Lore: According to legend, Orchis was the son a Satyr and nymph. During a celebration for Bacchanalians he attempted to rape a priestess. Eventually, he was put to death by Bacchanalians. His father prayed to the Gods to give pity on him. Orchis was then given eternal life as this root, which led to the belief that Orchid roots provide a practitioner with the lusty sexuality of the satyr.
Magical and Ritual Uses:
The tuber can be dried and carved into an amulet or talisman for love and romance.
The powdered root is considered to be an aphrodisiac.
Orchids are ideal for Handfastings.
The gift of an orchid puts romantic energy in motion. (It’s been used in the feast or cup for the Great Rite to embody the deities for fertility)
News:
Elderly relatives accused of being WITCHES by their children so they can burn them alive and claim their inheritance
Juma Kalume Musunye’s six grandchildren beat her until she fell to the ground crying, and then doused her in petrol, claiming she had used witchcraft to paralyse their mother’s hands.
‘They wanted to kill me,’ said the 65-year-old widow who lives on Kenya’s coast, where the Mijikenda people traditionally blame witches for illness and misfortune. Read more: dailymail.co.uk
Celebrate the magic of Samhain in Salem.
Thanks for stopping by,
Lisa
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References:
Llewellyn’s Magical Almanac
Llewellyn’s 2016 Moon Sign Book: Conseious Living by the cycles of the moon
Catherine Yronwode: Hoodoo Herb and Root Magic
Paul Beyerl: A Compendium of Herbal Magick
Scott Cunningham: Cunningham’s Encyclopedia of magical herbs
Lore: Jasmine is associated with the feminine and maternal aspect of the Divine Universe. It was held as a sacred herb of Diana of Ephesus, Quan Yin, and the Virgin Mary. Jasmine corresponds well with the High Priestess and the four nine cards in the Tarot.
Magical and Ritual Uses:
For Love: Dried Jasmine flowers are added to sachets, charms and incense to attract a spiritual love.
For Money: The flowers will bring wealth and money if carried, burned or worn. It’s beautiful aroma is soothing and helps to lift spirits. Dreaming of Jasmine is said to foretell good fortune and good news for lovers.
For prophetic dreams: Burnin the bedroom.
For Creativity: Store Jasmine and Quartz crystals together to promote new and creative ideas.
Use in rituals when you wish to conjure the feminine properties of the Moon.
Jasmine is excellent to burn during meditation.
Dress and burn a candle with the oil for Psychic protection and health to one’s aura.
News:
Branded witches and cursed by spirits, Kenyan widows ousted from land NAIROBI, June 23 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Juma Kalume Musunye’s six grandchildren beat her until she fell to the ground crying, and then doused her in petrol, claiming she had used witchcraft to paralyse their mother’s hands.
“They wanted to kill me,” said the 65-year-old widow who lives on Kenya’s coast, where the Mijikenda people traditionally blame witches for illness and misfortune.
“My son told them I had bewitched his wife.”
Hearing her screams, Musunye’s neighbours rushed out and rescued her.
“I am really bitter,” she told the Thomson Reuters Foundation ahead of International Widows’ Day on Thursday.
“I am old, my health is not good and my children do not care about me.”
Musunye was speaking by phone from Kaya Godoma, a centre set up in 2008 to care for elderly people ousted by their relatives. Read full story – dailymail.co.uk
Portsmouth medium jailed as a witch for ‘predicting’ sinking of battleship
My recent picture of HMS Barham leaving Portsmouth Harbour in the 1930s reminded Calum Kennedy of the unusual connection between the battleship, Portsmouth and witchcraft.
He recalls that in November 1941 Helen Duncan, a Scottish spiritual medium, held a séance at the Master Temple Psychic Centre, a room above Homers drug store at 301 Copnor Road, Copnor. During the séance Duncan indicated that HMS Barham had been sunk. Read full story – portsmouth.co.uk
Thanks for stopping by,
Lisa
References:
Llewellyn’s Magical Almanac
Llewellyn’s 2016 Moon Sign Book: Conseious Living by the cycles of the moon
Catherine Yronwode: Hoodoo Herb and Root Magic
Paul Beyerl: A Compendium of Herbal Magick
Scott Cunningham: Cunningham’s Encyclopedia of magical herbs
Lore: Cinnamon was burned to purify temples in ancient China. It also promotes health, vigor and libido.
