Revealed: The amazing pictures of Britain in colour for the very first time
WWI colour photography in Britain
Revealed: The amazing pictures of Britain in colour for the very first time
Archive > April 2008
Trevor Blake: Islam in Australia
Natalie O’Brien: Hilali tells Christian women to wear veils. “Outspoken Muslim cleric Taj al-Din al-Hilali says the Bible ‘mandates’ the wearing of the veil by Christian women. Writing in a new book, Sheik Hilali, who lost his job as mufti of Australia after comparing scantily clad women to uncovered meat, argues that the Bible and the Koran make similar demands of a woman’s modesty.”
Sian Powell: Honour killing’s Aussie link. “Mortally wounded and bleeding profusely, Pela Atroshi covered her head with her hands, pleading ‘please don’t shoot me, please don’t shoot me’. As her sister and her mother screamed, her uncle Rezkar Atroshi raised his gun and killed her. The family’s honour had been cleansed. Rezkar had already shot Pela twice in the back in the upstairs room. Helped downstairs by her mother and her younger sister, the 19-year-old Kurdish Swede was confronted by four resolute men – her father and his three brothers. The men pulled the women apart. Her youngest uncle then finished the job, shooting Pela in the head. The bullet went through one of her fingers and into her brain. The decision to kill her was made by a council of male relatives, led by Pela’s grandfather, Abdulmajid Atroshi – a Kurd who lived in Australia.”
[Articles continue at link. Credit to Dhimmi Watch for links. Islam could be a welcome neighbor to the West, should it secularize as Christianity has. Until such time, I find it a bully and a bore. Individual Muslims are always to be judged as individuals. The religion as a whole is loathesome. - Trevor Blake]
Insects Use Plants Like A Telephone
Subterranean insects emit chemical signals via the leaves of the plant, which warn the aboveground insects about their presence.
Photo: Ancient Praying Mantis Found in Amber
A praying mantis trapped in amber that was found in Japan in January 2008 dates back 87 million years, to the late Cretaceous period.
AP: Divorce, unwed parenting costs billions
Divorce and out-of-wedlock childbearing cost U.S. taxpayers more than $112 billion a year, according to a study commissioned by four groups advocating more government action to bolster marriages. Sponsors say the study is the first of its kind and hope it will prompt lawmakers to invest more money in programs aimed at strengthening marriages.
[Article continues at link. Full state and federal recognition of same-sex marriages would increase the number of families. Full state and federal support for same-sex couples to adopt would increase the number of families. Science-based sex education would decrease the number of unwanted pregnancies. Increased access to contraception and abortion and sterilization would decrease the number of unwanted pregnancies. I'm not all that smart or educated, but I'm quite sure the above four-point plan would work very well and cost very little. - Trevor Blake]
Gemma O'Doherty: "Why I'd let my daughter die before allowing her to have a blood transfusion"
Rebecca Whelan adores her 13-month-old baby daughter Reese – but she would let her die before giving permission for her to have a blood transfusion. “One day when she’s older she might look at me and ask ‘would you have done that to me?’ I would have to tell her yes. If she chooses not to take up my beliefs and is upset with me for that, it would be very sad – but I have to stand by my faith.” [...]
“In our religion, we have very clear standards about blood, which God asks us to abstain from using. In Scripture, blood is described as a very sacred thing that should not be shared. Even if I was told by doctors that my refusal to take it would result in death, it would still not be an option for me. I would stick to that belief even if they told me Reese’s life was in jeopardy.” [...]
“To us, it is about nothing more than being loyal to God. It is not an emotional decision. If the crunch came and my child ended up dying because she needed a blood transfusion, at least I would feel I had done everything according to my faith. I am also reassured that I would see her again.”
[Article continues at link. If I were to have a child, then give an interview in the newspaper that I was willing to cause them to die through neglect as part of my service to Battlecat, I am quite sure that the law and society would be against me. Battlecat is an imaginary being. Only religion makes child sacrifice socially acceptable. But not just any religion. I couldn't get away with causing my child to die through neglect as part of my service to Geb the Great Cackler. Geb is a real God, just like all the other real Gods. But no one worships Geb any more. To get away with child sacrifice I would have to cause them to die through neglect as part of my service to a contemporary superstition. That gods aren't real doesn't matter. That today's gods are just as imaginary as the thousands and thousands of yesterday's gods doesn't matter. But heavens above, if I cause a child to die through neglect as part of my service to a contemporary imaginary invisible monster that lives in the sky - that's a private affair. It just barely matters that the lovely young mother shown above doesn't even have her own superstition right. Sometimes the Jehovah's Witnesses forbid blood transfusions (Watchtower 1961 Sept 15; 1964 Feb 15) and sometimes they don't (Watchtower 1964 Nov 15; 2000 June 15). Why would this woman pick the superstition that kills her child over the superstition that lets her child live? Maybe because her religion demands child sacrifice (Genesis 22:2; Exodus 22:29-30; Leviticus 27:28-29; Numbers 31:25-29; Deuteronomy 28:53-62; Judges 11:29-40; 2 Samuel 21:1,8-9, 14; 1 Kings 13:2; 2 Kings 23:20; Ezekiel 20:25-26; Mark 5:18-19; Luke 16:17). Maybe because religion softens minds and hardens hearts. As always, I advocate a reasoned critique of religion seasoned with scorn and contempt as the most peaceful and effective means to help children survive their religious parents. - Trevor Blake]
Food Crisis Starts Eclipsing Climate Change Worries | The New York Sun
The campaign against climate change could be set back by the global food crisis, as foreign populations turn against measures to use foodstuffs as substitutes for fossil fuels.
Food Crisis Starts Eclipsing Climate Change Worries | The New York Sun
Jihad Watch: I am fictional!
we need to exhort Muslims in the West to focus their indignation on Muslims committing violent acts in the name of Islam, not on non-Muslims reporting on those acts.
Expedition One Ship's Logs
What happens on the ISS
the beauty of difference | MetaFilter
Positive Exposure is a beautiful photographic portrayal of people with genetic disorders.
Video "Avramandole" de "Staff Benda Bilili". Chorégraphie de V12 – rdc, drc, congo, zaire, mapuka – Dailymotion Share Your Videos
V12 le chorégraphe handicapé de Kinshasa danse sur Avramandole de “Staff Benda Bilili”, le groupe de musiciens poliomélytes. [AUS DER KRANKHEIT EINNE SPIELEWAFFE MACHEN.]
Evil Bunny
WHY RE YOU WEARING THAT STUPID MAN SUIT?
Titan the Robot with Basement Jaxx at V Festival 2007
I might have done something different.
Klaus Harmony | The Mozart of Porn
Born in Baden in 1941, Klaus Harmony was the foremost German composer of erotik film scores in the 1970’s, crafting music for over nine classic movies in just thirteen years.
