Clipmarks | zizzy's clips

You Should Know About This Guy: Scott Lively, Anti-Gay Crusader for The Family

Thu, 10 Dec 2009 05:17:36 GMT

clipped by: zizzy
clipper's remarks: "Masculine Christianity" is a tenet of The Fellowship Foundation (ak.k. The Family).

Lively on homosexuality: “In reality, homosexuality is nothing more than same-gender conduct among people who are innately and unchangeably heterosexual. Homosexuality is thus biologically (and to varying degrees morally) equivalent to pedophilia, sado-masochism, bestiality and many other forms of deviant behavior.”

Clip Source: www.publiceye.org

Lively is available for speaking engagements concerning the topics he has written about: in the need for a “masculine Christianity” to counteract what he refers to as the “emasculation of the American church;” the dangers poised to the family by international treaties; and the common origins homosexuality allegedly shares with abortion and pornography.

Lively, along with Kevin Abrams is the author of The Pink Swastika, first published in 1996, which argued that homosexuals were a driving force behind the rise of the Nazi Party.

Lively has more insidious connections to Eastern Europe for his role in founding Watchmen on the Walls

in Latvia, the Watchmen are popular among Christian fundamentalists and ethnic Russians, and are known for presiding over anti-gay rallies where gays and lesbians are pelted with bags of excrement

Members are increasingly active in several cities long known as gay-friendly enclaves, including Sacramento, Seattle and Portland

Tags: fellowship foundation, tthe family, family defense council, watchmen of the walls, u.s. christian right, uganda, scott lively, kevin abrams, doug coe

Uganda’s Family Life Network Anti-Gay Conference March 2009

Wed, 09 Dec 2009 14:03:16 GMT

clipped by: zizzy

Clip Source: www.publiceye.org

Young Man reflecting on what he learned from Scott Lively's Anti-gay Seminar

[Video]

Family Life Network Director Stephen Langa presenting during the strategic meeting to combat Homosexuality in Uganda

[Video]

Stephen Langa giving the history of the homosexual agenda as presented by Scott Lively

[Video]

Family Life Network Director Stephen Langa claiming homosexuals have a powerful machinery

[Video]

A representative from Uganda Parliament speaking at the Family Life Network anti-gay meeting in Uganda

[Video]

A police Officer speaking at the Anti-gay conference

[Video]

Ugandan pastor advocates arrest of LGBT people

[Video]

Tags: christian right, uganda, homosexuality, human rights, genocide

Globalizing the Culture Wars: U.S. Conservatives, African Churches and Homophobia

Wed, 09 Dec 2009 14:01:45 GMT

clipped by: zizzy
clipper's remarks:

This report reveals the truth about what is going on and should be required reading for American church leaders," said Jim Winkler, the general secretary of the international public policy and social justice agency of The United Methodist Church.

Full report and Executive Summary (PDF) @ clip source.

Although written primarily for a U.S. audience, Globalizing the Culture Wars is certain to cause a stir in English-speaking Africa, where conservative U.S. evangelicals have for too long escaped the close scrutiny of African social justice activists and movements.

Project Director Kapya Kaoma is an Anglican priest from Zambia now leading churches in the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts. A doctoral candidate at Boston University School of Theology, he has studied in evangelical schools in Zambia and the United Kingdom. ... An active campaigner for women’s reproductive rights, Kaoma is a passionate activist for social witness in the world.

Clip Source: www.publiceye.org

Globalizing the Culture Wars: U.S. Conservatives, African Churches, and Homophobia, a new report by the Rev. Kapya Kaoma, PRA Project Director, exposes the U.S. Right’s promotion of an agenda in Africa that aims to criminalize homosexuality and otherwise infringe upon the human rights of LGBT people while also mobilizing African clerics in U.S. culture war battles. U.S. social conservatives, who are in the minority in mainline churches, depend on African religious leaders to legitimize their positions as their growing numbers makes African Christians more influential globally.

These partnerships have succeeded in slowing the mainline Protestant churches' recognition of the full equality of LGBT people, in part due to liberals’ sensitivity to the charge of colonialism

the U.S. Right – once isolated in Africa for supporting pro-apartheid, White supremacist regimes – has successfully reinvented itself as the mainstream of U.S. evangelicalism

the Right’s proxy wars on Africa itself

Tags: kapya kaoma, culture wars, u.s. christian right, homosexuality, genocide

Uganda Anti Gay Bill

Wed, 09 Dec 2009 13:39:32 GMT

clipped by: zizzy
clipper's remarks: This bill is what the Defense of Marriage act would be if the U.S. Christian Right really got its way.

