27. oktober 2003

Bigoted preacher caught with his pants down Brother Stephen, or The Rev. Stephen White, was known as a particularly hateful and bigoted Pennsylvania preacher, presenting himself as a holy saint and denouncing everyone he considered sinful, and few with such fervour as gays. He preached on campuses with such ferocity that many other Christian organisation distanced themselves from him. Last year, undergraduate English student Greta Pane, herself an atheist, interviewed him for a class project. She tries to understand how an apparently gentle family man can be such a hateful preacher. Once two girls approached him holding hands and he pranced around shouting, “AIDS alert!” Recently he said, “We should execute the homos. They’re guilty of a crime worthy of death.” Some students believe Stephen is a repressed gay—how else could he muster such hatred?   Fast forward a few months, and we find brother Stephen caught soliciting oral sex from a 14 year old boy. White is awaiting trial, with is set for November 24, but police say they are continuing to investigate White and believe he may have victimized more than one juvenile.    "We believe there may be other victims out there, and that this wasn't an isolated incident," West Chester police detective Stan Billie said. According to court documents, White approached the teen in a green Ford van and asked if he knew of any strip clubs, adult book stores or shops that sold sexually explicit videos.  When then the boy said he did not, White unsuccessfully attempted to lure the boy into the vehicle. White then told the boy he could "make some money" by letting White perform oral sex on him. After the encounter, the boy reported the van's license plate number to his mother, who then contacted the police. Next time we hear one of these hateful bigots, it can be interesting to ponder what skeletons are hidden in their closets. 11:28:17 PM    comment []  trackback []

Americans believe in heaven and hell Only five per cent of Americans don't believe in an afterlife, and the same number is not sure, according to a poll. And, of course, they all know where they are going to end up. Nearly two-thirds of Americans in the national survey said they believe they will go to heaven. Only one half of 1 percent said they were hell-bound, according to the poll by the Oxnard, Calif.-based Barna Research Group, an independent marketing research firm which has tracked trends since 1984. Did they ask how many is convinced their neighbour is going to hell? The survey found that 76 percent of Americans believe in heaven and 71 percent in hell--the same as a decade ago. Reality, of course, is not conforming to the wishes of the majority. My take: Does the soul or spirit really exist? And a follow-up. It's a nice fantasy, though. 9:17:37 PM    comment []  trackback []

Longhorn screenshots Screenshots of Longhorn 4051, a recent build of the next version of Microsoft Windows, has been leaked. 8:10:25 PM    comment []  trackback []

Does this belong at a peace march? Belligerent Bunny Blog has been to the so-called peace march in Washington DC, and brought his camera. Have a look! 7:57:05 PM    comment []  trackback []

Red Cross pulling out? The International Committee of the Red Cross has experienced its first terrorist suicide attack ever, demonstrating the utter ferociity and ruthlessness of the opposition. Even the usual US-bashing Swedish journalists I heard on the radio had trouble finding people on the streets of Baghdad who didn't express rage towards the "foreign terrorists" and "Saddam supporters" believed to be behind the latest wave of terrorist attacks. The Red Cross, which I assume is Red Crescent on the ground in Iraq, is now weighing its options on whether to reduce its work in Iraq. 6:50:57 PM    comment []  trackback []

More Matrix 3 For those who can't get enough previews of Matrix Revolution, check out this 1:26 minute Neo vs Agent Smith fight. Req. Media Player, decent bandwidth, sound, all that. 5:33:28 AM    comment []  trackback []

A rare moment of clarity in the German press German blogger David Kaspar translates an astonishing (and, I am told, rare) piece of introspection in the German press. What began as legitimate criticism of the Bush government has now established itself as an aggressive anti-Americanism, an anti-Americanism that the German correspondents in Washington find difficult to resist or counter: The themes on which they report are selected by their bosses back in Germany. [...] As a good German he was naturally against the Iraq War, said a colleague from the "Zeit" newspaper. But he would have also preferred it had his newspaper just once presented all of the American motivations and reasons for action on the front page. The journalist from the "Boston Globe" retorted that that was the very crux of the matter. European journalists always think that they have to take sides while American journalists make an effort to present all sides in an attempt to provide objective reporting." I have looked in vain for similar candor in the Norwegian press. What these German journalists have realised about themselves (and I can only take their word for it), is very much true in Norway as well. The media here is extremely uniform, with few or no dissenters, and ironically they accuse the American media for the same thing. It will be hard to argue that e.g. the New York Times and Fox News are part of the same "uniform" US media. In Norway, all media is essentially far to moderate left, at least on international issues. While you're at David's blog, note his recent article about Chancellor Schröder's devastating decline in the polls, which David interpretes as his anti-Americanism backfiring. At least, it can't help him any longer. 5:10:43 AM    comment []  trackback []

American gothic, American brats The painting American Gothic, made by Grant Wood in 1930, is one of those cultural icons that are copied and parodied endlessly. Norwegians, at least those that did not grow up reading Mad magazine, may be totally ignorant about this strong artwork, and miss the countless references to it in popular art. American Gothic, Grant Wood. Oil on beaverboard, 1930 The Simple Life Promotional. Fox TV. Pixels on screen, 2003. The example above (right, if you wondered) is a promotional photo for the "reality" show The Simple Life, where the beautiful, rich and spoiled 22-year olds Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie is sent to a farm to work on minimum wage. I found the picture in a Norwegian newspaper article. The journalist doesn't appear to see the reference to the iconic painting. I realised when I saw the reference to the famous painting that I had no idea who had painted it, or what it was called. This googling helped me find its name. The term "gothic" refers to the building style of the house behind the couple (not a church, as I thought). And unlike what most people seem to think, it depicts a farmer and his daughter, not his wife. In real life, the models were the artist's daughter and their dentist. That, I assume, explains the facial expressions. 2:51:26 AM    comment []  trackback []

© Copyright 2003 Jan Haugland. Last update: 01.11.2003; 03:23:39.