MadPriest
SEX AND GOD AND ROCK AND ROLL
Its a mixed up muddled up shook up world
FREE YOUR MIND AND YOUR GOD WILL FOLLOW
Its a mixed up muddled up shook up world
FREE YOUR MIND AND YOUR GOD WILL FOLLOW
Updated: 14 min 47 sec ago
english (we like the pay and buildings) evangelicals refuse to be bounced by power grabbers
From THE CHURCH TIMES:
A meeting billed as the National Evangelical Anglican Consultation (NEAC5) ended in acrimony on Saturday, amid accusations of a hijack by hard-line (con)servatives and of bullying and manipulation by the chairman of the Church of England Evangelical Council (CEEC), the Revd Dr Richard Turnbull, Principal of Wycliffe Hall.
Delegates rebelled when they found on their chairs at the start of the afternoon session a resolution from the CEEC executive calling for NEAC to support the Global Angli can Future Conference (GAFCON) Jerusalem Declaration. There had been no mention of it in the morning session, and it was not on the agenda. An accompanying note said that no amendments would be allowed.
Rodney Curtis, a management consultant who worships at St Ebbe’s, Oxford, likened attending the meeting to “watching a car crash in slow motion”, as Dr Turnbull ignored advice from Dr Philip Giddings, the convener of Anglican Mainstream, and Canon Michael Saward to withdraw the resolution. “The management of the day was so amateur that I felt embarrassed,” he said. “We were being bounced into supporting GAFCON at the say-so of Richard Turnbull.”
He described Dr Turnbull as having been “publicly humiliated”, and GAFCON as having been made to look like “a bullying, manipulative movement”. A procedural motion brought by Philip Love grove, a veteran of the General Synod, called for a move to next business. That motion was carried by 123 votes to 104.
COMMENT: I don't think GAFCON were made to look like a "bullying, manipulative movement." I think that particular characteristic of this treacherous little band has been plain to see, by anyone who has eyes, since its formation.
Dicky Turncoat will be appearing in pantomime at the Oxford Apollo Theatre this year. He is playing the part of the ogre in "Jack And The Beanstalk." Not suitable for children and those of a nervous disposition.
A meeting billed as the National Evangelical Anglican Consultation (NEAC5) ended in acrimony on Saturday, amid accusations of a hijack by hard-line (con)servatives and of bullying and manipulation by the chairman of the Church of England Evangelical Council (CEEC), the Revd Dr Richard Turnbull, Principal of Wycliffe Hall.
Delegates rebelled when they found on their chairs at the start of the afternoon session a resolution from the CEEC executive calling for NEAC to support the Global Angli can Future Conference (GAFCON) Jerusalem Declaration. There had been no mention of it in the morning session, and it was not on the agenda. An accompanying note said that no amendments would be allowed.
Rodney Curtis, a management consultant who worships at St Ebbe’s, Oxford, likened attending the meeting to “watching a car crash in slow motion”, as Dr Turnbull ignored advice from Dr Philip Giddings, the convener of Anglican Mainstream, and Canon Michael Saward to withdraw the resolution. “The management of the day was so amateur that I felt embarrassed,” he said. “We were being bounced into supporting GAFCON at the say-so of Richard Turnbull.”
He described Dr Turnbull as having been “publicly humiliated”, and GAFCON as having been made to look like “a bullying, manipulative movement”. A procedural motion brought by Philip Love grove, a veteran of the General Synod, called for a move to next business. That motion was carried by 123 votes to 104.
COMMENT: I don't think GAFCON were made to look like a "bullying, manipulative movement." I think that particular characteristic of this treacherous little band has been plain to see, by anyone who has eyes, since its formation.
Dicky Turncoat will be appearing in pantomime at the Oxford Apollo Theatre this year. He is playing the part of the ogre in "Jack And The Beanstalk." Not suitable for children and those of a nervous disposition.
the dvant disco
This is a band that I used to go and
see in concert back in the early 80s
when jazz-dance in England was
going through a definite Latin phase.
