Non Fluffy Wicca

Uri Geller misusing DMCA to remove critical YouTube videos?:


Mark Frauenfelder:

According to Brian Flemming of slumdance.com, Uri Geller, who claims to be psychic, has been using the DMCA to force YouTube to remove videos that debunk his stunts (which include bending spoons and locating hidden objects.) By law, only the copyright holder of a video can make a Web site owner remove a video.

The only bright spot is that Geller's actions to suppress criticism may expose him to legal liability (provided that one of his victims has the resources and will to fight this litigious spoon-bender).

His liability? Geller does not apparently own the copyrights to the videos that he demanded YouTube remove.

The DMCA allows copyright owners to file a "takedown notice" with a service provider such as YouTube, provided that the copyright owner swears under penalty of perjury that he or she owns the copyright in question ("I swear, under penalty of perjury, that the information in the notification is accurate and that I am the copyright owner of an exclusive right that is infringed").

It appears that on March 23, Geller or his representative filed with YouTube a series of these DMCA takedown notices, which should have included swearing to the stated facts under penalty of perjury. When internet griefer Michael Crook tried this method of critic suppression, it didn't work out too well for him.

You can see one of the videos pulled from YouTube here.

Link

Posted by mikki at 05:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Seems the Canadians are more "enlightened" than the US military. Sad, isn't it?

edmontonsun.com - World - Chaplain advises Wiccan soldiers:


KANDAHAR, Afghanistan -- From jokingly advising Wiccan soldiers to keep their clothes on when celebrating the spring equinox to coaxing troops to talk about the trauma of surviving a roadside bomb, Canadian Forces chaplains are in Afghanistan for everyone.

Maj. Malcolm Berry smiles as he recalls being approached on the NATO base in Kandahar a few weeks ago by a group of soldiers of the Wiccan faith - a neo-pagan religion strongly tied to nature.

"They wanted to welcome the spring in a ceremony where they are very thankful to Mother Earth and the new moon with pagan prayers," said Berry, the senior chaplain for Task Force Afghanistan.

"We had no difficulty with that. We just didn't want them to do it 'sky-clad' (naked) in this environment because it would be too dangerous."

The six Wiccans - a Canadian and five Americans - were invited to hold their service outside the Christian fellowship centre.


They were given water, candles and food that they were welcomed to eat inside the centre after the ceremony.

The Wiccans were treated with the same respect as any Roman Catholic, Protestant, Jew, Muslim, Hindu or Buddhist.

"We are way ahead of the curve in terms of adaptability, understanding others, being sensitive to the needs of all Canadians," said Berry, a friendly, talkative Anglican minister from Oromocto, N.B.

Many of the soldiers who want to chat or seek advice say they aren't religious at all.

That easygoing inclusive philosophy appears to work well for the small team of chaplains who are responsible for the spiritual well-being of more than 2,500 Canadian troops in Afghanistan.

The open-minded attitude is appreciated by the troops.

Maj. Lisa Elliot, a Wiccan, said being allowed to openly celebrate her beliefs makes her a better soldier and makes it easier to serve her tour in Afghanistan.

"You are challenged when you come over here just to deal with the situation, and by somebody supporting your faith it makes it less challenging," said Elliot.

"It gave me the extra energy to go on with my job. I felt re-grounded. I felt at home."

Elliot said she and her Wiccan colleagues never considered going sky-clad during their ceremony to mark the greening of the Earth.

Soldiers may be of different faiths, but they all share similar feelings of loneliness and fear about killing, dying, being away from home and keeping their families together, Berry said.

While not therapists, the chaplains are trained to be aware of signs of distress and will refer soldiers needing help to medical professionals or a social worker.

Whenever a soldier is injured by a roadside bomb or suffers any trauma, the chaplains encourage them to talk about it instead of keeping their feelings to themselves.

"We ask them to tell us what happened," said Berry, a reservist. "We look for positive words and phrases that they say, and we re-frame the story back to them showing all the positive things that occurred in this action."

Berry is also responsible for keeping tabs on the morale of the troops.

Posted by mikki at 04:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The State | 03/31/2007 | Police blotters:


Taylor Street, 500 block: A woman called police at 9 a.m. Wednesday and said she had been assaulted by a naked man wrapped in a blanket who called himself Satan. The woman said the man was dropped off by a van at her home. He approached her wearing only a blanket and demanded his clothes. She told him he didn’t have any clothes at her house and went inside. He followed her inside, then locked himself in her bedroom with her and continued to demand his clothes. He threw her on the bed, and she began to scream until her roommates came in and pulled the man off her and threw him outside. When police arrived, the man was on the porch still wrapped in the blanket. He admitted he had been smoking crack cocaine, but Satan was the only name he would give them. He was taken to a hospital for evaluation and treatment.

Posted by mikki at 02:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Sharing non public information with industry and not with the taxpayers? Never! And global warming doesn't exist either.

Bush administration official manipulated leaked environmental information: report:


[JURIST] The US Deputy Assistant Secretary for Fish, Wildlife and Parks violated federal rules against sharing non-public endangered species information with private industry groups, according to an investigative report released Thursday. Julie MacDonald, who joined the Bush administration in 2002, admitted that she gave internal US Interior Department [official website] and Environmental

Posted by mikki at 12:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Inside the First Amendment - Witch Trials And Tribulations In The Land Of The Free:


People accused of witchcraft in America aren't executed anymore (we are 300 years and a First Amendment away from Puritan Massachusetts). These days they just lose their jobs.

Don Larsen discovered this the hard way. A year ago, Larsen was a Pentecostal Christian minister serving as an Army chaplain in Iraq. But then he converted to Wicca, whose members are self-described witches, and applied to become the first Wiccan chaplain in the U.S. armed forces.

Today Larsen is a former Army chaplain back home in Idaho. As reported last month in The Washington Post, the Army not only denied his request to change religious affiliation, but also removed him from the chaplain corps (despite an outstanding record) and sent him packing.

The Army denies any discrimination against Wiccans and cites a maze of Catch-22 bureaucratic reasons for Larsen's dismissal. But earlier attempts by Wiccan groups to obtain a military chaplain have also failed - in spite of there being more than 130 other religious groups on the approved list.

True, Wiccans make up only a small percentage of military personnel (around 1,900 by the Pentagon's count, though the real numbers are likely much higher). But other religious groups with similarly small numbers already have chaplains.

