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News & Submissions 1/31/2011

Monday, January 31st, 2011

Mummy fried – woman sets fire to house while trying to reanimate long-dead sister
A night fire in an apartment block has been caused by a woman who tried to reanimate her long-dead elder sister with electricity.

The horrific story happened in Ekaterinburg, the biggest city in the Urals.

The suspected arsonist, 69, apparently was not completely of sound mind, judging by her mental health record. Read full story from rt.com

Whales return to New York City: Massive mammals appearing again in seas near city; draws sightseers
Whales, dolphins and seals have made a triumphant return to the waters just outside New York Harbor – and the comeback has even sparked whale and seal-watching tours.

Tom Paladino, captain of two ferry boats from the Rockaways, says pods of aquatic mammals off the city’s coast have “increased tenfold.”

“We used to see 10 whales a year – now we see 100,” he said. “We saw dolphins almost on a daily basis between June and September.” Read full story from nydailynews.com

The Muslim Brotherhood may gain power in Egypt by default
The spread of the contagion of protest across north Africa, from Tunisia to Egypt and beyond, has not just been exhilarating, it has also given the lie to the myth that people in Muslim countries have a different mindset to those in the west, and that democracy and secularism are western concepts alien to the political culture of Egypt or Jordan or Yemen. What the demonstrators in Cairo and Tunis have been demanding is not an Islamic state, but a more open, democratic society, with freedom of expression and the protection of individual liberties.

For many, however, the worry remains that the fall of Hosni Mubarak may lead not to a secular, democratic Egypt but to one in thrall to the fundamentalist Muslim Brotherhood; the fear, in other words, that Egypt in 2011 could go the way of Iran in 1979. The outcome of change – especially change as dramatic and anarchic as in Egypt – can never be certain. It could be that the Muslim Brotherhood grasps the reins of power in a post-Mubarak Egypt. But if it does so, it is as likely to have been because of the bad faith of secular politicians as of popular support for Islamism. Read full story from guardian.co.uk

‘Ghost Hunters International’s’ Kris Williams Compares Foreign and Domestic Haunts
As the newest member of Syfy’s  “Ghost Hunters International” team, Kris Williams is among the few paranormal investigators qualified to answer the question of whether stories of hauntings are alike or different in North America and other parts of the world.

She says, “There is a difference in that there is so much history overseas.”  With the domestic version of “Ghost Hunters,” “The 1700s seemed old.  But, well, for example we walked into a castle in Germany and asked how old it was, and they very matter-of-factly said it was built in 1190.  Also, you hear more stories of torture.”  Ew.

Williams says the team has been exploring stories of hauntings that date back to World War II and World War I as well.  Next Wednesday’s (2/2) show has the team “at a fort in Serbia that dates back to the late 1600s, but there was a settlement at the same location that goes back thousands of years.  There were some battles.  There was an execution wall where they’d line up prisoners.  It was creepy.  People felt like they were being watched.  There were lights and apparitions.” Read full story from bethsmithhollywood.com

Jeffs’ pre-trial hearing scheduled for today
Leader of breakaway church accused of sex assault, bigamy
SAN ANGELO, Texas — Warren Jeffs, the leader of the FLDS, is scheduled for a pretrial hearing today as his trial date for sexual assault is less than a month from now.

Jeffs is charged with two counts of sexual assault of a child and bigamy.

“Pretrial motions will be heard beginning at 9 a.m. in preparation for trial scheduled for Feb. 21,” said Jerry Strickland, spokesman for the state attorney general’s office.

The venue of the trial has not been determined.

Jeffs has undergone five pretrial hearings since November, when he arrived to Texas. Read full story from gosangelo.com

Great Pyramid has two secret chambers: French architect
A French architect campaigning for a new exploration of the 4,500-year-old Great Pyramid of Giza said on Thursday that the edifice may contain two chambers housing funereal furniture.

Jean-Pierre Houdin — who was rebuffed three years ago by Egypt in his appeal for a probe into how the Pyramid was built — said 3-D simulation and data from a US egyptologist, Bob Brier, pointed to two secret chambers in the heart of the structure.

The rooms would have housed furniture for use in the afterlife by the pharaoh Khufu, also known as Cheops in Greek, he told a press conference.

“I am convinced there are antechambers in this pyramid. What I want is to find them,” he said.

In March 2007, Houdin advanced the theory that the Great Pyramid had been built inside-out using an internal spiral ramp, as opposed to an external ramp as had long been suggested. Read full story from physorg.com

Tools Suggest Earlier Human Exit From Africa
A cache of stone tools found on the east coast of the Arabian Peninsula has reopened the critical question of when and how modern humans escaped from their ancestral homeland in eastern Africa.

The present view, based on both archaeological and genetic evidence, holds that modern humans, although they first emerged in Africa some 200,000 years ago, were hemmed in by deserts and other human species like Neanderthals and did not escape to the rest of the world until some 50,000 years ago.

