Monday, December 31, 2007

New York Times To Bush. You're An Evil Clusterfuck

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Well the NYT didn't actually put it that way, they're a bit hamstrung when it comes to headers but there are no such impediments for me so I will say it for them.


Looking At America

There are too many moments these days when we cannot recognize our country. Sunday was one of them, as we read the account in The Times of how men in some of the most trusted posts in the nation plotted to cover up the torture of prisoners by Central Intelligence Agency interrogators by destroying videotapes of their sickening behavior. It was impossible to see the founding principles of the greatest democracy in the contempt these men and their bosses showed for the Constitution, the rule of law and human decency.

It was not the first time in recent years we’ve felt this horror, this sorrowful sense of estrangement, not nearly. This sort of lawless behavior has become standard practice since Sept. 11, 2001.

The country and much of the world was rightly and profoundly frightened by the single-minded hatred and ingenuity displayed by this new enemy. But there is no excuse for how President Bush and his advisers panicked — how they forgot that it is their responsibility to protect American lives and American ideals, that there really is no safety for Americans or their country when those ideals are sacrificed.

Out of panic and ideology, President Bush squandered America’s position of moral and political leadership, swept aside international institutions and treaties, sullied America’s global image, and trampled on the constitutional pillars that have supported our democracy through the most terrifying and challenging times. These policies have fed the world’s anger and alienation and have not made any of us safer.

In the years since 9/11, we have seen American soldiers abuse, sexually humiliate, torment and murder prisoners in Afghanistan and Iraq. A few have been punished, but their leaders have never been called to account. We have seen mercenaries gun down Iraqi civilians with no fear of prosecution. We have seen the president, sworn to defend the Constitution, turn his powers on his own citizens, authorizing the intelligence agencies to spy on Americans, wiretapping phones and intercepting international e-mail messages without a warrant.

We have read accounts of how the government’s top lawyers huddled in secret after the attacks in New York and Washington and plotted ways to circumvent the Geneva Conventions — and both American and international law — to hold anyone the president chose indefinitely without charges or judicial review.

Those same lawyers then twisted other laws beyond recognition to allow Mr. Bush to turn intelligence agents into torturers, to force doctors to abdicate their professional oaths and responsibilities to prepare prisoners for abuse, and then to monitor the torment to make sure it didn’t go just a bit too far and actually kill them.

The White House used the fear of terrorism and the sense of national unity to ram laws through Congress that gave law-enforcement agencies far more power than they truly needed to respond to the threat — and at the same time fulfilled the imperial fantasies of Vice President Dick Cheney and others determined to use the tragedy of 9/11 to arrogate as much power as they could.

Hundreds of men, swept up on the battlefields of Afghanistan and Iraq, were thrown into a prison in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, so that the White House could claim they were beyond the reach of American laws. Prisoners are held there with no hope of real justice, only the chance to face a kangaroo court where evidence and the names of their accusers are kept secret, and where they are not permitted to talk about the abuse they have suffered at the hands of American jailers.

In other foreign lands, the C.I.A. set up secret jails where “high-value detainees” were subjected to ever more barbaric acts, including simulated drowning. These crimes were videotaped, so that “experts” could watch them, and then the videotapes were destroyed, after consultation with the White House, in the hope that Americans would never know.

The C.I.A. contracted out its inhumanity to nations with no respect for life or law, sending prisoners — some of them innocents kidnapped on street corners and in airports — to be tortured into making false confessions, or until it was clear they had nothing to say and so were let go without any apology or hope of redress.

These are not the only shocking abuses of President Bush’s two terms in office, made in the name of fighting terrorism. There is much more — so much that the next president will have a full agenda simply discovering all the wrongs that have been done and then righting them.

We can only hope that this time, unlike 2004, American voters will have the wisdom to grant the awesome powers of the presidency to someone who has the integrity, principle and decency to use them honorably. Then when we look in the mirror as a nation, we will see, once again, the reflection of the United States of America. Source NYT

On This Day December 31st

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Campbell breaks water speed record. Yeltsin resigns, job interfering with drinking. Party on. and other

Sunday, December 30, 2007

Romney You're Whoring Again

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Given that I posted about the abortion clinic shooting in Boston earlier today this seems quite topical.


