odingo

Parachurch Organisations

"The latest edition of the newfrontiers magazine came out recently, and it touches on what could prove a very controversial subject. Basically it sets out to criticise the existance of parachurch organisations, arguing that they fulfill ministries better provided by local churches. I've collected together a few of my disorganised thoughts on this subject below. I'll start with what I thought was good, and then offer a few criticisms...

Points of agreement

Training in the context of the local church

Why is it that when someone wants the practical and theological training for (usually full-time) ministry do they find that their local church has almost nothing to offer? So they are sent off to Bible college, which may be a good environment for academic learning, but is likely to lack the "on-the-job" training aspect that a local church can offer. For example, spending time working with and caring for the elderly would be better than writing a 10,000 word essay on "The Issues and Challenges that the Over-Sixties Present To Churches in a Post-Modern Context".

Overseas minded people handed over to other organisations

Why is it that when someone declares that they have a heart to preach the gospel and demonstrate practical Christian love overseas, do we give them the phone number of a missionary society? It makes for an all to convinient detachment for the local church. We send some money, they send prayer letters which make us have a warm feeling that we are "doing our bit" for world evangelisation.

There are exceptions acknowledged...

The magazine does seem to be awareness of at least one criticism. What about specialist organisations? Mission Aviation Fellowship and Wycliffe Bible Translators are listed as examples. It is unlikely that an individual local church would have the expertise and specialised resources to provide the services that these organisations do.

Problems

...but not enough exceptions?

But could that not be said to a lesser extent for almost all parachurch organisations? For example, a local church may well be able to provide many of the services that an organization like UCCF do. Getting involved in a church cell may indeed be preferable to simply fellowshipping with students. But though a Christian Union can and should never replace a church, does that mean it is not necessary? CU's do a work of discipling and evangelising students on a scale that even the most well resourced local churches are not likely to be able to match.

Is the divide that great?

And how true is it that parachurch organisations are doing the work that local churches should? Many missionary societies, bible colleges, student movements etc are making great efforts to ensure that they work in partnership with local churches, offering themselves to provide specialised training, and ensuring that those in their organisation are fully active in local church life.

The church universal

Are we guilty of creating too great a distinction between the church local and the church universal? If people from a load of different churches get together and work together, does that make it any less "the church"? After all, newfrontiers very own "New Day" event will gather thousands of young people from different churches, and pool the resources for an evangelistic effort. It is hard to see how this is substantially different to UCCF mobilising students from many churches for a combined mission.

How are parachurch organisations formed?

Doubtless there are different ways that these organisations come about, but I suspect that many are borne out of a local church ministry that grew big. Whether this be a local evangelist who goes itinerant, or a small ministry to the poor that acquired property and a charitable status, or even a training program that started attracting attendees from further afield. If newfrontiers continues to grow, who is to say that in 20 years time there won't be more parachurch organisations springing up from those within the local church who have a passion for a unique ministry and joining people in other local churches who have the same burden.

Are we ready to take over?

Finally, what would happen if the directors of Bible colleges and missionary societies read this magazine and decided to close down their organisations? Would missionaries be served and supported as well solely by the members of their sending church? Would those wanting training find anything that really equips them for ministry? At the moment, I doubt it.

Church plants

Newfrontiers is big on church planting, something I wholeheartedly am behind. But this means many churches with small memberships. There is no way that they can sustain a fully comprehensive set of ministries. This means that inevitably, they will need to look to other churches or parachurch organisations for help in some areas. Newfrontiers already do much Bible, worship, and children's work training at certain large well-resourced churches.

Conclusion

I agree that the existence of so many parachurch organisations is indicative of at least some failure on the part of the local church to support the diversity of ministries needed by its membership. We need to step up to the challenge of meeting these needs ourselves, and being humble enough to learn from the expertise of these parachurch organisations. Personally, I think that we will never be without the need for groups of Christians working together with common goals across local church boundaries, and because of this, there will always be organisations that in some sense will be "parachurch".

