Clipmarks | boniface's clips

Why is marriage a civil right?

Sun, 15 Nov 2009 02:34:47 GMT

clipped by: Lexica
clipper's remarks: More:

This is why refusing communion is not a violation of civil rights - because communion is not a civil contract, it does not confer civil rights or responsibilities, and is therefore not a matter of civil law.

I will say it yet again. Your laws that say same-sex couples can't get married are the same laws that say they can't eat shrimp or cut their beards. Which is fine and well for you, but I'm going to continue to enjoy my crab louie salad bare-faced without even humoring the idea that I need to protect, defend, and preserve your "sanctity of brunch".

Clip Source: tongodeon.livejournal.com

An anonymous poster is asking, perhaps rhetorically, why marriage is considered a civil right. And it's a good question. Why does the state get involved in this sacrament? The state doesn't recognize baptism, or circumcision, or first communion, or any other religious sacrament. Why does marriage get special legal attention?

In the context of civil law marriage is a civil contract, which is why the right to that contract is a civil right. Circumcision doesn't confer shared property rights, first communion doesn't confer hospital visitation, baptism doesn't provide power of attorney. Marriage does, along with a bunch of other well-known civil rights and a few obscure ones. Some religions currently consider marriage a sacrament, but "protecting" religious sacraments with secular laws is as irrelevant as secular cracker-eating laws would be to protect the sanctity of Catholic communion.

Tags: marriage, religion, politics, equality

Student Suspended for Cancer Head Shave

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 06:22:53 GMT

clipped by: thisnamecantbetaken

Clip Source: www.news.com.au

A 15-YEAR-old Brisbane schoolgirl was suspended for shaving her head to raise money for vital cancer research

her father is battling leukemia.

He underwent a bone marrow transplant a few weeks ago but has been given only a few months to live.

Ms Pridham decided to shave her head as part of a fundraiser for cancer research.

"Basically my way of coping is to try and help other people going through the same thing," she said.

Ms Pridham said she has been banned from Mount Alvernia College until her hair grows back.

Barbara Pridham said she supports her daughter's fundraising decision.

"I am just appalled that she could be suspended by a Catholic school that promotes joy, respect and community spirit," she said.

Mount Alvernia College released a statement to Channel Nine News that said Ms Pridham had breached the college's uniform guidelines and had been suspended because of "ongoing issues".

La Paz celebrates Day of the Skulls

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 22:45:49 GMT

clipped by: sahara
clipper's remarks: Earlier this month the Church called on the faithful to stop using human skulls at special mass celebrations. The Archbishop of La Paz, Edmundo Abastoflor, urged followers of the Andean rite to "let them rest in peace".

Some inside the Church even link the practice to the occult.

However, some priests believe they have no other choice than to let people pray Catholic prayers to their skulls, and even allow them to go to church with them.

"I receive them and not as enemies of the Catholic faith," the cemetery's Roman Catholic priest, Father Jaime Fernandez, told the BBC after giving an informal blessing to thousands of skull-carrying devotees at the cemetery's chapel.
"Officially the Catholic Church does not recognise such a thing," Father Fernandez adds. But, let's be honest, in the end, who am I to stop their uncontrollable faith?"

Clip Source: news.bbc.co.uk

The Day of the Skulls has its roots in ancient, pre-Inca rituals for death

In Bolivia, the Day of the Skulls is a colourful collision of ancient ritual with Catholic belief. The BBC's Andres Schipani went to a central La Paz cemetery to find out more.

Oscar Morales kneels down facing two crystal boxes, each containing two beret-wearing human skulls.

"I pray to Saddam [Hussein] and Che [Guevara]," he says. "I have them with me, at my place in a shrine. I give them offerings and they give me their protection. They've never failed me, never, I am their most faithful devotee."

'Ancient death rituals'

The "natitas" - or "flat noses" in the local Aymara indigenous language - are human skulls that are revered by thousands of Catholic indigenous Bolivians who believe they protect them from evil, help them attain goals and even work miracles.