Former governor Mitt Romney's economic development agency granted initial approval to a tax-exempt bond last year for a Planned Parenthood clinic in Worcester that will provide abortions, just two months before he left office and began highlighting his antiabortion position as a presidential candidate.

Asked about the $5 million financial deal yesterday, the Romney campaign said the former governor was not aware it was under consideration when Planned Parenthood won preliminary approval in November 2006.......

Romney's dealings with Planned Parenthood have been a source of controversy on the campaign trail. In 1994 as a candidate for the US Senate and again in 2002 as a candidate for governor, Romney declared himself squarely behind Planned Parenthood's missions: to provide abortions, increase access to emergency contraception, and to back comprehensive sex education in the schools that included both abstinence and contraception. He and his wife, Ann, attended a Planned Parenthood fund-raiser in Cohasett and Ann donated $150 to the group........


"This was more than just a flip-flop, this was an extreme makeover," said Angus McQuilken, a spokesman for a Planned Parenthood advocacy arm. "We feel an obligation to let America know who the real Mitt Romney is - a candidate who will say anything to get elected." more

Shurely shome mishtake.

h/t Chris Americablog

Will The Real Jesus Christ Please Stand Up

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Oh dear oh dear oh dear, what will the fundies make of of this one?

I've watched a few minutes of excellent quality film and have no doubt the production will be to usual Channel Four standards, but the whole thing is a hundred minutes long and to sit through that my little buttered mushrooms is, I am afraid, above and beyond the call of blogging.

Theologian Dr Robert Beckford investigates amazing parallels to the Christ story in other faiths, some of them predating Christianity by thousands of years. The Hindu god, Krishna, was conceived by a virgin and his birth was attended by angels, wise men and shepherds. Buddha was also the result of a miraculous birth and visited by wise men bearing gifts. Beckford attempts to unravel the mystery of why there are so many versions of the Christ story across the world and asks which is the real one. watch

Trouble At 'Mill: New Orleans

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Tasers, Pepper Spray, and Arrests


The Struggle for Affordable Housing in New Orleans

In a remarkable symbol of the injustices of post-Katrina reconstruction, hundreds of people were locked out of a public New Orleans City Council meeting addressing demolition of 4,500 public housing apartments. Some were tasered, many pepper sprayed, and a dozen arrested. Outside the chambers, iron gates were chained and padlocked even before the scheduled start.

The scene looked like one of those countries on TV that is undergoing a people's revolution -- and the similarities were only beginning.

Dozens of uniformed police secured the gates and other entrances. Only developers and those with special permission from council members were allowed in -- the rest were kept locked outside the gates. Despite dozens of open seats in the council chambers, pleas to be allowed in were ignored.

Chants of "Housing is a human right!" and "Let us in!" thundered through the concrete breezeway.

Public housing residents came and spoke out despite an intense campaign of intimidation. Residents were warned by phone that if they publicly opposed the demolitions, they would lose all housing assistance. Residents opposed to the demolition had simple demands. If the authorities insisted on spending hundreds of millions to tear down hundreds of structurally sound buildings containing 4,500 public housing subsidized apartments, there should be a guarantee that every resident could return to a similarly subsidized apartment. Alternatively, the government should use the hundreds of millions to repair the apartments so people could come home. Neither alternative was acceptable to HUD. A plan of residents to partner with the AFL-CIO Housing Trust to save their homes was also ignored.

Outside, SWAT team members and police in riot gear and on horses began to arrive as rain started falling. more

On This Day December 30th

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Bloody battles in Cuba. 60,000 Iranians deported from Iraq. No more canaries down the pits. Gunman shoots two women dead at abortion clinic, now which country would that be? and other


The Loon with the gun wasn't as it happens Paul Hill, but I make mention of Hill in a previous post. If you don't read the whole thing then at least follow the link to the "Paul Hill Message Board" and read the comments there that have been left by the dyed in the wool batshit crazies, and I have to say it even at this ungodly hour in the morning, stroll fucking on, only in America.

