Non Fluffy Wicca

By GREGORY KATZ The discovery of a small prehistoric circle of stones near Stonehenge may confirm the theory that the mysterious monument in southwest England was part of a massive funeral complex built around a river, researchers said Tuesday. The new find shows that the second stone circle — dubbed "Bluehenge" because it was built with bluestones — once stood next to the River Avon about 1.75 miles (2.8 kilometers) from Stonehenge, one of Britain's best loved and least understood landmarks. The find last month could help prove that the Avon linked a "domain of the dead" — made up of Stonehenge and Bluehenge — with an upstream "domain of the living" known as Durrington Wells, a monument where extensive signs of feasting and other human activity were found, said Professor Julian Thomas, co-director of the Stonehenge Riverside Project. [From Stonehenge could be part of funeral complex]

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Accessibility HelpSkip to contentSkip to bbc.co.uk searchLow graphicsHelpAccess keys help Search termExplore the BBC BBC News Updated every minute of every day BBC NEWS CHANNEL News Front Page Africa Americas Asia-Pacific Europe Middle East South Asia UK England Northern Ireland Scotland Wales UK Politics Education Magazine Business Health Science & Environment Technology Entertainment Also in the news ----------------- Video and Audio ----------------- Programmes Have Your Say In Pictures Country Profiles Special Reports Related BBC sites Sport Weather On This Day Editors' Blog BBC World Service Page last updated at 14:27 GMT, Saturday, 3 October 2009 15:27 UK E-mail this to a friend Printable version Mini-Stonehenge find 'important' Preseli spotted dolerite was mined in the Welsh Mountains 200 miles away Archaeologists have discovered a mini-Stonehenge, a mile from the site of Wiltshire's famous stone circle. "Bluehenge", named after the hue of the 27 stones from Wales whic [From BBC NEWS | UK | England | Wiltshire | Mini-Stonehenge find 'important']

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Taiwan tribe opens witch school:


An aboriginal tribe in southern Taiwan has started a school for witches to preserve unique rituals in danger of vanishing as society modernises, an organiser said on Friday.



Witchcraft is an important part of the Paiwan tribe's cultural heritage, but the number of active practitioners has been dwindling fast, according to Wong Yu-hua, a social affairs official in Pingtung county.



'We are witnessing the disappearance of the ancient ritual. We are trying hard to preserve it,' she told AFP by telephone.



The Paiwan tribe, which numbers about 86,000 people, has less than 20 witches, down from more than 100 half a century ago as Christianity and other outside faiths take hold.

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IcelandReview - Online:


Árni Thór Arnthórsson and his American fiancé Paris Prince will be the first gay couple to get married in church in Iceland early next month after a new law on the right of religious associations to confirm cohabitation of gay couples took affect today.

“We didn’t know we’d be the first to get married in church after the law amendment,” Arnthórsson told 24 Stundir. “To us it is about the church being open to everyone and standing strong as one of the most important human rights institutions in the world. We are all equal before God.”

Prince also grew up with Christian values. “We are religious but practice religion in our own way,” he said. “I’m very happy about being here and taking part in this important step towards further change.”

Separate laws are valid for the confirmation on cohabitation for straight and gay couples. Hrafnkell Tjörvi Stefánsson at Samtökin 78, the National Organization of Lesbians and Gay Men in Iceland, said although today’s law amendment is a step in the right direction, there should be one law for all.

Rev. Bjarni Karlsson, who will marry Arnthórsson and Prince in Lauganeskirkja in Reykjavík, celebrates his newfound right to do so. “We live in a society where we not just tolerate other people, but respect them and their lives.” 

Hilmar Örn Hilmarsson, high chieftain of Ásatrúarfélagid, a religious organization for those who believe in the pagan Icelandic/Nordic gods, agrees. “We have fought for this matter for a long time, that is, to have the right to marry gay couples.”

Today, Samtökin 78 celebrates its 30th anniversary and the day is also an international day of action for homosexuals and lesbians.

Posted by mikki at 07:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Teen's death blamed on faith healing - CNN.com:


GLADSTONE, Oregon (AP) -- Authorities say a teenager from a faith-healing family died from an illness that could have been easily treated, just a few months after a toddler cousin of his died in a case that has led to criminal charges.

Tuesday's death of 16-year-old Neil Beagley, however, may not be a crime because Oregon law allows minors 14 and older to decide for themselves whether to accept medical treatment.

"All of the interviews from last night are that he did in fact refuse treatment," police Sgt. Lynne Benton said Wednesday. "Unless we can disprove that, charges probably won't be filed in this case."

An autopsy Wednesday showed Beagley died of heart failure caused by a urinary tract blockage.

He likely had a congenital condition that constricted his urinary tract where the bladder empties into the urethra, and the condition of his organs indicates he had multiple blockages during his life, said Dr. Clifford Nelson, deputy state medical examiner for Clackamas County.

"You just build up so much urea in your bloodstream that it begins to poison your organs, and the heart is particularly susceptible," Nelson said.

Nelson said a catheter would have saved the boy's life. If the condition had been dealt with earlier, a urologist could easily have removed the blockage and avoided the kidney damage that came with the repeated illnesses, Nelson said.

Benton said a board member of the Followers of Christ church contacted the authorities after Beagley died at his family's home. The teen had been sick about a week, and church members and his family had gathered to pray Sunday when his condition worsened, Benton said.

In March, the boy's 15-month-old cousin Ava Worthington died at home from bronchial pneumonia and a blood infection.

Her parents, Carl and Raylene Worthington, also belong to the church. They have pleaded not guilty to manslaughter and criminal mistreatment, and their defense attorneys have indicated they will use a religious freedom defense.

After earlier deaths involving children of Followers of Christ believers, a 1999 Oregon law struck down religious shields for parents who treat their children solely with prayer. No one had been prosecuted under it until the Worthingtons' case.

Members and former members of the church in Oregon City have told The Oregonian newspaper in previous interviews that the congregation has 1,200 people. It has no apparent ties to other congregations or any mainstream denomination.

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White House Allegedly Interfered With EPA Decision on Tailpipe Emissions:

The White House allegedly interfered with an EPA decision that would have allowed California to limit tailpipe emissions, according to a House Committee report. The agency’s career staff unanimously supported at least a partial granting of California’s request for a waiver and argued that any other decision would not stand up to court scrutiny.

The EPA’s Administrator purportedly favored granting California’s request. An administration spokesperson denied White House interference.

In a related news analysis, federal courts have limited the Bush administration’s “de facto deregulation of the environment,” giving the administration few legal victories on environmental matters except when it appears before the U.S. Supreme Court. The article noted that “many judges have scolded the administration over its legal tactics and what they said was disregard for the law and science.”

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Judge Hears Arguments In Va. Episcopal Church Split - News Story - WRC | Washington:


FAIRFAX, Va. -- A judge is hearing arguments on the constitutionality of a Virginia law invoked by 11 conservative church congregations seeking to split from the Episcopal Church.
The breakaway congregations voted to split from the Episcopal Church under a Civil War-era law that allows congregations to do so by a majority vote. The Episcopal Diocese of Virginia doesn't recognize the split and is seeking to regain control of congregational property.
The diocese argues that the law infringes on the denomination's right to settle its own religious affairs.
The congregations sought to split from the denomination in a dispute precipitated by the Episcopal Church's consecration of an openly gay bishop in 2003.

Posted by mikki at 02:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Druids fear shadow will be cast over view of 'birth of the Moon' - Scotsman.com News:


Environment correspondent
IT IS a rare lunar spectacle whose significance dates back to ancient times, drawing visitors to the Isle of Lewis from across the world.
But now the druids, pagans and witches who gather at the Callanish Stones fear the next time they visit their treasured view of the Moon could be ruined by a 53-turbine wind farm.

According to local belief, the Callanish Stones were erected so they would have a special relationship with a range of hills opposite, known as the Old Woman of the Moors.

Also called Sleeping Beauty, it is thought to resemble a pregnant woman on her back, and every 18.6 years the Moon appears to rise through her legs, as if she is giving birth.

It then sets between the Callanish Stones, as visitors beat drums and celebrate the lunar cycle.

Hundreds of new age celebrants gathered at the stones for the spectacle in 2006, but in 2024 when it is next due, they are worried it could be ruined by a wind farm.

Beinn Mhor Power plans to build turbines on the Eisgein Estate in Lewis, some of them on the Old Woman of the Moors. One would be built on a lump that looks like her knee, and others would be on the skyline.

Archeologist Ian McHardy said the lunar phenomenon is mentioned in the Historic Scotland guidebook for the area.

"I think it's an integral part of Callanish and should have been afforded higher protection. The wind turbines would be a significant part of the view."

Alice Starmore, a tour guide who has lived on Lewis all her life, said: "Every 18.6 years when the Moon in its cycle around the Earth is at its lowest, it appears between her knees, as though she gives birth. It's a lovely, life-affirming event.

"It's one of our most mysterious and intriguing national treasures. It's something that we should take care of. It couldn't be any more inappropriate than building turbines on her. We might as well say that we should build turbines on Stonehenge."

If the proposed wind farm gets the go-ahead it would be the first in Scotland to be built on a National Scenic Area and Ms Starmore is worried it would have an impact on tourism.

Thirty of the turbines would be in the South Lewis, Harris and North Uist National Scenic Area.

The application comes in the wake of the failed bid by Lewis Wind Power to build Scotland's largest wind farm on Lewis.

Ms Starmore said: "We have just finished celebrating the fact that the entire northern peatlands won't be covered in them, and now we have this one right in the heart of the most spectacular landscape that we have. It has been very stressful for us."

It has also attracted opposition from the John Muir Trust, which is worried it could set a precedent for other wind farm applications on scenic areas, and Scottish Natural Heritage.

Helen McDade, head of policy at the John Muir Trust, said: "It is ludicrous that the government would even entertain the idea of marching turbines across such a world-class landscape.

"Scotland can easily meet its 50 per cent renewable target by 2020 without encroaching on designated areas of national importance such as this one.

"Callanish is Scotland's equivalent of Stonehenge and must be left unscathed by industrial development so that it can be fully appreciated by future generations."

A public inquiry finished last week into the plans for the Eisgein Estate and a decision is expected to be made by a Scottish Government reporter later this year.

BACKGROUND

BEINN Mhor Power has scaled down its original proposal for 133 turbines to 53. There have been 3,900 objections and 85 letters in support.

The decision on the Beinn Mhor Power plan will come in the wake of the Scottish Government's rejection of a 181-turbine project on Lewis.

The plans by Lewis Wind Power were turned down last month after nearly four years of debate. Supporters believed it was a chance to advance the country's renewables industry and the economy of the Western Isles.

But environmental groups said it could threaten birdlife and damage the island's peatlands, which store carbon.

The £500 million project had been controversial since it was put forward in October 2004. Of 11,022 representations, 10,924 were against the plan, with only 98 in favour.

Lewis Wind Power has said it is considering its next move.

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Gulfnews: Cleopatra and Mark Antony statues found:


Cleopatra and Mark Antony statues found
AP
Published: May 27, 2008, 00:59
Cairo:  Archaeologists from Egypt and the Dominican Republic have unearthed a bronze statue of the goddess Aphrodite and other artifacts during excavations at an ancient temple on Egypt's Mediterranean coast.

Also among the finds are the alabaster head of a Queen Cleopatra statue, a mask believed to belong to Mark Anthony and a headless statue from the Ptolemic era.

Several deep cellars were found inside the Taposiris Magna temple, built during the reign of King Ptolemy II (282-246 BC). Taposiris Magna is a town located on Lake Mariut known today as Abusir, near Alexandria.

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Lost parrot tells veterinarian his address:


TOKYO (AP) - When Yosuke the parrot flew out of his cage and got lost, he did exactly what he had been taught _ recite his name and address to a stranger willing to help.

Police rescued the African grey parrot two weeks ago from a neighbor's roof in the city of Nagareyama, near Tokyo. After spending a night at the station, he was transferred to a nearby veterinary hospital while police searched for clues, local policeman Shinjiro Uemura said.

He kept mum with the cops, but began chatting after a few days with the vet.

"I'm Mr. Yosuke Nakamura," the bird told the veterinarian, according to Uemura. The parrot also provided his full home address, down to the street number, and even entertained the hospital staff by singing songs.

"We checked the address, and what do you know, a Nakamura family really lived there. So we told them we've found Yosuke," Uemura said.

The Nakamura family told police they had been teaching the bird its name and address for about two years.

But Yosuke apparently wasn't keen on opening up to police officials.

"I tried to be friendly and talked to him, but he completely ignored me," Uemura said.

Posted by mikki at 01:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Endangered parrots born in captivity reproduce in wild - CNN.com:


LA GARITA DE ALAJUELA, Costa Rica (AP) -- Endangered scarlet macaws born in captivity are reproducing in the wild for the first time on Costa Rica's southern Pacific coast.

The ZooAve Center for the Rescue of Endangered Species has released 100 of the birds into the wild in the past decade. But biologists didn't spot offspring until last year, biologist Laura Fournier said.

Since then, they have recorded 22 chicks born in the wild, and four more scarlet macaw couples have laid eggs, Fournier said.

The parrots once occupied all of Costa Rica. But hunting and poaching dramatically cut their population, and they are now found only in two national parks along the coast.

The biologists' goal is for 200 birds to populate an isolated coastal area.

Chicks are hatched at the ZooAve center in La Garita, northwest of Costa Rica's capital, San Jose. At 6 months, they take a 200-mile trip to the southern city of Golfito and then travel by boat to a beach and finally the isolated San Josecito conservation center, far from human settlements. There, they spend up to three months in captivity before being released.

The parrots, which live up to 80 years, can start reproducing at age 7. Of ZooAve's 86 scarlet macaws, 54 are in the reproduction program.

Many parrots in the breeding program were confiscated by environmental authorities or turned in by their former owners. Some can't leave the sanctuary because they don't know how to survive in the wild.

"Many don't even know how to feed themselves," Fournier said.

Posted by mikki at 01:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

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.

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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)

The Religion Clauses in the 21st Century: Symposium Papers:

ACS and the West Virginia Law Review are pleased to announce that papers written for "The Religion Clauses in the 21st Century" symposium held at the West Virginia University College of Law are now available. Video excerpts of the panelists discussing symposium topics are also available.
Written by scholars in the law of church and state, the symposium papers reflect perspectives on issues organized according to these themes: "The Religion Clauses in Institutional Contexts" "Government Religious Expression," "Accommodation of Religion," and :Religion and Politics"
Over the next few weeks, ACSBlog will publish short introductions by the authors to a number of the articles. A list of the papers written for the symposium can be found below the fold.

• "Introduction" by William P. Marshall, Vivian E. Hamilton, and John E. Taylor
• "Life After the Establishment Clause" by Steven G. Gey
• "Substantive Neutrality Revisited" by Douglas Laycock
• "Instruments of Accommodation: The Military Chaplaincy and the Constitution" by Ira C. Lupu and Robert W. Tuttle
• "Reconciling the Irreconcilable: Military Chaplains and the First Amendment" by Steven K. Green
• "Public School Students' Religious Speech and Viewpoint Discrimination" by Kirsti L. Bowman
• "Why Student Religious Speech is Speech" by John E. Taylor
• "Uncivil Religion: Judeo-Christianity and the Ten Commandments" by Frederick Mark Gedicks and Roger Hendrix
• "'Sectarianizing' Civil Religion? A Comment on Gedicks and Hendrix" by Steven D. Smith
• "The Establishment Clause and Religious Expression in Governmental Settings: Four Variables in Search of a Standard" by Daniel O. Conkle
• "Establishment Clause Limits on Free Exercise Accommodations" by Kent Greenawalt
• "When Accommodations for Religion Violate the Establishment Clause: Regularizing the Supreme Court's Analysis" by Carl H. Esbeck
• "Responsible Freedom Under the Religion Clauses: Exemptions, Legal Pluralism, and the Common Good" by Angela C. Carmella
• "Religious Exemptions and the Common Good: A Reply to Professor Carmella" by Laura S. Underkuffler
• "Deep Purple: Religious Shades of Family Law" by Naomi Cahn and June Carbone
• "Religious v. Secular Ideologies and Sex Education: A Response to Professors Cahn and Carbone" by Vivian E. Hamilton
• "Is Public Reason Counterproductive?" by Eduardo M. Penalver

Posted by mikki at 04:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Ok folks, now how many times do we have to slowly and carefully explain that MOST of Christianity's rituals come directly from Paganism? We say it, they don't believe it, and now, oh boy....some are finally taking notice. Heh. What do ya do? You just can't educate some.

Pagan Christianity:
by Jason Pitzl-Waters

George Barna, head of the conservative Christian polling organization The Barna Group, has co-authored a new book that takes a deeper look at traditional Christian practices. The result, "Pagan Christianity", seems almost like a fun-house mirror reflection of the rhetoric you can hear from many modern Pagans. Barna, a Catholic turned conservative evangelical, and advocate for the "house church" movement, sees paganism everywhere in the modern Christian church structure. Did Christian leaders borrow/steal/sanctify elements from ancient pagan culture, philosophy, and religion? Of course they did. Few argue otherwise. Christianity leapt into the cultural and religious vacuum created within the Roman Empire when Constantine, and subsequent emperors, gradually removed the traditional/pagan faiths from power. It is only natural that the assumption of that much power and prestige would alter a previously persecuted minority faith in an overwhelmingly pagan world.

"Pagan Christianity makes an unsettling proposal: Most of what present-day Christians do in church each Sunday is rooted not in the New Testament, but in pagan culture and rituals developed long after the death of the apostles. Authors Frank Viola and George Barna support their thesis with compelling historical evidence and extensive footnotes that document the origins of our modern Christian church practices."

Posted by mikki at 04:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I'd personally like to see a lot more information on these experiments and the "modicum of training" necessary to sharpen them. I'm hoping it's not another "for only 200 payments of 19.95 you too can project naked pictures into the minds of 12 year old boys"

Has the military found proof that we are all psychic?:
Dr Chris Roe places a pair of enormous fluffy earphones over the head of a blonde 20-year-old woman. He carefully slices a ping-pong ball in half and places each piece over her eyes. He switches on a red light and leaves the room. After a few moments, the gentle hiss of white noise begins to fill the laboratory and the woman begins smiling sweetly to herself. Images of distant locations start to pass through her mind. She can sense a group of trees and a babbling brook full of boulders. Standing on a boulder is her friend Jack. He’s waving at her and smiling manically. She begins to describe the location to Dr Roe. Half a mile away her friend Jack is, indeed, standing on a boulder in a stream. The woman can "see" Jack in her mind's eye even though all of conventional science – and common sense – says it is impossible. Is this a bizarre coincidence or proof that we all possess hidden psychic powers of the type popularised in such films as Minority Report?

Startling as it may seem, the results of Dr Roe's experiments suggest that it is indeed possible to project your mind's eye to a distant location and observe what is going on - even if that place is hundreds of miles away. In fact, Dr Roe's results suggest that up to 85 percent of people possess the psychic power of clairvoyance – or the ability to remote view in technical parlance. They provide the strongest evidence yet for such psychic powers and may help explain the skills shown by mediums and account for such phenomena as ESP and deja vu. And it would appear that we can all sharpen our psychic skills with only a modicum of training.

Posted by mikki at 04:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Unique find in Luxor on excavations in the necropolis of Ancient Thebes:
The find was intact, the tomb of an Egyptian warrior who died 4,000 years ago. A team led by a Spanish archaeologist has discovered the burial chamber of an Egyptian warrior who died four thousand years ago. The tomb discovered in the necropolis is that of Iqer, whose name was found inscribed on the wooden coffin which contained his mummified body. His name means "the excellent" El Mundo says. With him were fivearrows made of reed, with many of the feathers still intact, together with two large bows.

"The archer", buried with his bows and arrows, documents those years of conflict, and reflects a complex and warlike society, which was at the same time sophisticated, cultivated, intellectual and religious," he said. Other important finds the team has made at the site include what is known as the ‘Apprentice Board,’ reported as the first full-frontal portrait of an ancient Pharaoh ever discovered. It dates back to around to 1400 BC and is now on display in the museum at Luxor. They have also found dozens of bouquets of dried flowers tied together with cord, of olive and persea more than 3,500 years old.

Posted by mikki at 04:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

SINGAPORE — A cosmetics line that extolled the virtues of "Looking Good for Jesus" has been pulled from stores in Singapore after a number of complaints from shoppers, according to media reports Tuesday.

Promising to "Redeem your reputation and more," the product line included a "virtuous vanilla"-flavored lip balm and a "Get Tight with Christ" hand and body cream, The Straits Times said.

Wing Tai Retail, which manages the British retailer Topshop, removed the line late last month after receiving complaints.

"These products trivialize Jesus Christ and Christianity," it quoted Nick Chui, 27, one of the complainants, as saying. "There are also sexual innuendoes in the messages and the way Jesus is portrayed in these products."

One product has packaging with the image of Jesus wearing a bright white robe as he looks toward the heavens, while a heavily made-up blonde woman with an arm draped across his shoulder gazes dreamily at his face.

"Why would anyone use religious figures to promote vanity products? It's very disrespectful and distasteful," the report quoted 24-year-old accountant Grace Ong, as saying.

Posted by mikki at 06:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I made a grievous mistake. I posted a comment to the nonfluffypagans list on Live Journal, calling into question the statement that one cannot be a Wiccan unless one has been initiated into a coven with lineage. The claim, of course, being that Gardner was initiated into the "New Forest Coven" and all that is Wicca must come directly from him. Therefore, by "BTW" (British Traditional Witchcraft") standards, there is this strange definition of Wicca that doesn't really make too much sense, and they get to decide who is and is not a Wiccan. I started asking questions (stupid me), and the whole thing kinda dissolved into a "you're a poopy head" match so quickly that I quickly decided it wasn't worth any more effort. Interesting for a group that considers itself "non fluffy."

Anyway, it got me to thinking. We have a religion here that was basically "created" by a guy named Gardner in the late 1940s, drawing upon already existing theology, heavily influenced by Alestair Crowley and Dorothy Valiente. Gardner claims he was initiated by Dorothy Clutterbuck of the New Forest Coven. There is no evidence that she, or the coven, ever existed prior to Gardner's claims. Therefore, there is no evidence that Gardner was ever initiated into "Witchcraft" (which they use interchangeably with Wicca), nor any evidence that he was from a coven with "lineage."

None of that withstanding, Gardner's claim that he merely revived an ancient religion also has no basis in fact. He was the first to use the term "Wicca" to refer to any type of religion, so I suppose it would be like taking something that already existed, say Mormonism, and suddenly deciding to call it "New And Improved Salamander Babble" and declaring it ancient. Just doesn't seem to make much sense.

So who can call oneself Wiccan? Who is a "real" Wiccan? And who gets to decide? If BTWites have their way, only the would be Wiccan. They seem to call the rest of us either "fake" or "Neo-Wiccan" which is rather amusing given a religion that is just over 50 years old. (Please note, I'm not saying there is no such thing as a traditional witch or traditional witchcraft knowledge that may have been passed down over the years in one form or another, but that is not Wicca.) Using BTW as a distinction from, let's say UEW, is not quite good enough, and the label must be tweaked into superior and inferior levels of Wiccanness.

I seem to have a rather strange view of who is and who is not Wiccan. Although there are many different definitions, to me, Wicca is a polytheistic religion (one that truly believes in multiple Gods, not "three that are one," not "all are facets of one big diamond" or "all Gods are one God") that believes in at the duality of Deity, consisting of a male and a female, AND identifies as Wiccan. UEW defines Wicca as any religion that calls itself Wicca, AND believes in a god/force/power/whatever that is either genderless, both genders or manifests as a male/female polarity that we agree to call "the Lord and Lady." AND upholds the Five Points of Wiccan Belief. Those Five Points are the Rede, the Law of Return, the Ethic of Self Responsibility, the Ethic of Attunement, and the Ethic of Constant Improvement. More about that on the UEW Website

What I am trying to point out is that the whole idea of what is and is not "real true Wicca" and who can and cannot call themselves a "real true Wiccan" is a rather strange mishmash. The BTWs seem to say that you can't be Wiccan unless you were initiated (which they can't prove their founder was) into a coven with some sort of lineage (which they can't prove their founder was) regardless of your belief system, regardless of what you believe Deity is, and regardless of how you live your life. I don't understand this. Perhaps I'm missing an important point.

This calls to mind the old Ken-L-Ration commercials where the kid sang "My dog's better than your dog cuz he eats Ken-L-Ration" regardless of whether it makes him fart up a storm and leave dog pooh on your carpet. Some use of "better" I'm not familiar with.

And so, in closing...you BTWs are poopy heads. So there!

Posted by mikki at 11:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Judge to Navy: Limit sonar training - CNN.com:


LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- The Navy must follow environmental laws placing strict limits on sonar training that opponents argue harms whales, despite President Bush's decision to exempt it, a federal judge ruled Monday.


A federal judge ruled that the Navy must limit sonar training that some say hurts whales.

The Navy is not "exempted from compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act" and a court injunction creating a 12 nautical-mile no-sonar zone off Southern California, U.S. District Judge Florence-Marie Cooper wrote in a 36-page decision.

"We disagree with the (exemption) judge's decision," White House spokesman Tony Fratto said. "We believe the (exemption) orders are legal and appropriate."

Navy spokeswoman Lt. Cmdr. Cindy Moore said the military was studying the decision.

The president signed a waiver January 15 exempting the Navy and its anti-submarine warfare exercises from a preliminary injunction creating a 12 nautical-mile no-sonar zone off Southern California. The Navy's attorneys argued in court last week that he was within his legal rights.

Environmentalists have fought the use of sonar in court, saying it harms whales and other marine mammals.

"It's an excellent decision," said Joel Reynolds, attorney for the National Resources Defense Council, which is spearheading the legal fight. "It reinstates the proper balance between national security and environmental protection."

The Navy last week wrapped up a training exercise by the carrier strike group of the USS Abraham Lincoln in which sonar was used. There are currently no task force training exercises off the coast of California using sonar.

When he signed the exemption, Bush said complying with the law would "undermine the Navy's ability to conduct realistic training exercises that are necessary to ensure the combat effectiveness of carrier and expeditionary strike groups."

Said Reynolds: "I've always felt that the president's actions were illegal in this case, and the judge has affirmed that point of view with the decision today

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

10km nearer to heaven, and God still pays no attention:
Canada/Ireland: A Toronto-Heathrow flight had to be diverted to Shannon, Ireland, after the First Officer apparently suffered some kind of breakdown.

A passenger said the pilot was carried from the plane shouting and swearing, saying he wanted to talk to God....
He was very, very distraught. He was yelling loudly at times, he told the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.

He was swearing and asking for God and very distressed. He basically said he wanted to talk to God.

Pilot 'breakdown' diverts flight—BBC News, 30th January 2008.

Posted by mikki at 10:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Catholic upset that nuns are human:

United States: A religious extremist has complained about an advertisement for a Boston gym featuring nuns in a life drawing class. Or more precisely, he complains that the object of his fetishism has been depicted as normal human beings, with human failings, as the Sisters are clearly tempted by the buff young man modelling for them.

