Christianity Today Gleanings: Workers' Comp Law Doesn't Restrict ...

The Montana Supreme Court has voted 4-3 to uphold a state law that requires religious organizations to carry workers' compensation insurance.

The decision is part of a lawsuit filed by the Big Sky Colony of Hutterites, members of an Anabaptist group who live highly religious lives in communes across the northern United States. According to the Star Tribune, the Hutterites "are primarily agricultural producers but have expanded into construction with success because they can offer lower job bids than many private businesses."

In 2009, the Montana legislature passed a law requiring religious organizations to carry workers' insurance after other contractors said they could not outbid the Hutterites. But the Hutterites filed suit, arguing that the law targeted them and unjustly infringed upon their religious practices.

The divided court ruled 4-3 in favor of the law. According to the Associated Press, the majority found that the "workers' compensation requirement does not interfere with the Hutterites' religious practices but only regulates their commercial activities like any other business."

CT's previous coverage of the Hutterites includes the irony of how a Hutterite legal loss over driver's license photos offered a new legal defense for other Christian groups, as well as Hutterite ambivalence about cell phones and a book review of I Am Hutterite, a memoir of growing up in a radical Anabaptist community.

CT has also covered related Anabaptist groups, including the Amish and Mennonites and the lesser known Bruderhofer movement.

Source: http://blog.christianitytoday.com/ctliveblog/archives/2013/01/workers-comp-law-doesnt-restrict-religious-freedom-montana-supreme-court-rules.html

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Deng scores 33; Bulls go to 3-0 against Knicks

NEW YORK (AP) ? Joakim Noah loved shutting up the chatter almost as much as shutting down the Knicks.

He heard how Carmelo Anthony would come out firing after his suspension, how the Knicks would pay the Bulls back for a tense, testy meeting last month.

Turned out to be the same no contest it was last time.

Luol Deng scored a season-high 33 points in Chicago's third victory over New York this season, a 108-101 win Friday that sent the Knicks to their season-high third straight loss.

"I think it was a big game. A lot of people watching and everybody was saying the Knicks were going to get revenge for what happened last time, nah, nah, nah," Noah said, unable to contain his postgame smile. "And we came back, held it down again."

Noah couldn't contain his excitement while playing in front of family and friends, even breaking out his gun salute that he vowed to shelve after the shootings at a Newtown, Conn., elementary school, apologetically saying he just got too hyped up.

Topping the 29 points he scored here last month, Deng shot 13 of 18 from the field and also led the defensive effort that contained Anthony in the decisive first half of his return from a one-game suspension.

Carlos Boozer added 17 points for the Bulls, whose offense won't be at full strength until Derrick Rose is back from knee surgery, yet they still shot 57 percent.

Anthony ended up with 39 points for the Knicks, who were roughed up again a night after losing in Indiana. He shot 14 of 32 but said his struggles had nothing to do with Deng and that he simply missed shots he normally makes.

Without starting point guard Raymond Felton and key big men Marcus Camby and Rasheed Wallace, they lack the depth or sharpness on either end they had during their fast start to the season.

"We definitely don't want to lose. We've got to bounce back, take it one day at a time, one game at a time," Anthony said. "Sunday is our next game, New Orleans, and that's a game that we have to go get. It's a must-win."

Rose is practicing and nearing his return after tearing up his knee in the opener of last season's playoffs. The Bulls have managed to stay among the top teams in the East without him, and three times have outclassed a Knicks team that has been in or near the conference lead all season.

"We've showed it this year, when we really focus and lock in, whoever we play we've been able to play with them, all the top teams, play them close whether we win or lose," Deng said. "We know that when we show up, and you know, stick to the game plan, we can really play with anyone in this league."

Richard Hamilton had 14 points as Chicago won for the fourth time in five games.

J.R. Smith shot 4 of 17 for his 13 points as the Knicks lost for the fifth time in seven games. Tyson Chandler grabbed 18 rebounds.

The Bulls held the Knicks to then-season lows of 85 points and 32 percent shooting in an eight-point victory in the first meeting, a game Anthony missed because of a finger injury.

He played the second one but was in the locker room before it ended, getting thrown out of a game that featured nine technical fouls and four ejections in a game the Bulls were dominating until the Knicks make it look respectable after all the fireworks were finished.

