Transsexual woman names Diocese of New Westminster in Human Rights complaint

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From here (my emphasis):Add an Image

A Vancouver transsexual has filed a human-rights complaint, alleging discrimination on the basis of sex, age, and disability after she was evicted from a downtown social-housing complex. In an interview with the Georgia Straight, Pamela Burge said she was thrown out of the Wellspring, which is at 415 Nelson Street, at the end of June. This came after the society that manages the complex claimed that she owed $1,355 in outstanding rent.

Burge, once a well-known broadcasting executive who went by the name of Tim Burge, has alleged that the real reason she was evicted was that the building administrator, Joanne Graham, did not like her because she is transsexual. Burge, 65, claimed that she did not owe any back rent, and that the society refused to acknowledge receiving her documentation of her income from social assistance and the Canada Pension Plan.

“I could never imagine this happening to me as a middle-class man or even as a regular woman,” she said.

Burge has named Graham, the 127 Society for Housing, and the Diocese of New Westminster as respondents in her complaint to the B.C. Human Rights Tribunal. The Anglican church has supported the society and its name is on a plaque outside the front door of the building, but Burge said that it has absolved itself of any responsibility for her eviction.


The prospect of seeing Bishop Michael Ingham being hauled before the Human Rights Tribunal for evicting a transsexual from her apartment is an irony more delicious than any that could be concocted by the most fertile imagination. I wonder if the Anglican Journal will cover the story?

Terrorists fired phosphorus shells into Israel

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From the Jerusalem Post:

At least 2 of the 9 mortar shells fired during the day contained phosphorus, police confirm; regional council head intends to inform UN of Geneva Convention violation.

Two phosphorous mortars were fired at southern Israel from Gaza on Wednesday, Police Spokesman Micky Rosenfeld told The Jerusalem Post.

“A police bomb disposal team examined a number of mortars that were fired today. We can confirm that two out of the nine mortars contained phosphorous,” Rosenfeld added.

Israel Police said it was not the first time that phosphorous shells had been fired at Israel from Gaza.

Imagine the wailing and gnashing of teeth we would have heard from the Guardian and other repositories of leftist agitprop – not to mention bombastic pieties from the WCC, NCC, Fred Hiltz and Shirley McClaine – had it been the other way around.

As of the time of writing this post, though, the media are ignoring it.

Brampton man charged with pretending to practice witchcraft

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From the CBC:

Police in Brampton, Ont., say they have charged a man with fraud for pretending to practise witchcraft.

Investigators allege the suspect was taking money for witchcraft-related services at his home.

Forty-four-year-old Yogendra Pathak of Brampton has been charged with fraud under $5,000 and pretending to practise witchcraft.

It’s believed the services had been offered for more than a year, and police are asking for alleged victims or anyone with information to come forward.

While it appears to be illegal to pretend to practice real or bogus witchcraft, it is perfectly legal to really practice pretend witchcraft and to actually practice real witchcraft. The question is, why are the courts picking on only one variety of charlatan; I wonder if the perpetrator will appeal to the charter of rights.

More ground zero mosque solutions

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From Imam Rauf:

Mr. Rauf argued radical extremists had “hijacked” the debate over the relationship between the West and Islam, then stunned many in the audience by suggesting one way to reduce ill feeling toward Muslims was to order a “media blackout” of coverage of suicide bombers.

Censorship of Islamist atrocities: yes, that should do it.

From John Stackhouse an evangelical theologian who thinks Rauf is a “moderate”, that he should go ahead and build it and that everyone else concentrate on more important things:

Controversy continues to rage over whether moderate Muslims should build, and should be allowed to build, a mosque or a community centre near Ground Zero in New York City. (Yes, they’re moderate: I have met the imam in question, Feisal Abdul Rauf, and his wife, Daisy Khan, who also leads the project. They are just what intelligent, sensible people would want in Muslim leaders: affable, well-informed, well-spoken, serious, convinced, and committed to good relationships with their neighbours of every stripe.)

Stackhouse does little to bolster his credentials as a judge of character by adding:

I’m a Christian. In fact, I’m an evangelical Christian. Am I implicated in the shooting of abortion doctors? Am I implicated in the policies of the Harper government here or the Bush administration recently gone? Am I implicated in whatever James Dobson or Pat Robertson or Franklin Graham or Benny Hinn says? If so, then I’m a pretty dangerous guy.

How did Harper, Bush, Dobson etc. get lumped into the same category as the murderers of abortion doctors?  How is James Dobson dangerous? Why were Jimmy Carter, Barack Obama or Jeremiah Wright not on the list? Presumably because it’s a list of the political right which, in Stackhouse-land is, a priori, tainted.

From someone who has the appearance of being a genuinely moderate Muslim speaking on a US news program this morning – I didn’t catch his name, unfortunately – who made the blindingly simple and obvious observation that if the majority in the US (the number is around 70%) opposes the ground zero mosque, why would Muslims want to further alienate them by going ahead and building it? He said it should be moved.

