Clipmarks | Honoradele's clips

Loyal Oaths And Constitutional Freedom

Tue, 06 May 2008 12:37:49 GMT

clipped by: debbyski

When Wendy Gonaver was offered a job teaching American studies at Cal State Fullerton this academic year, she was pleased to be headed back to the classroom to talk about one of her favorite themes: protecting constitutional freedoms.

But the day before class was scheduled to begin, her appointment as a lecturer abruptly ended over just the kind of issue that might have figured in her course. She lost the job because she did not sign a loyalty oath swearing to "defend" the U.S. and California constitutions "against all enemies, foreign and domestic."

As a Quaker from Pennsylvania and a lifelong pacifist, Gonaver objected to the California oath as an infringement of her rights of free speech and religious freedom.

"I wanted it on record that I am a pacifist," said Gonaver, 38. "I was really upset. I didn't expect to be fired. I was so shocked that I had to do this."

‘They Were Lying’

Tue, 06 May 2008 00:21:39 GMT

clipped by: lifecyce1898

Clip Source: www.newsweek.com

Mary Tillman spent years piecing together the details of the friendly-fire death of her son, former NFL star Pat Tillman. Why she feels Americans should be outraged.

Since his death, Tillman's family in San Jose, Calif., led by Kevin and his mother Mary, have accused the Pentagon of covering up the facts after spending years piecing together the events that led to Tillman's death and the delay in reporting the friendly fire. A series of Army investigations revealed that top officers, including a three-star general, misled Tillman's family and the public about the circumstances of Tillman's killing

NEWSWEEK: What remain the biggest unanswered questions for you in Pat's death?
Mary Tillman:

one responsible for the cover-up, because I believe that it went much higher up than a three-star general not telling us. I think the administration had something to do with the cover-up … One of the reasons I believe [that] is [because] Rumsfeld wrote a letter to Pat after he enlisted.

Blaming Michelle

Mon, 05 May 2008 23:58:21 GMT

clipped by: CrazyRedHead
clipper's remarks: "If there is a reason why the potential nominee has been keeping what he himself now admits to be very bad company—and if the rest of his character seems to make this improbable—then either he is hiding something and/or it is legitimate to ask him about his partner."

Clip Source: www.slate.com

Liberal comment on Wright, and on the incredible damage that this conceited old fanatic has done to the Obama campaign, tends to dwell on the negative effect that black chauvinist rhetoric has on white working-class voters.

But why should a thinking black member of the working class want any truck with a Farrakhan fan or with a moral idiot who thinks that the drugs and disease in the black community are imposed by an outside conspiracy?

What can it be that has kept Obama in Wright's pews, and at Wright's mercy, for so long and at such a heavy cost to his aspirations?

Could it possibly have anything, I wonder, to do with Mrs. Obama?

Mrs. Obama's 1985 thesis at Princeton

is "Princeton-Educated Blacks and the Black Community."

Michelle Obama announces that she's much influenced by the definition of black "separationism" offered by Stokely Carmichael

we should find out before it's too late to ask.

Tags: obama, politics, election, wright

Pagan Weddings Attract More Than A Cult Following

Mon, 05 May 2008 05:08:08 GMT

clipped by: wiccantexan

Clip Source: www.modbee.com

Supporters and critics of pagan weddings -- like Kemper's -- often describe the ceremonies as beautiful, mystical, bizarre and even evil, all descriptions Kemper has heard. But, according to some experts, there is one word they can no longer use: uncommon.

A 2001 survey by the Graduate Center of the City University of New York found that the number of followers of Wicca, one of the many religions that fall beneath the pagan umbrella, increased from 8,000 in 1990 to 134,000 in 2001, making it the fastest-growing religion in America in terms of percentage increase.

Marty Laubach, a sociology professor at Marshall University, says the number of followers of pagan religions is even higher now, citing a 2008 U.S. Religious Landscape Survey that put the estimate at 1.2 million.

Tags: religion, marriage, pagan, mainstream, wedding, wicca

The All-White Elephant in the Room

Mon, 05 May 2008 05:05:29 GMT

clipped by: wiccantexan

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

BORED by those endless replays of the Rev. Jeremiah Wright? If so, go directly to YouTube, search for “John Hagee Roman Church Hitler,” and be recharged by a fresh jolt of clerical jive.

What you’ll find is a white televangelist, the Rev. John Hagee, lecturing in front of an enormous diorama. Wielding a pointer, he pokes at the image of a woman with Pamela Anderson-sized breasts, her hand raising a golden chalice. The woman is “the Great Whore,” Mr. Hagee explains, and she is drinking “the blood of the Jewish people.” That’s because the Great Whore represents “the Roman Church,” which, in his view, has thirsted for Jewish blood throughout history, from the Crusades to the Holocaust.

