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November 18, 2004
Rights of parents vs. rights of schools
But Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty said, "it's important that all our children have the opportunity to learn about those things that distinguish one of us from the other, and that they learn to respect those differences."
Education Minister Gerard Kennedy echoed McGuinty's remarks, saying, "our public schools are there to engender respect, respect for people of different faiths and different sexual orientations."
He said he didn't think "there's any harm done to parents who find their children exposed to ideas that are different than the ones they teach at home."
CBC News: Muslim parents urged to keep kids in anti-homophobia classes
Posted by thdyck at November 18, 2004 | Comments (0)
November 16, 2004
Status Report: Wormwood to Screwtape
2. Support for war among the Christians is at an all time high. It tickles me to no end to write that sentence. Christians, supporting war! It was not too long ago that such an utterance would have been unthinkable. We have quietly convinced them that they are, in truth, warring against the Muslims of the world, and that their very existence is dependant upon such support. Our agents amongst the Muslims have already achieved great successes, and now the lessons we learned with those people are paying off with similar success in our efforts against Christians.
Status Report: Wormwood to Screwtape || kuro5hin.org
Posted by thdyck at November 16, 2004 | Comments (0)
Chris Rock on the ethics of comedy routines
O: In Raw, Eddie Murphy talks about doing routines about Mike Tyson and then having Tyson come up to him, unhappy about his jokes. Have you ever been confronted by someone you've done jokes about?
CR: It has happened. I had a saying on the show, "Talk about what people do, not what they are." So if a guy's got a really shitty song or he sings it too much or whatever, you talk about the song. If you think he's gay, keep it to yourself. There's no need to talk about that. Jennifer Lopez has an ass you think is funny, fine. Don't talk about her singing. Talk about stuff that's out there already. Halle Berry trashes her car, that's funny. Her husband's in a sex clinic, that's her business, leave her alone. Crashing her car in a funny way is our business, though.
Posted by thdyck at November 16, 2004 | Comments (0)
November 12, 2004
Letter to the editor
The Democrats will not be able to win elections until they renounce their sinful ways and stop encouraging abortions, gayness, and trying to take away our guns.
Earl Balboa
Washington Township
mcall.com - Jesus speaks through the Republicans (The Morning Call is published in Allentown, PA, USA) (seen at blast off to kicksville!)
Posted by thdyck at November 12, 2004 | Comments (0)
November 11, 2004
Reactions to the US election
He accused the Bush administration of a lack of compassion for the less fortunate.
"They live in such a bubble that they think people who are struggling [do so] because of their ineptitude - but the [less well off] didn't have the leg up that [Mr Bush and his allies] had.
He was equally vehement about Mr Bush's environmental policies, saying the president had "trashed pages and pages of environmental laws and regulations".
And he said the president was a warmonger: "As a Christian, I resent that they have turned [Jesus], my prince of peace into a war god."
...
He said his congregants "think that honesty and care for the poor ('the widow, the orphan, and the sojourner in your midst'), the environment, health provision, and peace are weightier matters of Christian ethics, not bedroom behaviours."
BBC NEWS | Americas | Campaign ends, but battles go on
Posted by thdyck at November 11, 2004 | Comments (0)
RNA interference therapy works in mice
Writing in the same journal, Dr John Rossi, a molecular biologist at the Beckman Research Institute, said it was remarkable that only a few years after the discovery of RNA interference, scientists had come up with a potential way to manipulate it to treat disease.
"It remains to be seen whether the cholesterol-conjugate approach can be used to silence other disease-related genes in animal models," he said.
"If so, it should revolutionize the use of RNA interference."
Dr Julian Downward, from the charity Cancer Research UK, said: "This is a very exciting development in the design of new therapies for human diseases.
BBC NEWS | Health | Huge potential for gene therapy
Posted by thdyck at November 11, 2004 | Comments (0)
November 9, 2004
The Atlantic Monthly: 'The Next Christianity' by Philip Jenkins
We stand at a historical turning point, the author argues—one that is as epochal for the Christian world as the original Reformation. Around the globe Christianity is growing and mutating in ways that observers in the West tend not to see. Tumultuous conflicts within Christianity will leave a mark deeper than Islam's on the century ahead.