C.J. Doyle of the Catholic Action League of Massachusetts told the Herald the ad portrays a callous contempt for the sensibility of Catholics.

Naked-Man Ad Riles Hub Catholics—WCVB TV, 30th January 2008.

Posted by mikki at 10:57 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Lab setup creates out of body experiences:


Scientific American reports on simple lab setup involved a video camera and a head-mounted display to generate out of body experiences.

Last year, two research groups induced out-of-body experiences in healthy participants with virtual reality techniques. The experiments, described last August in studies by H. Henri Ehrsson and Olaf Blanke and colleagues in Science, demonstrate that out-of-body experiences, previously confined to the realms of psychiatry, fiction and the occult, occur when the normal processing of sensory information is disrupted. This research provides an important tool to understand how the feeling of self is generated by the brain.

The participants wore virtual reality goggles connected to video cameras that filmed the participants’ backs. Thus each participant saw his or her own body from the back ... To complete the illusion, the scientists used two plastic rods to stroke synchronously, for 1 or 2 minutes at a time, the participant’s back and the back of the virtual body. Next, the participants were asked to complete a questionnaire to evaluate their subjective perception of the illusion. Amazingly, they reported feeling as if they were being behind their physical bodies and looking at them from this location. The illusion failed when the stroking was asynchronous.

Link (Via Further: Strange Attractor & beyond)

Posted by mikki at 12:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Missing Cat Found in Owner's Suitcase:


PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. (AP) - The last time cat-owner Kelly Levy saw her tiger-striped feline was before she took her husband to the airport. The 24-year-old came back to her house late Friday to find the bottom step, where Gracie Mae would usually be waiting, empty.

Levy tore the house apart looking for the 10-month-old tabby who had been spayed just days before. She and her dad took out bathroom tiles and part of a cabinet to check a crawl space and papered the neighborhood with "lost cat" signs.

Then she got a phone call.

"Hi, you're not going to believe this, but I am calling from Fort Worth, Texas, and I accidentally picked up your husband's luggage. And when I opened the luggage, a cat jumped out," Levy recalled the caller saying.

Gracie Mae had crawled into Seth Levy's black suitcase undetected, been put through an X-ray machine, loaded onto an airplane, thrown onto a baggage claim conveyor belt and picked up by a stranger.

The tabby made the 1,300-mile trip home on an $80 plane ticket Sunday night.

Posted by mikki at 09:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Top 10 Reasons to Believe Logic Over Religion:

Written by Daily Garlic

Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for turning my tap water into alcohol and a never ending food basket, but I’m tired of all these people whining and telling me how to live my life. You do your thing, I do my thing, we’re all happy, but after reading that someone is paying Facebook to post a religious article titled “6 Reasons You Have To Believe In God”, I figured I’d grab my own cross and at least have fun while getting ready to be crucified for having an opinion.

The argument that because complex life exists, it must have been “created” is ridiculous, and it’s time someone said it. Yay, we have lots of chromosomes, we can see in color and keep erections for 4+ hours (commercials say see a doctor, I’d rather see a sorority house), but explaining away the unexplainable with magical explanations is as real as the emails I get from the prime minister of Nigeria who wants to send me $4 million dollars via a cashiers check.

1. “Earth is the perfect environment, it had to have been made for us”

Nai-eve. Get real. I point you to Arachaea, aka Archaebacteria and Extremophiles. These miraculous organisms live in ridiculously extreme climates. Climates much like that of, I don’t know, other planets perhaps? The point is, different kinds of life require different things. Ours needs water, oxygen and beer. Anyway, as far as we know, in the 9 planets (fuck you, Pluto still counts) we have in our Solar System, we’re the only ones with real sentient life, so I guess that means we’re the only ones right? Oh wait, I forgot about the BILLIONS+ of other planets and solar systems in other galaxies and what not that we haven’t been to or seen up close. So we’re here, great, that’s awesome, but if it were so damn perfect, Canada would be part of the United States, it wouldn’t be so damn cold here in the winter, and Yellow Stone would shoot up Budweiser. Hey, a guy can dream right?

2. Free Will - Contradicting a Contradiction

God “gives” us “Free Will” so that we can choose which path to follow. He knows what we’re going to do, but he’s “giving” us the choice to, uhm, choose what he already knows we’re going to do? To put it simply, if God can know 100% without a doubt you’re going to do it, it’s set in stone, you can’t change it, you’re just fulfilling destiny or a “plan” laid out by someone else. Either he gives us free will to do what we want (in which case there are many different paths and there is no way to KNOW which one we’ll do), or it’s all an illusion and you’ve got a puppet string coming out of your ass.

3. Hillary Clinton is leading the polls

If there is a God, and he does love us, then this would never have happened. Every time I realize my calendar doesn’t say April, I wonder if there is a God and he has a sick sense of humor, but then it would have to be a really, really sick sense of humor.

4. Evolution

I don’t actually think that evolution disproves creationism, actually if there was an “intelligent designer” this would have been an “intelligent design” to build in. It’s nature’s undo button once you figure out that giving tigers the ability to fly just wasn’t the best idea out on the market. But since the church feels that evolution cannot co-exist with creationism, point me.

5. Intelligent Designs lack of a designer

Aren’t we smart, we are truly awesome. Don’t misunderstand me, I love walking on two legs and peeing standing up, but telling me that we have to be created by a magical being just because we exist, begs questioning.

Logic dictates that if (a) we are here so we must have come from somewhere, i.e. a “designer” who is more complex and intelligent than us, then (b) a complex and intelligent designer, would also have to have come from somewhere i.e. a “designer” who is even more complex and intelligent.

If the reasoning for a God is we’re here, then where did he come from? My favorite famous lines are “he always was” and “no one knows”. Shave the wool off your back and follow the herd if you believe that. If someone HAD to have created us, they would have HAD to have been created. If our creator could have ALWAYS been or just magically appeared, then so could we have.

We can’t just assert that God is mightier and he just magically came to be, if that’s the logic, I say someone still had to find him in the bottom of a cereal box, it’s a paradox.

6. Ron Paul is behind in the polls

“Congressman Ron Paul (R-Texas) is the leading advocate for freedom in our nation’s capital.” He’s advocating for FREEDOM, come on, how can you not love freedom. He wants to legalize pot and I’ve seen him kiss at least 6 babies in the past week. He wants to get rid of the IRS, imagine a world without angry letters from those bastards! If God existed, Ron Paul wouldn’t be just President, he would have been made Co-God back in the 60s.

7. Pot is illegal but Alcohol is A-Okay

Alcohol, the leading cause of drunk driving, and as such the leading cause of alcohol-related deaths, is totally cool for me to drive down to the liquor store to pick up and binge drink on. On the flip side, lighting up a joint and scarfing down a large pizza or two will get you boned hard. If God was around, he’d rather I eat a bag of Doritos and pass out than get drunk, beat my wife and piss on the couch. The worst that can happen with pot is smoking yourself stupid and passing out, but alcohol makes people angry. Hulk mad. If only there were a God… and then Ron Paul would set the record straight.

8. Bad things happen to good people, great things happen to bad people

For a society that constantly gets the short end of the stick when it comes to miracles, I’ve never fully understood how people can whipe away such an obvious shortcoming with one or two hail marys. If we’re God’s children, how come Bin Laden hasn’t been bent over his knee and beat with a wooden spoon yet? Why the hell are people stopping to help stalled motorists and getting raped murdered, and why is it that every time a girl scout makes it to my door she’s out of thin mints? I’m sick of it. Shortbread cookies suck, they do. There, I said it. Aside from such atrocities, every single day bad people get rewarded, while good people are getting creamed on the side of the road by drunk drivers. Give credit where credit is due, if you’re an asshole, you should have karma spitting in your face, and if you’re a good-looking, stand-up guy who wants some damn thin mints, you should get some damn thin mints.

9. Blind Faith

If we’re supposed to believe in a God, and he wants us to believe in him, and the only way for eternal salvation is to believe, then why can’t he take 30 seconds to hop off his throne made of golden baby carcasses and pop in and have coffee with me tomorrow? Starbucks, 10:30, I’ll buy. If it’s such a big deal to believe, why is it not such a big deal to give a reason to believe in?

10. The proof is in dying

Ever notice how religions promise us stuff that cannot be instantly proven? One of the biggest promises is heaven after we die or in Islam they promise 72 virgins. That has got to be the lowest thing.. promising pussy in the after life for accepting their religion.

The biggest logical fallacy is that a religion can offer us millions and millions of years of heaven for accepting their beliefs for just 100 years max? What is the ratio there there, how can accepting something for 100 years or so get you something for millions of years (or eternity) to come. When something looks too good to be true, it probably is.
Conclusion

I don’t want you to change your views for me, hell I don’t care if you DO believe that Jesus is magic and my house was struck by lightning and swiftly burnt to the ground right after posting this. It’s your life, do what you want, but don’t sit back and take everything you’re told with a spoonful of sugar and a blindfold, that’s for republicans.

About the Author: David enjoys long walks on the beach, casual strolls down the boulevard and writing long and drawn out posts in his underwear in the wee hours of the morning.

Posted by mikki at 06:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Va. AG Sides With Conservative Churches In Dispute - News Story - WRC | Washington:


McLEAN, Va. -- Nearly a dozen conservative Virginia church congregations seeking to split from The Episcopal Church in a dispute over homosexuality and other theological issues received the support of Virginia Attorney General Robert McDonnell in legal papers filed this week.
The Episcopal Church, a national denomination of roughly 2 million members, sued the 11 congregations last year in an effort to regain control of church property.
The 11 congregations -- including two especially large and prominent congregations, Truro Church in Fairfax and The Falls Church in Falls Church -- voted in 2006 and 2007 to leave The Episcopal Church and realign under a network led by conservative Anglican bishops in Africa who also oppose The Episcopal Church's theological views, including its acceptance of an openly gay bishop.
The congregations, which consider themselves members of the newly formed Anglican District of Virginia, say they should keep their church property, worth tens of millions of dollars. The Episcopal Church argues that the votes are not legitimate and wants the property returned to the denomination.
In a motion to intervene filed Thursday in Fairfax County Circuit Court, McDonnell sided with the breakaway congregations on a key legal matter. The attorney general urged Circuit Judge Randy Bellows to follow a state law dating back to the Civil War era in resolving the dispute.
That law allows a majority vote of the congregation to determine ownership and affiliation when a "division" has occurred within a religious denomination.
The Episcopal Church has argued, among other things, that the state law is unconstitutional because it requires the court wade into theological issues such as whether a schism has occurred within the Episcopal denomination.
"As a matter of federal constitutional law, the Episcopal Church is simply wrong," McDonnell wrote in the motion. "The Constitution does not require that local church property disputes be resolved by deferring to national and regional church leaders."
Instead, the Supreme Court has allowed courts to decide such disputes on neutral principles, like looking at the language of property deeds. McDonnell, a Republican expected to run for governor next year, said the court should simply look to determine that the vote authorizing the disaffiliation was conducted properly.
"There is no need for the judiciary to inquire into matters of religious doctrine," McDonnell wrote. "The inquiry is entirely secular."
If Judge Bellows were to accept McDonnell's argument, it would be a major victory for the 11 congregations, but not a decisive one. The judge will have to rule on other issues before making a final judgment, including claims by The Episcopal Church that the votes to leave the denomination were done improperly.
Patrick Getlein, spokesman for the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia, said the diocese is looking at the motion and plans to provide a formal response to the court next week.
Jim Oakes, vice chairman of the Anglican District of Virginia, welcomed McDonnell's motion.
"Our parishes voted overwhelmingly to disassociate from the Episcopal Church due to its rejection of the authority of Scripture," he said. "Our decision is just one small piece of evidence that there is a widespread division within the Anglican Communion."
The dispute is being watched closely by church leaders worldwide; dozens of congregations and at least four of the 110 Episcopal dioceses in the U.S. are taking steps to break away and align with an overseas Anglican leader. The Episcopal church is the U.S. body of the 77 million member worldwide Anglican Communion.
Both sides in the Virginia dispute say they have spent more than $1 million in legal fees as the case has dragged on.
Oakes said he is "appalled at the money this is costing us" and said the congregations remain willing to settle the case amicably, despite their confidence in the strength of their case.
Bellows could rule on the constitutionality of the state law in coming weeks but is not expected to set a final trial date until September or October at the earliest.

Posted by mikki at 05:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

End of skeptic James Randi's million dollar challenge:


For ten years, skeptic magician James Randi has offered a million dollars to "anyone who can show, under proper observing conditions, evidence of any paranormal, supernatural, or occult power or event." He's just announced that the James Randi Educational Foundation is discontinuing the Million-Dollar Challenge two years from now. The money will be freed, he says, "to generally add to our flexibility" and enable the group "to do many more projects." From his note on the matter:

Now, we’re sure that there will be those who will offer all kinds of objections to this decision – though they could have simply applied and won the prize. There will be accusations that the JREF is concerned about the safety of the prize money – which was never any sort of concern, I can assure you – and there will be more claims that the money was never there in the first place. I can see the professionals out there sighing in relief that they no longer have to answer questions about why they won’t take the prize, and they’ll just wait out the remaining period that the prize is available. All that’s to be expected.



Ten years is long enough to wait. The hundreds of poorly-constructed applications, and the endless hours of phone, e-mail, and in-person discussions we’ve had to suffer through, will be things of the past, for us at the JREF.



Those who believe they have mystic powers now have two full years to apply… Let’s see what happens.

Posted by mikki at 04:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

U.Va. to Return Looted Greek Statues to Italy:


CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) - The University of Virginia plans to return two ancient Greek sculptures to Italy nearly three decades after tomb raiders looted them from Sicily.

The acroliths of the Greek goddesses were created about 525 B.C. out of cloth, wood and marble. They have been on display at the university's art museum since being donated to the university in 2002.

"We're honored that we had them," U.Va. art history professor Malcolm Bell III said. "We took good care of them. A lot of students saw them and learned from them. Now we're happy to return them to Italy."

The life-size statues were originally displayed inside a temple in Morgantina, an ancient Greek settlement near what is now the Italian city of Aidone. They are thought to represent Demeter, the Greek goddess of agriculture and grain, and her daughter Persephone, the queen of the underworld.

U.Va. hasn't disclosed who donated the statues to its museum. However, the New York Times reported in September that New York diamond merchant and philanthropist Maurice Tempelsman previously owned the acroliths.

Upon receiving the statues in 2002, the university negotiated a deal to keep them for five years, with the understanding that they would be returned to Italy afterward. The Italian government endorsed the deal.

To mark the return of the sculptures, the school will host a symposium Feb. 2 titled "The Goddesses Return."

Following the event _ which will feature discussions on museum ethics, the antiquities market and archaeological preservation _ members of the Italian police, or carabinieri, will escort the acroliths back to Italy.

"We're very pleased and grateful and happy to be getting these magnificent statues back," said Silvia Limoncini, a cultural counselor of the Italian Embassy in Washington. "It's an example of the excellent relationship between Italy and the United States."

Since their discovery in 1978, the two acroliths have traveled the world via the black market of looted antiquities. According to the New York Times, they were smuggled through Switzerland and surfaced in a London showroom in 1980. Tempelsman bought the acroliths from the London dealer for $1 million, the newspaper reported, adding that there is no indication that Tempelsman knew they had a potentially shady origin.

In the late 1980s, the statues were on display at the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles. But after an Italian prosecutor notified the museum that they were possibly illegally excavated, the acroliths were returned to Tempelsman.

Upon the acroliths' return to Italy, they will be displayed at a museum in Aidone. In the coming years, the sculptures will be joined by other priceless works of repatriated art from American museums.

The return of the acroliths is especially appropriate, Bell said, because the myths of Demeter and Persephone involved themes of traveling and returning. After Persephone is kidnapped and taken to the underworld, her mother searches for her across the Earth. Meanwhile, Persephone returns to Earth once a year, heralding spring and rebirth.

Posted by mikki at 11:27 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Annual end-of-the-world post 2008:

So, none of last year's predictions concerning the end of the world have come true. Nor has there been any sign of Jesus. This, of course, will not stop the prophets of doom. So, what can we expect in 2008?

Last year, we started with ARMAGEDDON 2007 EZEKIEL 4 TIME PROPHECY JERUSALEM ISRAEL PROPHECIES. The person behind the site has not been put off by the predictions failing to come to pass and the page has now been born again as Bible Prophecy Revelations Armageddon 2008.

Though Armageddon did not commence in 2007 as we expected, the process leading to that war sometime in 2008, has begun.

The predictions for Jerusalem remain intact, with a disclaimer.

If probation for the Jews ended in 2007, how far are we from this dreadful war? We've already stated here on the eve of 2008 we believe it's just a couple of months away now!

And some gratuitous homophobia:

Why is such a war needed? The land of Israel has been flagrantly defiled. We believe such a war is needed to prevent the opening of any more brothels and casinos in the Holy Land! We believe such a war is needed to prevent Tel Aviv from becoming the gay capital of the world! We believe such a war is needed to prevent any more gay marches from defiling Jerusalem!

I suspect that San Francisco, Brighton and similar places hold no fear that lgbt tourists will take their money to Tel Aviv any time soon, no matter how sunny it is.

To Infinity And Beyond! has only one possibility for the coming year, and it's one of Marilyn Agee's many dates for the start of the end-times:

PRE-TRIB RAPTURE, FIRST "TRUMP OF GOD" Probably Pentecost, Sivan 6, 5768 (June 9, 2008)




TEMPLE CONSTRUCTION BEGINS

Sacrifice of the red heifer when she is four years old (she is 3.5 now)

Priests, purified with the ashes of the red heifer, start building the Temple after the Rapture




THE BEGINNING OF THE TRIBULATION, 1ST SEAL

SEVENTH DAY OF UNLEAVENED BREAD - Pre-Trib Rapture, April 26, 2008

Beginning of the 2300 days of Dan. 8:12-14 (Jewish inclusive reckoning)

First beast begins to rule...

Another obsessive cataloguer has produced The Doomsday List, which should make this job much easier in future years. The compiler notes that the majority of predictions for 2008 come from Bible Code nerds The Lord's Witnesses. They use the Jewish Calendar, but with Gregorian years, just to confuse us, and admit that they have made many mistakes in the past. Their favourite prediction concerns a nuclear strike on New York, which has been failing to happen for two years now. The most recent dates for this have passed without incident:

We now believe and calculate that it must happen somewhere along the East Coast of the US between Washington and NYC possibly at Annapolis but more likely at the UN Tower in Manhattan from 2007Tebbeth4 to 2007Tebbeth7

That's between Thursday, 13 December 2007 and Sunday, 16 December 2007. A further refinement of this has been made, but it's still in the past:

We now calculate that somewhere on the East Coast of the USA, between Washington and NYC, possibly at Anapolis or more likely at the UN Tower in Manhattan, will be hit by a sea borne dirty bomb or nuclear bomb on or before Saturday December 22nd, 2007

Here's the list of dates which will be refined in the next year:

2008 February 3/4, 2007Shebat21. The little horn of the EU corrupts the UNGA and God's people are given into his hand for 3½ Times, which are months, 105 days, until we are rescued by Jesus on 2008Sivan6.




2008 March21, 2008Nisan14, Satan loses throne and kingdom and authority, but UN does not yet, it battles with the lamb during Armageddon....




2008 March23, 2008Nisan16, Kingdom of God begins.




2008 May 5, 2008Iyyar29. The Sign of the Son of man appears in heaven at the end of the 1335 days of Daniel 12. The faithful are happy as described in Daniel 12.




2008 May 12, 2008Sivan6. Jesus comes, the 1NC saints descend as humans. They start gathering the church sons of the 1AC together to be raptured. The door of Noah is closed, no more first time entrance into the LWs, the ICC is closed other than rebpatisms. The faithless say: Lord, Lord!! The UNPBC has its second head cut off.




2008 September 18/19, 2008Tishri15. Earthly celebration of the 2NC by the great crowd, all the sons of the CRC and by all those who are raptured and by all the saints, the sons of the ARC.




2008 October 3/4, 2008Tishri30. Miriam, the sealed 1NC saints, is permitted back into the camp in heaven. 7 year kingship Malediction on 1NC saints ends. The bride has prepared herself. The Marriage of the lamb can now begin. End of LW water baptism.




2008 October 4/5, 2008Heshvan1. This is the Megiddo administration or Har Megiddo or Armageddon. This administration fights Jesus for 150 days from 2008Hesvhan6 to 2008Nisan6.




2008 October 9/10, 2008Heshvan6. Last day of Zoar, the Rapture. The ark hits the mountains of Ararat after 150 days. The 5 times of the hand of Lot and his wife and his daughters end. The 616 days of UNGA authority over God's people ends with this rapture. 50% of mankind is beamed up as angels. The UN is still in existence at this time. The war of the great Day of Jehovah, the evening meal of God, begins. Jesus attacks the Megiddo administration for the next 150 days, since Lot escaped from the Midst of the overthrow of the cities of the religious administration of Sodom and of the secular administration of Gomorrah. Lot is in the gate of Sodom, but not in the gate of Gomorrah.

And something more tangible: The world will run out of Wheat in Q1, 2008!

T. Chase of Revelation 13 is still obsessed with Vladimir Putin and remains convinced that he is the Antichrist. The world population is also approaching a significant figure:

When the world population reaches 6.66 billion in about April 2008, that may be a terrorism caused by Iran and Al Qaeda, or this could be the rise of the Antichrist, Russian President Putin.

He also uses Bible Codes, and has some specific predictions for some specific places. His dates are less specific, as any of the following events could occur any time between 2008 and 2010. Those events are:

• A Canary Islands Volcano collapsing into the sea, causing a tsunami, and Yellowstone going up. These are both things that scientists worry about.


• Possibly as a result of the above, a tsumani will hit Miami. I wonder what Florida-based Pat Robertson will make of that? The same page forecasts a threat of nuclear terrorism by Osama bin Laden and Al Qaida, an Al Qaida biological attack, an asteroid will hit in the ocean ... causing a tidal wave, a disease plague (possibly Ebola), a star which is close to supernova might actually go supernova,


• World economic chaos. Well, duh!


• Diseases: Ebola Virus, Marburg Virus, AIDS/HIV, Mad Cow Disease, Flu.

More precise dates for other events can be found on the Calendar page, where we see Christian astrology in action.

There are more Bible Code predictions at Satan's Rapture, but this site includes some more precise dates, including for May 2008, a terrorist attack using biological agents, probably Ebola, on Philadelphia in May 2008 and the assasination of Barak Obama and John Edwards, allowing Hilary Clinton to become US president in the November 2008 elections. Hilary Clinton is, of course, the Antichrist.

Another person convinced that the end is nigh in 2008 is Robert Weinland, author of 2008 - God's Final Witness. So convinced is he of this that he's made the book available as a free download, in four languages (English, Dutch, Spanish and Italian). He predicts four events will bring about the total collapse of the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and some countries of Western Europe (p. 116) and By the fall of 2008, the United States will have collapsed as a world power, or it will have begun its collapse and no longer exist as an independent nation within six months after that time (p. 244).

Let us not forget the true Russian Orthodox Church, the cult currently holed up awaiting the end of the world in May 2008.

Daniel Min also sees armageddon this year:

But it's all merely academic at this point, seeing that the 2008 election will be cancelled, and far more importantly is the great tribulation, Armageddon unto end of the world, is clearly imminent, and there is nothing anyone can do to stop it, neither postpone it: any more than they can stop the revolutions of the planets in orbit.

Posted by mikki at 07:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

You got your Jesus in my peanut butter!

Priests brawl at Jesus' birthplace - CNN.com:


ETHLEHEM, West Bank (AP) -- Greek Orthodox and Armenian priests attacked each other with brooms and stones inside the Church of the Nativity as long-standing rivalries erupted in violence during holiday cleaning on Thursday.


The basilica, built over the grotto in Bethlehem where Christians believe Jesus was born, is administered jointly by Roman Catholic, Greek Orthodox and Armenian Apostolic authorities.

Any perceived encroachment on one group's turf can touch off vicious feuds.

On Thursday, dozens of priests and cleaners were scrubbing the church ahead of the Armenian and Orthodox Christmas, celebrated in early January. Thousands of tourists visited the church this week for Christmas celebrations.

But the clean-up turned ugly after some of the Orthodox faithful stepped inside the Armenian church's section, touching off a scuffle between about 50 Greek Orthodox and 30 Armenians.

Palestinian police, armed with batons and shields, quickly formed a human cordon to separate the two sides so the cleaning could continue, then ordered an Associated Press photographer out of the church.

Four people, some with blood running from their faces, were slightly wounded

Posted by mikki at 07:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Well said, well said....

American Chronicle: The Case for Christ-Free Christmas:


Christmas is only a few days off, and I think it’s as good a time as any to speak up for a segment of humanity that is too often ignored and forgotten by the media around the holidays. I speak up for this faction of society not only because I believe it to be vastly in the majority, but also because I happen to be a member. I’m talking about those of us who celebrate a secular Christmas.

My favorite time of year for as long as I can remember has been Christmas. As a child, I strung popcorn onto thread, hung ornaments from pine branches (we always bought a real tree back then), and stood alongside my mother as she baked cookies decorated with brightly colored red and green sugar. When I was young enough to still believe in him, I wrote letters to Santa Claus and left a plate cookies and a glass of milk out on the kitchen table for him. One year I even constructed a crude object d’art from yarn and glued-together popsicle sticks and left it out for Santa to take with him, labeling it in my letter simply “a toy.” I figured he could deliver it to some underprivileged child behind the Iron Curtain who wouldn’t know the difference. When I woke up that Christmas morning, my homemade toy was gone, and Santa thanked me for it in a note left on the kitchen table.

At the time it was a thrilling surprise, though now when I think about it, I am suspicious of the similarity of Santa’s handwriting to that of my mother.

My mother’s father was a minister. My father’s upbringing wasn’t nearly so religious, but he wasn’t brought up an atheist, either. Mercifully, they both decided before I was born not to push religion on me. Except for a few months when I was in first grade, when Dad temporarily let his elderly grandmother guilt-trip him into it, we never attended church. Our Christmases were centered around Santa, snowmen, food, and family. And presents, naturally, which my younger brother and I soon realized were best of all.

As an adult, I’ve outgrown Santa and snowmen, and the rapacious lust for receiving gifts, but I still treasure the time spent sitting around the tree with my mother and father, my brother, my grandmother, and, these last few years, my girlfriend. We sing no hymns, we say no prayers. Jesus, most assuredly, is not among our reasons for the season.

And good for us, because that particular bit of bumper sticker sloganeering has always gotten on my nerves. For one thing, there’s the obnoxious insistence that any Christmas celebration not centering on the Christian concept of the holiday is illegitimate. For another thing, it makes no rational sense—no matter how you look at it, Jesus is not the reason for the season.

