The Pope - The Bigot

The Pope is coming to the UK this year and just to ensure maximum publicity, he has announced that Britain has put in place laws which discriminate against the religious. He states that equal rights has gone too far basically it is wrong that Christians cannot discriminate against gay and lesbian people!
This should come as no surprise to those of us who know the history of the Catholic Church. Here's a quote from his speech:

"Your country is well known for its firm commitment to equality of opportunity for all members of society. Yet as you have rightly pointed out, the effect of some of the legislation designed to achieve this goal has been to impose unjust limitations on the freedom of religious communities to act in accordance with their beliefs. In some respects it actually violates the natural law upon which the equality of all human beings is grounded and by which it is guaranteed. I urge you as pastors to ensure that the church's moral teaching be always presented in its entirety and convincingly defended. Fidelity to the Gospel in no way restricts the freedom of others – on the contrary, it serves their freedom by offering them the truth. Continue to insist upon your right to participate in national debate through respectful dialogue with other elements in society. In doing so, you are not only maintaining long-standing British traditions of freedom of expression and honest exchange of opinion, but you are actually giving voice to the convictions of many people who lack the means to express them: when so many of the population claim to be Christian, how could anyone dispute the Gospel's right to be heard?"

                                                                                                   Read the whole letter here.

Politics and control screwing up the lives of many and panic setting in as the flocks reduce in numbers             - all wrapped up in superstition for the sheeple.

Sphere: Related Content

Arrest That Man!

George Monbiot, a Journalist at the British newspaper 'The Guardian' has started a campaign aimed at advising members of the public how to carry out a citizen's arrest on Tony Blair. In case you don't know Mr Blair is the previous Prime Minister of the UK who did what most politicians do: lie, cheat and basically do everything to fatten the pockets of themselves and their cronies. Blair huffed and puffed and bullied those who stood in his way of charging into Iraq.

So Mr Monbiot has set up a website Arrest Blair where money is being collected to pay the person who carries out a citizens arrest on Mr Blair. He's advising that great care should be taken, not to put yourself in a compromising situation where you could be hurt or accused of causing Mr Blair or his entourage any form of harm.

I must say it is a tricky one. Difficult to execute and fraught with danger. More a public relations exercise.
                                                                                                                 
You see, we here in the UK are, on the whole, not very intelligent. Our brain cells have putrified over the years under the weight of too much telly, take-aways and shopping. Nothing too taxing, please. And definetly nothing as heavy duty as thinking - perish the thought! 'Now this Blair business - sounds like too much hassle, love.'
Now that's not all UK residents, but far too many to make for a society where the politicians know and believe that they are thereto serve the people and not the other way round. A place where the police protect the people from big-time criminals - and not the other way round.

As gimmicky as it might seem I think this is a wonderful idea.
Visit the site for yourself and if you are based in the UK or even anywhere else - thinking about contributing?


 image courtesy of Wikipedia

Sphere: Related Content

Quote of the Week

"If someone pointed a machine gun at my daughter and said:

"Say 'Jesus doesn't exist'" and if she turned to me and asked:
"What do I do?", I'd say:
 "What have I taught you to do?" And she'd say:  "Jesus absolutely exists." And I'd see her in heaven."
~ Stephen Baldwin (actor)

Sphere: Related Content

Haiti - Don't Pray, Please

The beauty of television is it can bring the horrors of the world right into your face. The earthquake in Haiti is one example.
Seeing those bodies piled on top of each other, people trapped under columns of concrete, some alive, barely breathing and some dead - all mixed up together. Awful.
Then images of women stood by the sea praying, earnestly, some thanking 'God' that their lives had been spared.
Amongst all the horrors this stood out to me and made me angry.
Such wasted time and effort in amongst all the chaos. So many people dead and all we humans can do is marvel and praise an imaginary god that our lives have been saved. The fact that this god must be a complete maniacal freak to wipe out 100,000+ people, men, women, children, babies but spared the life of those standing and praying into the wind...
So sad.

Sphere: Related Content

Quote of the Week

"It is no measure of health to be well-adjusted to a profoundly sick society"


 -J. Krishnamurthi

Sphere: Related Content

Have You Heard about The Garinagu People?

...Lest we forget.

I wanted to share this video as it illustrates, very clearly to me, that in spite of our differences - whether they be religious, racial, gender, height, weight, abilities - there are people who are just getting on with their lives as best they can. People who appear to have little materially, yet our warped values are shamed into admiring those who don't have to try to enjoy their lives - no hamsters on a wheel running on empty with the latest 'must have handbag'.

This video records beautiful elements of the Garinagu communities of coastal Central America.
You may not be familiar with their culture or music but their attempts to elevate their people to believe in themselves and their value is admirable.
Sadly Andy Palacio died last year but his legacy lives on.
Please share your thoughts.

P.S. Have fun in 2010!

Sphere: Related Content

Was That It...???: Copenhagen COP15

Have they finished? They packed up and went home with their tails between their legs. Or so it seemed.
The media couldn't decide if it was a success or a failure and it was funny to see the headlines lurching from one to other - even within the same publication/newscast.

No doubt they will regroup and work on another strategy to scare the people into parting with their cash.
Presenting one agreement as open to discussion and then having a 'secret document' under the table is nothing new and to be expected. 'It is only fair if YOU get shafted!'

