................?

Atheists offer to care for Christians' pets after the Rapture - Telegraph

2009-08-29T13:09:00.001-07:00

I've always wanted a pet

Posted via web from andobrien's posterous

Tweet from TehranBureau.com forwarded using Yatca

2009-07-30T15:53:00.000-07:00

Another account today via a new blog http://bit.ly/zw5eQ retweeted from Tehran Bureu

Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device

Test

2009-07-29T00:18:00.000-07:00

Can I blog from my phone?
Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device

Taraneh Mousavi - Another Victim of the Terror in Iran

2009-07-26T15:16:00.000-07:00

This is the face of Taraneh Mousavi

Another victim of the Terror in Iran

Today I joined some Iranians and there friends to protest outside the Iranian Embassy in London. They had gathered to protest against the result in the not-so-recent presidential election. From TV news in the UK you get the impression that the protests in Iran have dissipated, maybe the occasional out-burst, but it's still going on, every day and every night.

We had been given space by the Met, on the opposite side of the street. It was soon transformed with green flags, banners, posters, and 'V for Victory' signing hands in the air. A P.A. appeared blasting out songs adopted by the protest movement and chants led by some hidden imam.

It was at this demonstration that I heard about Taraneh, pictured above. I got the full story from google and bloggers Worker-communistpartyofiran and Nordic Dervish on WP.

She was a young woman living in Tehran with her elderly parents, they are in their 60s. She was their only child, born after many prayers and doctor's visits. Her friend, who appears to have got the news out of Iran, describes her as beautiful and kind.

She had been passing a protest at the Ghoba mosque on June 28, 2009. She was on her way to Beauty School. Members of Iranian security, possibly the Basij or Moral Police, grabbed her and threw her in the back of a truck with others who had been detained. They were taken to a detention center. She was held in a room with all the other women who had been detained. The security men began to take the women off, one by one, for interrogation. When it was Taraneh's time she was gone for much longer than the others.

Later, all the prisoners were taken off to other police stations. Taraneh was not transferred. She was left alone with the Basij.

The others were all eventually released and some called Taraeh's parent and told them what had happened.

Her parent's also received and anonymous call , probably from one of her killers. He said that she had been raped and beaten - I won't go into the details but it was very serious - she had threatened to commit suicide and had been taken to a hospital.

The parents rushed to the hospital and inquired about their daughter but her name was not listed. One of the hospital staff took them aside and told them that their daughter had been brought in a few days earlier, and that she had been unconscious.

She was no longer there.

A few days after the parents received another call informing them that their daughter's body had been found, burned on the roadside.

Sadly, lamentably she is only one of many.

Yet the protest goes on. Everyday and every night.

An Evening with Ctrl+ Alt+ Shift+

2009-07-19T05:31:00.000-07:00

Last night I went along to the Southbank Centre to check out United Underground - music, art and activism brought to us by Ctrl+ Alt+ Shift+ http://www.ctrlaltshift.co.uk

I'd missed the afternoon's fun and frolics as I was working at Lambeth Country Show in Brockwell Park, promoting the Early Years Literacy service run by myself and my colleagues for Lambeth Libraries and Children's and Young People's Services, so as I arrived everything was in full swing.

There was some amazing art and grafitti on display, which had been created on the day, and RizMC, actor/writer/performer Riz Ahmed, was in full flow on stage working the crowd up into a bouncy frenzy - fuelled by some banging grimy, crunky techno tunes.

Particularly impressive was a sculpture by Wayne Chisnall - a kind of evil post-apocalyptic Skeksi with oil dripping from it's sinister, wiry clawed fingers (which some revellers tampered with to the seeming delight of the sculpter).

There was an area set aside for the Craftivist Colective, a group of crafty individuals who aim to highlight a whole world of wrongs through innovative cross-stitch, origami and other activities you would not normally associate with social justice, human rights and change.

RizMC performed some of his thought provoking rhymes (or is it raps, or even poetry? It's hard to tell the difference sometimes). You can listen to Riz and watch some of his performances on his myspace site or youtube - check it out ya'll!

Then we were treated to some DubStep disco antics courtesy of a Manchester DJette whose name I forget. This was seriously heavy stuff, the kid of music you listen too when your too messed up to do anything but you try anyway... or on Ketamine (pretty much the same thing really).

