sábado, 12 de junho de 2010
sábado, 22 de maio de 2010
Only in America Part III
EUA: Texas decide reescrever a história do país
O imperialismo norte-americano nunca existiu, a recusa árabe do estado de Israel é responsável pelo conflito no Médio Oriente e a ONU ameaça a soberania dos Estados Unidos passam a ser respostas corretas nos exames dos alunos do Texas.
Segundo a agência espanhola EFE, o novo programa escolar do Texas, de mais de 100 páginas, foi adotado sexta feira pelo conselho educativo do estado por nove votos a favor e cinco contra.
Os nove votos favoráveis são de conservadores e conseguiram fazer passar um documento que será a base da elaboração dos livros para as provas de quase cinco milhões de alunos, do segundo maior estado norte-americano na próxima década.
O imperialismo norte-americano nunca existiu, a recusa árabe do estado de Israel é responsável pelo conflito no Médio Oriente e a ONU ameaça a soberania dos Estados Unidos passam a ser respostas corretas nos exames dos alunos do Texas.
Segundo a agência espanhola EFE, o novo programa escolar do Texas, de mais de 100 páginas, foi adotado sexta feira pelo conselho educativo do estado por nove votos a favor e cinco contra.
Os nove votos favoráveis são de conservadores e conseguiram fazer passar um documento que será a base da elaboração dos livros para as provas de quase cinco milhões de alunos, do segundo maior estado norte-americano na próxima década.
sábado, 8 de maio de 2010
Only in America part II
"Mulher garante que engravidou com filme porno em 3D
Uma mulher de 38 anos garante que engravidou depois de ver um filme pornográfico a três dimensões, na companhia das amigas. «Um mês depois de ver o filme, comecei a sentir enjoos e o resultado está aí», afirmou Jennifer Stewart.
Este parece ter sido o melhor argumento que encontrou para explicar ao marido, que esteve um ano numa base militar no Iraque, que tinha tido um bebé na sua ausência… negro, apesar de o casal ser caucasiano.
«Não vejo porquê desconfiar dela, até porque os filmes em 3D são muito reais e, com a tecnologia de hoje, tudo é possível», declarou o marido, Erick Johnson, que assumiu a paternidade da criança.
Agora, Jennifer diz que vai «processar o cinema e os produtores», considerando que está satisfeita pelo marido acreditar nela e saber que é «fiel»."
Uma mulher de 38 anos garante que engravidou depois de ver um filme pornográfico a três dimensões, na companhia das amigas. «Um mês depois de ver o filme, comecei a sentir enjoos e o resultado está aí», afirmou Jennifer Stewart.
Este parece ter sido o melhor argumento que encontrou para explicar ao marido, que esteve um ano numa base militar no Iraque, que tinha tido um bebé na sua ausência… negro, apesar de o casal ser caucasiano.
«Não vejo porquê desconfiar dela, até porque os filmes em 3D são muito reais e, com a tecnologia de hoje, tudo é possível», declarou o marido, Erick Johnson, que assumiu a paternidade da criança.
Agora, Jennifer diz que vai «processar o cinema e os produtores», considerando que está satisfeita pelo marido acreditar nela e saber que é «fiel»."
quarta-feira, 31 de março de 2010
Only in America
"Dead Marine's father ordered to pay protesters' legal costs
(CNN) -- The father of a Marine whose funeral was picketed by the Westboro Baptist Church says an order to pay the protesters' legal costs in a civil claim is nothing less than a "slap in the face."
"By the court making this decision, they're not only telling me that they're taking their side, but I have to pay them money to do this to more soldiers and their families," said Albert Snyder, whose son, Lance Cpl. Matthew Snyder, was killed in action in Iraq in 2006.
Members of the fundamentalist church based in Topeka, Kansas, appeared outside Snyder's funeral in 2006 in Westminster, Maryland, carrying signs reading "You're going to hell," "God hates you" and "Thank God for dead soldiers."