Anyway, I've rambled enough now. I would be interested to know what others think on this issue. Would we be better off without parachurch organisations?" (To view the article in its original location click here)

Compiled by AE/10.15.08

In this report, Michelle Obama allegedly tells an African news organization (API) to run positive stories about her husband because racists on American blogs are trying to derail his candidacy.  She allegedly offers them free inaugural tickets!

http://newsbusters.org/blogs/p-j-gladnick/2008/10/15/will-msm-investigate-alleged-angry-phone-call-michelle-obama-african-p

Here she apparently goes off on the topic of her husband's birthplace and citizenship status.

http://africanpress.wordpress.com/2008/10/15/shocking-development-mrs-obama-decides-enough-is-enough-my-husband-was-born-in-hawaii-and-adopted-by-his-step-father-does-that-make-him-unpatriotic-she-asks-on-a-direct-telephone-to-api/

Here we seem to see evidence there are audio recordings of Michelle Obama's remarks.

http://africanpress.wordpress.com/2008/10/16/the-obama-saga-continues-email-exchanges-between-api-and-dr-corsi-was-not-meant-for-publishing/

Here, WorldNetDaily weighs in saying Michelle Obama called BHO biographer Jerome Corsi "evil,' while WND also links Kenya, Obama and Kaddafi.  Wild stuff!

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=78041

Obama donated $1M to overseas thug?

http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=78035

Footnote:   Remember, if you have questions or raise concerns, you are a racist.

if this guys wins...

here's where i'm going.

David Germain of the Associated Press reports that the Kevin Smith comedy featuring Seth Rogen and Elizabeth Banks is creating controversy, so much that he can't even place ads for the film in certain places.

"Zack and Miri Make a Porno" ads have been rejected because of the word, "porno" that is being looked upon as inappropriate for children.  To work around this problem, the Weinstein Co. came up with posters using stick figures. 

Using stick figures was a neat gimmick for the ads, but unfortunately it attracted more children attention and inevitably showcasing them with the highly complained about 5-letter word. 

It's quite a dilemma for Kevin Smith and the Weinstein Co.  This film has potential of being a smash comedy hit when it's released on October 31, but marketing is a huge part of the business and if no one knows about it, then it'll surely receive a disappointing box office total.

Nonetheless, this controversy is stirring a lot of people's pots.  There's no such thing as bad publicity, and I feel this rings true in this case.

I'll fight until I breathe my last. The criminals, who gang raped me and my family members, brutally killed them and 14 others have been booked and punished. But my struggle continues. Those goons deserved sternest punishment," Bilquis Yaqub Rasool, a victim of the Gujarat massacre, outflows her determination while narrating her sordid story of agony at a press conference in Delhi. She told the media at Press Club that her trauma of last six years is insurmountable. "I wandered from pillar to post and one place to another for survival," she says. Upon asking where did she stay in these years, Bilquis hesitantly replies that she can't reveal it for security reasons? And she wouldn't reveal to anyone where does she stay at present.
 
The preceding six years have been nightmarish for Bilquis and her relatives. Whenever they voiced truth they were augured to follow the ordeals of the culpable stooges. At times, they were detained and forced to leave their own homes. Most of the victims have still not returned back to their villages, says Bilquis. "Though I got justice, I am upset for the long delay in attaining it and am angered for my pain that I bore during my struggle for justice that, I think, is still incomplete," she stresses. She further explains that the investigating team and doctors manipulated with the evidences to safeguard criminals. "They poured salt on the dead bodies of my relatives to eliminate evidences, says inconsolable Bilquis." If such inhumane act would not have happened, this judgment had been different today. 
 
Monopolizing Law
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ujarat was a fertile ground for Muslim backlash. The violence here developed a phenomenon to justify the canards of the Sangh Pravar about the minority communities. Politics of hate was converted into politics of fear to keep its history of enforcing economic boycott of Muslims alive. The business enterprises of Muslims were decamped in masse. In prejudice, several photocopying stalls in the state courts turned Muslim lawyers away and men with beards were avoided in the restaurants and shops. Muslim mothers got scared on listening ammi (Urdu for mother) from their wards while on the streets.
 
Indians are familiar with religious riots since centuries. They witnessed the most savage religious riot in 1947, when India got freedom from the British. Approximately 200000 Hindus and Muslims died in that bloodbath accompanied with a division of the country into Hindu India and Muslim Pakistan. Since then, pogroms on petty issues are a common scene here. The pluralism of its mixed civilization faltered into draconian, time and again. By the 1980s, Hindutva movement rose bent on the creation of a "Hindu dominated nation." They accused Muslims of poaching jobs, spying for Pakistan and abetting Kashmir's militants hence staining country's "Hindu character."
 