This one went the same way with Chicago building a 25-point lead before a Knicks flurry at the end made it look close on the scoreboard.

Anthony sat out Thursday's 81-76 loss in Indiana for his postgame confrontation with Kevin Garnett after a loss to Boston here Monday, and Knicks coach Mike Woodson hoped the NBA's second-leading scorer would come out strong.

Instead, Anthony missed 10 of his 14 shots in the first half before nearly ending up with another 40-point game to add to the pair he had last week.

Boozer had his streak of double-doubles snapped at six, but Chicago had more than enough to improve to 9-1 against East teams on the road and 16-5 overall against the conference.

The Bulls scored the first five points and just kept pouring it on from there. They hit 11 of 19 shots in the first quarter, limited Anthony to 1 of 8 shooting and led by as many as 15 before taking a 29-18 advantage to the second.

Having already taken the fans out of the game, the Bulls then turned them on the Knicks. Deng had the last five points of a 17-6 run to open the second that gave Chicago a 46-24 lead, the boos growing with each basket.

The lead peaked at 25 when Deng picked up a turnover and dribbled all the way for a layup, and the Bulls took a 57-36 bulge to the locker room.

Chicago outshot New York 57.5 percent to 29.8 percent in the first half.

Consecutive 3-pointers by Steve Novak and Anthony brought the Knicks within 103-96 with 1:07 remaining, but Marco Belinelli hit five free throws from there to close it out.

The Knicks announced before the game that Camby, who had been starting, would miss two to four weeks after reinjuring his left foot. Woodson started Kurt Thomas in his forward spot and also benched Ronnie Brewer, who had started all but one of the first 35 games, and gave James White his third start of the season.

With Wallace still out with his foot injury and Amare Stoudemire on a minutes restriction as he plays his way back into shape following knee surgery, the Knicks lack the big bodies to face a physical team such as the Bulls.

"Whenever somebody goes down, somebody has to step up," Chandler said. "It's been unfortunate for us because it's kind of been a revolving door, in and out, guys getting hurt and banged up. But that's not an excuse. Somebody has step up and we have to fill the spot as a team."

Jason Kidd missed all six shots in a dreadful, no-point, no-assists performance.

Notes: Woodson wasn't sure if the Knicks would bring Iman Shumpert with them to London next week for their game against Detroit or leave him back in New York to work out or even play with their NBA Development League team. Shumpert has just been cleared to resume full workouts after tearing his ACL in last year's playoffs. ... Chicago has now won or tied the season series every year since 2001 except 2010-11.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/deng-scores-33-bulls-3-0-against-knicks-035410726--spt.html

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Jennie Finch?s Blog: Making Final Preparations?

Having our Christmas photos taken – Courtesy Jennie Finch Thank you for welcoming back celebrity blogger Jennie Finch. After sharing her pregnancy with now 18-month-old son Diesel Dean with us, we asked the recently retired softball player for an update on family life. It turns out that Finch had some news to break: she’s expecting [...]

Source: http://feeds.celebritybabies.com/~r/celebrity-babies/~3/HjBNQICvHVc/

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Choosing The Right Company For Your Payday Cash Advances ...

Are you currently shopping around for a payday loan? Do you have not-so-great credit? Luckily, there are many possible choices. If you need money right away and have no other means of obtaining it, payday advances are a good alternative. There are many tips in this article that will help you find a payday loan.

Reconsider refinancing cash advance loans. A common financial whirlpool is created by refinancing payday advances, and each time the debt grows. And when you throw in the outrageously high interest rates of cash advance loans, you?re dealing with a volatile situation that can easily blow up in your face. If repaying the payday loan becomes an issue, your bank may offer an inexpensive personal loan that is more beneficial than refinancing the previous loan.

You might not be able to get a payday loan if it is not possible to have enough money from you job to pay it back. If your application is rejected for this reason, you will have to find an alternative source for funding. If you ignore this rule of thumb, you will realize you?re in a vicious loan cycle that you can?t escape.

If you are considering taking out a payday loan, it is important to pay it back when it is due, rather than extending it. When you extend a loan, you?re only paying more in interest which can add up quickly.

You can use payday advances when you have money locked up in other assets that isn?t accessible right away. You may have your funds tied up in a savings fund, for example. You will end up paying a lot more for using this cash as you would if you used a payday loan. As long as you pay back the loan on time, you may have just saved yourself some money!