Throughout the day a team of Ctrl+ Alt+ activists had been working busily to produce a real-time magazine souvenir of the event, under the guidance of journo Chantelle Fiddy, and as the evening drew to a close they became more and more frantic in their efforts to meet their deadline - which they did, so everyone got to leave with a fanzine packed with info, a piece called Sour Times, performed by RizMc earlier in the evening and a stream of tweets titled "Where's My Twiggas @"

So what was the point of all this? To inspire people to get off there asses and get involved? To get young adults to be less apathetic and cynical about the world than people of my generation who are sadly guilty of both. If this is the case then the future could be brighter, fairer, and more just than it is, governed by the so called compassionate conservatives in charge today.

I surely hope so.

Umbrellas at the ready... A storm is coming

2009-04-10T12:57:00.000-07:00

AN OPEN LETTER TO THE NATIONAL ORGANISATION FOR MARRIAGE

2009-04-10T12:52:00.000-07:00

Dear NOM,

I have just watched your 'Gathering Storm' film and it has left me rather confused.

The first point about how same sex couples have taken the issue beyond just same sex couples makes no sense. Of course they are going to get the issue out in the open for all to see, How else are the expected to achieve the equality they deserve as citizens and human beings. Equality is after all an inalienable right. We are all created equal and we are all created in God's image, right?

Next a woman complains that her choice would be taken away. How? How does the institution of same sex marriage in any way impede upon the freedoms of anyone else? It's not like she'd be forced to wear dungarees and birkenstocks and dabble with cunnilingus.

Then we have the Californian doctor. She's worried about having to choose between her faith and her profession. I'm assuming that as a doctor she is familiar with the Hippocratic oath Never to do deliberate harm to anyone for anyone else's interest. If she were to refuse to treat someone on the grounds that her pastor or Rabbi or society had told her that they were sub-human (which is definitely implied by the denial of equal rights to any individual or group) would that not be wrong?

The man from the NJ Church group who have supposedly been punished for not supporting same-sex marriage - why is he there at all? I am not aware of any Church who has been forced to carry out same-sex marriages. The only reason I can see for any kind of punishment being levied against his organization would be if they were actively discriminating, preaching hatred and promoting violence against other human beings.

Massachusetts Mom appears next. Helplessly watching as public schools teach her son that same-sex marriage is OK. She's obviously got a kind of poor-me-victim attitude and feels powerless to provide any kind of guidance for her own child. Has she never thought of discussing the issue with the boy herself? And what if, let's say for argument's sake, the boy grows up to be Gay (Oh my, there it is, the G word, something I note you are very careful never to mention). Would she rather he lived in guilt and fear, thinking he was alone and suffering from some kind of mental illness or worse, that God did not love him and that he was evil?

Finally we are present with three fearful women making a point the I really don't understand. I think that's probably why the script was split between three actors because if one person were to say "Some who advocate for same-sex marriage have not been content with same-sex couples living as they wish... those advocates want to change the way I live... I will have no choice."

I'd be really grateful if someone could explain to me exactly what this means. No one who advocates same-sex marriage is saying that living together and remaining unmarried is wrong. They are not saying that traditional marriage for the purpose of breeding is wrong. They don't want to outlaw or alter the way a married and woman live or express their love (with the exception perhaps of the Mormons). You are right though. There is no choice. You're either homosexual, heterosexual or bisexual - oh hang on a second, they have a choice but we're not all lucky enough to be bisexual.

So, the storm is coming and unfortunately I don't think Jesus is going to calm this one. But you can.

Stop your campaign of bigotry and hatred, because no matter how you dress it up that's what it is.

Go back to your Gospels and the source of your faith, Jesus Christ. And I don't mean Paul or any one else who came along after and claimed to know Jesus and the meaning of his teachings. Look for yourself, learn for yourself and understand for yourself. You'll find one teaching that over-arches all others - LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.

I suggest you think about what this mean.

Thankfully the LOVE of God knows no bounds and His forgiveness is even greater. I hope you can take solace in this if your campaign fails.

And I pray that it does fail, for all our sakes, so that we can all move into a new age of compassion and understanding before it's to late.

I'll end with some very hopeful words from my favorite Christian writer, Julian of Norwich,

"All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well"

Wishing you a safe and happy Easter.

Andrew.

2009-02-28T15:48:00.000-08:00

I got this from facebook. Create your own album cover for your own band.

