Rick Warren 1st Amendment protects freedom to practice one's faith in full

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Does our Constitution guarantee the freedom of religion, or does it merely allow a more limited freedom to worship? The difference is profound. Worship is an event. Religion is a way of life.

Specifically, does the First Amendment guarantee believers of all faiths the freedom to practice their ethics, educate their children and operate family businesses based on their religious beliefs, moral convictions and freedom of conscience? Do Americans have the freedom to place our beliefs and ethics at the center of our business practices or must we ignore them when we form a company?

These questions will be brought before the Supreme Court today. The outcome of Sebelius v. Hobby Lobby will affect every American because any religion allowed to be practiced only inside a house of worship, and not in the day-to-day business of life, is a worthless faith.

Since I wrote The Purpose Driven Life 12 years ago, I have received more than 500,000 letters and e-mails from people trying to live in ways they believe honor God. For millions of Americans, faith is something you live by. It colors every decision and action, both at home and at work. It is personal, but it is not private.

David and Barbara Green are one example of a purpose-driven family leading a purpose-driven business. From the time the Greens started Hobby Lobby in their garage, building picture frames with their sons, they committed themselves and their company to one simple purpose: Honoring the Lord in all we do by operating our company in a manner consistent with biblical principles.

Hobby Lobby has grown into a multibillion-dollar business with more than 550 stores and nearly 16,000 full-time employees. David Green has written, We had faith that we would succeed if we lived and worked according to Gods Word.

The Greens live their religious values and ethics in every aspect of their business: by providing salaries and benefits far above average industry levels and by their commitment to helping employees maintain a healthy work-life balance, which includes closing on Sundays so workers have more time with their families.

Every year, Hobby Lobby gives a portion of its profits to charities, educational institutions, community ministries and churches around the world. My own congregation was a surprise beneficiary of the Greens generosity a few years ago, and that is how I first met this amazing family.

There is massive evidence that everything Hobby Lobby does is predicated on the Greens deep belief that they must honor God and obey his commands in their business. Every Christmas and Easter, Hobby Lobby takes out full-page ads to share the Greens faith in the communities where they have stores. Hobby Lobby is not a secular, publicly traded company. Rather, it is the personal, purpose-driven mission of one of the most devout families Ive ever met.

Two years ago, the Greens commitment to practicing their religious convictions in their family business required that they object to just a few of the contraceptives the government requires providing to employees under the Affordable Care Act. They believe that a few specific drugs and devices have the potential to terminate life that has been conceived, and they view this as morally wrong based on Psalm 139:13-16, which says that God planned the purpose of every life before we were born. Represented by the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, they went to court, and now the case has made it to the Supreme Court.

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Rick Warren 1st Amendment protects freedom to practice one's faith in full

Freedom Day part of aborted 1958 plan

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Speaking at a book launch in the presence of President Emeritus Fenech Adami, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat stated that Freedom Day thirty-five years ago had been part of the plan which had been aborted in 1958 by the resignation of Dom Mintoffs first government. Independence and the Republic were stages along the way. All led to the life we live today.

The book which was officially launchedIL-ELSIEN: Il-mixja lejn il-31 ta Marzu tal-1979 (FREEDOM: The road leading to 31 March 1979)was researched and written by historian Mark Camilleri, and published by SKS (Sensiela Kotba Sojalisti).

The book is packed with new historical information backed by documents freshly unearthed from the British national archives in London and the Labour Partys internal archives at amrun.

It reveals new facts about what made Mintoffs undertakings during the sixties and seventies at all possible.

During the event, Prof. Dominic Fenech stated that Freedom Day had been an independence beyond Independence itself.

He said that the new publication excellently provides the residential context of Maltas freedom from foreign rule.

The event was also attended by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and various Ministers and Parliamentary Secretaries.

The new publication brings new historic material out in the light.

It discloses for the first time documents shedding new light on the legendary Labour meeting in Gozo of May 1961, on the extensive foreign connections forged by the Labour Party while in opposition during the sixties, Che Guevaras 1964 reference to Maltas anti-colonial struggle, Mintoffs correspondence with Bertrand Russel, and more.

It also features many photographs related to Freedom Day which have never been publisehd before.

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Freedom Day part of aborted 1958 plan

ISO Modular Data Centers afford flexible design, maintenance.

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According to Mark Awdas, Engineering Manager with Cannon Technologies, the new ISO standard container options offer clients a wide range of advantages - including free cooling, low PUE (Power Usage Effectiveness) ratios and medium/high density facilities. Key features of the new ISO container units include 95% power efficiency (98% in ECO mode), plus low power LED lighting on a single and highly resilient circuit - replacing the power-hungry twin circuit systems seen on legacy installations.

The unique raised floor system, says Awdas, supports features not normally available in previous containerised offerings, such as enabling cooling water pipe work and other services - to operate below floor level. In responding to client requests for these new units, our engineering team have developed an ISO standard container that gives clients "room to breathe" in a plug-and-play data centre environment and with drop shipping times as low as seven days, he explained.

The team has also developed a modular infrastructure that gives clients a range of unique configuration options that are available, quite literally, off the shelf. Our aim when developing the new range was to create the Holy Grail of modular data centres - namely high levels of flexibility for client installations, but without shoe-horning clients into a one-size-fits-all system," he said.