Rev. Canon Douglas Graydon pleads for the excluded

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The Rev. Canon Douglas Graydon considers the great Anglican non event of 2010 – General Synod – and writes:

And yet, gay and lesbian Anglicans continue to stand off to the side, relegated to being less than complete human beings within our community of faith. As long as the learning, discerning

prayerful debates or indaba-like conversations continue, gay and lesbian Anglicans will be denied what every other Anglican enjoys: the full and blessed recognition of our relationships.

Let us keep in mind the human dimension of every church debate that involves the “worthiness” of another to receive the recognition and blessing of “the church.” And recognize the suffering experienced by those who are excluded, year after year, decade after decade.

God help us to learn more quickly from our own history of exclusion and to live more boldly Christ’s radical love of inclusion.

Rev. Graydon is one mixed up Canon.

99% of Canadians who freely choose – indeed, who could not be dragged kicking and screaming into an Anglican Church – to “stand off to the side” of Anglicanism would probably be shocked to learn that, by doing so, they are  “less than complete human beings”. For most of humanity, “blessing” resides in the comforting assurance that “decade after decade” they have been absent from an Anglican Church.

Every other Anglican does not enjoy “the full and blessed recognition” of his relationships. My dog and I have a deep, committed but hitherto unblessed relationship; he is hurt and feels profoundly excluded every Sunday when I set off to church without him, although his grief is considerably assuaged by noting the presence of the Anglican Journal in the cat’s litter box.

A blessing from an average Canadian Anglican Church isn’t worth much, so the “worthiness” of its recipient isn’t particularly relevant. In a real church, though, parishioners are acutely aware that they are unworthy of anything at all: any worthiness that has accrued to them is through Christ’s atoning sacrifice on the cross and any blessing an unearned favour, not a “right” to be bludgeoned out of the disintegrating Anglican diabolarchy that masquerades as a church.

The Rev. Canon should try and keep up with the times a little more. The “new gay” is polyamory; when is he going to start campaigning for the egregiously excluded polyamorists? – after all, they suffer so.

Imam Rauf: I didn’t think my mosque would be controversial

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From here:

The imam in the middle of the Ground Zero mosque controversy said Sunday he would never have picked that location if he knew it would create the conflict it did, but he has no plan to move the Islamic center from the proposed site two blocks from where the World Trade Center fell.

“I would never have done it. I’m a man of peace. I mean, the whole — the whole objective of peace work is not to do something that would provoke controversy,” said Imam Feisel Abdul Rauf.

This, of course, means that Rauf is either an idiot or a liar. I don’t think he is an idiot.

So what was burned on September 11th?

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Anjem Choudary, UK Muslim, professional dole recipient and demented Islamist mouthpiece of Islam4UK, burnt a US flag in London to cries of “Burn, burn democracy”, “democracy, go to hell”, “democracy, you will pay”:

Just before September 11th, In Pakistan a Christian man, woman and their four children were burned to death by Islamists.

Various police checkpoints were set on fire by Muslims in Afghanistan.

In Indonesia, a Christian was stabbed in the stomach and a pastor battered with a plank.

On September 11th, 115,000 babies were aborted, many burned alive with salt solution.

Anglican and other Christian leaders – not to mention Obama, less anointed politicians, Vatican officials, UN officials and uncle Tom Cobley and all – wrung their hands and pleaded with would-be Koran burners not to do it, while studiously ignoring all of the above.

Terry Jones did not burn any Korans.

Which just goes to show that it’s easier and more personally satisfying to concentrate on the inconsequential than what really matters and that grovelling to bullies in an attempt to appease them is a complete waste of time.

Atheist Billboards and Satanists in Oklahoma

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From here:

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Atheist Billboard Provokes Oklahoman Christians

OKLAHOMA CITY — Atheists in Oklahoma City have erected a billboard seeking fellow non-believers, and Satanists have scheduled a conference in a city-owned building, drawing criticism from ministers in a state where more than eight out of 10 people say they are Christians.

Understandably, Christians in Oklahoma are upset:

Oops, sorry, wrong photo.

At last: a reason for wearing a tie

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Tired office male workers can now fall asleep at their desk in comfort – using a new necktie that contains an inflatable pillow.

The Pillow Tie is available in over 60 ‘stylish’ designs and looks just like a normal tie when deflated and worn with a suit, or so its manufacturers claim.

But it also holds a discreet air bag that can be blown-up in less than a breath.

A small mouthpiece – similar to those found on swimming arm bands – is hidden behind the ‘arrow end’ of the tie.

This allows the wearer to simply lift the tie to their mouth, inflate it and lay their head and ‘pillow’ on a desk.

The tie does not even need to be removed from the neck.

It can be deflated in seconds if the boss returns to the office and you want to appear busy.

The company sells the ties using the slogan: ‘Because most functions that require a necktie… deserve to be slept through.’

I wonder if there will be a pew-friendly Anglican version.