If you take “season” to mean the season of winter, the period of the year, in the Northern Hemisphere, between the winter solstice and the vernal equinox, characterized by colder temperatures and fewer hours of daylight, then the season is the result of the 23 degree tilt of the Earth’s axis relative to its orbital plane. Jesus is neither the source, nor the cause, nor in any sense the reason for this season.

If you interpret “season” to mean the season of celebration surrounding the solstice in late December, then it is the result of virtually every culture throughout Europe and Asia marking the time of the solstice as a significant annual event. Many of these cultural celebrations predate Christianity by hundreds or thousands of years, and most have nothing whatsoever to do with Jesus. Even the connection of Jesus to Christmas is questionable; Christians take the day to mark his birth, but a careful reading of the Biblical account suggests his actual date of birth was during spring or summer. The Christmas celebration was established in late December to replace the pre-existing pagan celebrations, including Saturnalia, which were already popular in the Roman Empire before its conversion to Christianity.

So if I want to celebrate a non-religious holiday in late December, why bother with Christmas at all? There’s Yule, which is a major donor of traditions and trappings to modern Christmas—why don’t I trade in the tree for a log, and call the family to feast in honor of Thor? Because I don’t want to celebrate Yule. It means nothing to me. I want to celebrate Christmas. What the evangelical “Jesus is the reason” crowd hates to admit is that, while they weren’t looking, especially during the last hundred years or so, Christmas became a secular holiday.

Some Christians, I know, object to Christ-free secular celebrations being referred to as Christmas. “Put the Christ back in Christmas,” goes another popular slogan. But the word, like the holiday itself, has evolved beyond its origins. Modern Christmas is no more limited by the original conventions of Christ’s Mass than modern Halloween is by the Catholic celebration of All Hallows Eve.

I also don’t believe there is a war on Christmas. I’m not an officious alarmist who sees department stores and local governments wishing people “Happy Holidays” as part of an insidious scheme to delete Christmas from the public consciousness, like a certain television and radio host whom I shall not name, except to state that his initials are “Bill O’Reilly.” I know that many public schools no longer allow their show choirs to sing Christmas carols, and are even afraid to label their Christmas pageants as such, but I chalk that up to misplaced, overboard, however well-meaning, political correctness rather than some nefarious desire on the part of teachers and administrators to disenfranchise Christians.

I have no problem with schools holding Christmas assemblies, with the local, state or national governments hanging Christmas decorations on public property, or with the mayor or the governor or the president wishing us all a “Merry Christmas,” so long as we’re talking about the secular Christmas that virtually everyone in the United States, regardless of cultural or religious background, celebrates, even if only a little, and not the self-righteously pious Jesus-fest around which many church calendars revolve.

Not that I’m the type to brag about this sort of thing, but the Supreme Court agrees with me. In 2001, the highest court in the land upheld a lower court’s ruling in the case of Ganulin v. United States that Christmas served a legitimate secular purpose. It is not an exclusively religious holiday, and it hasn’t been for a long time.

Secular Christmas isn’t perfect. I’m as put-off by the commercialism and materialism surrounding it as anyone. I don’t want it to be an occasion for overindulgence or conspicuous consumption. I hate the emphasis on shopping that dominates the season, kicking into high gear the day after Thanksgiving and enduring for a solid month. Christmas is a sacred day to me. It’s a day for family and friends, for sitting around the table and eating great food, for gathering in the living room to watch Miracle on 34th Street—hell, if Dad wants to, I’ll even hold my gorge down long enough to watch It’s a Wonderful Life. Making it a secular day shouldn’t make it a cheap day, a commercial or tawdry day.

For me, it’s always been the most wonderful time of the year, and it’s never had anything to do with the birth of Jesus. If you and your family treasure your religious Christmas, if you look forward to attending church services early in the morning, if you proudly display your illuminated plastic crèche in your front yard, more power to you. You have a right to your Christmas, just as I have to mine.

Anyway, whatever your Christmas looks like, whether its central figure is a child in a manger or a fat, bearded fellow on a sleigh; whether your tree is topped by an angel or a star; whether your yard is adorned with a nativity scene or a giant inflatable snowman; whether you believe in Christ, or Santa Claus, or neither one; whether you adore it or couldn’t care less, have a good one. Merry Christmas.

Posted by mikki at 01:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Judge: White House visitor logs are public documents - CNN.com:


ASHINGTON (CNN) -- The White House must release its visitor logs and cannot hide behind a shield of privilege, a federal judge ruled Monday. The Bush administration has resisted public disclosure while it fights a lawsuit over alleged political influence by conservative Christian leaders.

The Bush administration has been fighting the release of White House visitor logs.

U.S. District Court Judge Royce Lamberth concluded the information is part of the public record and is subject to disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act as "agency records."

"Because the Secret Service creates, uses and relies on, and stores visitor records, they are under its control," said Lamberth.

He ordered the Secret Service to produce records within 20 days.

The White House claimed exclusive control of the documents, subject to the complete discretion of the president over their release.

Secret Service records have been an important tool for advocacy groups and members of Congress seeking information on the inner workings of the executive branch.

Congressional investigators used the records a decade ago in their investigations of the various Whitewater scandals involving President Clinton and his associates, as well as allegations of influence peddling by the Clinton campaign in the 1996 elections.

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a self-described government watchdog group, sought the visit records of prominent conservatives James Dobson of Focus on the Family, Wendy Wright of Concerned Women of America and seven others including the late televangelist Jerry Falwell.

"CREW is pleased that the judge saw through the White House's transparent attempts to hide public documents from the American people," said Melanie Sloan, the group's executive director. "We look forward to sharing the documents we obtain through this lawsuit."

The White House and Justice Department had no immediate reaction to the ruling.

Separate legal action by CREW and other groups, including Judicial Watch and the Washington Post, sought White House visitor logs that listed lobbyist Jack Abramoff. He pleaded guilty last year to public corruption charges.

The White House and the Secret Service in 2006 signed an agreement that visitors to the White House complex were not subject to public disclosure. That "memorandum of understanding" was disclosed during legal action over the Abramoff records.

Lamberth called that a "self-serving" agreement because it was issued after the records were created and after the CREW lawsuit.

The judge, in a separate ruling Monday, said he lacked the authority to order the Secret Service to stop destroying its visitor records once copies were turned over to White House officials. But Lamberth noted the National Archives had to approve any destruction of the logs.

Another federal judge in Washington ordered the release of Secret Service logs of visitors to Vice President Dick Cheney's office. Cheney claimed those logs were subject to executive privilege. That ruling is being appealed.

Lamberth noted the Secret Service has an important "protective mission" when compiling electronic information -- including background checks -- of those seeking to enter the White House complex. But he said the agency's claim of "limited use" of the data does not mean the records are not subject to judicial review.

"This does not mean the Secret Service does not read or rely on them," wrote Lamberth. "If that were the case, any convenience store patron who has ever bought a losing scratch ticket could claim they did not gamble simply because they held the ticket for only a few minutes."

The issue of White House privilege over visitor logs has not been fully addressed by the Supreme Court.

The case decided Monday is Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington v. U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

Posted by mikki at 07:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

That's obviously their punishment. :-) for the humor impaired.

Massive 'ice-maker' stops Heartland cold - CNN.com:


DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) -- Schools closed for thousands of youngsters, Iowa's biggest airport shut down and thick layers of ice brought down more power lines Tuesday as a major ice storm glazed the nation's midsection.

At least 22 deaths had been blamed on the storm system since the waves of sleet and freezing rain started during the weekend.

Officials in Missouri, Kansas and Oklahoma had declared states of emergency, and hundreds of thousands of people had been blacked out.

Iowa's largest school district closed for the day in Des Moines, telling its nearly 31,000 students to stay home, and kids across most of Oklahoma stayed home for a second day.

Schools also were closed in parts of Wisconsin, including Milwaukee Public Schools with 85,000 students. "We thought about our kids on foot," said Milwaukee schools spokeswoman Roseann St. Aubin. Some drivers couldn't even get to their buses, she said.

Posted by mikki at 03:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Think the Pope agrees? I heard something about mobilizing a panzer division and....

Bishop backs brothel regulation - Yahoo! News:


LONDON (Reuters) - A Roman Catholic bishop in the southern English port city of Portsmouth is backing a campaign to legalize brothels without in any way condoning them.

The Right Reverend Crispian Hollis supported the local branch of the Women's Institute which wants to license brothels.

"If you are going to take a pragmatic view and say prostitution happens, I think there is a need to make sure it's as well regulated as possible for the health of people involved and for the safety of the ladies themselves," Hollis said.

"That's not to say I approve of prostitution in any way. I would be very much happier if there was no prostitution in Portsmouth," he told The Portsmouth News.

"But it's going to be there whatever we do and it has been from time immemorial. So I think that is something we have to be realistic about."

His comments won praise from Rachel Frost, from the International Union for Sex Workers.

"The bishop should be commended for having the guts to come out and say that," she said.

Posted by mikki at 02:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Shocking story. After all, what kind of monster would attack a woman on crutches anyway? Perhaps if more people WOULD get involved like this (and the mug shot of the guy that you can see if you click on the link shows that they weren't gentle in dealing with the animal) there might be fewer crimes.

Police: Good Samaritans Stop Rape In Progress - News Story - KPTV Portland:


SALEM, Ore. -- Five Good Samaritans stopped a rape in progress in a south Salem neighborhood, according to police.
Officers said a 22-year-old woman on crutches was walking near the intersection of Liberty and Boone streets southeast just before 1 a.m. Saturday when she was attacked and assaulted by 37-year-old Paul Landingham.
According to authorities, a car with five people was driving by, saw what was happening and came to the woman's rescue.
Three men pulled Landingham off the woman and held him until police arrived at the scene.

Posted by mikki at 03:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Dog Steps On Gun, Shoots Man - Des Moines News Story - KCCI Des Moines:


POSTED: 8:29 am CDT October 28, 2007
UPDATED: 8:32 am CDT October 28, 2007
TAMA, Iowa -- A Tama man was injured when hunting dogs stepped on his gun.
Officials with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources
said James Harris, 37, was pheasant hunting with a group about three miles north of Grinnell when the accident happened.

Officials said the group had shot a bird and when Harris went to retrieve it, he put his gun on the ground and crossed a fence. As he crossed the fence, hunting dogs stepped on his gun causing it to fire.

Harris was shot in the lower left leg.

He was treated at Grinnell Medical Center and later transferred by helicopter to University Hospitals in Iowa City. His condition has not been released.

Posted by mikki at 04:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

firstamendmentcenter.org: news:


AUSTIN — The Texas Supreme Court reversed lower court decisions late last week and ruled that state restrictions on what unaccredited religious institutions can call themselves and their education training violate the First Amendment.

The court, in its Aug. 31 ruling, said banning an institution like the Tyndale Theological Seminary in Fort Worth from using the term “seminary” in its name violates the Constitution.

Three religious organizations waged the legal fight. Tyndale, one of the schools, was cited in 1998 for violating a law that requires seminaries to be accredited and prevents unaccredited institutions from awarding degrees. It was fined $173,000 by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board.

Plano-based Liberty Legal Institute represented the schools and argued before the court in 2005 that the state has no business regulating how pastors are trained.

State law requires institutions to meet certain standards if they call themselves a college, university or seminary. The court ruled that the law as it pertains to seminaries intrudes upon religious freedom.

“This decision is a huge victory for all seminaries not only in Texas but nationwide,” said Kelly Shackelford, the institute chief counsel. “Seminaries are going to now be free to be seminaries. ... The shackles are off.”

The case is not about secular teaching and degrees, but about purely theological education, he said. Shackelford said the ruling means the plaintiffs can try to recover attorneys fees incurred in the case.

The Texas Attorney General’s Office represented the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board and told the court that the state law aims not to regulate religion but only the quality of post-secondary education in Texas.

The law was written to crack down on degree mills that issue certificates but require little or no coursework.

Stephanie Elsea, spokeswoman for the Higher Education Coordinating Board, said the ruling could have “far-reaching” implications but that the board would withhold further comment until it had time to review the entire decision.

The Attorney General’s Office had no immediate comment on the ruling.

Under the law, the Tyndale seminary, operated by HEB Ministries Inc., was fined for issuing 34 degrees without the coordinating board’s approval.

Tyndale was founded in the early 1990s to offer biblical education for those entering the ministry in churches and missions. By 1999 it had a small campus and enrollment of 300 to 350 students, with most of those taking correspondence courses, the court opinion states.

The Southern Bible Institute in Dallas and the Hispanic Bible Institute in San Antonio joined in the suit seeking to overturn the fines and the law.

Posted by mikki at 12:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

firstamendmentcenter.org: news:


ST. LOUIS — A federal appeals court yesterday upheld a lower court ruling that prohibited the distribution of Bibles to grade school students in a southern Missouri school district.

At issue was a long-held practice at South Iron Elementary School in Annapolis, 120 miles southwest of St. Louis, in which Gideons International representatives came to fifth-grade classrooms and gave away Bibles. A U.S. district judge issued a temporary injunction last September.

A three-judge panel of the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis, ruling in Doe v. South Iron R-1 School District, agreed yesterday that the classroom distribution should be prohibited.

Parents of some students first raised concerns about the Bible distribution in 2005. That fall, the school board voted 4-3 to allow the distribution to continue, even though then-Superintendent Homer Lewis, at the urging of the district’s insurance carrier and attorney, suggested an end to the practice. A day after the vote, the Gideons came to the school and distributed Bibles to both fifth-grade classrooms.

The American Civil Liberties Union filed suit in February 2006 on behalf of four sets of parents, asking that the district be stopped “from further endorsement of religion.”

All four sets of parents are Christian, said Tony Rothert, legal director of the ACLU office in St. Louis.

“Their objection is they don’t want the school telling their children what their religious beliefs should be,” Rothert said. “They believe that should be done at home with the family.”

Rothert said the ACLU was asking the district court to issue a permanent injunction banning the Bible distribution program.

Mathew Staver, president of Liberty Counsel, a conservative law group based in Florida that represented the school district, said the appeals court ruling concerned a practice no longer in place.

Staver said the district’s current policy allows people or groups to distribute literature — with approval from the district — before or after school or during lunch break, but not in the classrooms. The new policy is open to religious groups beyond the Gideons, he said, and is the subject of a pending court ruling at the district court level.

“That policy we will vigorously defend because we believe it’s a constitutionally sound policy,” Staver said. “It will provide for others, including the Gideons, the right to distribute literature.”

The district in Iron County has fewer than 500 students and just two schools — the grade school and South Iron High School. The rural county sits in the heart of the nation’s so-called Bible Belt and includes dozens of churches.

Gideons International, based in Nashville, distributes more than 63 million Bibles worldwide each year, according to the organization’s Web site. A spokesman did not return a phone call seeking comment.

Posted by mikki at 09:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Wisconsin man's mangled prose takes bad writing prize; says college prepared him:


SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - A Wisconsin man whose blend of awkward syntax, imminent disaster and bathroom humour offends both good taste and the English language won an annual contest Monday that salutes bad writing.

Jim Gleeson, 47, of Madison, Wis., beat out thousands of other prose manglers in San Jose State University's 2007 Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest with this convoluted opening sentence to a nonexistent novel:

"Gerald began - but was interrupted by a piercing whistle which cost him ten per cent of his hearing permanently, as it did everyone else in a ten-mile radius of the eruption, not that it mattered much because for them 'permanently' meant the next ten minutes or so until buried by searing lava or suffocated by choking ash - to pee," Gleeson wrote.

Scott Rice, an English professor at San Jose State, called Gleeson's entry a "syntactic atrocity" that displays "a peculiar set of standards or values." Rice has organized the contest since founding it in 1982.

Gleeson, who works at a Madison hospital setting up computer networks, said he submitted about 20 entries, and gave a little insight into what it takes to win the bad writing title and its US$250 prize.

"It's like you take two thoughts that are not anything like each other and you cram them together by any means necessary," Gleeson said. He claimed he took time off from his current project, a self-help book for slackers entitled "Self-Improvement Through Total Inactivity," to pen his winning entry.

Gleeson credited his time in college with preparing him well. "There's a certain degree to which academia prepares you to write badly," Gleeson said wryly.

The contest takes its name from Victorian novelist Edward George Earl Bulwer-Lytton, whose 1830 novel "Paul Clifford" famously begins "It was a dark and stormy night."

Entrants are asked to submit bad opening sentences to imaginary novels. Citations are handed out for several categories, including "dishonourable mention" awards for "purple prose" and "vile puns."

Posted by mikki at 12:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Unearthing History At Prehistoric Glastonbury (from The Northern Echo):


STONE Age Britons from across the North-East flocked to a prehistoric "Glastonbury festival" marked by mysterious rituals, a major archaeological discovery suggests.

Experts believe tools, pottery and timber stakes unearthed near Durham City show a site within view of Durham Cathedral was a place of mass worship as far back as 3,000 BC.

What the Neolithic-era North-Easterners did during the meetings is still buried in history, but possible activities include ceremonial cremations and burials.

Steve Speak, senior keeper of field archaeology for Tyne and Wear Museums, said: "There is a whole range of different techniques here and finding out what it was used for takes a bit of Sherlock Holmes work.

"We know it's not defensive, and it's not a settlement. So you are left with one alternative - it had a spiritual use.

"It would have been a focus for people - like a prehistoric Glastonbury."

Archaeologists made the discovery while excavating the site ahead of the construction of a £3.5m drinking water reservoir.

Three man-made trenches, three raised henges and several wooden stakes, which may have been used to hold back soil, have been found.

Lee White, assistant archaeological officer at Durham County Council, said: "This is a very significant site. We have very few sites from this period in County Durham."

Mr Speak said: "Just to hold a piece of wood from 1500 BC that somebody made and used is amazing."

Archaeologists will remain on the site until October. They hope there will be public access to the site and information displayed to explain its importance.

Items unearthed will be offered to museums in the area.

Northumbrian Water says the reservoir will be used from next spring.

Posted by mikki at 04:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Six-toed Hemingway cats can stay, city says - CNN.com:


KEY WEST, Florida (AP) -- City officials have sided with Ernest Hemingway's former home and its celebrated six-toed felines in its cat fight with the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

>The Key West City Commission exempted the home from a city law prohibiting more than four domestic animals per household.

About 50 cats live there.

The house has been locked in a dispute with the USDA, which claims the museum is an "exhibitor" of cats and needs a special license, a claim the home disputes.

The new ordinance reads in part, "The cats reside on the property just as the cats did in the time of Hemingway himself. They are not on exhibition in the manner of circus animals. ... The City Commission finds that family of polydactyl Hemingway cats are indeed animals of historic, social and tourism significance."

It also states that the cats are "an integral part of the history and ambiance of the Hemingway House."

A USDA spokesman did not return messages left late Sunday.

The cats are descendants of a six-toed cat given as a gift to the writer in 1935. All carry the gene for six toes, though not all display the trait.

Posted by mikki at 12:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

IOL: Woman stabbed Scientologist parents:


Sydney - An Australian woman accused of murdering her father and sister was apparently denied psychiatric treatment because of her parents' Scientology beliefs, a court heard on Monday.

The 25-year-old woman, who cannot be named, appeared briefly in court on Monday to be charged for the stabbing attacks at her family home in a Sydney suburb, the Australian Associated Press reported.

She made no application for bail because she was unfit to be interviewed, her lawyer Wade Bloomfield told the court.

Consultant psychiatrist Mark Cross said in a report that the woman was diagnosed with a psychotic illness at Bankstown Hospital in late 2006, the court heard.



"She had a history of being diagnosed with a psychotic illness in late 2006 at Bankstown Hospital, but follow-up from the mental health team was apparently declined by her parents because of their alleged Scientology beliefs," Cross said.

The woman is accused of fatally stabbing her 53-year-old father and 15-year-old sister and wounding her 52-year-old mother, who raised the alarm as she collapsed in a neighbour's garden.

The mother remains in a serious but stable condition after undergoing surgery for multiple stab wounds.

The woman was arrested in a nearby street shortly after the attack and was placed under police guard in hospital until she was charged.

The Church of Scientology, which includes actors Tom Cruise and John Travolta among its celebrity members, is against psychiatry and opposes the use of psychiatric drugs.

Posted by mikki at 12:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Boeing unveils first assembled 787 Dreamliner - CNN.com:


EVERETT, Washington (AP) -- Boeing has raised the curtain on its first fully assembled 787 to an audience of thousands who packed into its wide-body assembly plant for the plane's extravagantly orchestrated premiere.

An audience of thousands watched as Boeing Co. unveiled the 787 in Everett, Washington, on Sunday.»

With flight attendants onstage from each airline that has ordered the jet, the giant factory doors opened wide as the plane slowly moved into view to the strains of a theme song composed specially for the 787, which Boeing calls the Dreamliner.

"Our journey began some six years ago when we knew we were on the cusp of delivering valuable new technologies that would make an economic difference to our airline customers," Mike Bair, vice president and general manager of the 787 program, told the crowd.

Continue reading "Finally, a "greener" airliner" »

Posted by mikki at 09:40 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Worst "Company" in America:

The blog "The Consumerist" apparently has its readership vote for the worst company in America. The blog writers then suggest ways to improve the customer service at the nominated company. Why do I know about this? Because this year, the readers picked as worst the pointy end of the Cartel's jihadist sword: the RIAA.

Of course, the RIAA isn't really a company, it's a trade organization. And customer service really isn't on their agenda. What is on their agenda is passing favorable legislation, like laws creating the crime of attempted piracy. In order to pass laws, you need sock puppets... excuse me, members of Congress. Who, in turn, need money. Lots of money, something the RIAA has and gives out.

Consumerist has therefore published a list of "50 Politicians Who Take Campaign Money from the RIAA", along with their contact info. Because we can't influence the RIAA directly but in theory we can influence these fifty people.

The amounts listed are really surprisingly low - Orrin Hatch got a mere USD 6000, a pittance for this once-powerful sock puppet's dutiful service. There are also some disturbing names on the list, such as Ed Markey, whom I'd expect to have better sense than to accept money from extortionists.

Posted by mikki at 12:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Transgender Methodist Minister Reappointed - News Story - WRC | Washington:


WASHINGTON -- A transgender United Methodist minister will be reappointed to lead his Baltimore congregation, church officials announced Thursday at a regional convocation.

The Rev. Drew Phoenix was greeted with applause after telling 1,600 members of the church's Baltimore-Washington conference that he had gone through "spiritual transformation" in the past year, since changing his name from Ann Gordon and receiving medical treatment to become a man.

"It is my intention and hope that by sharing my story that we commit ourselves as Christians and as United Methodists to become educated about the complexity of gender," Phoenix said. "Each of us is a beloved child of God -- no exceptions."

Phoenix, 48, has led St. John's United Methodist Church for nearly five years. Bishop John Schol said the church's 50-member congregation was fully supportive. Schol said no objections were raised during a closed-door meeting of the clergy earlier Thursday. The denomination bans actively gay clergy but does not have any rules about transgender pastors.

The conservative Institute on Religion and Democracy issued a statement Tuesday saying the group objects to any acceptance of sexual identity changes. Mark Tooley, director of the group's United Methodist project, said a change in gender identity conflicts with "God's order of creation."

Schol urged church members to pray for Phoenix. "This isn't an issue. This is a human being," Schol said. He encouraged ministers and church members attending the annual conference through Saturday to discuss the decisions of church leaders with their congregations. "Many people would say let's just sweep it under the carpet, but in this conference, we're a people of integrity," Schol said.

St. John's, a church that describes itself as diverse and inclusive, was about to close its doors when Phoenix arrived, and has more than tripled its membership since, Schol said.Although the denomination does not have a transgender policy, a minister from Baltimore quit the church after a sex change in 2002. Phoenix said he does not fear being forced from the church. But he said not everyone will agree with his service as a pastor. "What's most important to me is that we're creating conversation," Phoenix said.

Posted by mikki at 10:51 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Parents from Fairfax County Public Schools received the following email a few minutes ago:
----
Yesterday’s tragic incident at Virginia Tech involved several FCPS graduates who were
killed or wounded. You may see an increased presence of Fairfax County Police and Virginia
State Police at some of our schools today and possibly throughout the week. This police
presence is in response to the Virginia Tech incident. Please be assured that the police
are onsite to carry out their investigation and to ensure the safety of our students while
they are in school.
-----

So what do you think? Will that make our kids even more nervous? Will stepping up police presence in a county 2 hours away from the shootings do any good? Will their presence make kids feel more secure?

I don't know what to think. The nerves are still a bit too raw.

Posted by mikki at 12:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

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)

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)

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)

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)

Chaos Magic:


What is Chaos Magic? First off, an article explaining Chaos Magic probably doesn’t belong in a strictly Pagan listing of traditions. Since many Pagans may be into certain occult practices, they may have heard of Chaos Magic. This article was written for two reasons: To counter any preconceptions or prejudices some Pagans may have towards it; and to show the beautiful and vivid collection of approaches to magic that fall under the term. There are also many Pagans of various traditions who ...

Posted by mikki at 02:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Golden Apple of Eris:


by Terri Paajanen



Discordianism is a bit of a black sheep in the Pagan world (or perhaps they would prefer to be called purple sheep?) One of the symbols of Discordianism is a golden apple, with a K on it. Though much of Discordianism seems based in improv, this symbol has its roots in a well-known Greek myth.



The Discordians worship Eris, the Greek Goddess of discord and chaos. She is not as well known as some of the other Greek Deities, but she does have a prominent place in one of the major Greek myths: the Trojan War. And it's in this myth that the golden apple is found. It all began at the wedding of the Goddess Thetis and King Peleus of Greece. Eris had not been invited, and decided to do a little mischief as payback. She tossed an apple of gold in among the guests (Gods and mortals alike).

Posted by mikki at 02:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Perhaps if this occurred on a more regular basis from all religions, it would show that the vast majority of members of any religion are anti war and anti violence.

Amidst bloodshed, millions of Muslims pray for peace - CNN.com:


TONGI, Bangladesh (AP) -- Some 3 million Muslims put aside their country's violent struggle with political corruption and Islamic extremists and raised their hands in prayer for global peace at one of the world's largest religious gatherings.

The final prayer Sunday capped a three-day Islamic gathering on the sandy banks of the River Turag in a small industrial town just north of Dhaka, Bangladesh's capital.

Pilgrims, many of whom left work early to join the prayer, streamed into the site stretching 190 acres along both banks of the river. As the crowd overflowed the space, people arrived at the site on packed boats or climbed onto the rooftops of nearby buildings. (Watch a huge crowd gather to pray )

The annual gathering shuns politics, which have become increasingly bloody in Bangladesh, and focuses on reviving the tenets of Islam and promoting peace and harmony.

Participants discuss the Quran, Islam's holy book, pray, and listen to sermons by Islamic scholars from around the world.

Though extra buses and trains were sent to ferry devotees to and from the prayer site, there was standing room only, even atop the train cars, and many passengers hung on to the sides through open windows.

Many others simply walked the 12 miles back to the city.

