Non Fluffy Wicca

The Associated Press: Penalty for Pharmacist's Refusal Upheld:


WAUSAU, Wis. (AP) — A state appeals court upheld sanctions Tuesday against a pharmacist who refused to dispense birth control pills to a woman and wouldn't transfer her prescription elsewhere.
The 3rd District Court of Appeals ruled that the punishment the state Pharmacy Examining Board handed down against pharmacist Neil Noesen did not violate his state constitutional rights, specifically his "right of conscience" to religiously oppose birth control.
"Noesen abandoned even the steps necessary to perform in a minimally competent manner under any standard of care," the three-judge panel said. The decision upheld a ruling by Barron County Circuit Judge James Babler.
Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin praised the ruling as important for women's access to reproductive health care. Several states have been wrestling with the issue of pharmacists who refuse on religious grounds to dispense birth control or "morning-after" pills.
Noessen's attorney Paul Linton said that he was disappointed but that no decision had been made on whether to appeal.
The ruling "can curtail the religious rights of pharmacists and perhaps other health care professionals," Linton said.
According to court records, Noesen was working as a substitute pharmacist at a Menomonie Kmart in 2002 when a University of Wisconsin-Stout student sought to refill her birth control prescription.
Noesen testified he advised the woman of his objection to the use of contraception and refused to fill the prescription or tell her how or where she could get it refilled.
The woman was able to get the prescription filled two days later but missed the first dose of the medication, court records said. She filed a complaint with the state Department of Regulation and Licensing.
Noesen, 34, of St. Paul, Minn., told regulators that he is a devout Roman Catholic and refused to refill the prescription or release it to another pharmacy because he didn't want to commit a sin by "impairing the fertility of a human being."
The Pharmacy Examining Board ruled in 2005 that Noesen failed to carry out his professional responsibility to get the woman's prescription to someone else if he wouldn't fill it himself.
The board reprimanded Noesen and ordered him to attend ethics classes. He was allowed to keep his license as long as he informs all future employers in writing that he won't dispense birth control pills and outlines steps he will take to make sure a patient has access to medication.
The board also found Noesen liable for the cost of the proceedings against him — about $20,000 — but the appeals court ordered the board to reconsider that decision.
Larry Dupuis, legal director for the American Civil Liberties Union of Wisconsin, which like Planned Parenthood participated in the appeal, said the ruling struck the proper balance between patients' and pharmacists' rights.
A pharmacy should accommodate its pharmacists' religious beliefs but it can't leave "a patient high and dry," Dupuis said.
Noesen said the discipline "critically devastated" his business as a traveling pharmacist because some pharmacies refused to hire him and he lost his liability insurance, court records said.
There was no telephone listing for Noesen in St. Paul. Linton said he had not talked to Noesen in several months and didn't know whether he still lived in St. Paul.

Posted by mikki at 09:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Pagan Prattle Online: Bargain of the Day: Good stuff, for a change.:


Englandshire: Dr. Who fans could find themselves a bargain as the memorabilia collection of Simon White goes on sale after he swapped science fiction for fantasy.

The collection, which Mr White estimates is worth nearly £7,000, was built up over a number of years but is to be cast aside because of his religious beliefs.

Dr Who and his materialistic obsession with it represents the greatest lie that Satan ever told according to Mr White...

He said: God delivered me from the evil that is Dr Who.
Don't offer too much now. We wouldn't want to reward him for his sinfulness now, would we?

Posted by mikki at 09:08 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Traveler says she was forced to remove nipple ring - CNN.com:


LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- A Texas woman who said she was forced to remove a nipple ring with pliers in order to board an airplane called Thursday for an apology by federal security agents and a civil rights investigation.

"I wouldn't wish this experience upon anyone," Mandi Hamlin said at a news conference. "My experience with TSA was a nightmare I had to endure. No one deserves to be treated this way."

Hamlin, 37, said she was trying to board a flight from Lubbock to Dallas on February 24 when she was scanned by a Transportation Security Administration agent after passing through a larger metal detector without problems.

The female TSA agent used a handheld detector that beeped when it passed in front of Hamlin's chest, the Dallas-area resident said.

Hamlin said she told the woman she was wearing nipple piercings. The agent called over her male colleagues, one of whom said she would have to remove the jewelry, Hamlin said.

