‘The Americans were getting close. It was early in the winter of 2004-05, and Osama bin Laden and his entourage were holed up in a mountain hideaway along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border. Suddenly, a sentry, posted several kilometers away, spotted a patrol of U.S. soldiers who seemed to be heading straight for bin Laden’s redoubt. The sentry radioed an alert, and word quickly passed among the Qaeda leader’s 40-odd bodyguards to prepare to remove “the Sheik,” as bin Laden is known to his followers, to a fallback position. As Sheik Said, a senior Egyptian Qaeda operative, later told the story, the anxiety level was so high that the bodyguards were close to using the code word to kill bin Laden and commit suicide. According to Said, bin Laden had decreed that he would never be captured. “If there’s a 99 percent risk of the Sheik’s being captured, he told his men that they should all die and martyr him as well,” Said told Omar Farooqi, a Taliban liaison officer to Al Qaeda who spoke to a NEWSWEEK reporter in Afghanistan.’
‘Aggravated assault charges have been filed against a church deacon and University of Oklahoma Sooners fan after officials say he grabbed a University of Texas fan between the legs during a scuffle in an Oklahoma bar.
A couple of months before the annual Red River Shootout between the Sooners and Longhorns, words were exchanged at Henry Hudson’s Pub between Allen Beckett, 53, and Brian Thomas. Witnesses said it was because Thomas was wearing a UT T-shirt.
Neither Thomas or Beckett chose to comment, but the police report described what happened to the victim, including graphic details about his injuries that included a torn scrotal sack with partially exposed testicles.
Beckett’s attorney, Billy Bock, said his client’s actions were in self-defense.’
She doesn’t seem happy to learn her son is an atheist. 🙂
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see it here »
‘My praise is just so funky..’
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see it here »
‘A 23-year-old St. Augustine man who told deputies he was “angry with God” and intentionally drove his pickup truck into a Catholic church Tuesday morning, according to the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office. [..]
Just before 3 a.m., deputies responded to a report of a crash at St. Anastasia Catholic Church in the 5200 block of state Road A1A South. They said they found Thomas Kyle Nursey still in the driver’s seat of his Ford F-150 pickup that had crashed into the door of the church, according to WJXT-TV.
Deputies reported damage to the door and north wall of the church, but an estimate of damages was not immediately available.
The church would not comment on the crash.’
Hooray for the Lamb of God. 🙂
‘Tom Rogers, a retired Indianapolis detective, toils away most days in his suburban home office reviewing sexual Web sites and other Internet traffic to see whether they qualify as obscene material whose purveyors should be prosecuted by the Justice Department. [..]
The grant, about $150,000 a year, has helped pay for Mr. Rogers and another retired law enforcement officer in Reno, Nev., to harvest and review complaints about obscene matter on the Internet that citizens register on the Justice Department Web site.
In the last few years, 67,000 citizens’ complaints have been deemed legitimate under the program and passed on to the Justice Department and federal prosecutors.
The number of prosecutions resulting from those referrals is zero.’
‘A megachurch canceled a memorial service for a Navy veteran 24 hours before it was to start because the deceased was gay. [..]
“It’s a slap in the face. It’s like, ‘Oh, we’re sorry he died, but he’s gay so we can’t help you,'” she said Friday.
Wright said High Point offered to hold the service for Sinclair because their brother is a janitor there. Sinclair, who served in the first Gulf War, died Monday at age 46 from an infection after surgery to prepare him for a heart transplant.
The church’s pastor, the Rev. Gary Simons, said no one knew Sinclair, who was not a church member, was gay until the day before the Thursday service, when staff members putting together his video tribute saw pictures of men “engaging in clear affection, kissing and embracing.” [..]
“We did decline to host the service — not based on hatred, not based on discrimination, but based on principle,” Simons told The Associated Press. “Had we known it on the day they first spoke about it — yes, we would have declined then. It’s not that we didn’t love the family.”‘
‘A Catholic priest faces an indecent exposure charge after police said he went jogging in the nude about an hour before sunrise.
The Rev. Robert Whipkey told officers he had been running naked at a high school track and didn’t think anyone would be around at that time of day, a police report said.
He told officers he sweats profusely if he wears clothing while jogging. “I know what I did was wrong,” he said in the report.’
‘John Howard is going to spend $189 million “cleaning up the internet” for Australian families, blocking pornography, upgrading the search for chatroom sex predators and cutting off terror sites.
Every Australian family will be provided with a free internet filter and the federal Government will enter an unprecedented partnership with service providers to filter pornography at the source.
Communications and Australian Federal Police resources will be boosted immediately to expand checks on internet chat rooms to detect child predators, and privacy laws masking sex offenders on the net will be altered.
The Prime Minister unveiled his new net commandments last night on a webcast to more than 700 churches and thousands of churchgoers around the country.’
If you want to learn maths, I’d recommend a school other than the Castle Hills First Baptist School. An except from their curriculum:
‘CALCULUS
Students will examine the nature of God as they progress in their understanding of mathematics. Students will understand the absolute consistency of mathematical principles and know that God was the inventor of that consistency. Mathematical study will result in a greater appreciation of God and His works in creation. The students will understand the basic ideas of both differential and integral calculus and its importance and historical applications. The students will recognize that God created our minds to be able to see that the universe can be calculated by mental methods.’