Mr. Hagee is not a fringe kook but the pastor of a Texas megachurch. On Feb. 27, he stood with John McCain and endorsed him over the religious conservatives’ favorite, Mike Huckabee, who was then still in the race.

Tags: politics, religion, mccain, church, television, televangelist, texas, conservative

McCartney and Starr to reunite?

Mon, 05 May 2008 05:02:37 GMT

clipped by: wiccantexan

Clip Source: www.woai.com

Beatles fans have been sent into a frenzy over rumours Sir Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr are set to reunite on stage in an historic performance.

To celebrate the city being named 2008's Capital of Culture, the Fab Four's hometown of Liverpool, England is hosting the Sound City music festival, where McCartney is set to take to the stage.

And after Liverpool City Council granted McCartney's production company $3.4 million to stage the event, fans are now speculating the singer is secretly planning a special gig - with his former bandmate Starr.

Tags: music, beatles, reunion, mccartney, england

Church recognizes apparitions of Virgin Mary

Mon, 05 May 2008 04:44:53 GMT

clipped by: wiccantexan

Clip Source: www.msnbc.msn.com

A Roman Catholic bishop said Sunday that the church has officially recognized that the Virgin Mary appeared to a teenage shepherd girl in the French Alps starting in the mid-1600s.

The announcement marks the first time the church has recognized apparitions of the Virgin Mary in France since those in southwestern Lourdes 150 years ago, the diocese of Gap and Embrun said.

Speaking at Mass in Laus in remarks broadcast nationally on France-2 television, Monsignor Jean-Michel di Falco Leandri said he recognized the "supernatural origin" of the apparitions to 17-year-old shepherd girl Benoite Rencurel starting in 1664 and running through 1718.

Officials at Notre-Dame-du-Laus church say that after four months of daily apparitions starting in May 1664, the Virgin Mary asked Rencurel to build a church and a house to receive priests.

The recognition Sunday makes Laus an official pilgrimage site for the church

Tags: catholic, church, vision, religion, apparition, virgin mary

The Empire Strikes Barack

Mon, 05 May 2008 04:15:38 GMT

clipped by: wiccantexan

Clip Source: www.youtube.com

[Video]

Tags: humor, politics, clinton, obama, star wars, parody

Civil War cannonball kills relic collector

Sat, 03 May 2008 15:39:11 GMT

clipped by: wiccantexan

Clip Source: www.msnbc.msn.com

Like many boys in the South, Sam White got hooked on the Civil War early, digging up rusting bullets and military buttons in the battle-scarred earth of his hometown.

As an adult, he crisscrossed the Virginia countryside in search of wartime relics — weapons, battle flags, even artillery shells buried in the red clay. He sometimes put on diving gear to feel for treasures hidden in the black muck of river bottoms.

But in February, White's hobby cost him his life: A cannonball he was restoring exploded, killing him in his driveway.

More than 140 years after Lee surrendered to Grant, the cannonball was still powerful enough to send a chunk of shrapnel through the front porch of a house a quarter-mile from White's home in this leafy Richmond suburb.

White's death shook the close-knit fraternity of relic collectors and raised concerns about the dangers of other Civil War munitions that lie buried beneath old battlefields.

Tags: war, civil war, collection, history, death, military

Wife convicted after husband fatally shoots lover

Sat, 03 May 2008 15:32:54 GMT

clipped by: wiccantexan

Clip Source: www.cnn.com

A Texas woman who caused her lover's shooting death by falsely crying rape was convicted Friday of involuntary manslaughter.

In late 2006, Darrell Roberson came home from a late-night card game to find his scantily clad wife with another man in a pickup truck in the driveway. Tracy Roberson was with her lover but cried rape, and her husband fired four shots into the truck as Devin LaSalle drove off, killing him.

Darrell Roberson initially was arrested, but a murder charge was later dropped and a grand jury indicted Tracy Roberson instead.

During her three-day trial, defense attorneys called no witnesses but blamed LaSalle's death on Darrell Roberson's jealousy and rage.

But prosecutors placed all the blame on Tracy Roberson, showing evidence of the affair with LaSalle, 32, and a text message in which she invited him to her house that evening

Tags: woman, men, marriage, rape, murder, manslaughter

Polygamy showdown: balancing child welfare, religious freedom

Sat, 03 May 2008 02:55:43 GMT

clipped by: wiccantexan

Clip Source: www.firstamendmentcenter.org

Texas officials are trying hard to keep the focus on child abuse — and away from religion — in the custody battle involving 437 children seized from a polygamist religious sect this month.

