The US Supreme Court has finally agreed to make a nationwide judgment on gay marriage. Until now, it has been left to States to decide, but this has led to lawsuits and controversy, notably in several States where a referendum was held and the majority were against it, but the ban was struck down by courts as being unconstitutional. However, some State courts decided that such bans were constitutional (and at least two of those where gay marriage was forced through by the courts are proposing legislation to exempt wedding-related businesses from providing services to gay marriages for reasons of conscience), and the disagreements have forced the Supreme Court to step in.
A man who spent 12 years in a “vegetative state” after being diagnosed with meningitis eventually recovered and has written a book explaining how he was aware of everything after about two years into his condition. His parents cared for him the whole time, turning him in bed every 2 hours so he wouldn’t get bedsores. However, the care home where he spent 8 hours each day used to place him in front of a TV watching re-runs of the same television show, which he now hates with a passion.
An official in the Hindu nationalist government of India has claimed that the government is going to introduce laws to punish “cow slaughter and conversion to other religions” by death. He also called on Hindu women to have at least four children to protect the dominance of Hinduism in India.
Around 60 Exclusive Brethren churches in the UK have gained charitable status following a decision by the Charity Commission. Charity law requires participation in the charity to be open to all, but Exclusive Brethren churches limit Holy Communion to church members only, and the legal case was about whether this process satisfied the participation requirement. A spokesman for the Christian Institute described it as a victory for religious freedom, saying that this decision confirms that the Charity Commission has no power to direct how a church administers Holy Communion.
A youth who wrote a book about visiting Heaven whilst in a coma when he was six years old has claimed that he made the story up. Alex Malarkey was in a car crash that left him paralysed; he now says that he concocted the story to get attention. In an open letter, he wrote, “[Those who sell the book] should read the Bible, which is enough. The Bible is the only source of truth. Anything written by man cannot be infallible.” Alex apparently receives no money from sales of the book, which was co-written with his father, who recently separated from Alex’s mother.
In technology news, the US and UK are to carry out a joint “war game” based on cyber attacks. In an echo of a Tom Clancy book, the scenario will be a cyber attack on the financial sector. The event will mark the first time MI5 has collaborated on cyber issues with security services from another country.
Also in technology news, travellers on one of the metro lines in Beijing are being offered free e-books, available by swiping a barcode. The first ten available are historical Chinese texts. A government official said, “I think we have found a great way to make traditional culture popular.”
And finally, the problem of invasive plants in certain parts of the USA is being tackled by a technology that is notable for being older than America itself. A company called Eco Goats will deliver a herd of goats to chomp on unwanted plants for a week. The goats are a big success because they can access steep and wooded areas; they do not damage the property as much as chemicals or machinery; and plant seeds rarely survive the grinding of goats’ teeth, so the plants do not regrow from droppings. And in the state of Georgia, goats and sheep are used to eat their way through kudzu, a vine introduced in 1876 as an ornamental plant but which is capable of growing a foot a day in the warm south-eastern states; a herd owner said he originally used goats alone, but found that the goats led all the mutinies within the herd.
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