Magical and Ritual Uses:
For Love: Add to oils, powders, and mojo bags.
Cleansing Incense: Mix with Frankincense, Myrrh, Camphor, and Sandalwood, burn every day for 14 days to purify your home. The insencse can also be used to smudge the body or gifts received from unknown parties or the dead.
To Draw money: Place three Cinnamon sticks with Fast Luck oil in a green bag, add Nutmeg with money drawing oils. Place in an amulet for good fortune
When burned as an Incense: Aids in healing, concentration, high spiritual vibrations, stimulates psychic powers, and enhances protective vibrations.
News
Summer solstice events and pagan sites around Britain
The summer solstice festival continues until June 21 on the campsite set closest to Stonehenge, and visitors can enjoy free access to the sacred site to celebrate the summer solstice from tonight at 7pm until 8am tomorrow (sunrise will be at 4.45am). Offerings include various food stands, a real ale bar and cider festival, as well as fire twisters and musical entertainment by night. Read full story – telegraph.co.uk
On the Summer Solstice, it’s not just neo-pagans like me who should be reconnecting with the natural world We have a deep and undeniable relationship with nature – from the fact that our bodies naturally wake up when they see sunlight, to our tendency and need to live beside water, to the spooky fact that the menstrual cycle is the same length as the lunar month. Read full story – independent.co.uk
French woman accused of murdering daughter on beach blames witchcraft
A French woman who left her baby daughter to drown on a beach blamed “witchcraft” when she went on trial for murder on Monday.
Fabienne Kabou, 39, who was described as having “remarkable intelligence … but subject to irrational beliefs”, travelled to Berck-sur-Mer with her only child, Adélaïde, in November 2013. Read full story - theguardian
Thanks for stopping by,
Lisa
References:
Llewellyn’s Magical Almanac
Llewellyn’s 2016 Moon Sign Book: Conseious Living by the cycles of the moon
Catherine Yronwode: Hoodoo Herb and Root Magic
Paul Beyerl: A Compendium of Herbal Magick
Scott Cunningham: Cunningham’s Encyclopedia of magical herbs
Thyme is a perennial shrub, and a member of the mint family. With over a hundred varieties, the most common being garden and lemon Thyme.
The Greeks used Thyme “to make a burnt offering.” In the Middle Ages, Europeans placed it under pillows to promote sleep and ward off nightmares. Women would also give the leaves to knights to bring courage. Thyme was also placed on coffins and burned as incense during funerals to send one into the next life.
Planet: Venus (Beauty, Fidelity, Friendships, Good Fortune, Love, Money, youth)
Magical and Ritual Uses:
To stop nightmares or have prophetic dreams: Place beneath your pillow, or burn on charcoal and take in the aroma. (it is also great for meditation)
For Money: Plant THYME in the garden. Fold a dollar bill around THYME leaves, then fold again to make a packet, tie it up, and bury it on a full moon at the middle of a crossroads.
Growing various types of THYME: Encourages the devas to be lively.
To see Fairies: Carry in an amulet or sachet.
Money-Protection: Combine THYME, MINT, and BAYBERRY.
For purification: Burn prior to a ritual to cleanse the area. In spring, make a cleansing bath composed of MARJORAM and THYME to ensure all the sorrows and ills of the past are removed.
THYME is also carried and smelled to give courage and energy.
For good health: Thyme is burned or worn in an amulet. It is excellent in healing spells.
It is also used to communicate with friends and relatives who have passed. THYME can be most useful on SAMHAIN.
Entertainment
The Conjuring 2: Movie Review Between the fantastic talent of and chemistry between Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga, and the vision of James Wan, The Conjuring 2 demonstrates incredible potential for the emerging franchise. Real full story – cinemablend.com
News
First shamanism museum opens in Seoul South Korea’s first shamanism museum, located at Geumseongdang Shrine, opened its doors in Eunpyeong-gu, northwestern Seoul last week.