This isn't the only example of unfair treatment of Wiccans in the military. After nine years of "reviewing the process," the Department of Veterans Affairs still hasn't approved the pentacle - a five-pointed star that symbolizes Wiccan faith - as an "emblem of belief" that can be placed on government headstones of Wiccan soldiers.

Despite the fact that the 38 approved emblems include religions of every stripe (and atheism), the VA will not add the pentacle. Does this mean Wiccan soldiers are good enough to die abroad, but not good enough to be buried with respect at home?

The military's stubborn refusal to recognize Wicca may have something to do with the firestorm of criticism that greeted news stories of Wiccan meetings on a Texas military base about eight years ago. Then-Gov. George W. Bush wanted the military to bar Wiccan ceremonies, saying, "I don't think witchcraft is a religion." Some outraged Christian conservative leaders called on Christians not to enlist or re-enlist as long as Wiccans were permitted to worship on U.S. bases.

Although military officials have continued to allow Wiccan worship (under the First Amendment, they have no choice), they are undoubtedly reluctant to stir that pot again. After all, the governor is now the president.

Antipathy towards Wicca isn't confined to the armed forces. Fear of witches, it seems, is popping up everywhere.

Last year a group of Georgia parents accused their local schools of promoting Wicca by having Harry Potter books in the school libraries (just the latest battle in the ongoing anti-Harry campaign). In December, the State Board of Education ruled that the books could stay.

In February, a Delaware judge upheld a finding of religious discrimination against a department store that dropped a course taught by Wiccans in the store's "campus of classes" program.

And this month a former teacher on Long Island, N.Y., testified in court that she was fired after public school officials accused her of being a witch. According to the teacher, who says she doesn't practice witchcraft, the principal was angry because she taught about the Salem witch trials and wouldn't participate in Christian activities that he promoted. As Wicca grows - and it's one of the fastest-growing religions in America - so will conflicts over witches. That's because most of what people think they know about witches and Wicca is wrong. Contrary to popular myth, Wiccans have nothing to do with the "evil arts" or Satanism. Nor do Wiccans conform to the stereotypes rooted in fantasies from "The Wizard of Oz" to "Sabrina, the Teenage Witch."

If it isn't what many people think it is, then what is Wicca? Although no religion is easily summed up in a sentence, most Wiccans would probably agree that Wicca is a nature-based religion rooted in a conviction that the Divine permeates all life. For a fuller explanation, Wicca Demystified by Bryan Lankford is a good place to start.

For First Amendment purposes, however, it doesn't matter what military officers or school principals or other government officials think about Wicca: It is their constitutional duty to protect the religious freedom of all Americans, including witches. 3-29-07

Charles C. Haynes is senior scholar at the First Amendment Center, 1101 Wilson Blvd., Arlington, Va. 22209. Web: www.firstamendmentcenter.org. E-mail chaynes@freedomforum.org.

Posted by mikki at 08:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A fundamental wrong in letting some marry - Opinion - Home:


The views I am about to express are not very fashionable. They are certainly not politically correct. But I believe what I am about to say must be expressed to protect the institution of marriage.

Too often in the media, currency is given to the theory that everyone should be allowed to marry regardless of gender, outlook and whether the two people are creating a suitable family environment in which to bring up children.

Well, it is time to ask some hard questions about this attitude. The only way we will save marriage is to reclaim the institution for the mainstream. Marriage is for normal people who want to raise children in a healthy and secure environment. This is why we should ban religious fundamentalists from marrying.

Fundamentalists of all religions engage in unnatural practices. The unconventional views they hold inevitably lead to their children being teased in the playground and, no matter what studies may show, there is surely a greater risk they will grow up to be fundamentalist themselves if they are exposed to dangerous ideas from a tender age.

No matter what fundamentalist propaganda may claim, fundamentalism is not sanctioned by nature. There is not a single species in the animal kingdom which stresses the infallibility of the Bible or adheres to the teachings of the Koran. Even in the higher orders of primate, no species has conclusively shown faith in the virgin birth or the second coming. Animals tend to be atheist, pagan or animist, which shows that these views are surely instinctive, normal, natural and right.

Maybe you think it is OK for humans to differ from animals. Maybe you think consenting adults should be able to do what they like regardless of whether the average person agrees with their views.

Such a liberal approach is a slippery slope. When we allow fundamentalists to marry it says that fundamentalism is OK. It encourages these people to foist the fundamentalist agenda on the rest of the community. Before long they will be trying to "convert" people to their "religions". Should we risk this? Fundamentalists are a small minority of the population, so only a small number of people would be inconvenienced by a ban. It would not even be discriminatory as fundamentalists would still have the right to marry - so long as they renounced their religion.

Let's not forget that we are not just talking about consenting adults. When you allow fundamentalists to marry it encourages them to have children. Sure, they might still have kids even if they cannot marry in the eyes of the law, but why legitimise it? Children are the true victims of fundamentalist marriages. Children don't get a say when they are born into a household practising a fundamentalist lifestyle. Tiny children should not be subjected to cultural experiments and social engineering. Imagine how confused and guilty children would feel when they were indoctrinated with the bizarre idea that they were born with the stain of original sin and were in fact so inherently bad that a man had to bleed to death to make it all OK.

Imagine also the teasing that children who have grown up in these "families" would be subjected to in the playground when other kids find out about their unusual views and practices. What are normal parents supposed to do when their children arrive home asking uncomfortable questions because they have been exposed to these groups at an age when they are too young to understand?

Before you know it, fundamentalist parents will be insisting preschool children read storybooks about the fundamentalist lifestyle in order to better understand it. There will be colouring books directed at four-year-olds showing Jesus turning water into wine and walking on water, as if it were gospel.

What hope does a child indoctrinated with this sort of propaganda have of growing up to be normal? Can you really tell me they will not be more likely to grow up fundamentalist themselves?

Before you accuse me of hate speech, I should point out that I bear no grudge against fundamentalists personally. "Love the fundamentalist, hate the fundamentalism" is my policy.

I suppose one chink in this argument is that banning a minority from marrying is utterly unfair, inhumane and intolerant. Kind of like the ban on gay marriage.