This Bill aims at strengthening the nation’s capacity to deal with emerging internal and external threats to the traditional heterosexual family.

A person who purports to contract a marriage with another person of the same sex commits the offence of homosexuality and shall be liable on conviction to imprisonment for life.

Definitions of “sexual orientation”, “sexual rights”, “sexual minorities”, “gender identity” shall not be used in anyway to legitimize homosexuality, gender identity disorders and related practices in Uganda.

read this craziness in full @ clip source

Clip Source: www.publiceye.org

HON DAVID BAHATI,

Member of Parliament, Ndorwa County West Kabale.

PART ll-PROHIBITION OF HOMOSEXUALITY.

2. The offence of homosexuality

3. Aggravated homosexuality.

4. Attempt to commit homosexuality.

PART Ill — RELATED OFFENCES AND PENALTIES.

7. Aiding and abating homosexuality.

8. Conspiracy to engage in homosexuality.

14. Failure to disclose the offence.

An Act to prohibit any form of sexual relations between persons of the same sex; prohibit the promotion or recognition of such relations and to provide for other related matters.

“bisexual” means a person who is sexually attracted to both males and females;

“Minister’” means the Minister responsible for ethics and integrity;

“touching” includes touching—

(a) with any part of the body;

(b) with anything else;

(2) A person who commits the offence of aggravated homosexuality shall be liable on conviction to suffer death.

Tags: human rights, homosexuality, christian right, evangelicals, genocide

Obama ends Bush-era National Prayer Day service at White House

Wed, 09 Dec 2009 12:49:33 GMT

clipped by: zizzy
clipper's remarks:

Non-believers took heart at Obama's decision but urged him to go further.

"It's not his job to tell people to pray," David Silverman, national spokesman for the organization American Atheists, told CNN. "We are very happy he did away with the George W. Bush-era celebrations and party, but we wish he wouldn't do it at all."

Clip Source: latimesblogs.latimes.com

May 7, 2009

For years, it's been a staple of the White House calendar.

On the first Thursday of May, dedicated as the National Day of Prayer, President George W. Bush hosted an ecumenical service in the East Room, a big public endorsement of evangelical Christians. (This event is different from the National Prayer Breakfast, held outside the White House gates every year on the first Thursday of February.)

President Obama opted not to have a service in the White House this year.

"Prayer is something that the president does every day," explained White House press secretary Robert Gibbs, adding that Obama will sign a proclamation to recognize the day. "I think the president understands, in his own life and in his family's life, the role that prayer plays."

President Truman signed the first National Prayer Day proclamation, and President Reagan made it a permanent occasion. Under Bush, the day was a political event, confirming a conviction that religion was a core tenet of Republican politics.

[Video]

Tags: freedom from religion, separation of church and state, barack orbama

Pastor Rick Warren's Connection to Antigay Ugandan Legislation

Wed, 09 Dec 2009 10:55:29 GMT

clipped by: zizzy
clipper's remarks: So, this "man of God," is content to play politics as the genocide of Ugandan homosexuals is being planned. Protect the fetus, but kill the adult if it's homosexual. Oh, Prince of Peace ...

Clip Source: blog.newsweek.com

Rick Warren

on the defensive again, this time for his affiliation with Martin Ssempa, a Ugandan pastor who has endorsed proposed legislation in Uganda that makes certain homosexual acts punishable by life in prison or even, in some cases, death. Ssempa has made appearances at Saddleback and has been embraced warmly by Warren and his wife, Kay

Warren won't go so far as to condemn the legislation itself. A request for a broader reaction to the proposed Ugandan antihomosexual laws generated this response: "The fundamental dignity of every person, our right to be free, and the freedom to make moral choices are gifts endowed by God, our creator. However, it is not my personal calling as a pastor in America to comment or interfere in the political process of other nations

As a pastor, my job is to encourage, to support. I never take sides

Warren did say he believed that abortion was "a holocaust."

He knows as well as anyone that in a case of great wrong, taking sides is an important thing to do.

Tags: rick warren, christianity, homosexuality, politics, uga

"Poca-Hotness"

Tue, 08 Dec 2009 07:33:20 GMT

clipped by: zizzy
clipper's remarks: Images @ clip source.

Clip Source: contexts.org

Pocahontas was not a sexy Indian princess, she was kidnapped (and possibly turned into a sex slave) at the age of 17. After converting to Christianity while in captivity, she married an English man (John Rolfe, not Smith). She died at 22.

No matter. Coed Magazine sees nothing but sexy potential in the story. Ryan sent in this slide show of a series of mostly naked women posing as Pocahontas to celebrate Thanksgiving. Thanks?