The shrine, close in style to the traditional Korean house, or hanok, was founded to appease the spirit of Prince Geumseong (1426-1457), who was ordered a lethal dose of poison upon charges of trying to reinstate the deposed King Danjong. Read full story - asiaone.com
Ryan Murphy revealed the set up for the next installment of “American Horror Story” during a Friday night event for Emmy voters. Coven will be a massive witch-off: Salem versus voodoo.
“The witches of Salem, the smart ones, got out very early and they were none of the ones who were burned,” Murphy explained. “They all gravitated toward New Orleans, where they now live, and every generation has a great witch who has the most powers of them all, and that’s called the Supreme. Ms. Jessica Lange is the Supreme.” Read full story – au.ibtimes.com
Books:
Out of the Broom Closet, into the Rave: ‘Pop Pagans: Paganism and Popular Music’ Paganism and popular music share a love of physicality. Rooting this scholarly anthology not in beliefs constructed by modern society referring to nature, but arising rather from earth’s own manifestations by cultural contexts, co-editor Donna Weston introduces 13 contributions to the study of Pagans and music now. (The capitalization is significant: convention prefers a “P” for modern followers and a “p” for pre-Christian adherents.) Read full story – popmatters.com
News:
Witchcraft-accused force-fed human excreta PARSA, AUG 07 – A single woman in Bishrampur-1 in the district was allegedly thrashed and force-fed human excreta on the charge of practising witchcraft , police said.
According to police, Devmati Chaurasiya, Lalchuni Chaurasiya and the latter’s son Manjaya, who beat 65-year-old Saraswoti Devi Chaurasiya on Tuesday evening, are arrested for necessary investigation.
However, local resident Bijaya Chaurasiya, who was also reportedly involved in the incident, is at large. Read full story – ekantipur.com
My Mother the Witch what if your mother were a witch? Do you think she would have done things a bit differently from other mothers? Based on my experience, you would be right…
My mother Maggie, as she likes to be called, has referred to herself as a witch for a couple of decades now — at least since she was in her early 70s. That was around the time she started adding 8,000 years to the date: She would date her letters to me 9989 instead of 1989 and 9992 instead of 1992, to signal that she was reckoning time from the estimated beginning of Goddess worship. Nowadays, at 92 years young, she talks about the Goddess often, keeps an altar with a Goddess statue from Malta, and regularly wears a large pentacle around her neck. Read full story – huffingtonpost.com
Slippery Spells: Gay-Inclusive Curriculum Leads To Witchcraft Says South Carolina Teacher A South Carolina teacher is making the rounds on the anti-gay circuit for his wild claims about homosexuality in the classroom. Last week the infamous Fox News contributor and American Family Association radio host Sandy Rios — who last week compared the love two gay men feel to the “love” kidnapper and rapist Ariel Castro felt for the women he kept captive as slaves in his home — talked with Ira Thomas, a South Carolina teacher.
Thomas told Rios that a gay-inclusive curriculum is harmful to children, and said “it’s like teaching people about how to use crack.” Read full story -thenewcivilrightsmovement.com
During the school year, Lizarda Urena, the mother of two students, prayed out loud on the steps of the school as students walked in.
Urena said she had a calling in 2011 to fight school violence with prayer, so she started praying on the steps of the auditorium between 7 and 7:15 a.m. as students filtered in. Read full story -wcvb.com
Woman charged in Globe crash threatened voodoo hex, police say BOSTON —A police report says an Everett woman accused of being drunk when her car rammed a newspaper delivery truck on a Boston highway, sending it plummeting 40 feet to the ramp below, threatened to put a voodoo hex on the arresting officer.
Police say 25-year-old Vivencia Bellegarde struck the Boston Globe truck on Interstate 93 at about 3:15 a.m. Monday. The driver, Paul Healy Jr. of Brockton, was listed in fair condition at a hospital on Tuesday. Read full story -wcvb.com
Paranormal:
Couple says app lets the iPhone communicate with ghosts INDIANAPOLIS STAR – Those thumps and bumps in the night, or the item that mysteriously falls from a shelf, are more than coincidence and may be signs the spirit world is trying to communicate. At least that’s what a Greenwood, Ind., couple is banking on.