Posted by mikki at 07:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

ABC News: Chocolate Jesus Show Canceled:


NEW YORK Mar 30, 2007 (AP)— A planned Holy Week exhibition of a nude, anatomically correct chocolate sculpture of Jesus Christ was canceled Friday amid a choir of complaining Catholics that included Cardinal Edward Egan.

The "My Sweet Lord" display was shut down by the hotel that houses the Lab Gallery in midtown Manhattan, said Matt Semler, the gallery's creative director. Semler said he submitted his resignation after officials at the Roger Smith Hotel shut down the show.

The six-foot sculpture was the victim of "a strong-arming from people who haven't seen the show, seen what we're doing," Semler said. "They jumped to conclusions completely contrary to our intentions."

But word of the confectionary Christ infuriated Catholics, including Egan, who described it as "a sickening display." Bill Donohue, head of the watchdog Catholic League, said it was "one of the worst assaults on Christian sensibilities ever."

The hotel and the gallery were overrun Thursday with angry phone calls and e-mails about the exhibit. Semler said the calls included death threats over the work of artist Cosimo Cavallaro, who was described as disappointed by the decision to cancel the display.

"In this situation, the hotel couldn't continue to be supportive because of a fear for their own safety," Semler said.

The sculpture was to debut Monday evening, the day after Palm Sunday and just four days before Roman Catholics mark the crucifixion of Jesus Christ on Good Friday. The final day of the exhibit was planned for Easter Sunday.

The artwork was created from more than 200 pounds of milk chocolate, and features Christ with his arms outstretched as if on an invisible cross. Unlike the typical religious portrayal of Christ, the Cavallaro creation does not include a loincloth.

Cavallaro is best known for his quirky work with food as art: Past efforts include repainting a Manhattan hotel room in melted mozzarella, spraying five tons of pepper jack cheese on a Wyoming home, and festooning a four-poster bed with 312 pounds of processed ham.

Posted by mikki at 07:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

CITIZEN-TIMES.com: School: Pirates are not welcome:


Weaverville – When you’re a pirate, some dangers just come with the territory: scurvy, grog hangovers, a walk down the plank at sword point.

But being kicked out of school for a day?

Bryan Killian doesn’t think that’s a fair reaction to his decision to come to North Buncombe High School wearing an eye patch and an inflatable cutlass.

Buncombe County Schools says the eye patch was disruptive to classroom instruction. The student’s refusal to take it off after four warnings led to discipline, the district said.

“I feel like my First Amendment was violated,” Killian, 16, said. “Freedom of religion and freedom of expression. That’s what I tried to do, and I got shot down.”

Freedom of religion?

Yes, Killian says, his “pirate regalia” is part of his faith — the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster.

The parody religion, whose “Pastafarian” members worship a sentient, airborne clump of noodles and meatballs, originated in a letter to the Kansas school board urging it to add the religion to its plans to teach evolution and intelligent design side by side.

It became an Internet phenomenon, spawning a belief system that holds pirates to be divine beings and blames global warming on the disappearance of the buccaneers.

Satirical though it may be, Killian isn’t laughing.

“If this is what I believe in, no matter how stupid it might sound, I should be able to express myself however I want to,” he said.

An eye patch is no more disruptive than a Christian cross around one’s neck, he said.

His teachers saw it the same way, he said, but Assistant Principal Sarah Cooley didn’t. She assigned him two days of in-school suspension before calling his home to add out-of-school suspension.

“It has nothing to do with religious beliefs,” school district spokesman Stan Alleyne rushed to say when asked about the suspension. “We respect students’ religious beliefs.”

Killian’s mother, Vanessa, agreed with the school’s decision despite sympathizing with her son.

“I think Bryan should be able to voice his opinion,” she said, “but he kind of got carried away.”

Killian planned to go back to school today. He doesn’t think he’ll wear an eye patch.

Posted by mikki at 11:46 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Rules one, three, five, seven...:

Tobago: Church leaders have failed in their efforts to have Elton John banned from the island. They were afraid that his appearance at a jazz festival would pass gay cooties onto young people.

Some Christian leaders on the Caribbean island said that the singer should be banned from performing at the festival in Tobago because his homosexuality could influence young people...




We feel it can have a negative social impact. There are some who may not be sure of their sexuality and one has to be careful about how this can create impressions on impressionable minds, pastor Terrance Baynes told Reuters on Monday.

The story also made reference to a famous Christian who said something I missed last year.

...evangelical Christian pop icon Sir Cliff Richard ... said last year that the churches should stop being obsessed with gays and show a bit more love.

Which is obviously far too Christian a sentiment for many church leaders.

Churches fail to ban Elton John from Tobago—Ekklesia, 27th March 2007.

Posted by mikki at 04:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Winston-Salem Journal | Man sues after schools fire him over MySpace page:


MOCKSVILLE

William Russell Shaver never thought that the MySpace page he shares with his wife would get him into trouble.

But it did.

Last year, he lost his job as a high-school bus driver for Davie County Schools and was asked to leave the Cooleemee Volunteer Fire Department, where he was a volunteer firefighter and emergency medical technician.

According to a letter provided by Shaver, the school system dismissed him because of his Web page of MySpace.com, saying that he had damaged his "position to be a role model for Davie High School and in the school community."

The fire department won't comment, but Shaver said that fire officials also cited his MySpace page when they asked him to leave.

He has sued in federal court, alleging that the school system and the fire department used his page as an excuse. He alleges that the real reason he was asked to leave both places is because he practices Wicca, a pagan religion that emphasizes nature.

"They had to find another excuse," he said.

But experts say that increasingly, employers are looking at such social-networking sites as MySpace to vet job candidates. And employees have been fired over postings online, either in a blog, an e-mail or on a site such as MySpace.

Steve Lane, the superintendent for Davie County Schools, declined to comment, saying that Shaver's dismissal is a personnel issue.

But Lane cited the school board's policy that "all staff must serve as positive role models for our students."

According to the complaint against the fire department, Shaver was dismissed during a special meeting on July 17, 2006, for conduct unbecoming a member of the department. The fire department told Shaver that his wife had a blog on the page that solicited sex, Shaver said. Shaver said that his wife is bisexual but was not soliciting sex.

In an April 30, 2006, blog entry on the page, Shaver's wife says she is "looking for a bifemale to join me for some girls only fun (shopping, dancing or just hanging out with girls)."