Kaium Biswas, a local police official, said police estimated the number of pilgrims at 3 million, a significant increase over the 2.5 million thought to have attended last year.

About 20,000 security officials, including troops, have been deployed to the area of the gathering to prevent violence, said Biswas, after months of often violent protests to push for electoral reform.

Posted by mikki at 06:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Here, women propose marriage and men can't refuse - CNN.com:


ORANGO ISLAND, Guinea-Bissau (AP) -- He was 14 when the girl entered his grass-covered hut and placed a plate in front of him containing an ancient recipe.

Like all men on this African isle, Carvadju Jose Nananghe knew exactly what it meant. Refusing was not an option. His heart pounding, he lifted the steaming fish to his lips, agreeing in one bite to marry the girl.

"I had no feelings for her," said Nananghe, now 65. "Then when I ate this meal, it was like lightning. I wanted only her."

In this archipelago of 50 islands of pale blue water off the western rim of Africa, it's women, not men, who choose. They make their proposals public by offering their grooms-to-be a dish of distinctively prepared fish, marinated in red palm oil.

It's the equivalent of a man bending on one knee and offering a woman a diamond ring, except that in one of the world's matriarchal cultures, it's women who do the asking, and once they have, men are powerless to say no.

To have refused, explained the old man remembering the day half a century ago, would have dishonored his family -- and in any case, why would he want to choose his own wife?

"Love comes first into the heart of the woman," explained Nananghe. "Once it's in the woman, only then can it jump into the man."

Posted by mikki at 12:06 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Robert Anton Wilson memorial celebration February 18:


Mark Frauenfelder:

Here's a public announcement for the upcoming Robert Anton Wilson Memorial:

Join Together at the Robert Anton Wilson Cosmic Meme-Orial

& Lasagna Levitation Celebration!

Hail Eris! All Hail Bob!

Celebrate the life, work and continued multi-dimensionality

of Robert Anton Wilson by joining us in a giant, jammin'

Translation Celebration and 8th Circuit Soiree!

. Reconnect with old friends. Make new, like-minded friends. Share

ideas. Exchange email addresses. (It's like the Internet, only in person.)

. Be a part of Bob's Raucous Processionary Send-Off as his ashes sail

out of the cove and rejoin his beloved's in the Pacific!

. Watch continuous video clips of RAW from Deepleaf Production's

"Maybe Logic" documentary and from his numerous Trajectories videos.

. Expand your mind (and your tummy) with hors d'ourvres, soft drinks,

and a cash bar.

. Expand your neighbors' minds by sharing remembrances and anecdotes

at the open mic! (Brevity and levity are appreciated!)

. Mingle, nosh, remember, appreciate, celebrate!

. And above all, Keep the Lasagna Flying!

RAW DATA:

Where: The Cocoanut Grove, on the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk in Santa Cruz,

CA

When: Sunday, February 18, 2007

Time: 1 - 6 PM

Tickets: $23 each [Proceeds go to Amnesty International]

Limited number available! To purchase tickets, or for additional

information, click here: Link

Posted by mikki at 03:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Reason magazine on Robert Anton Wilson:


Mark Frauenfelder:

Jesse Walker wrote a nice piece about the passing of Robert Anton Wilson in Reason. It includes links to obits and remembrances from various media outlets.

The novelist, satirist, journalist, and philosopher Robert Anton Wilson passed away last Thursday, just a week shy of his 75th birthday. When he was alive he sometimes complained -- or maybe it was a boast -- that his books were never reviewed in The New York Times. The paper of record did pay its respects when he died, though, with a brief piece about his life and work. It wasn't entirely accurate, but the author of Illuminatus! would have enjoyed that. When a rumor of his death spread on the Net in the early '90s, complete with a fake Los Angeles Times obituary that got several details of his life wrong, Wilson wrote that he "admired the artistic verisimilitude of the Gremlin who forged that obit....Little touches of incompetence and ignorance like that helped create the impression of a real, honest-to-Jesus LA Times article."

Link

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

BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | Climate resets 'Doomsday Clock':


Experts assessing the dangers posed to civilisation have added climate change to the prospect of nuclear annihilation as the greatest threats to humankind.

As a result, the group has moved the minute hand on its famous "Doomsday Clock" two minutes closer to midnight.

The concept timepiece, devised by the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, now stands at five minutes to the hour.

The clock was first featured by the magazine 60 years ago, shortly after the US dropped its A-bombs on Japan.

Not since the darkest days of the Cold War has the Bulletin, which covers global security issues, felt the need to place the minute hand so close to midnight.

Posted by mikki at 11:54 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Robert Anton Wilson, author of 'Illuminatus' trilogy, dies at 74:


Robert Anton Wilson, co-author of the cult classic "The Illuminatus! Trilogy," a science-fiction series about a secret global society, has died. He was 74.

Wilson died peacefully of natural causes at his home Thursday in Capitola in Santa Cruz County, his daughter Christina Pearson said Saturday.

Post-polio syndrome had severely weakened Wilson's legs, leading to a fall seven months ago that left him bedridden until his death, Pearson said.

Wilson wrote 35 books on subjects such as extrasensory perception, mental telepathy, metaphysics, paranormal experiences, conspiracy theory, sex, drugs and what he called quantum psychology.

He wrote the "Illuminatus" trilogy with his friend Robert Shea in the late

Posted by mikki at 05:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

My favorite author and philosopher of all time, Robert Anton Wilson, author of the Illuminatus!, Cosmic Trigger, and other wonderful books, left his body on the lovely binary date of 1/11/07 after a long battle with polio. His books, writings, and classes touched me deeply, helping me expand my thinking into places I hadn't previously been capable of going.

I will miss him so very very much.

Posted by mikki at 07:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Pagan Prattle Online: Beware of the psychopath:


Beware of the psychopath
by Feòrag
Steve Wells, over at Dwindling in Unbelief, wants to know something: How many has God killed? Alas, there are problems with working out just how many: what was the population of the earth at the time of the Flood? How many people lived in Sodom and Gomorrah? First-born Egyptians? None of this is specified, but there are plenty of occasions in the Bible where God kills people and a number is given. His total? 2,270,365, not including rather a lot of women and children.

But we can at least make a reasonable guess as to the real number of people killed by God in the Bible.

Let's pretend, for a moment, that Biblical chronologies are correct. The Flood would have happened in 2346 BCE, or 4352 years ago. There are loads of graphs showing population over time, and most of those that go back that far show a population of around 20 million and only eight people survived, so we can add 19,999,992 to the total.

If we were being really mendacious, we could note that least one fundie puts the world population at nine (US) billion at the time of the flood!

So, what about the Exodus? That's widely believed to be set at the early part of the New Kingdom, which was a time of great population pressure and the population was estimated at about 3 million. There appears to be no consensus as to what proportion of that population were first-born and not Israelite, so I'm going to guess that God slaughtered 500,000 people that night.

Sodom and Gomorrah present another problem as the cities appear to be completely mythological, but we're not going to let that stop us when we're dealing with a purely mythological murderer. Alas, this means we have to delve into the murky world of Biblicval archæology, which is about as respectable as Von Däniken. There have been many suggestions for the location of the damned cities, so let's pick one. In particular, the "Mirror Cities" a group of cities first discovered in the 1970s are a popular choice for fundies. What interests them in particular is the large number of graves associated with them - about 1.5 million of them. As Nate Wilson points out:

These shaft tombs have many people buried in each chamber, bones mixed together (Shank), and were made before the towns were built--in fact, some of the tombs date many hundreds of years older than the end date of the cities (Sanders I & II). This could indicate a mass burial followed by inhabitation by survivors.

Please ignore that the quote doesn't actually make sense, or ask how a handful of survivors could bury so many people. What's important is that we have a figure. Obviously it's far too high and would give the destroyed cities three times the population of Edinburgh, so I'm going to divide by 10 and assume most of the bodies are the survivors and their descendents.

So, what the total now? 22,920,357, give or take nine billion or so.

Posted by mikki at 06:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

10 myths -- and 10 truths -- about atheism - Los Angeles Times:


10 myths -- and 10 truths -- about atheism
By Sam Harris, SAM HARRIS is the author of "The End of Faith: Religion, Terror, and the Future of Reason" and "Letter to a Christian Nation."
December 24, 2006

SEVERAL POLLS indicate that the term "atheism" has acquired such an extraordinary stigma in the United States that being an atheist is now a perfect impediment to a career in politics (in a way that being black, Muslim or homosexual is not). According to a recent Newsweek poll, only 37% of Americans would vote for an otherwise qualified atheist for president.

Atheists are often imagined to be intolerant, immoral, depressed, blind to the beauty of nature and dogmatically closed to evidence of the supernatural.

Posted by mikki at 12:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

In a tragic turn of events this Christmas, a small experimental aircraft was shot down after ignoring attempts to divert it away from the area. The White House confirmed that the President was not in residence at the time. The decision to fire was made after repeated attempts to contact the aircraft via radio were seemingly ignored by the pilot, who was seen to throw brightly colored objects out of the aircraft, in a likely attempt to ward off the intercepting fighter jets.

"All pilots know of the Washington Defense Zone," said an unnamed source at NORAD. "Flying in this area without a radio in experimental aircraft is just not done. We regret having to take this dramatic action."

The crippled aircraft limped to an emergency landing on the mall, its 8 engines seemingly intact. As the pilot was being dragged away by the Secret Service, having wrestled him to the ground, he was heard to say "I'm Santa Claus fer chrissakes! Where the hell is your Christmas spirit?" Santa's lawyer could not be reached for comment. Children waking up without gifts this morning are urged to call NORAD's missing gift hotline at 1.800.no.fly.

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

British public: religion is dangerous:


United Kingdom: Religion is a force for harm, not good, and non-believers make up the majority of the population according to a poll published in today's Guardian.

The poll also reveals that non-believers outnumber believers in Britain by almost two to one. It paints a picture of a sceptical nation with massive doubts about the effect religion has on society: 82% of those questioned say they see religion as a cause of division and tension between people. Only 16% disagree. The findings are at odds with attempts by some religious leaders to define the country as one made up of many faith communities.




Most people have no personal faith, the poll shows, with only 33% of those questioned describing themselves as a religious person. A clear majority, 63%, say that they are not religious - including more than half of those who describe themselves as Christian.

But a spokesman for the Church of England denied yesterday that mainstream religion was the source of tension. He also insisted that the impression of secularism in this country is overrated.

He went on to claim that 1 million people (1.6% of the population) attend CofE services each week. As Charles Stross points out, this is far fewer than watch SF and fantasy on TV:

Yeah, right. You speak for an organization that has an audience draw 40% that of a Terry Pratchett mini-series on Sky TV. Doctor Who has a 4:1 lead over the C of E in regular audience terms. Maybe we should give Russell T. Davis four seats in the House of Lords?

Religion does more harm than good - poll—The Guardian, 23rd December 2006.

Posted by mikki at 11:04 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Mighty mouse! Rare discovery in Europe - CNN.com:


LONDON, England (AP) -- Using DNA testing, scientists have discovered what is believed to be the first terrestrial mammal found in Europe in decades: a mouse with a big head, ears, eyes and teeth that lives in a mountainous area of Cyprus.

The mouse was native to the eastern Mediterranean island, survived the arrival of man on Cyprus and could be considered a "living fossil," experts said.

"New mammal species are mainly discovered in hot spots of biodiversity like Southeast Asia, and it was generally believed that every species of mammal in Europe had been identified," said Thomas Cucchi, a research fellow at Durham University in northeast England.

"This is why the discovery of a new species of mouse on Cyprus was so unexpected and exciting," he said in an interview Thursday.

The mouse mainly lives in the Troodos Mountain in the west of the island, Cucchi said, favoring vineyards, grassy fields and bushes.

Genetic tests confirmed the mouse was a new species and it was named Mus cypriacus, or the Cypriot mouse. The findings appeared in Zootaxa, an international journal for animal taxonomists.

The biodiversity of Europe has been reviewed extensively since Victorian times, and new mammal species are rarely found on the continent.

Cucchi said a bat discovered in Hungary and Greece in 2001 was the last new living mammal found in Europe. No new terrestrial mammal has been found on the continent for decades, he said.

Recent discoveries elsewhere have included a new tree rat in Brazil, a new primate in Tanzania and another new mouse in the Philippines.

Posted by mikki at 06:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Note from Robert Anton Wilson and his daughter:


Mark Frauenfelder:

Earlier this week I wrote about writer Robert Anton Wilson's unfortunate situation (the short story: he has no money, has a few months left to live, and was facing eviction from his apartment). Yesterday, I wrote an update.

Today, I received this email from Bob's daughter, which contains a note from Bob. It's very moving. People opened their hearts and their wallets, and Bob is going to be able to live out his remaining days in peace. Thank you all very much.

On behalf of my Dad, RAW (Bob), I want to throw my arms around you "like a

circle 'round the sun!" for your loving graciousness in posting Bob's need

on your site. As of about 5 minutes ago, over $68,000 has come in. We are

all overjoyed as it now means that we can continue to celebrate this phase

of his life in the comfort of his own home, with all the care he needs,

until his passing, honored by the loving support of so, so many wondrous

folks. Just last week I was sick with heartache as we were faced with

giving his notice and now, the world has simply and completely -

transformed. Last night, he dictated a note that he wanted me to forward to

you - below is the text. He is very weak, cannot sit up or eat on his own,

and as he struggled with a whispery voice to express his gratitude, he broke

into tears several times. How my heart swelled as I gazed at this man who

has been both one of the most frustrating - and incredible - beings I have

ever known. I would not be who I am today, had I not grown up with him.

Much love, Christina Pearson

BOB'S NOTE:

Dear Friends, my God, what can I say. I am dumbfounded, flabbergasted, and

totally stunned by the charity and compassion that has poured in here the

last three days.

To steal from Jack Benny, "I do not deserve this, but I also have severe leg

problems and I don't deserve them either."

Because he was a kind man as well as a funny one, Benny was beloved. I find

it hard to believe that I am equally beloved and especially that I deserve

such love.

Whoever you are, wherever you are, know that my love is with you.

You have all reminded me that despite George W. Bush and all his cohorts,

there is still a lot of beautiful kindness in the world.

Blessings.

Robert Anton Wilson

Posted by mikki at 04:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Taking Burning Man to the Net's masses | CNET News.com:


If you went to Burning Man this year and didn't get a chance to see that one great art piece everyone was talking about, the event's organizers and Google may have a solution.

By leveraging the open-endedness and utility of Google Earth--the search giant's 3D mapping and visualization tool--Burning Man is embarking on what it's calling "Burning Man Earth." The project's creators envision that eventually they will be able to offer fully 3D versions of each year's event in the Black Rock desert, and in the process give participants a way to connect with the makers of art pieces and theme camps so that members of the community can learn from each other and extend the event's reach across the world.

Posted by mikki at 11:43 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

:: Douglas Rushkoff - Weblog :::


I hope people I've inspired with my work would band together to help me out in my later years if I needed it. Which is at least part of the reason why I'm sending what I can to support cosmic thinking patriarch Robert Anton Wilson, whose infirmity and depleted finances have put him in the precarious position of not being able to meet next month's rent.

In case the name doesn't immediately ring a bell, Bob is the guy who wrote Cosmic Trigger - still the best narrative on how to enter and navigate the psycho-spiritual realm, and co-wrote the Illuminatus Trilogy, an epic work that pushes beyond conspiracy theory into conspiracy practice. Robert Anton Wilson will one day be remembered alongside such literary philosophers as Aldous Huxley and James Joyce.

But right now, Bob is a human being in a rather painful fleshsuit, who needs our help. I refuse for the history books to say he died alone and destitute, for I want future generations to know we appreciated Robert Anton Wilson while he was alive.

Let me add, on a personal note, that Bob is the only one of my heroes who I was not disappointed to actually meet in person. He was of tremendous support to me along my road, and I'm honored to have the opportunity to be of some support on his.

Any donations can be made to Bob directly to the Paypal account olgaceline@gmail.com.
You can also send a check payable to Robert Anton Wilson to
Dennis Berry c/o Futique Trust
P.O. Box 3561
Santa Cruz, CA 95063.

Posted by mikki at 05:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

It's interesting to find out that so many people in this country don't understand the controversy surrounding George Dubya's use of those infamous "signing statements." Many, in fact, have never even heard of signing statements, regardless of what the current president is doing with them. This is disturbing, to say the least. Imagine my relief that those fine people at my alma mater, Georgetown University Law Canter, have published this handy guide that cuts through the rhetoric on both sides and does a balanced analysis of what is at stake.

Georgetown Law Faculty Blog: Untangling the Debate on Signing Statements:


Georgetown Law Faculty Blog

Contributors
Alex Aleinikoff
Emma Coleman Jordan
Mark Tushnet
Marty Lederman
Mike Seidman
Neal Katyal
Randy Barnett
Rebecca Tushnet
Richard Lazarus
Rosa Brooks
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About
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Better living through public service (by Sasha Volokh)
Untangling the Debate on Signing Statements
My Colbert Report Appearance
David Cole in the New York Review of Books
Market Failures Mean The Poor Still Pay More
My Senate Armed Services Testimony
Arrest in Deaths of Patients during Katrina
Two (or Three) More Myths About Hamdan
Katrina, Urban Redevelopment and Justice Thomas’ Dissent in Kelo
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Posted by mikki at 06:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

It was a typical story. The child came home with guppies from school meaning I had to get her a fish tank to put them in. This, of course, got me to thinking about why I didn't have a fish tank, and how I'd always admired cool salt water tanks. Thought turned to action and I bought a small 24 gallon salt water set up with various and assorted parts. The story of tank setup and what I've stocked it with thus far and ongoing trials and tribulations are at my new salt fishie blog called Reefer Madness .

Since I'm totally annoyed by the idea of catching fish in the ocean by use of poison or stunning techniques, or other nasty means, then transporting them halfway around the world to put in my tank because I think they're pretty, I am buying "aquacultured" animals and invertebrates as often as possible. The good news is that now more groups are raising corals, fishies, etc. on their own rather than relying on wild caught creatures. It's better for the environment, it's better for the fish, and it's better for the tank owner in having a healthier fish who isn't totally stressed out. More power to those who are working to have a hobby in accordance with nature.

As an aside, I was trying out iWeb and publishing to .mac for the reef tank blog, and I have to say that it's amazingly simple. Once again Apple does something good. Go figure :-)

Posted by mikki at 11:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This morning there was a SMASH on the downstairs french doors, loud enough to go and check. Sitting on the ground on the side of the path was a beautiful little red and yellowish green cardinal, who looked like a female but smaller than an adult. She didn't look like a baby with their squat body body and crop sticking out, and it was very clear that she could fly, just not right at that particular moment. So I went and sat with her to make sure nobody like our feral cats or the evil doggies would bother her. Unfortunately, at that point Wes, not knowing that the bird was there, let the dogs out. So I scooped her up and took her into the house and put her in one of the dog cages to recover.

The little cardinal recovered rapidly and slithered between the bars of the cage and started flying around the bathroom, feeping. This was a clue that she was ok :-). I scooped her up again and took her outside where someone in the trees was feeping for her. She feeped back, and took off towards the sound.

Bye bye little birdie :-).

Posted by mikki at 11:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

CNN.com - Medieval book of psalms unearthed - Jul 25, 2006:


DUBLIN, Ireland (AP) -- Irish archaeologists Tuesday heralded the discovery of an ancient book of psalms by a construction worker while driving the shovel of his backhoe into a bog.

The approximately 20-page book has been dated to the years 800-1000. Trinity College manuscripts expert Bernard Meehan said it was the first discovery of an Irish early medieval document in two centuries.

"This is really a miracle find," said Pat Wallace, director of the National Museum of Ireland, which has the book stored in refrigeration. Researchers will conduct years of painstaking analysis before putting the book on public display.

"There's two sets of odds that make this discovery really way out," Wallace said. "First of all, it's unlikely that something this fragile could survive buried in a bog at all, and then for it to be unearthed and spotted before it was destroyed is incalculably more amazing."

Posted by mikki at 10:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The "Net Neutrality" debate is one that I've largely stayed on the sidelines of. Not because I don't believe that consumers should have the freedom to choose whatever content they desire, subject to the bandwidth that they have purchased, but mostly because the "powers that be" have essentially turned everything regarding an Internet used first for communication and second for commerce directly on its head. Arguments against "them" are touted as consensus. And basically, the whole thing becomes painful and annoying. I should know. I've been fighting with those who insist that the Net has classes of citizenship (one for the corporate sponsors, one for the geeks, and one for the users) for almost 20 years now.

So what have I learned in those 20 years? Those that have the gold makes the rules, even if their previous attempts have failed so totally that they have to purchase the successes of others, pretend they created it themselves, and then steamroll anyone who was there before and remembers their bumbling prior acts. Thus it has been with telcos who woke up one morning and found that computer networking, which they had tried to destroy back in the 50s, was alive and well and living in several different places, from CompuServ, and AOL, and BBS systems, and FIDOnet etc., all in forms they had no direct control over. They sat back and watched things grow and morph and mutate into a more coherent Internet, then decided that what they needed to do was to set up their OWN conduit in hopes of recapturing their lost control. However, when they were no longer the monopoly player, they found that important things like customer service, reliability, and cost were important issues that would cause customers to actually go elsewhere! They basically gave up, but obviously still wished to maintain control, or at least a revenue stream over all of this communication that is going on despite them.

Then other corporations woke up and found that people were happily using it long before they even dreamed of booting up in the latest version of Windoze, and decided to change all the rules to suit them, take the domain names already in use, then label themselves "content providers" and the rest of us are "passive consumers."

So what's going to happen with "Net Neutrality?" The Telcos will convince (through their very high paid lobbyists) the Congress Critters who still can't boot their own machines, that the only way they can provide the high speed service that people are crying for, is to somehow (they don't tell us how yet) decide for those "passive consumers" what they really need. Arguments like John Quarterman's below will likely be conveniently ignored in the onslaught, and we will all lose. I still have a tiny shred of hope somewhere in there, but I've been disappointed SO many times before that I'm definitely not willing to bet on it.

Real Fast Broadband:


OK, I think I saw some confirming comments about my interpretation of Softbank ADSL's 50Mbps for $25/mo. offering.

For those who don't read Japanese, Try this.

Meanwhile, NTT has decided to get more subscribers than Yahoo Japan by using Fiber to the Home (FTTH). How fast is that? $100Mbps for $31/month.

Show me any U.S. city where individuals can by Internet access at speeds anywhere near that for prices anywhere like that.

Meanwhile, the company that started Japan's most recent broadband push, Softbank, is profitable.

And while U.S. telcos complain they need special treatment to do what Softbank and NTT have already done, NTT is already branching out overseas, offering 100Mbps in other countries. As a demonstration, it broadcast Superbowl XL back to Japan in high definition.

Hey, maybe that's how we'll finally get fast broadband stateside!

-jsq

Posted by mikki at 09:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Tut's gem hints at space impact:


In 1996 in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, Italian mineralogist Vincenzo de Michele spotted an unusual yellow-green gem in the middle of one of Tutankhamun's necklaces. The jewel was tested and found to be glass, but intriguingly it is older than the earliest Egyptian civilisation. Working with Egyptian geologist Aly Barakat, they traced its origins to unexplained chunks of glass found scattered in the sand in a remote region of the Sahara Desert. But the glass is itself a scientific enigma. How did it get to be there and who or what made it? Sky of fire An Austrian astrochemist Christian Koeberl had established that the glass had been formed at a temperature so hot that there could be only one known cause: a meteorite impacting with Earth. And yet there were no signs of an impact crater, even in satellite images.

Posted by mikki at 08:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Virtual world tests telepathy | CNET News.com:


Scientists at the University of Manchester have created a virtual world to test telepathic ability.

Participants in a trial will wear a head-mounted 3D display and an electronic glove to navigate their way through a computer-generated world.

The people in the trial are placed in separate rooms on different floors of a building to eliminate any possibility of communication.

One will view a random selection of computer-generated objects--such as a telephone, a football and an umbrella--and will be asked to concentrate on and interact with one of them.

>A second participant is simultaneously presented with the chosen object, plus three decoy objects, and asked to guess which object the other person is trying to transmit.

The system has been designed to make the task as realistic as possible. In addition to selecting objects and hearing the sounds they make, participants are able to hold and move them within the virtual environment.

"By creating a virtual environment, we are creating a completely objective environment, which makes it impossible for participants to leave signals or even unconscious clues as to which object they have chosen," Toby Howard of the university's School of Computer Science said in a statement.

The results of the experiment are expected to be published early in 2007.

Posted by mikki at 06:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

FSU Etruscan expert announces historic discovery at ancient site:


Tallahassee, Fla. -- Digging on a remote hilltop in Italy, a Florida State University classics professor and her students have unearthed artifacts that dramatically reshape our knowledge of the religious practices of an ancient people, the Etruscans.

"We are excavating a monumental Etruscan building evidently dating to the final years of Etruscan civilization," said Nancy Thomson de Grummond, the M. Lynette Thompson Professor of Classics at FSU and director of the university's archaeology programs in Italy. Within the building, de Grummond's team located in early June what appears to be a sacrificial pit and a sanctuary -- finds remarkable for the wealth of items they are yielding that appear to have been used in religious rituals.

Nearly every summer since 1983, de Grummond has taken groups of FSU students into Italy's Tuscany region to participate in archaeological digs at Cetamura del Chianti, a site once inhabited by the Etruscans and ancient Romans. In the final days of this year's program, de Grummond and her students unearthed what she calls "the most thrilling" find she has seen in 23 years at Cetamura.

She explained that the Etruscans, who once ruled most of the Italian peninsula, were conquered and absorbed by the Romans in the second and first centuries B.C.E. ("Before the Common Era"). Prior to that time, however, they were a highly advanced civilization that constructed roads, buildings and sewer systems and developed the first true cities in Europe. They also built large, complex religious sanctuaries -- which may have been the purpose served, in part, by the Cetamura structure.

Posted by mikki at 09:38 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

If anyone is thinking about opening brokerage or other accounts with Merrill Lynch, or are considering moving your accounts to or from Merrill, perhaps you should know that they can and do, with no prior warning, freeze and close your accounts. I had accounts with Merrill Lynch for over 20 years, yet today I got a form letter from the assistant to our broker (guess the broker himself didn't have the balls to sign his name to it) saying that our accounts were closed. Isn't that sweet.

Needless to say, I do NOT recommend Merrill Lynch.

Posted by mikki at 06:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Supreme Court gets it right regarding whether or not the Administration can "make it up as it goes along" regarding what to do with those incarcerated at Gitmo. It's quite an important ruling argued by a young attorney named Neal Katyal who can today be very proud of his handling of the case. Here are some articles that I especially liked concerning the ruling:

Hamdan Summary -- And HUGE News:

As I predicted below, the Court held that Congress had, by statute, required that the commissions comply with the laws of war -- and held further that these commissions do not (for various reasons).