Ghost hunters Roger Pingleton and Jill Beitz, founders of StreamSide Software, have developed an iPhone app they say gives the dead a voice.
In developing the Spirit Story Box app (99 cents to download at the Apple app store; there is no Android version), Pingleton said his goal was to improve on other paranormal apps for the iPhone. Read full story – KSDK.com
Pagan Pride festival dispels myths
Amanda Hyde admits it was the spells and rituals that drew her to paganism as a rebellious teenager. But more than a decade later, that shock value has long subsided.
“There are a lot of misconceptions,” she laughed.
For 10 years now, Hyde has organized Pagan Pride Day in Hamilton as a chance to celebrate their beliefs and give outsiders a glimpse into their lifestyle to dispel the myths.
“A lot of people think of pagan people as fringe folk. But you come here and you meet teachers, police officers, government workers…” she said of the volunteer-run event. Read full story from metronews.ca
UConn students display Pagan pride on Fairfield Way
The first Pagan Pride Day took place on Fairfield Way Saturday afternoon in order to educate students about the Pagan beliefs and make the community aware of their presence on campus.
Sponsored by the Pagan Organization of Diverse Spirituality (PODS) they manage to attract a few people in and out of the event who were curious enough to learn more about the different religions that were represented. Each stand had their own unique religion that branches off from the Pagan religion. The beliefs ranged from Troth to Witchcraft and Wiccan and each stand handed out information on them. Read full story from dailcampus.com
Arts & Entertainment:
Why Witches Will Replace Hollywood’s Obsession With Zombies & Vampires
Maybe you’ve noticed something in Hollywood when it comes to action and horror movies; they jump on the popularity of a trend faster than you walked out of Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked. We’ve already been treated to a debacle of 80s cartoon remakes, with Transformers, G.I. Joe, The Smurfs, and a new Ninja Turtles reboot headed our way, courtesy of Michael Bay. But Hollywood, faithful as you’d expect to deliver what the people want, goes beyond that.
When a zombie movie is released to major success, a multitude of zombie films randomly appear to be thrust into screens everywhere. After Danny Boyle’s 2002 feature 28 Days Later, we were treated with Resident Evil, House of the Dead, Dawn of the Dead, Dawn of the Living Dead, Resident Evil: Apocalypse, Shaun of the Dead, Land of the Dead, Diary of the Dead, Zombieland…you get the point. The fact is, we saw a whole lot more big budget zombie flicks after the success of one, and it’s not just a case of the undead. Read full story from whatculture.com
News:
Pagans practice, live in hiding in Wyo.
LARAMIE, Wyo. – - Becca Haskins has “the best job in the world,” she says, working in a lab at a Powder River Basin coal mine.
For that, she thanks her faith – paganism.
Before Haskins got the job, she performed a spell with candles. Then everything fell into place.
Haskins is 22, lives in Gillette and applies her faith as a “solitary practitioner,” meaning she is not affiliated with a group.
Among pagans, Wyoming is a state of solitary practitioners, the result of low population, wide spaces between cities and towns and dozens of pagan sects. The exception is Laramie, which has the Wolf Tree Kindred. Read full story from standard.net
Man ‘used witchcraft to traffic children’ for prostitution An alleged people trafficker cut the chest of a vulnerable 14-year-old girl with a razor during a series of “juju” witchcraft rituals aimed at terrifying young recruits into silence before selling them into prostitution across Europe, a court heard yesterday.
Osezua Osolase recruited and raped impoverished young Nigerian orphans and forced them to undergo West African rituals in which hair, nails and blood were removed to “cast a spell” over them and ensure their obedience, Canterbury Crown Court was told. Read full story from indpendent.co.uk
Witchcraft at Fourah Bay
Two boys of No. 3 Foster Street, at the Fourah Bay community, East of the capital on Thursday, September 13th openly confessed of practicing wizardry, after being conjured by a witch doctor called, Umaru Kamara, a native of Yoni Bana Chiefdom.