It also warns readers to stop reading if they get offended. The title of the blog is "Adults and Bifemales Only." And the category is "Romance and Relationships."

Jennifer Rudinger, the executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union in North Carolina, could not comment on Shaver's lawsuits. But she did say that in general, employers are increasingly monitoring what their employees or prospective employees are doing on the Internet.

"Schools are monitoring what students communicate online, and the government is monitoring what law-abiding Americans everywhere are saying online," Rudinger wrote in an e-mail response to a reporter's questions. "All of this leads to a very chilling environment in which people are afraid that anything they say in cyberspace can be used against them, and this inhibits free speech on the Internet."

The issue has come up in other places across the country. In 2004, the Supreme Court ruled that San Diego officials were right to fire a police officer who sold sexually explicit videotapes of himself in uniform.

The man, known as John Roe in legal papers, claimed that his free-speech rights were being violated, but the ruling said that his speech was "detrimental to the mission and functions of the employer."

Roe was fired in June 2001 after his supervisor discovered that the sex videos were being sold on eBay, an Internet auction site.

In another case, a Roanoke meteorologist was fired last November after his nude photo appeared on MySpace.

Shaver said he doesn't understand what he did wrong. He said he once helped a student on his bus who was having seizures. "But I'm not a role model?" he said. "Basically, (the MySpace page) has nothing to do with the school."

Posted by mikki at 10:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Psychic Chat Drives Fire Marshal to Quit:


MIDDLETON, Wis. (AP) - A fire marshal who admitted consulting online psychics at work didn't need a crystal ball to tell him it was time to resign.

Tom Weber, a 22-year fire veteran, was put on administrative leave nine months ago after he was accused of asking an online psychic on a department computer whether he and others would be successful in getting rid of Middleton's fire chief.

Fire Chief Aaron Harris discovered the query, and said Weber had exchanged e-mails with other people seeking to remove the chief.

Weber said he's resigning effective March 31, and denied working against Harris. But he doesn't dispute contacting psychics on department computers. A computer technician found other communications dating back three years.

"Everyone is entitled to their spiritual guidance," Weber said.

He said he's been interested in psychics for years.

Harris was elected chief in the Madison suburb in 2003 and later appointed to the position permanently. Harris has said that during restructuring of the department, a small group of employees and volunteers began working against him.

"This has been an ongoing battle for about two years," said Weber. "It was pretty much just time to step aside and let people go on with what they need to do."

Posted by mikki at 10:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I lost a friend over my decision to use disposable diapers regardless of the fact that it would cost the environment MUCH more for me to launder all those diapers using tons of salt and water softening chemicals (I'm on a well) overflowing my septic system, all that detergent going into the water table, etc. etc. We don't have any diaper services anywhere nearby, and if we got one, it would mean all THAT stuff going into the environment every time they come to deliver or pick up.

The great diaper debate:


By Sarah Hatten



In the first two years of a baby's life, parents will change between 5,000 and 7,000 diapers, according to Environment Canada. That makes a pretty strong argument for trying to make an environmentally conscious decision on what type of diapers to use. But making the greener choice may not be as obvious as it first seems. When trying to choose a diapering option that will please both your baby and Mother Nature there are many points -- beyond garbage disposal -- to consider. Here are some facts to help you make an informed decision.

Posted by mikki at 08:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Gee, wonder how much I could get from the guy who claimed I was a Satanist.... *grin*

Be careful who you lie about:

United States: Four Amway distributors have been ordered to pay Proctor and Gamble over $19 million in compensation. The four had spread rumours that the company was involved in Satanism, and the case has dragged on for over a decade. The judge had earlier decided that Amway itself could not be held responsible for the actions of its self-employed distributors.

P&G filed suit against Randy Haugen of Ogden and three other distributors in 1995. The company charged the four had disseminated the devil-worship hoax through Amway's voice-mail system.




P&G said the Amway quartet passed along the false story that P&G's president had told a television talk show that his company was affiliated with the Church of Satan.




That never happened. But the Cincinnati-based maker of laundry detergent, soap, shampoo, toothpaste and other products claims the rumors still cost it millions of dollars in sales.

Jury awards Procter and Gamble $19 million over devil worship rumors—The Salt Lake Tribune, 19th March 2007. See also: Let sleeping myths lie—Pagan Prattle, Summer 1994, for an example of the rumour from Usenet.

Posted by mikki at 01:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

You know the scary part - if he had done this in say... Kansas, likely he would have been applauded.

Biology teacher fired for referring to Bible - CNN.com:


SISTERS, Oregon (AP) -- During his eight days as a part-time high school biology teacher, Kris Helphinstine included Biblical references in material he provided to students and gave a PowerPoint presentation that made links between evolution, Nazi Germany and Planned Parenthood.

That was enough for the Sisters School Board, which fired the teacher Monday night for deviating from the curriculum on the theory of evolution.

"I think his performance was not just a little bit over the line," board member Jeff Smith said. "It was a severe contradiction of what we trust teachers to do in our classrooms."

Helphinstine, 27, said in a phone interview with The Bulletin newspaper of Bend that he included the supplemental material to teach students about bias in sources, and his only agenda was to teach critical thinking.

"Critical thinking is vital to scientific inquiry," said Helphinstine, who has a master's degree in science from Oregon State. "My whole purpose was to give accurate information and to get them thinking."

Helphinstine said he did not teach the idea that God created the world. "I never taught creationism," he said. "I know what it is, and I went out of my way not to teach it."

Parent John Rahm told the newspaper that he became concerned when his freshman daughter said she was confused by the supplemental material provided by Helphinstine.

"He took passages that had all kinds of Biblical references," Rahm said. "It prevented her from learning what she needed to learn."

Board members met with Helphinstine privately for about 90 minutes before the meeting. The teacher did not stay for the public portion.

"How many minds did he pollute?" Dan Harrison, the father of a student in Helphinstine's class, said at the meeting. "It's a thinly veiled attempt to hide his own agenda."

Posted by mikki at 01:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

James Randi vs James Hyrdick:


Mark Frauenfelder:

On this episode of Bob Barker's That's My Line (from the 1970s), psychic-power-debunker James Randi goes after self-professed psychic James Hydrick, who says he learned everything from an old Chinese master (but he must have learned haircuts from Moe Howard).

