Modern biochemical analysis supports verse 19, in that through these three sons of Noah was the whole earth populated.

Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) indicates that all women have descended from a single woman, called mitochondrial Eve.  This does not prove that she was the only woman alive at the time, but is consistent with it.  High mutation rates indicate that this ancestor lived at about the time of the Biblical Eve as well. 

[Carl Wieland, "Mitochondrial Eve and Biblical Eve are looking good:  criticism of young age is premature" TJ 19(1)  2005, p. 57

This video is of Professor of mathematics, John Heffner, on the statistical evidence for the current world population.

20 And Noah began to be an husbandman, and he planted a vineyard: 21 And he drank of the wine, and was drunken; and he was uncovered within his tent. 22 And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brethren without. 23 And Shem and Japheth took a garment, and laid it upon both their shoulders, and went backward, and covered the nakedness of their father; and their faces were backward, and they saw not their father’s nakedness.

• This is the first alcohol  that was ever made.  Before the flood – fermentation was impossible.
• John Chrysostom, a church father, writes that Noah’s behavior is defensible: as the first human to taste wine, he would not know its aftereffects: “Through ignorance and inexperience of the proper amount to drink, fell into a drunken stupor”. Wikipedia

Which brings us to verse 22.  Ham seeing “the nakedness of his father.”  A great deal has been written on just what that means.  My preferred method is to take the Scripture literally, and not put things in that aren’t there.  Also – the best way is to use Scripture,  to interpret Scripture.

We will take a short excursion into Leviticus, and see the Law.

7 The nakedness of thy father, or the nakedness of thy mother, shalt thou not uncover: she is thy mother; thou shalt not uncover her nakedness. 8 The nakedness of thy father’s wife shalt thou not uncover: it is thy father’s nakedness.  Leviticus 18:7-8

Leviticus 18:8, specifically states that uncovering the father’s wife’s nakedness – is equivalent to uncovering the father’s nakedness. Back to Genesis:

24 And Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger son had done unto him. 25 And he said,

Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren. 26 And he said, Blessed be the Lord God of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant. 27 God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant.

Why was the curse on Ham’s youngest son? 

1. The prevailing theory is that Ham simply saw his father’s nakedness.  But that does not explain why the curse was on the youngest son, Canaan.
2. Some like to postulate that Ham committed great immorality, by the act of sodomy on his father.   Scripture does not support this.

Here goes my take on this – supported by Leviticus 18.

Ham committed incest with his mother – and produced the cursed son – Canaan. I’m sure many will object to that idea, but Holy Scripture completely supports it.  Please fire your best shots!!

8 And Noah lived after the flood three hundred and fifty years. 29 And all the days of Noah were nine hundred and fifty years: and he died.

Genesis 9: 18-29

Many evil people have misappropriated Genesis 9: 26-27,  to justify the enslavement of black people  throughout the centuries.  It is still going on today in Africa, the Middle East, and in some cases – even here.

24 God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that He is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands;

25 Neither is worshipped with men’s hands, as though He needed any thing, seeing He giveth to all life, and breath, and all things;

26 And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation;

27 That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after Him, and find Him, though He be not far from every one of us:  Acts 17: 24-27

sage

Sheldon Adelson in 2010

Worth an estimated $21.5 billion, 78-year-old Adelson is the 8th richest man in America and has almost single-handedly financed Gingrich’s second campaign surge. So far, Mr. Moneybags has given $10 million to Newt’s campaign and has promised $20 million more will be forthcoming. Adelson’s large donations have allowed Gingrich supporters to buy TV ads in key states, helping Newt to defeat Mitt Romney in the South Carolina Republican primary.

Adelson is the founder and CEO of Las Vegas Sands Corp., which owns the Sands Macau casino and hotel on the island of Macau, China — the largest gambling mecca in the world. But now he is under federal investigation after a lawsuit claims he has ties to Chinese organized crime.

Sands Macau

Michael Zennie reports for the UK’s Daily Mail, Jan. 29, 2012, that the Department of Justice and SEC are investigating whether Las Vegas Sands violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act that prohibits bribing foreign officials.

The investigation stems from a lawsuit filed in October 2010 by a former executive at the Sands Macau in China. Steven C. Jacobs claims he was told to keep quiet about investigations of local officials and the possible presence in the casino of Chinese organized crime syndicate The Triads.

Jacobs, who ran the resort, says in his lawsuit that he was wrongly fired from the company after he objected to allegedly illegal actions that he was asked to perform. Among them: Jacobs claims Adelson wanted him to hire a Chinese lawyer to dig up “negative information” on local Macau officials that the company could use as leverage.

Jacobs says he also disagreed with Adelson over increasing the casino’s use of junkets — trips to Macau by groups of high-rolling gamblers organized by third-party groups.