So I was really pleased when I came
across this "best of" album the other
day. I was even more pleased when I
discovered that the music is as good
as I remember it being.
the friday debate
One of the jobs that would be right at the bottom of my career options list would be social work in England. The poor buggers exist in a permanent "no-win" situation. If a gang of crooks rob a bank, the police are not pilloried in all the major newspapers for failing to foresee the robbery. Yet, if some psycho goes off his rocker and murders his whole family it is usually the local social services who are to blame for not having prophesied the carnage. Social workers are mere mortals (mere underpaid, overworked mortals) and are not omniscient. I'm always misreading pastoral situations and I'm quite good at my job. I have every sympathy for my caring profession colleagues.
On English television, there is a long running series called "Question Time." Basically, a politician from each of the main parties, and a lay guest, are asked questions about current issues by members of a studio audience. The politicians use these questions as an opportunity to slag each other off.
One of the questions on last night's show concerned the case of a woman who had tortured her baby son to death. Evidently the social workers should have stopped it happening - but that is not what I am concerned with here.
When answering this question every member of the panel repeatedly made the statement that "the child must always come first." Of course, I understand their sentiments but there's something about the statement that, as a philosopher, I am uneasy with - although I can't quite put my finger on it.
As most of you will know, I am a great fan of Peter Singer and he has devised an argument for infanticide. As a Christian I cannot agree with his conclusion because I have the "Do not murder" prime directive. However, if I was an atheist I would have trouble in faulting his logic.
The main thrust of Singer's argument is based on Utilitarian concepts of greater happiness and this is a way of making ethical decisions that does not have any fixed absolutes as such. For Utilitarians it is difficult to accept a general rule such as "the child must always come first."
A few years back, on the evidence given by a renegade paediatrician, whole communities had their children removed from them. It turned out that there had been no abuse whatsoever. The damage done to the children, but more so the adults, was truly dreadful.
Anyway, what do you think?
On English television, there is a long running series called "Question Time." Basically, a politician from each of the main parties, and a lay guest, are asked questions about current issues by members of a studio audience. The politicians use these questions as an opportunity to slag each other off.
One of the questions on last night's show concerned the case of a woman who had tortured her baby son to death. Evidently the social workers should have stopped it happening - but that is not what I am concerned with here.
When answering this question every member of the panel repeatedly made the statement that "the child must always come first." Of course, I understand their sentiments but there's something about the statement that, as a philosopher, I am uneasy with - although I can't quite put my finger on it.
As most of you will know, I am a great fan of Peter Singer and he has devised an argument for infanticide. As a Christian I cannot agree with his conclusion because I have the "Do not murder" prime directive. However, if I was an atheist I would have trouble in faulting his logic.
The main thrust of Singer's argument is based on Utilitarian concepts of greater happiness and this is a way of making ethical decisions that does not have any fixed absolutes as such. For Utilitarians it is difficult to accept a general rule such as "the child must always come first."
A few years back, on the evidence given by a renegade paediatrician, whole communities had their children removed from them. It turned out that there had been no abuse whatsoever. The damage done to the children, but more so the adults, was truly dreadful.
Anyway, what do you think?
arkansas madness
I have received the following email from the Arkansas Hillbilly at HILLBILLY MUSINGS:
Mad Priest,
I’m hoping you can help me out here. My state did another asinine thing this past week and I was wondering if you could pass a message on to our Pagan friends who comment on your blog. Basically, a mother here in the buckle of the Bible Belt has lost custody of her kids because…. She’s a Wiccan. I detailed it on my site, but I wondered if anyone had connections to help this woman out.
Arkansas Hillbilly
Do pop over to his place and read all about this stupidity and while you're at it read our friend's previous post "Gentleness" which is about his late dog, Sam. It will make all the usual suspects cry - I guarantee that.
And, Mr Hillbilly, do us all a favour, mate. Get yourself a new puppy before we all throw ourselves off a bridge or something. Looking back is an important part of bereavement but so is moving forward. You will not be happy until you have another Great Pyreneese sitting on your lap and crushing your manhood. I know they're expensive, but it's only money. In fact, personally I'd sell the baby and buy the dog with what I got for him. But don't sell the wife - she's a bit cute.
