A survey by the Southern Baptist Convention shows that 73% of Protestant pastors reject the concept of evolution — even when asked if they believe God used evolution to create humans. Forty-six percent maintained that the Earth is only roughly 6000 years old despite tests showing rocks that are millions of years old.
Continue reading “Two-Thirds of Polled Pastors Reject Evolution”
A conference on “Innovations in Gynecology/Obstetrics and Halacha [Jewish law]” will be held this week to discuss such things as “how to choose a suitable contraceptive pill” but women will be barred as speakers. Bowing to ultra-Orthodox Jewish leaders in Israel, the Puah Institute has barred female speakers and ordered that women are to be segregated in female-only areas. With the ongoing protests over the mistreatment of women and girls by Orthodox Jews in some areas, the conference only magnifies the tensions in the country.
If you felt Bob Ross simply took too long on those paintings, you might want to check this guy out.
Continue reading “When You Really Need A New Art Piece in Three Minutes Or Less . . .”
Made Snana is a century-old ritual in India where low-caste Hindus roll in the leftover food from the meals of higher caste Brahmins. It is believed to be cure of such things as skin disorders and fulfillment of wishes, but a group of religious leaders have called for a ban on the practice. That has prompted violent attacks from those insisting on the continuation of the ritual.
There is an interesting privacy case out of New York where an actress was forced to reveal her identity as the plaintiff in a lawsuit against Amazon’s website IMDb. Huong Hoang, 40, tried to file anonymously after accusing Amazon of harming her by disclosing her Asian name and age. The federal judge however gave her two weeks to put her name on the lawsuit or face dismissal.
Continue reading “Actress Sues Amazon For Disclosing Her Real Asian Name and Age”
We are often discussing stories of religious intolerance and sectarian prejudice on this blog, so it is refreshing to report an act of kindness and tolerance on occasion. Despite opposition from Christian groups, the United States Air Force Academy has established an area for pagans to pray in Colorado called the Falcon Circle. The academy’s senior chaplain, Col. Robert Bruno, insisted that freedom of religion means that cadets should be able to practice their religion — a novel concept to some who later desecrated the religious site.
The Greek government is being denounced by the National Confederation of Disabled People after it added pedophiles, exhibitionists, and kleptomaniacs to the list of disabled people entitled to state benefits. They have joined pyromaniacs, compulsive gamblers, fetishists and sadomasochists as persons entitled to ask for government assistance.
Continue reading “Greece Declares Pedophilia A Disability Deserving State Benefits”
This hilarious video shows a father trying to get a baby to answer “Dad” to the question of “Whose your favorite parent?” It is clear that Mom got there first . . .
Continue reading “The Ugly Face Of Maternal Propaganda”
Next time you think that torts exams are too fanciful, consider the potential case of Australian tourist Erin Langworthy, 22, in Zimbabwe. Langworthy arranged to jump off the Victoria Falls bridge, but received a bit of a nasty surprise when the bungee cord snapped and there was not back up cord. Oh, and I forgot to mention, she was bungeeing above crocodile-infested waters.
Continue reading “Assumption of the Risk? Bungee Cord Snaps Sending Australian Woman Plunging Into Crocodile-Infested Waters”
We have yet another tragic case of an individual killed by fooling around with a loaded gun. In this case it was one of the most highly trained military service members, Navy Seal Petty Officer 3rd Class Gene “Geno” Clayont, Jr. Police report that Clayont returned from a bar with a woman and was showing her his guns when he placed a gun to his head that he thought was empty and pulled the trigger.
Continue reading “Seal Accidentally Kills Himself In Showing Date His Guns”
In Rochester, N.Y., pastor Anthony Lee Drumgoole, 23, has been laying his hands on more than the faithful. He is charged with a robbery at the Carolina Forest Buffalo Wild Wings and racked up additional charges of kidnapping and four counts of financial transaction card fraud. He was arrested at his church.
Continue reading “New York Pastor Arrested For Robbery and Kidnapping At Buffalo Wings Restaurant”
For some people, a dark global conspiracy evolves around the trilateral commission or the military-industrial complex or even fluoride in the water. For some in the Vatican, it appears to be that sinister group in United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and their insidious plan to make “half the world population homosexual.” It is not clear who our overlord in the new gay regime will be, but I see the hand of Harvey Fierstein who has secretly longed for global domination.
Continue reading “Catholic Cardinal: UNESCO Plots To Make “Half The World Population Homosexual””
Even with Ron Paul shredding Newt Gingrich as a “chickenhawk,” Rick Perry outdid a field of candidates who appear to be running on promises to invade or bomb other countries. However Perry is the only guy who is not only eager to start another war but willing to restart a prior war. Top that Newt.
Continue reading “Perry Outdoes Opponents and Appears To Suggest the Re-Invasion of Iraq”
Submitted by Elaine Magliaro, Guest Blogger
I’ve heard many politicians talk about what they believe were the causes of the financial meltdown of 2008 and the money problems facing our federal, state, and local governments today. These causes include: collective bargaining, pensions, healthcare costs for public workers; subprime mortgages taken out by poor people who couldn’t actually afford to buy homes; the high costs of Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. Many of these same politicians rarely put the blame for the financial crises we are experiencing in this country today on the cost of waging two wars—or on the financial shenanigans of the big banks of Wall Street.
In February of 2010, Mike Elk wrote an article for the Huffington Post titled How Big Banks’ Greek-Style Schemes Are Bankrupting States Across the U.S. In it, he talked about a financial instrument called the “interest rate swap”—which is a kind of unregulated derivative.
Here’s an excerpt from Elk’s article:
Just when you thought Wall Street couldn’t get any more clever in their attempts at predatory lending, they have.
Big Banks have created an exotic financial instrument that is the equivalent of a payday loan for cash-strapped state and local governments, innocently labeled an “interest rate swap.”
In the United States, states and local governments cannot run deficits. This year states face a $357 billion budget shortfall and local governments are facing an additional $82 billion budget shortfall. States have begun cutting basic services like snow removal, reduced garbage pickup, and in Colorado Springs they went to the pawn shop – selling police helicopters on the Internet.
In a desperate effort to meet budget needs, states and local governments over the last decade have gone to the big banks to ask for exotic instruments known as interest rate swaps. These desperate state and local governments were taken advantage of in the same way that Greece was by Goldman Sachs. Likewise, these swaps are threatening the economic health of local cities and states.
Continue reading “How the Bankers of Wall Street Are Helping to Bankrupt America”