News from the Nest
How Significant Is The 'New Henge'?
Sun, 07/25/2010 - 10:03pmA major survey of the Stonehenge landscape started last week, and today we learn that archaeologists have found another henge. Is this real? Do we know as little about the famous world heritage site as this seems to imply? Or is it another hyped science story that will vanish with the dawn? Let's start with the new henge. Yes, it is a significant find, and my archaeological colleagues are al
Green Man Draws The Crowds To Pilton
Sat, 07/24/2010 - 10:01pmCrowds thronged Pilton Street on Saturday as the annual Green Man Festival returned with an explosion of colour and entertainment. It began with a grand parade of costumed characters, including the irrepressible Green Man - the pagan symbol of nature and fertility - from The Square in Barnstaple, along the High Street to Pilton. Accompanied by music and drums the procession made its way to P
Stone Circle Plan For Carlisle Park
Sat, 07/24/2010 - 10:01pmA prehistoric-style henge or stone circle could be erected in Carlisles Rickerby Park. The Eden Rivers Trust has approached the city council for permission to set up seven 6ft-high stones, which it describes as educational sculptures. Officials were unable to say how much the circle will cost but say the money is coming from a £1 million Heritage Lottery grant for education and access pro
Lesbian Gets $35K Settlement Over Canceled Prom
Fri, 07/23/2010 - 10:02pmA rural school district that canceled its prom rather than allow a lesbian student to attend with her girlfriend has agreed to pay $35,000 to settle a discrimination lawsuit the ACLU filed on her behalf. The district also agreed to follow a non-discrimination policy as part of the settlement, though it argues such a policy was already in place. Constance McMillen, 18, said the victory came a
Grisly Discovery Leads To Fears Of Ritual Sacrifices In An Edgware Churchyard
Fri, 07/23/2010 - 10:02pmThe mutilated body of a black cat discovered laid out in an Edgware graveyard has led to fears someone may be performing ritual sacrifices in the area. Daniel Mustill, 35, says three of his family's cats have now disappeared in just over four months. On Sunday the body of two-year-old Coco was found in the cemetery of St Margaret's Church, Station Road, laid out on a grave towards the rear o
Spanish Cave Has Most Extensive Collection Of Helictites Ever Found (Yay! Pictures!)
Thu, 07/22/2010 - 9:42pmCantabria is a land of caves. Lying midway along the Iberian peninsula's northern coast, the region one of Spain's 17 provincial comunidades autónoma (autonomous communities) measures just 5,000 square kilometres, yet it holds more than 6,500 caves. The most famous is Altamira, with its astonishingly preserved paintings of bison and horses from the Paleolithic era. But since Altamira was sh
Legends Of The Deep
Thu, 07/22/2010 - 9:42pmThe elderly women sit in a semicircle by a smouldering fire, warming up after diving for shellfish delicacies in the cool waters off the coast of Toba in Japan. These women, called ama - Japanese for women of the sea - are part of a tradition spanning thousands of years. Their diving practice is mentioned in ancient classical literature and there's a reference to ama dating back to AD927 in Japan'
Psychics Foresee Busy Times As Financial Worries Continue
Thu, 07/22/2010 - 9:42pmPeople worried about the course of their finances increasingly turn to Reno-area psychics for a peek into the future. In fact, psychics says the increase in customers paying for psychic readings and similar services has offset lower sales of the items such as tarot cards and incense oils that many of them sell. Its all related to the state of the economy at this time. Am I losing my house
Did Rupert Murdoch Kill Beliefnet?
Thu, 07/22/2010 - 9:42pmWhen Rupert Murdoch and News Corporation took over Beliefnet in 2007, some feared that the site known for its ecumenical approach to religion and faith would turn into a Fox News-styled mouthpiece for social and religious conservatives. With the storied site now sold and some people writing its obituary, it appears that Beliefnet was harmed not by becoming Fox, but instead by becoming too much li
British Columbia, Test Bed For Harper's Religious Base
Thu, 07/22/2010 - 9:42pm[Tyee Editor's note: Today we begin a series, running all this week, excerpted from The Armageddon Factor, Marci McDonald's in-depth look at how the Christian right is building its political power in Canada under the approving eye of Prime Minister Stephen Harper. The five installments are from the book's chapter titled "Raising the Joshua Generation," which traces British Columbia's central role
School's Not The Spot For Holy-Oil Anointings
Thu, 07/22/2010 - 9:42pmIf ever there was a school division in need of divine intervention, it's Norfolk's. Disappointing test scores. Cheating on standardized tests. Decrepit buildings. Now this: A pushy, self-appointed deacon of the desks was surreptitiously anointing students in an elementary school with holy oil. What's next, baptisms in the bathrooms? Communion at lunch? Altar calls in the halls?
