Politics | Ain't Complicated

Belarus: Religious Restrictions

There’s official anti-church activity going on in Belarus:

Officials in Grodno [Hrodna] Region of north-western Belarus have moved against three different Protestant communities to try to prevent them from conducting religious activity which each community insists is guaranteed in the country’s Constitution. Forum 18 News Service has learnt that the local authority in the small town of Svisloch has banned an open-air baptism planned for the afternoon of Sunday 3 August. In the nearby town of Mosty a Pentecostal pastor was fined nine months' minimum wages on 9 June for leading a small unregistered church. In the city of Grodno a Baptist pastor faces a second fine for holding worship services without state registration.

Each of the three communities point to Article 31 of Belarus' Constitution, which declares: "Everyone shall have the right independently to determine one's attitude towards religion, to profess any religion individually or jointly with others, or to profess none at all, to express and spread beliefs connected with one's attitude towards religion, and to participate in the performance of acts of worship and religious rituals and rites, which are not prohibited by the law."

[…]

Belarus maintains tight restrictions on all religious activity. In defiance of international human rights standards, it is the only country in Europe requiring religious organisations to gain state registration before they engage in religious activity. Article 25 of the Religion Law, as well the Law on Mass Events, require that permission for religious events in places not designated for religious worship be obtained in advance from local executive committees. Only registered religious organisations are eligible to ask for such permission. Organisers of and participants in such religious events without official permission risk punishment.

PA Hate Crimes Law

Good news!

Pennsylvania Supreme Court Rules against Homosexual ‘Hate Crimes’ Law

Former Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore and attorneys with the Foundation for Moral Law applauded the Pennsylvania Supreme Court for its ruling yesterday in Marcavage v. Rendell affirming that the state legislature violated the Pennsylvania Constitution when it added “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” to Pennsylvania’s “ethnic intimidation” law (18 Pa. C.S. § 2710) in 2002.

The Foundation, along with attorney Aaron D. Martin, represented Christian evangelists Michael Marcavage, Mark Diener, Randall and Linda Beckman, Susan Startzell, Arlene Elshinnawy, and Nancy Major, who in 2004 were arrested and charged under the “ethnic intimidation” law for evangelizing at a Philadelphia homosexual parade. The Christian evangelists sued and the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania agreed that the law was unconstitutional and struck it down. On appeal the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, in a short per curiam order, agreed with the Commonwealth Court’s opinion and the Christian evangelists’ appellate brief filed by the Foundation.

Judge Roy Moore remarked on this historic case: “We are very happy that the Pennsylvania Supreme Court has ruled in our favor to stop the Governor and a group of corrupt politicians from sneaking a ‘hate crimes’ bill through the Pennsylvania legislature. Preaching to homosexuals about the sin of sodomy should not be made a ‘thought crime’ in Pennsylvania or any other state.”

But eventually things will change back in favor of homosexuals. Such are the times we live in and the times that are yet to come.

When the law of the land finally codifies such statements as hate crimes, what will Christians do?

Of Aliens and Stuff

OK, first off, in the Strange Little People Department we have this:

Former NASA astronaut and moon-walker Dr Edgar Mitchell – a veteran of the Apollo 14 mission…says extra-terrestrials have visited Earth on several occasions – but the alien contact has been repeatedly covered up by governments for six decades.

Dr Mitchell, 77, said during a radio interview that sources at the space agency who had had contact with aliens described the beings as ‘little people who look strange to us.’

[…]

“I’ve been in military and intelligence circles, who know that beneath the surface of what has been public knowledge, yes – we have been visited. Reading the papers recently, it’s been happening quite a bit.”

Dr Mitchell, who has a Bachelor of Science degree in aeronautical engineering and a Doctor of Science degree in Aeronautics and Astronautics claimed Roswell was real and similar alien visits continue to be investigated.

For the record, I tend to believe non-human alien beings have visited planet Earth. And continue among us. 😯 Just not the sort of ET aliens that Mr. Mitchell describes.

Did these aliens get turned around by about 90 degrees to the West and jump in the wrong body of water?

Federal officials said they netted 43 illegal aliens in an immigration raid on O`ahu.

[…]

The 43 men were all citizens of Mexico.