The look on Hydrick's face when Randi sprinkles styrofoam around a phone book to show that Hydrick is blowing air through his mouth to psychically turn the page is priceless. And Hydrick's excuse as to why he can't do the stunt is even funnier.

From Wikipedia:

Hydrick's psychic powers were definitively exposed as being fraudulent by investigative journalist Dan Korem who discovered that Hydrick had developed an extraordinary talent for blowing almost undetectable but highly powerful and focussed jets of air from his mouth. Hydrick eventually confessed his fraud and admitted that he had developed his unique talent while he was in prison, and did not learn it from a Chinese master as he had originally claimed.

Posted by mikki at 06:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Lovecraft's 70th death-a-versary, Cthulhu adoration everywhere:


Xeni Jardin:

March 15th, 2007 marked the 70th year since HP Lovecraft's death. Necronomicon junkies and devotees of the Cthulhu mythos celebrated that day with online commemorations. La Petite Claudine has a thoughtful series of related posts on her blog here (mostly in Spanish): Link.

Image: "Azathoth is described as both blind and idiotic and is regarded as the head of the Cthulhu mythos pantheon." An illustration from this Lovecraft fan-page on MySpace (No artist credit given -- if anyone knows whose work this is, please let me know and I'll update this post accordingly).

(Thanks, Reverse Cowgirl)

Reader comment:

Peetee sez, "A better term for death-a-versary is 'mortiversary'."

BoingBoing reader Rob sends the photo below, and says,

He has quite the boring headstone.

It's in Providence, Rhode Island.

I took the picture, it was midday and the lighting was all screwy, but you can get the gist of it.

BoingBoing reader Remus Shepherd says:

Xeni, I saw someone sent you a picture of HP Lovecraft's headstone...and

called it 'boring'. Well, it is. But right behind it, they used to have

a gigantic oak (?) tree, which was carved with various sayings from his

stories.

I have some pictures of the Tree That Feeds On Him here: Link. I'd rather not mention who the people

are in those photos -- but I swear we didn't carve anything!

Sadly, the Tree That Feeds On Him was cut down a few years ago. Either

the cemetary owners found it too creepy, or they were tired of it being

climbed by weirdos like...well, us.

Ambitious Wench says,

My friend Remus just sent a link to his website with pictures of Lovecraft's grave. While he didn't want to identify the people in the picture of the group at the Tree that Fed on Him, I can say that I am the woman in the dark red dress on the extreme right.

Regarding the old tree near H.P. Lovecraft's grave, it blew down in a windstorm not more than two years ago, I'd guess. Last October I left my beloved Yosemite to go back to RI to see friends and family. While there, I stopped at Swan Point Cemetery and snuck a few pictures.

The new Tree that Will Feed on Him is the same species as the old giant; I believe it was a beech.

Link

Will says,

Just wanted to point out, since it's not obvious in the photograph- Howard's headstone reads "I am Providence." HP is buried in the lovely Swan Point Cemetery, where Rhode Island's finest families rest their bones.

Although the on-site "find a grave" computer kiosk at Swan Point (Link 1) will locate his grave for you, the cemetery's website lacks any mention of him. This is typical of the city itself- although many places mentioned in Lovecraft stories survive to this day, there are no memorials or markers (that I know of) at those sights. This AP story (Link) has a nice overview of some historic sites, but neglects to mention the most conspicuous- the Providence Art Club (Link), mentioned in the seminal "Call of Cthulu", which has a truly weird, cylopean facade.

Posted by mikki at 12:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Ok folks, if you have nothing better to do than watch a webcam in hopes of seeing fairies or leprechauns, how's about doing something more productive with your time, like laughing about how ridiculous it is in a blog :-). And we wonder why people think we're flakes.....

The Leprechaun Watch WEBCAM:


The leprechaun Irish fairy watch camera is in a hidden location in a field overlooking a fairy ring in Tipperary, Ireland. In a dip in the Glen of Cloongallon, Ballyseanrath lies the fairy ring itself. It and its fairy inhabitants are shielded by trees ranged around the perimeter, mainly chestnut, with one magnificent oak over 600 years old. Over the years it provided leprechauns with acorns for their pipes and other Irish fairies with shelter. The tree is protected by an Irish fairy known as a skeaghshee or tree spirit. The camera is concealed in a cavity in its trunk, and a branch supports an antenna! If you see anything please help us by reporting your sighting!

Posted by mikki at 11:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Ra ra, Jenny. I despise being called "Lady Kestra" and attempt to correct anyone who does that, despite also having earned the title. Now, about Jenny's claim that she was suckered into UEW Leadership, all I can say is "we have you NOW my pretty :-)" MOO HA HA HAAAAAAAA.

Jenny is a member of the "triad" of UEW - the group that takes the blame. It's all our fault.

Witchvox Article:


Every so often you come across some woman who thinks that for one reason or another, everyone should call her “Lady So-and-So” because she’s a Second or Third Degree somebody in some tradition or she’s a priestess or self-declared “high priestess” of a circle or coven. Much more rarely you can find a man who does the same thing, only he’ll want to be a “Lord.” They want everyone in Paganism and occasionally the rest of the public with whom they come in contact to use those titles—and the sometimes-goofy names they put with them (Erisians and Discordians, you’re excused on principle).

Why? I have my suspicions, but I can’t definitively answer that question. Instead, I’d like to tell you why I don’t.

First, let me give you a little background. I have been a student and member of the Universal Eclectic Wicca tradition since August of 1999. In that time, I have done the work to progress through the First Circle, through the Second Circle, and I’m currently a student of the Third Circle, pending the completion of a project that has now taken me nearly five years. I started mentoring other students online after about a year. Four years ago, I took my first offline students in a small teaching coven.

A year ago this month, I began my own real-live UEW coven, and I’m teaching “real” students again in addition to my online ones. About eighteen months ago, I got suckered into taking a leadership position in my tradition (which was supposed to be to give somebody a TEMPORARY year-long reprieve to finish a book…AHEM!).

Under the rules of my tradition I could make the people in my tradition refer to me as “Lady.” This might fly with my students and some of my coveners, who generally have less experience in Wicca than I do. However, everyone else I know would laugh right to my face, as several of them have seen me quite drunk, late at night or REALLY early in the morning, and thus have been disabused of the notion of my inherent superiority.