An archaeological team led by Hans-Peter Uerpmann of the University of Tübingen in Germany now reports the discovery of stone tools 127,000 years old from a site called Jebel Faya in what is now the United Arab Emirates, just south of the entrance to the Persian Gulf. If the new tools were made by modern humans, as the researchers assert, then modern humans got out of Africa much earlier than believed. Read full story from nytimes.com

Did Vikings navigate by polarized light?
A Viking legend tells of a glowing “sunstone” that, when held up to the sky, revealed the position of the sun even on a cloudy day. It sounds like magic, but scientists measuring the properties of light in the sky say that polarizing crystals–which function in the same way as the mythical sunstone–could have helped ancient sailors to cross the northern Atlantic. A review of their evidence was published January 31 in Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B.

The Vikings, seafarers from Scandinavia who traveled widely and settled in swathes of Northern Europe, the British Isles and the northern Atlantic from around 750 to 1050 AD, were skilled navigators, able to cross thousands of kilometers of open sea between Norway, Iceland and Greenland. Perpetual daylight during the summer sailing season in the far north would have prevented them from using the stars as a guide to their positions, and the magnetic compass had yet to be introduced in Europe–in any case, it would have been of limited use so close to the North Pole. Read full story from scientificamerican.com

Is UFO orb over Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem a context communication by ET?
A second independent video and news report emerged today on January 30, 2011 confirming the authenticity of the UFO orb over Mount Zion and the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem at 1 AM on the morning of January 28, 2011.

On January 28, 2011 at 1 AM, a UFO orb appeared over the Mount Zion and the Dome of the Rock-Temple Mount in Jerusalem.  A video of the UFO orb states, “Two men capture a film of what might be one of the most interesting UFO clips ever caught.

“Witnesses noticed the large oval shaped UFO suspended on the night skyline. At about one minute into the clip the UFO descends almost to ground level directly over the Dome of the Rock-Temple Mount. The oval UFO hovers there for a short while, flashes lights into surrounding buildings then shoots upwards at an incredible speed.  Witnesses were totally taken back and amazed at what they had just seen.” Read full story from examiner.com

Ancient Treasures Looted, Destroyed in Egypt’s Chaos
Archaeologist Zahi Hawass, Secretary General of Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities, reports that several of the country’s museums have been attacked by looters taking advantage of the political turmoil in the country. Read full story from nationalgeographic.com

Video appears to show police using CS spray on protester
Video footage has emerged that appears to show the moment a police officer used CS spray on protesters at Sunday’s UK Uncut protest.

Hundreds of people staged sit-ins at high street stores around the country as part of a day of action designed to highlight companies it says are avoiding millions of pounds in tax.

In London, protesters successfully forced a Boots (one of the companies campaigners accuse of tax avoidance) branch in Oxford Street to close when police tried to arrest a woman for pushing a leaflet through the store’s doors. Read full story from guardian.co.uk

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Friday’s Food For Thought

Friday, January 28th, 2011

Happy Friday, Have a great weekend everyone!

Curried Beef & Fettuccine

curry

Ingredients:

  • 4 tablespoons butter
  • 1 large yellow onion, sliced
  • 2 dried red chile peppers
  • 2 1/2 tablespoons curry powder
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons turmeric
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 2 (14 1/2-ounce) cans chopped tomatoes
  • 1 (14 1/2-ounce) can tomato puree
  • 2 tablespoons peanut oil
  • 1 pound top sirloin, cut into cubes
  • 16 ounces hot cooked spinach fettuccine

Preparation:

  • Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Saute onion in the butter until tender, about 5 minutes.
  • Add chile peppers, curry powder, turmeric and garlic and mix well. Cook, sitting frequently for 3 minutes.
  • Stir in tomatoes and tomato puree; cover. Reduce heat to low. Simmer, stirring occasionally, for 30 minutes. Remove chile peppers with tongs; discard.
  • Heat peanut oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Saute beef in hot oil until cooked through, about 4 minutes.
  • Add beef to tomato mixture and mix well; cover. Reduce heat to low. Simmer, stirring occasionally for 30 minutes. Combine pasta and beef mixture in a large serving bowl and toss lightly to mix. Serve immediately.


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News & Submissions 1/27/2011

Thursday, January 27th, 2011

Pagan Studies Conference a success
Pagan scholars discussed “Building Community” on Jan. 22 and 23 at the 7th Annual Conference of Current Pagan Studies in Claremont.  More than 70 Pagans gathered to hear the ideas and results of research by the 27 Pagan scholars, researchers and leaders who came from greater LA as well as from other areas of the country.

They gathered to discuss issues that relate to the Pagan community at large. It is important to that community’s health and growth to meet and learn from one another. It’s also important for all Pagans to be involved in the public arena and have their voices heard. With an estimate of over a million Americans now self-identified as Pagan, the Pagan religion is coming of age. And it is feeling, now more than ever, the need for trained leaders and clergy to build stronger Pagan communities that also see themselves as a part of a larger community. Read full story from examiner.com

Rabbis warn Rupert Murdoch: Fox News and Glenn Beck ‘using’ Holocaust
Four hundred rabbis, including the leaders of all the main branches of Judaism in the US, have signed an open letter calling on Rupert Murdoch to sanction the head of Fox News and one of the channel’s most famous hosts for frequent inappropriate references to the Nazis and the Holocaust.

The rabbis chose a poignant place to make their protest: they took out an advert costing at least $100,000 in one of Murdoch’s own newspapers, the Wall Street Journal. The advert was printed today – the UN-designated Holocaust Remembrance Day.