Were? Did they die or otherwise give up their Mexican citizenship? Oh, I know: As a reward for their record-breaking swim, they were awarded honorary US citizenship. 🙄

Once upon a time, in the United States of America, this wouldn’t have been alien at all:

Elective Bible courses in Texas high schools received the blessing of the State Board of Education on Friday, but local school officials will have to figure out how to design those classes so they don’t violate religious-freedom protections.

[…]

Attorney General Greg Abbott has told the board that although the state standards for the Bible class appear to be in compliance with the First Amendment, his office can’t guarantee that the courses taught in high schools will be constitutional because they haven’t been reviewed.

Critics contend that the standards – based on old guidelines for independent studies in English and social studies – are so vague and general that many schools might unknowingly create unconstitutional Bible classes that either promote the religious views of teachers or disparage the religious beliefs of some students.

Earlier this year, the Ector County school board agreed to quit using a Bible course curriculum at two high schools in Odessa that the American Civil Liberties Union said promoted Protestant religious beliefs not shared by Jews, Catholics, Orthodox Christians and many Protestants.

[…]

The course is supposed to be geared to academic, nondevotional study of the Bible, and cover such things as the influence of the New Testament on law, literature, history and culture.

That’s a good step. I think. I hope.

Don’t Do It!

Somebody needed to be there to say that to the woman who killed herself today. As I recall the radio news story, she committed suicide because her house was headed for foreclosure. Next time you think “ending it” is better than dealing with life, don’t do it. (Where were her family and friends in her anguish?!)

And somebody needed to be there to say it to the person who broke the guy’s ankles along the freeway. Turns out the victim was changing a flat tire when the other character came along and drove over the lower part of his legs. And kept on going. Next time you’re tempted to leave the scene of an accident or otherwise dodge personal responsibility, don’t do it.

Former Cuban leader Fidel Castro on Wednesday said Cuba does not have to explain or “ask forgiveness” about a report out of Russia this week that Russia might use its Cold War ally Cuba as a refueling base for nuclear-capable bombers. My advice: Don’t do it.

If John McCain is considering removing the threat of my write-in candidacy for President of the United States by selecting me as his VP running mate, I say: Don’t do it.

The King’s in Town!

King of Jordan visits Central Oregon

Central Oregon is abuzz over news of a bona fide blue blood in their midst.

King Abdullah Hussein of Jordan arrived in Bend this week to embark on a motorcycle trip through the Pacific Northwest with his family….

OK, I want to know why I wasn’t informed.

I know people in Central Oregon. Your assignment is to get me a photo or two of the king and/or one of his family.

Don’t let me down!

PS to the monarch: I plan to be in Madras this weekend. See you there!

PS to srs: I know you read this once in a while. I know you go on motorcycle trips once in a while. I know you go to that part of Oregon once in a while. Now’s the time for you to do the right thing (see Assignment, Previous).

Christ, a Hostage?

Something’s weird here, in my estimation:

A student at the University of Central Florida says he’s now getting death threats after he stole and later returned a wafer representing the “Body of Christ” from a Catholic Mass in Orlando.

The student senator, Webster Cook, originally claimed he merely wanted to show the Eucharist to a friend who had questions about Catholicism before consuming the host.

Cook, who was raised Catholic, said he decided to bring the wafer home June 29 after a church leader tried to physically pry it from his hand. Cook broke Church rules by failing to consume it immediately during Communion and then removing it from his mouth once seated.

The wafer was kept in a Ziploc bag until Cook returned it days later along with an e-mail stating, “I am returning the Eucharist to you in response to the e-mails I have received from Catholics in the UCF community. I still want the community to understand that the use physical force is wrong, especially when based on assumptions. However, I feel it is unnecessary to cause pain for those who are not at fault in this situation.”

Cook has reportedly been getting death threats, prompting his friend, who wants to remain nameless, to discuss the situation with local media.

“I was kind of confused because I always thought that Jesus was a pacifist, and they’re using violence in order to get back the body of a pacifist,” he told WOFL-TV.

Catholic League president Bill Donohue commented on the case, stating:

“For a student to disrupt Mass by taking the Body of Christ hostage – regardless of the alleged nature of his grievance – is beyond hate speech. That is why the UCF administration needs to act swiftly and decisively in seeing that justice is done. All options should be on the table, including expulsion.”

Is this on a par with “desecrating” the Koran?

Or cartooning Mohammed?

And does The Nameless Friend have a valid point on the violence angle?

