OooOOooooh!

From snippy, a puzzle floor!

*pine*

~ o ~

Today's Wonderword topic is "The SATs".

Two words I found that were NOT on the list? Nap (which is appropriate) and maim (which is arguably even more appropriate ;)

Solution: ( Do you want to know? )

Eyman failed - Woohoo!

Tim Eyman (who's made a career of getting initiatives on the Washington state ballot) and Ken Hutcherson (of MayDay for Marriage) managed to NOT get enough signatures to force a state referendum on the sexual orientation discrimination ban.

Number recommended to cover dupes & invalid signers:	130,000
Minimum number of valid signatures:	112,440
Number collected:	105,103

This means the law goes into affect TOMORROW.

More Info:

• Gov Gregoire's statement on this and other laws going into affect tomorrow.
  
• KOMO
  
• P-I Story

Oh, and a bonus for those following the pharmacy board deliberations: the Governor's statement on the most recently proposed rules with a link to the letter (PDF) she wrote to the pharmacy board. "The rules under consideration are unacceptable and fail to protect Washington families from pharmacists who refuse to dispense lawful prescriptions."

Slate blogs the Bible

I just started reading this and I'm grinning. If it's been a while since Sunday School (or Hebrew School) or you never went in the first place, this is a quick pass through some of the stories you may have heard references to but not understood :)

Speaking of Bibles....

Been meaning to blog this for a while. I thought it was a good example of the different ways that the Bible is presented. These are from introductions to Revelations in two different children's Bibles, discussed in episcopal. The first is from the NIrV Children's Bible, aimed at younger kids:

John wrote the book of Revelation. The Roman rulers wanted to punish John. They made him live all by himself. They put him on an island. His family lived in the city. Jesus gave John a dream. It was about the future. John wrote about the dream in the book of Revelation.

It was hard to be a Christian. John wanted Christians to trust God. He said God takes care of everything on earth. John's dream showed that Jesus is our judge. Jesus will punish all evil. Jesus will take all Christians to heaven. Jesus has more power than men.

The super-short sentences and limited vocabulary I can deal with in a book aimed at kids, but I think there could be a lot more context laid about Revelation. For example, part of what the NRSV Children's Bible says:

The book of Revelation is a type of writing called an apocalypse. Apocalypse means "to uncover" or "to reveal." This type of writing usually describes a battle between good and evil by using strange images, codes, and symbols. "Revelation" is another word for "apocalypse." It contains many visions and symbols similar to those found in parts of Isaiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel. Symbolic books such as Revelation have sometimes been used to try to predict future events, including the end of the world. But Jesus warned against trying to do so. Speaking about the end of the world, he said, "but of that day or that hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father" (Mark 13:32). ( Read more... )

This is one of the key differences between various types of Christians: those who believe the Bible is mostly or all literal fact, and those who believe the Bible teaches God's truth.