If only it were so simple.

Like it or not, this conflict is about far more than the issue of older men having sex with under-age girls in violation of Texas law. It’s also about religion — specifically the religious culture of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (FLDS).

Defenders of the church argue that the raid was an overreaction to one telephone call (that may have been a hoax) and was motivated by long-standing animus toward the FLDS community. The state counters that dramatic measures are justified when evidence points to children trapped in a religious culture that promotes child abuse.

The only way to sort out the truth, and determine the fate of the children, will be to put the FLDS way of life on trial.

Tags: religion, belief, rights, children, polygamy, sect, texas, culture

Accused witch's severed head set for museum?

Thu, 24 Apr 2008 04:34:25 GMT

clipped by: wiccantexan

Clip Source: www.msnbc.msn.com

Indian police want a museum to display the head of a woman decapitated after she was accused of practicing witchcraft, hoping it will be a lesson for those who persecute innocent women.

A villager in the country's eastern Jharkhand state attacked the woman and chopped off her head at the weekend, apparently because he suspected her of being to blame for deaths in the family, police said. He then walked into the nearest police station holding the severed head.

"I think displaying this head in a museum will create a sensation in society and could be helpful in preventing people from taking to such heinous crimes," Sunit Kumar, a senior police officer, said from Jharkhand on Wednesday.

Tags: india, witch, witchcraft, crime, museum, society

The Fox is Wrong: Obama

Tue, 22 Apr 2008 14:45:58 GMT

clipped by: ericskiff
clipper's remarks: Amazing to see the patterns displayed so clearly here.

Clip Source: bravenewfilms.org

[Video]

FOX’s objective is clear: carpet bomb Barack Obama with negative stories, distortions, and smears before the Pennsylvania primary in an attempt to skew the outcome toward the Republicans’ preferred adversary, Hillary Clinton. But did FOX imagine that the “liberal” media would be such willing accomplices?

Mile-high skyscrapers and floating cities that never were

Mon, 21 Apr 2008 15:01:24 GMT

clipped by: Aribeth

Clip Source: www.wired.com

Mile-High Skyscrapers and Floating Cities That Never Were

Here's a collection of promised skylines we never got to see -- and a few that may yet come to be -- as seen from the imagined eyes of those who live there.

Left: Chicago, 2005

Few people like to work in Frank Lloyd Wright's 5,278-foot Chicago spire, The Illinois. Almost everything below the 50th floor is an elevator lobby, and almost everything above the 300th floor is perpetually covered in vomit due to the skyscraper's oscillations -- it moves in 40-foot circles at its tip.

Clip Source: www.wired.com

New Berlin, 1969

Clip Source: www.wired.com

Tokyo, 2027

"If the lights go out, that means the nuclear reactor just melted down."

It was a joke in the mountain city, a great way to greet newcomers. Except one night the lights actually did go out, and it just wasn't funny any more.

Clip Source: www.wired.com

The Arcologies, 2070

Clip Source: www.wired.com

Dubai, 2019

Clip Source: www.wired.com

Moscow, 2009

Clip Source: www.wired.com

Subversion City

if I were a pixel, I know where I would hang my boots

Reality Check: It's just a game. Or is it?

Clip Source: www.wired.com

Tsui Tower, Just Outside Ulaan Bataar, 2109

Clip Source: www.wired.com

Pyongyang, 2011

Tags: architecture

Wild Rabbits Devastate French Farms

Mon, 21 Apr 2008 05:01:03 GMT

clipped by: CrazyRedHead
clipper's remarks: Bad bunnies!

Clip Source: www.timesonline.co.uk

A plague of rabbits is devastating crops and community relations in France, where lawsuits are flying as farmers, hunters and landowners blame each other for failing to keep the population in check.

Amid mounting anger and destruction on a scale unknown for 30 years, cereal farmers are being advised to sue neighbours who allow wild rabbits to proliferate.

Under French law, landowners have a civil responsibility to prevent an “excess number” of rabbits on their property

Public authorities are blamed for allowing rabbits to multiply alongside rivers, roads and railways, where they have curtailed a longstanding policy of regular culls.

contemporary hunters were ignoring the rabbits that they used to stew with red wine and herbes de Provence. “They prefer bigger game these days,” he said. “We need to persuade them to be a bit more assiduous.”

Tags: animals, europe, farming, nomnom