The Bill of Rights contains the establishment clause. In the Constitution itself there is a strict prohibition against a religious test for public office:

"... but no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States." -- Article VI

That looks to me like an unambiguous statement about the relationship between church, or better, *religion* and state.

As for other ambiguities in the Constitution, the document was forged out of numerous compromises part of what the opposition saw as an illegal effort to nullify the Articles of Confideration. The document was made intentionally ambiguous so that opposing parties could read into it what they wanted and argue for their positions after its adoption. The original drafters just needed to get it signed because the Confederation was failing.

These same conservatives talk about upholding the Constitution and returning to the founders' intentions. The founders argued with one another more than modern Americans do, and the Constitution legitimates slavery and denies womens' suffrage.

Finally, the opening paragraph of the Constitution states the intent of the signers to ensure the "promotion of the general Welfare." That could very well be interested to support the intervention of government in public health.

Apologies for the asides, but people should read the damn document before they spill tears for it.

No joke. I mean, come on posters. leoboiko wants a book for the basics, not for programming microcontrollers.

Electronics for Dummies starts with the tools you need and minimal but practical math, introduces you to the basics like resistors and capacitors, discusses the circuit and reading a schematic, goes over soldering and then dips its toes in more advanced stuff like microcontrollers, robotics and even making your own breadboards. It tops it all of with project idea. It is a logical, clear progression and an excellent reference.

Funny, I'm in the same situation as you, a programmer who just got interested in electronics four days ago after being amazed at the maker faire in san mateo. I looked at a number of these books. Art of Electronics? The Navy Manuals? Go simpler.

You'll have a blast! Just a few chapters into the book I got an idea for a proximity sensor. I ran to the radio shack and picked up the parts then hacked together a circuit. It sends out infrared light and detects the reflection when your hand is near. The completed circuit triggers a transistor, allowing an led to light up in varying degrees as your hand moves closer and back.

Awesome! And that's only three days into this book.