And while I'm on the subject, catch this demented fucker and give yourself a Cor Fucking Blimey experience.

I think I will return to feathers and start the day again somewhat later.

Saturday, December 29, 2007

Labels/Tags

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Had I known in the beginning that I was going to be incapacitated for so long and blog so many posts I would have ensured that I used labels from the get go.

But I have made a start and have labelled the first hundred posts, only sixteen hundred more to go. You will find them in the left hand sidebar

It is without a shadow of doubt a right ball acher of a job, but there you go. Many thanks to the Barefootbum (graphic unrelated) for putting me straight on the how to, and using plainspeak.

McCann Abduction: Sixteen Reasons For Doubt: Update

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The original sixteen reasons have been updated to twenty one.

Bolivia's New Constitution: Pepe Escobar

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Having previously featured a couple of articles by Pepe Escobar I have on occasion wondered what he was all about. Wondered yes, but being the lazy git I am I have to admit to never actually looking the guy up.

Well he's popped up in this seven minute video talking about the conflict of Bolivia's proposed new constitution.
Here again I have to admit to knowing as much about Bolivia as I did about Escobar, so if you fall into this category with me then it's not a bad seven minutes.


Of the previous two articles by Escobar, Attack Iran and you attack Russia, and Baghdad is finished: Up close and Personal, the latter of the two I thought was a very worthy read.

I've just searched for a graphic, it seems Escobar is no slouch of a reporter, not that I thought he was given the various places he reports from.

Paedo Bling!

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I came across this from News.com.au when reporting the previous story.

PEDOPHILES are using abstract symbols inscribed on jewellery such as rings, pendants and coins to publicly communicate their sexual desires to each other.

A recent FBI intelligence briefing describes how different symbols are used to indicate gender preference - "boylove" or "girllove" - or membership of a pedophile organisation.

"The BoyLover logo is a small blue spiral-shaped triangle surrounded by a larger triangle, whereby the small triangle represents a small boy and the larger triangle represents an adult man," the documents state.

The "Little Boy Lover logo" is described as being similar, but with rounded corners "to resemble a scribbling by a young child".

"Pedophilia symbols on jewellery, coins, websites and other effects are indicative of advertisement methods used by child sexual predators to promote their cause," the documents state.

In one example given, FBI investigators in California found a coin that had been imprinted with the BoyLover logo on one side and the inscription "Kids Love Pedos" on the other.more

Six Burn To Death In Pakistan Riots

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Well that should bring her back.

Graphics from file, and no riot story would be complete without a piccy of Rage Boy.


Workers burn to death as riot toll hits 32
SIX people were burnt to death when a mob enraged by the assassination of former premier Benazir Bhutto torched a factory in the southern Pakistani city of Karachi, police said.

It was not immediately known if the victims had already been counted in the 32 deaths reported earlier by officials, as the country reeled from a spate of arson attacks, shootings and other violence since Bhutto was slain on Thursday.

"The mob stormed into a leather factory in the Korangi area of Karachi. They set it on fire and six labourers were burnt to death," police official Latif Siddiqi said.

The workers had stayed in the factory overnight because there was no transport to get them home, after opposition leaders called for a national strike to protest Bhutto's killing, keeping taxis and buses off the roads.


Siddiqi said rioters also burnt down a BMW car showroom and ransacked a medicine factory and a private hospital in the same area of the city, Pakistan's largest and the economic hub of the country.source

Mystery Surrounds Bhutto Killing And Police Security Role

Pakistan govt reveals how Benazir was killed
Mystery shrouds the death of former Pakistan prime minister Benazir Bhutto. In an explosive revelation, Pakistan's Interior Minister Hamid Nawaz on Friday said that Bhutto did not die of bullet wounds.
Nawaz said that Bhutto died from a head injury. At least seven doctors from the Rawalpindi General Hospital – where the leader was rushed immediately after the attack – say there were no bullet marks on Bhutto's body.
The doctors have submitted a report to the Pakistan government in which they say that no post-mortem was performed on Bhutto’s body and they had not received any instructions to perform one. more


Police abandoned security posts before Bhutto assassination
........Perhaps more shockingly, an attendee at the rally where Bhutto was killed says police charged with protecting her "abandoned their posts," leaving just a handful of Bhutto's own bodyguards protecting her.