So for those of you who would say “You’re just jealous!” I assure you that I am not. Rather, I am jaded. They both start with “j” but mean quite different things.

I became jaded early on. It probably happened because from what I read when I was learning I understood that “Lady” belonged to the Goddess and to the High Priestess of a coven. I figured that if you’re putting yourself on par with the Goddess you must have done something pretty serious to earn that standing. I remember thinking that it would be such an honor to have that title one day, to be the priestess of a coven and teach Wicca to others.

Then I got my butt online and started encountering lots of “Ladies, ” many of whom turned out to be 15 and under. Not long after that the story about that teacher who posted naked pictures of herself on her coven website broke. She had been Wiccan 18 months and was the “High Priestess” of a coven. How did that happen—the High Priestess bit, I mean? In 18 months?

And then there were the people who used “Reverend” because they went to that website and got their free certificate who had done nothing else academically or spiritually and who were now ordained. I mean, I guess I would understand if there was really a need for it, but if there’s really a need for it then do the work to establish a church. If you aren’t serving your community with your new ordination then why have it? But I guess that’s a topic for another essay. For those of you who are curious, in UEW you must give at least ten years of service as a priest/ess before you can claim the title of High anything, and we have some pretty strict rules about who can be ordained.

So, if I can call myself “Lady, ” why don’t I?

The single most important reason is this: I don’t need to. It is absolutely not important to me for anyone else to know the various positions I hold or titles I have a right to use. Those are for me. In fact, it’s entirely possible that members of my tradition that I interact with online don’t know I’m in leadership until they need me for something.

The only time it’s important for someone to know my factual, verifiable qualifications is when they want to know if I’m a bona-fide teacher of my tradition or if they want a legal marriage. Outside of those situations, if I can’t gain someone’s friendship and respect based on who I am and what I know either I’m doing something wrong or that person isn’t someone I care to befriend.

If my students aren’t assured that I have something to teach them then some grand title won’t magically give me the knowledge and charisma to keep them coming to class, nor will it attract the kind of people that I want in my coven.

That’s right—I don’t really want to hang with people who are impressed by a pretty word or who are seeking a title of their very own.

Don’t get me wrong. I am quite proud of the work I have accomplished in UEW. I find leadership positions to be very gratifying, and I find serving as a priestess deeply satisfying. It’s just that I don’t do those things to be called Lady Fluffer-Nutter. I do them out of a sense of spiritual calling, and that is as it should be.

Any quest for spiritual knowledge should be for personal improvement, not to impress other people.

Posted by mikki at 11:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Egypt appoints 31 female judges despite conservative opposition:


[JURIST] Thirty-one Egyptian women have been appointed as judges despite ongoing resistance from the nation's conservative Muslims, according to a decree published Wednesday by the head of Egypt's Supreme Judicial Council [POGAR backgrounder]. Council chief Mukbil Shakir selected the judges from a pool of state prosecutors who had passed a test for the positions, though it is unclear to which

Posted by mikki at 07:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Gee, I wonder what would happen if a pharmacist declined to provide Viagra or Cialis due to religious reasons, or a Jain pharmacist refusing to prescribe antibiotics because microbes should not be killed... *sigh*

Kroger responds to denied 'morning after' pill request - CNN.com:


ATLANTA, Georgia (AP) -- Kroger Co. said Friday it was reiterating its drug policies to all of its pharmacists after a Georgia woman claimed she was denied the "morning after" pill at one of the company's stores.

The Cincinnati-based grocery chain said if its pharmacists object to fulfilling a request, the store must "make accommodations to have that prescription filled for our customer."

"We believe that medication is a private patient matter," said Meghan Glynn, a Kroger spokeswoman. "Our role as a pharmacy operator is to furnish medication in accordance with the doctor's prescription or as requested by a patient."

Abortion rights activists in Georgia announced a statewide campaign Friday to raise awareness about the contraceptive.

Among them was Carrie Baker, who said a Kroger pharmacist in her hometown of Rome, Georgia, refused to supply her with the contraceptive. The 42-year-old married mother of two said she asked the store's manager in December to order the contraceptive but was told that the pharmacist refused, even though the decision contradicted company policy.

"I believe this was a responsible decision and the best way to care for my family and myself," she said. "But Kroger doesn't care."

Sold as Plan B, emergency contraception is a high dose of the drug found in many regular birth-control pills. It can lower the risk of pregnancy by up to 89 percent if taken within 72 hours of unprotected sex.

Girls 17 and younger still need a prescription to buy the drug, which the FDA made available over-the-counter to adults in August.

Supporters of the drug say widespread availability will cut down on unwanted pregnancies and abortions.

Critics argue it encourages promiscuity and unprotected sex and some consider it related to abortion, although it is different from the abortion pill RU-486.

Major pharmacy chains such as CVS Corp., Rite-Aid Corp. and Walgreen Co. also have pledged to ensure that customers can buy Plan B, even if one employee declines to provide service for reasons of conscience.

Posted by mikki at 01:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Boston lead singer found dead in his home - CNN.com:


WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- Brad Delp, the lead singer of the 1970s and '80s rock band Boston was found dead at his home in southern New Hampshire on Friday, local police said.

Delp, 55, apparently was home alone and there was no indication of foul play, Atkinson, New Hampshire, police said.

With Delp's big, high-register voice, Boston scored hits with "More Than a Feeling," "Long Time," and "Peace of Mind."

The band's popularity peaked in the late 1970s, but it remained active off and on, producing its last album "Corporate America" in 2002.

Delp was born in Boston, Massachusetts, and bought his first guitar at age 13 after seeing the Beatles on the Ed Sullivan Show, according to his Web site. Since 1994, he spent his spare time working in a tribute band called Beatle Juice, the band's Web site said.

The band's Web site carried a statement, "We've just lost the nicest guy in rock and roll."

Posted by mikki at 11:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

So let's check this against my SATAN Test. Would Georgia allow literature classes on The Satanic Bible? Would they allow literature classes on, say... Harry Potter? If no, then NO BIBLE! Egads! What does it take to get these people to understand.

Georgia to OK Bible-based lit classes - Education - MSNBC.com:


ATLANTA - Georgia is poised to introduce two literature classes on the Bible in public schools next year, a move some critics say would make the state the first to take an explicit stance endorsing — and funding — biblical teachings.

