Saturday, July 17, 2010

The Jacuzzies of Evin Prison



We have made swimming pools and jacuzzis in Evin prision for the prisoners.
This Mullah of the regime in Iran is saying that the Regime has built jacuzzis and swimming pools in the notorious prison.  He says convicts are spending time in the jacuzzis right now, having fun.

Thursday, July 15, 2010

The Second (Gang) Life of the Rosary

Excerpt from the very interesting developments reported by Daniel Burke in "Rosaries a popular gang tool, not often for prayer".  See the full feature story at Religion News Service.

“With the introduction of strict dress codes and the use of uniforms in the school systems, these type of indicators seem to be favored by the gangsters,” the San Antonio (Texas) Police Department says in a handbook about gang awareness.

Gangsters not only wear certain colors—reds for Bloods, blues for Crips, for example—they also arrange the beads to signal their rank in the gang, and teach young members to plead religious freedom if they’re hauled into the principal’s office, said Jared Lewis, a former police officer in California who worked in public schools.

[...] “These things just evolve.”

[...] "Now cherished by many Christians, rosaries fell out of favor among Protestants because the Roman Catholic Church used them to promote indulgences—papal dispensation from time in purgatory. After the Reformation, the beads became a defiant emblem for Catholic monks and nuns to wear outside their habits and a tactile tool for missionaries to pass on the faith—particularly in Latin America."

 
*"Sock Monkey Chaplet"  pictured above (apparently without gang significance) available HERE.

Monday, July 12, 2010

Forget Never: Blessed Aesther is the Queen of All

Red China Claims Taliban Monkey Hordes Threaten U.S. Hegemony in Afghanistan

Afghanistan's Taliban insurgents are training monkeys to use weapons to attack American troops, according to a recent report by a British-based media agency.

Reporters from the media agency spotted and took photos of a few "monkey soldiers" holding AK-47 rifles and Bren light machine guns in the Waziristan tribal region near the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan. The report and photos have been widely spread by media agencies and Web sites across the world.

According to the report, American military experts call them "monkey terrorists."

As a form of cruel political means, wars are launched to meet political goals through conquest, devastation, assaults and other means.

In a sense, the emergence of "monkey soldiers" is the result of asymmetrical warfare. The United States launched the war in Afghanistan using the world's most advanced weapons such as highly-intelligent robots to detect bombs on roadsides and unmanned aerial vehicles to attack major Taliban targets. In response, the Taliban forces have tried any possible means and figured out a method to train monkeys as "replacement killers" against American troops.

Analysts believe that apart from using "monkey killers" to attack the American troops, the Taliban also sought to arouse Western animal protectionists to pressure their governments to withdraw troops from Afghanistan.

An American official responded that the Taliban forces have started training "monkey soldiers" after suffering heavy losses, implying that they have exhausted their tricks. Nevertheless, the Taliban believe that the emergence of "monkey soldiers" indicates that they have found smarter and more effective ways to cope with American troops.

Ironically, the initiators of "monkey soldiers" are the Americans. Between the 1960s and the 1970s, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) trained massive "monkey soldiers" in the Vietnam War and dispatched armed monkeys to dangerous jungles to launch assaults on Vietnamese soldiers. Today, the Taliban forces have given the American troops some of their own medicine.

When armed animals enter interpersonal wars, what kind of world will we face? This cannot but arouse our reflections and concerns.

By People's Daily Online

Thursday, July 1, 2010

Update: Nithyananda gets Bail, but High Court Orders Tainted Swami not to Preach

The high court of Karnataka on Friday granted conditional bail to self-styled godman Paramahamsa Nithyananda, facing criminal charges including rape. The court observed that he had fallen short of his image as a spiritual leader.

The tainted Nithyananda, however, would be freed only on Monday from the sub-jail in Ramanagara, where he has been languishing since May 1.

Nithyananda’s disciple, Nithya Bhaktananda alias Gopal Seelam Reddy, arrested with the swami on April 21, was also granted bail for a surety of Rs50,000.

According to bail conditions, Nithyananda, aka Rajashekharan, 32, has to furnish a personal bond of Rs1 lakh, besides two local sureties. He cannot preach or teach, but can conduct activities like yoga and meditation.

The court also restrained Nithyananda from moving out of the jurisdictional limits of Ramanagara without the permission of the sessions court there. He was also directed to appear before the jurisdictional police once in every 15 days.

Nithyananda, high court judge justice Subash B Adi observed, had claimed to be an incarnation of the trinity of the Hindu pantheon, Brahma, Maheshwara and Vishnu. However, the controversial video, aired on March 2, had hurt the sentiments of several people. “Such an image of a sanyasi, has hurt the sentiments of people, which is worse than a stab injury,” the judge observed.

The video purportedly showed Nithyananda in a compromising position with a Tamil actress.

“Nithyananda had fallen short of his image as a spiritual head, a sanyasi and a guru who should be free from all attachments and should have strong determination and courage,” justice Adi said.

The judge granted bail on grounds of lack of evidence about the criminal charges, and also considering Nithyananda’s personal liberty.

Noting that Article 21 of the Constitution guaranteed personal liberty and freedom to every citizen, the court said in view of the facts and circumstances, the swami’s detention was not warranted.

Justice Adi also observed that though the investigating officer had appealed to the public through newspapers calling upon them to register complaints, if they had any, against Nithyananda, there was no response.

The public prosecutor filed a memo, saying no statement was recorded. The memo also added that there were no witnesses against Nithyananda.

The court pointed out that the investigators had not recorded the statement of the actress, purportedly shown in the clipping.

The actress had not lodged any complaint against Nithyananda.

DNAIndia