Make sure you do your research on what loan you are going to get. Similar to anything else, you must know the details of what you?re getting yourself into. Review the payment terms, the conditions, and all of the other fine print that applies until you are really sure you understand it. Don?t enter into this type of loan blindly due to desperation.

It is important that all terms and conditions are read and understood before an agreement is signed. You might really need the money now, but if you know that you may be unable to repay it withing 1 or 2 weeks, you may get yourself into even bigger trouble.

It seems like payday lenders are sprouting up everywhere. They offer a small loan with proof of employment and no background check. This is a short-term loan. These loans are on a short basis, they carry very very high interest with them, but they do help some.

Cash advance loans give you money fast, but take your time with applying. Review the loan terms carefully. There are usually harsh penalties for non-payment or late payment of payday loans. You must have a good understanding of your obligations and have confidence that you can meet them.

When you?re choosing which payday loan company to go with, make sure you do your research. There are a lot of con artist lenders who will promise you a loan, but only steal your banking information. Find out more by reading reviews from previous borrowers.

Before you decide to take out a payday loan, check the APR. Some people look at other factors, and that is a mistake because the APR tells you how much interest and fees you will pay.

A payday loan could be a good choice if you need cash right away. Payday loans are quick, easy to obtain, and credit score does not play a role in your loan approval. Use the information seen here to get the cash that you need in the time you need it.

Hopefully the information on world markets today found in this article will prove helpful. Don?t be afraid to write down a note or two so that you don?t forget something particularly useful. There is much more that you can find out in regards to world markets today. Take the time to investigate the topic a little bit more.

Source: http://www.optionstradinganalysis.com/2013/01/11/choosing-the-right-company-for-your-payday-cash-advances/

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Report: Lance to admit doping in Oprah interview

FILE - This combination image made of file photos shows Lance Armstrong, left, on Oct. 7, 2012, and Oprah Winfrey, right, on March 9, 2012. According to a release posted on Oprah's website on Tuesday, Jan. 8, 2013, Armstrong has agreed to a rare televised interview that will air next week and will address allegations that he used performance-enhancing drugs during his cycling career. (AP Photos/File)

FILE - This combination image made of file photos shows Lance Armstrong, left, on Oct. 7, 2012, and Oprah Winfrey, right, on March 9, 2012. According to a release posted on Oprah's website on Tuesday, Jan. 8, 2013, Armstrong has agreed to a rare televised interview that will air next week and will address allegations that he used performance-enhancing drugs during his cycling career. (AP Photos/File)

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) ? Lance Armstrong plans to admit to doping throughout his career during an upcoming interview with Oprah Winfrey, USA Today reported late Friday.

The interview, scheduled to be taped Monday and broadcast Thursday night on the Oprah Winfrey Network, will be conducted at Armstrong's home in Austin, Texas.

Citing an anonymous source, USA Today reported that the disgraced cyclist plans to admit using performance-enhancing drugs, but likely will not get into details of the allegations outlined in a 2012 report by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency that led to Armstrong being stripped of his seven Tour de France titles and banned for life from the sport.

Armstrong representatives declined comment, including his attorney Tim Herman. The New York Times first reported last week that Armstrong was considering making a confession.

The 41-year-old Armstrong, who vehemently denied doping for years, has not spoken publicly about the USADA report that cast him as the leader of a sophisticated and brazen doping program on his U.S. Postal Service teams that included use of steroids, blood boosters and illegal blood transfusions.

Winfrey's network announced Tuesday that Armstrong agreed to a "no holds barred" interview with her.

A confession to Winfrey would come at a time when some of Armstrong's legal troubles appear to be clearing up.

Any potential perjury charges stemming from his sworn testimony denying doping in a 2005 arbitration fight with a Dallas promotions company over a contract bonus worth $7.5 million have passed the statute of limitations.

Armstrong faces a whistle-blower lawsuit filed by former teammate Floyd Landis accusing him of defrauding the U.S. Postal Service, but the U.S. Department of Justice has yet to announce if it will join the case. The British newspaper The Sunday Times is suing Armstrong to recover about $500,000 it paid him to settle a libel lawsuit.

Armstrong lost most of his personal sponsorship ? worth tens of millions of dollars ? after USADA issued its report and he left the board of the Livestrong cancer-fighting charity he founded in 1997. He is still said to be worth an estimated $100 million.