‘At the time of the Crusades, Europe was divided into states whose rulers were involved in petty territorial disputes. In Jerusalem (the most popular site for pilgrimages in Medieval Europe) at the time, the Seljukian Turks were gaining power and Europe saw it as a threat to the safety of the Pilgrims and to Christendom. In 1070 Jerusalem was taken, and in 1071 Diogenes, the Greek emperor, was defeated and made captive at Mantzikert. Asia Minor and all of Syria became the prey of the Turks. Antioch succumbed in 1084, and by 1092 not one of the great metropolitan sees of Asia remained in the possession of the Christians.’
A pastor says “tits” by accident during a sermon. This was followed up by a candid camera prank where the pastor is told he’s in all sorts of trouble.
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‘Tibet’s living Buddhas have been banned from reincarnation without permission from China’s atheist leaders. The ban is included in new rules intended to assert Beijing’s authority over Tibet’s restive and deeply Buddhist people.
“The so-called reincarnated living Buddha without government approval is illegal and invalid,” according to the order, which comes into effect on September 1.
The 14-part regulation issued by the State Administration for Religious Affairs is aimed at limiting the influence of Tibet’s exiled god-king, the Dalai Lama, and at preventing the re-incarnation of the 72-year-old monk without approval from Beijing.’
‘A 21-year-old who has been accused of having sex with minors was arrested on more sex assault charges today.
David Holden of Manchester, who police say thinks of himself as a werewolf, was arrested on a warrant charging him with one count each of second-degree sexual assault, sale of marijuana, providing tobacco to a minor and public indecency. He also has been charged with four counts of impairing the morals of a minor. [..]
Investigators have received reports that Holden had been intentionally scratching minors and consuming their blood, other warrants say. He follows the Gothic culture and refers to himself as a “Lycan werewolf,” they say.
The latest warrant says he is also into Paganism and devil-worshipping.’
‘International terrorism and the threat to Britain from Al-Qaeda would probably be deemed by most as unlikely subject matter for a musical.
After all, suicide bombing, mass bloodshed and fundamental Islam do not exactly lend themselves to singing and dancing.
But Jihad the Musical by the Silk Circle Production company has forged on regardless and is already being performed on stage at the Edinburgh Festival.
The controversial satire about Islamic terrorism includes such classic tunes as “Building a bomb today, what does the manual say” and “I wanna be like Osama”.’
‘Jesuit missionaries may soon venture into Second Life, intent on saving virtual people from virtual sins.
Writing in the Italian Jesuit journal La Civilta Cattolica, whose contents are approved by the Vatican, Father Antonio Spadaro has told fellow Catholics that they shouldn’t be wary of venturing into Second Life’s virtual world, arguing that the online alternate universe might be the perfect place to land converts, Reuters reports.
“It’s not possible to close our eyes to this phenomenon or rush to judge it,” Spadaro said. “Instead, it needs to be understood … the best way to understand it is to enter it.” A regular contributor to the Jesuit journal, Spadaro has also lauded Tom Waits as a Christian role model.’
‘A 48-year-old Phoenix man whom authorities say was choking his 3-year-old granddaughter during an exorcism early Saturday died after struggling with police officers who went into the home to investigate, Phoenix police said.
Police reportedly found Ronald Marquez, of Phoenix, shirtless and choking his granddaughter as her 19-year-old mother, naked and bloody, looked on. The bloodied girl was gasping and screaming as her mother chanted and held a religious picture of some kind, police said.
“It’s very bizarre, (a) very unusual and pretty horrific situation this young child was involved in,” said Sgt. Joel Tranter, a Phoenix police spokesman. [..]
Investigators later learned the man was trying to “squeeze the demons out of the young girl,” Tranter said.’
‘Police in Johnson City arrested a Bristol, Virginia, minister for driving under the influence and indecent exposure.
Police say 58-year-old Tommy Tester urinated in front of children at a car wash while wearing a skirt. He will remain free on bond until an October court hearing.
He is also charged with having an open container of alcohol in his vehicle.
Tester is a minister of Gospel Baptist Church and works for Christian radio station W-Z-A-P, 690 A-M. The owner of the radio station, Al Morris, is asking for people to pray for Tester.
A report also accuses Tester of offering police officers oral sex and says an open bottle of vodka and empty oxycodone prescription bottle was found in his car when Tester was arrested Friday.’
‘U.S. stocks had a tough week with the Dow Jones Industrial Average suffering its worst one-week point drop in five years, but a group of meditators promise their good vibrations will send the index past 17,000 within a year.
A group called the Invincible America Assembly made that claim and more Friday, insisting they have America’s prosperity under control and their positive vibes will bring fewer hurricanes and better U.S.-North Korean relations.
Through group transcendental meditation the assembly — which has 1,800 people meditating daily in Iowa since it was formed in July 2006 — releases harmonious waves which benefit all aspects of U.S. life, spokesman Bob Roth told Reuters. [..]
