Friday Quotes XIII

For example, the left's obsession with the high incomes of corporate executives never seems to extend to equally high -- or higher -- incomes of professional athletes, entertainers, or best-selling authors like Danielle Steel. – Thomas Sowells

“Though all the winds of doctrine were let loose to play upon the earth, so Truth be in the field, we do injuriously by licensing and prohibiting to misdoubt her strength. Let her and Falsehood grapple; who ever knew Truth put to the worse, in a free and open encounter. - John Milton

"Sin is not small, because it is not a against a small sovereign. The seriousness of an insult arises with the dignity of the one insulted. The Creator of the universe is infinitely worthy of respect and admiration and loyalty. Therefore, failure to love Him is not trivial - it is treason. It defames God and destroys human happiness." - John Piper

Iraqi woman dies after being beaten in her California home

CNN) -- An Iraqi woman who was left brutally beaten in her Southern California home with an apparently xenophobic note beside her has died.

Shaima Alawadi, a 32-year-old mother of five, was taken off life support Saturday, said the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR), an organization that advocates for Muslim civil liberties.

She had been on life support since Wednesday when her teenage daughter found her unconscious in the living room of their home in El Cajon in San Diego County.

"During the initial stages of this investigation, a threatening note was discovered very close to where the victim was found," Lt. Mark Coit of the El Cajon police said.

Authorities would not specify what the note said. But Alawadi's daughter said it threatened the family to go back to Iraq and called them "terrorists."

Police said a similar note was left outside the family home earlier in the month, but the family did not report it.

"A week ago they left a letter saying, 'This is our country, not yours, you terrorists,'" the daughter, Fatima Al Himidi told CNN affiliate KGTV. "So my mom ignored that, thinking (it was) kids playing around, pranking. And so the day they hurt her, they left it again and it said the same thing."

Hanif Mohebi, executive director of CAIR's San Diego chapter, said the family came to the United States from Iraq in the mid-1990s. He did not know when they moved to El Cajon, which has one of the nation's largest Iraqi community... [1]

New Hampshire wants to educate women.

(e) Materials that inform the pregnant woman that there is evidence of a direct link between abortion and breast cancer. It is scientifically undisputed that full-term pregnancy reduces a woman’s lifetime risk of breast cancer. It is also undisputed that the earlier a woman has a first full-term pregnancy, the lower her risk of breast cancer becomes, because following a full-term pregnancy the breast tissue exposed to estrogen through the menstrual cycle is more mature and cancer resistant. In fact, for each year that a woman’s first full-term pregnancy is delayed, her risk of breast cancer rises 3.5 percent. The theory that there is a direct link between abortion and breast cancer builds upon this undisputed foundation. During the first and second trimesters of pregnancy the breasts develop merely by duplicating immature tissues. Once a woman passes the thirty-second week of pregnancy (third trimester), the immature cells develop into mature cancer resistant cells. When an abortion ends a normal pregnancy, the woman is left with more immature breast tissue than she had before she was pregnant. In short, the amount of immature breast tissue is increased and this tissue is exposed to significantly greater amounts of estrogen—a known cause of breast cancer. Women facing an abortion decision have a right to know that such medical data exists. At the very least, women must be informed that it is undisputed that pregnancy provides a protective effect against the later development of breast cancer. - HB 1659 - 2012  [1]

If it is undisputed that the earlier a woman "has a first full-term pregnancy, the lower her risk of breast cancer becomes," New Hampshire should legislate that Junior High and High School women have this information. Why only legislate this information for the 1/3 of women that will get an abortion? I am sure that there are childless third year graduate students that need to know.

Some quick references:

...The average age of first-time mothers in the U.S. jumped from 21.4 in 1970 to 25 in 2006, an increase of 3.6 years, according to a report in the August edition of NCHS Data Brief, a publication of the CDC's National Center for Health Statistics... The average age at first birth has risen five years or more in Washington, D.C., Massachusetts, and New Hampshire, while increasing less than 2.5 years in Mississippi, New Mexico, and Oklahoma... [2]

The median age for first marriage is 28.7 for males and 26.7 for females. [3]

Stand your ground

FDR in a dress

When Did Girls Start Wearing Pink? 

Day of Doom: Children beg God for his mercy

O great Creator, why was our Nature
depraved and forlorn?
Why so defil'd, and made so vild
whilst we were yet unborn?
If it be just, and needs we must
transgressors reck'ned be,
Thy Mercy, Lord, to us afford
which sinners hath set free.

You sinners are, and such a share
as sinners may expect,
Such you shall have; for I do save
none but mine own Elect.
Yet to compare your sin with their,
who liv'd a longer time,
I do confess yours is much less,
though every sins's a crime.

Day of Doom - Michael Wigglesworth Stanzas 169 & 180 (1662) (Children who die before the age of accountability beg for their souls.)

American citizenship is not worth having?

“There certainly should be some honor and dignity in American citizenship that would be scarred from the foul and corrupting taint of a debasing alienage.  Are Chinese children born in this country to share with the descendants of the patriots of the American Revolution to exalted qualification of being eligible to the Presidency of the nation? If so, then verily there has been a most degenerate departure from the patriotic ideals of our forefathers; and surely in that case American citizenship is not worth having.” 

US Attorney Henry Foote, United States v. Wong Kim Ark, 1898[1]

Friday Quotes XII (Mostly Attributed Jerry Quotes)

RIP Jerry.

Grown men should not be having sex with prostitutes unless they are married to them. – Jerry Falwell Crossfire (17 May 1997)

If the American Atheists Society or Saddam Hussein himself ever sent an unrestricted gift to any of my ministries, be assured I will operate on Billy Sunday's philosophy: The Devil's had it long enough, and quickly cash the check. - Jerry Falwell Christianity Today (9 February 1998)

I would never blame any human being except the terrorists, and if I left that impression with gays or lesbians or anyone else, I apologize. – Jerry Falwell CNN (14 September 2001)

And the fact that John Kerry would not support a federal marriage amendment [prohibiting gay marriage], it equates in our minds as someone 150 years ago saying I'm personally opposed to slavery, but if my neighbor wants to own one or two that's OK. We don't buy that. – Jerry Falwell CNN : Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees (3 November 2004)

Civil rights for all Americans, black, white, red, yellow, the rich, poor, young, old, gay, straight, et cetera, is not a liberal or a conservative value. It’s an American value that I would think that we pretty much all agree on. – Jerry Falwell "The Situation with Tucker Carlson" on MSNBC (5 August 2005)

Today the world has gone sex crazy. Illicit sex has become the downfall of many in the Bible. Movie stars not married to each other, having babies and making headlines all over the world as though they were doing some great thing. Big deal! Just another moral pervert. And for them to become heroes for our kids. My wife and I will be married 49 years the next anniversary. – Jerry Falwell

Thank God for these gay demonstrators. If I didn't have them, I'd have to invent them. They give me all the publicity I need. –Jerry Falwell As quoted by Falwell's ghostwriter Mel White in "Religion, Politics a Potent Mix for Jerry Falwell" by Steve Inskeep in Morning Edition on NPR (30 June 2006)

Labor unions should study and read the Bible instead of asking for more money. When people get right with God, they are better workers. – Jerry Falwell

I do not believe the homosexual community deserves minority status. One's misbehavior does not qualify him or her for minority status. Blacks, Hispanics, women, etc., are God-ordained minorities who do indeed deserve minority status. – Jerry Falwell

Accidental Same-sex Marriage?