The Bible already is incorporated into some classes in Georgia and other states, but some critics say the board's move, which makes the Bible the classes' main text, treads into dangerous turf.

On a list of classes approved Thursday by the Georgia Board of Education are Literature and History of the Old Testament Era, and Literature and History of the New Testament Era. The classes, approved last year by the Legislature, will not be required, and the state's 180 school systems can decide for themselves whether to offer them.

The school board's unanimous vote set up a 30-day public comment period, after which it is expected to give final approval.

Senate Majority Leader Tommie Williams, the Republican who sponsored the plan, said the Bible plays a major role in history and is important in understanding many classic literary works.

"It's not just 'The Good Book,'" Williams said. "It's a good book."

Charles Haynes of the First Amendment Center, a nonpartisan civil liberties group, has said the Georgia policy is the nation's first to endorse and fund Bible classes on a statewide level.

The bill approved overwhelmingly in the Legislature was tailored to make it clear the courses would not stray into religious teaching, Williams said.

The measure calls for the courses to be taught "in an objective and nondevotional manner with no attempt made to indoctrinate students."

But critics say that while the language may pass constitutional muster, that could change in the classroom if instructors stray.

Maggie Garrett, legislative counsel for the Georgia branch of the American Civil Liberties Union, said the curriculum approved Tuesday — like the legislation itself — is vague.

"They didn't put in any outlines describing what they can and can't do constitutionally," she said. "The same traps are there for teachers who decide to teach the class."

Some teachers might seek to include their own beliefs or be pushed by students into conversations that include religious proselytizing, Garrett said.

During last year's campaign-period legislative session, Democrats surprised majority Republicans by introducing a plan to teach the Bible in public schools. Republicans, who control both chambers, quickly responded with their own version, which passed and was signed into law by Gov. Sonny Perdue.

Posted by mikki at 11:05 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

CourierPress | The Evansville Courier & Press - Evansville, Indiana:


GUATEMALA CITY (AP) -- Mayan priests will purify a sacred archaeological site to eliminate "bad spirits" after President Bush visits next week, an official with close ties to the group said Thursday.

"That a person like (Bush), with the persecution of our migrant brothers in the United States, with the wars he has provoked, is going to walk in our sacred lands, is an offense for the Mayan people and their culture," Juan Tiney, the director of a Mayan nongovernmental organization with close ties to Mayan religious and political leaders, said Thursday.

Bush's seven-day tour of Latin America includes a stopover beginning late Sunday in Guatemala. On Monday morning he is scheduled to visit the archaeological site Iximche on the high western plateau in a region of the Central American country populated mostly by Mayans.

Tiney said the "spirit guides of the Mayan community" decided it would be necessary to cleanse the sacred site of "bad spirits" after Bush's visit so that their ancestors could rest in peace. He also said the rites - which entail chanting and burning incense, herbs and candles - would prepare the site for the third summit of Latin American Indians March 26-30.

Bush's trip has already has sparked protests elsewhere in Latin America, including protests and clashes with police in Brazil hours before his arrival. In Bogota, Colombia, which Bush will visit on Sunday, 200 masked students battled 300 riot police with rocks and small homemade explosives.

The tour is aimed at challenging a widespread perception that the United States has neglected the region and at combatting the rising influence of Venezuelan leftist President Hugo Chavez, who has called Bush "history's greatest killer" and "the devil."

Iximche, 30 miles west of the capital of Guatemala City, was founded as the capital of the Kaqchiqueles kingdom before the Spanish conquest in 1524.

© 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our Privacy Policy.

Posted by mikki at 10:39 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

NJ school district sued over graduation ceremony in church - Newsday.com:


RENTON, N.J. -- A high school graduation ceremony held last year in a Baptist church has sparked a religious freedom lawsuit against the largest public school district in the state.

The New Jersey chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union said Wednesday that it had filed a lawsuit against Newark public schools for violating the rights of a Muslim high school senior whose religious beliefs restricted him from attending his own graduation.

Bilal Shareef had to forgo a graduation ceremony from West Side High School in Newark because his own religion forbade him from entering a building with religious images, the civil liberties group said.

The New Jersey ACLU argues that the situation violated provisions in the state constitution prohibiting public institutions from showing a preference for certain religious sects over others; compelling people to attend a place of worship; and segregating or discriminating against public school students because of their religious principles.

"Schools should not sponsor activities that exclude some students from participation on the basis of religious belief," said ACLU-NJ's legal director, Ed Barocas, who is representing Shareef and his father.

Associated Press attempts to reach Newark school officials for comment were unsuccessful on Wednesday.

The lawsuit in state Superior Court in Essex County, which seeks to forbid further graduation ceremonies in places of worship, joins a long line of legal cases in the U.S. in recent decades that challenged practices in which public schools have become intertwined with religion.

Traditional practices such as prayer at graduation ceremonies and extracurricular activities, have been questioned.

At least one constitutional law expert cautioned that public institutions sometimes need to use space at religious institutions, such as when polling places are set up in church basements.

"If the government rents space, I don't think anything forbids it from renting space in a church," said Harvard Law School professor Charles Fried, who added that covering up religious symbols in the church during graduation would also help.

With about 43,000 students, the urban district is the state's largest. It's also among 31 districts in the state's neediest areas that get special financial aid.

The ACLU-NJ said it first complained about a West Side High School graduation at New Hope Baptist Church in 2005, but agreed not to sue when the district's legal director made assurances that the school district would avoid holding a graduation at a religious location again.

But in 2006, graduation was again held at New Hope. And the principal at the time even told graduating students that they would get two additional tickets for family and friends to go to the graduation, provided they also attended a separate religious baccalaureate ceremony at the Roman Catholic Basilica of the Sacred Heart, according to the civil liberties group.

Besides seeking to prevent future graduation ceremonies in religious locations, the ACLU-NJ wants to prevent future school promotions of baccalaureate ceremonies. It is also seeking an award of damages for the Shareefs.

"Insha' Allah (God-willing), this lawsuit will ensure that students from all religious backgrounds will have their rights and religious beliefs respected," Ahmad Shareef, the graduate's father, said in statement released by the ACLU-NJ.

Posted by mikki at 09:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

courant.com | Town vs. Buddhists:


Many members of the Cambodian Buddhist Society of Connecticut fled the "killing fields" of Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge regime three decades ago. Their crucible now is a pitched legal battle over whether they can build a temple on 10 acres they own in Newtown.