On 27 February, 2002, Hindutva activists boarded a train for Gujarat from Faizabad near Ayodhya, the place where Hindus in 1992 razed Babri Masjid that according to them straddled a Hindu holy site. In the chaotic train Hindus reportedly harassed Muslims when it neared to Godhra. In retaliation a mob led by Muslims attacked the train in which 58 people were burnt alive. Gujarat and national BJP leaders immediately declared it a terrorist plot by the Pakistani agents. Next day, up to 10,000 Hindus rampaged through Ahmedabad, a prosperous city of 3 million people about 60 miles from Godhra. What happened in Gujarat, Human Rights Watch and other groups charged, was a pogrom, an anti Muslim purge planned by Hindu extremists. It was, though, not a communal violence but an ethnic cleansing, said the rev Victor Moses, A Jesuit, priest who coordinates relief programmes in Ahmedabad after the riots. 
 
"Large number of Muslims is poor in Gujarat. Lately, though, some of them had flourished. Their rising status stoked the Hindutva ire," says social scientist Imtiyaz Ahmed of Jawahar Lal Nehru University, Delhi. He describes Islam in the region that, "South Asian revision of Islam is exceptionally moderate and plastic. After centuries of intermingling Islam and Hinduism, here have absorbed, even thrived upon, each other's influence, stresses Ahmed, a Muslim and secular scholar.
 
Amnesty International condemned the state government for its failure to book the rioters ensuing communal clashes. According to it, this riot was engineered to target the Muslims for a planned pogrom in which hundreds of their youths were killed, tortured, and their sexual organs castrated. The violators tore the wombs of pregnant women belonging to the minority community, pulled out their foetus and unfurled them in the air. Muslim girls were brutally raped by non other than their own Hindu neighbourers, whom they had trusted as protectors.
 
Thousands of riot victims still lay in the dingy and unsafe temporary camps. The state government has still not taken any step to upgrade the lives of the victims who are deprived of basic amenities of life. No Muslim can own a property in several parts of the state as they are either ignored or promptly avoided for belonging to a particular community.
  
Recent Judgments and Consequences
T

he state government reportedly instructed its police and investigating team to close as much of riot cases as they could. "My case too had been closed but timely interference by the Supreme Court gave it a new life, otherwise this too would have been untraceable like thousands of others," says Bilquis. SC decreed to transfer her case from Gujarat to Maharshtra on August 16, 2004. Soon after the SC order, 2000 more cases were reopened on August 17, 2004. Earlier on August 12, 2004, the Best Bakery case had been transferred to Maharashtra from Gujarat. Bilquis reacts on Zaheera Sheikh, the only eyewitnesses of the Best Bakery incidence, that she was used like a puppet by the goons. She deceived her community and all those who fought on behalf of her.
 
Renowned social activist Teesta Setalvad fought for Zaheera to help her. But she ditched and deceived Setalvad for vested interests. Most importantly, she deceived her deceased family that was liquidated by her newfound "benefactors". She turned hostile to support the culprits forgetting that they had murdered her twelve family members cold bloodedly. How did she turn hostile is indigestible? The riots have ashamed humanity. Bilquis, one of the thousands of gang rape victims, was intimidated to turn hostile. While her trial was in progress, she had to change shelters for more than twenty times in the state. The state police pressurized her not to name the culprits in her medical check ups. She was apprehended that if she uttered the names of her tormentors before the examining doctor she would be injected with a poisonous injection by the same doctor, she said to the press. 
 
But after a long trial of six years, Mumbai Sessions Court summoned 12 out of the 20 culprits guilty on January 18, 2008 and pronounced punishment on January 21. Out of the 12 culprits 11 have been punished for life and the twelfth one, a state police officer, was convicted three years rigorous punishment. Enclosable Bilquis is happy she got justice but she is also sad that hundreds of those who were raped and murdered mercilessly in the state sponsored genocide have still not got justice. Though, the decision of the court has come in favour of Bilquis, Muslims of her area are surviving in fear. Most of them have left their homes. Famous criminal lawyer Majeed Menon and Wasi Ahmed Nomani reacts upon Bilquis' case that its judgment could have been harshest. A case of gang rape in a riot torn atmosphere is rarest of the rare and it should have been dealt strictly. The culprits could be awarded death sentence instead of life term.
 