Photograph of a married couple believed by medical men to both be gonadally male.  Caption to the original reads: "A.S. [shown on the left], married for sixteen years, male hypospade. Error of sex."[1]

If a man has sexual intercourse with a male as one has sexual intercourse with a woman, the two of them have committed an abomination. They must be put to death; their blood guilt is on themselves. ~ Lev 20:13

Hypospadias is a condition where the urethra exits somewhere else on a man than his glans.  About 1/100 to 1/200 of men are hypospades. When the penis is small and the urethra exits at the base of the penis sometimes a baby can be misidentified as a girl. These misidentified hypospades can either be attracted to men, women, or both.

In Numbers 1:46 there are 603,550 Israelite men ready for the army.  About 3,017- 6,035 of them would have been hypospades. These would just be the ones correctly identified as male.  If Western Europeans were having trouble correctly identifying hypospades well into the 20th century, we can assume that those in the Ancient Near East also had trouble identifying them.

In ancient Israel, these pseudo-women risked breaking at least three Old Testament commandments.

•  Cross-dressing - A woman must not wear men’s clothing, nor should a man dress up in women’s clothing, for anyone who does this is offensive to the Lord your God. ~ Deuteronomy 22:5
• Same-sex male sex  ~ Leviticus 18:22, 20:13
• In Deuteronomy 22, a woman and presumably a pseudo-woman who did not bleed during first marital intercourse could be stoned at her/his fathers doorstep.  

A strict interpretation of the Law demands the deaths of both partners involved in a same-sex marriage with a hypospade.  However it is unclear if there would be mercy and it is doubtful that the Law was followed strictly.  Even in 19th century France and England, a minority of doctors did not have the heart to break up happily married pseudo-women and men.**

*It is also unclear what God regards as the correct sex.  For millennia, genitalia was really all they had to go on.  Then there were the gonads which largely reside inside the body.  Sex chromosomes were only discovered in 1905.  Perhaps God would regard a mother/priest/judge/father/doctor's best guess as the correct gender.

**It is not always clear what makes a woman and a man.  There are at least three criteria*** (genitalia, gonads, chromosomes)  and generally two out of three confirms a gender.  A hypospade has male gonads, XY chromosomes, but an ambiguous genitalia. However, this is just the person's sex.  Gender and sexuality can differentiate from the sex norm.  A hypospade can be identified as a female sex and can identify with the female gender.  This also does not factor in the sexuality and who the hypospade is attracted.

***Over 99% of people will have no conflict with their sex and their gender.  99% of people will have their genitalia, gonads, and chromosomes line up.  Most hypospades are correctly identified as the male sex.  About 95% of people will primarily desire someone of the opposite sex.

[1]Dreger, Alice Domurat Hermaphrodites and the Medical Invention of Sex (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1998) 121

MLK:"Why is it that people have to pay water bills in a world that's two-thirds water?"

...I want to say to you as I move to my conclusion, as we talk about "Where do we go from here?" that we must honestly face the fact that the movement must address itself to the question of restructuring the whole of American society. (Yes) There are forty million poor people here, and one day we must ask the question, "Why are there forty million poor people in America?" And when you begin to ask that question, you are raising a question about the economic system, about a broader distribution of wealth. When you ask that question, you begin to question the capitalistic economy. (Yes) And I'm simply saying that more and more, we've got to begin to ask questions about the whole society. We are called upon to help the discouraged beggars in life's marketplace. (Yes) But one day we must come to see that an edifice which produces beggars needs restructuring. (All right) It means that questions must be raised. And you see, my friends, when you deal with this you begin to ask the question, "Who owns the oil?" (Yes) You begin to ask the question, "Who owns the iron ore?" (Yes) You begin to ask the question, "Why is it that people have to pay water bills in a world that's two-thirds water?" (All right) These are words that must be said. (All right)

Now, don't think you have me in a bind today. I'm not talking about communism. What I'm talking about is far beyond communism. (Yeah) My inspiration didn't come from Karl Marx (Speak); my inspiration didn't come from Engels; my inspiration didn't come from Trotsky; my inspiration didn't come from Lenin. Yes, I read Communist Manifesto and Das Kapital a long time ago (Well), and I saw that maybe Marx didn't follow Hegel enough. (All right) He took his dialectics, but he left out his idealism and his spiritualism. And he went over to a German philosopher by the name of Feuerbach, and took his materialism and made it into a system that he called "dialectical materialism." (Speak) I have to reject that.

What I'm saying to you this morning is communism forgets that life is individual. (Yes) Capitalism forgets that life is social. (Yes, Go ahead) And the kingdom of brotherhood is found neither in the thesis of communism nor the antithesis of capitalism, but in a higher synthesis. (Speak) [applause] It is found in a higher synthesis (Come on) that combines the truths of both. (Yes) Now, when I say questioning the whole society, it means ultimately coming to see that the problem of racism, the problem of economic exploitation, and the problem of war are all tied together. (All right) These are the triple evils that are interrelated... [1]

Friday Quotes XI

"The man who does not read good books has no advantage over the man who can't read them." - Mark Twain

"Don't go around saying the world owes you a living. The world owes you nothing. It was here first." - Mark Twain

"It ain't the parts of the Bible that I can't understand that bother me, it is the parts that I do understand." - Mark Twain

"Oh, Aslan," said Lucy. "Will you tell us how to get into your country from our world?" — "I shall be telling you all the time," said Aslan. "But I will not tell you how long or short the way will be; only that it lies across a river. But do not fear that, for I am the great Bridge Builder."

Never pack up your long underwear until the 40th of May - Spanish Proverb

Martin Luther King Jr. trained people in literacy and planned parenthood...

16 August 1967
“Where Do We Go From Here?,” Delivered at the 11th Annual SCLC Convention
Atlanta, Ga.

...Negro boys and girls in dire need of recreational activities were not allowed to inhale the fresh air of the big city parks. Negroes in desperate need of allowing their mental buckets to sink deep into the wells of knowledge were confronted with a firm "no" when they sought to use the city libraries...

...Our Citizenship Education Program continues to lay the solid foundation of adult education and community organization upon which all social change must ultimately rest. This year, five hundred local leaders received training at Dorchester and ten community centers through our Citizenship Education Program. They were trained in literacy, consumer education, planned parenthood, and many other things. And this program, so ably directed by Mrs. Dorothy Cotton, Mrs. Septima Clark, and their staff of eight persons, continues to cover ten southern states. Our auxiliary feature of C.E.P. is the aid which they have given to poor communities, poor counties in receiving and establishing O.E.O. projects. With the competent professional guidance of our marvelous staff member, Miss Mew Soong-Li, Lowndes and Wilcox counties in Alabama have pioneered in developing outstanding poverty programs totally controlled and operated by residents of the area... 

...In addition, the ministers learned that Negro scavengers had been deprived of significant accounts in the ghetto. Whites controlled even the garbage of Negroes. Consequently, the chain stores agreed to contract with Negro scavengers to service at least the stores in Negro areas. Negro insect and rodent exterminators, as well as janitorial services, were likewise excluded from major contracts with chain stores. The chain stores also agreed to utilize these services. It also became apparent that chain stores advertised only rarely in Negro-owned community newspapers. This area of neglect was also negotiated, giving community newspapers regular, substantial accounts. And finally, the ministers found that Negro contractors, from painters to masons, from electricians to excavators, had also been forced to remain small by the monopolies of white contractors. Breadbasket negotiated agreements on new construction and rehabilitation work for the chain stores. These several interrelated aspects of economic development, all based on the power of organized consumers, hold great possibilities for dealing with the problems of Negroes in other northern cities. The kinds of requests made by Breadbasket in Chicago can be made not only of chain stores, but of almost any major industry in any city in the country...

...We also said to Sealtest, "The problem that we face is that the ghetto is a domestic colony that's constantly drained without being replenished. And you are always telling us to lift ourselves by our own bootstraps, and yet we are being robbed every day. Put something back in the ghetto." So along with our demand for jobs, we said, "We also demand that you put money in the Negro savings and loan association and that you take ads, advertise, in the Cleveland Call & Post, the Negro newspaper." So along with the new jobs, Sealtest has now deposited thousands of dollars in the Negro bank of Cleveland and has already started taking ads in the Negro newspaper in that city. This is the power of Operation Breadbasket...