Mad Priest,
I’m hoping you can help me out here. My state did another asinine thing this past week and I was wondering if you could pass a message on to our Pagan friends who comment on your blog. Basically, a mother here in the buckle of the Bible Belt has lost custody of her kids because…. She’s a Wiccan. I detailed it on my site, but I wondered if anyone had connections to help this woman out.
Arkansas Hillbilly
Do pop over to his place and read all about this stupidity and while you're at it read our friend's previous post "Gentleness" which is about his late dog, Sam. It will make all the usual suspects cry - I guarantee that.
And, Mr Hillbilly, do us all a favour, mate. Get yourself a new puppy before we all throw ourselves off a bridge or something. Looking back is an important part of bereavement but so is moving forward. You will not be happy until you have another Great Pyreneese sitting on your lap and crushing your manhood. I know they're expensive, but it's only money. In fact, personally I'd sell the baby and buy the dog with what I got for him. But don't sell the wife - she's a bit cute.
no rest for the eternally damned
From THE ASSOCIATED PRESS:
Researchers said Thursday they have identified the remains of Nicolaus Copernicus by comparing DNA from a skeleton and hair retrieved from one of the 16th-century astronomer's books. The findings could put an end to centuries of speculation about the exact resting spot of Copernicus, a priest and astronomer whose theories identified the Sun, not the Earth, as the center of the universe.
Polish archaeologist Jerzy Gassowski told a news conference that forensic facial reconstruction of the skull that his team found in 2005 buried in a Roman Catholic Cathedral in Frombork, Poland, bears striking resemblance to existing portraits of Copernicus.
The reconstruction shows a broken nose and other features that resemble a self-portrait of Copernicus, and the skull bears a cut mark above the left eye that corresponds with a scar shown in the painting. Moreover, the skull belonged to a man aged around 70 — Copernicus's age when he died in 1543. In addition, Swedish genetics expert Marie Allen found that DNA from a tooth and femur bone matched that taken from two hairs retrieved from a book that the 16th-century Polish astronomer owned, which is kept at a library of Sweden's Uppsala University where Allen works.
COMMENT: Coincidently, I was reading about old Copernicus this week.
A few years ago it was observed that some galaxies appeared to be moving away from us at a speed that could not be explained within our current cosmological models. So, scientists invented dark energy.
(Yes, they did invent it. It's only everybody else who have to have empirical evidence for their beliefs. Scientists are exempt from such things. See, also, EVOLUTION).
However, the complete lack of evidence for this mysterious dark energy is a little embarrassing and now, one extremely reputable scientist has come up with a theory that will explain the speeding galaxies without the need for any invisible anything. There are two requirements in his theory.
Firstly, the earth would have to be surrounded by an enormous void (a void in cosmological terms isn't completely empty but is comparatively void of matter). This contributes to a sort of optical illusion.
Secondly, the earth would have to be at the centre of the universe. This, of course, makes void all the calculations that have been based on the laws proposed by Copernicus. It would certainly muck up our present understanding of the Big Bang and the shape of the universe.
The scientist who came up with this theory admits that it is highly improbable. But, he adds, "We live in a highly improbable universe."
File under INTERESTING,
Researchers said Thursday they have identified the remains of Nicolaus Copernicus by comparing DNA from a skeleton and hair retrieved from one of the 16th-century astronomer's books. The findings could put an end to centuries of speculation about the exact resting spot of Copernicus, a priest and astronomer whose theories identified the Sun, not the Earth, as the center of the universe.
Polish archaeologist Jerzy Gassowski told a news conference that forensic facial reconstruction of the skull that his team found in 2005 buried in a Roman Catholic Cathedral in Frombork, Poland, bears striking resemblance to existing portraits of Copernicus.