The eldest of the confessors named Osman Njai and his cousin, Amidu Savage, 13 and 12 years old respectively, confessed to a mammoth crowd of family members and relatives including journalists and people of that community that they were responsible for the multiple mishaps facing their family relatives in the spirit realm. Read full story from sierraexpressmedia.com
Woman Killed and Burned in Colombia over Suspected Witchcraft
A woman suspected of practicing witchcraft was murdered and her body burned over the weekend in the Colombian town of Santa Barbara.María Berenice Martínez’s naked body was found inside her house with blows to the skull, her hair ripped out and burn marks, according to Colombian press reports. The killers had tied the door shut with a rope so she couldn’t escape.
After killing Martinez, the murderers took her hair and some photos to the patio and set them on fire as her six dogs barked at them.
Police suspect two men of committing the crime, though Martinez’s sister—also named María—says more people may have known about the plot. Read full story from foxnews.com
As autumn starts to draw in, thoughts turn to the pagans of our ancient past
The nights are growing longer and on many trees the leaves are slowly turning from green to gold, heralding the arrival of autumn. We seem to have missed out on the season of summer this year and crops of fruit and grain are poor at a time when they should be in abundance. Good hay is virtually unobtainable but the wrapped round bale has allowed us to at least salvage a fodder crop of some sort. The summer we have just endured reminded me of a passage in David Thomson’s book Woodbrook, when he wrote of helping to make hay in a wet season in Roscommon in the 1930s. Read full story from independent.ie
Federal safety minister hexes job posting for prison witch in B.C. VANCOUVER — Public Safety Minister Vic Toews appears less concerned about the quality of spells cast from behind bars than he is about a backlash from taxpayers, cancelling a Corrections Canada tender for a priest to nurture the spiritual needs of witches in prison.
Earlier this week, the federal prison agency put out a request for a proposal for a Wiccan chaplain in British Columbia who would provide about 17 hours of service a month, about an hour less service than the department says it needs for the Jewish faith. Read full story from vancouversun.com
Paranormal:
‘Paranormal Activity’ producer branches out into haunted houses
In the underground dressing room of a dilapidated theater in downtown Los Angeles, a Hollywood art director is telling a chilling tale.”It was closing night in the 1930s, and the owner’s wife desperately wanted to be the magician’s assistant,” said Thom Spence, a burly man with two earrings, long sideburns, a mustache and a soul patch. “But after Magi the Mysterious put her in the vanishing box, she never came back.”
In less than a month that story will come to life at the 88-year-old Variety Arts Theatre under the direction of film producer Jason Blum — not as a play, movie or TV show, but as a haunted house. Read full story from latimes.com
Hagar, the camerawoman for Amy Bruni and Adam Berry, made an unexpected appearance on the show last night after being attacked and scratched by an invisible entity – but this didn’t go unnoticed by Grant Wilson.
Grant contacted Hagar this morning via Twitter to congratulate her on her appearance on “Ghost Hunters” after receiving a tweet from her telling him how much he was missed. Read full story from examiner.com
A ROMAN SHIPWRECK IN THE ANCIENT PORT OF ANTIBES
A team of archaeologists from Inrap have uncovered a Roman shipwreck in southern France, in what was once part of the bustling ancient port of Antibes.
Antibes was known as Antipolis, a Greek colony originally founded by the Phoenicians of Massalia. The date of its origin is uncertain, but situated on the coast of Provence, Antipolis occupied a privileged position on the sea routes linking Marseilles to the Italian coast and contained a natural harbour – Anse Saint-Roch – which protected shipping from prevailing winds. Read full story from pasthorizonspr.com
News:
Possible da Vinci painting found in Scottish farmhouse; could be worth $150 million Fiona McLaren, 59, had kept an old painting in her Scottish farmhouse for decades. She reportedly didn’t think much of the painting, which had been given to her as a gift by her father. But after she finally decided to have the painting appraised, some experts are speculating that it may in fact be a 500-year-old painting by Leonardo da Vinci and potentially worth more than $150 million. Read full story from yahoo.com
Paranormal:
Witch Claims That The Loch Ness Monster Is Actually A Ghost
Kevin Carlyon, a ‘white witch’ and official ‘Protector of Loch Ness and the Loch Ness Creature’ is planning on holding a mass seance at the famous Scottish site in order to make contact with ‘Nessie’ who he believes is a ghost.
