What Am I Doing Here ...

Car's packed, milk stopped, wife and three are long gone up the M6, son and I remain until the cat, who escaped from the house this morning, deigns to return (when he'll be imprisoned for the duration).

As I listlessly browse I see that david at Harry's Place is troubled by some of the content of Egyptian magazine Aquidati, as translated by MEMRI.

"Murdering non-Jews pleases God, because the flesh of non-Jews is the flesh of donkeys and their sperm is the sperm of animals."

Now I'm not sure about murdering Jews, but the last part is the prophet Ezekiel's opinion of Egyptians.

Ezekiel 23 is a lament for Samaria and Jerusalem, who have turned away from God. The prophet expresses this poetically as a parable of two bad girls :

19 Yet she multiplied her whoredoms, in calling to remembrance the days of her youth, wherein she had played the harlot in the land of Egypt.

20 For she doted upon their paramours, whose flesh is as the flesh of asses, and whose issue is like the issue of horses.

'Flesh' is a slightly euphemistic translation for the male organ, comparing it to that of a donkey, and they've translated 'issue' into modern English.

I'm somewhat surprised the Egyptian Tourist Board don't use the verse to attract female visitors. It might also have been appropriate at a certain Royal funeral.

Away To The Hills ...

Followed by the Islands. Blogging will be light to non-existent for the next two weeks, unless I can borrow the PC from a right-on relative ('we saw Fahrenheit 9/11 in Penrith last night - really good') or there's an internet cafe here.



There's a lot of new blogs to catch up on, so apologies for the cursory shouts for Squander Two (liked the post on the burglar but don't seem able to link to it), Blithering Bunny (with great post on the unknown-to-me Keith Windschuttle affair), Boston blogger John R Pierce, European Weblog Review - a good idea, but could an RSS-powered site do the same job ?, and Assistant Brighton - the weblog of Jonathan from the band Assistant, who surprisingly are from Brighton. Demos available (at 5 meg I'll wait for broadband) and posts about Brighton Gay Pride. You are linking to the right blog, aren't you ?

British Sea Power - what a great name for a band.


And London had better watch out. Latif is coming.

Self Hating White Anglicans II

Neat post by George Miller.

Susurration, a blog that's been around a while (but I've only just found), has the follow-up to the Bishop Stephen Lowe story - the inevitable Guardian letter.

However good its tune, the real problem about I Vow to Thee My Country, like all aggressive and male-oriented hymnody, is that, in an age which has effectively relegated the second verses heavenly ways of gentleness and peaceful paths to a fairly painless insurance policy, an emasculated dreamlike world is wheeled out to sanctify whatever current war effort. Why not keep the tunes, but with some revamped non-patriotic, non-violent lyrics?

David Partridge

Oxford

Male-oriented - well, you can't get much more aggressive and fascistic than that, can you ? He must feel awful trapped in his gender.

David Partridge is a retired Anglican priest who works for the Oxford-based International Interfaith Centre, which "facilitates networking, encounter, education and research between religious and spiritual individuals, organisations, and communities throughout the world". He works on the "Palestine/Israel programme, Religion, Community and Conflict, in co-operation with Hope Flowers School, Bethlehem". At least the Hope Flowers School looks like a cause we could - and should - all support.

He also runs Clergy Against Nuclear Arms and in his spare time takes part in what Independent Catholic News calls "nonviolent civil disobedience" and what you or I might call politically motivated vandalism.

Stephen Lowe and David Partridge worry about patriotic, 'male-oriented' hymns and nuclear weapons. If only they could focus on male-oriented evil a little closer to their front doorsteps. In the newsletter of this Oxford Unitarian Church, after notification that David Partridge will preach about Peace on 26 January, there is a portrait of a chapel member.

Suzanne was the first pupil from her State school in Watford to win a place at Oxford University. She began reading for a degree in physics at St Hilda's College six years ago, attending Sunday services in Manchester College chapel, but spending most of her spare time doing unpaid work for 'Oxygen', Oxford's student radio station ... At the start of her second year at Oxford, in November 1997, Suzanne was attacked without provocation by a gang of youths late one night in Cowley Road. The head injuries that she received impaired her memory and concentration, and made reading difficult for her. She had to withdraw from her physics course and has only recently - after four years of recuperation - resumed her studies. During her long struggle to reclaim her life, she lost most of her school and college friends, became homeless, and suffered depression.

The perpetrators were doubtless "some of the most abused and brutalised people in our society" (© Johann Hari 2004).

Which brings this rambling post to the current issue of New Criterion magazine, devoted to religion. I recommend Christie Davies piece "The death of religion & the fall of respectable Britain".


Finally - you couldn't make it up - Labour MP Martin Linton appears on BBC Radio Four's Today to discuss a proposed new set of lyrics for 'I Vow To Thee My Country' by English patriot Billy Bragg, a man who believes his political opponents should be beaten up in the street.

Hacking Billy Bass For Pleasure And Profit

Dr Azizi (PBUH) links, I'm not sure why, to Middle East Times, who have this old story, which links to this site. The ingenuity of the Linux community never fails to amaze. The ultimate project goal - being able to videoconference via a talking fish - is one we can surely all support.



They also link to this tech blog, which has a link to these free games. Not Java or Shockwave either - real ones.

419 letters ...

Those fascinating offers one gets from a total stranger in Nigeria with 60 million dollars to share with you ?

I've had the Zimbabwean White Farmer variant, from "Timothy Kruger" ...

"Two weeks ago, our headquartes in Harare was attacked and looted by black protesters and in the process burnt down the whole building. Fortunately, they did not get access to the huge funds kept in the strong room which belong to the co-operation. This cash was kept at the secretariat rather than in the bank for fear of seizure by the government. Now I have the funds in my possession and would need to get it invested in a viable business venture in Europe."

Now, courtesy of "Adule Azizi", (who, like Mr Kruger, has a UK email address) is the Iraqi variant.

"The total amount involved is (USD114.2million) ONE HUNDRED AND Fourteen Million, Two hundred thousand United States Dollars only. I am revealing this to you with faith In Allah ,that you will never let me down in this business, You are the first and only Person that I am contacting for this business, So please reply urgently so that I will inform you on the next step to take urgently. With My influence, all will be safely handled and well done. At the conclusion of this Business, you will be given 40% of the total amount ,60% will be for me. We have to make haste to avert this fund being written off as excess profit and being channeled to the Islamic Terrorist Purse.

Awaiting your prompt and Positive response.

Yours Truly,

Dr.ADULE AZIZIs,ACCA,FCIA."

As Dr Azizi has only written to me, and I already have more dollars than I know what to do with (thanks to Mr Kruger), I'm happy for any reader who wishes to help him to do so. Anything but fill the Islamic Terrorist Purse (my daughter wants to know what they look like and if she can have one).