The reconstruction shows a broken nose and other features that resemble a self-portrait of Copernicus, and the skull bears a cut mark above the left eye that corresponds with a scar shown in the painting. Moreover, the skull belonged to a man aged around 70 — Copernicus's age when he died in 1543. In addition, Swedish genetics expert Marie Allen found that DNA from a tooth and femur bone matched that taken from two hairs retrieved from a book that the 16th-century Polish astronomer owned, which is kept at a library of Sweden's Uppsala University where Allen works.
COMMENT: Coincidently, I was reading about old Copernicus this week.
A few years ago it was observed that some galaxies appeared to be moving away from us at a speed that could not be explained within our current cosmological models. So, scientists invented dark energy.
(Yes, they did invent it. It's only everybody else who have to have empirical evidence for their beliefs. Scientists are exempt from such things. See, also, EVOLUTION).
However, the complete lack of evidence for this mysterious dark energy is a little embarrassing and now, one extremely reputable scientist has come up with a theory that will explain the speeding galaxies without the need for any invisible anything. There are two requirements in his theory.
Firstly, the earth would have to be surrounded by an enormous void (a void in cosmological terms isn't completely empty but is comparatively void of matter). This contributes to a sort of optical illusion.
Secondly, the earth would have to be at the centre of the universe. This, of course, makes void all the calculations that have been based on the laws proposed by Copernicus. It would certainly muck up our present understanding of the Big Bang and the shape of the universe.
The scientist who came up with this theory admits that it is highly improbable. But, he adds, "We live in a highly improbable universe."
File under INTERESTING,
TEH MORMONS ARE REALLYSTUFFED THIS TIME
Devious genius, RfrancisR, at THE DAILY KOS, has come up with a plan that is going to bring the Mormons to their knees. Or, rather, it's going to bring their ancestors to their knees and what a blow that will be for them.
The scheme will work better with lots of helping hands. So pop over and get praying.
Thanks to Dennis for sending this one in.
The scheme will work better with lots of helping hands. So pop over and get praying.
Thanks to Dennis for sending this one in.
teh gays are really stuffed this time
Yes. I don't see how the gays can win in California now that the Big Guy has filed against them.
Full details of this amazing new development can be found at PAM'S HOUSE BLEND.
Thanks to Leigh for sending this in.
Full details of this amazing new development can be found at PAM'S HOUSE BLEND.
Thanks to Leigh for sending this in.
going for a sit
From EKKLESIA:
Great Britain’s top toilet habit is reading, with more than 14 million people choosing to look at books, magazines and newspapers to pass the time while they are on the porcelain throne, according to a survey published to mark World Toilet Day. The research, commissioned by aid agency Tearfund, reveals that more than eight million people talk while they are on the loo – either on the phone or to their family – and one in five adults send text messages.
The “Toilet Habit” survey also shows that more than five million people think about food – with Londoners topping the table – and that men are more likely to look for a distraction when on the toilet than women.
COMMENT: Over a period of seven days, each week, I manage to read "New Scientist" from cover to cover. Also I quite often listen to some tunes on my iPod at the same time. But talking to somebody whilst having a crap? How gross!!! Surely the person on the other end can hear the plops and farts. If people in England have really started talking on the phone when relieving themselves then my country is not my country anymore.
Great Britain’s top toilet habit is reading, with more than 14 million people choosing to look at books, magazines and newspapers to pass the time while they are on the porcelain throne, according to a survey published to mark World Toilet Day. The research, commissioned by aid agency Tearfund, reveals that more than eight million people talk while they are on the loo – either on the phone or to their family – and one in five adults send text messages.
The “Toilet Habit” survey also shows that more than five million people think about food – with Londoners topping the table – and that men are more likely to look for a distraction when on the toilet than women.
COMMENT: Over a period of seven days, each week, I manage to read "New Scientist" from cover to cover. Also I quite often listen to some tunes on my iPod at the same time. But talking to somebody whilst having a crap? How gross!!! Surely the person on the other end can hear the plops and farts. If people in England have really started talking on the phone when relieving themselves then my country is not my country anymore.
cute but stupid
From THE TELEGRAPH:
A group of seven Amish farmers in Michigan say the state's insistence that they use radio frequency ID devices on their animals "constitutes some form of a 'mark of the Beast' and/or represents an infringement of their 'dominion over cattle and all living things' in violation of their fundamental religious beliefs," according to their lawsuit. Some Amish, who have a booming business in producing organic milk, disagree with radio ID tagging so strongly that they said they will give up farming if they do not get an exemption.