Carylon named himself as protector of Nessie after he cast a spell over Loch Ness which would prevent Swedish ‘monster hunter’ Jan Sundberg from capturing the mythical beast when he visited the Loch in 2001 on a Nessie hunt. The pair have since traded insults via email in an ongoing feud which lead to Sundberg threatening to cut Carylon an extra “asshole” and shove his head through it. Carylon responded by outing Sundberg as a convicted child molester. Read full story from themorningstarr.co.uk
Former owner of haunted Oaklands Mansion identifies himself in EVP
Oaklands Mansion in Laurel, MD, dates from 1732 and was once a prosperous plantation on over 1,000 acres. Through the years, it’s sheltered a number of different families. The Staggers family purchased it in the 1920’s and it’s still owned by a descendant today.
This once magnificent mansion, which now sits in the middle of a modern housing development in Price George’s County, has fallen into disrepair. Restoring it to its former glory is a labor of love for the owner, who has boyhood memories of visiting the house. His memories include imported Persian rugs on the gleaming hardwood floors, the elegant flocked velvet wallpaper and crystal chandelier in the dining room, and the large working fireplaces. In its day, Oaklands Mansion must have epitomized the opulent lifestyle of the southern aristocracy. Read full story from Examiner.com
‘Wicker Man’ followup is more of a straw man
The original 1973 version of “The Wicker Man” is a horror classic. The 2006 remake starring Nicolas Cage is an unintentionally hilarious diversion.Unfortunately, “The Wicker Tree” — director/writer Robin Hardy’s completely unnecessary followup to the 1973 film, which he directed from Anthony Shaffer’s screenplay — is neither.
It’s neither good nor bad enough to be entertaining, and you find yourself wishing the inevitable and unsurprising conclusion would just hurry up and arrive already.
Not quite a sequel and not quite a remake either, “The Wicker Tree” tells basically the same story as “The Wicker Man,” only with a much less interesting and far more grating cast of characters. Read full story from timesdaily.com
Between 35,000 and 40,000 fans are expected to be in attendance this weekend at Phoenix Comicon 2012. Those planning ahead as weekend attendees will want to book reservations with the Hyatt Regency which is across the street from the Phoenix Convention Center.
Phoenix Comicon one of the biggest underground events that happens annually in Phoenix area. Art and techno paganism are running wild at these fun filled gatherings, but basically it is good clean fun times for young and old alike. Read full story from examiner.com
Religion:
After decade in storage, Washington letter on religious freedom will go public
Washington (CNN) – After sitting in storage for nearly a decade, George Washington’s signature statement on religious liberty will go on display this summer in the city where freedom of religion was enshrined in the Constitution: Philadelphia.
America’s first president wrote the letter to a Jewish congregation in Newport, Rhode Island, in 1790, assuring American Jews that their freedom of religion would be protected. The document will go on display this summer for the first time since 2002 in an exhibition at Philadelphia’s National Museum of American Jewish History.
For nine years, the letter has been kept out of public view, in storage at a sterile Maryland office park a few hundred feet from FedEx Field, where the Washington Redskins play. CNN took an inside look at the document in September. Read full story from cnn.com
Accused priest: ‘I was helping priests and helping victims as best I could’
Philadelphia (CNN) — The highest-ranking cleric to be charged with child endangerment testified Wednesday in the landmark child sexual abuse and conspiracy trial in which he and another Philadelphia priest are defendants.Dressed in clerical garb, Monsignor William Lynn took the stand inside the packed Common Pleas courtroom under the watchful eye of Judge Teresa Sarmina. He was calm, confident and very matter-of-fact during direct examination by one of his defense attorneys, Thomas Bergstrom.
“I felt I was helping priests and helping victims as best I could,” Lynn told jurors, swiveling in the witness chair.