In the letter, the Jewish coalition calls on Murdoch to take action against Roger Ailes, the bombastic president of Fox News, as well as against Glenn Beck, the channel’s most notorious rightwing commentator. “We share a belief that the Holocaust, of course, can and should be discussed appropriately in the media. But that is not what we have seen at Fox News,” the letter says. Read full story from guardian.co.uk

Do You Need an Exorcism? Take the Quiz!
Anthony Hopkins portrays Father Lucas Trevant, a veteran exorcist, in the new film The Rite, which opens Friday. The story follows Trevant as he teaches a younger priest how to tell if a person is possessed by a demon, and what to do if that is indeed the case.

Many religions claim that humans can be possessed by demonic spirits, and offer remedies to address this inconvenience. The Bible recounts six instances of Jesus casting out demons, while voodoo and Catholicism proscribe elaborate rituals and cleansings to remove spiritual stains.

The Vatican (which, as the film accurately notes, offers courses on exorcisms) accepts only a small percentage of demonic possessions as “authentic,” which of course suggests that there are a lot of unauthentic cases of possession out there. The Vatican issued official guidelines on exorcism in 1614, and revised them in 1999. Read full story from discovery.com

Popularity of vampires spawns subculture, scholar says
(Reuters) – They work as doctors and lawyers by day but lurk as vampires by night. While they may not wish to suck your blood, there are plenty of willing victims on tap, according to a top U.S. scholar on a subculture that emulates the undead.

Idaho State University sociologist D.J. Williams, newly hired as a consultant for a proposed television documentary about “self-identified vampires,” said true modern acolytes of Dracula seek consensual blood-sharing relationships.

The popular fascination with vampires dates back to the 1897 publication of Bram Stoker’s “Dracula”, and later books such as Anne Rice’s “The Vampire Chronicles.”

But it exploded in recent years with the best-selling “Twilight” series of novels by Stephenie Meyer and movie adaptations. The seductive vampire character Edward Cullen in the movie, played by actor Robert Pattinson, became a teen idol and made vampires cool. Read full story from reuters.com

Woman claims literal witch hunt in dead cats case
A Jackson County woman charged for keeping more than 100 dead cats in a freezer says she is being persecuted because she practices the Wiccan religion.

Gabriella Bernabei, 46, and her husband, Robert J.A. Grassi, 56, are charged with child neglect, 16 misdemeanor counts of intentional mistreatment of animals and a felony count of animal mistreatment.

Grassi has reached a plea deal with prosecutors that calls for probation. Bernabei has vowed to fight the charges.

“It’s a total all-out assault with everything that’s got to do with my religion, with my cats and how I look,” Bernabei said. “It’s a witch hunt.” Read full story from lacrossetribune.com

New course reconnects students with nature
A new 12-credit learning community will focus on the importance of reconnecting with nature. The series, which is now open to students eligible for advanced registration, will consist of three different courses that meet different requirements for the Associate of Arts Oregon Transfer degree in ecology, religion and political science.

Jerry Hall, a retired faculty instructor, spearheaded the program’s creation. Hall, a Native American, offers a cultural perspective central to the themes within the sequence.

Stan Taylor, chairman of the Lane Peace Center, teaches the Environmental Politics course in the module said that students studying in learning communities have a very unique learning experience. “Students in learning communities form lasting relationships. The experience for many is very transformative,” Taylor said.

Clif Trolin, who teaches the Nature, Religion and Ecology class, said the course of study includes a Native American perspective and has both a scientific and cultural view that fits well with his religion class. Read full story from lcctorch.com

Filmmaker Psychs Out Psychics and ET Believers
Many of us have given a few bucks to some alleged psychic to tell us stuff we already know, but what if you spent your entire life savings looking into the future, attempting to contact ghosts and protecting yourself from aliens?

That’s the premise behind filmmaker Blake Freeman’s newest documentary, “Gawd Bless America,” in which he travels across America with a 69-year-old “believer” named LeRoy Tessina who’s gone bankrupt after years of buying into fraudulent fortune-tellers and alien-protection devices.

In hopes of setting Tessina straight, the duo set out on a weird cross-country adventure to debunk self-proclaimed psychics, healers, alien-abduction experts and ghost hunters. Read full story from aolnews.com

“The Rite” stuff: interview with exorcist Fr. Gary Thomas
Since priests and demons frighten me, my colleague Peg Aloi, who in addition to being a fine critic and writer is also a practicing Wiccan, agreed to conduct this interview with the exorcist who inspired the new film “The Rite,” which opens Friday.

Here’s Peg’s story:

Father Gary Thomas is the subject of Matt Baglio’s book “The Rite: The Making of a Modern Exorcist” (Doubleday Religion), which was the inspiration for Mikael Hafstrom’s film “The Rite,” opening in theatres January 28, 2011. I spoke with Father Thomas on the phone last weekend, and excerpts from our conversation appear below. Read full story from thepheonix.com

U.S. missionary in Mexico fatally shot
(CNN) — An American missionary was fatally shot in Mexico on Wednesday, police said.