The livestock registration is intended to create a national tracking system to help contain outbreaks of diseases such as mad cow disease, or foot and mouth.
COMMENT: A similar scheme to keep tabs on religious nutters might be a good idea.
Thanks to Stephen for sending this one in.
A group of seven Amish farmers in Michigan say the state's insistence that they use radio frequency ID devices on their animals "constitutes some form of a 'mark of the Beast' and/or represents an infringement of their 'dominion over cattle and all living things' in violation of their fundamental religious beliefs," according to their lawsuit. Some Amish, who have a booming business in producing organic milk, disagree with radio ID tagging so strongly that they said they will give up farming if they do not get an exemption.
The livestock registration is intended to create a national tracking system to help contain outbreaks of diseases such as mad cow disease, or foot and mouth.
COMMENT: A similar scheme to keep tabs on religious nutters might be a good idea.
Thanks to Stephen for sending this one in.
don't forget to have your cardstamped on the way out
Saying that Confirmation has practically become a "Sacrament of Farewell", Bunbury Bishop Gerard Holohan has called for a radical reconsideration of the age and practice relating to its conferral. The Bishop contrasted the gap between the practice of today and the pastoral practice of the early Church.
"Most Confirmation candidates today are the children of parents who have little if anything to do with the Christian community. The early Church conferred the Sacraments of Initiation on the children within families in which they were receiving, and would continue to receive, initiatory catechesis. The current practice of confirming children from families incapable of giving the necessary catechesis would not have been allowed in the early Church. Sacraments were seen as sacraments of faith, and would not have been conferred outside a faith context," the diocesan statement said.
Bishop Holohan noted that today, instead of catechesis, "we make do with religious education".
COMMENT: One of the reasons why the Church of England is dying is that we now have, at least, one adult generation with no experience of church. Such people are completely oblivious to the normality of Anglican worship and belief. Their view of Christianity is informed by the abnormal and perverse practices of Evangelical churches, who are pretty good at evangelising the abnormal and perverse but useless at reaching normal people. This means that the number of normal young people who attend normal Anglican churches is getting less and less. When the grandparents, who bring them, die out there will be no more ordinary Christian kids in the Church of England. This will mean that the only young people going forward for ordination will be the brainwashed youth of Biblical literalists and the Anglican church in my country will become just another cult despised by anyone with two brain cells to rub together.
"Most Confirmation candidates today are the children of parents who have little if anything to do with the Christian community. The early Church conferred the Sacraments of Initiation on the children within families in which they were receiving, and would continue to receive, initiatory catechesis. The current practice of confirming children from families incapable of giving the necessary catechesis would not have been allowed in the early Church. Sacraments were seen as sacraments of faith, and would not have been conferred outside a faith context," the diocesan statement said.
Bishop Holohan noted that today, instead of catechesis, "we make do with religious education".
COMMENT: One of the reasons why the Church of England is dying is that we now have, at least, one adult generation with no experience of church. Such people are completely oblivious to the normality of Anglican worship and belief. Their view of Christianity is informed by the abnormal and perverse practices of Evangelical churches, who are pretty good at evangelising the abnormal and perverse but useless at reaching normal people. This means that the number of normal young people who attend normal Anglican churches is getting less and less. When the grandparents, who bring them, die out there will be no more ordinary Christian kids in the Church of England. This will mean that the only young people going forward for ordination will be the brainwashed youth of Biblical literalists and the Anglican church in my country will become just another cult despised by anyone with two brain cells to rub together.
focus on hatred leads to redundancies
From THE COLORADO INDEPENDENT:
Focus on the Family announced on Tuesday that 202 jobs will be cut companywide — an estimated 20 percent of its workforce. The cutbacks come just weeks after the group pumped more than half a million dollars into the successful effort to pass a gay-marriage ban in California.