"Police officers had frisked the 3,000 to 4,000 people attending Thursday's rally when they entered the park, but as the speakers from Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party droned on, the police abandoned many of their posts," wrote Saeed Shah in an essay published by McClatchy News Service. "As she drove out through the gate, her main protection appeared to be her own bodyguards, who wore their usual white T-shirts inscribed: 'Willing to die for Benazir.'"

While some intelligence officials, especially within the US, were quick to finger al Qaeda militants as responsible for Bhutto's death, it remains unclear precisely who was responsible and some speculation has centered on Pakistan's intelligence service, the ISI, its military or even forces loyal to the current president Pervez Musharraf. Rawalpindi, where Bhutto was killed, is the garrison city that houses the Pakistani military's headquarters.more

On This Day December 29th

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Britain freezes. Macmillan croaks. Rajiv Gandhi Landslide. (another one destined for a bomb)
Six dead in Sidney-Hobart, I watched the footage, just a bit of a swell really.

I dug this short bit of film up, you can see what I mean, but I've never seen the "waterspout" before.

Friday, December 28, 2007

Benazir Bhutto Talks To David Frost: Al Jazeera

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There is enough coverage on the tragic murder of Benazir Bhutto so here is something a little different.


I can't find an exact date for this interview but obviously it was between the first unsuccessful attack on Bhutto and the present successful one.


When Benazir Bhutto returned to Pakistan to take a stand for democratic government, 3 million Pakistanis greeted her at the airport.

Now she is dead.

At 6:15 in this video, Benazir Bhutto refers in a matter-of-fact manner to "the man who killed Osama bin Laden."

If this was a misstatement, she did not correct herself, nor did the interviewer call attention to it.


Before she was murdered, there was another attack on Benazir Bhutto's life. She told David Frost that she was not even allowed to file a police report let alone get a serious investigation of the attack.

She specifically stated that she wanted the finances of the terrorists traced.

Saeed Sheikh is the man Bhutto refers to in this interview.


He is charged with killing Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl who tracked the relationship between Pakistani intelligence and terrorist groups. He is also suspected of having wired money to Mohamed Atta on behalf of Pakistani intelligence right before the 9/11 attacks.

George Bush & Company wholeheartedly support the current Pakistani regime. Watch and source BrascheckTV

Russian GPS To Be Up And Runnig In 2009

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Russia successfully launched a rocket on Tuesday carrying the last three satellites to complete a navigation system to rival America's GPS.


The military-run GLONASS mapping system works over most of Russia and is expected to cover the globe by the end of 2009, once all its 24 navigational satellites are operating.

A space rocket blasted off from Russia's Baikonur cosmodrome on the steppes of neighbouring ex-Soviet Kazakhstan, from which Russia rents the facility.

"The launch was carried out smoothly at 10:32 p.m. (1932 GMT)," RIA news agency quoted a spokesman for the Russian space agency as saying. "We expect satellites to separate from the booster on the orbit at 2:24 a.m. (2324 GMT)".

Work on GLONASS -- or Global Navigation Satellite System -- began in the Soviet Union in the mid-1970s to give its armed forces exact bearings around the world.

The collapse of the Russian economy in the late 1990s drained funds and the plans withered, but President Vladimir Putin has ensured the project is now being lavishly funded from a brimming government budget.

Officials said GLONASS would mainly be used alongside the U.S. global positioning system, which Washington can switch off for civilian subscribers, as it did during recent military operations in Iraq.source

We Are All Prisoners Now: Paul Craig Roberts

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This is not the first article by Roberts that I have put before you, as always he's worth the read.