The preliminary investigation indicated that Nancy Davis, 59, and her husband were traveling on a Mexican highway near the city of San Fernando, Mexico, when they were confronted by gunmen in a black pickup, the Pharr Police Department in Texas said in a statement. San Fernando is south of the border city of Reynosa in Tamaulipas state.

“The gunmen were attempting to stop them and the victims accelerated in efforts of getting away from them,” the police statement said. “At a certain point the gunmen discharged a weapon at the victim’s vehicle and a bullet struck the victim Nancy Shuman Davis on the head.” Read full story from cnn.com

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Family Matters!

Friday, January 21st, 2011

Recently I was shaken loose from my dad’s family tree and treated unfairly by people I called relatives. This got me thinking of the true meaning of the word “family”.

In the beginning I was raised by my mom’s side, since my dad skipped out on us when I was a fetus. As a child, teenager and young adult I never knew him or his family. It didn’t really matter, I had a loving mom, uncle and grandparents that did everything for me. Fast Forward 21 years. I was mad at my mom and decided I wanted to get in touch with my dad. He flew out to California  immediately and we hit it off right away. He was engaged to a woman in Miami and they were getting ready to have a son. I kept in touch with him through the years and enjoyed the time we had. It wasn’t until my 30′s that I got in touch with the rest of his family and honestly, I’ve never felt comfortable around them, or thought they even liked me. A few years later my father passed away and we all flew to Miami for his service. It seemed as if his death brought us closer together, for a while anyways.

Recently I got a call from my dad’s sister, she told me that their father had passed away. I was sad of course and really wanted to be at the service where I could mourn with my family. At the time the plans for the funeral were not final, but she assured me that she would get back to me with the information. Sometime between the conversation with my aunt, and the funeral (the date of which I found on Google), my cousin, who’s Wiccan, referenced The Wiccan Rede in a Facebook post. Here’s a summary of what she said: “What goes around comes around, stop pretending to care about my family”…blah…blah…blah. Along with a few others, I asked her what was wrong and while the other well wishers got responses, I was getting the silent treatment. I tried to call every member of my dad’s family and not a single answer for days. Armed with my grandfather’s funeral announcement from Google, I went, paid my respects and kept my distance. To say that I felt uncomfortable and unwelcome would be an understatement, but I made it through. By the time I got home I found my cousin had deleted me as a friend and blocked me from sending her messages. Today I still don’t know what the hell happened or what I did wrong. All I can think is, how do you treat family like this?

My cousin is right about one thing, what goes around comes around. Karma really is a Bitch.

My question is: Who do you consider family?

In my opinion, it doesn’t really matter whether you’re blood related. Family can be anyone from  blood relatives to an old high school buddy or someone you may have met online; what makes them family is unconditional love.

Thanks for listening to my rant! Well wishes to you all and have a great day!

Lisa

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Friday’s Food For Thought

Friday, January 21st, 2011

Happy Friday everyone! Stay warm and Have a great weekend!

Hearty Beef & Veggie Stew

beefstew2

Ingredients:

  • 1 1/2 pounds of boneless beef round
  • 2 large cloves garlic
  • 1 1/2 cups dry red wine
  • 2 teaspoons of olive oil
  • 6 small potatoes, unpeeled, scrubbed
  • 8 ounces fresh mushrooms
  • 8 sun-dried tomatoes
  • 1 (14 ounce) can beef broth
  • 1 cup baby carrots
  • 1 cup pearl onions, peeled
  • 2 tablespoons water
  • 1 tablespoon cornstarch

Preparation:

  • Cut beef into 1-inch cubes. Cut garlic into thin slices. Combine beef, wine, oil and garlic in large glass bowl. Refrigerate, covered, at least 2 hours or overnight.
  • Cut potatoes into wedges; set aside. Cut mushrooms and sun-dried tomatoes in half, then in half again.
  • Place beef mixture, mushrooms  and sun-dried tomatoes in large nonstick skillet or Dutch oven. Add enough beef broth to just cover ingredients. Bring to a boil over high heat. Cover, reduce heat to low. Simmer 1 hour. Add potatoes, carrots and onions, cover and cook until vegetables are tender and juices run run clear when beef is pierced with a knife, about 20 to 25 minutes
  • Remove beef and vegetables from skillet with slotted spoon; cover and set aside. Stir water and cornstarch in small bowl until smooth. Pour cornstarch mixture into sauce in skillet. Increase heat to medium, cook and stir until sauce is slightly thickened. Return beef and vegetables to sauce; heat thoroughly.

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News & Submissions 1/19/2011

Wednesday, January 19th, 2011

International Pagan Coming Out Day – May 2
Coming out to someone is a decision only you can make and it’s a decision best made when you are ready to do so. IPCOD encourages Pagans who are ready to come on out!

There are benefits, personally and for our religious community as a whole, as more Pagans come out. Some of these benefits include the reduction of anxiety caused by living a double life and creating a climate of greater acceptance for all Pagans. Read full story from pagancomingoutday.com

Bountiful a ‘cult,’ says polygamous leader’s brother
The isolated polygamous commune of Bountiful, B.C., is a “cult” where religion is used to control residents and take away their rights, says the brother of one the community’s leaders.

Truman Oler, whose brother James leads one of two divided factions within Bountiful, left the fundamentalist Mormon community in southeastern B.C. several years ago and has rarely seen his family since.