Critics are holding up the layoffs, which come just two months after the organization’s last round of dismissals, as a sad commentary on the true priorities of the ministry.
“If I were their membership I would be appalled,” said Mark Lewis, a longtime Colorado Springs activist who helped organize a Proposition 8 protest in Colorado Springs on Saturday. “That [Focus on the Family] would spend any money on anything that’s obviously going to get blocked in the courts is just sad. [Prop. 8] is guaranteed to lose, in the long run it doesn’t have a chance — it’s just a waste of money.”
In all, Focus pumped $539,000 in cash and another $83,000 worth of non-monetary support into the measure to overturn a California Supreme Court ruling that allowed gays and lesbians to marry in that state. The group was the seventh-largest donor to the effort in the country. The cash contributions are equal to the salaries of 19 Coloradans earning the 2008 per capita income of $29,133.
In addition Elsa Prince, the auto parts heiress and longtime funder of conservative social causes who sits on the Focus on the Family board, contributed another $450,000 to Prop. 8.
“They should do more with their half-million dollars than spending it to collect signatures to take the rights away from a class of people,” said Fred Karger, the founder of Californians Against Hate. “I think it’s wrong and it’s hurtful to so many Americans.”
Thanks to Graham for sending this in.
Focus on the Family announced on Tuesday that 202 jobs will be cut companywide — an estimated 20 percent of its workforce. The cutbacks come just weeks after the group pumped more than half a million dollars into the successful effort to pass a gay-marriage ban in California.
Critics are holding up the layoffs, which come just two months after the organization’s last round of dismissals, as a sad commentary on the true priorities of the ministry.
“If I were their membership I would be appalled,” said Mark Lewis, a longtime Colorado Springs activist who helped organize a Proposition 8 protest in Colorado Springs on Saturday. “That [Focus on the Family] would spend any money on anything that’s obviously going to get blocked in the courts is just sad. [Prop. 8] is guaranteed to lose, in the long run it doesn’t have a chance — it’s just a waste of money.”
In all, Focus pumped $539,000 in cash and another $83,000 worth of non-monetary support into the measure to overturn a California Supreme Court ruling that allowed gays and lesbians to marry in that state. The group was the seventh-largest donor to the effort in the country. The cash contributions are equal to the salaries of 19 Coloradans earning the 2008 per capita income of $29,133.
In addition Elsa Prince, the auto parts heiress and longtime funder of conservative social causes who sits on the Focus on the Family board, contributed another $450,000 to Prop. 8.
“They should do more with their half-million dollars than spending it to collect signatures to take the rights away from a class of people,” said Fred Karger, the founder of Californians Against Hate. “I think it’s wrong and it’s hurtful to so many Americans.”
Thanks to Graham for sending this in.
listen up, you lot!
OCICBW... is an emergent blog. In other words the general direction it takes, at any time, is dictated by the community. I put up various posts and you make it obvious, through your response, which topics are of interest to you.
I have to find a balance between protecting you from abuse and respecting your commitment to freedom of speech. Do bear in mind that it is our own people (including myself) who are usually responsible for comments that, perhaps, should not have been said. Therefore, my policy is to only delete really nasty comments and stuff that might be illegal. I realise that this leaves us open to be used by people with obsessions that are not conducive to the general ethos of this blog. BUT you are adults and intelligent adults at that. You are quite capable of not responding to the bait when it is set before you. If you feel you must, I am not going to stop you, but don't complain afterwards that you have been hurt.
Oh, and don't forget, you are not alone. The way you respond to antagonists may not cause you sleepless nights but it can hurt your friends here. So think before you comment and remember always the first and greatest commandment -
DO NOT FEED THE TROLLS.
I have to find a balance between protecting you from abuse and respecting your commitment to freedom of speech. Do bear in mind that it is our own people (including myself) who are usually responsible for comments that, perhaps, should not have been said. Therefore, my policy is to only delete really nasty comments and stuff that might be illegal. I realise that this leaves us open to be used by people with obsessions that are not conducive to the general ethos of this blog. BUT you are adults and intelligent adults at that. You are quite capable of not responding to the bait when it is set before you. If you feel you must, I am not going to stop you, but don't complain afterwards that you have been hurt.