More importantly, the Court held that Common Article 3 of Geneva aplies as a matter of treaty obligation to the conflict against Al Qaeda. That is the HUGE part of today's ruling. The commissions are the least of it. This basically resolves the debate about interrogation techniques, because Common Article 3 provides that detained persons "shall in all circumstances be treated humanely," and that "[t]o this end," certain specified acts "are and shall remain prohibited at any time and in any place whatsoever"—including "cruel treatment and torture," and "outrages upon personal dignity, in particular humiliating and degrading treatment." This standard, not limited to the restrictions of the due process clause, is much more restrictive than even the McCain Amendment. See my further discussion here.

Decisions: Hamdan decided, military commissions invalid:

The Supreme Court ruled on Thursday that Congress did not take away the Court's authority to rule on the military commissions' validity, and then went ahead to rule that President Bush did not have authority to set up the tribunals at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and found the commissions illegal under both military justice law and the Geneva Convention. In addition, the Court concluded that the commissions were not authorized when Congress enacted the post-9/1l resolution authorizing a response to the terrorist attacks, and were not authorized by last year's Detainee Treatment Act. The vote against the commissions and on the Court's jurisdiction was 5-3, with the Chief Justice not taking part.

The Court expressly declared that it was not questioning the government's power to hold Salim Ahmed Hamdan "for the duration of active hostilities" to prevent harm to innocent civilians. But, it said, "in undertaking to try Hamdan and subject him to criminal punishment, the Executive is bound to comply with the Rule of Law that prevails in this jurisdiction."

Today's opinions themselves:
Today's Opinions:

Today's opinions can be found here (Hamdan v. Rumsfeld) and here (Clark v. AZ).

Court Holds in Hamdan that Geneva Convention Applies to Detainees:


The Supreme Court issued a much anticipated decision in Hamdan v. Rumsfeld this morning. The case addressed the Bush Administration's power to establish military tribunals for Guantanamo detainees. Marty Lederman, writing on SCOTUSBlog, looked to what he saw as the...

Posted by mikki at 01:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Finally, someone who is not a "shill" for the ISPs or for those insane free speech weirdos with something interesting to say about Net neutrality. Gaige is a cool guy so you really oughta read this :-). What does this have to do with Pagan issues? Lots. Free speech is everyone's issue.

Gaige's Pages - Network neutrality is about control:


Whereas the rhetoric is certainly intended to incite and not to inform (I don't believe that either side of any argument uses a slogan to inform, by the way), it isn't just empty fluff. In particular, as you noted earlier in the piece, the costs for services will eventually be borne by the customers regardless of who they pay for them and how they're provided. The purpose of the net neutrality folks is to put the control of paying for service in the hands of the consumers, where a customer who wants to use any number of services that consume large amounts of bandwidth pays for a higher quality, higher bandwidth, and probably higher-priced connection. This does two things: first, it makes the payments transparent, since the users know they are using bandwidth to watch television or movies, or other things that either take a long time or involve a high level of interactivity; second, it provides an avenue for innovative, high bandwidth services to get a start in the world.

Posted by mikki at 12:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A Muslim Seminary Has How Many Divisions?:

Two American sheiks have formed a Muslim seminary:

Sheik Hamza Yusuf, in a groomed goatee and sports jacket, looked more
like a hip white college professor than a Middle Eastern sheik. Imam
Zaid Shakir, a lanky African-American in a long brown tunic, looked as
if he would fit in just fine on the streets of Damascus.

U.S. Muslim Clerics Seek a Modern Middle Ground By LAURIE GOODSTEIN, New York Times, Published: June 18, 2006

The story goes on about how the two each understand both Islam and U.S. popular culture. Judging by the examples, they also understand both Islamic and Christian religious history. It continues:

Mr. Yusuf told the audience in Houston to beware of "fanatics" who pluck Islamic scripture out of context and say, "We're going to tell you what God says on every single issue."

"That's not Islam," Mr. Yusuf said. "That's psychopathy."

Not stopping with an easy put-down, Yusuf continued:

He asked the audience to pray for the victims of kidnappers in Iraq, saying that kidnapping is just as bad as American bombings in which the military dismisses the civilians killed as "collateral damage."

"They're both sinister, as far as I'm concerned," he said. "One is efficient, the other is pathetic."

That's a message that might get listened to elsewhere in the Muslim world. (Maybe some people in DC should listen to it, too.)

A listener asked:

"You said we have an obligation to humanity. Did you mean to Muslims, or to everyone?"

Mr. Shakir responded: "The obligation is to everyone. All of the people are the dependents of Allah."

A bit different from the divide and conquer rhetoric of so many "religious" leaders these days.

An older woman from Iraq begged him to contact Muslim scholars in her homeland and correct their misguided teaching.

That would be a good idea.

What are the sheiks trying to teach?

The American seminary was Mr. Yusuf's idea. His diagnosis of the problem with Islam today is that its followers lack "religious knowledge." Islam, like Judaism, is based in scripture and law that has been interpreted, reinterpreted and debated for centuries by scholars who inspired four schools of Islamic jurisprudence. Mr. Yusuf laments that many of the seminaries that once flourished in the Muslim world are now either gone or intellectually dead. Now, he said, the sharpest Muslim students go into technical fields like engineering, not religion.

He said he believed that if more Muslims were schooled in their faith's diverse intellectual streams and had a holistic understanding of their religion, they would not be so susceptible to the Osama bin Ladens who tell them that suicide bombers are martyrs.

"Where you don't have people who have strong intellectual capacity, you get demagoguery," he said.

Meanwhile, Imam Shakir does say that he would wish the U.S. to become a Muslim country, but he says only by persuasion and only because he thinks it would help people.  While I don't support his position on that, I find it hard to see how it differs from that of so many Christian preachers.

That aside, by promoting a better understanding of Islam by Muslims, Sheik Yusuf and Imam Shakir could do more for world security than several divisions of U.N. peacekeepers in Iraq or Palestine. Communication can be the best type of risk management.

-jsq

Posted by mikki at 11:20 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

20 000 Expected At Stonehenge Summer Solstice (from This Is Wiltshire):


SUN worshippers are preparing to celebrate the annual Summer Solstice at Stonehenge.

At 04.58 tomorrow an estimated 20,000 people will witness the sunrise following an all-night party at the ancient stone circle on Salisbury Plain.

Every summer the event draws an eclectic mix including Druids, hippies and hedonists as well as people who want to experience what has become a traditional start to the longest day of the year. English Heritage, which manages the 5,000-year-old site, allows people to gather around the stones for the annual event.

In recent years curious things have happened when the sun appears over the Heel Stone to the sound of beating Pagan drums.

Revellers have been known to frolic naked. Some chant, some shout, while others sit meditating. Wiltshire Police will be attending this years event to ensure order is maintained.

A force spokesman said: "We're expecting between 20,000 and 25,000 people. A lot will probably arrive in the early hours of the morning after having watched England play Sweden."

A spokesman for English Heritage said: "Were hoping for a great sunrise. Last year's was spectacular. There's always a good atmosphere here."

A smaller crowd is also expected to gather 30 miles away at the ancient stones in Avebury, where solstice celebrations are traditionally said to be more chilled-out than those at Stonehenge.

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

Judge Bars Tax-Funded Religious Jail Project:


A federal judge ruled yesterday that Charles Colson's Prison Fellowship Ministries and the state of Iowa violated the Constitution by setting up a government-funded program to rehabilitate prison inmates by immersing them in Christianity.

The case, brought by the Washington-based advocacy group Americans United for Separation of Church and State, has been widely viewed as a major challenge to President Bush's faith-based initiative, the White House's effort to deliver more government funding to religious groups that provide social services, particularly in prisons.

In a 140-page decision, U.S. District Judge Robert W. Pratt ruled that the InnerChange Freedom Initiative program at Iowa's Newton Correctional Facility violated the constitutional ban on government establishment of religion because it was state-funded, pervasively sectarian and aimed at religious conversion.

"The overtly religious atmosphere of the InnerChange program is not simply an overlay or secondary effect of the program -- it is the program," Pratt wrote. Based on testimony at a two-week trial last fall, he concluded that inmates who voluntarily entered the program received significant benefits, including better living conditions, and that the prison did not offer any alternative secular or non-Christian program.

Continue reading "Judge Bars Tax-Funded Religious Jail Project" »

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

kare11.com :: KARE 11 TV - Judge dismisses suit by pharmacist who refused to dispense birth control:


A federal judge in Madison, Wisconsin dismissed a Roman Catholic pharmacist's claim that he was fired by Wal-Mart Stores Inc. for refusing to fill birth control prescriptions and that the dismissal violated his religious freedom.

U.S. District Judge John Shabaz said Neil Noesen was actually fired from the Onalaska, Wisconsin store last summer because he was disruptive and wasn't meeting expectations.

The Thursday ruling said Wal-Mart accommodated Noesen's religious opposition to birth control by having other pharmacists fill prescriptions. It also said Noesen went too far by trying to avoid any interaction with those customers, leading to poor customer service.

Posted by mikki at 02:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Perhaps I am missing something. It wouldn't be the first time (nor the last) for certain. But try as I might, I am having a great amount of difficulty understanding the "other side" of the immigration debate. I consider myself to be a moderate to liberal person on the political spectrum, and one who generally feels that we should help those who are less fortunate due to circumstances beyond their control. I also believe in protesting to change unjust laws. For example, I personally believe that laws against marijuana use are ridiculous. On the other hand, I know that if I'm caught with it I will likely go to jail.

So, I take this mixture of political, cultural, and experiences that make up my method of analyzing issues, and bring it to bear on the immigration debate. I still don't get it. How can President Fox of Mexico possibly stand there and tell the United States that we must take care of his citizens because he won't provide for them himself? How can he call our desire to control immigration into our country somehow anti human rights while he misuses his country's natural resources and creates a ridiculous situation where people wish to flee because they can't make a living?

I feel for those who have left their country for a better life. On the other hand, I don't believe that the solution is to bring them to the United States illegally. I don't believe that people marching in the streets waving foreign flags to demand "rights" that they are not entitled to is the way to ingratiate yourself to an American populace (made up of citizens, including legal immigrants, and other legal residents) who are struggling to make ends meet themselves. I don't believe that threats of boycotts targeting these same Americans is going to help matters any.

So, why do so many of our politicians believe that we, as a country, need to provide those who illegally enter our country with the same privileges as those who have gone through the process (onerous though it may be) to legally enter? At a time of budget deficits, Americans not having health insurance, Americans unable to afford housing, Americans on fixed incomes who are barely above water, why are our politicians voting to offer amnesty to those who have illegally snuck in? The refrain from George Bush is "it's not amnesty. It doesn't make any sense to deport millions of people." But allowing someone to stay in this country who is here illegally is promising them that they will not prosecuted under a current and enforceable law. That's at least immunity if not amnesty.

The money issue doesn't work out either. While May 1 was the day of boycotting American businesses, illegal aliens did not also boycott American schools or American emergency rooms. While it may indeed be true that America needs to hire guest workers for finite periods of time for certain jobs, I do not think it is true that there are widespread "jobs that Americans won't do." If that is indeed the case, then perhaps we are becoming too soft as a nation. While not wanting to sound like I "walked 3 miles through the snow and cold uphill both ways" to school (although sometimes I actually did :-)) I took jobs that today many wouldn't do including working in a tomato factory, pulling weeds, selling encyclopedias by phone, etc. Why? Because it was the only choice for a young person who had two functional arms, legs, and a brain. I often wonder about this when I hear about unemployed 25 year olds still living with mom and dad.

So what am I missing here? People have snuck into the United States illegally, and are availing themselves of most of what this country has to offer. Americans have become upset with this, and a bill was introduced to make sneaking in a felony. The proposal was met by massive demonstrations by criminals (yes, those here illegally are indeed criminals by definition), and our President has decided to push a bill to offer amnesty. Americans are upset about this, and have decided to force through better border security to secure our borders by building fences across the most travelled illegal crossings. The Mexican President has responded by calling this racist. Huh? Please provide me with a clue if I am indeed missing one.

Posted by mikki at 12:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Witchvox Article:


Rosemary Kooiman will be interred on May 23, 2006 at 3pm
at Arlington National Cemetery next to her husband of more than 55 years, Abraham Kooiman WW2 veteran, Bronze Star winner and Pagan.

She was the Founding Elder of the Nomadic Chantry of the Gramarye in Maryland, and a frontline advocate for the rights of Pagans everywhere.

An active member of Washington Metropolitan Mensa, she served as S.I.G.H.T. coordinator and Local Secretary for many years.

She was also involved with the Military Pagans Project to have pentacles placed on the government provided headstones for Pagans in the Military.

All are welcome to join us as we commit her ashes to Mother Earth and recommit ourselves to carrying on her legacy.

Respectfully,
Debby Morris
DrWolf927@aol.com

Posted by mikki at 08:51 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

It is a great thing that someone writes a balanced story on Wicca, so this one need to be read. Kudos to the San Diego paper that ran this.

SignOnSanDiego.com > News > Features -- Inner circle:


In ancient tradition, people who lived closely connected to the land recognized only two seasons: growing and non-growing. Modern-day Wiccans joke that it's pretty much the same in San Diego: Summer and not summer.

Under overcast skies, local Wiccans recently celebrated the changing of seasons during Beltane, one of their major holidays, which ushers in the arrival of a period of life, warmth and growth.

About 150 people turned out for the Beltane celebration April 29 at Balboa Park. Beltane is a major Wiccan holiday that ushers in the arrival of a period of life, warmth and growth.
“I am not ready to relinquish my crown,” the Lord of Winter told the Army of Summer in a Beltane skit in Balboa Park on April 29.

It was green robes against white robes, plastic flowers against icicles. The Army of Summer would win; everyone who had come to celebrate Beltane already knew the outcome. Still, around the circle, the audience laughed at the make-believe battle.

Posted by mikki at 12:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Pilots flying on a wing and a prayer | Oddly Enough | Reuters.co.uk:


DUBLIN (Reuters) - Irish Catholic priests illegally broadcasting Mass over the radio to housebound parishioners are suspected of creating a safety hazard for trans-Atlantic jets, officials said on Tuesday.

Irish communications regulator ComReg has spoken to three churches in central Ireland to warn them that their unlicensed transmission of daily and Sunday services might be creating problems for airliners as they flew overhead.

"I knew it was sort of a grey area but I didn't know we were breaking the law," Father Brendan Quinlan, a Dublin parish priest, told the Irish Independent.

The Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) said that pilots on trans-Atlantic flights have complained to air traffic control for more than a year of hearing static on their radios.


"We believe that (the Mass broadcasts) are possibly the source of the interference. I understand that ComReg are closing down the priests for want of a better term," IAA spokeswoman Lilian Cassin said.

Posted by mikki at 01:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This man risks life in prison by turning over evidence in a crime he committed. But he did it anyway. Why? To protect a little girl. Bravo for him! Obviously, burglary is wrong and he should be punished, but he still did what he could to save another human being from unspeakable acts. And what he did put the monster in jail.

MercuryNews.com | 05/07/2006 | Risking a life term to protect a child:


Matthew Ryan Hahn glared in disbelief at the digital photographs of a man molesting a girl. She was only a year old, maybe 2.

The next thing to do would be obvious -- call police. But Hahn had been convicted of burglary more than once. And the memory card on which he discovered the photos came from a stolen safe.

Hahn knew being nabbed for another crime could make him a three-striker and send him to prison for life. But the images were burned into his mind. One photo showed some freshly overturned earth -- could the little girl already have been killed and buried?

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

This is kind of cool. You can share which weblogs you read and are subscribed to by going to this loverly place and setting up a free membership. share.opml.org. Of course, make sure to put up the Non Fluffy feed at http://www.nonfluffy.com/index.rdf so that we get the recognition we totally deserve as being the blog of choice for all Non Fluffies :-).

Posted by mikki at 01:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Should "Gnosticism" be continued as a "branch" of Christianity? Or is it more accurately a reflection of the early history of Christianity with at least two warring sides claiming the moral high ground? It makes for quite the interesting debate. This article does a good job of picking through relevant facts and presenting an interesting question.

The Chronicle: 5/5/2006: The End of Gnosticism?:


From the moment that Karen L. King entered Brown University's graduate program in religion, in the 1970s, she wanted to study Gnosticism. She was one of several religious-studies students of that era whose interest in the Gnostics was sparked by increased access to a treasure trove of ancient writings that had been discovered in 1945 near the Egyptian town of Nag Hammadi.

The brittle papyri found in Egypt were filled with lost sayings attributed to Jesus and provocative notions about his death and resurrection and the creation of the cosmos. Such writings had been labeled "heretical" by influential second- and third-century Christian bishops, and most of them were destroyed. People who adhered to such beliefs were eventually hounded out of mainstream Christianity and became a footnote in its history.

Now a professor of ecclesiastical history at Harvard University's Divinity School, Ms. King is one of the foremost experts in a field that has received immense popular attention since the publication of Dan Brown's best-selling 2003 novel The Da Vinci Code (Doubleday) and the April news blitz surrounding the Gospel of Judas — a newly unveiled lost text of early Christianity.

Posted by mikki at 11:03 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Brudirect.com  - Local News:


Bandar Seri Begawan - Miracles of Islam in this modern world are found everywhere.

A staff member at the Ministry of Religious Affairs who resides in Kg. Terabau said his son had bought some eggs and he - noticed that one of the egg shells was a little distorted.

Taking a closer look, he saw the word "Allah" inscribed on the egg.

Hardly believing what he saw, the staff member brought the egg to a religious expert at his ministry who also verified that the egg shell had the writing "Allah" embedded on it.

It was not the first time that such a miracle had happened. Similarly strange discoveries have also been made in the past.

On one occasion, a housewife who was about to fry an egg discovered that its shell had on it writings from the Kalimah, a revered Islamic text containing the phrase "There is No God but Allah". -- Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin

Posted by mikki at 11:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | More species slide to extinction:


The polar bear and hippopotamus are for the first time listed as species threatened with extinction by the world's biodiversity agency.

They are included in the Red List of Threatened Species published by the World Conservation Union (IUCN) which names more than 16,000 at-risk species.

Many sharks, and freshwater fish in Europe and Africa, are newly included.

The IUCN says loss of biodiversity is increasing despite a global convention committing governments to stem it.

"The 2006 Red List shows a clear trend; biodiversity loss is increasing, not slowing down," said IUCN director-general Achim Steiner.

"The implications of this trend for the productivity and resilience of ecosystems and the lives and livelihoods of billions of people who depend on them are far-reaching."

Posted by mikki at 10:49 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

As opposed to the rest of us:

What an odd bit of phrasing in the lead of The Times story about the Vatican considering condoms:

Even at the Vatican, not all sacred beliefs are absolute: Thou shalt not kill, but war can be just. Now, behind the quiet walls, a clash is shaping up involving two poles of near certainty: the church’s long-held ban on condoms and its advocacy of human life.

Don’t we all advocate human life?

Posted by mikki at 09:02 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

KRT Wire | 04/15/2006 | Mass whale deaths tied to U.S. Navy sonar, report says:


TOKYO - The U.S. Navy's deployment of active sonar to detect submarine activity is believed to have been responsible for at least six incidents of mass death and unusual behavior among pods of whales in the last 10 years, according to a recent U.S. Congressional Research Service report.

In one of the most serious incidents, 150 to 200 melon-headed whales were observed milling in Hanalei Bay off Hawaii's Kauai Island during a Rim of the Pacific Exercise on July 3, 2004, after midfrequency sonar was used, the CRS report said.

Known as RIMPAC, the naval exercise included the participation of Japan and other U.S. allies in Asia and the Pacific.

The CRS report also listed five other incidents in which smaller whales, such as goose-beaked whales, harbor porpoises and killer whales, were found beached and dead in groups of a few to nearly 20. Many of the dead mammals had damaged hearing organs, and all five incidents coincided with U.S. naval exercises in the areas, the report said.

Posted by mikki at 10:43 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

CNN.com - Fossil connects human evolution dots - Apr 12, 2006:


WASHINGTON (AP) -- The latest fossil unearthed from a human ancestral hot spot in Africa allows scientists to link together the most complete chain of human evolution so far.

The 4.2 million-year-old fossil discovered in northeastern Ethiopia helps scientists fill in the gaps of how human ancestors made the giant leap from one species to another.

That's because the newest fossil, the species Australopithecus anamensis, was found in the region of the Middle Awash -- where seven other human-like species spanning nearly 6 million years and three major phases of human development were previously discovered.

"We just found the chain of evolution, the continuity through time," study co-author and Ethiopian anthropologist Berhane Asfaw said in a phone interview from Addis Ababa. "One form evolved to another. This is evidence of evolution in one place through time."

The findings were reported Thursday in the scientific journal Nature.

Posted by mikki at 07:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

So instead, I'm going to provide a streaming link in hopes that it is easier on the bandwidth.

Try This One

Note: This uses Quicktime, so you need to have Quicktime on your machine. It comes in both Windoze and Mac flavor. You can get it right here.

Posted by mikki at 02:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Audio and video of Daddy O's TV program starring ME... well, starring him WITH me, but there you go. Are you having exquisite amounts of fun yet? I certainly am. Before you screech too much, this is public access television. You know, like Wayne's World :-)

Posted by mikki at 10:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

When I was in NH a few weeks ago, I was invited to be on my dad's public access TV show to speak about the Wiccan Headstone Campaign. Now, feel free to be as picky as you like, but please remember - being on television and babbling for 1/2 an hour is difficult enough, but imagine doing that with YOUR FATHER. Oh the fun.

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

Harvard Gazette: Missing link crawls out of muck:


Paleontologists have discovered fossils of a species that provides the missing evolutionary link between fish and the first animals that walked out of water onto land about 375 million years ago. The newly found species, Tiktaalik roseae, has a skull, a neck, ribs, and parts of the limbs that are similar to four-legged animals known as tetrapods, as well as fishlike features such as a primitive jaw, fins, and scales.

These fossils, found on Ellesmere Island in Arctic Canada, are the most compelling examples yet of an animal that was at the cusp of the fish-tetrapod transition. The new find is described by scientists at Harvard University, the University of Chicago, and the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia in two related research articles highlighted on the cover of the April 6 issue of Nature.

"This previously unknown, extinct animal represents the beginning of the emergence of fish onto land, and the evolutionary transformation of fins into limbs," says Farish A. Jenkins Jr., Alexander Agassiz Professor of Zoology at Harvard and curator of mammalogy and vertebrate paleontology at Harvard's Museum of Comparative Zoology. "The skeletal material is three-dimensional and exquisitely preserved; most material this old tends to be flattened or otherwise distorted. The geometry of the limb joints clearly indicates that segments of the fin could move independently. The 'shoulder' and 'elbow' could flex, and the 'wrist' could extend, converting the fin into postures appropriate to support the body from below and propel the animal on land."

Posted by mikki at 07:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

CNN.com - Pyramid presents religious quandary for suburban Mexicans - Apr 5, 2006:


MEXICO CITY, Mexico (AP) -- Archeologists said Wednesday they have discovered a massive 6th-century Indian pyramid beneath the site of a centuries-old re-enactment of the crucifixion of Christ.

Built on a hillside by the mysterious Teotihuacan culture, the pyramid was abandoned almost 1,000 years before Catholics began re-enacting the crucifixion there in the 1800s, unaware they were celebrating one of the holiest moments of their faith on a site originally dedicated to gods of earth, wind and rain.

While residents around the hillside in Iztapalapa, on the east side of Mexico City, express pride at the discovery, it illustrates the difficulty of preserving the many layers of Mexican history: archaeologists have decided not to fully excavate the site so as to avoid disturbing the Christian rites.

Posted by mikki at 11:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

ANSA.it - News in English - Italians find ancient Ur tablets:


Writings could lead to buried library (ANSA) - Rome, March 28 - Italian archeologists working in Iraq have found a trove of ancient stone tablets from the fabled civilisation of Ur .

The tablets bear around 500 engravings of a literary and historical nature, according to team leader Silvia Chiodi .

"This is an an exceptional find," she said, noting that the area in question had previously only yielded prehistoric artefacts .

She said the tablets, made of clay and bitumen, were discovered by chance at an archaeological site not far from the location of the ancient city .

"I was looking for a wall structure spotted by an airborne photo when I spotted a small inscription on bitumen and then realised it wasn't the only one" .

An expert on Sumerian civilisation, Giovanni Pettinato, said the finds probably dated back to one of Ur's most prosperous periods .

"The most surprising thing is the time span the tablets cover, ranging from 2,700 BCE, the First Dynasty of Ur, to 2,100 BCE, the Third Dynasty," Pettinato said .

"The place where the tablets were found, not far from the surface, leads one to suppose they contain information from a library," he said .

"There could be thousands of them down there" .

Chiodi said the tablets would probably occupy a prominent place in a new Virtual Museum of Iraq which Italy is building to show people what Baghdad's celebrated museum of antiquities looked like before it was looted in the wake of the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq .

About a half of 40 star attractions of the museum have yet to be retrieved .

Of the 15,000 items taken from storeooms, 8,000 have not been returned despite an amnesty .

Ur, near the southern Iraqi city of Nassiriya, is cited in the Bible as the birthplace of the prophet Abraham .

It was the religious hub of Sumerian civilisation at the start of a series of dynasties that ruled Mesopotamia from around 4000 BCE .

Long before the Egyptians, the Sumerians invented the wheel and developed the first mathematical system .

The most famous classic of ancient literature, Gilgamesh, was written at Ur .

The most prominent monument at the site is the best preserved ziggurat, or stepped pyramid, in the Arab world .

It was built by the Sumerians around 4000 BCE and restored by Nebuchadnezzar in the sixth century BCE .

Posted by mikki at 06:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Sydney Morning Herald Blogs: Dissection / Feeling peaky Archives:


Glad tidings of great joy: there could be a straightforward medical explanation for at least three of the world's major religions.
Moses, Mohammed, and Jesus all experienced revelations on mountains, but they were probably just suffering a form of altitude sickness, say a group of Swiss and Israeli neurologists, casting doubt in the process on the very existence of God.

All three felt, heard or saw a presence, experienced lights and felt afraid, say the brain scientists from Lausanne, Geneva and Jerusalem. But so have contemporary mountaineers who are more interested in ice picks and thermal undies than anything mystical - suggesting the dizzy heights may have the effect of turning ordinary mortals into prophets.
"Different functions relying on brain areas such as the temporo-parietal junction and the prefrontal cortex have been suggested to be altered in altitude," they write in the marvellous journal Medical Hypotheses, which is positively boastful about giving a run to bright new ideas that haven't been through the usual discouraging process of scientific peer review.
"Moreover, acute and chronic hypoxia significantly affect the temporo-parietal junction and the prefrontal cortex and both areas have also been linked to altered own body perceptions and mystical experiences."
Especially if the prophets went yomping through the hills alone, they might be vulnerable to such mind-bending experiences and be uninhibited about expressing them.
As if to illustrate his own point, one of the doctors - Shahar Arzy - features a picture of himself astride a mountain on his university web page.
Neurologists could assist in the interpretation of sacred texts, they said - but equally a spot of bible study might help doctors understand "the machanisms of corporeal awareness and self consciousness."