Christmas time it has been my habit to write a column in remembrance of the many innocent people in prisons whose lives have been stolen by the US criminal justice (sic) system that is as inhumane as it is indifferent to justice. Usually I retell the cases of William Strong and Christophe Gaynor, two men framed in the state of Virginia by prosecutors and judges as wicked and corrupt as any who served Hitler or Stalin.


This year is different. All Americans are now imprisoned in a world of lies and deception created by the Bush Regime and the two complicit parties of Congress, by federal judges too timid or ignorant to recognize a rogue regime running roughshod over the Constitution, by a bought and paid for media that serves as propagandists for a regime of war criminals, and by a public who have forsaken their Founding Fathers.

Americans are also imprisoned by fear, a false fear created by the hoax of “terrorism.” It has turned out that headline terrorist events since 9/11 have been orchestrated by the US government. For example, the alleged terrorist plot to blow up Chicago’s Sears Tower was the brainchild of a FBI agent who searched out a few disaffected people to give lip service to the plot devised by the FBI agent. He arrested his victims, whose trial ended in acquittal and mistrial.more

Romney Have You No Shame Man?

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Jesus wept he is a shameless bugger, if any European pol put his name to shite like this his carreer would be over, over for good.
Perhaps it's better to watch the add first. Dead link.


While people who should know better have been seeing crucifixes in Mike Huckabee's bookshelves, Mitt Romney is airing an ad in New Hampshire that not only implies God is his decorator, but hints that Mitt might actually be the savior himself.

At least he saved one lost lamb, a runaway named Melissa Gay.

Here's how her earthly father, Robert Gay, tells it,in the add, over ominous headlines and images of New York City so skuzzy they make Death Wish look like Wonderful Town:




"My 14-year-old daughter had disappeared in New York City for three days. No one could find her. My business partner stepped forward to take charge. He closed the company and brought almost all our employees to New York. He said, 'I don't care how long it takes, we're going to find her.' He set up a command center and searched through the night. The man who helped save my daughter was Mitt Romney. Mitt's done a lot of things that people say are nearly impossible. But for me, the most important thing he's ever done is to help save my daughter."

... from the Negroes.more

Judicial Watch's Ten Most Corrupt Politicians

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They must have had their work cut out trying to sort through the sewer to come up with the ten worst.

And they ain't all Repubs.



Washington, DC –Judicial Watch, the public interest group that investigates and prosecutes government corruption, today released its 2007 list of Washington’s “Ten Most Wanted Corrupt Politicians.” The list, in alphabetical order, includes:more

Christian Punch Up In Bethlehem Church

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What would Jesus say?


Members of rival Christian orders have traded blows at the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, with four people reported wounded in the fray.

Greek Orthodox and Armenian Apostolic priests were sweeping up at the church following the Christmas rites of the Western churches earlier in the week.

Reports say some Orthodox faithful encroached on the Armenian section, prompting pitched battles with brooms.more


on This Day December 27th

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Quarter ton of charlie seized. Tay Bridge goes for a swim and other domestic rubbish.

Thursday, December 27, 2007

Christmas Boop

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Look what Santa brought me, ain't she cute.


USAF Academy! I Want To Throw Up

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I was going to do my own little piece about this sickening wrapped in Jesus organisation that calls itself the Air Force Academy, but my stomach won't take it.

If you can manage to sit through this ten minute God awful display you might then want go over to Videot speak for a properly constructed article on this disgusting distasteful obscenity.

These Jesus freak wads of fuck are the next generation of aerial murderers that will drop large bombs on innocents, and the cocksuckers will do it with a fucking bible in their hands.

Fucking Christians! don't make me piss blood.




Video and ABC report only. Full article with video and associated links at Videot speak

Breaking: Benazir Bhutto Killed in Suicide Bombing

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BBC Main page, follow the link for live report. posted at 13.40 GMT

On This Day December 27th

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Sixteen dead in airport shoot outs. France explodes third nuke. Britain's first drill rig capsizes, looks a right flimsy bugger to me. and other

Time: Fifty Top Ten Lists

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There is a rake of stuff here from Time.



