Ghost

Astronomers Discover Alien Planet In Our Milky Way
We’ve talked about colliding galaxies on this blog before. But this piece of science news today is a little weirder: The journal Science reports that astronomers have found the first extragalactic exoplanet in our Milkyway. Read full story from npr.org

Ghost caught on camera
People who are open to the supernatural see ghosts everywhere. For instance a speck of dust as it moves on an air current and caught in a camera flash becomes an ‘orb’: a ball of otherworldly energy left by the souls of the departed. Read full story from manchesterconfidential.co.uk

Sefton and West Lancashire Pagans hit out at UKIP attack over holidays
The region’s Pagan community has reacted with uproar this week after a political party branded moves to let police officers celebrate their festivals as “madness”. Read full story from champnews.com

BP Contractors and Coast Guard Prevent CBS From Filming Oil Spill Devastation
CBS News reporters have been turned away and threatened with arrest, prevented from reporting on the impact of oil coming ashore in Louisiana, by contractors from BP, apparently working in conjunction with the US Coast Guard. Earlier in the drama of the Gulf oil disaster, US Fish & Wildlife Service cut off access to certain wildlife refuges to limit the impact of troops of journalists marching over nesting habitat, but this seems different. Read full story from treehugger.com

Humanists join Hertfordshire Police chaplaincy team
The chaplaincy team has 20 members from a range of faiths, including Judaism, Christianity, Islam and Paganism. Read full story from bbc.co.uk

Religion, Bigotry, and Political Hypocrisy
Pat Buchanan, in his usual less-than-charming manner, brought up a point last week about the religious diversity (or lack thereof) of the Supreme Court. Buchanan pointed out that, if Elena Kagan is confirmed to the highest court (as seems likely), there will be only two religions represented on the court – Judaism and Catholicism. He further points out that the court will be one-third Jewish, when Jews account for only two percent of the American population. Now, aside from the highly amusing spectacle of right-wingers advocating some sort of quota system, I think there’s a deeper point here than Buchanan’s “pity the unrepresented Protestant majority” theme. Because, even though virtually no politician would ever admit it, there is indeed a widespread (but unacknowledged) religious bigotry in America. Read full story from huffingtonpost.com

First Pagan Chaplain Appointed at Syracuse University
This is the first new chaplain since the appointments of the Buddhist and the historically black church chaplains and the 11th chaplain at Hendricks. As a chaplain, Hudson will work at Hendricks two days a week, sponsor community outreaches and be apart of the Chaplains Council. Read full story from virtueonline.org

Mary Daly changed my life
When I heard that Mary Daly had died in early January, I wrote on my Facebook page that she had changed my life. The ferocious theologian was among those writers responsible for the unraveling of my Presbyterian Christianity. I find myself hesitating to write about her, knowing that it means approaching the thick tangle of culture, gender, anger, and God. In that place, scorpions patrol and guard, tails lifted and ready to strike at a misstep in thought, feeling, or choice of words. As the witches say, “Where there’s fear there’s power,” so here I go. Read full story from uuworld.org

Colonel tells cadets ’lack of respect’ for pagan site will not be tolerated
A top official at the Air Force Academy warned cadets Wednesday that religious discrimination “will not be tolerated” — an admonishment that came nearly three weeks after an airman reported that someone left a large wooden cross at the site of a pagan worship area. Read full story from gazette.com

Christian Serbia maintains its faith in folklore
While Serbia is a deeply religious nation, it also happens to be steeped in superstition. The BBC’s Mark Lowen finds that folklore and tales of medieval military glory are part of daily life for many Serbians. Read full story from bbc.co.uk

“Thirteen Moons on A Turtles Back” And “Punxsutawney Who?”
The term actually comes from the number of plates on the shell of a snapping turtle.  The Native Americans used it as a way of keeping track of the moons in a year.  I know you are thinking, “Aren’t there twelve moons in a year?”  That is true if there were not occasionally two full moons in one month approximately every 2.5 years.  I am sure you have head of ‘Once in a Blue Moon’. Read full story from findlayliving.com

Wisconsin: Man-Wolf sightings
You all know how skeptical we here at GhostTheory are. Sometimes we even come off as being too tough on people. For example take the case with “Extreme Paranormal“. Read full story from ghosttheory.com

Be a good Christian: Say ‘Happy Holidays’
Here’s a fun mind game just in time for the year’s biggest shopping season: If Jesus were a clerk ringing up your purchase at The Gap, would he wish you “Merry Christmas” or “Happy Holidays”? What would Jesus do? Read full story from post-gazette.com