'Confused religious ideas'

Sofia Fernandez says she prays to God at the same time as she prays to Victor

Invested In War

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 12:33:12 GMT

clipped by: sahara
clipper's remarks: n 2004, the first full year after the current Iraq war began, Republican and Democratic lawmakers-both hawks and doves invested between $74.9 million and 161.3 million in companies under contract with the DoD.
No wonder the Democratic congress kept approving the enormous spending bills on the war, since a significant portion of it happens to end up in their deep pockets.
Interestingly, the report also mentioned that members of the senate foreign relations and armed services committees which oversee the Iraq war had between $32 million and $44 million invested in companies with DoD contracts.
The burning questions for many people are the following:

Are there any ethics left in politics?

Could the universe ever exist without wars?

The answer is no, because wars have been a major part of our social make up, in addition they force geostrategic changes, make profits for the elite, and reduce population.

Clip Source: globalresearch.ca

What do war, Congressmen, Senators, and the defense/offense industry have in common? The answer, if you haven’t already guessed is “profits.”

Conflict makes money for the military industrial complex, and the cronies they place in Congress, the Senate, and the White House.

An investigation by Ralph Forbes from American Free press reported on May 05, 2008 that more than a quarter of US senators and congressmen have invested at least $196 million of their own money in companies doing business with the Department of Defense (DoD) that profit from the death and destruction in Iraq

The report also edifies that 151 members of congress invested close to a quarter-billion dollars in companies that received defense contracts of at least $5 million in 2006. These companies got more than 275.6 billion from the government in 2006, or $755 million per day, according to Fedspending.org

contractors yielded Congress members between $15.8 million and $62 million in personal income from 2004 to 2006

"Laughable" Refund to Sweat Lodge Victim's Family

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 02:52:11 GMT

clipped by: wiccantexan

Clip Source: www.cbsnews.com

James Arthur Ray, the new age guru whose Sedona, Ariz. sweat-lodge ceremony may have caused three deaths, sent one victim's family a check for $5,000, about half the participation fee for the event, the family told CNN's Larry King on Monday night.

According to the mother of victim Kirby Brown, the check came in a sympathy card on Oct. 22, two weeks after the Oct. 8 tragedy, along with a note that read, "Please accept this financial assistance. And on the check he (Ray) wrote, 'In honor of Kirby Brown.'"

"It's laughable," Virginia Brown said on Larry King Live. "My daughter paid twice that to go to his event."

Ray has become a self-help superstar by packaging his charismatic personality and the promise of financial wealth through spiritual awakening. He uses free seminars to recruit people to expensive seminars like the Sedona retreat that led to the sweat-lodge tragedy.

Tags: tragedy, spirituality, death, sweat lodge, new age

New Study Demonstrates Significant Harm From Just ONE Mercury-Containing Vaccine

Thu, 22 Oct 2009 12:53:48 GMT

clipped by: brightlight4

Clip Source: articles.mercola.com

New Study Demonstrates Significant Harm From Just ONE Mercury-Containing Vaccine

A new study found that primates that received just ONE vaccination containing thimerosal, the mercury-preservative found in many vaccines including the new swine flu shot, had significant neurological impairment when compared with those who received a saline solution injection or no injection at all.

The finding that early exposure to potentially toxic vaccine formulations can cause significant neurodevelopmental delays in primates has explosive implications for vaccine safety management.

As always with pandemic flus, taxpayers are footing the $1.5 billion check for the 250 million swine flu vaccines that the government has ordered so far and will be distributing free to doctors, pharmacies and schools. In addition, Congress has set aside more than $10 billion this year to research flu viruses, monitor H1N1's progress and educate the public about prevention.

Urgent lawsuit filed against FDA to halt swine flu vaccines; claims FDA violated federal law

Tue, 13 Oct 2009 17:53:11 GMT

clipped by: The Infowarrior
clipper's remarks:

"The vaccine / adjuvant combination being referred to as the "swine flu vaccine" has apparently never been safety tested or approved by the FDA."

Clip Source: www.naturalnews.com

Health freedom attorney Jim Turner is filing a lawsuit in Washington D.C. mid-day Friday in an urgent effort to halt the distribution of the swine flu vaccine in America. On behalf of plaintiffs Dr. Gary Null and other licensed health care workers of New York State, the lawsuit charges that the FDA violated the law in its hasty approval of four swine flu vaccines by failing to scientifically determine neither the safety nor efficacy of the vaccines

"The suit will seek an injunction against the FDA from approving the vaccine," attorney Jim Turner told NaturalNews on Thursday evening's Natural News Talk Hour show. "And the core of the argument is that they have not done the proper safety and efficacy tests on the vaccine to allow it to be release at this time."