Among the teachings of the church, which was founded in 1955 by pastor Fred Phelps, is the belief that God is punishing the United States for "the sin of homosexuality" through events such as soldiers' deaths.
Margie Phelps, the daughter of Fred Phelps and the attorney representing the church in its appeals, also said the money that the church receives from Snyder will be used to finance demonstrations. But she also said that the order was a consequence of his decision to sue the church over the demonstration.
"Mr. Snyder and his attorneys have engaged the legal system; there are some rules to that legal engagement," said Phelps, a member of Westboro who says she has participated in more than 150 protests of military funerals.
"They wanted to shut down the picketing so now they're going to finance it," she said.
The 4th Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday ordered that Snyder pay more than $16,000 in costs requested by Westboro for copies of motions, briefs and appendices, according to court documents.
In a motion filed in October, Snyder's lawyer, who is representing him for free, asked the court to dismiss the bill of costs, or, alternatively, reduce the 50-cent fee per page or charge Snyder only for copies that were necessary to make their arguments on appeal.
"We objected based upon ability to pay and the fairness of the situation," Sean Summers said.
The mostly pro-forma ruling is the latest chapter in an ongoing legal saga that pits privacy rights of grieving families against the free speech rights of demonstrators, however disturbing and provocative their message.
Snyder's family sued the church and went to trial in 2007 alleging privacy invasion, intentional infliction of emotional distress and civil conspiracy. A jury awarded the family $2.9 million in compensatory damages plus $8 million in punitive damages, which were reduced to $5 million.
Westboro in 2008 appealed the case to the 4th District, which reversed the judgments a year later, siding with the church's claims that its First Amendment rights had been violated.
"The protest was confined to a public area under supervision and regulation of local law enforcement and did not disrupt the church service," the circuit court opinion said. "Although reasonable people may disagree about the appropriateness of the Phelps' protest, this conduct simply does not satisfy the heavy burden required for the tort of intentional infliction of emotional distress under Maryland law."
The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear the case to address issues of laws designed to protect the "sanctity and dignity of memorial and funeral services" as well as the privacy of family and friends of the deceased.
The justices will be asked to address how far states and private entities such as cemeteries and churches can go to justify picket-free zones and the use of "floating buffers" to silence or restrict speech or movements of demonstrators exercising their constitutional rights in a funeral setting.
Both Phelps and Snyder's attorney said they were surprised that the 4th District chose to weigh in on the issue of legal costs when they could have waited until after the Supreme Court hearing.
Phelps believes the ruling bodes well for her side.
"It is a good harbinger of the fact that the Supreme Court will remind this nation that you don't have mob rule. The fact that so many people hate these words does not mean you can silence or penalize them. That's supposed to be the great liberty that we congratulate ourselves on protecting in this nation. We strut all around the world forcing people to give all the liberties we supposedly have," she said.
Phelps anticipated that a Supreme Court ruling in the church's favor would be unpopular, but she said Westboro's members viewed the potential outcome in Biblical terms.
"When the Supreme Court unanimously upholds the 4th Circuit, it's going to put this country in a rage, and we will be expelled," she said. "But whenever it was time for an epic event in the Bible, the thing that happened right before is the prophets were removed from the land, and that's what's going to happen to us. ... We're going to sprint to the end of this race."
Snyder claims he is unable to pay any legal costs in the case and is attempting to raise funds on his son's site, http://www.matthewsnyder.org/. He is equally optimistic that he will prevail before the Supreme Court.
"The American people keep my spirits lifted a lot and give me hope. I think most of the country is on my side on this issue," he said. "Too many people have died to protect our rights and freedoms to have them degraded and spit upon like this church does.""
(CNN) -- The father of a Marine whose funeral was picketed by the Westboro Baptist Church says an order to pay the protesters' legal costs in a civil claim is nothing less than a "slap in the face."
"By the court making this decision, they're not only telling me that they're taking their side, but I have to pay them money to do this to more soldiers and their families," said Albert Snyder, whose son, Lance Cpl. Matthew Snyder, was killed in action in Iraq in 2006.