And what about Bill Donohue — does he have a good point also?

PS: I reject the doctrine of transubstantiation.

WWW: Wild Wild Web

I use the Internet.

I depend on the Internet.

But I’m very wary of it. Or if not of it, of the way it can be used and is used by people (as individuals, as corporations, as governments, as other people groupings).

So three headlines caught my attention earlier this morning:

Congress studies how people track your online use

Executives from major Internet players — Microsoft Corp., Google Inc. and Facebook Inc. — are due for a grilling about online privacy in a Senate committee Wednesday, but the company likely to get the most scrutiny is a small Silicon Valley startup called NebuAd Inc.

NebuAd has drawn fierce criticism from privacy advocates in recent weeks for working with Internet service providers to track the online behavior of their customers and then serve up targeted banner ads based on that behavior.

[…]

“This is analogous to AT&T listening to your phone calls all day in order to figure out what to sell you in the middle of dinner,” said Robert Topolski, a technology consultant to Public Knowledge and Free Press, two other public interest groups that have raised concerns about NebuAd.

[…]

Besides NebuAd, Wednesday’s hearing in the Senate Commerce Committee may also examine Facebook’s “Beacon” monitoring tool, which tracked online purchases made by Facebook members and sent alerts to their friends on the site.

For the record: Congressional hearings don’t rank highly with me either. 🙂

Anyway, I’ll say it again: Trusting the Web to maintain privacy requires the willing suspension of disbelief.

OK, on to Story Number Two:

Internet flaw could let hackers take over the Web

Computer industry heavyweights are hustling to fix a flaw in the foundation of the Internet that would let hackers control traffic on the World Wide Web.

Major software and hardware makers worked in secret for months to create a software “patch” released on Tuesday to repair the problem, which is in the way computers are routed to web page addresses.

“It’s a very fundamental issue with how the entire addressing scheme of the Internet works,” Securosis analyst Rich Mogul said in a media conference call.

“You’d have the Internet, but it wouldn’t be the Internet you expect. (Hackers) would control everything.”

The flaw would be a boon for “phishing” cons that involve leading people to imitation web pages of businesses such as bank or credit card companies to trick them into disclosing account numbers, passwords and other information.

Attackers could use the vulnerability to route Internet users wherever they wanted no matter what website address is typed into a web browser.

[…]

On Tuesday the US Computer Emergency Readiness Team (CERT), a joint government-private sector security partnership, issued a warning to underscore the serious of so-called DNS “cache poisoning attacks” the vulnerability could allow.

[…]

“Consequently, web traffic, email, and other important network data can be redirected to systems under the attacker’s control.”

[…]

Automated updating should protect most personal computers. Microsoft released the fix in a software update package Tuesday.

[…]

Hackers using the vulnerability to attack company computer networks would also be able to capture email and other business data.

And “they” want me to trust the Internet for data storage and data back-up?! Ha!

And “they” think I’m paranoid for warning even about plain ole email communications?! Hmph!

And “they” still think I’m a TechnoPetriefied Kook. Fine. Here’s Story Number Three:

Google ventures into virtual reality with ‘Lively’

…Google Inc. hopes to orchestrate more fantasizing on the Web.

[…]

Google thinks Lively will encourage even more people to dive into alternate realities….

The Lively application already works on Facebook, one of the Web’s hottest hangouts, and Google is working on a version suitable for an even larger online social network, News Corp.’s MySpace.

[…]

Lively’s users will be able to sculpt an avatar that can be male, female or even a different species. An avatar can assume a new identity, change clothes or convey emotions with a few clicks of the mouse.

The service also enables users to create different digital dimensions to roam, from a coffeehouse to an exotic island. The settings can be decorated with a wide variety of furniture, including large-screen televisions that can be set up to play different clips from YouTube.com, Google’s video-sharing service.

Lively users can then invite their friends and family into their virtual realities, where they can chat, hug, cry, laugh and interact as if they were characters in a video game.

As a precaution, Google is requiring Lively’s users to be at least 13 years old — a constraint that hasn’t been enough to prevent young children from running into trouble on other social spots on the Web.

“As a precaution…” — oh, please!

Anyway, Lively is further good news for those wishing to exploit and expand the depravity of man. Stay away from it!

OK, now you may virtually stick your virtual head back in the virtual sand.