Hamlin said she could not remove them and asked whether she could instead display her pierced breasts in private to the female agent. But several other male officers told her she could not board her flight until the jewelry was out, she said.

She was taken behind a curtain and managed to remove one bar-shaped piercing but had trouble with the second, a ring.

"Still crying, she informed the TSA officer that she could not remove it without the help of pliers, and the officer gave a pair to her," said Hamlin's attorney, Gloria Allred, reading from a letter she sent Thursday to the director of the TSA's Office of Civil Rights and Liberties. Allred is a Los Angeles lawyer who often represents high-profile claims.

Applying pliers to the torso of a mannequin wearing a bra with the rings on it, Hamlin showed reporters how she took off the second ring.

She said she heard male TSA agents snickering as she took out the ring. She was scanned again and was allowed to board even though she still was wearing a belly button ring.

"After nipple rings are inserted, the skin can often heal around the piercing, and the rings can be extremely difficult and painful to remove," Allred said in the letter.

TSA officials said they are investigating whether the agency's policies were followed.

"Our security officers are well-trained to screen individuals with body piercings in sensitive areas with dignity and respect while ensuring a high level of security," the agency said in a statement.

On its Web site, the TSA warns that passengers "may be additionally screened because of hidden items such as body piercings, which alarmed the metal detector."

"If you are selected for additional screening, you may ask to remove your body piercing in private as an alternative to a pat-down search," the site says.

Hamlin would have accepted a "pat-down" had it been offered, Allred said.

If an alarm does sound, "until that is resolved, we're not going to let them go through the checkpoint, no matter what they're wearing or where they're wearing it," said TSA spokesman Dwayne Baird in Salt Lake City.

People routinely pass through security wearing wedding rings without problems, and it might take a larger bit of metal to trigger an alarm, Baird said.

Hamlin filed a complaint, but the TSA's customer service manager at the Lubbock airport concluded that the screening was handled properly, Allred said.

Hamlin wants an apology from the TSA and an investigation by the agency's civil rights office.

Allred said she might consider legal action if the TSA does not apologize.

Hamlin was publicly humiliated and has "undergone an enormous amount of physical pain to have the nipple rings reinserted" because of scar tissue, Allred said.

Hamlin said her piercings have never set off an airport metal detector.

"The conduct of TSA was cruel and unnecessary," Allred wrote. "The last time that I checked, a nipple was not a dangerous weapon."

Posted by mikki at 08:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Indian 'witch' tied to tree, beaten by mob - CNN.com:


NEW DELHI, India (CNN) -- An Indian woman accused of being a witch was tied to a tree and beaten by a mob, with television footage of the incident aired in India on Friday.


Villagers tied the woman to a tree after a man accused her of practicing black magic.

Nishant Tiwari, a police official in northeastern India, said a journalist who filmed the beating called him Thursday to report the incident, which took place in the village of Dumaria in central eastern Bihar state.

He arrived to find the woman tied to a tree, her hair partially cut and her complexion ruddy from being being slapped. She had no serious injuries.

"I was appalled at what I saw because people should be more socially responsible than to do this," Tiwari said.

Authorities arrested six people, including the man who admitted to hiring her services as a witch. They were due to appear before a magistrate on Friday.

Ram Ayodhya, who could face up to seven years in prison for his role in the attack, told police he was justified in beating the woman, Tiwari said.

Ayodhya said he paid her to use magic and prayer to improve his wife's health.

When his wife's condition deteriorated, Ayodhya accused her of performing black magic, Tiwari said, and a crowd soon gathered and tied her to the tree.

The woman seen being attacked is expected to testify when the suspects appear before the magistrate.

Tiwari said he was disturbed by the fact that a journalist filmed the incident before contacting authorities.

"The media filmed the incident, then called the police -- instead of the police first," Tiwari said.

CNN's partner network, CNN-IBN, reported that the incident took place close to the local police station.

It reported that there had been other such occurrences of mob justice in the state.

In Bhagalpur district in August 2007, a man caught trying to snatch a woman's chain was beaten up, with police looking on, and later tied to a motorcycle and dragged around by a police officer.

In September, in Lucknow's Wazirganj area, an angry mob beat a man to death after a two-and-a-half-year old girl was allegedly found sexually assaulted and murdered in his house.

Posted by mikki at 08:54 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Anyone who's watched "Big Trouble in Little China" can tell you that there are many Chinese hells. I surmise that now there is a new one - the Chinese hell of plastic packaging. I've ranted on this before, but damn, it seems to be getting WORSE rather than better.