Occult Centre To Open When Pope Visits Birmingham
Thu, 07/22/2010 - 9:42pmA WANNABE warlock has revealed plans to open OCCULT centres in Birmingham and Coventry during the Popes visit. Former parliamentary candidate Magnus Lynius Shadee also wants to pray at Cardinal Newmans grave in a move that is sure to infuriate the Vatican. The occultist says the centres are at a secret location near Cofton Park in Birmingham and another venue in Coventry. Shadee, 65, sa
Home-School Ban In Sweden Forces Families To Mull Leaving
Wed, 07/21/2010 - 10:51pmA small change in Sweden's schooling law is about to make a big difference for Swedish home-schooling families, potentially causing them to flee to other countries or bring cases to international courts to protect religious and parental rights in the socialist country. The Swedish Liberal Party pushed a new 1,500-page schooling law through last month one paragraph of which will make home school
Minister Advocates For Separation Of Church And State
Wed, 07/21/2010 - 10:51pmThe Rev. Steven Baines is looking for a few good brick masons. Theres a wall that needs to be repaired, he said, and the fissures in the mortar are running wide and deep. That wall, Baines said, is the one that separates church and state. Baines is not a latecomer to his belief that religion and government should never mingle. He was born into it. I was raised as a Southern Baptist,
Scholars: Westboro Message At Marine's Funeral Offensive, But Protected
Wed, 07/21/2010 - 10:51pmThe writers of all seven amicus briefs filed this week with the U.S. Supreme Court in support of the Westboro Baptist Church noted two things: The protest by the Rev. Fred Phelps and members of his family was terribly offensive and presented a worldview with which they disagreed greatly. And, despite that, all seven said the court must rule in favor of the Kansas-based church when it hears t
Chinese Turn To Religion To Fill A Spiritual Vacuum
Wed, 07/21/2010 - 10:51pmAlongside China's astonishing economic boom, an almost unnoticed religious boom has quietly been taking place. In the country's first major survey on religious beliefs, conducted in 2006, 31.4 percent of about 4,500 people questioned described themselves as religious. That amounts to more than 300 million religious believers, an astonishing number in an officially atheist country, and three tim
Church Secretary Kidnapped And Tortured By Wiccans! (**Spoof)
Wed, 07/21/2010 - 10:51pmMs. Edna Denkins, 27 was found wearing only her "What Would Jesus Do" thong, malnourished and chained to a post in the basement of a condemned rural farm home in the remote mountains of North Western Iowa. Ms. Denkins, was lifted by MedEvac chopper to the Landover Baptist Memorial Hospital after authorities were alerted to her position through a Facebook posting she managed to type using only h
Will Atheism Spell Trouble For Gillard?
Wed, 07/21/2010 - 10:51pmOn August 15, between 3pm and 6pm, Julia Gillard may feel a sudden draining of her energy. She'll shrug it off as a sign that the demands of campaigning are catching up with her. And she'll be right. On that Sunday, Melbourne witch and high priestess Lizzy Rose and her coven will invite Ms Gillard's energy into their magic circle to speak about ''her intentions of where she is taking the countr
U.S. Atheists Reportedly Using Hair Dryers To 'De-Baptize'
Tue, 07/20/2010 - 9:46pmAmerican atheists lined up to be "de-baptized" in a ritual using a hair dryer, according to a report Friday on U.S. late-night news program "Nightline." Leading atheist Edwin Kagin blasted his fellow non-believers with the hair dryer to symbolically dry up the holy water sprinkled on their heads in days past. The styling tool was emblazoned with a label reading "Reason and Truth." Kagin beli
Human Remains Stolen At Cemetery
Tue, 07/20/2010 - 9:46pmA human skull and bones were taken from this crypt at Hollenback Cemetery on North River Street in Wilkes-Barre. Entombments had been made throughout the 20th century. Cemetery workers noticed the damage Friday. Also, maintenance equipment has been stolen from the cemetery. Several years ago an attempt to break into the same mausoleum was unsuccessful. The discovery was made by the cemeterys