Oler, now 29, testified Tuesday at a B.C. court case examining Canada’s anti-polygamy law, describing a community where children are taught from an early age that anything less than complete obedience — including entering into polygamous marriages– would mean an eternity in hell.

“My thinking about Bountiful and the FLDS (Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints) has evolved the longer I have been away from the community,” Truman said in a written affidavit filed in advance of his testimony.

“I now think that the FLDS is like a cult and that it is damaging for children to grow up in that environment. The FLDS does not permit anyone free choice. You are told what to do.” Read full story from ctvbc.ctv.ca

Savannah officials reject ghost film in cemetery
The Syfy TV channel wants to shoot an epsiode in a Savannah cemetery, but city officials won’t approve the idea.

Producers want to film an episode of “Fact or Faked,” which would examine a tourist’s 2008 claim that he filmed a ghostly image of a boy running through the cemetery.

Acting City Manager Rochelle Small-Toney and Jerry Flemming, director of cemeteries, say they’re following city policy on the use of cemeteries.

“The municipal cemeteries are not for sensational or entertainment purposes. Any tours or events marketed as haunted, paranormal, or involving ghosts, spiritualists or mediums are strictly prohibited from any of the municipal cemeteries,” the policy states.

Aldermen Tony Thomas, Mary Ellen Sprague, Clifton Jones and Larry Stuber agreed the sanctity of the cemetery and the respect owed to the deceased and their families has to be considered. Read full story from ajc.com

Faith & Religion: ‘Living Library’ allows the curious to explore other faiths at Ann Arbor event
In small circles inside the Social Hall at the Temple Beth Emeth/St. Clare Episcopal Church in Ann Arbor, “patrons” leaned in close to hear “living books” like Doug Jackson talk about their religious experiences.

As part of the Interfaith Round Table of Washtenaw County’s “Living Library” program last Sunday, representatives from various religions and faiths shared their experiences and answered questions while maintaining the feel of a traditional library.

“My first patron asked about my life, the success and failures in my own practice of Christian Science,” said Jackson, representing the First Church of Christ, Scientists.

Each representative was given a call number and patrons were allowed a 20-minute checkout.

“It’s nice for me to hear the variety of paths people have taken,” said Mark Salzer of Ann Arbor Township.

Salzer, who attends a Mennonite church, was conflicted as to whether he wanted to look into the Pagan or Universalist faiths next after having heard about Science of the Mind. Read full story from annarbor.com

An act of faith, desperation or protest: Self-immolations through time
(CNN) — Night had fallen when the men heard the sounds on the mountain. First it was a chime, then a recitation of verses, followed by the crackle of wood burning. They scrambled to the summit to see what was happening.

There, seated with his palms together and facing west, was their friend. Flames leapt around the peaceful man, engulfing him. It was just as he’d intended.

The year was 527.

This story of Daodu, a Buddhist monk, is told in James Benn’s “Burning for the Buddha: Self-Immolation in Chinese Buddhism.” Benn, an associate professor of religion at McMaster University in Ontario, Canada, writes that the act of setting one’s self on fire dates back in Chinese Buddhist tradition to the late fourth century.

But no matter how old, self-immolation still leaves people horrified, riveted and moved. Read full story from cnn.com

Psychotherapy and the healing power of narrating a life
An important part of the psychotherapy process, as I understand it and have practiced it, involves constructing a narrative of one’s life.

This may seem like a curious task given that we all know or should know the story of our lives. We’ve been imagining the movie to be made from that story forever, right?

Well, that may be true of some us, but a surprising number of people actually don’t have a coherent story: something that hangs together, makes sense, and has some internal consistency. The story may have large, important chunks missing. Or the narrative is fragmented and chaotic. Sometimes the story is there but it is self-condemnatory and unfair.

A woman who was raped at the age of 16 was telling herself that she consented to sex with a man much older than she was, someone she barely knew. She thought of herself as a slut. All the adults in her family would agree (if they knew the story): a 16-year-old is a grown-up and responsible for her actions. Read full story from scientificamerican.com

India must face up to Hindu terrorism
For far too long, the enduring response of the Indian establishment to Hindu nationalists has rarely surpassed mild scorn. Their organised violent eruptions across the country – slaughtering Muslims and Christians, destroying their places of worship, cutting open pregnant wombs – never seemed sufficient enough to the state to cast them as a meaningful threat to India’s national security.

But the recently leaked confession of a repentant Hindu priest, Swami Aseemanand, confirms what India’s security establishment should have uncovered: a series of blasts between 2006 and 2008 were carried out by Hindu outfits. The attacks targeted a predominantly Muslim town and places of Muslim worship elsewhere. Their victims were primarily Muslim. Yet the reflexive reaction of the police was to round up young Muslim men, torture them, extract confessions and declare the cases solved. Read full story from guardian.co.uk

Russians seek omens and foretell husbands in winter ritual
MOSCOW — On winter nights set aside for fortune telling, young Russian women drip hot wax, throw shoes out of the window and crumple newspapers, hoping to foresee their future husbands and careers.

In a ritual vividly described in 19th century literature and still alive today, Russians tell fortunes in the evenings between Russian Orthodox Christmas (January 6-7) and the festival of Epiphany on January 19.