Here's what you do...

1 - Go to wikipedia and select “Random Article”

The title of the first random wikipedia article you get is the name of your band.

2 - Go to quotationspage.com and hit "Random quotations"

The last four or five words of the very last quote of the page form the title of your first album.

3 - Go to flickr and click on “Explore the Last Seven Days”

The third picture, no matter what it is, will be your album cover.

4 - Use photoshop or similar to put it all together.

I like my result. It's very me.

A Dog Has Died - A poem by Pablo Neruda

2009-01-28T13:49:00.000-08:00

My dog has died.
I buried him in the garden
next to a rusted old machine.

Some day I'll join him right there,
but now he's gone with his shaggy coat,
his bad manners and his cold nose,
and I, the materialist, who never believed
in any promised heaven in the sky
for any human being,
I believe in a heaven I'll never enter.
Yes, I believe in a heaven for all dogdom
where my dog waits for my arrival
waving his fan-like tail in friendship.

Ai, I'll not speak of sadness here on earth,
of having lost a companion
who was never servile.
His friendship for me, like that of a porcupine
withholding its authority,
was the friendship of a star, aloof,
with no more intimacy than was called for,
with no exaggerations:
he never climbed all over my clothes
filling me full of his hair or his mange,
he never rubbed up against my knee
like other dogs obsessed with sex.

No, my dog used to gaze at me,
paying me the attention I need,
the attention required
to make a vain person like me understand
that, being a dog, he was wasting time,
but, with those eyes so much purer than mine,
he'd keep on gazing at me
with a look that reserved for me alone
all his sweet and shaggy life,
always near me, never troubling me,
and asking nothing.

Ai, how many times have I envied his tail
as we walked together on the shores of the sea
in the lonely winter of Isla Negra
where the wintering birds filled the sky
and my hairy dog was jumping about
full of the voltage of the sea's movement:
my wandering dog, sniffing away
with his golden tail held high,
face to face with the ocean's spray.

Joyful, joyful, joyful,
as only dogs know how to be happy
with only the autonomy
of their shameless spirit.

There are no good-byes for my dog who has died,
and we don't now and never did lie to each other.

So now he's gone and I buried him,
and that's all there is to it.

Gong Xi Fa Cai

2009-01-26T14:00:00.000-08:00

happy chinese freakin' nu year!

I am a TV addict!

2009-01-23T14:04:00.000-08:00

OK, so my blogging career had a small hiatus early on but really, how the hell do you write after watching TV like that for a week. It may only have been slightly over my usual dose but it sure tipped the balance. I felt void, creatively. I was constipated, in all senses of the word.

Well. At the end of my experiment I intended to off-set my week of TV saturation with a week of abstinence. Didn't happen. I've watched less but no less than before I proved to myself that I have a problem - I am a TV addict.

That's not entirely true. I spent Monday to Wednesday feeling under the weather so I pretty much viewed it up on those days, when I wasn't sleeping.

I guess it's a kind of breakthrough though, being able to type it out lout, I am a TV addict. It's something I've known and have been resigned to for some time. I've said it before too, but only in the way you do, you know, like "Oh my God, I drank a whole bottle of vodka, I am such an alcoholic". That may well be heavy drinking but it's not really addiction. Unless you do it for breakfast and never actually sober up, and when it comes to TV I never sober up.

I am spending an unhealthy amount of time watching TV. I need to watch less. I could watch with an emphasis on quality rather than quantity? I enjoy the bad stuff as much as the good stuff so that probably won't work. I think the only way to deal with this situation is to continue to observe it and maybe try and get out a bit more. I'm gonna have to get some other activities added to my schedule so that I am not always sat in front of the TV. But what?

I can't get in to that now. SVU is on.

Diary of a TV Addict - DAY SEVEN

2009-01-13T14:39:00.000-08:00

I had the longest day at work yesterday and as I got up late I didn't get to watch much TV in the AM. I managed about half an hour of Pokemon and news before I had to go out in the rain.

After work I had to rush to get home in time for the season 2 premier of Eli Stone. Then I watched what I expected to be a new episode of Medium which turned out to be a rerun.

I finished the day with some E!, The Soup and Chelsea Lately.

A daily total of 3hrs 30mins.

This brings my grand total to.... 49hrs 15mins.