A choice of formats: the best of both worlds

Awdas went on to say that the development of the ISO container range offers customers a range of size and format choices - including a clamshell option, which features two, or even three open sides that bolt together meaning that businesses really can have the best of both worlds. And at a highly cost-competitive price, he notes.

Cannon is especially proud of its clamshell option with the new ISO container series, as the units feature an outer and an inner skin design that - once sited - offers a larger data centre floor area, but without the lead times that legacy modular systems traditionally require. This innovative approach with the new units, says Awdas, has extended to the design of the lighting system - with a robust and hot-swappable low-power LED lighting circuit that replaces the twin-circuit systems seen in legacy modular data centres.

"Despite the ISO containers being modular in nature, flexibility was the name of the game when our design team sat down to develop these units from scratch. We started by throwing away the book on conventional data centre limitations and developing an ISO container series that offers all the advantages of small and mid-sized data centres - but on a drop-ship and power-efficient basis," he said.

Cannon's engineering manager says that most competing modular data centre options represent something of a compromise. With the Cannon ISO range clients get a wide choice of options available on a mix-and-match basis ranging from ISO standard to WISO and all the way to dual or triple ISO clamshell sizing in the TMDC range, he said.

There is also an ISO stack family of multiple 2.4 x 12m modules in our MDC range that can be transported in a standard ISO format - using a crane if stacking is required, in order to create a data centre campus, he added.

For More Information visit http://goo.gl/JvX37D

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ISO Modular Data Centers afford flexible design, maintenance.

Whale swims close to Perth beaches

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A whale spotted between Fremantle and Swanbourne yesterday. Picture: Twitter/Surf Lifesaving WA

A five-metre beaked whale has been spotted just 20 metres offshore at popular Perth beaches this week, prompting a warning for beachgoers to be careful.

The Department of Parks and Wildlife says it is monitoring the whale, which has been sighted between Cottesloe and Fremantle beaches for several days.

Senior marine wildlife officer Doug Coughran said it was rare for such an animal to be seen so close to Perth shores, and it could be due to illness.

"We will continue to monitor the situation, but we will not intervene unless it comes ashore," he said.

"Obviously we understand the curiosity beachgoers may have to get close to the animal, however we would like to remind the public that they should maintain a safe distance of 30m at all times in the water to ensure the whale's wellbeing is not compromised."

To report any sick or injured animals, call the Wildcare Helpline on 9474 9055.

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Whale swims close to Perth beaches

Migration of thousands of sharks closes Florida beaches

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FORT LAUDERDALE Thousands of migrating sharks swam close to South Florida beaches over the past few days, prompting beach closures and sending two people to the hospital with minor bites.

The beach at John D. MacArthur Beach State Park remained closed Monday after hundreds of sharks were sighted near swimming areas, many chasing fish "very close to shore," said Mara Burger, spokeswoman for the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. Gulf Stream Park's beach was closed and reopened three times on Sunday, as lifeguards ordered swimmers from the water at the sight of sharks.

Off Delray Beach on Saturday afternoon, Kurt Hoffman was dragging his arm in the water from his kite board when he suddenly felt pressure on his arm.

"It was less than a second," he said. "It was a hit and a release. It felt like a bear trap. I pulled myself in pretty much like a rocket. And I pulled my feet up because I didn't want to get bitten again. All I see is blood running down my arm. I yelled 'Shark bite! A shark bit me!'"

Hoffman, whose company The Kite Doctor repairs damaged kiteboarding kites, suffered 15 to 18 puncture wounds across a seven-inch span. At St. Mary's Medical Center in West Palm Beach, he was given antibiotics, in addition to treatment for his wound, because sharks' mouths team with bacteria.

On Friday, a 9-year-old boy on a surfboard or boogie board was bitten on his foot and ankle, said Lt. Anthony Giarrusso, of North Palm Beach Fire Rescue. He was taken to St. Mary's for treatment.

Every spring, a huge number of blacktip and spinner sharks migrate from their winter homes off Broward and Palm Beach counties north, with many going as far as the Carolinas.

"These two bites sound very much like what you'd expect around this time in South Florida," said Stephen Kajiura, associate professor of biology at Florida Atlantic University, who gathers data on the migration by air on flights between the Boca and Jupiter inlets. "We have large numbers of sharks that are migrating through here."

Blacktips and spinners reach a maximum length of six feet, not large enough to see a human being as prey. When they bite someone, Kajiura said, it is typically a case of mistaken identity in murky water.

"If you see a flash in the water, a hand or a foot, it looks like a little fish," he said. "They're fish eaters, and they're going after all these little baitfish, it's not a surprise that we're seeing this this time of year."

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Migration of thousands of sharks closes Florida beaches

CEdR/academic TV- Prof. Ian Dell Antonio-2. Astronomy, Cosmology, International Science – Video

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CEdR/academic TV- Prof. Ian Dell Antonio-2. Astronomy, Cosmology, International Science
HD discussion with Brown University collaborator in Astrobiology course, and Cosmologist. Dr. Ian #39;s views on research improvement.

By: CEdRacademic: Culture Education Discussion Research Network

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CEdR/academic TV- Prof. Ian Dell Antonio-2. Astronomy, Cosmology, International Science - Video