...Even semantics have conspired to make that which is black seem ugly and degrading. (Yes) In Roget'sThesaurus there are some 120 synonyms for blackness and at least sixty of them are offensive, such words as blot, soot, grim, devil, and foul. And there are some 134 synonyms for whiteness and all are favorable, expressed in such words as purity, cleanliness, chastity, and innocence. A white lie is better than a black lie. (Yes) The most degenerate member of a family is the "black sheep." (Yes) Ossie Davis has suggested that maybe the English language should be reconstructed so that teachers will not be forced to teach the Negro child sixty ways to despise himself, and thereby perpetuate his false sense of inferiority, and the white child 134 ways to adore himself, and thereby perpetuate his false sense of superiority. [applause] The tendency to ignore the Negro's contribution to American life and strip him of his personhood is as old as the earliest history books and as contemporary as the morning's newspaper. (Yes)

To offset this cultural homicide, the Negro must rise up with an affirmation of his own Olympian manhood. (Yes) Any movement for the Negro's freedom that overlooks this necessity is only waiting to be buried. (Yes) As long as the mind is enslaved, the body can never be free. (Yes) Psychological freedom, a firm sense of self-esteem, is the most powerful weapon against the long night of physical slavery. No Lincolnian Emancipation Proclamation, no Johnsonian civil rights bill can totally bring this kind of freedom. The Negro will only be free when he reaches down to the inner depths of his own being and signs with the pen and ink of assertive manhood his own emancipation proclamation. And with a spirit straining toward true self-esteem, the Negro must boldly throw off the manacles of self-abnegation and say to himself and to the world, "I am somebody. (Oh yeah) I am a person. I am a man with dignity and honor. (Go ahead) I have a rich and noble history, however painful and exploited that history has been. Yes, I was a slave through my foreparents (That’s right), and now I’m not ashamed of that. I'm ashamed of the people who were so sinful to make me a slave." (Yes sir) Yes [applause], yes, we must stand up and say, "I'm black (Yes sir), but I'm black and beautiful." (Yes) This [applause], this self-affirmation is the black man's need, made compelling (All right) by the white man's crimes against him... (Yes)

...The problem indicates that our emphasis must be twofold: We must create full employment, or we must create incomes. People must be made consumers by one method or the other. Once they are placed in this position, we need to be concerned that the potential of the individual is not wasted. New forms of work that enhance the social good will have to be devised for those for whom traditional jobs are not available. In 1879 Henry George anticipated this state of affairs when he wrote in Progress and Poverty:

The fact is that the work which improves the condition of mankind, the work which extends knowledge and increases power and enriches literature and elevates thought, is not done to secure a living. It is not the work of slaves driven to their tasks either by the, that of a taskmaster or by animal necessities. It is the work of men who somehow find a form of work that brings a security for its own sake and a state of society where want is abolished.

Work of this sort could be enormously increased, and we are likely to find that the problem of housing, education, instead of preceding the elimination of poverty, will themselves be affected if poverty is first abolished. The poor, transformed into purchasers, will do a great deal on their own to alter housing decay. Negroes, who have a double disability, will have a greater effect on discrimination when they have the additional weapon of cash to use in their struggle...

...Now, our country can do this. John Kenneth Galbraith said that a guaranteed annual income could be done for about twenty billion dollars a year. And I say to you today, that if our nation can spend thirty-five billion dollars a year to fight an unjust, evil war in Vietnam, and twenty billion dollars to put a man on the moon, it can spend billions of dollars to put God's children on their own two feet right here on earth...

[1]

Copyright Math!

Contraception and Women's Rights in Iran

I think that her experience is largely with 1990's Iran.

Martin Luther King Jr and Gay Rights?

What did MLK think about gay people?

...Those who say King would have championed gay rights also point to King’s treatment of one of the movement’s most important leaders, Bayard Rustin.

Rustin was an openly gay civil rights leader who is widely credited with organizing the 1963 March on Washington. He was an organizational genius, the man who insisted that King speak last on the program, giving his “I Have a Dream” speech the resonance it would not have had otherwise, says Jerald Podair, author of “Bayard Rustin: American Dreamer.”

“He was the kind of guy who could tell you how many portable toilets you needed for 250,000 people in a demonstration," Podair says. “He was a details guy. King needed him for that march.”

But Rustin could do more than arrange a demonstration. He was also a formidable thinker and debater. He was born to a 15-year-old single mother and never graduated from college.

The movement was led by intellectual heavyweights like King, but even among them, Rustin stood out, Podair says. He read everything and was a visionary. One aide to President Lyndon Johnson described him as one of the five smartest men in America, says Podair, a history professor at Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin.

“People who heard him speak were transfixed,” Podair says.

Rustin became one of the movement’s most eloquent defenders of its nonviolent philosophy, says Saladin Ambar, a political scientist at Lehigh University in Pennsylvania...

Invisible Children's CEO explains

67% of Alabama voters and 54% of Mississippi voters think interracial marriage should be legal

In addition to asking about the Presidential race in Alabama and Mississippi we also touched on some other issues in those states:

-There's considerable skepticism about Barack Obama's religion with Republican voters in them. In Mississippi only 12% of voters think Obama's a Christian to 52% who think he's a Muslim and 36% who are not sure. In Alabama just 14% think Obama's a Christian to 45% who think he's a Muslim and 41% who aren't sure.

Mitt Romney dominates the 'Obama's a Christian' vote in both states. He leads Santorum 42-28 with those folks in Mississippi and has a 38-21 lead over him with them in Alabama. In Mississippi Newt's winning the 'Obama's a Muslim' vote 39-28, but in Alabama it's a three way tie with all of the leading candidates at 31%.

-We continue to see evidence that Rush Limbaugh's damaged his brand over the last few weeks. His favorability is only slightly over 50% in these two states where the Republican electorate is incredibly conservative- he's at 53/33 in Alabama and 51/30 in Mississippi. Given that our last national survey on Limbaugh, taken a few years ago, found him at 80/12 with Republicans it's safe to say he's fallen a long way in these states.

-Alabama's pretty much on board with interracial marriage, with 67% of voters thinking it should be legal to 21% who think it should not be. There's still some skepticism in Mississippi though- only 54% of voters think it should be legal, while 29% believe it should be illegal. Newt cleans up with the 'interracial marriage should be illegal' crowd in both states. He's up 40-27 on Romney with them in Mississippi and 37-28 with them in Alabama.

-There's evidence that Haley Barbour's pardons on his way out the door as Governor of Mississippi hurt his standing in the state. 64% of Republican primary voters say they have a favorable opinion of him now to 27% with a negative one. Those numbers aren't bad, but they're a far cry from November when he had an 86/7 approval spread with GOP partisans in the state. Only 24% of Republicans say they approve of his pardons, while 62% disapprove.

-Alabama Republican voters skew heavily toward the Crimson Tide, with 58% identifying as Alabama fans to 28% who are Auburn fans. Santorum leads the way among Tiger fans with 35% to 30% for Gingrich and 26% for Romney. Romney's up 32-31 on Gingrich with 'Bama fans to Santorum's 27%. And among football agnostics Romney leads with 34% to 28% for Gingrich and 24% for Santorum.