While fortune-telling is practised between Christian holidays, it is frowned upon by the Russian Orthodox Church, which sees it as a remnant of paganism. Read full story from google.com

Church letter warns against mandatory reporting of child sex abuse
Belfast, Northern Ireland (CNN) — Irish victims of sexual abuse are “disgusted” by a newly revealed letter in which a Vatican official expresses “serious reservations” about requiring bishops to report suspected abuse by priests to police, they said Wednesday.

Abuse survivors will question the cardinal leading a special papal delegation to Ireland about the letter, they said.

“We are disgusted by details revealed in the letter. Many of our members just can’t take this in and have been deeply affected by the revelations,” Survivors and Victims of Institutional Abuse spokeswoman Margaret McGuckin told CNN. Read full story from cnn.com

Yoga For Unity Flash Mob (source YouTube – YogaForUnity)

Unreported World: Witches on Trial (source YouTube – TrVelocita)

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Remembering Dr. King and his struggle today.

Monday, January 17th, 2011
“A nation or civilization that continues to produce soft-minded men purchases its own spiritual death on the installment plan.” Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

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Friday’s Food For Thought

Friday, January 14th, 2011

Happy Friday all! I haven’t tried this one yet but, it’s on my list for the weekend. If you get a chance to make it, let me know how it turns out. Have a great weekend!

Cheesy Potato Chowder

soup

Ingredients:

  • 3 medium red potatos
  • 1 1/2 cups water
  • 1 celery stalk, sliced
  • 1 medium carrot, chopped
  • 4 tablespoons butter
  • 3 green onions, sliced
  • 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon black pepper
  • 4 cups milk
  • 2 cups shredded American Cheese
  • 1 cup shredded Swiss cheese
  • 1/2 teaspoon caraway seeds

Preparation:

  • Peel and cube potatoes. Combine water, potatoes, celery and carrot in medium saucepan. Bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to medium; simmer until vegetables are tender, about 10 minutes.
  • Meanwhile, melt butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add green onions; cook and stir onions in butter until tender but not browned, about 2 minutes. Stir in flour, salt and black pepper. Cook and stir for 1 minute.
  • Stir milk and potato mixture into flour mixture; cook and stir over medium heat until bubbly. Cook and stir 1 minute more. Stir in American cheese, Swiss cheese and caraway seeds. Reduce heat to low; simmer until cheeses are melted and the mixture is hot, stirring constantly. Garnish with fresh chervil sprig and serve with oyster crackers, if desired.

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News & Submissions 1/13/2011

Thursday, January 13th, 2011

Hub City Hogwarts? Magic classes on offer
MONCTON – Witchcraft class: for many, the term calls to mind a bunch of little wand-toting English kids running around yelling ‘Expelliarmus!’

Okay, so there’s no Hub City Hogwarts concealed in a secret dimension off St. George Street. But wannabe witches and warlocks are, in fact, lining up for local classes in witchcraft and wizardry.

The instructor is Tony Raven, a 36-year-old Moncton business owner and practicing witch for 20-plus years. The aim? Training credulous New Brunswickers in the basics of magic.

The term ‘witchcraft,’ Raven explains, means different things to Wiccans, Pagans, and Stregheria (to cite just a few strains of modern magic). The traditional witchcraft that Raven teaches traces its roots to ancient Europe. As he defines it, magic means the “art and science of causing change to conform to one’s will.” Read full story from herenb.canadaeast.com

East Meets West in the Bedroom
When it comes to sex, there’s a lot of noise out there. Do it this way! Buy this! Try this! Do it more! Do it now! Do it today!

It’s a message we see and hear all around us. It makes you wonder what the real deal is. So, I thought I might take a step off the well-beaten path and look in an entirely new direction for some insight — Eastern religion and philosophy. I wondered if I might be able to find a little quiet in the sex storm, and I did.

So, here it is. The top things we can learn about sex from the Zen Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism, Hinduism and Shinto philosophies. Read full story from foxnews.com

Third mass grave found in Ivory Coast, says UN
A third mass grave has been discovered in Ivory Coast, according to the UN, following weeks of politically motivated killings that have raised fears of a new civil war.

After two days of deadly clashes it was also claimed that a UN vehicle had been set ablaze and its driver dragged out and beaten.

Navi Pillay, the UN high commissioner for human rights, told Reuters that her officials had been denied access to three mass graves including a site alleged to contain 80 bodies.

“I am very concerned now that a third mass grave has been discovered,” Pillay said in Geneva. “Not only my representative there but the UN representative has not been allowed access to the mass graves.” Read full story from guardian.co.uk

Worship has no place in schools
Lots of children like studying religions. They enjoy thinking about religions, philosophy and morality. They are engaged by questions about capital punishment, euthanasia and whether prayer actually works. What they don’t like, they tell me time and time again, is feeling that it’s “being rammed down their throats”, or that they’re “being told what to believe”. Such activities should have no place in our schools.