The Atlantic Online | October 2002 | The Next Christianity | Philip Jenkins
Posted by thdyck at November 9, 2004 | Comments (0)
November 4, 2004
On Kerry: Desire to negotiate seen as a sign of weakness
However, most of the 135,000 American troops stationed here in Iraq seem to be behind their leader. Sergeant Tod Feegan, from South Dakota is based near Falluja: "John Kerry has always just been weak. He's always wanted to negotiate his way out of things. And some people you just can't negotiate with. This country, after so many years under Saddam Hussein, the only thing they understand is strength... I think to change Presidents at this point in the game would have been a bad move."
BBC NEWS | Americas | How world sees Bush victory
Posted by thdyck at November 4, 2004 | Comments (0)
Moral values ahead of terrorism in U.S. voter concerns
Religion - rather than class, ethnic origin or education - has become the key determinant of voting in the 2004 presidential race, according to an exit poll conducted by the Associated Press news agency.
And moral issues were more important for voters than Iraq, the war on terrorism, or the economy.
According to the exit poll, 22% of the electorate said "moral values" was the issue that mattered most in how they voted - compared to 20% who cited the economy, 19% who cited terrorism, and just 15% who said Iraq was the key issue.
BBC NEWS | World | Americas | Election reveals divided nation
Posted by thdyck at November 4, 2004 | Comments (0)
November 3, 2004
Ecumenical News International Tenth Anniversary
ENI was launched in September 1994 as a cooperative venture by the World Council of Churches, the Lutheran World Federation, the World Alliance of Reformed Churches and the Conference of European Churches.
"The WCC, as a founder and the main sponsor of ENI, rejoices in the first 10 years of work of ENI," says the Rev. Samuel Kobia, WCC general secretary. "We remain fully committed to the vision of an independent, professional, ecumenical news service as an indispensable resource for the witness and mutual understanding of the Christian fellowship worldwide."
The news agency is governed by a charter agreed by the four partners which sets down ENI's aims of honesty, impartiality and accuracy, and guarantees it editorial independence.
...
But, says Lawrence, ENI is of greater significance than simply as a supplier of news.
"ENI is a vital mission tool in the battle to keep alive 'the rumour of God' in what we loosely call secularised societies," says Lawrence. "In my own cultural context, the level of disinterest in organized religion has reached quite staggering proportions," he says, adding that not one mass circulation tabloid newspaper in Britain has a specialist religious correspondent, while the less widely bought serious papers have drastically cut the resources and space devoted to religious material.
Press Feature: From Afghanistan to Zimbabwe, ENI covers it
Posted by thdyck at November 3, 2004 | Comments (0)
Little Nemo in Slumberland
from Lawrance M. Bernabo's review of The Complete Little Nemo in Slumberland Vol. 1: 1905-1907 at Amazon.com
The "Little Nemo in Slumberland" comics in this book originally appeared in the "New York Herald" Sunday color supplement from October 15, 1905 to March 31, 1907 and are faithfully reproduced in their original colors from rare, vintage file-copy pages in the hands of a few choice collectors. There is even a special strip that appeared in the European edition of the "Herald" that was never printed in the U.S. The strip continued until 1911 and those strips are published in the other volumes in this series. In these early adventures Little Nemo first enters Slumberland and learns to cope with his unpredictable flying bed, pursues the beautiful Princess of Slumber, searches for the castle of King Morpheus, and endures the ministrations of Dr. Pill. Nemo also meets up with the devilish Flip, a green-faced clown in a plug hat and ermine collared jacket, who starts off always trying to summon the Dawn and wake Nemo from his dreams but then becomes our little heroes boon companion in his Slumberland adventures which involved an impressive array of strange giants, beautiful mermaids, humongous elephants, mysterious space creatures, exotic parades, fantastic dirigible rides, a jolly green dragon, and anything else McCay could imagine.
By both artistic and historical standards "Little Nemo in Slumberland" is the first truly great comic strip. When you look at the great strips that followed, such as George Herriman's "Krazy Kat," George McManus' "Bringing Up Father," Bud Fisher's "Mutt and Jeff," and Frank King's "Gasoline Alley," they are all decidedly different from what McCay was doing, although the use of "art nouveau" interiors and zany byplay by McManus is clearly an homage to "Little Nemo" as far as I am concerned. There is a sense in which those who see nothing similar appearing on the funny pages until Bill Watterson's "Calvin and Hobbes" have a point, although I would acknowledge Snoopy's imaginative life in "Peanuts" as well.