-Finally there's considerable skepticism about evolution among GOP voters in both Alabama and Mississippi. In Alabama only 26% of voters believe in it, while 60% do not. In Mississippi just 22% believe in it, while 66% do not. Romney wins the 'voters who believe in evolution' vote (33-27 over Gingrich in Alabama, 38-32 over Gingrich in Mississippi.) Santorum wins the 'voters who don't believe in evolution' vote (34-33 over Gingrich in both Alabama and Mississippi with Romney at 26%) [1]

Another Baby Dies of Herpes in Ritual Circumcision By Orthodox Jews

NEW YORK -- Prosecutors are investigating the death of a baby who contracted herpes after a "ritual circumcision with oral suction," in an ultra-Orthodox Jewish ceremony.

The ceremony, known in Hebrew as metzitzah b'peh, takes place during a ceremony known as the bris.

During the ceremony, a circumcision practitioner, or mohel, removes the foreskin from the baby's penis, and with his mouth sucks the blood from the incision to cleanse the wound.

In 2004, city health officials say another baby boy died after a similar circumcision was carried out in Rockland County. [1]

List of Contraceptive Mandates in 28 states

STATE POLICIES IN BRIEF Insurance Coverage of Contraceptives

A TED speaker's worst nightmare

Jason Russell of Invisible Children spoke at Liberty University

Liberty University received an advance on Kony 2012.

Here is a great summary of the critiques about the Invisible Children.[1]

RESOURCES

http://www.friendsforpeaceinafrica.org/samuel-olara/496-accounting-for-post-war-crimes-in-northern-uganda-monitor.html  ( the best summary I’ve yet seen of conflict in Northern Uganda, 1986 – 2007 )

Critiques of Invisible Children

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-deibert/joseph-kony-2012-children_b_1327417.html

http://visiblechildren.tumblr.com/post/18890947431/we-got-trouble

http://www.wrongingrights.com/2009/03/worst-idea-ever.html/

http://chrisblattman.com/2009/03/04/visible-children/

http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/136673/mareike-schomerus-tim-allen-and-koen-vlassenroot/obama-takes-on-the-lra?page=show

http://www.blackstarnews.com/news/122/ARTICLE/6586/2010-06-02.html ( “How Invisible Children Falsely Marketed The LRA Disarmament and Northern Uganda Recovery Act” )

http://www.thegauntlet.com/article/1320/18249/Barry-from-Look-What-I-Did-responds-to-Invisible-Children-Organization.html  (  Invisible Children confirms pro-interventionist stance )

Alleged crimes and human rights abuses by Uganda and the Ugandan People’s Defense Forces

http://www.observer.ug/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=17456:updf-in-kony-hunt-accused-of-rape-looting&catid=78:topstories&Itemid=116 ( UPDF, hunting for Kony in DRC, accused of rape, looting )

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=upITVcXw_Gk ( Yoweri Museveni, president of Uganda, shot his way into power using child soldiers )

http://www.icj-cij.org/docket/files/116/10521.pdf ( Uganda was indicted, in 2005, by the International Criminal Court for War Crimes in DRC Congo )

Reports, from UN, on Uganda & Rwanda war crimes in DRC Congo

http://www.afrol.com/Countries/DRC/documents/un_resources_2002_rwanda.htm

http://www.afrol.com/Countries/DRC/documents/un_resources_2002_uganda.htm

http://www.afrol.com/Countries/DRC/documents/un_resources_2002_intro.htm

Wikipedia cover of DRC conflict

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democratic_Republic_of_the_Congo#Rwandan.2FUgandan_invasions_and_civil_wars

Accusations of an Acholi Genocide

[ Yoweri Museveni has been accused of engineering a planned, slow genocide against the Acholi people of Northern Uganda  (note: Blackstar News links to web-cached versions of stories - site under heavy traffic load)]

http://www.musevenimemo.org/ ( David Todd Whitmore, of University of Notre Dame, studies traditional Acholi culture, says 1980s memo, allegedly from Yoweri Museveni, indicates plan to depopulate Acholi areas of Northern Uganda, to open up access for fertile farmland. )

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2007/05/secret_photos_r/ ( ABC report suggests Ugandan government coverup )

http://www.acholitimes.com/culture/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=13:genocide-in-uganda-the-african-nightmare-christopher-hitchens-missed&catid=3:genocide-in-acholi-the-conspiracy-of-silence&Itemid=23 – ( ” Genocide in Uganda: The African Nightmare Christopher Hitchens Missed ” )

http://www.independent.co.ug/News/news/3865-planned-massacre-of-the-acholi ( Uganda Independent covers accusations of an Acholi genocide )

http://allafrica.com/stories/201101050048.html

http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:ntd7BPk00poJ:blackstarnews.com/news/122/ARTICLE/7028/2010-12-25.html+&cd=2&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us

http://www.friendsforpeaceinafrica.org/documents/20/65-structure-a-agency-in-acholi-genocide.html ( “Structure and Agency in Acholi Genocide” )

http://www.friendsforpeaceinafrica.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=68&Itemid=43 ( “Genocide in Comparative Perspective; the Jewish and Acholi Experience” )

http://www.friendsforpeaceinafrica.org/columnists/161-the-achol-qfinal-solutionq.html ( “The Acholi Final Solution”, 2007, by Milton Allimadi, editor of NYC-based Blackstar News )

http://www.blackagendareport.com/?q=book/export/html/10361 ( “Ending Uganda’s “Brilliant” Genocide”, Allimadi )

http://www.km-net.org.uk/conferences/KM97/papers_htm/causes.htm

http://www.ugandagenocide.info/  ( general source for writings on Acholi conflict & Ugandan gov. )

http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:BPk1NvWo7_cJ:www.blackstarnews.com/%3Fc%3D122%26a%3D4751+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us ( report from Dr. Adam Branch, whose research is based in Northern Uganda )

http://www.david-kilgour.com/mp/Ugandan%20IDP%20Camps%20&%20Children.htm ( Canadian parliament member, on Acholi camps )

http://www.blackcommentator.com/93/93_otika_uganda.html  ( Ugandan student, studying in US, weighs in )

Hipster Ariel weighs in on Kony 2012

Friday Quotes X (T.J. Lives and so does Sowcrates)

Could I climb the highest place in Athens, I would lift up my voice and proclaim, 'Fellow citizens, why do you turn and scrape every stone to gather wealth and take so little care of your children to whom you must one day relinquish all?' - Socrates

"In general, I am of opinion, that till the age of about sixteen, we are best employed on languages; Latin, Greek; French, and Spanish, or such of them as we can... Of the languages I have mentioned, I think Greek the least useful." - Thomas Jefferson to J. W. Eppes, 1787

"Indeed, no translation can be [an adequate representation of the excellences of the original]." -Thomas Jefferson to A. L. C. Destutt de Tracy, 1811

"People generally have more feeling for canals and roads than education. However, I hope we can advance them with equal pace." -Thomas Jefferson to Joel Barlow, 1807

"I have indeed two great measures at heart, without which no republic can maintain itself in strength: 1. That of general education, to enable every man to judge for himself what will secure or endanger his freedom. 2. To divide every county into hundreds, of such size that all the children of each will be within reach of a central school in it." --Thomas Jefferson to John Tyler, 1810.

If multimillionaire Camping believed his teachings, he would be only a millionaire

Multimillionaire Harold Camping[1][2] Admits Sin, Announces End to Doomsday Predictions[3]

Blogger says he can beat the TSA

Blogger shows the world how to sneak anything past TSA’s nude body scanners

Saudi Arabia may execute a Muslim for his tweets

All this happened mid-February, but I had not been able to post about it.
Saudi Writer Hamza Kashgari Detained in Malaysia Over Muhammad Tweets
After his arrest in Malaysia he was deported to Saudi Arabia.
The bloodlust faced by the 'blaspheming' Saudi journalist
The take away quote:

One has to wonder whether a man who weeps at comments on the internet has the toughness required to survive in democratic politics, but of course Saudi is not a democracy. It is a despotism, made worse by streaks of populism.