Some junkets in Macau have been organized by members of Chinese organized crime syndicates. Reuters reported in 2010 that alleged Triad crime boss Cheung Chi-tai, who was connected with a junket to the Sands Macau, was running one of the VIP rooms at the casino, according to witnesses.  That information came out at a trial of four men convicted of breaking a Sands dealer’s arms and legs, allegedly on Cheung’s orders.

In his lawsuit, Jacobs says Adelson ordered him to keep Cheung’s name and any information about possible Triad involvement secret from the casino’s board of directors.

The Las Vegas Sands Corp. has strenuously denied Jacobs’ claims and says he was fired for striking unauthorized deals and violating company policy.

Sheldon Adelson, who founded and runs Las Vegas Sands Corp — one of the largest casino and resort companies in the world — has denied the allegations in the lawsuit and said the company is cooperating with federal investigators. At a public forum last year, Adelson said the investigation is “not a serious matter” and that “When the smoke clears, I am 1,000 percent positive that there won’t be any fire below it.”

~Eowyn

Philly.com: The three-year-old daughter of Republican presidential hopeful Rick Santorum has been admitted to Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) and the candidate has cancelled his Sunday morning campaign events to be at her side.

Santorum campaign spokesman Hogan Gidley said Saturday night that the former Pennsylvania senator and his wife, Karen, were with Bella at CHOP. Gidley said Santorum planned to return to campaigning as soon as possible in Florida, where the Republican primary is Tuesday.

Bella Santorum has Trisomy 18 (also known as Edwards Syndrome), a genetic condition caused by the presence of all or part of an extra 18th chromosome. Bella was not expected to survive until her first birthday and concerns over her health have canceled previous Santorum campaign events.

Santorum had been scheduled to appear on NBC’s “Meet the Press” and to attend church in Miami. He was in the Philadelphia area as recently as Friday night to attend a campaign fundraiser in Chester County.

Prayers for little Bella, hope she gets well very soon!

DCG

H/T Charlotte Iserbyt    www.deliberatedumbingdown.com

~LTG

This past Thursday, January 26, 2012, an administrative law judge in Atlanta conducted a hearing into whether Barack Obama, a sitting President of the United States of America who’s seeking reelection, should be allowed to have his name be placed on the electoral ballot of the state of Georgia.

But the defendant, Obama, and his attorney Michael Jablonski failed to appear in court, and so forfeited their defense. All of which means that Deputy Chief Judge Michael Malihi can simply make a default judgment in favor of the plaintiffs.

I received an email that claims five more states are joining Georgia in demanding that Obama produce proof of his constitutional eligibility as a Natural Born Citizen, in order that his name be placed on the states’ primary election ballots.

After going to the URL sources listed in the email, I can only find confirmation for one state, instead of five. That state is Alabama.

An article published on Liberty News Online, Jan. 7, 2012, claims that an Alabama court has announced that it will hear arguments as to whether Obama is in fact eligible to appear on the state’s presidential primary ballot.

Several Alabama citizens have filed a lawsuit within the Alabama Circuit Court to “prevent certification of President Barack Obama for 2012 Alabama ballot access pending final hearing based on factual evidentiary hearings.”

By agreeing to hear the case, the Alabama Courts have effectively stalled any efforts by the Democratic Party to place Obama on the ballot.

At the same time, the Alabama court also is recognizing that ordinary Alabama citizens do in fact have legal standing to question and challenge Obama’s eligibility. In the past, judge after judge have ruled that ordinary citizens did not have standing, i.e., that they were not sufficiently harmed by the actions of the defendant and therefore had no legal right to bring their cases before the courts.

Despite this Liberty News article, however, I cannot find the Alabama judge’s name, the location of the Alabama court that allegedly will have a hearing, nor can I find the names of the plaintiffs and the names of the attorney(s).

If you have better information, please leave a comment!

Meanwhile, Capt. Pamela Barnett (Ret.) has founded a website and initiative that provide assistance to citizens who wish to challenge Obama’s constitutional eligibility and name placement on the 2012 presidential ballot.  She and her team are currently compiling election law from all 50 states and will be providing forms and sample letters which registered voters can use to file a complaint. [Source: Sharon Rondeau, The Post & Email]

H/t beloved Tina.

~Eowyn

If this picture scares you, you need to grow thicker skin!

Starbucks’ “Pro-Gun” Policy Prompts Gun Victims’ Advocate Group to Launch Nationwide Boycott on Valentine’s Day 2012

PR Newswire: A nationwide boycott of Starbucks stores and its products will be launched on Valentine’s Day 2012. Its goal is to eliminate the risk of guns in public places and ultimately to bring sane gun laws to the U.S.

This boycott is being called by the National Gun Victim’s Action Council (NGAC), a network of 14 million gun victims, the faith community including the: Episcopal Peace Fellowship, United Church of Christ, Fellowship of Reconciliation , secular groups working to reduce gun violence and many of the organizations that support passing sane gun laws.