Posted by mikki at 09:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Finally some sanity. Funerals are no place to make political statements.

WTOP: Funeral Protest Ban Clears Maryland House:


Alarmed by protesters who hold up signs such as "Thank God For Dead Soldiers" at military funerals, the Maryland House voted Wednesday to ban funeral protests that use speech likely to incite a fight.

The bill passed 132-3, despite concerns from some that it could weaken free speech. Congress and more than a dozen states are considering similar bills in response to protests by the Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kan., whose members believe that American soldiers are dying because of the nation's tolerance of gay people

Earlier this month, the Westminster funeral of Lance Cpl. Matthew Snyder was picketed by seven members of the church. Similar protests across the country have made lawmakers re-examine the limits of free speech. Protesters use anti-gay epithets and have inspired large counter-demonstrations.

Posted by mikki at 04:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Arlington Diocese to Allow Female Altar Servers:


The diocese that serves Roman Catholics in Northern Virginia today lifted a ban on female altar servers at church Masses, ending a decade-long campaign by liberal Catholics.

But the bishop of the Arlington Diocese said each of his 67 parishes can decide whether to continue the ban.

"No priest shall be required to make use of female altar servers at any Mass at which he presides," Bishop Paul S. Loverde said in a document sent to his parishes today.

The late Pope John Paul II ruled in 1994 that females can assist priests at Masses. But he left the decision to each diocese. Most agreed to lift the ban.

Posted by mikki at 06:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

CNN.com - Scenes from Homer found in Cyprus 'warrior tomb' - Mar 20, 2006:


NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) -- A 2,500-year-old sarcophagus with vivid color illustrations from Homer's epics has been discovered in western Cyprus, archaeologists said Monday.

Construction workers found the limestone sarcophagus last week in a tomb near the village of Kouklia, in the coastal Paphos area. The tomb, which probably belonged to an ancient warrior, had been looted during antiquity.

"The style of the decoration is unique, not so much from an artistic point of view, but for the subject and the colors used," said Pavlos Flourentzos, director of the island's antiquities department.

Only two similar sarcophagi have ever been discovered in Cyprus before. One is housed in New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art and the other in the British Museum in London, but their colors are more faded, Flourentzos said.

Flourentzos said the coffin -- painted in red, black and blue on a white background -- dated to 500 B.C., when Greek cultural influence was gaining a firm hold on the eastern Mediterranean island. Pottery discovered in the tomb is expected to provide a more precise date.

Posted by mikki at 09:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

And the great conspiracy begins!

Chef didn't quit according to friends:

United States: Various news sources recently reported that Isaac Hayes had quit South Park in protest at the Scientology episode. Well, his friends are suspicious, and voiced their fears to Roger Friedman, a journalist who also knows the singer.

Isaac Hayes did not quit South Park. My sources say that someone quit it for him.




I can tell you that Hayes is in no position to have quit anything. Contrary to news reports, the great writer, singer and musician suffered a stroke on Jan. 17. At the time it was said that he was hospitalized and suffering from exhaustion...




...Friends in Memphis tell me that Hayes did not issue any statements on his own about South Park. They are mystified.




Isaac’s been concentrating on his recuperation for the last two and a half, three months, a close friend told me.




Hayes did not suffer paralysis, but the mild stroke may have affected his speech and his memory. He’s been having home therapy since it happened.




That certainly begs the question of who issued the statement that Hayes was quitting South Park now because it mocked Scientology four months ago. If it wasn’t Hayes, then who would have done such a thing?

Chef's Quitting Controversy—Fox News, 20th March 2006.

Additional tags: South Park, Isaac Hayes, Scientology.

Technorati Tags: isaac hayes, scientology, south park

Posted by mikki at 11:28 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

9th Circuit: 'Bong Hits 4 Jesus' Banner Was Free Speech:


An Alaska teen who held up a sign reading "Bong Hits 4 Jesus" when the Olympic torch relay passed by his school in 2002 has won a court battle over whether his sign was an expression of free speech. The principal of Juneau-Douglas High School suspended Joseph Fredrick, then 18, for 10 days, saying the banner violated school anti-drug policies. Fredrick sued the school but lost in federal district court. But on Friday, a three-member panel of the 9th Circuit overturned the lower court order.

Posted by mikki at 08:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Soul singer Isaac Hayes quits "South Park" - Yahoo! News:


LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Soul music veteran Isaac Hayes, the voice of the libidinous character Chef on the satiric cable TV cartoon "South Park," said on Monday he was leaving the show, citing its "inappropriate ridicule" of religion.
"There is a place in this world for satire, but there is a time when satire ends and intolerance and bigotry toward religious beliefs and others begins," Hayes said in a statement issued through his spokesman in New York.
Hayes, 63, a follower of the Church of Scientology, did not mention a "South Park" episode that aired last fall poking fun at Scientology and some of its celebrity adherents, including actor Tom Cruise.>
Rather, the statement said the show's parody of religion is part of what Hayes sees as a "growing insensitivity toward personal spiritual beliefs" in the media generally, including the recent controversy over a Danish cartoon depiction of the Muslim Prophet Mohammad.
The soul singer, who became the first black composer to win an Academy Award for best song with his theme to the film "Shaft," said he formally asked to be released from his contract with "South Park," on the Comedy Central cable channel.
A spokesman for the Viacom Inc.-owned network said producers of the show and its creators, Trey Parker and Matt Stone, had agreed to not to "enforce" Hayes' contract.

Posted by mikki at 02:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Aljazeera.Net - More statues unearthed in Egypt:


A team of German archaeologists has unearthed 17 statues of the lion-headed goddess Sekhmet during restoration work at an ancient temple in the southern city of Luxor.
Faruq Hosni, the Culture Minister announced on Sunday that the team found the statues of the war goddess near the same site where six similar statues were unearthed last week, on the location of the 18th dynasty (1580-1314 BC) temple of pharaoh Amenhotep III on the west bank of the Nile.
Zahi Hawas, head of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, said he black granite statues were life-tsize, measure between 1.7 metres and 1.8 metres and show Sekhmet sitting on a throne holding the Ankh, a hieroglyphic sign that represented life for the ancient Egyptians.

Posted by mikki at 06:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Md. College Puts a New Face on 'Homecoming King':


The king's crown is made of black microbraids that fly helter-skelter off the top of the head. The royal garb is urban American collegiate: loose sweater, jeans, Rasta-style knit cap -- all in various shades of black -- and a pierced eyebrow.

Posted by mikki at 11:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Catholics Want to Authenticate Less-Than-Miraculous Lourdes Healings:


The Roman Catholic pilgrimage shrine at Lourdes may introduce a kind of "miracle light" category for sudden, unexplained recoveries, because modern medicine increasingly refuses to declare any disease incurable.

Posted by mikki at 04:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

CNN.com - Teenage 'Buddha' missing - Mar 11, 2006:


KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) -- A teenage boy in Nepal whose followers believe he is the reincarnation of Buddha is missing after 10 months of meditation, allegedly without food or water, officials said Saturday.

Followers of Ram Bahadur Banjan, 15, reported his disappearance and a police team has been sent to the jungles of Bara, about 160 kilometers (100 miles) south of the capital, Kathmandu, to investigate, said Santaraj Subedi, the chief government official in the district.

It was still unclear when he disappeared, but initial reports said he was last seen on Friday.

Subedi said police were investigating if the boy just wandered into the jungle or was abducted by local robbers.

Banjan has been sitting cross-legged and motionless with eyes closed in a niche among the roots of a tree in the jungle since May 17, 2005, according to his associates, who claim he has had no food or water during that period.

Posted by mikki at 04:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

After 4 years of Non Fluffy Wicca with the blue background, I decided to look for a facelift. After picking through skin after skin, I've decided to test drive this one to see what people think. Please feel free to comment and let me know what you think about this one. Do you have any comments? Suggestions? Complaints? Don't worry, I can take it :-).

Posted by mikki at 03:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)

Ancient war goddess statues unearthed in Egypt - Yahoo! News:


CAIRO (AFP) - A team of Egyptian and German archeologists has unearthed six statues of the lion-headed war goddess Sekhmet during restoration work at an ancient temple in the southern city of Luxor, officials said.

The team found the artifacts in the Kom Hitan area on the location of the 18th dynasty (1580-1314 BC) temple of pharaoh Amenhotep III on the west bank of the Nile, said Egyptian antiquities boss Zahi Hawas.

The black granite statues show Sekhmet sitting on a throne holding the "key of life" in her left hand. They were buried under the eastern wall of the temple's courtyard, Hawas said in a statement.

Three of the statues were recovered intact, said Horig Sourouzian, head of the joint team.

She added that the lower part of the third statue was still embedded in the ground and that the two others had their upper parts missing.

Hawas said the team had already discovered 30 statues of the goddess Sekhmet at seven different locations around the temple.

The goddess Sekhmet was associated with war and retribution and represented the destructive force of the sun. Part of her destructive side was disease and plague, but she could also cure ailments.

Pharaoh Amenhotep III collected many statues of Sekhmet as, according to some theories, he had dental and other health problems that he hoped the goddess would be able to cure.

Posted by mikki at 03:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

If you are running a non profit (either 501(c)(3) or tax exemption because you are a church) you should really take a look at this. Political activity of ANY KIND is prohibited to tax exempt organizations. Many churches in this country use the pulpit in order to press their political views. Hopefully the IRS will continue to investigate them, and stop taxpayer financing of politics.

Morons in the News: IRS Finds Massive Nonprofit Abuse:


The IRS has found that in three out of four cases, nonprofits
suspected of engaging in political activity actually did...

There's a standing rule for non-profit organizations that they
are not permitted to engage in biased political activity; they
can't endorse particular candidates, can't campaign for
particular ballot initiatives, and can't present information in
a...

Posted by mikki at 11:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

CNN.com - Judge with 3 wives kicked off bench - Feb 24, 2006:


A small-town judge with three wives was ordered removed from the bench by the Utah Supreme Court on Friday.

The court unanimously agreed with the findings of the state's Judicial Conduct Commission, which recommended the removal of Judge Walter Steed for violating the state's bigamy law.

Steed has served for 25 years on the Justice Court in the polygamist community of Hildale in southern Utah, where he ruled on such matters as drunken driving and domestic violence cases.

The commission last year sought his removal from the bench after a 14-month investigation determined Steed was a polygamist and had violated Utah's bigamy law.

Bigamy is a third-degree felony in Utah punishable by up to five years in prison and up to $5,000 in fines.

Steed scheduled a news conference for Friday afternoon to discuss the ruling.

The initial complaint against him was filed in 2003 by Tapestry Against Polygamy, a group founded by women who had left the secretive colonies.

Steed legally married his first wife in 1965, according to court documents. The second and third wives were married -- or "sealed" as the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints refers to it -- to him in religious ceremonies in 1975 and 1985.

The three women are sisters.

Plural marriage was an original tenet of the mainline Mormon church, but the faith abandoned the practice in 1890.

About 30,000 polygamists, who split from the main church into various fundamentalist sects, are believed to be living in Utah, the Southwest, Mexico and Canada.

Posted by mikki at 04:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Today I have realized that my life is much like the Roomba self propelled floor vacuum. The little "creature" has an algorithm in it that tells it what to do when it hits something, like a chair leg, or other piece of furniture. It often backs up, spins around, bumps again, and repeats until it finds a way out.

I find this is a metaphor for my life, as, like the roomba, I find myself causing humorous antics as I try to release myself from self imposed stupidity.

And with this new brilliance, I will..... uh..... take a nap. Yeah!

Posted by mikki at 02:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

So why did the airplane crash in the field? The simple explanation is "gravity." But, of course, there is much more to it. The stark headline from WTOP said, "BOWIE, Md. - Two men are dead and a woman is critically injured after their small plane crashed nose first into a field at Freeway Airport Wednesday during heavy snow." Again, that doesn't tell the whole story.

Why do I care? I didn't know any of the people involved in the crash. I didn't see it. It didn't occur at my airport. I didn't have a dream foretelling it. But I am a pilot, and as a pilot I have been confronted with many decisions, any one of which can begin a failure chain which could result in a similar fatal accident killing everyone in the aircraft. That, and someone I knew attempted to make that airport in similar bad weather, also chose not to go to a larger alternate airport, and also died.

So what happened here? In simple terms, a pilot chose to leave an airport in Warrenton, VA in a snow storm with very low clouds, enroute to Freeway Airport, located near Bowie, Maryland. He had two people on board a Cessna 172, and flew northeast, into weather that was not forecast to be very good. The pilot chose Freeway because he had a passenger to pick up there, despite the fact that Freeway airport's runway is 2400 feet long by 40 feet wide, which is not wide enough to include the wings on most aircraft. It is obstructed on one side by power lines. On a good day, it is a challenging airport. On a day with very low visibility in instrument conditions, it is not an airport I would even consider.

Continue reading "Why Did the Plane Crash in the Field?" »

Posted by mikki at 08:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Rising Water Threatens Great Temples Of Egypt:


Some of the world's most precious archaeological treasures - the ancient Egyptian tombs and temples at Luxor - are being devastated by salt water that is eating their foundations, scientists have discovered.



The temples of Amun, Luxor and Karnak, designated World Heritage Sites, have survived 4,000 years of arid desert heat but are now being destroyed by rising ground water.



The threat has b

Posted by mikki at 12:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Egyptologists Find War Goddess And Nubian King:


Egyptologists have discovered two 3,400-year-old statues of the lion-headed goddess Sekhmet and a rare statue depicting a king with Nubian features, an archaeological conservation director said on Monday.



War goddess Sekhmet embodied the cruel powers of the sun, and was also responsible for both curing and causing illness. The excavation team believe the statues were excavated from elsewhere, t

Posted by mikki at 10:09 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Judge to decide if priest should be at bar for declaring Jesus existed:


An Italian judge heard arguments from lawyers on Friday on whether a small-town parish priest should stand trial for asserting that Jesus Christ existed. The priest's accuser, an atheist, says the Roman Catholic Church has been deceiving people for 2,000 years with a fable that Christ existed and he accused the priest of violating two laws by furthering the assertion. Lawyers for the prelate, the Rev. Enrico Righi, and his accuser, Luigi Cascioli, made their arguments before Judge Gaetano Mautone in a brief, closed-door hearing in Viterbo, north of Rome. They said they expected Mautone to decide quickly whether to dismiss the case or order Righi to stand trial

Posted by mikki at 11:16 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Quite interesting that a country would decide that perhaps it shouldn't meddle with the choices individuals make regarding their life partner(s). Although couched in terms of "protecting women and children" this at least provides a bit of hope that other countries might wise up and allow people to make choices for themselves without undue religious-based baggage.

Canadian study recommends legalizing polygamy:


[JURIST] A study commissioned by the Canadian Justice Department [official website] and obtained by Canadian Press has urged the Canadian federal government to legalize polygamy to help protect women and children in those relationships. Section 293 of the

Posted by mikki at 07:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

i-Newswire.com - Press Release And News Distribution - UFO cult predicts apocalypse in July 2006:


CLEVELAND, Ohio, January 2, 2006: The Church of the SubGenius has announced that the end of the world will take place on Wednesday, July 5, 2006. In preparation for the fulfillment of this doomsday prophecy, the Church is requesting that all of its members participate in a bizarre religious ceremony taking place in upstate New York, during the final weekend before the arrival of the apocalypse.

Since its inception in 1953, Church founder J.R. "Bob" Dobbs has predicted that a fleet of flying saucers will arrive at the beginning of July to destroy the worldwide Conspiracy against the Church of the SubGenius, while all ordained SubGenius ministers will be rescued by escape vessels piloted by the Alien Sex Goddesses, also known as the Xists.

The Church is inviting all of its members worldwide to gather together for the final hours in Sherman, New York from Thursday, June 29 to July 5, at a clothing-optional outdoor campground called Brushwood Folklore Center. The first gathering at this compound took place in 1996, and the event has increased in size and participants each following year. 1998 was designated the first true "X-Day," and each successive year has added one to the total.  This year's celebration in 2006 is X-Day 9, or X-Day IX.

Posted by mikki at 01:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

What a horrible thing, to be told that your loved one is alive, so you drag your kids to the church so you can welcome him home, and you wait. Three hours later you are told "oops, we were wrong, they're all dead but one." The despair would be far worse than to simply be told they were dead at the outset. The false elation for nothing, and the roller coaster ride of emotions was something cruel and completely unwarranted.

So now the blaming begins. I have already heard the idea that the miners knew the danger, and willingly went into it knowing they could be killed. While I'm certain that they knew the danger, I'm not quite so certain about the "willingly" part.

The median income level in West Virginia for a family of 4 in 2005 is 47,550, which is actually down almost 2,000.00 from 2004. (Source is census information ). The mean wage for all occupations was $30,433.00 in the 4th quarter of 2004 according to the West Virginia Bureau of Employment Programs. "Extraction Workers" made a mean of 40,226. Mining Machine Operators made a mean of 39,956. CNN is reporting an average of 50,000.00 for workers, up to 150,000.00 for supervisors.

What does this mean? Well, essentially, from the way I'm reading the charts, if you are male and in good physical shape, you can make at least 25% more money working in the mines. You don't need a high school diploma, a college degree, or any other type of formal education, although the mines provide specialized training. Is it a choice? Are there any other jobs available that will provide close to that salary? And if you're the "breadwinner" who has to provide for a family, what other real choices do you have?

As a related question, why are women who choose to become "exotic dancers" who are making good money, said to be "exploited" whereas these men who are working in the coal mines not "exploited?" I am quite confused over that one.

Whether exploited or not, whether someone or some entity is at fault or not, whether they were properly protected or not, these men have died a tragic death, and I pray that they and their families find rest and peace.

Posted by mikki at 01:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Hooray! Finally a court has ruled against mythology as science in the public schools.

U.S. judge bars school district from teaching 'intelligent design' as evolution alternative:


By MARTHA RAFFAELE AP Education Writer (AP) - HARRISBURG, Pennsylvania-A federal judge has ruled "intelligent design" - the belief that a higher power, rather than evolution, created life - cannot be mentioned in biology classes in a U.S. school district.

Posted by mikki at 04:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The War on Christmas?

Conservative leader Jerry Falwell is steaming mad about the war on Christmas, fuming at the top of his lungs to all who will hear him about how the various and sundry liberals are taking away the Christian people’s deity-given right to call a Christmas tree a Christmas tree and a Christmas break a Christmas break. He calls it a downright war and is rallying his troops. This ranting isn’t ringing quite true to me, and I don’t think it has much to do with my being a liberal. It has more to do with me having a perfectly good memory.

The war on Christmas that I, as a liberal, am supposedly engaging in, basically has two parts, calling the Christmas holiday “the holidays” and calling Christmas trees “Holiday trees.” While I find the holiday trees thing silly, I’d like to address why this liberal calls the holidays the holidays…

Like many non-Catholics, I went to Catholic School for a while. My school prided itself on having the best academic calendar there was, with very little time off. This was, in fact, why my then-newly single mother chose it, because it was a lot cheaper to have me in school than to pay a sitter for when I wasn’t in school. Our financial situation at holiday time was made a little harder one year when the school decided that we were no longer going to have a Christmas break of three days and a New Year’s Day break of one, but a week and a half long holiday break covering both Christmas and New Years, like the secular schools did.

Out of nun-like attention to proper grammar, the school did not call this break “Christmas and New Year break” or even “Winter break,” but “holiday break.” I can assure you, and I expect the Vatican will back me up on this, that this school did not have a war on Christmas, but instead was practicing a Roman-like efficacy on the cheap paper calendar. No “winter interim break consisting of Christmas, New Years Day and the spaces in-between where your children are obnoxious with greed and high on sugar” but instead the elegant “holiday break.”

I am certain Kwanzaa, Diwali and Hanukkah did not enter into the minds of these nuns when they were whirling the drum of the ditto machine, turning out the pale blue copies to send home to my mom, who grumbled and called the sitter when I thrust it into her hands. The holidays for these Christ-loving Christmas practicing front line assaulters on Christmas consisted of two dates- Christmas and New Years. Thus it became holidays, not to get rid of Christ, but to save ink.

It was the seventies, and saving money was in fashion, and it was around the same time that the employers in my area, and I assume all across the country, started ditching the traditional Thanksgiving party, Christmas party and New Year’s party and started doing a sort of new wave syncretic thing in early December, a sort of one-size fits all party to celebrate all three which they called a “holiday party.” Now, as a liberal, I’m willing to believe a lot about the nasty corporations out there, but I don’t think that killing Christmas was the idea, here. I think it was saving money. In fact, it was a wonderful thing for my poor family, because the holiday bonus would be given out at the party, with time to spend it before Christmas.

I watched the trend to consolidate the holidays continue as I grew up. My choir stopped having Christmas and Thanksgiving and Halloween concerts, and instead got a big “holiday” concert at the end of the year which included plenty of songs about Jesus, something about a sleigh ride and a song I distinctly remember as ending in “and a Happy New Year” and therefore not rightly being called a Christmas carol. Indeed, what was and was not Christmas was a very big deal to these nuns, and a bunch of other Christians I met with.

In the eighties, the moral majority and their friends made it clear that they were disgusted with the sleigh bells, Santas, reindeer and trees, because these were NOT “of Christ.” Indeed, today you can simply google the words “Christmas Tree” and “Anti-Christ” and find sites like Bibletruths, Raptureready, Demonbuster and much more that are more than willing to explain to you how the Christmas tree, that thing that Falwell thinks people are calling a holiday tree out of hatred of Christians, is not of Christ, and is, in fact, a Pagan symbol that should probably not be affiliated with their messiah’s holy name. In honesty, when I met my first “holiday tree,” I thought it was these concerned Christians that we were trying to appease, not liberals like myself. My own tree gets called “the tree” more than Christmas Tree, although its gone through a slew of names, because I sort of agree with these righteous Christians- it’s not about Christ, so his name shouldn’t get slapped on it.

I think public righteousness is just the new flavor this year. People see things, and get righteous without every stopping to wonder why. I mean, you and I might know that the abbreviation X for Christ comes from the letter Chi and an attempt by priests to be respectful, and you and I might suspect that a Christmas Tree is called a holiday tree to explain why its kept up through January (mine goes to the mulcher on the 26th) even though Christmas is over. You and I might know a lot of things… but other people don’t, and it’s easier to suspect the unseen creeping enemy than to realize things happen just because people are trying to be more efficient or are being lazy or anything boring like that.

I am a liberal. I would love it if the term “the holidays” was being bandied about to be more inclusive, but inclusiveness is not the way the world works these days- this “holidays” thing is about greed, efficiency and often, accuracy. It is naïve to think we liberals have had anything to do with this. We can’t keep George W. Bush from being reelected and Falwell thinks we have the power to take on Christmas?

As a registered member of the liberal party of the great blue state of New York, and a pagan, and a woman married (not civilly unioned) to a woman, who is also pro-choice, and an academic, I can assure you that if liberals were having a war on Christmas, I would have gotten the memo by now. We have lots of wars we’re involved in, like the war on ignorance, for example, and the war on poverty, and the war on AIDS… we’re just too busy with those wars to bother with something like Christmas, especially when most of us celebrate it quite happily.


Kaatryn MacMorgan is a liberal author and researcher with degrees in Biology, Psychology and Anthropology and describes herself as a chronic observer of the human condition. Until recently, she was the acting head of CUEW, but stepped down to dedicate her life to cancer research. She lives with her wife and son in Buffalo, NY.

Posted by mikki at 11:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Intelligent design taught ... as mythology - Science - MSNBC.com:


LAWRENCE, Kan. - Creationism and intelligent design are going to be studied at the University of Kansas, but not in the way advocated by opponents of the theory of evolution.

A course being offered next semester by the university religious studies department is titled “Special Topics in Religion: Intelligent Design, Creationism and other Religious Mythologies.”

“The KU faculty has had enough,” said Paul Mirecki, department chairman. “Creationism is mythology. Intelligent design is mythology. It’s not science. They try to make it sound like science. It clearly is not.”

Earlier this month, the state Board of Education adopted new science teaching standards that treat evolution as a flawed theory, defying the view of science groups.

Although local school boards still decide how science is taught in the classrooms, the vote was seen as a major victory for proponents of intelligent design, which says that the universe is so complex that it must have been designed by a higher power.

Critics say intelligent design is merely creationism — a literal reading of the Bible’s story of creation as the handiwork of God — camouflaged in scientific language as a way to get around court rulings that creationism injects religion into public schools.

John Calvert, an attorney and managing director of the Intelligent Design Network in Johnson County, said Mirecki will go down in history as a laughingstock.

“To equate intelligent design to mythology is really an absurdity, and it’s just another example of labeling anybody who proposes (intelligent design) to be simply a religious nut,” Calvert said. “That’s the reason for this little charade.”

Mirecki said his course, limited to 120 students, would explore intelligent design as a modern American mythology. Several faculty members have volunteered to be guest lecturers, he said.

University Chancellor Robert Hemenway said Monday said he didn’t know all the details about the new course.

“If it’s a course that’s being offered in a serious and intellectually honest way, those are the kind of courses a university frequently offers,” he said.

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

Nepalese boy believed to be reincarnation of Buddha:


Teenage boy has been locked in meditation, allegedly without food or water, in a Nepalese jungle for six months, and thousands have flocked to see him with some believing he's the Buddha reincarnated, police and media said Wednesday. Ram Bahadur Banjan, 15, sits cross-legged and motionless with eyes closed in a niche among the roots of a tree in the jungle of Bara, about 160 kilometers (100 miles) south of the capital, Katmandu

Posted by mikki at 01:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Vatican Chief: Design Not Science:


The Vatican's chief astronomer said Friday that "intelligent design" isn't science and doesn't belong in science classrooms, the latest high-ranking Roman Catholic official to enter the evolution debate in the United States. The Rev. George Coyne, the Jesuit director of the Vatican Observatory, said placing intelligent design theory alongside that of evolution in school programs was "wrong" and was akin to mixing apples with oranges.

"Intelligent design isn't science even though it pretends to be," the ANSA news agency quoted Coyne as saying on the sidelines of a conference in Florence. "If you want to teach it in schools, intelligent design should be taught when religion or cultural history is taught, not science."

Posted by mikki at 10:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I am an intellectual elitist. There, I’ve said it. Now that’s out of the way. I am one of those who does not believe that every person can learn a religion as well as anyone else. I do not believe that anyone who desires should become clergy in any religion including mine. I also do not believe that any given person has the capability of engaging in scholarly research, contemplation, or exposition. So it was of great personal interest to observe an Internet conversation revolving around the pros and cons of “open” vs. “closed” religious training, and the perceptions of each group towards the other.

As I sat and watched this conversation, I noted that one of the participants made the assumption that many do regarding the measure of “success” of any given group. To this person, who advocated the “open” group concept where anyone was allowed to join, study and participate, success was measured by the number of people who completed a First Degree curriculum. This person also advocated that large numbers of those First Degree graduates would also go on to become clergy. The number of clergy seemed to be chief amongst this person’s measure of the strength and power of a tradition.