The most horrible thing that dictatorships teach us about human nature is that their worst crimes are often the most popular parts of their programmes.

There is no other stream

What ever problems you have with Christianity there is no other stream.

"Are you not thirsty?" said the Lion. "I am dying of thirst," said Jill. "Then drink," said the Lion. "May I — could I — would you mind going away while I do?" said Jill. The Lion answered this only by a look and a very low growl. And as Jill gazed at its motionless bulk, she realized that she might as well have asked the whole mountain to move aside for her convenience. The delicious rippling noise of the stream was driving her nearly frantic. "Will you promise not to — do anything to me, if I do come?" said Jill. "I make no promise," said the Lion. Jill was so thirsty now that, without noticing it, she had come a step nearer. "Do you eat girls?" she said. "I have swallowed up girls and boys, women and men, kings and emperors, cities and realms," said the Lion. It didn't say this as if it were boasting, nor as if it were sorry, nor as if it were angry. It just said it. "I daren't come and drink," said Jill. "Then you will die of thirst," said the Lion. "Oh dear!" said Jill, coming another step nearer. "I suppose I must go and look for another stream then." "There is no other stream," said the Lion. 


~ Silver Chair - CS Lewis

Kony 2012

Food Stamp President

Newt’s Faulty Food-Stamp Claim

• Bush added 14.7 million to the food stamp roles during his 8 year presidency. 
• In 2008 he added 4.4 million, triple the 1.4 million added in 2007.
• As of December 2011, Obama has added 14.2 million.
• 47 percent of beneficiaries were children under age 18.
• 8 percent were age 60 or older.
• 41 percent lived in a household with earnings from a job — the so-called “working poor.”
• The average household received a monthly benefit of $287.
• 36 percent were white (non-Hispanic), 22 percent were African American (non-Hispanic) and 10 percent were Hispanic 

Am I presenting a straw man of O'Reilly's views?

 Fox News covers contraception as is required by New York law (and most other states). Therefore according O'Reilly's logic, he is paying for all the women at Fox News, New York, married and unmarried, to have sex.

It is hard to believe that Jesus believes that every married or unmarried woman who uses contraceptive birth control pills that are connected to an insurance mandate is being paid to have sex.

Am I presenting a straw man of O'Reily's views?

One of my favorite lines in a movie

"You do know it is a federal offense to destroy a United States Post Office?" ~  Agent Paul (Richard Jenkins) after Mel (Ben Stiller) drove a truck through a post office. Flirting with Disaster (1996)
  [1]

MLK Jr: cruel jest to say to a bootless man that he out to lift himself by his own bootstraps

...There are those who feel that if the Negro is to rise out of poverty, if the Negro is to rise out of slum conditions, if he is to rise out of discrimination and segregation, he must do it all by himself. And so they say the Negro must lift himself by his own bootstraps.

They never stop to realize that no other ethnic group has been a slave on American soil. The people who say this never stop to realize that the nation made the black man's color a stigma; but beyond this they never stop to realize the debt they owe a people who were kept in slavery 244 years.

In 1863 the Negro was told that he was free as a result of the Emancipation Proclamation being signed by Abraham Lincoln. But he was not given any land to make that freedom meaningful. It was something like keeping a person in prison for a number of years and suddenly discovering that that person is not guilty of the crime for which he was convicted. And you just go up to him and say, "now you are free," but you don't give him any bus fare to get to town. You don't give him any money to get some clothes to put on his back or to get his feet again in life.

Every court of jurisprudence would rise up against this, and yet this is the very thing that our nation did to the black man. It simply said, "You're free," and it left him there penniless, illiterate, not knowing what to do. And the irony of it all is that at the same time the nation failed to do anything for the black man--through an act of Congress it was giving away millions of acres of land in the West and the Midwest--which meant that it was willing to undergird its white peasants from Europe with an economic floor.

But not only did it give the land, it build land-grant colleges to teach them how to farm. Not only that, it provided county agents to further their expertise in farming: not only that, as the years unfolded it provided low interest rates so that they could mechanize their farms. And to this day thousands of these very persons are receiving millions of dollars in federal subsidies every year not to farm. And these are so often the very people who tell Negroes that they must lift themselves by their own bootstraps. It's all right to tell a man to lift himself by his own bootstraps, but it is a cruel jest to say to a bootless man that he out to lift himself by his own bootstraps....~ from Remaining Awake Through a Great Revolution - March 31, 1968 - This was his last Sunday morning sermon.[1]

Attempt to replicate the birth certificate effect

Non-contraceptive purposes for birth control pills

While the primary reason for using the birth control pill is contraceptive, more than half of users rely on the pill for some other medical need.  

MANY AMERICAN WOMEN USE BIRTH CONTROL PILLS FOR NONCONTRACEPTIVE REASONS
One-Third of Teen Users Rely on the Pill Exclusively
for These Purposes

The most common reason U.S. women use oral contraceptive pills is to prevent pregnancy, but 14% of pill users—1.5 million women—rely on them exclusively for noncontraceptive purposes. The study documenting this finding, “Beyond Birth Control: The Overlooked Benefits of Oral Contraceptive Pills,” by Rachel K. Jones of the Guttmacher Institute, also found that more than half (58%) of all pill users rely on the method, at least in part, for purposes other than pregnancy prevention—meaning that only 42% use the pill exclusively for contraceptive reasons.

The study—based on U.S government data from the National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG)—revealed that after pregnancy prevention (86%), the most common reasons women use the pill include reducing cramps or menstrual pain (31%); menstrual regulation, which for some women may help prevent migraines and other painful “side effects” of menstruation (28%); treatment of acne (14%); and treatment of endometriosis (4%). Additionally, it found that some 762,000 women who have never had sex use the pill, and they do so almost exclusively (99%) for noncontraceptive reasons.

Menstrual-related disorders and irregular periods are particularly common during adolescence. Not surprisingly, the study found that teens aged 15–19 who use the pill are more likely to do so for non-contraceptive purposes (82%) than for birth control (67%). Moreover, 33% of teen pill users report using oral contraceptive pills solely for noncontraceptive purposes.

“It is well established that oral contraceptives are essential health care because they prevent unintended pregnancies,” said study author Rachel K. Jones. “This study shows that there are other important health reasons why oral contraceptives should be readily available to the millions of women who rely on them each year.”

Other hormonal methods such as the ring, patch, implant and IUD offer the same types of noncontraceptive benefits as the pill; however, this analysis was limited to oral contraceptive pills, because the NSFG did not ask about other hormonal methods. Given this limitation, the author suggests that the number of women relying on hormonal contraception for reasons other than pregnancy prevention is almost certainly higher than the 1.5 million estimated in this study.

For more information on the noncontraceptive benefits of the pill, click here “Beyond Birth Control: The Overlooked Benefits of Oral Contraceptive Pills.” [1]

Further [2]

• 18% of women use birth control pills
• 14% of users, about 1.5 million women, rely on birth control pills for only non-contraceptive purposes

Sandra Fluke Primer

No one would know her name if Rush had not called her a slut, round heal, and a prostitute who needed condoms in the sixth grade, could barely walk because of too much sex, and needed to post sex tapes online so that taxpayers could watch. Also, apparently Mr. Limbaugh believes the more sex you have the more birth control pills you need. Like condoms?  

Here is a quick primer:

Sandra Fluke's Speech to Congress Did I misread Fluke's testimony?  Most of it seemed devoted to the 58% of birth control pill users who depend on the pill for something other than contraception.[1] Her main allegation was that students should not have to prove to Georgetown that their treatment does not conflict with Jesuit morals.  She alleged that students who needed medication could not get it. This allegation, founded or unfounded, seemed to make up the bulk of the testimony.
Rush Limbaugh Isn’t the Only Media Misogynist Limbaugh is right, there is a double standard. Kirsten does a great job pointing that out. 