Graphics have no relation to the article, they came up under a search for "fifty" and took my fancy.

Photo Of The Day

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US Army Sgt. John Wayne Cornell and his mother-in-law (first from right) glare at President George W. Bush after after he presented the wounded soldier with a Purple Heart Dec. 20, 2007, during a visit to Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Washington

All Dressed Up And No One To Swat: Lawrenceburg Indiana

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"In my opinion they looked like they were enjoying what they were doing" said a neighbour.

It's just a shame the swat team surrounded the wrong house looking for a suspect that didn't live there then filled the house with tear gas, stormed the place and proceeded to totally trash the apartment of a young single mother.

And the best the Lawrenceburg cops could offer afterwards was, "we will have a collection so you can buy some materials and you can clean it up yourself." watch three minutes.

Nice

Taser The Citizens Not

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A big article with lots of good links.

Hardly a week goes by without our being inundated with shocking reports of police using tasers to subdue citizens. Taser guns shoot darts that apply a violent electric shock in excess of 50,000 volts when the needles from tasers penetrate the skin of victims. I have watched a number of taser incidents....more

Top Twenty In The Blasphemy Collection

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The God pages of the Times are coming up trumps for material today.


The Blasphemy Collection

The concept of blasphemy seemed for some decades to be in decline in the West, but not any more. It may be useful to look back at some recent cases of militantly religious outrage...

Rated by
Vulgarity
–the piece shocked through its conflation of the sacred and the profane
Criminality –the piece contravened laws in a given country
Religious impact –the work caused outrage from religious leaders
Political impact –speeches were made by governments, laws were created or changed.
Deaths – outrage at the work led to the death of one or more people more

Life Better For Christians Under Saddam

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Not a very Christian attitude my man, I wouldn't call it a barrel of fun for the rest of them, but then the good vicar is also an advisor to Bush so I guess Christianity doesn't really apply in this case.

Life was “better” for Christians in Iraq under the regime of Saddam Hussein than it is today, according to the only Anglican vicar working in Baghdad.....


“It is still very difficult ," he said . " Not like it was under Saddam, it was a lot easier just day - to - day living. There are threats to these our people all the time. They know who the Christians are."

But the cleric, who is flown regularly to the US to advise President George Bush in person on what is happening in the country said he still thinks removing the dictator was the right thing to do....more

Well he would wouldn't he.

The Times Top Twenty Religious Stories

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I thought I would start the day with something light, this is number ten on the Times list.

It would appear a certain UK supermarket chain doesn't know it's virgin birth miracles from it's rising up from the dead type of miracle.

Then does it really matter when you're trying to flog Easter Eggs?

But if Easter eggs aren't to your taste you could try this piece of Catholic mumbo jumbo at it's best.
Oh those Papists and their geegaws and some piece of marketing, for Christ's sake I hope the bloody McCanns don't get a hold of this one, there'd be no stopping them.

Fragments of a cassock worn by Pope John Paul II are being offered for sale to the faithful, causing concern in the Vatican over the resurgence in the veneration of relics.

Devotees of John Paul can apply via e-mail, fax or post for fragments of a white cassock to augment their prayers. A cassock worn by John Paul has reportedly been cut into 100,000 pieces to satisfy demand.

The scheme is run by the Vicariate of Rome, which is promoting sainthood for John Paul. The faithful also receive a “holy card” with a prayer to “obtain graces through the intercession of John Paul II”. Number twenty


Tuesday, December 25, 2007

Santa's Little Helper Boop Boop A Doop

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On This Day December 25th

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Nicolae Ceausescu and his missus head downstairs. Charlie Chaplin heads upstairs? Big hurricane says happy Christmas to Darwin (the place) Gorbachev steps down. Betty says a few words on the wireless. Mars probe Beagle II disappears, who made that rascal? Anything else? more