Lynn is accused of knowingly allowing dangerous priests to continue in the ministry in roles in which they had access to children. Also on trial is the Rev. James Brennan, who is accused of the attempted rape of a 14-year-old. Both Brennan and Lynn have pleaded not guilty. Read full story from cnn.com
Why is obscure Bible verse from Exodus trending on Twitter?
(CNN) – It’s not every day a Bible verse lights up social media, but a relatively obscure verse from the Hebrew Bible – what Christians call the Old Testament – was trending on Twitter worldwide Thursday.
The verse, Exodus 23:1, offers this admonition: “You shall not spread a false report. You shall not join hands with the wicked to act as a malicious witness.” (New Revised Standard Version)
It comes in a section following Moses’ bringing the Ten Commandments down from Mount Sinai. “Exodus 23:1″ also is the title of a new song from rapper Pusha T, which may explain why it’s trending. Read full story from cnn.com
It comes from the fossilised bones of a foot that were discovered in Ethiopia and dated to be 3.4 million years old.
The researchers say they do not have enough remains to identify the species of hominin, or human ancestor, from which the right foot came.
But they tell Nature journal that just the shape of the bones shows the creature could walk upright at times. Read full story from bbc.co.uk
Climate Change Poses Disaster Risk for Most of the Planet
Climate change is bringing more droughts, heat waves and powerful rainstorms, shifts that will require governments to change how they cope with natural disasters to protect human lives and the world economy, a new U.N. report says.
The 592-page analysis by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, released yesterday, also makes clear the uneven toll extracted by extreme weather, because its effects can be magnified by a lack of resources to plan for disasters and cope with their aftermath. Read full story from scientificamerican.com
News:
NYC Schools Want To Ban ‘Loaded Words’ From Tests
New York (CNN) — Divorce. Dinosaurs, Birthdays. Religion. Halloween. Christmas. Television. These are a few of the 50-plus words and references the New York City Department of Education is hoping to ban from the city’s standardized tests.
The banned word list was made public — and attracted considerable criticism — when the city’s education department recently released this year’s “request for proposal” The request for proposal is sent to test publishers around the country trying to get the job of revamping math and English tests for the City of New York.
New York (CNN) — Divorce. Dinosaurs, Birthdays. Religion. Halloween. Christmas. Television. These are a few of the 50-plus words and references the New York City Department of Education is hoping to ban from the city’s standardized tests.The banned word list was made public — and attracted considerable criticism — when the city’s education department recently released this year’s “request for proposal” The request for proposal is sent to test publishers around the country trying to get the job of revamping math and English tests for the City of New York. Read full story from ktvz.com
Suspects: Alleged sexual assault part of religion
MARIETTA – A Marietta couple was arrested Tuesday night for allegedly sexually assaulting a teenage family member, acts they say occurred due to their religious beliefs.
Arrested were Daniel R. Hess, 45, and his live-in girlfriend, Lacey K. Day, 30, of 728 Mount Tom Road, Marietta. The couple was charged with third-degree sexual battery after allegedly assaulting a 15-year-old girl on three occasions beginning in late 2010.
“We’ve been conducting the investigation for about the last two weeks. It came to our attention through another public service agency within the county,” said Washington County Sheriff Larry Mincks. Read full story from newsandssentinel.com
The moss-covered monolith has three faces and appears to be roughly 4,000 years old, based on dating of other relics sprinkled about the site, which is called Gardom’s Edge.
“The stone is a singular, very striking feature in contrast to the landscape,” said astronomer Daniel Brown of Nottingham Trent University in the UK. “It’s definitely not a Space Odyssey alien relic. It’s far more mundane and tricky.”Read full story from wired.com
One of these men owned slaves, another created laws to regulate – but not ban - slavery. The third’s chief spokesman even ordered slaves to obey their masters, religious scholars say.
Most modern people of faith see slavery as a great evil. Though the three great Western religions – Judaism, Christianity and Islam – disagree on many matters, most of their contemporary followers condemn slavery.
Yet there was a time when Jews, Christians and Muslims routinely cited the words and deeds of their founders to justify human bondage, scholars say.
At times, religion was deployed more to promote the spread of slavery than to prevent it. Read full story from cnn.com
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