Livestrong might be one reason to issue an apology or make a confession. The charity supports cancer patients and still faces an image problem because of its association with its famous founder.

The New York Times reported that Armstrong may make a confession in an attempt to return to competition in elite triathlon or running events, but World Anti-Doping Code rules state his lifetime ban cannot be reduced to less than eight years. WADA and U.S. Anti-Doping officials could agree to reduce the ban further depending on what new information Armstrong provides and his level of cooperation.

Armstrong met with USADA officials recently to explore a "pathway to redemption," according to a report by "60 Minutes Sports" aired Wednesday on Showtime.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2013-01-12-Armstrong-Doping/id-1af1ba0265ee4fa59bbf86e7040143d2

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Calif. cold snap threatens $2 billion citrus harvest

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - An Arctic air mass has sent temperatures plunging across California, threatening the state's lucrative citrus harvest, its winter vegetables and its more cold-sensitive strawberry crop, weather and agricultural experts said on Friday.

Temperatures throughout the state fell by as much as 20 degrees Fahrenheit (11 degrees Celsius) below normal on Thursday and Friday as snowfall and sub-freezing conditions forced a 17-hour closure of a key highway, Interstate 5, through the mountains north of Los Angeles.

Authorities reopened the highway Friday morning after thousands of motorists were left stranded overnight on either side of the winding stretch of road known as the Grapevine or were forced to take circuitous alternate routes.

It remained unclear how much of the state's $2 billion-a-year citrus industry, which accounts for most of the oranges and lemons commercially available to U.S. consumers, might be lost.

In the San Joaquin Valley, the heart of navel and mandarin orange production in central California, low temperatures in the teens threatened to kill citrus crops, which are in danger of perishing whenever the mercury falls below 28 degrees, farmers' groups said.

The National Weather Service alerted growers to the danger so they could take precautions, but there may still be a heavy loss, meteorologist Jeff Barlow said.

"They won't be able to save all of the crops," Barlow said. "This is going to be a pretty significant freeze event for the central California citrus crop."

Nevertheless, California Citrus Mutual spokeswoman Alyssa Houtby said the group's members were optimistic that damage would be curtailed enough to avoid major shortages or price increases. Because citrus fruit is harvested in winter, farmers are used to dealing with frost, she said.

She said about 25 percent of the citrus harvest had already been picked, and the rest was still on the trees.

'IT GETS A LITTLE DICEY'

Cold weather in moderation can increase the fruit's sugar content, making it more resilient to future touches of frost, Houtby said.

"It can be a good thing for citrus, but when it gets down into the lower 20s for long times, as it is expected to tonight, it gets a little dicey," she told Reuters.

The lemon crop, primarily grown farther to the south in Ventura County, also faced the prospect of frost over the weekend, Houtby said.

California's strawberries, valued at roughly $2.2 billion a year, are especially vulnerable to the cold snaps, with plants generally unable to withstand temperatures lower than 34 degrees for extended periods of time, said Carolyn O'Donnell of the California Strawberry Commission.

Although much of the state's 855,000-ton annual strawberry yield comes from Watsonville, just south of San Jose, the harvesting season there is still months away. But the current U.S. fresh strawberry supply depends on farmers in Ventura County, who produce far less.

Because of the already low production, the effect of frost damage to Ventura County crops at this time of year could be amplified, O'Donnell said.

However, like citrus growers, strawberry farmers are taking precautions, such as running large fans and heaters in the fields.

Among other quintessential Californian crops threatened are avocados, a $400 million industry generally harvested between March and October. The largest growing areas are in San Diego and Ventura counties, said Jonathan Dixon, research program director at the California Avocado Commission.

"The growers I know are having a lot of sleepless nights at the moment," Dixon said. "Most of these guys will be up all night chasing their frost protection."

Although no further snow was expected over the weekend, temperatures were expected to continue to drop on Saturday before gradually warming next week, the weather service said.

In normally temperate San Diego, temperatures were expected to reach 39 degrees on Friday night, closer to the record low of 34 degrees set in 1888 than the normal 59 degrees, said Robert Balfour, a National Weather Service forecaster.

"The rest of the country is probably laughing at us, saying, ?You call that cold?'" Balfour said.