To argue, as The Church Mouse does, that it is “hard to imagine how a child’s spiritual development can be supported if they never experience any form of worship” is fallacious, and conflates the terms “spiritual” and “religious”. We should see “spiritual’ as a flexible term, that could incorporate the religious and the nonreligious. Look, for example, of the definition Ofsted offered in 2004:

“[Spiritual development] is about the development of a sense of identity, self-worth, personal insight, meaning and purpose. It is about the development of a pupil’s ‘spirit’. Some people may call it the development of a pupil’s ‘soul’; others as the development of ‘personality’ or ‘character’” Read full story from guardian.co.uk

Monks make, donate casket for youngest victim in Arizona shooting
A group of Trappist monks in Iowa have donated a handmade casket to bury 9-year-old Christina Green, the youngest victim in the Saturday attack that killed six and wounded 13 others in Arizona.

Sam Mulgrew, the general manager of Trappist Caskets in Peosta, Iowa, told CNN a family representative of the Greens reached out to the monks at New Melleray Abbey near Dubuque after her death. The custom-made casket arrived in Tucson, Arizona, Wednesday morning.

“We didn’t want to send an adult coffin that would be too big, we wanted something just for her,” said Mulgrew, who is not a monk but who manages the 11-year-old casket business that is part of the abbey. Read full story from cnn.com

The Housing Slump Has Salem On a Witch Hunt Again
SALEM, Mass.—There’s a certain look and feel to a foreclosed home, and 31 Arbella St. has it: fraying carpet, missing appliances, foam insulation poking through cracked walls.

That doesn’t faze buyer Tony Barletta since he plans a gut renovation anyway. It’s the bad vibes that bother him.

So two weeks before closing, Mr. Barletta followed witch Lori Bruno and warlock Christian Day through the three-story home. They clanged bells and sprayed holy water, poured kosher salt on doorways and raised iron swords at windows. Read full storyi from wsj.com

Conservative Media Attack Native American Blessing At AZ Memorial Service
Hume: “While I’m Sure [Native American Ritual] Has An Honorable Tradition With [Gonzales'] People, It Was Most Peculiar.” After Fox News aired the Tucson memorial live on January 12, several Fox News anchors commented on the service. Brit Hume said he thought the “sobriety you might have expected was not to be found” at the service and attributed this “tone and atmosphere,” in part, to the “opening blessing” by Gonzales, which he called “most peculiar.” From the Fox coverage following the service: Read full story from mediamatters.org

Not all in northern Sudan embrace Islamic law (source cnn)

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News & Submissions 1/12/2011

Wednesday, January 12th, 2011

Haiti one year on: “living in a tent is not really a life”
The angelical voices of a choir dressed in pristine white singing hallelujahs do not match the hellish scenery that surrounds them: piles of debris, an acid stingy smell of rotten rubbish, women crying while waving their hands at the skeleton of what used to be the country’s main Catholic church, Cathédrale Notre Dame de L’Assomption, thanking God for still being alive, but some also blaming him for plunging the Caribbean country into an abyss.

Exactly a year ago the earth grumbled violently, killing 230,000 people and flattening the cities along the centre of an impoverished country that is now no more than a mass of rubble and twisted iron. Today, broken Haitians are commemorating their losses following their hearts and their faiths. Read full story from guardian.co.uk

Faith: Local community responds to hate by celebrating religious freedom day
This year, many in Ann Arbor will celebrate our local religious diversity and freedom through community service, discussion, and learning about other faiths as they mark Religious Freedom Day on Jan. 16. While these activities affirm respect and inclusion, they come in response to bigotry and harassment.

When Bryan Weinert saw the growing anti-Muslim sentiment in September of last year, including the stabbing of a New York cab driver for being Muslim, vandalism of mosques and a burnt Qur’an left outside a mosque in East Lansing, he felt that it was important for the community to respond.

Weinert, who serves as the board president for the Interfaith Council for Peace and Justice (ICPJ), explains, “I saw the hatred, the animosity and the violence, and I thought, ‘This isn’t how we should be treating members of our community.’” So ICPJ began working with local faith leaders, the Ann Arbor City Council and others to respond to the anti-Muslim activities and promote a community that welcomes and respects all. Read full story from annarbor.com

Phelps won’t picket girl’s funeral
Topeka’s Westboro Baptist Church won’t picket the funeral of a 9-year-old girl killed in Saturday’s shooting rampage in Tucson, Ariz., in exchange for getting airtime on two radio stations, a church spokeswoman said Wednesday morning.

Church members earlier had announced plans to picket the funeral of the girl, Christina Taylor Green, who was one of six people killed during Saturday’s shooting spree that also wounded U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz.

However, Shirley Phelps-Roper, a spokeswoman for the Westboro church, said KXXT-AM, a 50,000-watt radio station in the Phoenix suburb of Tolleson, Ariz., and Canadian station CFNY-FM, 102.1 “The Edge” in Toronto, offered to give the Topeka church airtime to discuss its views in exchange for its members not picketing the girl’s funeral. Read full story from cjonline.com

Interview with P. Sufenas Virius Lupus, Founder of Ekklesía Antínoou
I was fortunate enough to spend some time this past week with Pagan author P. Sufenas Virius Lupus, a scholar, devotee of Antinous, and author of the book The Phillupic Hymns through Bibliotheca Alexandrina and The Syncretisms of Antinous through The Red Lotus Library. He’s been doing some fascinating work in reviving the cultus of the God Antinous within contemporary Reconstructionist Paganisms, so I was very happy when he agreed to answer a few questions.