The suit seeks to not only nullify the FDA's unlawful "approval" of the four H1N1 influenza vaccines, but to also ask the court to issue an injunction that would halt any mandatory vaccination requirements.

Tags: fda, corporate socialism, swine flu, who, un, rockefeller, vaccine, natural news, health, news

Pittsburgh Police Riot, Attack Students

Mon, 28 Sep 2009 19:43:31 GMT

clipped by: brightlight4

Clip Source: www.alternet.org

Pittsburgh Police Riot, Attack Students

"The only figures breaking any laws on that calm campus were the cops themselves."

[Video]

The video in the window to your right was comes to us from John Ennis. The reader who sent it our way writes:

As you'll see, the students were (a) not numerous, and (b) not really doing much of anything, but sort of hanging out. And yet the cops were suited up for heavy combat (in some galaxy far, far away), and came down hard on.... nothing. They lobbed gas grenades, dragged people off, etc., as if there were a riot going on. But the only figures breaking any laws on that calm campus were the cops themselves.

Flu Vaccine Exposed

Sat, 26 Sep 2009 13:28:11 GMT

clipped by: brightlight4
clipper's remarks: Please read the whole text before drawing a conclusion.

Clip Source: articles.mercola.com

Flu Vaccine Exposed

[Video]

The Flu Vaccine Does Not Prevent the Flu, nor Protect Against the Vast Majority of Flu-Related Deaths

“But the vaccine will prevent the flu, which will prevent the possibility of developing pneumonia,” some might say.

That sounds good in theory, but the statistics simply do not support this assertion.

Because study after study, and master studies that compile the results from several studies to get a more objective result, keep coming to the same conclusion: Flu vaccines DO NOT WORK, and in many cases do more harm than good.

In fact, one shocking statistic brought to light in this video is that BEFORE the CDC advocated vaccinating children under the age of five, the number of children dying from the flu was very low, and on the decline.

Then, in 2003, just after children aged five and under started getting vaccinated, the number of flu deaths SKYROCKETED. The death toll was enormous compared to the previous year, when the flu vaccine was not administered en masse

End, Not Escalate, War in Afghanistan

Tue, 22 Sep 2009 03:20:52 GMT

clipped by: sahara

Clip Source: www.lp.org

Dear Friend of Liberty,

You may have heard today's prominent news stories about President Obama's military commander in Afghanistan, Stanley McChrystal, and his request to greatly increase the presence of U.S. armed forces there.

The Libertarian Party opposes this plan. We want to end the war, not escalate it.

In September 2008, the Libertarian National Committee adopted this resolution:

WHEREAS the government of the United States should return to its historical libertarian tradition of avoiding entangling alliances, foreign quarrels, and military adventures; and

WHEREAS the stability and security of Afghanistan lie outside the jurisdiction of the government of the United States; and

WHEREAS the Libertarian Party recognizes that the only legitimate role of the military is to defend America against direct attack or the imminent threat of attack;

BE IT RESOLVED that the Libertarian National Committee calls on the government of the United States to withdraw

without undue delay.

Tags: war

'Moon rock' given to Holland by Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin is fake

Sun, 30 Aug 2009 18:06:31 GMT

clipped by: brightlight4

Clip Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

'Moon rock' given to Holland by Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin is fake

A moon rock given to the Dutch prime minister by Apollo 11 astronauts in 1969 has turned out to be a fake.

Curators at Amsterdam's Rijksmuseum, where the rock has attracted tens of thousands of visitors each year, discovered that the "lunar rock", valued at £308,000, was in fact petrified wood.

Xandra van Gelder, who oversaw the investigation, said the museum would continue to keep the stone as a curiosity.

"It's a good story, with some questions that are still unanswered," she said. "We can laugh about it."

The rock was given to Willem Drees, a former Dutch leader, during a global tour by Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin following their moon mission 50 years ago.