(Reporting and writing by Brandon Lowrey; Editing by Steve Gorman and Marguerita Choy)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/california-cold-snap-threatens-2-billion-citrus-harvest-013736007.html

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How early Earth kept warm with faint sun

Collisions among molecules in early Earth?s atmosphere may have prevented our planet from freezing over eons ago, when the sun was much dimmer than it is today, keeping the world warm enough for life to emerge, scientists say.

This newfound warming effect may influence what distant worlds scientists think alien life might possibly dwell on, investigators added.

When the sun was young, models suggest it was only 70 percent as bright as it is today. However, during the first 2 billion years of Earth's history, geological evidence suggests the Earth was still warm enough that glaciers did not cover its entire surface, allowing early life to emerge.

Scientists, including Carl Sagan, have suggested a number of possible solutions to this so-called " faint young sun paradox." Perhaps a complex brew of global warming gases helped keep the planet warm. Perhaps the sun was brighter than previously thought. Or perhaps the early Earth absorbed more sunlight than previously suggested.

However, many of these effects "have later been found to have important weaknesses," said study lead author Robin Wordsworth, a planetary scientist at the University of Chicago.

In their new study, Wordsworth and his colleague Raymond Pierrehumbert suggest that collisions between hydrogen and nitrogen molecules in the early Earth's atmosphere could have helped them trap incoming solar radiation and warm the planet. [ Earth?s Atmosphere from Top to Bottom (Infographic) ]

Earth?s life-protecting atmosphere
Molecules can absorb infrared light ? the kind most often given off as heat ? by wobbling in response to the light. Greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide can absorb infrared photons and heat up the planet, but nitrogen and hydrogen gas generally do not.

"However, if the atmosphere is dense enough, hydrogen and nitrogen molecules will occasionally stick when they collide with each other, forming new hydrogen-nitrogen 'dimmer' molecules," Wordsworth said. "These dimmers have many different ways to wobble, which allows them to absorb infrared photons very effectively, and hence keep a planet's surface warm."

Past research had suggested that the early Earth was not rich in hydrogen.

"Hydrogen is such a rare gas in Earth's atmosphere today that at first glance, it seems crazy that it could ever have played a role in warming the climate," Wordsworth said.

However, recent calculations show the early Earth's atmosphere could actually have been up to about 30 percent hydrogen gas. Wordsworth and Pierrehumbert found that if Earth's early atmosphere was 10 percent hydrogen gas, it could have conceivably increased surface temperatures by as much as 18 to 27 degrees Fahrenheit (10 to 15 degrees Celsius).

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Hydrogen-nitrogen warming is particularly interesting because it has major implications for the development of the biosphere, the world's global community of life, Wordsworth said. Previously, researchers generally assumed that methane-producing, hydrogen-eating microbes must have been abundant across the early Earth, because they thought atmospheric methane was necessary to warm the planet.

"This idea has problems because under early Earth conditions, methane is actually a pretty ineffective greenhouse gas," Wordsworth said. "Our work shows that the Earth could have remained warm even if the early biosphere didn't pour out large amounts of methane."

In fact, instead of warming the climate by generating methane as previously believed, these microbes may have actually cooled the climate by consuming hydrogen.

"Untangling the coupling between climate and biology on the early Earth in light of our results will be an exciting topic for future research," Wordsworth said.

Atmospheres of alien Earths
This warming effect "may be very important to our understanding of climates on other planets," Wordsworth added. "In particular, it could lead to an expanded definition of the habitable zone for larger planets ? the so-called 'super-Earths' ? that are far from their host stars."

The habitable zone of a star is defined as the area in which a planet's surface is warm enough to sustain liquid water. Since life is found virtually everywhere there is liquid water on Earth, this warming effect could therefore influence the search for signs of life, or biosignatures, on alien worlds, Wordsworth said. Super-Earths are expected to have atmospheres that are comparably rich in hydrogen and nitrogen, he added.

"We hope our results will encourage researchers to develop an expanded definition of the habitable zone for planets around other stars, and to think harder about how biosignatures might be derived from planets with hydrogen-rich atmospheres," Wordsworth said.

"There's been lots of previous work on the faint young sun paradox, and we're sure our study won't be the last word on the matter," Wordsworth added. "It's of course quite possible that the early Earth was kept warm by a combination of effects."

Wordsworth and Pierrehumbert detail their findings in Friday's issue of the journal Science.

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Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/50357603/ns/technology_and_science-space/

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