Tags: us history colonialism, mythology, native americans, pop culture, memory, living iin america

MAD AS HELL

Sat, 05 Dec 2009 21:16:11 GMT

clipped by: chestnut501

Clip Source: mariopiperni.com

Facebook rant by Russell Wiseman, a Tennessee mayor.

“Ok, so, this is total crap, we sit the kids down to watch ‘The Charlie Brown Christmas Special’ and our muslim president is there, what a load…..try to convince me that wasn’t done on purpose. Ask the man if he believes that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and he will give you a 10 minute disertation (sic) about it….w…hen the answer should simply be ‘yes’….”

“…you obama people need to move to a muslim country…oh wait, that’s America…pitiful…you know, our forefathers had it written in the original Constitution that ONLY property owners could vote, if that has stayed in there, things would be different…”

How upset was Wiseman by his “muslim president” taking over the airwaves Tuesday night to deliver his Afghanistan speech

Well, let me tell you that it was not pretty. Apparently Wiseman donned a raincoat, marched over to the local teevee station where he took over the evening news broadcast booth to deliver a second rant.

Clip Source: www.youtube.com

[Video]

Twilight Saga New Moon: We've Seen It Before

Thu, 03 Dec 2009 05:23:32 GMT

clipped by: zizzy
clipper's remarks:

If anything, the title itself adds an ironic twist to a tale that spirals into a stereotypical narrative to which we are all well-conditioned by now, both in films and other more readily-available media in our every day lives

Clip Source: www.racialicious.com

Have you ever heard something along the lines of “dating someone who is [insert ethnic/racial group] ok, but you’d better not marry one!” or “Native Americans are so in touch with nature!”?

Have you ever seen a film or tv show that relegated the person of color as the trusty sidekick, loyal friend, or temporary romantic plaything, only then to have the white hero enter in medias res and get all the praise and attention?

Have you ever seen a piece from an ad campaign or historical policy discussions in which non-white people are portrayed as animalistic, in both their behavior, thought processes, and athletic ability?

Have you, as a person of color, or if you are not, any of your POC friends, ever complained of feeling that their societal value was reduced to their physical appearance or a specific body part?

If you answered “yes” to any of the above, you have already seen New Moon. Continue Reading »

Tags: book, films, hollywood, stereotypes, mormon writers, stephenie meyer

Reign of Sand: Inner Mongola

Thu, 03 Dec 2009 03:52:14 GMT

clipped by: zizzy

Clip Source: www.circleofblue.org

Multimedia:

Grass to Dust: Interactive Map

Image Gallery: Desert's Will

Articles:

Way of Life Turns to Dust

A Track to Modern Nomads

Blackwater

Drinking Milk Tea

Videos:

Blackwater		Reign of Sand

Looking Out on My Homeland		Desert Overtaking Inner Mongolia

Useful links:

U.S. Embassy Report, Grapes of Wrath in Inner Mongolia, May 2001

United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification

World Bank Study, Cost of Pollution in China, June 2007

Earth Policy Institute, China Losing War With Advancing Deserts, August 2003

Worldwatch Institute, Grass Farming: A Solution for Inner Mongolia's Expanding Deserts?, May 2006

Yale University, Transforming a 'Sea of Grass', April 2006

Southern Mongolia Human Rights Information Center

Desertification

Echoing Steppe

Nomad Family

Desertification and Environmental Health Trends in China

Environmental Health and Water Degradation in China

Reaching Across the Water: Sustainable River Basin Governance in China

Tags: desertification, china, mongola, circle of blue

Time Is A Man

Thu, 03 Dec 2009 02:42:30 GMT

clipped by: zizzy
clipper's remarks: more @ clip source

Clip Source: www.corpse.org

The last fortune cookie I got in a restaurant said, “You Will Know the Future In Time,” which I always suspected, and the Truth is that Time will make truth irrelevant because by the time you find it you won’t have any feelings about it. About truth, I mean. Time is truth and there is no truth in time, as John Keats never said, but time-keeper is the best job you can have. This is my job, I’m a watch with feelings.

the poet who’s so in the avantgarde herm will never have to write anything. Me, I use a mix: I’m so in the avantgarde I date all my letters 2010 already, and sometimes even 2011 and 2012. I just don’t e-mail them. So in time you’ll find a stash of my letters dated in the future that will be well past by the time you find them, and they’ll say things like, “I told you so,” and “If you say that again it will be a quote.” Happy New Year

Tags: andrea codrescu, exuisite corpse, time, poetry, prose, fortune cookies, truth

Understanding Chinese, birds and Glaswegians

Wed, 02 Dec 2009 22:19:46 GMT

clipped by: zizzy
clipper's remarks: From PRI (Public Radio International). Download or listen online.