Oh, and don't forget, you are not alone. The way you respond to antagonists may not cause you sleepless nights but it can hurt your friends here. So think before you comment and remember always the first and greatest commandment -
DO NOT FEED THE TROLLS.
outsourcing to a land of hatred
BANGALORE, India -- Even with the white horse rented, his gold-speckled turban fitted and the wedding hall lined up, Mahesh did not feel ready to get married, at least not to a woman.
The shy computer engineer is gay.
But Mahesh went ahead with the elaborate ceremony in May because someone he had befriended online blackmailed him -- threatening to tell his parents unless he paid $5,500.
Severely depressed and suffering from insomnia, Mahesh recently swallowed a dozen painkillers. He survived. But his blackmailer heard he was in the hospital and demanded more cash to keep his secret.
Three months later, Mahesh says he is broke and taking several antidepressants. He is still married.
"I really don't want to die. But I also don't want to keep lying," said the 24-year-old, who spoke from a counseling center and asked to be called by his first name. "I feel so trapped. According to the law, my blackmailer can report me and have me arrested."
That's because homosexuality is illegal in the world's biggest democracy. The Indian penal code describes the act as "against the order of nature" and declares it punishable by 10 years to life in prison, longer than most rape or murder sentences.
For details of how gay people in India are beginning to come together to campaign for their human rights go to THE WASHINGTON POST.
COMMENT: Countries like India and China are determined to become major players in the world market place. They seem also determined to remain in the Middle Ages when it comes to human rights. Capitalists don't care tuppence for this, of course. But they would start to care if the suckers they sell to (that's us, by the way) showed our disapproval of oppressive governments through our spending choices. So, next time a person rings you up from some call centre in India to flog you something or ask where your payment for the month is, tell them you won't speak to them until their government decriminalises same sex love in their beautiful country. And yes it is their fault. India is a democracy - they have no excuse for such evil, unenlightened laws.
The shy computer engineer is gay.
But Mahesh went ahead with the elaborate ceremony in May because someone he had befriended online blackmailed him -- threatening to tell his parents unless he paid $5,500.
Severely depressed and suffering from insomnia, Mahesh recently swallowed a dozen painkillers. He survived. But his blackmailer heard he was in the hospital and demanded more cash to keep his secret.
Three months later, Mahesh says he is broke and taking several antidepressants. He is still married.
"I really don't want to die. But I also don't want to keep lying," said the 24-year-old, who spoke from a counseling center and asked to be called by his first name. "I feel so trapped. According to the law, my blackmailer can report me and have me arrested."
That's because homosexuality is illegal in the world's biggest democracy. The Indian penal code describes the act as "against the order of nature" and declares it punishable by 10 years to life in prison, longer than most rape or murder sentences.
For details of how gay people in India are beginning to come together to campaign for their human rights go to THE WASHINGTON POST.
COMMENT: Countries like India and China are determined to become major players in the world market place. They seem also determined to remain in the Middle Ages when it comes to human rights. Capitalists don't care tuppence for this, of course. But they would start to care if the suckers they sell to (that's us, by the way) showed our disapproval of oppressive governments through our spending choices. So, next time a person rings you up from some call centre in India to flog you something or ask where your payment for the month is, tell them you won't speak to them until their government decriminalises same sex love in their beautiful country. And yes it is their fault. India is a democracy - they have no excuse for such evil, unenlightened laws.