The state Supreme Court heard arguments Tuesday on whether Newtown's denial of a special permit for the temple rises to a violation of state and federal laws that bar political entities from putting undue burdens on the exercise of religious freedom.

With elders dying off, the Cambodian Buddhists say the risk is grave that their religion and culture will die as well. Theirs would be the first Cambodian Buddhist temple in Connecticut.

"Time is running out. The older generation is dying," said Pinith Mar, who fled a Cambodian refugee camp at age 13 and is now an engineer with the state Department of Transportation. Because the Khmer Rouge systematically killed monks and the educated, Cambodian Buddhism and the culture it represents dwell in those who escaped annihilation.

"If they are gone, I have nowhere to go," Mar said of the elders who can teach him and his 8-year-old twin sons the rites and traditions of his religion.

Newtown officials and neighbors on Boggs Hill Road oppose use of the rural property for a temple that could attract up to 450 people on the handful of days when religious festivals are held.

The Newtown Planning and Zoning Commission, in its unanimous decision in February 2003 denying the special permit application, stated in part: "Although the commission would welcome the Buddhist religion into the community, the planned and expected future level of activity proposed ... is too intense."

Attorney Robert Fuller, representing the commission, and attorney Thomas Beecher, who represents neighbors opposed to the temple, both argued that the decision does not hinder or burden the exercise of religion, but states only that the location is not appropriate for a temple.

The commission initially gave six reasons for its denial of the permit application, including that the Asian architecture would have a negative impact on property values and was not in harmony with the area's traditional New England architecture. Superior Court Judge Deborah Kochiss Frankel ruled that five of the commission's reasons were unsubstantiated, but upheld the decision based on the commission's concern that the society had not yet obtained well and septic permits.

Fuller also denigrated what he termed the "melodramatic" assertions of the Cambodian Buddhists that it was imperative that they build their temple as soon as possible. He noted that they let three years lapse between buying the property in 1999 and applying for the special permit in 2002.

Attorney Michael Zizka, who represents the Cambodian Buddhist Society, succinctly explained that delay to the justices: "This is not a society that is flush with money."

He later said outside the court that the society does not want to invest in a well and septic system if it doesn't have a building permit. He said it was the jurisdiction of the local and state departments of health, and not the planning and zoning commission, to oversee septic and drinking water concerns.

The case will require the justices to analyze both the federal Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act and the state's Religious Freedom Act in the context of the proposed temple. Fuller argued that those laws don't mandate special treatment for religious groups; Zizka countered that they do. In his brief, Zizka cast the commission's denial as thinly veiled discrimination.

Justices Peter Zarella and Richard Palmer both commented that the state's Religious Freedom Act is "a significant overlay" on established law. They and Justice Flemming L. Norcott Jr. asked Fuller why the commission didn't approve the permit with the condition that well and septic permits be obtained before the start of construction.

"It's preferential treatment that someone else isn't going to get," Fuller replied. "The cases don't say that. They say they [the Buddhists] should be treated no better or no worse. They don't get an automatic free ride."

Beecher, in his brief, argued that the planned size of the temple grew from 6,000 square feet to 7,600 square feet before the first public hearing on the issue. The Newtown Bee newspaper on Tuesday featured a story about an 8,200-square-foot house on Boggs Hill Road that sold last month for a record price of $1.87 million.

Outside court, Mar, and Bruce P. Blair, Buddhist chaplain and director of Yale University's Indigo Blue center for Buddhist life, explained the importance of having a temple.

They said a monk is not a true monk unless he has a temple, just as temple is not a temple unless it is inhabited by a monk. The monks can leave the temple and its grounds, but cannot be away overnight.

"It ends up being a question of the integrity and legitimacy of the faith," Blair said.

"When we go to a temple, we go to pay respect for our loved ones who have passed away, and we believe the spirit of the loved one goes to the temple to see the family," Mar said. "The monk is a channel between the living and the dead."

Blair said the temple is in no way a social club. "It's a place wherein the faith can be handed from one generation to the next," he said. "To deny that liberty is to extinguish the very life of the community. It is to finish the work of Pol Pot. It is something that is so wrong."

The court is not expected to issue a ruling in the case for at least several months.

Contact Lynne Tuohy at ltuohy@courant.com.

Posted by mikki at 01:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

*sigh* I don't know which I've found more annoying - that a "practicing Pagan" would confuse Paganism and Wicca, or that it's immediately assumed that this is Pagans rather than, say, "Anti-Christians."

Skull, bones found in cauldron:


By Danée Attebury

A human skull in a black cauldron as well as other unusual items that may have been part of a religious ritual were uncovered by police Thursday in Conowingo. Several local residents discovered the site while walking through a wooded area near the 500 block of Belle Manor Road at about 2 p.m. They called Maryland State Police, said Detective Sgt. Steve Seipp. The skull was inside one of two black cauldrons at the scene. Police also found two human thigh bones, a plastic skull, animal jaw bones, turtle shells, feathers, purple and red cloth, toy handcuffs, crosses and a small statue resembling a totem pole, Seipp said.



Although police described the finding as a possible "pagan ritual" Iris Dickerson, an Elkton resident and practicing pagan, said the finding does not sound like a pagan ritual. She said real pagans do not use human bones or hurt animals in their religious practices. "You do what you will, but you harm none" she said. "There's definitely nothing demonic."

Posted by mikki at 04:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

China blocks LiveJournal:


Cory Doctorow:

China has added the whole of LiveJournal to its list of banned websites, blocking every LJ within China.

Companies like Google, Yahoo and Microsoft have sucked up to China's totalitarian regime, arguing that by helping to get some websites into China, they will gently lead it to democracy. Yeah, right. How's that working out for ya, Mr Chinese Dissident LiveJournaller?

The timing of the block coincides with the National People's Congress meeting in Beijing, says Xiao Qiang, a Chinese dissident and founder of the China Digital Times.

According to Xiao, the event is often accompanied by stepped up security and a worsening of China's notorious internet censorship policies.

"The security is tight and the control is upgraded because they don't want (political voices)," says Xiao. While he is not sure the block is related to the March event, it's very possible, he says.

Link

Posted by mikki at 01:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)