Members of the fundamentalist church based in Topeka, Kansas, appeared outside Snyder's funeral in 2006 in Westminster, Maryland, carrying signs reading "You're going to hell," "God hates you" and "Thank God for dead soldiers."
Among the teachings of the church, which was founded in 1955 by pastor Fred Phelps, is the belief that God is punishing the United States for "the sin of homosexuality" through events such as soldiers' deaths.
Margie Phelps, the daughter of Fred Phelps and the attorney representing the church in its appeals, also said the money that the church receives from Snyder will be used to finance demonstrations. But she also said that the order was a consequence of his decision to sue the church over the demonstration.
"Mr. Snyder and his attorneys have engaged the legal system; there are some rules to that legal engagement," said Phelps, a member of Westboro who says she has participated in more than 150 protests of military funerals.
"They wanted to shut down the picketing so now they're going to finance it," she said.
The 4th Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday ordered that Snyder pay more than $16,000 in costs requested by Westboro for copies of motions, briefs and appendices, according to court documents.
In a motion filed in October, Snyder's lawyer, who is representing him for free, asked the court to dismiss the bill of costs, or, alternatively, reduce the 50-cent fee per page or charge Snyder only for copies that were necessary to make their arguments on appeal.
"We objected based upon ability to pay and the fairness of the situation," Sean Summers said.
The mostly pro-forma ruling is the latest chapter in an ongoing legal saga that pits privacy rights of grieving families against the free speech rights of demonstrators, however disturbing and provocative their message.
Snyder's family sued the church and went to trial in 2007 alleging privacy invasion, intentional infliction of emotional distress and civil conspiracy. A jury awarded the family $2.9 million in compensatory damages plus $8 million in punitive damages, which were reduced to $5 million.
Westboro in 2008 appealed the case to the 4th District, which reversed the judgments a year later, siding with the church's claims that its First Amendment rights had been violated.
"The protest was confined to a public area under supervision and regulation of local law enforcement and did not disrupt the church service," the circuit court opinion said. "Although reasonable people may disagree about the appropriateness of the Phelps' protest, this conduct simply does not satisfy the heavy burden required for the tort of intentional infliction of emotional distress under Maryland law."
The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear the case to address issues of laws designed to protect the "sanctity and dignity of memorial and funeral services" as well as the privacy of family and friends of the deceased.
The justices will be asked to address how far states and private entities such as cemeteries and churches can go to justify picket-free zones and the use of "floating buffers" to silence or restrict speech or movements of demonstrators exercising their constitutional rights in a funeral setting.
Both Phelps and Snyder's attorney said they were surprised that the 4th District chose to weigh in on the issue of legal costs when they could have waited until after the Supreme Court hearing.
Phelps believes the ruling bodes well for her side.
"It is a good harbinger of the fact that the Supreme Court will remind this nation that you don't have mob rule. The fact that so many people hate these words does not mean you can silence or penalize them. That's supposed to be the great liberty that we congratulate ourselves on protecting in this nation. We strut all around the world forcing people to give all the liberties we supposedly have," she said.
Phelps anticipated that a Supreme Court ruling in the church's favor would be unpopular, but she said Westboro's members viewed the potential outcome in Biblical terms.
"When the Supreme Court unanimously upholds the 4th Circuit, it's going to put this country in a rage, and we will be expelled," she said. "But whenever it was time for an epic event in the Bible, the thing that happened right before is the prophets were removed from the land, and that's what's going to happen to us. ... We're going to sprint to the end of this race."
Snyder claims he is unable to pay any legal costs in the case and is attempting to raise funds on his son's site, http://www.matthewsnyder.org/. He is equally optimistic that he will prevail before the Supreme Court.
"The American people keep my spirits lifted a lot and give me hope. I think most of the country is on my side on this issue," he said. "Too many people have died to protect our rights and freedoms to have them degraded and spit upon like this church does.""
domingo, 28 de março de 2010
quinta-feira, 11 de fevereiro de 2010
The Vice Guide to North Korea
Partilho convosco algo que me impressionou. Um país inteiro que não vê o que se passa do outro lado do espelho.