There are 168 hours in a week. I sleep for an average of six hours a night, that's 42 hours a week. I was at work for 35 hours. My traveling time is about 7 hours per week. That makes 70 hours, leaving me with 98 hours free time, just over 49 of these were spent watching TV. Which begs the question - what the hell am I doing for the other 49 hours? A question which only comes to mind to stop me from fixating on the amount of TV I watch.

Diary of a TV Addict - DAYS FIVE & SIX

2009-01-11T11:19:00.000-08:00

OK, firstly Day Four ended with a grand total of 6 hours. After Eli Stone I watched Apocalypto. (There's two and a half hours of my life, or as I call it "viewing time", that I'll never get back).

Yesterday was Day Five and and to be totally honest I can't remember what I watched or when. I know the TV went on as soon as I got up, at 11:30am and it was on all the way through to bedtime, 1:00am. I did leave the house for about an hour to collect a parcel and to do some shopping and I spent an hour in the bathroom so I think were looking at a total of 11 and a half hours.

Although I can't remember exactly what I watched I know there was some Monk and Eli Stone, an episode of MSW (Murder She Wrote), some E! and a couple of episodes of The Mighty Boosh (Old Greg and Milky Joe) and a couple of episodes of Flight of the Conchords (Bowie and Drive By).

Today I was working so I only managed to get in an hour and a half of viewing in the morning. I watched an episode of Spain...On The Road Again, Gwyneth Paltrow's cullinary tour of Spain and half an hour of Something for the Weekend.

When I got home I watched half an hour of Celebrity Feuds on E! and then a new episode of Monk (featuring a cameo by Sarah Silverman - she's fucking Matt Damon!). Then I watched Christianity: A History, which I thought might at least provide something in the way of intellectual stimulation but sadly didn't tell me anything I didn't already know.

Then it was time for the season finale of Eli Stone (new season starts tomorrow!).

I finished the day with three hours of Sanctuary giving me a daily total of seven hours.

It's a long day at work tomorrow so I'm not gonna get to watch much TV at all. We'll see.

Diary of a TV addict - DAYS THREE & FOUR

2009-01-09T12:13:00.000-08:00

OK, so yesterday, I only managed an episode of Pokemon and a few minutes of news before I had to go to work. A total of 35 minutes.

When I got home I watched an episode of Monk and two hours of Eli Stone followed by my nightly dose of SVU, a double bill. Five hours viewing leaving me with a daily total of 5 hours 35 minutes.

Today I watched the usual Pokemon and half an hour of news, 55 minutes breakfast viewing.

I got home late, thanks to a diverted bus, so, instead of watching Monk, I watched the Daily 10 on E! Considering that this channel was one of the reasons I wanted to upgrade our cable service I've watched very little of.

Then it was time for Eli Stone. I'm really getting to love this show (not least because of the delicious Johnny Lee Miller!). That clocks up another two and a half hours. I'll get back to you with the grand total for the day once I turn the TV off. There'll probably be another two hours to add although I don't think I be watching SVU - somehow I think I've maxed out on sexually motivated violent crime for one week.

Diary of a TV Addict - DAY TWO

2009-01-07T15:00:00.000-08:00

It's day two of my conscious observation of my TV watching habits.

I didn't have to work today, although I slept in late and pottered around for an hour before turning the box on so I probably could have watched more. That said, today I have clocked up an impressive/worrying 12 hours!

I started my day with one episode of 3rd Rock from the Sun and an hour of Monk. For lunch I had two episodes of Malcolm in the Middle and then settled down for the two hour pilot episode of The 4400.

I needed to do a bit of shopping so after I watched The Father Dowling Mysteries I popped out to the Sri Lankan store down the road. I got home in time for Neighbours and then watched two episodes of Futurama, some dinner and two episodes of The Simpsons.

This was followed by two episodes of Eli Stone - I'm trying to catch up in time for the season 2 premiere on Sunday.

I finished the day with two episodes of Law and Order SVU.

I've decided that after this week is over I am going to try and go cold turkey. I'm not sure if I'll be able to completely avoid watching any television - I won't ban my flat mate from watching anything but I shall try my best to limit my viewing time and see I there are any side effects or withdrawal symptoms.