Amazon.com: Books: The Complete Little Nemo in Slumberland Vol. 1: 1905-1907
Posted by thdyck at November 3, 2004 | Comments (0)
Church participation and voting trends
The social and cultural divisions in the American electorate are best expressed by the sharp divide in voting patterns by church attendance.
Two-thirds of voters who attend religious services regularly (once a week or more) backed President Bush rather than Senator Kerry - and they make up 40% of the electorate.
Those who never attend services, in contrast, backed the Democrats by the same margin - but they make up only 15% of the electorate.
Democrats also ran strongly among unmarried and young people, families with incomes under $30,000 a year, and among the highly educated.
Republicans voters tend to have higher incomes, be located in the South, be married, and are more likely to be white Protestant and male.
But none of these divisions is as sharp as religion in explaining people's votes.
BBC NEWS | World | Americas | Election reveals divided nation
Posted by thdyck at November 3, 2004 | Comments (0)
Anglican church debates role of female clergy
The Anglican church could set up a 'male clergy only' branch under proposals aimed at ending the row over whether women can be bishops.
The new province, with its own archbishop, is one of several options set out in the Church of England report which was published on Tuesday.
Another option was to continue to allow women as priests but ban them from being ordained as bishops.
A decision over how to resolve the row is expected to be taken next summer.
BBC NEWS | UK | 'Men-only branch' plan for Church
Posted by thdyck at November 3, 2004 | Comments (0)
Death of Sheik Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan
TD: This photograph fascinates me: the smile, headdress, gold and silver ornamentation... it's something out of Arabian Nights.
United Arab Emirates Supreme Council President Sheik Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan in 2001. (AP Photo)
Since then, the emirates, fuelled by oil money, have been transformed from quiet desert provinces into a banking and trade centre.
In just 40 years, the city of Abu Dhabi has gone from a collection of huts to a modern high-rise city of more than a million people.
The city of Dubai was nothing but desert three decades ago. It's now a major trade centre.
CBC News: Founder of United Arab Emirates dies
Posted by thdyck at November 3, 2004 | Comments (0)
Slavery in Niger
Assibit was born into slavery - as was her mother, her husband and her five children.
The government says it is trying to clamp down on slavery - and has introduced laws so that slave owners can be punished - but still there are estimated to be tens of thousands of people in Niger in bonded labour.
Assibit's whole family served a member of the Touareg tribe.
BBC NEWS | World | Africa | Testimony: Former Niger slave
Posted by thdyck at November 3, 2004 | Comments (0)
November 1, 2004
Evangelical and Mennonite
I joined the Mennonite church; I see it as the most faithful witness to the best of American evangelicalism. True evangelical faith is Christ-centered, interpreting the Scripture according to how it witnesses to the Word made flesh. True evangelical faith calls lost souls to relationship with God where one can experience heaven today in radical discipleship. Moreover, these Christ-centered discipleship principles are most authentic when practiced in a voluntary community.
Posted by thdyck at November 1, 2004 | Comments (0)
The social structure and operation of a food plant
The fundamental difference between Processing and Manufacturing was summed up for me some years ago by a Food Plant Manager. In Manufacturing, he explained, you take in many kinds of raw materials to assemble a lot of identical items for sale. In Processing, you take in a lot of very similar source items and, especially if they are animals, you take them apart to create a variety of items for sale which can vary on a daily basis depending on which machines you decide to use in the taking-apart process.
This has all kinds of subtle implications.
The Manufacturer can lay out specifications for his raw materials; even a mine will sort material to a certain grade before feeding it to processing machinery. As a result, manufacturing machinery tends not to change a lot once it's installed and working. But the raw input to a Food Plant is a series of variable individuals. Despite the staunchest efforts at controlled breeding and factory farming chicken and catfish and pigs and cows arrive at the Plant with variations. Some are larger than others, some are pecked or bitten or abused, some are diseased, and some are already dead (and these can't be sold to you for human consumption, thus the absurd-sounding requirement that cows be able to walk into the slaughterhouse).
Posted by thdyck at November 1, 2004 | Comments (0)