The group takes credit for, among other things: the Dow Jones Industrial Average reaching a record high of 14,022 last week, unemployment rates falling to a six-year low at 4.5 percent, and North Korea shutting down its nuclear reactor.’
‘A shocking onfrontation between a Melbourne Catholic priest and a group of trespassing skateboarders has led to calls for the clergyman to have anger management counselling.
The ugly footage, which was posted on a social networking site about a year ago, shows Reverend Monsignor Geoffrey Baron, Dean of St Patrick’s Cathedral, chasing off a group of skateboarders while both sides exchange obscene and racist insults.’
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‘The mail-order minister of a Hollywood church that burns marijuana during services and allegedly sells it to members says that’s protected under federal law because the drug is a religious sacrament.
But Judge Mary Strobel has ruled that the Reverend Craig X. Rubin can’t use federal law as a defense because he faces only state charges.
Rubin, who’s representing himself at his drug trial, says members of his Temple 420 believe that marijuana is the tree of life mentioned in the Bible. [..]
The 41-year-old Rubin has no legal experience, and says he spent last weekend praying and smoking marijuana with Indians in a sweat lodge at the bottom of the Grand Canyon.’
‘Hollywood actor Tom Cruise has been likened to hated Nazi Joseph Goebbels.
The German Protestant Church compared the star status Cruise gives to the Church of Scientology to the work of the Nazi propaganda minister.
Scientology is regarded as a cult in Germany and its activities are monitored.
Cruise – a high profile Scientologist – is in Berlin acting out the part of the so-called “good Nazi” von Stauffenberg in a new movie.’
‘I head back to the bathroom to start cleaning up, and the doorbell rings again. The dog starts barking and jumping on the back door, leaving bloody streaks in the process. Having already had enough of whoever is at the door, I decide to ignore it. The doorbell rings again. Fine. Anyone but Ed McMahon is going to be sorry.
Still out of breath from the fight, sweating, covered in scratches and blood and hair, and carrying a nail trimming tool in one hand, I fling open the door. The picture-perfect charismatic family has decided to let the little girl be the front man. She looks to be about eight years old. She’s standing on the front porch, while Mom, Dad, and Little Brother – about five – are standing a few feet back on the walkway. I grit my teeth in my best Dirty Harry impression, look directly at the little girl, and say, “Yes?”
The boy isn’t paying much attention, having found a stick with which to occupy himself, but the other three family members are frozen. The mom finally pulls the boy back against her leg, but they’re too far from the girl to reach her without stepping closer themselves. The girl is unable to move. The dad, showing his true colors, is also petrified. The mom finally gives him an elbow and he tries to find his voice. I continue to stare at the little girl. “Yes, can I help you?”‘
‘An investigation is under way involving a nude woman in the middle of a busy road claiming she was taking her 7-week-old baby to meet Satan.
News Five’s Emily Longnecker reported that Lebanon police are calling this one of the most bizarre cases they’ve ever seen.
A South Lebanon man discovered the woman walking along Miller Road Saturday morning, with her baby in her arms.
“She said flat out she was going up to meet Satan and take the baby to Satan. He told her to walk up there naked and bring him the baby. So I didn’t know what to think after that,” said Steven McCabe. [..]
When police got to Mitchell, they said there was no sign of her baby. When they asked Mitchell what she’d done with him, she told them she had given the baby to Satan because he told her he wanted it, Sgt. Jeffrey Mitchell said.’
‘America’s first Muslim congressman has provoked outrage by apparently comparing President George W Bush to Adolf Hitler and hinting that he might have been responsible for the September 11 attacks.
Addressing a gathering of atheists in his home state of Minnesota, Keith Ellison, a Democrat, compared the 9/11 atrocities to the destruction of the Reichstag, the German parliament, in 1933. This was probably burned down by the Nazis in order to justify Hitler’s later seizure of emergency powers.
“It’s almost like the Reichstag fire, kind of reminds me of that,” Mr Ellison said. “After the Reichstag was burned, they blamed the Communists for it, and it put the leader [Hitler] of that country in a position where he could basically have authority to do whatever he wanted.”‘
‘The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles reached a settlement agreement Saturday with more than 500 people who allege they were sexually abused by clergy, the main plaintiff’s attorney told The Associated Press.
Attorneys for the archdiocese, the nation’s largest, and the plaintiffs will release a joint statement Sunday morning and hold a news conference Monday, said plaintiff’s attorney Ray Boucher.
The deal is valued at $660 million, according to a source who spoke on condition of anonymity because the settlement had not been officially announced.’
‘A former monk has appeared in court to contest his conviction for torturing children more than 40 years ago. [..]
In 2003, Murphy, known as Brother Benedict, was found guilty of giving children painful jolts with an electrical gadget. [..]
As well as Brother Benedict’s electric shocks, the pupils were whipped with knotted laces and made to eat their own vomit.
One boy’s arm was broken when the monk lost his temper over a cheeky comment.
A woodwork teacher at the same school is appealing against a jury’s verdict that he sexually abused boys there.’
