Archive for November, 2008
November 30th, 2008 | Comments Off
This morning’s recessional hymn on the First Sunday in Advent at Christ Church, Windsor. Hymn #60 in The Book of Common Praise (1938), official hymn book for the whole of The Church of England in Canada (later Anglican Church of Canada). Lo! he comes, with clouds descending, Once for favoured sinners slain; Thousand thousand saints [...]
Tags: Sacred music
Posted in Christianity, Prayers and Liturgy | Comments Off
November 30th, 2008 | Comments Off
The collect for today, the 1st Sunday in Advent, from the 1962 Canadian Book of Common Prayer: Almighty God, give us grace that we may cast away the works of darkness, and put upon us the armour of light, now in the time of this mortal life, in which thy Son Jesus Christ came to [...]
Tags: Book of Common Prayer, Fine art
Posted in Christianity, Prayers and Liturgy | Comments Off
November 26th, 2008 | 1 Comment
It’s not easy being an all-girl rock band in Saudi Arabia. Not only are women oppressed but rock music is also forbidden. They cannot perform in public. They cannot pose for album cover photographs. Even their jam sessions are secret, for fear of offending the religious authorities in this ultraconservative kingdom. But the members of [...]
Tags: Islamic teaching, Pop music, Saudi Arabia, The Accolade
Posted in Asia-Pacific, Islam, Popular Culture | 1 Comment »
November 26th, 2008 | 2 Comments
Commenting in today’s National Post on the significance of the Moon Report, Liberal MP Keith Martin says it’s time for Parliament to act on free speech. While Prof. Moon’s report is excellent, the actual power to implement his recommendations, or any others that relate to the CHRA, resides not with the commission but with Parliament. [...]
Tags: Civil liberties, Human Rights Commissions, Keith Martin, Richard Moon
Posted in Canada, Canadian Politics and Government, Media and Journalism | 2 Comments »
November 26th, 2008 | 3 Comments
Empirical observations throw doubt on the accuracy of climate models. A detailed analysis of black carbon — the residue of burned organic matter — in computer climate models suggests that those models may be overestimating global warming predictions. […] As a result of global warming, soils are expected to release more carbon dioxide, the major [...]
Tags: Climate change
Posted in Science | 3 Comments »
November 25th, 2008 | 1 Comment
Saudi billionaire and banker to the Saudi royal family Khalid bin Mahfouz took a serious dislike to Dr Rachel Ehrenfeld’s book Funding Evil: How Terrorism Is Financed — and How to Stop It. Even though Dr Ehrenfeldt is American and her book was published by an American firm, he decided to sue her for libel [...]
Tags: Civil liberties, Rachel Ehrenfeld
Posted in International, Law Crime and Legal Issues, United States | 1 Comment »
November 25th, 2008 | 1 Comment
The long-delayed Gun N’ Roses album Chinese Democracy has finally been released. China is not amused. A newspaper published by China’s ruling Communist Party is blasting the latest Guns N’ Roses album as an attack on the Chinese nation. […] In an article Monday headlined “American band releases album venomously attacking China,” the Global Times [...]
Tags: China, Chinese Democracy, Guns N' Roses, Pop music
Posted in Asia-Pacific, Media and Journalism, Popular Culture | 1 Comment »
November 25th, 2008 | 1 Comment
So says British Conservative MP Nick Herbert. Shadow Justice Secretary Nick Herbert said the controversial act, brought in by Labour, has had the opposite effect of its intentions by devaluing human rights and led to “distorted prioirities” [sic]. He said the result has been to devalue the very language of rights by associating serious violations [...]
Tags: Civil liberties, Human Rights Act, Nick Herbert, UK politics
Posted in Law Crime and Legal Issues, United Kingdom | 1 Comment »
November 24th, 2008 | 4 Comments
The Canadian Human Rights Commission has released Prof Richard Moon’s report on Section 13 of the Canadian Human Rights Act and the regulation of hate speech on the internet. I have only read his conclusion but, based solely on that, we can say that the report is not what was expected. This is the full [...]
Tags: Civil liberties, Human Rights Commissions, Richard Moon
Posted in Canada, Canadian Politics and Government | 4 Comments »
November 24th, 2008 | 1 Comment
Traditional Animal Symbolism ostrich……………..stupidity; timidity ox…………………patience; strength parrot…………….verbosity; insolence peacock……………..pomposity; pride pelican……………….sacrifice; Christ pig………………..obstinacy; dirtiness pigeon……………………cowardice rabbit……………………..fecundity raven………………..ill-luck; violence serpent………………….wisdom; sin sheep………………timidity; stupidity sparrow………………..lasciviousness spider………………………cunning stag………………………cuckoldry swallow………..fair-weather friendship swan………………………….grace swine………………..filthiness; greed tiger……………………….ferocity toad………………..work; death; lust tortoise……………………..chastity unicorn……………spirituality; Christ vulture……………………….rapine wolf………………….cruelty; ferocity worm……………..cringing; lowliness Source: Page-A-Day Online Calendar
Tags: Language
Posted in In a Jocular Vein | 1 Comment »
November 24th, 2008 | 1 Comment
The UK Government is focusing more attention on the long-standing scandal that hundreds of British teenagers—and even pre-teens—are forced to marry against their will. Most cases involve families originally from Pakistan or Bangladesh. British Foreign Secretary David Miliband discloses that his country’s diplomats have intervened hundreds of times in potential forced marriage situations. So far [...]
Tags: Culture of life, David Miliband, Forced marriage, Pakistan
Posted in Asia-Pacific, International, Life Issues, United Kingdom | 1 Comment »
November 23rd, 2008 | 1 Comment
In 2005 and 2006, Nova Scotia’s judiciary set out guidelines for accreditation of media seeking access to many provincial courts. At a recent conference on “A Free Press and an Independent Judiciary” held in Halifax, journalists, lawyers, and journalism professors roundly denounced the concept and process of media accreditation. Dean Jobb, Assistant Professor of Journalism, [...]
Tags: Civil liberties, Judicial folly, Nova Scotia
Posted in Canada, Law Crime and Legal Issues, Media and Journalism | 1 Comment »
November 23rd, 2008 | 1 Comment
Authorities in the Malaysian state of Pahang are so upset by “slanderous comments” on the internet that the government has hired three pensioners to write respectful blog posts. The Pahang Government has appointed three pensioners as bloggers to thwart slanderous comments and allegations posted on the Internet. State Information, Science, Technology and Innovation Committee chairman [...]
Tags: Blogging, Chutzpah, Folly, Malaysia
Posted in Asia-Pacific, Media and Journalism | 1 Comment »
November 23rd, 2008 | 1 Comment
MP Keith Martin (Lib – Esquimalt-Juan de Fuca) has introduced two private member’s motions to amend the Canadian Human Rights Act and rein in the increasingly obnoxious Canadian Human Rights Commission. These latest motions replace and expand motion M-446, which Dr Martin introduced in the previous Parliament. Ezra Levant has more information. Here’s the exact [...]
Tags: Civil liberties, Human Rights Commissions, Keith Martin
Posted in Canada, Canadian Politics and Government | 1 Comment »
November 23rd, 2008 | Comments Off
This hymn was sing during Morning Prayer at Christ Church, Windsor, while a special collection was taken for the work of the Council of the North. We sang all six of John Newton’s original verses as well as the later additional verse from an unknown hand. Amazing grace! How sweet the sound That saved a [...]
Tags: Amazing Grace, John Newton, Sacred music
Posted in Anglican, Christianity, Prayers and Liturgy | Comments Off