WHAT'S NEW Friday, August 20, 2004

WHAT'S NEW   Robert L. Park   Friday, 20 Aug 04   Washington, 
DC
Paul Gresser contributed to this week's issue of What's New.

1. MISSILE DEFENSE: UNTESTED DEFENSE TRIUMPHS OVER PESSIMISM.
At a Boeing missile plant, President Bush warned anyone
thinking of threatening America and the free world with
nuclear missiles that if "You fire; we're going to shoot it
down."  It sounded like "make my day," but is the gun loaded? 
A day later, Defense Secretary Rumsfeld called deployment "a
triumph of home and vision over pessimism and skepticism." 
That sounds about right.

2. NUCLEAR TERROR: NEW BOOK SAYS U.S. CITIES ARE VULNERABLE.  
The Four Faces of Nuclear Terrorism asserts that terrorist
groups are now the only ones "seeking to rain nuclear
destruction on the United States."  Charles Ferguson and
William Potter, both at the Center for Nonproliferation
Studies in Washington, break the threat down as: 1) theft of
an intact nuclear weapon, 2) a bomb improvised from stolen
fissile material, 3) attack on a nuclear power plant, and
4)dispersal of radioactive material.  The first two are the
most horrific, but least likely; the other two scare the
bejesus out of people, but are unlikely to result in major
loss of life.  None involves the use of ballistic missiles. 

3. PROJECT STEVE: THE EVOLUTIONARY ADVANTAGE OF BEING "STEVE." 
In 2001, the Discovery Institute published ads listing names
of 100 "scientists" who doubted Darwinism.  The National
Center for Science Education parodied the ads by collecting
signatures just of scientists named "Steve" on a statement
endorsing evolution.  "Steve" was chosen to honor the late
Stephen J. Gould, a renowned evolutionary biologist.  The 440
"Steves" are co-authors of a paper in the Annals of Improbable
Research, and can note on their resumes that they co-authored
a paper with Stephen Hawking and Nobel laureates Steve
Weinberg and Steve Chu.

4. CHURCH AND STATE: RELIGIOUS COALITION ENDORSES GEORGE W.
BUSH.
The National Faith-Based Initiative Coalition, "religious
leaders of the African-American faith-based community" backed
George W. Bush for president today.  They praised Bush for
making it clear "what the American family should look like." 
They said Democrats no longer cared about blacks, and that it
was time for them to choose a new political affiliation.  When
What's New asked what they thought about separation of Church
and State, the Coalition explained that it was okay to lobby
for federal funding of religious groups, so long as they did
so as individuals.      

5. SUPERSTITION: CHURCH DENIES SALVATION TO THE DIET-
CHALLENGED.
The Catholic Church denied 8-year-old Haley Waldman Holy
Communion.  Her sin?  A rare disorder involving a severe
reaction to gluten.  Catholic doctrine says communion wafers
must be made of wheat, like in the Last Supper.  The Diocese
of Trenton refuses to make an exception for Haley, who
believes a rice-based communion should be sufficient. 
According to Catholic doctrine, the communion host becomes
Atkins-friendly human flesh after the priest blesses it, so
what's the problem?

THE UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND.  
Opinions are the author's and not necessarily shared by the
University of Maryland, but they should be.
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