Today I had to open 4 of these horrible packages. One had a clever perforated back that, when the tab is pulled, does nothing because the perforations go maybe 1/4 through the plastic. So I cut through it, finally pulling the tab up to find....you still can't open it because underneath it is ANOTHER plastic barrier with no perforation. Ok, so I cut through that. And, you guessed it, ANOTHER plastic barrier. That was worth an email of complaint.

Next, a travel adapter that advertised itself as "grounded." Well, wanting a grounded adapter, I bought it. Upon finally cutting through the plastic (painfully, I might add) we find that the UK ground prong is plastic. Uh, interesting ground that plastic... Another email of complaint.

Next, Monster's iSplitter. A LOVELY idea and a great product. You can put it in your iPod and 2 people can listen and have separate volume control. Excellent! Cept for one thing....you can't open the damn thing.

Last, but not least, the travel charger for my nifty little new Nikon camera. every....piece....was....encased....in...different.....impenetrable.....plastic.

I HEX YOU ALL, you EVIL PLASTIC PACKAGING PEOPLE!!!!! (not really, of course :-))

Posted by mikki at 02:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Off to the UK Friday, returning Wed. or perhaps later if things allow. I'll be on the South Coast mostly. Can't wait! Woo hoo!

Posted by mikki at 01:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Soldier: Army blocked promotion over religion - CNN.com:


TOPEKA, Kansas (AP) -- A soldier claimed Wednesday that his promotion was blocked because he had claimed in a lawsuit that the Army was violating his right to be an atheist.

Attorneys for Spc. Jeremy Hall and the Military Religious Freedom Foundation refiled the federal lawsuit Wednesday in Kansas City, Kansas, and added a complaint alleging that the blocked promotion was in response to the legal action.

The suit was filed in September but dropped last month so the new allegations could be included. Among the defendants are Defense Secretary Robert Gates.

Hall alleges he was denied his constitutional right to hold a meeting to discuss atheism while he was deployed in Iraq with his military police unit. He says in the new complaint that his promotion was blocked after the commander of the 1st Infantry Division and Fort Riley sent an e-mail post-wide saying Hall had sued.

Fort Riley spokeswoman Alison Kohler said the post "can't comment on ongoing legal matters" and offered no further statement.

According to the lawsuit, Hall was counseled by his platoon sergeant after being informed that his promotion was blocked. He says the sergeant explained that Hall would be "unable to put aside his personal convictions and pray with his troops" and would have trouble bonding with them if promoted to a leadership position.

Hall responded that religion is not a requirement of leadership, even though the sergeant wondered how he had rights if atheism wasn't a religion. Hall said atheism is protected under the Army's chaplain's manual.

"It shouldn't matter if one is Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist or atheist," said Pedro Irigonegaray, an attorney whose firm filed the lawsuit. "In the military, all are equal and to be considered equal."

Maj. Freddy J. Welborn was named in the lawsuit as the officer who prevented Hall from holding a meeting of atheists and non-Christians. It alleges that Welborn threatened to file military charges against Hall and to block his re-enlistment. Welborn has denied the allegations.

The lawsuit alleges that Gates permits a military culture in which officers are encouraged to pressure soldiers to adopt and espouse fundamentalist Christian beliefs, and in which activities by Christian organizations are sanctioned.

Hall's attorneys say Fort Riley has permitted a culture promoting Christianity and anti-Islamic sentiment, including posters quoting conservative columnist Ann Coulter and sale of a book, "A Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam," at the post exchange.

The Pentagon has said that the military values and respects religious freedoms, but that accommodating religious practices should not interfere with unit cohesion, readiness, standards or discipline.

Mikey Weinstein, president and founder of the religious freedom foundation, said the lawsuit would show the "almost incomprehensible national security risks to America" posed by the military's pattern of violating the religious freedom of those in uniform.

"It is beyond despicable, indeed wholly unlawful, that the United States Army is actively attempting to destroy the professional career of one of its decorated young fighting soldiers, with two completed combat tours in Iraq, simply because he had the rare courage to stand up for his constitutional rights," Weinstein said in a statement.

Weinstein previously sued the Air Force for acts he said illegally imposed Christianity on its students at the academy. A federal judge threw out that lawsuit in 2006

Posted by mikki at 12:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)