeing another “if it involves this cruel, sadistic, cannibalistic business of training innocent, vulnerable creatures to kill.”

I am confident that the hottest places in hell are reserved for the souls of sick and brutal people who hold God’s creatures in such brutal and cruel contempt.
One is left wondering who are the real animals: the creatures inside or outside the ring?

— Sen. Robert Byrd (D-WV)
Speaking before the U.S. Senate on July 19th, 2007

Frankly the Author appreciates the august Senator’s desires, though finds them somewhat too generous and compassionate. After all that Vick’s has done, dying slowly from AIDS contracted through homosexual rape while in prison sounds like a more fitting punishment. Why should a man who’s famous for public obscenity, knowingly and willfully infected a woman with genital herpes, and allegedly took part in one of the cruelest and most gruesome of human acts be granted the mercy of an execution?

Sen Byrd won’t get his wish. Our legal system doesn’t support such justice. The Author’s hope is that the American justice and penal systems will do their respective parts so that he can get his wish and Michael Vick can get what he deserves.