J. William Middendorf, the former American ambassador to the Netherlands, made the presentation to Mr Drees and the rock was then donated to the Rijksmuseum after his death in 1988.

Nadler: Obama Violating Law By Not Investigating Bush

Fri, 21 Aug 2009 22:36:05 GMT

clipped by: brightlight4

Clip Source: www.commondreams.org

Nadler: Obama Violating Law By Not Investigating Bush

WASHINGTON - Even as the issue of torture appears likely to burst back onto the public agenda next week -- thanks to the much anticipated release of an internal CIA report -- one of the most progressive voices in Congress is arguing that the Obama White House has a legal obligation to investigate the Bush torture legacy.

New York Congressman Jerry Nadler, a senior Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, told the Huffington Post that he believed that President Obama would be breaking the law if he decided to oppose launching investigation into the authorization of torture.

"If they follow the law they have no choice," Nadler said in an interview this past weekend.

Nadler said that a special prosecutor should handle the task, because some of the likely subjects of such an investigation worked in the Justice Department. "There is an inherent conflict interest," said Nadler,"

A Third of Nurses Will Refuse to Have the Swine Flu Jab

Thu, 20 Aug 2009 20:48:48 GMT

clipped by: thisnamecantbetaken
clipper's remarks: At the time of clipping this, the poll at the site asks:

"Will you have the Swine Flu Jab?"

Results;

YES - 19%
NO - 81%

Clip Source: www.dailymail.co.uk

Up to a third of nurses will say no to the swine flu jab because of concerns over its safety, a poll has found.

NHS workers are first in line for the vaccine, but a survey of 1,500 nurses found many will reject it.

Last night a Government scientist condemned the results saying nurses who do not have the jab are putting patients at risk.

Nevertheless the poll, by Nursing Times magazine, will raise questions over the Government's planned mass vaccination programme.

30 per cent would not say yes to the vaccine, while 33 per cent said maybe. Just 37 per cent said they would definitely have the jab.

60 per cent said their main reason was concern about the safety of the vaccine.

One told the magazine: 'I would not be willing to put myself at risk of unknown long-term effects to facilitate a short-term solution.'

Another added: 'I have yet to be convinced there is a genuine health risk and it's not just Government propaganda.'

Eco-Facts

Thu, 20 Aug 2009 00:50:23 GMT

clipped by: thisnamecantbetaken
clipper's remarks: The population grows as much every three days as it did every century, on average, for most of the last one-thousand centuries before the Industrial Revolution.

Worldwatch Institute,1999

Clip Source: www.energyxroads.com

ECO-FACTS

The average American consumes five times more energy than the average global citizen or 10 times more than the typical Chinese.

Today, transportation is the world’s fastest-growing form of energy use, accounting for nearly 30 percent of world energy use and 95 percent of global oil consumption.

If all the cars on US roads had properly inflated tires, it would save an estimated 2 billion gallons of gasoline per year

Indoor lighting use is highest during the hours of 9 to 5, even though the light bulb was invented to help us see in the dark.

11.Today the planet adds 77 million people each year, the equivalent of 10 New York Cities.

Replacing one wasted can requires the energy equivalent to light a 100-watt light bulb for 5 hours or to power the average laptop computer for 11 hours.

Each weekend, about 54 million Americans mow their lawns, using 800 million gallons of gas per year and producing 5% of the nation's air pollution

A single mower puts out more pollution than 73 new cars.

Water quality improves after lawn fertilizer ban, study shows

Tue, 18 Aug 2009 01:43:24 GMT

clipped by: spherepet

Clip Source: www.physorg.com

Water quality improves after lawn fertilizer ban, study shows

August 17th, 2009

Lehman was in an ideal position to assess the effectiveness of the Ann Arbor ordinance because he and undergraduate student Julie Ferris were already studying nutrient levels in the Huron River and two downstream lakes, Ford Lakes and Belleville Lake, for a different research project. Ferris used some of the data from that project in her senior honors thesis, and she and Lehman published a paper on the Ford Lake and Belleville Lake research, but they weren't sure what to do with the rest of the data from the Huron River around Ann Arbor.

"Although the science wasn't difficult, its ramifications in a political sense and in an environmental sense will not be insignificant," Lehman said.

Tags: water quality, improves