666 reasons why americansshould not be in charge
On Nov. 5, Todd Strandberg was at his desk, fielding E-mails from around the world. As the editor and founder of RaptureReady.com, his job is to track current events and link them to biblical prophecy in hopes of maintaining his status as "the eBay of prophecy," the best source online for predictions and calculations concerning the end of the world. Already Barack Obama had drawn the attention of apocalypse watchers after an anonymous e-mail circulated among conservative Christians in October implying that he was the Antichrist. Former "Saturday Night Live" ingénue Victoria Jackson fueled the fire when, according to news reports, she wrote on her Web site that Obama "bears traits that resemble the anti-Christ." Now Strandberg was receiving up-to-the-minute news from his constituents in Illinois. One of the winning lottery numbers in the president-elect's home state was 666— which, as everyone knows, is the sign of the Beast (also known as the Antichrist). "It is very eerie, and I take it for a sign as to who he really is," wrote one of Strandberg's correspondents.
Full story at NEWSWEEK:
Full story at NEWSWEEK:
fred goes silverton
From KATU.COM:
The Westboro Baptist Church from Kansas plans to protest in Silverton next week after the town elected the nation's first openly transgender mayor. Silverton's mayor-elect, Stu Rasmussen, said the protest is ironic considering he is not gay – he's been together with his live-in girlfriend for nearly 35 years.
Rasmussen has been a fixture in Silverton politics for more than 20 years and has twice served as its mayor – but that was before his transformation. Now he identifies as a male even though he has breast implants and dresses like a woman.
Rasmussen expects the church from Topeka to protest for about an hour next Monday, adding that the residents of Silverton will show them the city's usual hospitality and wait for them to leave.
"It's been controversial everywhere except Silverton, Oregon," Rasmussen said of his notoriety. "If you're here it's 'Yep, there's Stu' because it's been a gradual change and a known quantity."
COMMENT: I've read and viewed stuff on Stu and his "live-in girlfriend" before and, to be honest, its Fred and his little gang of low-ranking demons that should watch themselves in Silverton. These are two tough cookies who have won the respect of their fellow townspeople. If you've got the balls to come out as a transvestite in Oregon you ain't going to be intimidated by a bunch of jerks from Kansas. Stu is more of a man than the decrepit Fred Phelps has ever been and more of a woman then Fred has ever dreamt up in the privacy of his own bathroom.
The Westboro Baptist Church from Kansas plans to protest in Silverton next week after the town elected the nation's first openly transgender mayor. Silverton's mayor-elect, Stu Rasmussen, said the protest is ironic considering he is not gay – he's been together with his live-in girlfriend for nearly 35 years.
Rasmussen has been a fixture in Silverton politics for more than 20 years and has twice served as its mayor – but that was before his transformation. Now he identifies as a male even though he has breast implants and dresses like a woman.
Rasmussen expects the church from Topeka to protest for about an hour next Monday, adding that the residents of Silverton will show them the city's usual hospitality and wait for them to leave.
"It's been controversial everywhere except Silverton, Oregon," Rasmussen said of his notoriety. "If you're here it's 'Yep, there's Stu' because it's been a gradual change and a known quantity."
COMMENT: I've read and viewed stuff on Stu and his "live-in girlfriend" before and, to be honest, its Fred and his little gang of low-ranking demons that should watch themselves in Silverton. These are two tough cookies who have won the respect of their fellow townspeople. If you've got the balls to come out as a transvestite in Oregon you ain't going to be intimidated by a bunch of jerks from Kansas. Stu is more of a man than the decrepit Fred Phelps has ever been and more of a woman then Fred has ever dreamt up in the privacy of his own bathroom.
marriage in france is notjust a bowl of cherries
A French appeals court has reinstated the marriage of a Muslim man who wanted it annulled because his bride lied about being a virgin. They wed in 2006 but the husband discovered on their wedding night that his bride had lied about her virginity.
In April this year, a lower court in the northern town of Douai granted the annulment. The decision attracted nationwide attention, with critics calling it a sign that France’s strongly secular values were losing ground to traditions of its fast-growing immigrant communities.
Today the appeals court in Douai overturned the annulment, effectively ruling that the couple is again married.
In April this year, a lower court in the northern town of Douai granted the annulment. The decision attracted nationwide attention, with critics calling it a sign that France’s strongly secular values were losing ground to traditions of its fast-growing immigrant communities.
Today the appeals court in Douai overturned the annulment, effectively ruling that the couple is again married.