Sandra Fluke Does Not Speak for Me This woman is apparently the female Limbaugh on this one.  Why do so many people want to call Fluke names and see her in a sex tape?  Also she compares Fluke, a third year law student, to a reality star who never completed college.  We can now add skank and a Welfare Condom Queen to the list.

Limbaugh's apology 

Limbaugh says he apologized for two inappropriate words and there is a horrible double standard

Monday Myths: Virginity Tests Work

Point one would have to be that hymens can remained intact during intercourse.

A separated hymen is not an indication of having had intercourse, nor can it prove a loss of virginity. In fact, some women must have their hymen surgically removed before the birth of their first child because it is so flexible or small that it remains intact during intercourse.[1]

Point two would have to be that not all women have hymens.  Point three would have to be that hymens can break in several different ways.  The University of California Santa Barbara's sex information site has the following information.

The problem with reading too much significance into the presence of the hymen is that a woman may still be a virgin even if she does not have an intact hymen. A woman may not have a hymen for a variety of different reasons. First and foremost, she may have been born without a hymen, or without much of a hymen. In addition, many women tear their hymen, enlarging the hole, through nonsexual activities-- such as engaging in sports, horseback riding, insertion of tampons, etc that put tension on their hymenal tissue. Women are often not even aware that their hymen has torn, since there may be little or no blood and no pain. Sexual intercourse is only one of many reasons why a woman may not have a hymen. 

In many societies, however, people think that the only way a woman breaks her hymen is through sexual intercourse. As a result, if a woman does not have a hymen she is immediately thought to not be a virgin. Problems arise in countries whose values and beliefs place great importance on a woman's virginity. In some Middle Eastern countries, a woman is not supposed to lose her virginity until her wedding night. It is then custom for the husband to show off the blood stained sheets that supposedly prove his bride was a virgin. But what happens if the woman does not have a hymen, or simply does not bleed for some other reason? She may risk being shunned by her family and new husband. The woman may even be returned to her family as "used goods," stoned to death, or banished from her society. 

The hymen carries a great deal of importance and symbolism even in the United States. Men and boys alike are sometimes eager to "pop the cherry" of a girl, though the reasons for this are unclear. If a girl does not have a hymen, but loses her virginity to her boyfriend, did he in fact "pop the cherry?" In this case, the word "cherry" is clearly associated with virginity. This is obviously a false association, but unfortunately one that lingers. We can only hope that as more people begin to understand the basics of human sexuality, these false myths will be eradicated.[2]

Point four would need to be that even if a hymen tears during intercourse, not all women bleed.  Therefore many women would be unable to produce the bloody sheets.

When the hymen is separated, whether during first intercourse or at some other time, there may be some slight bleeding and a little pain. Both the bleeding and the pain are quite normal and both usually stop after a short time. Some women experience no discomfort at all during this process that is commonly referred to as "losing your cherry".[1]

Below the fold are some reasonably graphic pictures of anatomy: 

Cathleen Kaveny Extended Interview - Law & Theology & Contraception

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
Get More: Daily Show Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,The Daily Show on Facebook

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
Get More: Daily Show Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,The Daily Show on Facebook

“Guidelines for a Constructive Church" ~ MLK Jr

You see, the church is not a social club, although some people think it is. (Make it plain) They get caught up in their exclusivism, and they feel that it’s a kind of social club with a thin veneer of religiosity, but the church is not a social club. (Make it plain) The church is not an entertainment center, although some people think it is. You can tell in many churches how they act in church, which demonstrates that they think it’s an entertainment center. The church is not an entertainment center. Monkeys are to entertain, not preachers...

...And Sunday after Sunday, week after week, people come to God’s church with broken hearts. (Yes, sir) They need a word of hope. And the church has an answer—if it doesn't, it isn't a church. (Yes) The church must say in substance that broken-heartedness is a fact of life. Don’t try to escape when you come to that experience. Don't try to repress it. Don't end up in cynicism. Don't get mean when you come to that experience. (Make it plain) The church must say to men and woman that Good Friday (Yes, sir) is a fact of life. The church must say to people that failure is a fact of' life. Some people are only conditioned to success. They are only conditioned to fulfillment. Then when the trials and the burdens of life unfold, they can't stand up with it. But the church must tell men (Yes, sir) that Good Friday’s as much a fact of life as Easter; failure is as much a fact of life as success; disappointment is as much a fact of life as fulfillment. And the church must tell men to take your burden, (Yes, sir) take your grief and look at it, don't run from it. Say that this is my grief (Yes, sir) and I must bear it. (Yes) Look at it hard enough and say, "How can I transform this liability into an asset?" (Yes)

This is the power that God gives you. He doesn't say that you're going to escape tension; he doesn't say that you're going to escape disappointment; he doesn't say that you’re going to escape trials and tribulations. Butwhat religion does say is this: that if you have faith in God, (Yes) that God has the power (Yes, sir) to give you a kind of inner equilibrium through your pain. So let not your heart be troubled. (No, sir) "If ye believe in God, ye believe also in me." Another voice rings out, "Come unto me, all ye that labor (Yes, sir, Yes) and are heavy laden." As if to say, "Come unto me, all ye that are burdened down. Come unto me, all ye that are frustrated. Come unto me, all ye with clouds of anxiety floating in your mental skies. Come unto me, all ye that are broke down. (Yes, sir) Come unto me, all ye that are heartbroken. (Yes) Come unto me, all ye that are laden with heavy ladens, and I will give you rest." And the rest that God gives (Yes) is the rest that passeth all understanding. (Yes it does) The world doesn't understand that kind of rest, because it’s a rest that makes it possible (Yes) for you to stand up amid outer storms, and yet you maintain inner calm. (Yes) If the church is true to its guidelines, (Yes) it heals the broken-hearted.

Secondly, when the church is true to its guidelines, it sets out to preach deliverance (Yes, sir) to them that are captive. (Yes, sir) This is the role of the church: to free people. This merely means to free those who are slaves. Now if you notice some churches, they never read this part. Some churches aren't concerned about freeing anybody. Some white churches (Make it plain) face the fact Sunday after Sunday that their members are slaves to prejudice, (Yes, sir) slaves to fear. You got a third of them, or a half of them or more, slaves to their prejudices. (Yes, sir) And the preacher does nothing to free them from their prejudice so often. (Make it plain, Yes) Then you have another group sitting up there who would really like to do something about racial injustice, but they are afraid of social, political, and economic reprisals, (Make it plain) so they end up silent. And the preacher never says anything to lift their souls and free them from that fear. (Make it plain) And so they end up captive. You know this often happens in the Negro church. (Yeah) You know, there are some Negro preachers that have never opened their mouths about the freedom movement. And not only have they not opened their mouths, they haven’t done anything about it. And every now and then you get a few members: (Make it plain) "They talk too much about civil rights in that church." (That’s right) I was talking with a preacher the other day and he said a few of his members were saying that. I said, "Don't pay any attention to them. (Make it plain) Because number one, the members didn't anoint you to preach. (Yeah) And any preacher who allows members to tell him what to preach isn't much of a preacher." (Amen)...[1]

2008:"A person's a person no matter how small."

What is it about this children's book

That fills Dr. Seuss fans with such scorn?

Anti-abortion groups took a look

At Horton and they saw the unborn.

We all learned to read with the books written by Theodor Seuss Geisel and grew up with characters from the "Cat in the Hat" and "Yertle the Turtle" to the "Sneetches and the Grinch."

But do the books have a hidden meaning?

Since the 1980s, some anti-abortion rights groups have interpreted the book "Horton Hears a Who" as an anti-abortion parable.