Diary of a TV Addict - DAY ONE

2009-01-06T14:47:00.000-08:00

I've always loved TV and I've always watched more than is probably healthy. It's not like I've been getting worried about the amount of TV I watch but I have become curious about precisely how much of my life is spent in front of the magic box of lights that I point my furniture at. So, I have decided to start to keep a record of everything, and I mean everything, I watch as a kid of first step in addressing my addiction and to get an understanding of exactly how bad my problem is.

Today I got up a 6.45am and had my first hit:

Pokemon, Everybody Loves Raymond, Bewitched. Time: 1hr 20mins

Unfortunately I had to leave to go to work and did not get home until 7:30pm but as soon as I'd hung up my coat I reached for the remote and settled down for an evening of goggle-box:

Eastenders, Eli Stone (Double Bill), Ghost Whisperer, Law and Order SVU (Double Bill). Time: 5hrs 30mins

Daily total: 6hrs 50mins

No work tomorrow so we could be looking at a much higher total, particularly considering the fact that we're in the middle of the coldest winter on record and I'm unlikely to leave the house.

PROP' HATE

2009-01-05T03:24:00.000-08:00

I've just been reading about the role played by the Mormons in the recent vote to ban same-sex marriage in the state of California. The amendment known as Proposition 8 sought to reverse a Supreme Court ruling supporting the right of Gay couples to marry. If you were not already aware of this maybe you should read this NYT article: Mormons Tipped Scale in Ban on Gay Marriage

In a nutshell the campaign of support for 'Prop 8' was fought by a coalition of right-wing groups and was getting nowhere fast until it received a massive donation from the self appointed 'Latter Day Saints'. With this cash, and the support of Mormon volunteers the campaign initiated a massive advertising campaign aimed at frightening the Californian electorate into supporting the proposition.

I've never understood why people who call themselves Christians (and somehow that includes the Mormons) are so keen to restrict the rights and freedoms of anyone who does not accept their particular version of the truth. I've always understood the revolution of Jesus' message to be summed up by two of his teachings - 'Love thy neighbour as thyself' and 'Do unto to others as you would have them do unto to you'. Often known as the Golden Rule this doctrine of right living can be found in nearly all faiths around the globe, yet it is often eclipsed by quotes and passages which seem to be grounded in people's more base animal instincts.

Fear has always been one of religion's most powerful tools, fear of punishment, retribution, some kind of eternal payback for our wrongs, and it was fear that the prop 8 campaign used so effectively to turn the tide and win their campaign in California.

The campaign falsely claimed that without the protection of prop 8 parents would lose any right to have a say in the education of their children and that children in kindergarten would be forced to take part in sex education classes. They also claimed the right of religious organisations to use the constitutionally enshrined freedom of speech would be forfeit. None of these claims were in any way true but they seem to have got to the fears of middle class America and 52.3%of Californians endorsed the bill. Results in L.A were closer with 50.1% in favour, overall most counties voted in favour, some with as many as 75% in favour of Prop 8.

Since the vote there have been protests throughout the United States and this issue seems to have reinvigorated the Gay Rights movement. The Governor of California, Arnie, has gone on record opposing the ban. He gave advice to anti-Prop 8 campaigners, something he learned from his bodybuilding days, that "They should never give up".

There is also a campaign to have the Mormon church's status as a religious organisation removed as they have broken U.S. tax laws stating that religious organisations cannot use any of their funds for lobbying or campaigning on political issues. Although as this law was never enforced against the evangelical cronies of G.W.B. and the separation of church and state in the U.S. is far from clear at the best of times we can but hope.

New Year, New Blog

2009-01-04T07:46:00.000-08:00

So, this is my freakin' blog, 2009 style. It's January 4, a rather gloomy and cold Sunday and I'm sat on the sofa, watching TV, drinking tea and smoking. Nothing new there then.

I have to say that January is my least favourite month. Closely followed by February. It's the start of the new year and there's so much expectation in the air; I'm gonna do this, I'm gonna do that, go here, there and everywhere!

Yeah, right! First you gotta get out of the house. This is no easy feat to accomplish when it's always gray, cold, wet, foggy, frosty, dark or a combination of these. It's hard to resist the urge to just curl up in a duvet and sleep until spring.

Unfortunately this is not an option so I'm gonna need some way of passing these short days and long nights. As there are only so many times that you can watch the same crap on TV and I'm losing the will to facebook it seemed that blogging might provide the perfect outlet for my creative, intellectual, spiritual and aspirational musings/rantings.

Hmmm? We'll see.