Clip Source: www.theworld.org

We select our top five language-related stories from the past month. Among them: Some birds develop distinct dialects based on the decibel levels of their habitats; Companies doing business in Glasgow are offered interpreters to translate the local dialect; And Chinese expats do battle over which script U.S. schools should use to teach Chinese – traditional characters, favored in Taiwan and Hong Kong, or simplified characters, used in mainland China.

Download MP3

Tags: language, china, us, birds

Would You Eat Meat Grown in a Lab?

Wed, 02 Dec 2009 20:16:12 GMT

clipped by: zizzy
clipper's remarks:

The result was sticky muscle tissue that requires exercise, like human muscles, to turn it into a tougher steak-like consistency.

Clip Source: www.timesonline.co.uk

SCIENTISTS have grown meat in the laboratory for the first time. Experts in Holland used cells from a live pig to replicate growth in a petri dish.

The advent of so-called “in-vitro” or cultured meat could reduce the billions of tons of greenhouse gases emitted each year by farm animals — if people are willing to eat it.

So far the scientists have not tasted it, but they believe the breakthrough could lead to sausages and other processed products being made from laboratory meat in as little as five years’ time.

They initially extracted cells from the muscle of a live pig. Called myoblasts, these cells are programmed to grow into muscle and repair damage in animals.

The cells were then incubated in a solution containing nutrients to encourage them to multiply indefinitely. This nutritious “broth” is derived from the blood products of animal foetuses, although the intention is to come up with a synthetic solution.

Tags: food, health, carnivour, science, the joy of cooking?

Development: Hunger Summit's Failure to Expose Grim Reality

Wed, 02 Dec 2009 07:48:24 GMT

clipped by: zizzy
clipper's remarks:

Diouf was not suggesting rich countries shell out 44 billion in fresh cash - much of the money could simply come by diverting already-assigned resources to increase agriculture’s share of ODA from the current level of around five percent to about 18-19 percent.

But the FAO does not have any battleships or financial sanctions to use to coerce nations into taking action. Before the summit Diouf said that the FAO budget does not permit it to do much alone about such a huge problem, pointing out that individual states, the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the regional development banks are the ones with the serious money.

Furthermore, a large portion of the hunger problem is related to unfair international trade conditions - caused in part by First World support of domestic agriculture - where the FAO has no role. It is up to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) to engineer a deal to iron out these distortions.

Clip Source: www.ipsnews.net

At best it reflects the limits of the U.N. and its flagship body in the fight against hunger, the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), activists say.

At worst, they say it shows wealthy countries’ leaders lack the political will to really to put their backs into solving a problem that - no matter how unjust and scandalous, in a world with more than enough to feed everyone - generally does not directly affect the voters who put them into office.

Either way it is probably bad news for the 1.02 billion people, almost one sixth of the global population, who go to bed every night with empty stomachs.

Eliminating hunger from the face of Earth requires 44 billion dollars of official development assistance (ODA) per year to be invested in infrastructure, technology and modern inputs,

a small amount if we consider the 365 billion dollars of agriculture producer support in OECD countries in 2007

consider the 1,340 billion dollars of military expenditures by the world in the same yea

Tags: world hunger, development food and agriculture organisation, world trade organizations, united nations, failure, 1.02 billion hungry people

China: Postscript to Obama Visit: When Bejing Blinked

Wed, 02 Dec 2009 07:27:28 GMT

clipped by: zizzy
clipper's remarks:

Advocating the G2 is in fact an American strategy, not China’s" said Shi Yinhong, an expert on international relations at Renmin University in Beijing. "The U.S. wants us in a tandem because that way it will be easier to work on all financial and security issues the way they want us to."

Clip Source: www.ipsnews.net

"We must be crystal-clear that the United States still is and will remain for some time the only superpower in the world. Its supremacy in military, technological and any other area of importance is unrivalled," said an editorial in the ‘China Business News’ this week. "Those who profess America’s decline are being too rushed."

Some experts see the rise of the European Union as the only viable threat to U.S. supremacy, and caution that all advances to China made by the U.S. are based on the premises of reluctance to cede international leadership to the EU.

The last 10 years have been all about U.S. efforts to preserve the dollar’s status as a global currency from the challenges posed by the euro," said Wang Jian, a well-known expert with China Society of Macroeconomics, in an opinion article published by the same paper. "Washington’s international strategy has been to ‘stir trouble in Europe while keeping Asia stable’

Tags: us foreign policy, china, economics, asia, global currency, european union