If you don't remember, it's the tale of Horton the elephant who discovers a whole town of tiny people living on a speck of dust. Though his neighbors think he's crazy and make fun of him, Horton makes it his mission to protect his new friends, declaring his intention with the famous line:

"A person's a person no matter how small."

Despite the fact that the book was written in the 1950s, long before the legalization of abortion in 1973, the statement has become an anthem to legions of anti-abortion rights activists.

"Horton Hears a Who" has the message that every single person, no matter how small, deserves protection," says Kristi Burton, who leads Colorado for Equal Rights, a group that has drafted a state ballot initiative stating that life begins at conception.

"That's what our amendment is saying. Obviously, it uses legal language but it says the same thing."

Burton led a group of several dozen activists who attended the movie premiere of "Horton Hears a Who" in Denver Friday to praise the film's message and hand out T-shirts with Horton's famous statement.

That could get them in trouble with Dr. Seuss Enterprises, which represents the interests of the late author. According to Seuss biographer Phil Nel, Geisel threatened to sue an anti-abortion rights group during the 1980s that used the statement on its stationery, forcing them to back down.

Burton insists that her group talked to attorneys to make sure that they could reprint the sentence on their shirts. A lawyer for Dr. Seuss Enterprises did not return calls seeking comment.

As for the author himself, Nel says that he is not aware of Geisel ever publicly expressing his opinion on abortion.

"But given that he was a liberal Democrat who favored women's rights, it's fair to infer that he did not support that [anti-abortion] agenda."

Geisel's widow, Audrey, did not return calls seeking comment. But Karl ZoBell, the lawyer for Dr. Seuss Enterprises, told National Public Radio that "She doesn't like to hijack Dr. Seuss characters or material to front their own points of view."

Since the book was published in 1954, the same year as the landmark civil rights decision Brown vs. Board of Education, it was widely interpreted as a paean to the rights of minorities. One reviewer praised it as a "rhymed lesson in protection of minorities and their rights."

It's not the only Dr. Seuss book to arouse controversy and conflicting messages.

"The Lorax," a parable about the plight of the environment and the destruction caused by industrialized society, has been banned in some schools and libraries for its anti-timber industry focus. A group of timber companies even created its own version of the book, a logging-friendly tome called "The Truax."

Nel says that some of Geisel's books were shaped by his liberal politics.

"The Sneetches" was inspired by his opposition to anti-Semitism, but it also works as an anti-discrimination parable. "The Butter Battle Book" was a critique of Reagan's escalation of the nuclear arms race and "Yertle the Turtle" is an anti-fascist book inspired by Hitler."

Even the "Cat in the Hat" has a larger purpose beyond just teaching kids how to read, says Nel. "It's all about challenging authority. There's a theme in Seuss' book of the outsider, usually a child character, speaking up and making himself heard and making a difference. Look at little Jo Jo [in "Cat in the Hat']. It's his voice that puts them over the top."[1]

Killing babies no different from abortion, experts say

The article, published in the Journal of Medical Ethics, says newborn babies are not “actual persons” and do not have a “moral right to life”. The academics also argue that parents should be able to have their baby killed if it turns out to be disabled when it is born.

The journal’s editor, Prof Julian Savulescu, director of the Oxford Uehiro Centre for Practical Ethics, said the article's authors had received death threats since publishing the article. He said those who made abusive and threatening posts about the study were “fanatics opposed to the very values of a liberal society”.

The article, entitled “After-birth abortion: Why should the baby live?”, was written by two of Prof Savulescu’s former associates, Alberto Giubilini and Francesca Minerva.

They argued: “The moral status of an infant is equivalent to that of a fetus in the sense that both lack those properties that justify the attribution of a right to life to an individual.”

Rather than being “actual persons”, newborns were “potential persons”. They explained: “Both a fetus and a newborn certainly are human beings and potential persons, but neither is a ‘person’ in the sense of ‘subject of a moral right to life’.

“We take ‘person’ to mean an individual who is capable of attributing to her own existence some (at least) basic value such that being deprived of this existence represents a loss to her.”

As such they argued it was “not possible to damage a newborn by preventing her from developing the potentiality to become a person in the morally relevant sense”.

The authors therefore concluded that “what we call ‘after-birth abortion’ (killing a newborn) should be permissible in all the cases where abortion is, including cases where the newborn is not disabled”.

They also argued that parents should be able to have the baby killed if it turned out to be disabled without their knowing before birth, for example citing that “only the 64 per cent of Down’s syndrome cases” in Europe are diagnosed by prenatal testing.

Once such children were born there was “no choice for the parents but to keep the child”, they wrote.

“To bring up such children might be an unbearable burden on the family and on society as a whole, when the state economically provides for their care.”

However, they did not argue that some baby killings were more justifiable than others – their fundamental point was that, morally, there was no difference to abortion as already practised.

They preferred to use the phrase “after-birth abortion” rather than “infanticide” to “emphasise that the moral status of the individual killed is comparable with that of a fetus”.

Both Minerva and Giubilini know Prof Savulescu through Oxford. Minerva was a research associate at the Oxford Uehiro Centre for Practical Ethics until last June, when she moved to the Centre for Applied Philosophy and Public Ethics at Melbourne University.

Giubilini, a former visiting student at Cambridge University, gave a talk in January at the Oxford Martin School – where Prof Savulescu is also a director – titled 'What is the problem with euthanasia?'

He too has gone on to Melbourne, although to the city’s Monash University. Prof Savulescu worked at both univerisities before moving to Oxford in 2002.

Defending the decision to publish in a British Medical Journal blog, Prof Savulescu, said that arguments in favour of killing newborns were “largely not new”.

What Minerva and Giubilini did was apply these arguments “in consideration of maternal and family interests”.

While accepting that many people would disagree with their arguments, he wrote: “The goal of the Journal of Medical Ethics is not to present the Truth or promote some one moral view. It is to present well reasoned argument based on widely accepted premises.”

Speaking to The Daily Telegraph, he added: “This “debate” has been an example of “witch ethics” - a group of people know who the witch is and seek to burn her. It is one of the most dangerous human tendencies we have. It leads to lynching and genocide. Rather than argue and engage, there is a drive is to silence and, in the extreme, kill, based on their own moral certainty. That is not the sort of society we should live in.”

He said the journal would consider publishing an article positing that, if there was no moral difference between abortion and killing newborns, then abortion too should be illegal.

Dr Trevor Stammers, director of medical ethics at St Mary's University College, said: "If a mother does smother her child with a blanket, we say 'it's doesn't matter, she can get another one,' is that what we want to happen?

"What these young colleagues are spelling out is what we would be the inevitable end point of a road that ethical philosophers in the States and Australia have all been treading for a long time and there is certainly nothing new."

Referring to the term "after-birth abortion", Dr Stammers added: "This is just verbal manipulation that is not philosophy. I might refer to abortion henceforth as antenatal infanticide." [1]

Bishop David Oyedepo slaps a witch for Jesus

Then a year later, he brags about it.

Pentecostal abuse of kindoki children is on the rise in the UK

Nigerian Pentecostal Church

When 15-year-old Kristy Bamu left his parents in Paris on 16 December 2010, he was looking forward to spending the Christmas holidays with his siblings, visiting their sister and her boyfriend in London.

On Christmas Day he was found by paramedics in the bathroom of an east London high-rise flat. His body had been mutilated, teeth were missing and he was covered in deep cuts and bruising. In the last four days of his life he had suffered acts of unspeakable savagery, doled out by a man he called "uncle" and one of his own sisters.

Why? Because Eric Bikubi, a powerfully built football coach, and Magalie Bamu were convinced the boy was a witch, possessed by spirits who wanted to bring evil into their home. On Thursday they were convicted of murder. They had earlier admitted actual bodily harm against Kristy's sister Kelly and a younger sister, who cannot be named.