WHY STARBUCKS?  Currently, Starbucks allows guns and assault weapons to be openly carried in its stores (in 43 states) and concealed and carried in its stores (in 49 states). Starbucks’ compliance with the National Rifle Association’s Pro-Gun Agenda was exposed in 2010 when members of the “open carry” movement began meeting in popular chains, such as California Pizza Kitchen, Peets, IKEA, Disney and Starbucks openly carrying their handguns and assault rifles.

To protect their customers and employees, all of the retail chains—except for Starbucks— banned guns from being carried in their stores.

“Starbucks allowing guns to be carried in thousands of their stores significantly increases everyone’s risk of being a victim of gun violence,” says Elliot Fineman, CEO of the NGAC. “Open and conceal and carry are among the reasons there are 12,000 gun homicides each year in the U.S.  If we had England’s gun laws we would expect 375 gun homicides each year—97% less than we have. England’s gun laws are based on protecting public safety, ours on maximizing sales for the gun industry.”  (No link provided for these statistics.)

Starbucks has the legal right to ban guns (which also means they have the legal right not to) but despite having been petitioned by thousands, asked at a shareholder meeting, and a direct appeal made to their Board, Starbucks clings to this policy that puts millions of Americans at risk every day and encourages the spread of guns being carried in public.

According to NGAC, the boycott will end when Starbucks rejects the NRA’s Pro-Gun agenda by banning all guns from their stores and committing to be an Aggressive Corporate Advocate for sane gun laws.

Apparently this organization has a problem with the Second Amendment!

I really wish they would have provided a link to the statistics they cite about gun deaths.  Instead, they issue a press release with inflammatory words, “sane gun laws”, “pro-gun agenda”, “spread of guns being carried”, “at risk every day”, blah, blah, blah.  Like a criminal is going to follow the rules of the law anyway.

Never have I felt more safe when I’m in eastern Washington and see plenty of people carrying.  A criminal will most likely think twice about robbing a store or a person if they see multiple guns being carried by people in public, on a holster.  And that’s what I call sane and your right under the Second Amendment.

DCG

Notable author Charles Murray has a new book out, Coming Apart: The State of White America, 1960-2010.

In the book, Murray says there’s an unprecedented and troubling cultural separation in Amerca — between not just rich and poor but between upper-middle class and working class. Americans are living separate lives, defined by increasingly distinct core values and practices.

To promote the book, his publisher AEI has put together an interesting and amusing quiz to measure “How thick is your bubble?”– that is, how insulated you are from how most Americans live.

Take the quiz! Click here.

I scored 12. Here’s my certificate, LOL:

This is what my score of 12 means:

“On a scale from 0 to 20 points, where 20 signifies full engagement with mainstream American culture and 0 signifies deep cultural isolation within the new upper class bubble, you scored between 13 and 16. In other words, you don’t even have a bubble.”

I think my “12″ score has something to do with the fact that, despite my Ph.D. degree and full professorship, I’m an immigrant (legal) who grew up in poverty and worked my way through my first 4 years of college with menial jobs that included dishwasher, graveyard-shift waitress, shoe-salesgirl, A&W fast food worker, deep-frying artichokes, and selling Fullerbrush and Avon door to door.

I have a feeling effete Liberals or Progressives will score lower on this Bubble Quiz than Conservatives. It’d be interesting to see how Fellowship of the Minds’ readers do on this quiz.

National Review’s David French scored “17″ on the quiz. I support his endorsement of Charles Murray’s call for successful Americans to leave the bubble and to consciously engage across the entire spectrum of American society.

To take the Bubble Quiz, click here!!!

H/t Bob Russell. 

~Eowyn

h/t Nevada Journal

DCG

PRESBYTERIAN:

When you rearrange the letters:

BEST IN PRAYER

ASTRONOMER:

When you rearrange the letters:

MOON STARER

DESPERATION:

When you rearrange the letters:

A ROPE ENDS IT

THE EYES:

When you rearrange the letters:

THEY SEE

GEORGE BUSH:

When you rearrange the letters:

HE BUGS GORE

THE MORSE CODE:

When you rearrange the letters:

HERE COME DOTS

DORMITORY:

When you rearrange the letters:

DIRTY ROOM

SLOT MACHINES:

When you rearrange the letters:

CASH LOST IN ME

ANIMOSITY:

When you rearrange the letters:

IS NO AMITY

ELECTION RESULTS:

When you rearrange the letters:

LIES – LET’S RECOUNT

SNOOZE ALARMS:

When you rearrange the letters:

ALAS! NO MORE Z ‘S

A DECIMAL POINT :

When you rearrange the letters:

I’M A DOT IN PLACE

THE EARTHQUAKES:

When you rearrange the letters:

THAT QUEER SHAKE

ELEVEN PLUS TWO:

When you rearrange the letters:

TWELVE PLUS ONE

MOTHER-IN-LAW:

When you rearrange the letters:

WOMAN HITLER

AND FINALLY~!

FOR THE GRAND FINALE:

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA

When you rearrange the letters:

STRUGGLING INCOMPETENT LIAR