Now here is where some of my intellectual elitism comes in. Why on earth would the title of “clergy” or a certificate of completion of First Degree necessarily be a benchmark of success? One can receive the title of Reverend for free and without study from various organizations. I would imagine that if you asked them to, they would put “First Degree” on your clergy certificate for a nominal fee. The only success I see here is the growth of the business supplying the credentials.

Continue reading "Elitism, “Open” vs. “Closed,” and Allocation of Resources" »

Posted by mikki at 06:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Dalai Lama: science and Buddhism share a quest of open investigation:


Science and Buddhism share a quest of open investigation into the nature of reality, and science can be a pathway to discovering well-being and happiness, the Dalai Lama told the Society for Neuroscience

Posted by mikki at 10:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Mars, Venus Reign This Month:


Mars and Venus present a treat to sky gazers in November, marking two memorable points of light at opposite ends of the sky. Mars reaches its brightest point early in the month and will be easy to find even while in the city. See our neighboring red planet now because it will not be this brilliant until 2018.

Look for Mars in the eastern sky after dark, as it is a brilliant, unmistakable orange-red. You can find it in the south after midnight, and you can see it in the western sky in the early morning hours.

Officially, the red planet reaches opposition on Monday, which means that from Earth's point of view, Mars is opposite from the sun. In other words, when the sun sets in the west, Mars rises in the east. Interestingly, the nearly full moon and Mars rise together Nov. 14.

The full moon -- and that can mean any full moon -- is always opposite the sun. By Thanksgiving, Mars sets earlier and rapidly becomes dimmer.

Facing south, when night arrives and Mars begins to enter stage left, Venus is exiting stage right. Find Venus deep in the south-southwestern sky at dark. While Mars has a distinctly orange-red tint, Venus is a very bright white.

Saturn rises in the east-northeast around 11:30 p.m. now, and by mid-month the great ringed planet will ascend the eastern heavens in the 10 p.m. hour. You can find this gaseous, giant planet in the constellation Cancer.

Jupiter races through the morning sky just ahead of the rising sun in the east-southeast. In the middle of the month, this gaseous giant planet rises about 6 a.m., and by month's end climbs the eastern horizon about 5:15 a.m. It's should be easy to see from the city.

The fleet Mercury follows Jupiter toward the end of the month and makes a cameo appearance ahead of the rising sun. Look for it hugging the horizon. This is not a good year for the reliable mid-November Leonid meteors, which are likely to be washed out by the moon.

Posted by mikki at 09:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

How interesting! Could it be possible that the Vatican wants to see an end to the ridiculous fundy driven wars in the US on how to shove religion down the throats of kids in schools? That would indeed be quite nice.

Vatican says faithful should listen to the science:


Cardinal Paul Poupard, who heads the Pontifical Council for Culture, made the comments at a news conference on a Vatican project to help end the "mutual prejudice" between religion and science that has long bedeviled the Catholic Church and is currently part of the evolution debate in the United States

Posted by mikki at 08:52 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Woohoo! WitchVox posted my article! Hooray hooray :-)

Why Am I A Witch?: "Occasionally, I am asked the question, 'Why are you a Witch?' The question itself always causes me a bit of disconnect since it seems misplaced. I would never ask 'Why are you a Jew?' or 'Why are you a Christian?' mostly because the answer I would get, in general, is meaningless. I would likely be told, 'I was born that way' which, in my experience, has been followed with cursory reasoning as to why the person's religion is the 'right' or 'true' religion. This reasoning is provided despite my no ..."

(Via Witchvox - RSS Feed - New Articles and Reviews.)

Posted by mikki at 08:24 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Scholars Produce New Picture of Witches: "By Peter Steinfels It is the season of witches - cute little costumed ones crying 'trick or treat' and full-grown adult ones laying claim to Halloween and recounting tales of medieval and early modern persecution. In a search for historical roots and moral legitimacy, some feminists and many adherents of neopagan or goddess-centered religious movements like Wicca have elaborated a founding mythology in which witches and witch hunts have a central role. Witches, they claim, were folk healers, spiritual guides and the underground survivors of a pre-Christian matriarchal cult. By the hundreds of thousands, even the millions, they were the victims of a ruthless campaign that church authorities waged throughout the Middle Ages and early modern centuries to stamp out this rival, pagan religion. Robin Briggs, an Oxford historian, is only one of many contemporary scholars rejecting this account. What unites most 'common assumptions' about witches, witchcraft and witch hunts, Mr. Briggs writes in Witches & Neighbors: The Social and Cultural Context of European Witchcraft (Viking Penguin, 1996), is 'one very marked feature,' namely 'that they are hopelessly wrong.'"

(Via WiccanWeb.ca.)

Posted by mikki at 07:19 PM | Permalink

Students vote to oust Bible: "

Scotland: Students at Edinburgh University have voted to remove Bibles from halls of residence because the practice is discriminatory.

The bible ban has been described as disappointing by churchmen. But student leaders insist it is an important step towards making sure people of all religions feel welcome on campus. There are more than 2000 bibles at the university's Pollock Halls campus, on the edge of Holyrood Park - one in each room. They are expected to be removed after a vote by the Edinburgh University Students Association (EUSA).

University officials have yet to approve the ban. However, similar calls from students in the past - including one to have prayers removed from graduation ceremonies two years ago - have been agreed without protest.

EUSA president Ruth Cameron explained:

The student association firmly believes in the importance of ensuring that all students from all faiths feel at home in their university accommodation. We simply don't want to be seen promoting one religion over another.

Students at Stirling University supported a similar move last April.

Bible to be banned from student halls—The Scotsman, 22nd October 2005.

Additional tags: religion, bible, Gideons, Christianity.

(Via The Pagan Prattle Online.)

Posted by mikki at 02:15 PM | Permalink

Vote for Witch party?: "Australia - The Howard Government may believe there are votes in Christian values, but it could well turn out to be the witches who cast the decisive political spell. A seminar on spirituality held in Melbourne recently has heard that witchcraft and nature religions — along with charismatic Christianity — have become the refuge of those for whom traditional religions have become jejune. Witchcraft is a religion for the weak and oppressed, especially women, according to one prominent Melbourne witch. Adherents list witchcraft's advantages as including its non-patriarchal structure, an absence of priests and the ability to commune directly with the gods."

(Via WiccanWeb.ca.)

Posted by mikki at 03:01 PM | Permalink

Pagan druid claims anger archbishop: "Archbishop of Canterbury elect Dr Rowan Williams has hit back at newspaper reports he is dabbling in paganism. He is being inducted as a 'druid' to the Gorsedd of the Bards during a historic ceremony at the National Eisteddfod in St Davids, Pembrokeshire, on Monday. He will join the mythical circle of Wales' key cultural contributors in a ritual The Times suggested was linked to ancient paganism. But the Archbishop of Wales, who will shortly succeed Dr George Carey at Canterbury, has branded the claims 'deeply offensive'. During his welcoming to the group, he will don a long white cloak while druids recite a prayer, trumpets sound and a 6ft 6ins sword is unsheathed."

(Via WiccanWeb.ca.)

Posted by mikki at 12:00 PM | Permalink

UK Pagans celebrate as numbers soar: "As the UK becomes awash with ghosts, ghouls, tricks and treats on Halloween night, thousands of pagans will be celebrating a far more ancient festival. The pre-Christian festival of Samhain, which falls on 31 October, is the biggest event on the pagan calendar. Paganism, which embraces a variety of groups including druids, witches and followers of the Viking god Odin, is one of the fastest growing religions in the UK. At Samhain - pronounced 'sow-en' - pagans remember their dead and look to the future. A study in 1997 suggested there were 100,000 practising pagans in the UK, an increase of 95,000 since 1990."

(Via WiccanWeb.ca.)

Posted by mikki at 03:05 PM | Permalink

CNN.com - Bone of Hobbit-like species uncovered - Oct 11, 2005: "(AP) -- Scientists say they have found more bones in an Indonesian cave that offer additional evidence of a second human species -- short and hobbit-like -- that roamed the Earth the same time as modern man. But the vocal scientific minority that has challenged that conclusion since the discovery of Homo floresiensis was announced last year remains unconvinced. The discovery of a jaw bone, to be reported in Thursday's issue of the journal Nature, represents the ninth individual belonging to a group believed to have lived as recently as 12,000 years ago. The bones are in a wet cave on the island of Flores in the eastern limb of the Indonesian archipelago, near Australia."

(Via CNN.)

Posted by mikki at 08:23 PM | Permalink

Today's underwater photos are right here

Another happy fun day on Bonaire. I could get use to this. Went out to two dive sites today - Windsock and Small Wall. Both were beautiful. Windsock is by the airport (go figure) and had some interesting cleaning stations, LOTS of juvenile spotted drums, and lots of eels. Small Wall had two frogfish in the same coral head. That was really cool.

We got to see our friend Walt, the tech diving instructor who was our rebreather teacher. Really nice guy and fun. Our other pal, Jason, was not on the island this week, and we missed him. However, we will survive and continue to have fun despite these little stumbling blocks :-)

Silly me got too much sun yet again, so I had to take a long afternoon nap. Nap was broken up by Wessipooh wishing me to get my arse out of bed to go to dinner at Capricios, our favorite restaurant on the island. It is an Italian restaurant that has some of the best wine in the Caribbean, having won the Wine Gourmet award every year since 2002 or something like that. Anyway, the food as always was fabulous, the deserts more so, and the wine, even the "house wine" was yummy.

Posted by mikki at 01:01 PM | Permalink

Today we lost an American Icon, albeit one we might want to throw things at when he was on tv. Gilligan, the Skipper's "Little Buddy," perpetual inhabitant of Gilligan's Island, passed away today.

All of us over the age of 30 or so have memories of Gilligan's Island, whether it be re-runs or even those first run programs. One of my personal favorite memories was when I worked for WMUR-TV, Channel 9 in Manchester, NH - the seemingly "All Gilligan, All The Time" station (when we weren't doing the comedy News 1/2 hours :-)). As Gilligan was walking across the island, and I was passing through the control room on the way back upstairs to the newsroom located in the attic, our chief engineer, Maurice Wynn, was under the audio control board, yanking wires out like nobody's business. Unfortunately, one of the wires he pulled was the one that made the booth microphone "live." For those who have never heard of a "booth microphone," the booth was where you put the actual human called the announcer, who said things like "this is Channel 9, WMUR-TV, Manchester" when you didn't have enough technical capability to use recorded station identifications or tag lines to commercials. Anyway, the booth mike was live, as Dave Meuss said all too clearly, "What the FUCK is he DOING?"

The phones lit up (all three lines) with people whose small children had heard the evil words during such a wholesome and cherished bastion of clean television as Gilligan's Island. To make it worse, our hero himself, happened to be on screen at the time. And thus, the Gilligan's Island audience in Manchester, NH in approximately 1980 lost its innocence.

Gilligan, Goddess-speed on your next journey. Just make sure it's not a three hour tour.

Posted by mikki at 03:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Religion increasingly irrelevant—official: "

United Kingdom: Research published today shows that a significant proportion of churchgoers are not believers. Further, an excuse widely used by churches to justify their interference in the lives of non-members—that many people believe without attending church—has also been shown to be a load of old bollocks.

David Voas of the University of Manchester and colleagues report that the number of people who have a real faith is now smaller than the number of people who passively belong to a religion. That undermines a cherished tenet of churches in Britain: that many people implicitly believe even if they don't explicitly belong.

And there’s worse news for anyone hoping to impose their beliefs on their children:

The study, based on a 14 years of data from 10,500 households, found that parents played a powerful role in the transmission of religious belief. But even if both parents held strong beliefs, there was only a 50-50 chance that their children would carry on believing.

In houses where only one parent had strong feelings about faith, children were much less likely to believe. On the other hand, two non-religious parents had no trouble passing on their lack of faith. In effect, attendance fell away steadily with each generation.

Although believers tend to have more children, this rate of failure means they’d need to have at least five children per couple to see even a modest increase in belief. It won’t necessarily be the same beliefs though.

Whatever the parents' beliefs, one child in 12 will join a denomination not supported by either parent.

Study refutes faith in silent majority—The Guardian, 16th August 2005.

Additional tags: religion, Christianity.

(Via The Pagan Prattle Online.)

Posted by mikki at 02:26 PM | Permalink

A lot of us hear of the Threefold Law, the Law of Return, the "Do Unto Others" law, "Karma is a boomerang" etc., but how many of us really believe it enough to live our lives mindful of it?

A few weeks ago, as I was walking through a parking lot after taking my then pregnant doggie for an X ray (puppy pix here), I found a wallet and turned it in to the manager at the Safeway near to where I found it. At the time, a woman was in line and loudly said that she was so happy to have seen an honest person. Of course, that made me feel pretty good, and I smiled to myself and went along my merry way.

Today, I had a beeeeg pile of packages that I was taking to the post office (thanks to my wonderful Enchanted Works customers) and was overloaded to the max. Who stayed behind to open the door for me? The same woman who was in line at Safeway.

I just thought that was pretty cool

Posted by mikki at 02:42 PM | Permalink

It is amazing that the City of London, at 12 noon their time, came to a complete halt and stood as one, in silence, in tribute to the 50+ people who were killed. Many in Europe stood with them. Thousands stand in line to sign the book of condolences. In 25 countries, citizens stood in defiance to terrorism. The resolve is close to universal.

So what went wrong? One of the bombers was married with a child, and worked as a teacher's aide in elementary school. All were British. Why? To me it just goes to show that religious extremism in ANY form is dangerous. It has been used to induce suicides, murders, rapes, assaults, and more. It is frightening to watch those who are obviously under the influence of extremists. They act and speak as one, with no individuality, no independent thought, and are willing to lay down their lives at a moment's notice. This phenomenon is not limited to Islamic extremists, either. We've seen it in extremists of all flavors

And why the difference in reactions? In London, the emphasis was on defiance, and getting back to normal life as soon as possible. In New York, it was how we could "get them back" and a scramble for immediate draconian legislation that would curtail our freedoms.

Although I am certain that Parliament will likely be plagued with those who will try to limit British civil liberties in a failed attempt to exchange freedom for security (which gives you neither, of course), I have a feeling that the Brits will be a bit smarter than we were about this. Perhaps it is because of their history with IRA terrorism, or perhaps it is because their politicians are not as concerned with control as ours are. For whatever reason, it will be something to watch.

Posted by mikki at 12:21 PM | Permalink

Hooray again for New Hampshire, often thought of as a podunk state full of yokels, but often pretty damn progressive. Today, the House considers a bill to help certified nurse midwives who are getting the short end of the insurance stick nationwide.

One of the best things that ever happened to me was when an OB/GYN said, "I don't understand why you are questioning me" about her birthing options. "I don't care if you're afraid, I'm going to do what's best for the baby." He was fired on the spot and we went off to a birthing center with certified nurse midwives who delivered a 9 1/2 pound baby with no drugs, no complications, no episiotomy, no tearing, and a doctor's later comment "I wouldn't have ever known you even HAD a baby if it wasn't here in the record."

A woman's right to choose medical care and birthing options should not be dictated by insurance companies despite evidence that low risk births are LESS problematic and the mothers and babies have BETTER outcomes with certified nurse midwives. Go NH. May more states follow suit.

Concord Monitor Online: Six months ago, Carol Leonard closed the doors to her Hopkinton birthing center, Longmeadow Farm, and stopped delivering babies, ending a 30-year midwifery career. The reason was simple: Leonard said she couldn't afford to stay in business anymore. Although she gets reimbursed by Medicaid for her poorest customers and her wealthiest ones pay on their own, Leonard said her bread-and-butter patients, middle-class women with private insurance, had deserted her because the state's largest insurance companies won't cover births at the center. Today, the House will consider a bill that would require insurance companies to cover midwives who deliver babies in their homes, birthing centers or their patients' homes. Currently several insurance companies only cover midwives who deliver babies in hospitals, known as nurse-midwives, and not home-based midwives, called New Hampshire Certified Midwives.

(Via The Concord Monitor.)

Posted by mikki at 10:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Oh dear. Kestra is now playing with podcasting, and is trying to find an appropriate server to house my brilliance. I have successfully put something up on blogmatrix that you can hear if you click here. I am still trying to make audioblog work, but don't quite understand how to make it work. But the xml for RSS readers is at
http://ooblick.audioblog.com/rss/nonfluffy.xml I will keep trying to figure it out :-)

Posted by mikki at 11:46 PM | Permalink

Hooray for my home state! Even as solidly republican as NH can be, they voted the correct way. Kudos to my mom, the NH State Legislator who also voted for this important bill even though she is a republican :-). Way to go, MA.

Concord Monitor Online: "N ew Hampshire will soon become the seventh state in the nation where women can obtain emergency contraception without a prescription. After a months-long debate touching on religion, medicine, parental rights and reproductive choice, the House voted yesterday to allow specially-trained pharmacists to dispense the drug. The Senate endorsed the bill last month, and Democratic Gov. John Lynch says he'll sign it into law. Women's health groups lauded yesterday's vote, saying it will prevent unwanted pregnancies and reduce abortions. But conservative lawmakers and religious groups were troubled. Some feared teens will have easy access to the drug, while others said they couldn't support the bill because they believe emergency contraception is a form of abortion. 'It's kill me now, or kill me later,' said Rep. Kathleen Souza, a Manchester Republican. Often called the 'morning after pill,' the drug delivers a concentrated dose of the hormone levonorgestrel, which works in one of three ways: blocking the release of an egg, preventing fertilization, or stopping a fertilized egg from implanting in the uterine wall. To work, a woman must take it within 72-hours of unprotected sex."

(Via .)

Posted by mikki at 12:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I wonder if people understand that acts of kindness are not perpetrated based solely on religion, or an externally imposed code of "morality." We've all heard many different opinions that religion (obviously the Christian religion is meant here) must be taught in schools, else our society will degrade to the point of anarchy.

So here we were today, leaving a doctor's appointment when a woman almost in tears asked us for help. Her older Ford was not starting, and she didn't know what to do. The woman was approximately 60 or so, wearing a prominent cross, with MANY anti choice stickers on her car, a Jesus fish, and a license plate proclaiming the Gospels. It would have been easy to say "screw off, Lady. You stand for things I don't agree with, so you can stand there crying all day long." But our internal gage of right vs. wrong said that there was no reason why we couldn't take the spare few minutes and help this poor woman out.

After a short primer on car batteries and electrical systems given while my wonderful Wessiepooh backed the car over and attached the jumper cables, the woman's car was started, and she was pleased. She told us she had prayed for help, and was just about to give up and start crying when we arrived. In retrospect, I should have said something to the effect of "what an interesting result to a prayer - a Witch arrives to assist you." Instead, we just smiled, and accepted her "God Bless Yous." On our way leaving, I said "Blessed Be" but doubt she recognized the phrase.

So, what would have happened if she had realized I was a Witch who was helping, not because someone told me I should, not because a book told me to, but because it was the "right" thing to do based on my own internal chronometer of "good." Would she have thought that perhaps it isn't "us vs. them?" Might she have considered that many different religions teach people how to think and do good things to help others, regardless of their religious affiliation? I would hope that indeed she will. That wasn't the reason why we stopped to help, but it would certainly be a nice bonus.

Posted by mikki at 03:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

When I first heard the idea of "Wicca for the masses" I thought, "gee, what a great idea! We can get our religion out to as many people as possible, and maybe they just might understand us, and accept us for who we are and what we teach." I thought that it would be a great thing, teaching everyone about the Rede, and self-responsibility, and how we are all part of a cosmic whole. These are definitely things "the masses" need to know. I had visions of a utopian world full of happy Wiccans, thinking of others, minding their own affairs with due care, and living in a better world. But you know what? That ain't happening. The masses aren't ready.

I've been doing a lot of work with an organization that set up a system of teaching Wicca to all comers. Through this group, I've have the wonderful opportunity of seeing the upside, and the downside of this type of an approach. After a number of years, I had become very disillusioned, and decided that perhaps I should analyze my experiences, and try to figure out what was useful and what was not, in hopes of making things better, as well as for my own personal understanding and growth.

I think that the most telling aspect of why "Wicca for the masses" doesn't work lies within Wicca itself; namely the Ethic of Self Responsibility. "The masses" do not hold with that simple ethic. "The masses" want to blame someone else for most things that go wrong in their lives, rather than look within. I've found that attitude VERY prevalent not only in society, but on many of the Wiccan groups I have seen. They run low on money, they ask for people to "send energy" or to "send prayers." They become ill, and they ask for people to "send energy." They lose a job, they want "energy." Now, while I see nothing wrong with asking for a bit of help now and again, that should NOT be the first place to turn. The person low on money should budget, sell belongings, look for a better job, etc. FIRST. The person who is ill should see a doctor or alternative practitioner FIRST. The one without a job should seek one FIRST. And in each case, they should look within and see what THEY can do to prevent a similar event from happening in future. Until one is ready to embrace their own responsibilities and make their own world better, they are not ready for Wicca.

Continue reading "Why "Wicca For the Masses" Just Doesn't Work" »

Posted by mikki at 11:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Kudos to this judge for saying "no" to that nonsense.

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah (AP) -- A federal judge has struck down the FDA ban on supplements containing ephedra, a weight-loss aid linked to dozens of deaths, but it's too early to tell whether the product will be back in stores anytime soon.

The judge Thursday ruled in favor of a Utah supplement company that challenged the Food and Drug Administration's year-old ban. Nutraceutical claimed that ephedra has been safely consumed for hundreds of years.

More from CNN

Posted by mikki at 02:39 PM | Permalink

The Vanderbilt Pagan Society, which officially began this semester, is providing the opportunity for those who practice Paganism to do so in a group setting and is allowing people who are interested to learn more about Paganism.

Senior Arthur Moore started meeting with three individuals who also were interested in the practice of Paganism his second year at Vanderbilt. The next year, 13 people began meeting, and interest in participating in the group began spreading. Currently, VPS has 30 members, with membership expected to grow.

Posted by mikki at 12:12 PM | Permalink

Ill. Druggists Must Dispense Birth Control: "Gov. Rod Blagojevich approved an emergency rule Friday requiring pharmacies to fill birth control prescriptions quickly after a Chicago pharmacist refused to fill an order because of moral opposition"

(Via Witchvox - RSS Feed - News from the Nest.)

Posted by mikki at 08:59 PM | Permalink

Paganism Thrives, If Quietly, New Mexico Professor Tells Audience: "Paganism’s many variations make scholarly research a challenge, expert Scott Russell said. But the University of New Mexico professor persevered. He has traveled the country researching the religio"

(Via Witchvox - RSS Feed - News from the Nest.)

Posted by mikki at 09:33 PM | Permalink

Through a series of seemingly unconnected events of the past months, I have found myself becoming more and more frustrated with a large portion of our community. Not necessarily because they aren't intelligent (although, as in the general population, many are not), not because they are somehow "bad" people, but because they have bought into the modern notion of instant gratification.

I suppose this notion has been applied to religions that claim to provide you with the "keys to the castle" (i.e. heaven) if you simply perform some simple act, such as accept their god, or light this candle, or pay $19.95 before midnight tomorrow. But for Wicca, it simply doesn't work that way.

I admit, it is difficult to learn patience. It is difficult to grasp the concept that this path is indeed lifelong, and can in fact span multiple lifetimes. The young, especially, seem to want "the magick" right now. They want to know how they can "complete the course faster." They want to know how they can "receive their powers." They want the express lane to enlightenment. Who can blame them? It's nice to have goals and to want.

There's just one catch. They already HAVE "the magick." We all do. We have the answers. We have enlightenment. But guess what? There is no understanding, the light switch in your mind does not turn on, and you don't feel that connection or that personal "eureka" moment until your mind has been properly prepared for it. THAT is the part that can take many lifetimes. THAT is where the real work lies. Not in memorizing 100 crystal correspondences. Not in reciting 10,000 spells. Not in reading 500 books. Those may be means to an end, but they are not the end in itself. You can skim through the books, say you've done it, and still be no further along the path than you were when you started.

Continue reading "Give Me The Magick" »

Posted by mikki at 10:18 AM | Permalink

An interesting issue to think about.... Check out WitchVox for the whole article

The Greeks made a distinction between theurgy and thaumaturgy. Theurgy literally means “God working” and refers to spiritual work that leads one into illumination or gnosis. Thaumaturgy means, “wonder working” and refers to the conjuration of spirits, casting of spells, blessing, cursing, curing and harming through practical magick. The balance between these two aspects of the craft has been an issue since the emergence of Wicca in the 1950’s. Does spell casting overshadow religion? This debate ... [Witchvox - RSS Feed - New Articles and Reviews]

Posted by mikki at 12:20 AM | Permalink

England: Carlisle City Council has voted overwhelmingly to deny fundie requests to get rid of its 'cursing stone'. Only two councillors voted in favour of removing the stone, and a familiar member of the public found himself in trouble when he heckled in an aggressive manner:

Leslie Irving, editor of the Christian magazine Bound Together and a campaigner against the stone, was escorted out for squaring up to Currock Labour councillor Paul Im Thurn.

Nor will the current Archbishop of Glasgow do anything to lift the alleged curse placed by his predecessor in the 16th century:

It was suggested that Archbishop Conti, as his modern-day equivalent, would be able to lift the curse - blamed for disasters including foot and mouth and floods in the city. However ... Archbishop Conti's spokesman said: The Archbishop may send a letter offering his good wishes but he won't be getting his Latin prayer book and his holy water and heading down the M74.

Still, there has been a couple of more unusual offers. The council has already declined an offer from Simon Ralli Robinson, a Dumfries-based shaman:

Mr Robinson said: I can do cleansing ceremonies. That energy can be got rid of. I have sacred wood from Peru which, when burned, has a cleansing effect.

Nor did they seem particularly impressed with the offer from the better-known Uri Geller:

He told Reuters press agency: I have offered to take the stone off their hands, put it in my garden and exorcise it.

The Domesday book records an ancient healing centre in my village and all the ley lines converge on my garden.

I will use my pendulum and cleanse the stone of any evil forces. After that I would like to keep it. It is a work of art.

Indeed, as well as not wanting to look like superstitious idiots in front of the whole world, it seems the council had a very important consideration in mind when they voted to keep the stone:

However, [city council leader Mike Mitchelson] is hopeful that world-wide publicity about the stone will bring many more tourists.

It won't be our number one attraction but hopefully it will have a positive effect on visitor numbers, he said.

Carlisle votes to keep the stone as Christian campaigner thrown out - News and Star, 9th March 2005; Archbishop won't lift stone's 'curse' - Glasgow Evening Times, 10th March 2005; Uri wants the cursing stone -- for his garden - News and Star, 10th March 2005. See also Catching up: A fuss about a lump of rock - Pagan Prattle, 9th March 2005. [The Pagan Prattle Online]

Posted by mikki at 08:56 PM | Permalink

It may not be nice to "bash" Silver Ravenwolf, but it may be MORE than nice to bash the inaccuracies in her work. Often, on many pagan oriented lists, the topic of Silver Ravenwolf rears its head to be rehashed over and over. It usually happens when a newbie raves about her work, and someone else attempts to steer people away from it. Inevitably the discussion disintegrates into a flame fest with the "bashing people is against the Rede" vs. "when something is wrong, you should speak up."