The judge, Mr Justice Paget, exempted the jury from jury service for the rest of their lives because of the "strain" of the trial, adding it was a case "every one of us will remember". The story of Kristy's last days is difficult to hear, and harder to comprehend. He was starved and deprived of water and sleep, punched and kicked repeatedly, floor tiles were smashed over his head, his teeth were hit out with a hammer and a pair of pliers were used to twist his ear. Throughout the ordeal, his siblings – two of whom were themselves accused of being witches by the couple and abused – were forced to watch or take part in the torture.

But despite the extraordinary horror of this case, African groups have warned that belief in witchcraft is increasingly common in some communities and that other children in the UK are "suffering in silence" after being branded as witches.

"We were concerned about this before this trial of Kristy Bamu," said Debbie Ariyo, executive director of Africans Unite Against Child Abuse(Afruca), who added that a boom in pentecostal churches was leading to more children being accused of witchcraft. "This is not a problem with all pastors or all churches, but the branding of children as witches is not abating. It is a growing problem. There are so many children suffering in silence."

In response to the case the Victoria Climbie Foundation announced on Thursday that in April it would be launching a cross-border initiative with Kelly Bamu and some of the teenager's friends who would work in schools and in communities to highlight the dangers of ritualised child abuse and witch branding. "A lot of awareness raising has been done, but this is also a problem in other EU countries such as Belgium," said director Mor Dioum.

The 83 incidents uncovered in the past decade only scratch the surface of a hidden crime, according to Detective Superintendent Terry Sharpe, head of the child abuse investigation command at Scotland Yard.

An average of eight children a year in Greater London are victims of abuse based on witchcraft-style exorcisms, but this only reflects cases resulting in police investigations.

Sharpe detailed the horrific abuse, including being beaten or forced to drink unknown liquids, starved or deprived of sleep, blindfolded and having their hair shaved off.

Kristy Bamu was subjected to many methods of torture. It began with a simple accident when Kristy, waking in an unfamiliar bed, wet himself. Bikubi, finding the underwear, accused the boy of being possessed bykindoki – the word for witchcraft in the Congolese Lingala language. This is a recognisable trigger in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), where both Bikubi and Bamu were born, according to Dr Richard Hoskins, an expert in African religions.

"The trigger that needs to occur for people to think someone is possessed by kindoki can be anything out of the ordinary. Bed-wetting is a classic example of this," he told the Old Bailey trial.

For the next four days, Kristy and two of his sisters – Kelly, 21, and an 11-year-old – were accused repeatedly of being witches. They were forced to fast and stay up all night chanting prayers. In horrific evidence, which reduced members of the jury to tears, the court heard that Bikubi soon fixated on Kristy. Over several days, he beat him around the body with a metal bar used for weights, shoving the end of it into his mouth and dislodging a tooth. The football coach headbutted and hit the teenager, smashing bottles and then heavy floor tiles – bought to redecorate the flat – over his head. When paramedics arrived at the flat on Christmas Day and found the child drowned by the side of a bath, they found his blood all over the flat and an "armoury" of weapons that had been used to torture him.

Witchcraft had preoccupied Bikubi from an early age. Speaking to a forensic psychiatrist, Dr Tim Rogers, in Pentonville prison, he explained as a child in the DRC he saw rats and other "abnormal visions" and was isolated as a result. Bikubi – who moved to London when he was seven – believed he was "the chosen one", with a special ability to sense other people's spirits.

Thomas Bikebi, executive director of the Congolese Family Centre, said that for some believers once the presence of evil spirits had been "confirmed" – often, but not always by a pastor – the "punishment" was seen to be imposed on the spirit and not on the child. "When you force the child to fast, people believe you are starving the spirit, not the child. When you beat, you are beating the spirit," he said.

The widespread belief in kindoki could even lead those who believed in the evil power of spirits to support the actions of Bikubi and Bamu, he said. "There are people within the community who will say that this pair did the right thing, they killed a witch," Bikebi said.

Common problems experienced by children – such as autism, epilepsy, dyslexia or even simple naughtiness – could trigger accusations, said Ariyo, with children living away from home or in domestic servitude most likely to be targeted.

"It is heartbreaking. Some of these children have a disability but pastors are saying they are possessed," she said. "This can prevent parents going to see professionals and getting the help they need."

There has been a rapid growth in African churches in the UK. According to UK Church Statistics, 670 pentecostal churches opened between 2005 and 2010, taking the total to 3,900 – that figure is expected to rise to 4,600 by 2015. As a result, Ariyo fears that "witch-branding" is on the increase. Afruca dealt with a dozen cases of ritualised abuse last year, and said the national figure was likely to be far higher.

A social worker with more than 30 years' experience with African communities in London said that many cases were "going under the radar" and blamed "rogue" pastors for the spread of branding and ritualised abuse. "It is spreading like bushfire because it is a source of income," she said. "If you can charge £500 for an oil that is going to 'cure' a child of evil spirits, you are going to make money. Pastors can be very powerful people, and we have to educate the bad ones that there are other ways of making money than playing on people's ignorance."

Police believe Bikubi may have visited Nigerian preachers in north London but his local churches denied knowing him. However, access to the internet and satellite channels meant the influence of pastors based in countries such as Nigeria, Angola and the DRC was increasingly pervasive, Bikebi said.

"You have pastors online who tell people that they just need to send money and touch the table in front of them and the evil spirit will be banished and all their problems will be fixed."

One video on YouTube, featuring the well-known Nigerian preacher David Oyedepo, reveals the power of some church leaders. A teenage girl kneels before the pastor, and after saying she is a "witch for Jesus" he calls her a "foul devil", slapping her violently across the face while the congregation cheers. In a later video, he can be seen boasting: "I slapped a witch here last year."

Many African churches work with agencies to educate preachers about UK laws concerning child protection, according to the Churches' Child Protection Advisory Service. The organisation has trained 4,000 preachers from African churches since 2007, but argues that local boards for safeguarding children must do more to know what churches are operating in their areas.

A lack of any requirement to note religion in child abuse cases was likely to lead to under-reporting, said its chief executive, Simon Bass.

"Like female genital mutilation, there is likely to be under-reporting in this area, so we have to work with statutory agencies and across the church spectrum to ensure more children do not suffer this type of abuse," he said.

Project Violet, the Metropolitan police's faith-related child abuse unit, has a team of three dedicated officers working with communities, schools, religious leaders, and the medical profession to raise awareness, said Sharpe. "We have ongoing community engagement … and are in the process of increasing awareness of Project Violet within the Met police so that frontline officers who attend incidents are aware of these particular issues," he said.

Critics argue the unit has been seriously neglected in recent years, after making an initial impact when it was established in 2005 as a response to the abuse of child B – an eight-year-old Angolan girl who was beaten, cut and had chilli rubbed in her eyes for being a "witch".

"Project Violet is a shadow of its former self," said Ariyo. "The police are not engaging enough with faith groups, and there is a gap that needs to be filled. We shouldn't shed tears after another child has been killed. We need to act now."

Afruca is calling on the government to make branding a child as a witch illegal, and is calling for greater monitoring of churches and preachers. "If we don't push home the idea that calling a child a witch will have grave consequences, then we will continue to have these kind of cases," said Ariyo. "We don't seem to be learning from these cases. People cry crocodile tears and then nothing happens."

On Christmas Day 2010, Kristy's killer spoke to the boy's father, Pierre, accusing the 15-year-old of being a witch and threatening to kill him. Kristy told his father: "Dad, come and get me, or otherwise Eric will kill me". The court heard Pierre Bamu, dismissed the boy's fears because he could not imagine Bikubi causing any harm to the children, who had stayed with Bikubi before. A few hours later, Kristy was dead. [1]