Aconselho que tirem um tempo e vejam até ao fim.
Aconselho que tirem um tempo e vejam até ao fim.
quinta-feira, 21 de janeiro de 2010
Happy New Year!!!!
O fim do ano. Tanta gente festejando quando na realidade o fim do ano nos dias de hoje tem apenas um significado simbólico. Como se pode compreender terminar um ano e começar outro no meio do Inverno?
É engraçado, tantos ditos "ateus" nos dias de hoje festejarem a passagem de ano quando terminamos o ano por razões estritamente religiosas. Ve-se milhares de pessoas a festejar, mas o verdadeiro significado do fim de ano, tanto o cristão como o pagão perdeu-se totalmente. Acaba toda a gente por festejar, por festejar! Para terem mais uma razão para sair á rua e apanhar uma bebedeira. Mas ninguem faz ideia do porquê de festejarmos exactamente uma semana depois do Natal, e pensar que tudo se deve a uma crença religiosa cristã que decidiu que o fim do ano deveria ser no dia da circumcisão de cristo, ou seja conforme o costume judaico, exactamente uma semana depois do nascimento da criança. Ou seja, supondo o nascimento de cristo no dia 25 de Dezembro, que é por si uma data extremamente duvidosa terminando o ano no dia da sua suposta circumcisão. Por isso, o nosso calendário se denomina o da circumcisão.
Mas ninguem se preocupa com isso, o que importa é festejar e beber a noite toda. E fazem bem. Festejando num caos controlado o fim do ano, como acontecia na antiguidade dita pagã. Onde o fim do ano era sinónimo de um total caos estabelecido na sociedade, especialmente na antiga mesopotamia onde o fim do ano era visto como o fim do mundo. Por esta razão instalava-se o mais completo caos. Durante dez dias não havia ordem nas ruas, os escravos tornavam-se senhores, os senhores tornavam-se escravos, morte, sexo, roubo tudo se misturava numa decadente utopia. Era um festejo final antes do próprio fim. Para assegurar que um novo ano se seguria ao ano que terminava, todos os anos no ultimo dia do ano o rei subia ao templo principal da cidade, o Zigurate, uma enorme estrutura de sete andares que conhecemos vulgarmente como torre de Babel. Era uma autentica procissão, que todo o povo observava esperando o novo ano. Chegado ao topo, o rei faria amor com a matriarca do templo perante toda a população renovando assim o novo ano. Para nós estes costumes são estranhos e sem sentido, mas na realidade mais simbolismo que o presente neste ritual é impossível de observar.
Analisemos então este ritual. Se tivermos em conta que o ano na antiguidade terminava no fim do Inverno, entendemos então desde já a ideia por de trás da renovação do ano, ou seja está intrissecamente associada ao inicio da Primavera e ao despolotar de toda a vida caracteristica desta estação. Percebemos assim como os duros e frios dias de Inverno se reflectem na crença de um fim próximo anual, logo se justifica os dias de caos antes do fim. O ritual de renovação do ano representa em si a criação da vida na terra para o inicio do novo ano. Neste caso, simbolizando o rei e a matriarca dois deuses consumando o seu amor e criando assim a vida. Assim, o novo ano era entendido como o inicio do periodo fértil, ou seja, o começo das actividades agricolas.
Engraçado como 5000 anos depois nos esquecemos totalmente do simbolismo que tem o evento do fim do ano. Nem sequer o fim de ano cristão muita gente sabe. Apenas saimos nesta noite festejando como se não houvesse amanhã, o que é interessante, pois de facto sabemos que o amanhã é garantido, mas mesmo assim festejamos como se fosse o ultimo dia na terra, dando indirectamente o mesmo simbolismo que os antigos sumérios davam ao fim do ano sem nunca entendermos realmente que estamos a celebrar como se celebrava há milhares de anos atrás.
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