Silver Ravenwolf is the object of a lot of discussion because she has, like it or not, brought her brand of Witchcraft to the larger community. Her books adorn the shelves of many Borders, Barnes & Noble, et al. She has done a lot to bring the subject of Witchcraft into the mainstream. Whether that is a good thing or a bad thing can be discussed ad infinitum (and often is) but is not the point of what I'm trying to say. I see it more as a debate between "rocking the boat is bad" vs. intellectual integrity and our duty to point out where it may be lacking.

The idea that "bashing" others is against the Rede is one that I find dangerous and highly unfortunate. That view may be taken by those who fail to understand the complexities of what the Rede encompasses. The Rede is not a knee jerk "white line" test, but a balancing act. It puts a significant amount of onus on the individual to carefully weigh the options, and come out on the side of the greater good. It is careful analysis. It is not dogmatic adherence to a path of cyclically bashing people for their perception of bashing others, while simultaneously patting themselves on the back for being "good."

Now don't get me wrong. I don't believe that everything that Silver Ravenwolf ever wrote is awful. I don't believe that every word is inaccurate or misleading. However, I do believe that enough of what she has to say is questionable if not downright "bad," (especially for those new to Wicca) that I am using her work as ONE example to make my point.

I find it ironic in the extreme that some will defend the "rights" of others to peddle misleading and possibly dangerous information (i.e. it's ok to lie to your parents if you're a "teen witch") while conveniently ignoring the harm that such information causes. Does pointing out inaccuracies "harm" the creator of the inaccuracies? Possibly. Does not pointing them out harm the collective knowledge base? Definitely.

I have stated before that I feel it is our duty to stop the spread of historically inaccurate or otherwise incorrect information. If we do not, especially when that information is disseminated in books as widely as Silver Ravenwolf's, that information gets passed on in our community as well as throughout the not so forgiving outsiders. The harm that is done could be far greater than that of debunking the information.

Those who perceive the debunking of inaccurate information as "bashing" the author, often do not realize that by attacking the messenger, they are ALSO bashing. And in this case, they are bashing those who are trying to protect the greater good.

Posted by mikki at 08:39 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

A very sad day in the history of the Mac. Perhaps it's a coincidence that my Powerbook hard drive also died the same day.

The computer interface expert who launched the Macintosh project for Apple Computer dies of cancer at age 61.
[CNET News.com]

Posted by mikki at 11:21 PM | Permalink

New Zealand: The Phoenix Astronomical Society has unveiled it's own version of Stonehenge, designed to work properly in the antipodes.

The astronomical society's volunteers supplied 11,000 hours of labour over the 18 months the henge took to build.

The result of that toil is a henge of 24 upright pillars and connecting lintels that is 30m in diameter and about 4m high. In the centre of the henge is a 5m-tall obelisk, the eye of which points at the south celestial pole.

Set into a tiled mosaic that runs out from the obelisk along the meridian is a 10m analemma, the figure of eight pattern that the path of sun traces over a year.

Outside the circle of the henge stand six heel stones, the markers for the rising and setting points of the sun at solstice and equinox.

Maori astronomical achievements are also celebrated in the new monument:

To make the henge truly of Aotearoa (the Maori name for New Zealand), the astronomers have ensured that their creation marks the stars and constellations that Polynesian navigators used on their epic voyages across the Pacific Ocean, and they have also incorporated Maori lore.

NZ unveils Stonehenge replica - BBC News, 14th February 2005.

Posted by mikki at 06:03 PM | Permalink

I'm sorry, but as a lawyer, my confidence in "the system" gets pretty much destroyed when I see stories like this. It makes me wonder what total dweeb attorney took a case like this, and what the idiot judge could POSSIBLY be thinking.

This CNN Story pretty much made me want to go back to bed and pull the covers over my head. Two teenage girls thought they'd do something really nice and baked homemade cookies, wrapped them in little packages with little hearts, and brought them to their neighbors. Some worthless imbecile got "so scared" that she had to go to the hospital. I guess that when the census comes to her house, or the Jehovah's Witnesses, or even the damn mailman or UPS, she winds up in the hospital too? I wonder if they also get sued, or if she saves it up to go after teenage girls trying to do something nice?

What's worse, the families offered to pay this stupid beast's 900.00 medical bills (I wonder if that included psychiatric testing that this 49 year old woman obviously needs). The beast declined because "their apologies were not sincere." Oh man. So let's use the legal system because people's apologies for doing something nice are not sincere enough for a psycho who can't handle chocolate chip and sugar cookies.

And some judge actually awarded the psycho the $900.00 and let this travesty of justice play out. I wonder how much the poor girls' families had to pay their lawyer to defend them against this stupidity. I also wonder if OUR insurance premiums for our homeowners insurance will go up or we'll now have a clause inserted that says they don't pay if we try to do nice things for our neighbors and they turn out to be mentally ill and sue us for it.

Posted by mikki at 10:18 AM | Permalink

Because under Powell's stewardship, a new and undefined standard of "decency" sent a chilling effect throughout all broadcast media. The idea that one organization can, without legislative authority or even real guidelines, determine what can be seen and heard by Americans, is quite a scary idea. And given the bent of an Administration that would telephone anti-choice groups during a demonstration against a woman's right to control her body, guess where the multi-million dollar fines would fall.

FCC Chairman Michael Powell to resign in March, break out the
champagne and party platters, media...

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Michael Powell has
announced his resignation "some time in March," according to a
release. Powell has lead the charge enforcing "decency" on the
public airways, and in 2004, the FCC fined broadcasters 7.7... [Morons Dot Org]

Posted by mikki at 05:08 PM | Permalink

Canada: Inmates at a Winnipeg prison have found a use for the Bible - it makes excellent rolling papers.

The provincial jails are supposed to be tobacco-free, but enterprising inmates have come up with their own smokes - a combination of leaves from tea bags and Nicorette gum that is boiled, dried and rolled in the thin pages of the New or Old Testament.

And the Gideons have promised to provide more Bibles to burn when the prisoners run out.

Holy smokes! Prisoners using Bibles to make cigarettes - AZ Central, 21st January 2005.

Posted by mikki at 12:33 PM | Permalink

From The Pagan Prattle

United States: Fantasy writer Will Shetterly has written a short story called The People Who Owned the Bible and blogged it under a Creative Commons license. Most amusing.

Then Jimmy Joe Jenkins's DNA proved he was the primary descendent of the translators of the King James Version of the Bible. At first, Jimmy was satisfied with ten percent of the price of every KJV sold and 10 percent of every collection plate passed by any church that used the KJV. But when some churches switched to newer translations, Jimmy sicced his lawyers on all translations based on the KJV. That got him a cut of every Bible and every Christian service in English. Some translators claimed their work was based on older versions and should therefore be exempt, but none of them could afford to fight Jimmy in court.

So the churches grumbled and paid Jimmy his tithe, except for the Mormons, Christian Scientists, Seventh Day Adventists, Quakers, and Unitarian Universalists. Jimmy said their teachings hurt the commercial value of his property and refused to let them use the Bible. All of those groups dissolved, except for the Unitarian Universalists, who didn't notice a change.

Go. Read. Enjoy.

The People Who Owned the Bible - a story - it's all one thing, 10th January 2005 (via Boing Boing).

Posted by mikki at 08:19 PM | Permalink

A federal judge has ruled that evolution disclaimer stickers
must be removed from textbooks in Cobb County, Georgia...

U.S. District Judge Clarence Cooper has ruled that Cobb County
schools must remove their disclaimer stickers from biology
textbooks, saying "Adopted by the school board, funded by the
money of taxpayers, and inserted by school personnel, the
sticker... [Morons Dot Org]

Posted by mikki at 12:18 PM | Permalink

From Morons dot org. Really makes you wonder, eh?

Move over, Miss Cleo; Pat Robertson brings us predictions for
2005, direct from the mouth of God...

Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing,
but inwardly they are ravening wolves.

Matthew 7:15

Pat Robertson isn't known for his subtlety. After the September
11 terrorists attacks, for example, he joined Jerry Falwell
in... [Morons Dot Org]

Posted by mikki at 03:08 PM | Permalink

I've often thought about this subject, as it comes up again and again. I've been told that not agreeing with those who believe that Christians can combine Christ with Wicca, and call it Christian Wicca, is intolerant. Not surprisingly, I don't see it as intolerance. I see it as proper use of language and terminology.

The concept of a "Christ," in and of itself, is problematic. The idea that a man, born of a woman, can be the only conduit to a nice afterlife, is just something that doesn't map to a religion that feels that each has a not only a personal connection, but also is a part of Deity itself. The overlying concept surrounding Christ is that he died for our "sins" and is therefore the sole way, the sole light, and no one gets "through" except by believing in him. Wiccans do not accept a "gatekeeper" type paradigm. Wiccans do not accept that all humans are born "sinful" and are in need of something to save them. Without even surveying where Christian doctrine would exclude Wicca, we can see issues arising with calling belief in a Christ contrary to Wiccan belief.

This Christ's teachings have also been interpreted to exclude women as much as possible, thus negating the Wiccan cornerstone of duality in Deity. While some might argue that Jesus encompassed both the masculine and feminine, the biblical accounts just don't bear that out. So again, a major tenet of Wiccan faith is not possible to reconcile with Christianity.

There is obviously a lot more, but the point is not that there are differences in doctrine that are seemingly impossible to reconcile. Nor is the point my opinion that any attempts to combine the two are being disingenuous to both religions. To me, the point is that picking and choosing combinations of doctrine that you wish to follow must be based on an intimate knowledge of those doctrine. It must be done from a highly informed position, with clear reasons for each choice. And once that is closely examined, and completed, THEN one chooses a label that FITS to describe what they have chosen.

If it's not about duality of Deity, and it's about salvation through a Christ, it's NOT Wicca. Calling it such, to me, is ignorance of both paths, and a credit to neither.

Posted by mikki at 10:21 AM | Permalink

Over 30,000 people dead so far. Death toll expected to rise. It's just SO BIG that the mind is boggled. Of course, the US media is filled with how Americans are affected, but that's not the story. The story is that a 9.0 rated earthquake has devastated 8 countries, killed thousands, thousands more missing, and thousands more injured and/or in danger of death due to contamination that always occurs when drinking water is poisoned by things that just should not be in it.

So what can we do? I found myself looking at the TV and thinking that nothing I did could possibly make a dent in the nightmare being suffered by fellow human beings. And I found myself feeling very small and very helpless; a tiny speck on the side of a massive gaping flaming hole called "need." But it's not true. We CAN do something. As each of us is a Star, each of us holds that power within them. We have the power to make it better. We can light candles to guide the lost souls who may not realize they have passed. We can send healing energies to those who are left behind, and those who are seeking the missing. Those who are able can send money to agencies like Unicef and Care. And yes, we can make a difference.

Those evil nasty drug companies are already donating millions of dollars worth of medicine and supplies that are being shipped out. US relief agencies are on the way. Governments around the world are donating money and supplies. Those who are able, are building coffins, large and small. Every little piece of the puzzle is greatly needed, and useful.

So please, don't feel that you're too small to make a difference. Our spiritual energies are a formidable force. Let's collect it in the same way we collect money and supplies, and let's send it to those in need.

Posted by mikki at 12:25 PM | Permalink

All it takes is just a second or two in time, and everything can change. Every choice we make, conscious or unconscious, can have the most profound effect on our lives and those of our loved ones. We hear this all the time, but it's strange that the only time it really sinks in is when something actually happens to someone we know and love.

I suppose that is for the best. After all, if we take the time to evaluate the cosmic consequences of every step we take in life, we might become frozen in uncertainty. After all, would going to the post office right NOW avert an accident, or cause one? Will ordering that item from a home based business give them enough money to buy life saving medications for a sick child? Will telling your child they must go to school even when faking sick cause them to be involved in a bus accident? Or will the person you don't say hello to on the street retaliate by shooting you in the head three times and ending your life?

That's essentially what happened to my housekeeper's cousin. I walked into the kitchen this morning and she was on the phone dissolved in tears. She isn't prone to tears. Through the 13 years she's worked for me, there haven't been many instances of this. When I asked her what was wrong, she told me her cousin in Columbia was killed last night. He was shot in the head three times.

I don't know the circumstances of his death. I have no idea why anyone would want to shoot him, what he might have done or not done, where he was, whether he should have been there or not, or what his life would have been had this not happened. None of that truly matters. The fact is, a life was ended in violence, due to the choices that were made by shooter and victim. In the time it takes to squeeze a trigger three times, the fabric of the universe changed, albeit far more profoundly for some than for others.

The idea that the Gods understand these changes of a single thread in this immense and eternally complicated pattern is mind boggling. But, of course, Deity is supposed to be far too complicated and mind boggling for us to have any type of true understanding. It's more than enough for us to try to understand what's going on in our own lives. Unfortunately, we don't have the luxury of taking inordinate amounts of time to over evaluate every move we make. Even if we did, we would likely drive ourselves insane, and miss some of the cosmic lessons our Gods have in store for us for this life, painful as they may be.

Just an instant is all it takes.

Posted by mikki at 12:21 PM | Permalink

Color me clueless, but why would a person purchase a home in the woods, and then become confused because deer are in their yard? We live in a suburb of DC that is known for its large wooded lots (perhaps not for much longer since they're allowing so many damn McMansions to be built 2 to an acre...), horse pastures, wildlife, and Great Falls National Park. It is nice here, where you can hear the birds chirping, see an occasional fox on the hunt, raccoons come to visit, some nice possums, and, of course, deer.

Well duh! Deer live in the woods. We have woods. Deer have been kicked out of just about every other place in the area because of overbuilding so the deer have nowhere to go. If you're thinking of buying a house in Great Falls, perhaps each sales contract should contain a big red "Warning - Deer Live Here." And when deer get hungry, just like any other creature, they look for something to eat. If you have planted a virtual buffet of wonderful looking, smelling, and tasting plants in your back yard, guess what they'll eat first?

Most of the people who live here who want to have nice gardens and yards plant things that deer don't really like to eat. My landscaping is set up in just that way. The deer don't like to eat those things, but they have plenty of other food in the woods. Or, they can just go to my neighbor's house.

My neighbors, it seems, were unaware that they were moving to a home in the woods. They didn't see the forest OR the trees. So imagine their surprise when large brown creatures munched through their hostas and other tasty plants. So what did they do? They installed the super mega deluxe anti-deer fence - a strange green contraption that makes it look as if they are Taliban prisoners at Gitmo. As they cower behind this mess, that likely cost them at least 5K from the size and breadth of it, I have to wonder why they ever chose to purchase a home in this high priced suburb. Most people do it because of the trees and animals. These guys seem to be doing it despite the trees and animals. Much confusion.

In any case, it just about made my day to watch a young hungry doe leap effortlessly over the contraption and start to munch out on the neighbor's hostas. Strange that she had more difficulty getting out than in, however.

Posted by mikki at 07:45 AM | Permalink

Sometimes you're flipping through those TV channels, and you just stop on a random one somewhere, and while you're doing a few other things, it's on in the background. You might hardly notice it, but then something - a sound, an image or combination of the two - makes you look up and you start to watch. And sometimes it affects you to the point where you partially wish you hadn't. Not because it's "bad" inherently, but because it hurts to watch.

Thus was the HBO special on what's happening today in the Chernobyl area. Something caught my attention, and then I couldn't stop watching, although it was repulsive and horrifying and upset me. The mere fact that children die because the government won't pay $300.00 for a heart patch, and others are born so horribly deformed because their parents are still living in contaminated areas just boggles the mind.

It's so trite to say that we take so much for granted, but when you see a child begging a foreign film maker for a television for the institution where he and other children are essentially incarcerated because they are physically or mentally handicapped, then collapsing because he used his last ounce of energy to ask , you have to stop and think. There but for an accident at birth go I, and everyone else. Think of that this coming thanksgiving.

Posted by mikki at 02:06 PM | Permalink

Modern pilgrims prowl the streets of the city, using Dan Brown's novel as a map to the 'truth.' [Christian Science Monitor: All Stories]

Posted by mikki at 10:31 AM | Permalink

There's a reason we haven't heard from our friends on Grand Cayman, and there has been no real news from the Island. The government is not allowing reporters onto the island and is sending away those who try to show up. We got an email from some of our friends telling us how awful it really is there. The few hotels that aren't destroyed or badly damaged are housing refugees. Two of their 3 rental condos are destroyed and the third is flooded. Their only electricity is still from generators. Grocery stores were closed until yesterday, when they decided to only let in 50 people at a time, and were allowed to buy 1 gallon of water, one loaf of bread, and 50.00 worth of groceries.

Banks aren't supposed to open until Monday, and nobody knows when tourists will be able to come back.

The little island of Grand Cayman is a total mess. It seems trite to say "count your blessings" but what we've experienced up here in the past few days from wind and rain is pretty much nothing when compared to the hell these and others are going through in the wake of the storm. Time to make a donation to the Red Cross.

Posted by mikki at 07:19 PM | Permalink

Air Jamaica sent a plane early and got our friends back to the US, albeit late, and to the wrong destination. They were dumped off at Newark at about 1am on Wednesday morning where they proceeded to get themselves a rental car and drive home.

Still no word from our friends on Grand Cayman or Little Cayman. Hopefully they will be ok as well.

Posted by mikki at 07:13 PM | Permalink

The great news is that everyone is ok. The not so great news is that Hurricane Ivan has stranded our friends in Bonaire, on the trip we WOULD have been on had circumstances been slightly different. Air Jamaica has cancelled its full flight schedule for Saturday September 11, 2004 as a result of Hurricane Ivan.� This includes all service into and out of Jamaica, all inter-island service, as well as all flights to the 11 remaining Caribbean destinations served by the carrier.

A wise decision on their part, but unfortunately, it makes it impossible for our friends to get home. Fortunately they are stranded in a great place. Shades of a 9/11 3 years ago when we were all stranded in Bonaire for different reasons.

Posted by mikki at 10:22 AM | Permalink

Most of the destruction in Bonaire was apparently from storm surge, as water was forced between Bonaire and Klein Bonaire. This meant that our favorite resorts on that side of the island, were hit the hardest. Luckily, according to the newspaper reports, there were no injuries to humans, and the pristine reefs that Bonaire is known for are largely intact. All of these things are very good, however we are still not sure when our friends will make it out. All flights to Bonaire to pick them up go through either Jamaica, Puerto Rico or Miami. All of those places may be seriously impacted by Ivan.

Oh when Nature does housecleaning, everyone gets kind of swept out the door.

Posted by mikki at 10:58 PM | Permalink

Bonaire is being hammered by Hurricane Ivan. Fellow divers know Bonaire as a pristine diving location, likely the best in the Caribbean. We have done a lot of diving on their reefs, and enjoy Bonaire as our favorite vacation spot. In fact, we would have been there during this hurricane, as our dive shop is on a trip there right now. Circumstances prevented our joining them. We have some good friends currently on the island who were unable to leave since Air Jamaica only flies on Wed. and Sat.

So we have possible human costs, animal costs, and marine costs we are looking at. Reef damage is likely. Hopefully everyone living there, and on surrounding islands, will be ok. Please send your good thoughts.

Posted by mikki at 11:25 AM | Permalink

Sometimes we just don't realize quite how interdependent we are, as part of the "cosmic universe." For example, it's quite easy to look at the storm track of Hurricane Francis and say "well, it's not going to hit near my house, so I don't have to worry about it." Except this morning I got an email from one of the suppliers to my wiccan supplies website at enchanted works who is directly in the path. He's in danger. He's someone we know. What about all the ones we don't know? How about the other suppliers down there, and their families, and the customers on down the chain who aren't going to get some of the things they might need? So besides the obvious horror, death and destruction, there are other ramifications that occur that ripple across our lives in ways that can't be foreseen, regardless of how far from the eye of the storm you happen to be.

It's amazing how many things we do every single day that we don't foresee the consequences of. Every time someone buys a McMansion in our neighborhood where the developer has clear cut five acres of land and received a variance to overcrowd them into tiny little lots, they help the developer to do the same thing to another acres. When you vote for the county council member who approved the variance, you make it easier for it to happen again.

Other little things have a good effect. I was in a really nasty mood this morning, and a random car of random construction worker 20 something types wolf whistled at me as I came out of the post office. I should have been offended, but I hadn't been wolf whistled at since I was about 18. It made me smile instead :-). So I let a few people turn in front of me that might have brightened their day in turn.

So how this got from the horror of hurricanes, through McMansions, to the joys of wolf whistles is beyond my brain power today, but suffice it to say that everything we do has an effect that we may not comprehend at the time. And, as above, so below. The ripples go everywhere.

I've lit a candle for the Turks and Caicos, the Bahamas, Florida, and everyone else in the path of the storm. May you all enjoy the protection of the Goddess.

Posted by mikki at 09:59 AM | Permalink

I've been way busy with the witchy website at www.enchantedworks.com . Looking around for wholesalers, setting up pricing, the site itself, etc. has taken a lot of time, as well as the problems I've been having with one of my fur babbies. He isn't doing very well, and I'm spending lots of time spoon feeding him and giving him meds. We'll see how that goes, but nobody's very hopeful.

I'll likely have a lot more to say real soon now, and I'll write some more Witchy Rants :-) Stick around.

Posted by mikki at 08:28 PM | Permalink

I'd been waiting for the Blue Moon for quite a long time. I had some new ritual tools that I was going to consecrate that night, as well as do some serious celebrating. I was going to go up to Albany to the Temple of Astral Light, but I haven't been physically great, so scrubbed that idea. So when the evil Mark of the Correllian Shrine of the Sacred Arts asked to use my house and back yard for their ritual, I was of mixed mind. After some thought, I decided that would be a fine thing, and we might have some fun. Yeah, why not?

When I saw the Shrine's ritual, it was immediately evident that they wanted to go in a different direction regarding the importance of the Blue Moon vs. Lammas. I'm much more a Goddess oriented person at heart, so the Moon was the major thing for me. Well, all righty then, I would have a Blue Moon ritual and tool consecration myself, and then the Lammas ritual the next night. When I told Mark of my plan, he decided he'd like to come to my Blue Moon ritual as well, and bring Carolina, who was going to do the cooking for the Shrine ritual, and was going to help me clean up beforehand. Sounds great so far, eh?

Continue reading "How To Meet The Wasp Queen Without Really Trying" »

Posted by mikki at 12:28 PM | Permalink

An interesting event occurred when I was in Grand Cayman last week that got me to do some serious thinking. One of the fellow students in the photo course I took seemed to take a liking to me, and asked me all kinds of questions about my life and things I did, etc. Then she asked me about my pentacle, and what it signified. When I told her I was a Witch, she kind of nodded and went on.

During our last day on the Island, she told me how much she admired all of the things I'd done in life, thought I was an interesting person, "but I wish you'd give up that witchcraft." I was taken aback, but asked her why she felt that way. Her only response was "because I'm a christian."

It was clear that she felt that her response answered the question I'd asked, and she was completely confused when I told her that the answer was meaningless and confusing at the same time. I began to wonder whether or not she would have said something similar to a Jew, a Buddhist, a Hindu, or follower of some other religion. "I like you, but you should give up Islam" is likely something that would rarely be heard, yet this person felt it perfectly ok to attack my choice of religion because she is a christian.

How many statements such as these are made out of total ignorance of another person's choices? I attempted to explain to her that Wicca is a polytheistic religion where we worship multiple Gods. I told her that we have no problem with anyone else's choice of religion, we do not attempt to convert people, and we respect others beliefs. She seemed completely confused and obviously did not understand the first thing I was saying.

Continue reading ""If Only You'd Give Up That Witchcraft"" »

Posted by mikki at 11:58 AM | Permalink

Hungary: Clients at Hungary's only private ceremony will soon be able to choose a Buddhist, Shinto or Pagan funeral in addition to the Christian and civil options already offered.

Jávor says the cemetery only indirectly benefits from the new services, as it does not act as a middleman between the clients and the priests. However, he stresses, such services are not available in other cemeteries.

In theory, it is absolutely possible to have such funeral services in other cemeteries as well, but so far this has not been offered as a service at any such facility, he explains. We expect that the increasing influx of foreigners to Hungary will also increase the demand for religious funeral services other than those of the Christian churches.

Posted by mikki at 11:05 AM | Permalink

Cooooool. It's just sad that the web interface itself is such a kludge

New website takes visitors to the 'center of the circles.' [Christian Science Monitor: All Stories]

Posted by mikki at 01:58 PM | Permalink

I finally did what I've been making threats to do for awhile. I took my favorite stuff and put it on a website for sale. If anyone knows of anyone else with really good stuff who wants to wholesale so I can help them make sales (I hope) please email ooblick at ego dot org. Really cool fun stuff. Anyway, the website is at http://www.enchantedworks.com and you are invited to go there and have a great time. Please provide feedback, including ideas for new products, links I may have broken, etc. etc. Happy happy joy joy.

Posted by mikki at 08:29 PM | Permalink

Several wonderful readers have given me some great sites for really beautiful BOSs. As I feared, they are quite expensive, but you know, sometimes you actually get what you pay for. And if people are going about hand making beautiful pieces, they deserve to be paid for their craftsmanship and materials, as well as a bit of profit. People have often asked me why my jewelry is so "expensive." It's basically the same idea. The stones and beads are as good a quality as I can get, they're the genuine articles, and I don't skimp on fittings, wires, etc. Not to mention the design work, and the work I put into creating them.

Anyway, re: BOSs, Check out these two:

Brahms Bookworks . Really pretty designs. Great looking hardware. Different sizes. Utterly wonderful.

The other one, at ebay isn't quite as bad as it first looks. For example, you can get them without the really silly Charmed spells (although for people who like that sort of thing, they're cool :-)), and you can get them soon with interchangeable pages and things.

Thanks again, gentle readers.

Posted by mikki at 08:50 PM | Permalink

If this is true, it certainly would explain some of the Shrub's rather, uh.....confusing policies?

United States: Fun Neal Pollack article in The Stranger about President Bush's kooky religious beliefs.

This is also the kind of country where the president meets with the members of a radical, far-right millennialist Christian sect three weeks before he counteracts all known international law and opinion regarding the Israeli-Palestinian situation. That sect, known as the Apostolic Congress, opposes any deal with the Palestinians because it believes that Christ won't return to Earth until all of Israel belongs to the Jews and Solomon's temple is rebuilt.

Posted by mikki at 11:07 AM | Permalink

So I've been looking. It may sound really fluffy and lame and cheezy, but I really do like the BOS in charmed. Not the silly spells inside it, but the size, the beautiful aged leather, the ancient triquetra symbol, all make for something really cool looking. And, as everyone knows, I'm only a witch to be cool. (That's a joke i