This interview took place on November 7, 2010. Read full story from patheos.com

Alcohol poisoning, not avian flu, killed Romanian birds
Birds that were thought to have died from avian flu in Romania instead apparently drank themselves to death.

Residents of Constanta in eastern Romania found dozens of dead starlings on the outskirts of the city on Saturday.

They alerted authorities, fearing the birds had died from avian flu.

But local veterinary officials decided the starlings had died after eating grape ‘marc’ – the leftovers from the wine-making process. Read full story from bbc.co.uk

Casting a spell on the government
THERE’S been a lot of talk about the rising popularity of paganism and witchcraft in Wales.

So here’s their chance to do something about VAT and all those hidden taxes.

Simply consult their Romanian sisters like Bratara Buzea, who, although she sounds like a Mafia hitman, is actually the Queen Witch of that country. For years Romanian witches have gone about their eerie business untaxed. Read full story from walesonline.co.uk

Religion is not needed to teach morality
The question: Should schools require Christian worship?

I asked my nine-year-old son, who attends an ordinary – though high-achieving – primary school in Clapham, what the “collective worship” mandated by English law in his school assemblies consists of. He reports that his assemblies feature a hodgepodge of broad brush-stroke outlines of a variety of religious festivals – Diwali, Eid, harvest festival – mixed in with basic moral messages about things like bullying (bad), being kind (good) and the dangers of Facebook (many). God, he was pretty sure, has never been mentioned and nothing he would describe (within his admittedly limited experience) as “worship” has ever taken place. Read full story from guardian.co.uk

Why people abandon religion
The question of why some people lose their faith and what to do about it has long vexed those who don’t – check the Old Testament for some heated discourse on the topic. Recent polling indicates that the trend toward secularism has increased – even in the United States, one of the most religious countries in the world. The results of the latest American Religious Identification Survey (Aris) reveal that the “nones” – people whose stated religious affiliation is “none” – have grown from 8.1% in 1990, the first year the study was conducted, to 15% in 2008.

A November 2010 article in Christianity Today sought to discover why, and cited “moral compromise” as the first reason, meaning that people leave religion because they want to do things religion forbids, such as have premarital sex. Other reasons include intellectual doubts and being hurt in some way by a church.

Recognising the necessity of understanding specific reasons for specific departures, I propose an overarching reason for why people abandon religion: they leave when the tension becomes too great between what they want and need, and what religion tells them they should want and need. Read full story from guardian.co.uk

Jared Lee Loughner apparently sought community online at Abovetopsecret.com
The Web site Abovetopsecret.com is a place where odd ideas are welcome: Its discussion threads ask questions about UFO sightings, evidence of God, and “How do you kill an alien zombie?”

But it became an unwelcome place for a new user, who joined the site in early 2009 and called himself “Erad3.” Now – based on the language in his postings, and information about where he logged on – the site’s operators believe Erad3 was accused Arizona shooter Jared Lee Loughner, 22.

“I’d go with 99 percent,” said Bill Irvine, chief executive of the site’s parent company, when asked how certain he was that Erad3 and Loughner were the same person.

The story of those postings – now compiled online at Abovetopsecret.com – adds new detail to the story of Loughner’s apparent unraveling. Read full story from washingtonpost.com

Skull pulled from box renews Bradenton mystery
BRADENTON – Police here are trying to solve a mystery over how an unidentified human skull sat in a box in their property room for more than 35 years until it was discovered last week.

And they have virtually no records to indicate to whom it belongs or what happened to the person.

In late 1974, someone found a human skull submerged in 4 inches of water in an area vaguely described as “near Bradenton.”

The skull was apparently sent by the Bradenton Police Department to the FBI and back again to the local agency’s evidence room, where it was wrapped in newspaper, put in a box, marked with the word “SKULL” and forgotten.

Until last week. Detectives, sifting through old evidence to see if any of it could be used to crack cold cases, found the box, and the skull, and are now trying to figure out to whom it belongs. Read full story from heraldtribune.com

Authorities handling fallout of breaking up polygamist cult
One year after police raided the Tel Aviv headquarters of a suspected polygamist cult that involved some 40 children and 20 women, welfare authorities say they are still dealing intensely with the fallout and rehabilitation process of the cult members as they return to live a normative life.

According to information published Tuesday by the Welfare and Social Services Ministry, the 20 wives and 40 children of the yet-to-be convicted cult leader Goel Ratzon continue to receive a wide range of welfare services, including constant psychological monitoring.

“The Goel Ratzon affair is a clear sign that we have a policy of zero tolerance to cults and other groups that prey on vulnerable women and children,” Welfare and Social Services Minister Isaac Herzog said in a statement Tuesday. Read full story from jpost.com

Jewish groups respond to Palin’s use of ‘blood libel’
Several Jewish groups are criticizing Sarah Palin’s use of the term “blood libel” in her video statement on the Arizona shootings. The phrase traditionally refers to false anti-Semitic myths about Jews using the blood of Christians, often children, in their rituals.

[Defining terms: What is "blood libel"?] Read full story from yahoo.com

Voodoo priests killed in Haiti (source cnn)

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