At least it makes for interesting copy and they get free advertising. Can't wait to see what happens next!

Sphere: Related Content

'Please Help the World...'

From the opening ceremony of the United Nations Climate Change Conference 2009 (COP15) in Copenhagen.

Glossy-Hollywood-Big Budget Propaganda. I wonder if you see the desperation of the messengers?

Sphere: Related Content

People Power

So there we have it. The murky world of man-made global warming-carbon credits-save the world slogans, sound bites and great marketing is unravelling and, at last, there may just be a glimpse, a dawning, that the Emperor has clothes, yes, but ones placed there by people with a big agenda.

It is interesting that my previous post on this matter garnered much comment, more criticism than praise, but some people dislike reality and smother themselves in the soft squidgy-ness of fantasy. Not so I.

We were being played and we did not recognise that the train some of us jumped on was actually a gravy train which we had no ownership of, no control over and our destination was solely in the direction of us being fleeced big time for big bucks ad infinitum.

The number of NGO’s with their noses in the trough is astounding. Groups who are receiving money to promote and assist in the cover up, whose current and future funding depends on how effective they are in getting the message out to the masses – you and me.

But hold on a minute: Some people woke up!! Some smelt the coffee and thought ‘Bollocks! This is too big a con for me to stay silent. This is too big a con for me to quietly go about my business.’ Voila! We have information which appears to show a monumental con has occurred. How this information was released into the public domain is not a concern of mine - some members of our species decided that the lies had to be exposed.

It is called People Power. No, not as in communism, socialism or any other –ism but one where we start to think for ourselves and refuse to remain clueless and powerless to what is happening around us.

The internet has played a pivotal role in uncovering the cover ups and from now on we should be mindful and aware of attacks on our rights to communicate freely and ultimately expose crimes against humanity (as this Great Con should be viewed).

In our own way we can leave a legacy for the future generations: that we thought for ourselves and refused to be sheeple.

What do you think?

Sphere: Related Content

Global Warming Cartoon

Sphere: Related Content

Does it Bug You Too...?

At the risk of being a complete pedant (a title which I have not earned) have you noticed how many people are using the word ‘loose’ instead of ‘lose’?

Each time I see it I cringe. Why has ‘loose’ become the new ‘lose’? Does it bug you too?

Sphere: Related Content

The Qualifications of a Shaman

This time of the year seems to be an opportune time for people who profess to be experts or 'special proponents' of supernaturalism to crawl out of the woodwork and make more money. People want to know what the next year will bring. Will they find a new love? or will their current relationship improve or their finances or career take a turn for the better. Who else to seek advice from but someone who appears to have special powers and insight? A shaman, priest/ess, obeah wo/man, psychic, faith healer - whatever they choose to call themselves. They fall into the same category.

Leslie A White, a cultural anthropologist wrote a fascinating book: 'The Evolution of Culture - The Development of Civilisation to the Fall of Rome' (1959), (sadly out of print), where he explains the cultural purpose of these people. Here is an excerpt:

"...Let us turn first to the qualifications of a shaman.

 Traffic with the supernatural world is by its very nature mysterious. Extraordinary abilities are therefore required or are at least an asset. Epileptic fits, trances, hallucination, and hysteria are mysterious experiences, and hence eminently suited to communication with the supernatural world. Dreams during trances are interpereted as visits to the land of the spirits; fits and hysteria are states produced when a spirit seizes and possess the body the shaman. This conception is preserved in our word "epilepsy" (Gr. epi, upon; lambano, seize). Hence neurotic, abnormal, and unstable individuals are better qualified for the profession of shamanism than are normal and stable persons. As Tylor long ago observed: '...In all quarters of the world the oracle-priests and diviners by familiar spirits seem really diseased in body and mind...'  More recently, Lowie has commented upon the abnormal character of the shaman: 'From Africa and Oceania, from Siberia and Tierra del Fuego we thus have evidence that shamans are either abnormal or at least temporarily capable of passing into abnormal mental states.' The advantage of abnormality in trafficking with the supernatural world is further indicated by the widespread use of drugs, liquor, fasting, self-torture, and solitude to produce temporary pathologic states as a means lor a condition of supernatural experience. Thus we see that some individuals are better qualified to become shamans than others."

Sphere: Related Content

Quote of the Week: Adolf Hitler

"I have followed [the Church] in giving our party program the character of unalterable finality, like the Creed. The Church has never allowed the Creed to be interfered with. It is fifteen hundred years since it was formulated, but every suggestion for its amendment, every logical criticism, or attack on it, has been rejected. The Church has realized that anything and everything can be built up on a document of that sort, no matter how contradictory or irreconcilable with it.

The faithful will swallow it whole, so long as logical reasoning is never allowed to be brought to bear on it."

                                        - Adolf Hitler, from Rauschning, The Voice of Destruction, pp. 239-40

Sphere: Related Content

Is the Universe Fine Tuned for Life?

Although I write about religion and atheism and so on - sometimes I am bored by the idea of people believing in the supernatural. There's not much I can do nor want to do to change minds.

My previous post caused a bit of a stir as I stated my views about the hysteria surrounding climate change, but I chanced upon this video which I would like you to watch and let us all know what you think.

Sphere: Related Content

Carl Sagan - 'Pale Blue Dot'

 If ever we need to put things into perspective...

Sphere: Related Content