Senior SC lawyer Indira Jai Singh expresses her concern on the issue that "it is for the first time in the history of India that a rape victim of communal riot got justice." Jai Singh raises a pertinent question: why women are targeted in the riots? Why hundreds of Muslim women were the victim of a typical schism gang rape? Jai Singh herself replies this question and says that, "the only motive behind these rapes was to downslide the image of Indian Muslims." Member, Planning Commission, Syeda Hameed Syeden remembers the tragic incident of 2002 riots when she visited Gujarat with a women delegation on the invitation of Gagan Seth, she saw brutality on the roads which is still imprint in her mind, she says. 
 
Fourteen members of Bilquis' family get killed by her own villagers, her three year old daughter one amongst them. She survived as killers presumed her died when she lied unconscious after her rape. Her tormentors were her villagers to whom she used to call uncles and brothers. Her peace loving protective neighbourers, "the simple Hindus" was groomed to turn beasts to liquidate human values under the influence of political chauvinism, say experts.   
       
The judgment of the Mumbai Sessions Court's is a win for Bilquis and symbolic win for the victims of "Hindu hatemonger." Bilquis thanks her friends, relatives, Human Rights Commission, senior SC lawyers Harish Salve and Indra Jai Singh, social activists Gagan Seth, Farah Naqvi, Madhuri Kukreja and Huma Khan, Planning Commission member Syeda Hameed Syeden and last but not the least her husband Yaqub Rasool who is always with her like her shadow, and provides her inner strength. Without their support she couldn't get justice. 
 
Past of Present is Imperfect
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act file of Gujarat's hate monition is shaky since centuries. The communal riots of 1714, 1715, 1716, 1741, 1750, 1941, 1946, 1965, 1969, 1982, 1984, 1986 and the most recent ones of 1992, 1993 and 2002 have been the brainchild of that religious sarcasm. "The 2002 pogrom was insulating on different grounds. Its definition and sociology was harsh and unique. In 1992 riots, VHP, Bajrang Dal and Shiv Sena dominated in Mumbai. Muslims too came out on the roads in Kanpur, Bokaro and Mumbai, where mafia don Dawood Ibrahim had emerged like Robin Hood. But in Gujarat, things were different as the ground was empty for the rioters who got enough chance for an ethnic cleansing. Another unique aspect of this riot was that the middle class Hindus, Dalits, Adivasis and labourers were the part of these rioting teams most of them in the age group of 20 to 30. Forgetting the long lasting tradition of communal harmony, the rioters did not spare their peace loving progressive Muslim businessmen. VHP had rooted itself deep in Gujarat since last few years that worked for the developmental projects in earthquake affected areas. This time they murdered the minority community of the state, says veteran television journalist Rajdeep Sardesai.
 
"Kill Muslims," the rioting crowds chanted as they stormed through the Muslim areas, burnt the families alive and looted and torched their homes, Human Rights Group says. The Human Rights Watch ascribes that Hindus decked in Khaki shorts and saffron scarves with sophisticated weapons and tridents descended in the Muslim neighborhoods in trucks, stormed into the city "guided by computer printouts listing the addresses of the Muslim families and their properties." Hindu properties stood untouched, encircled by burnt homes and businesses of Muslims. While the rioters engulfed their victims, police watched passively, even aided them. Though the state government was condemned for its inability to control the violence, and its highhandedness in escorting the rioters, no concrete action has ever been taken place against it. 
 
The International Religious Freedom Commission of USA pressurized India to punish the culprits and take appropriate action against Hindutva forces and Gujarat government for its communal chauvinism that disrupted religious harmony of the state through attacking the religious places of its minorities. For the first time a dramatic step was, though, taken by few Members of the Indian Parliament who condemned this incidence, and demanded justice but nothing fruitful happened. In rhetoric, irrelevant aspects were linked with the riots. Burning of Sabarmati Express was cited the primary reason for this "grand display of resistance" in form of communal rights. Reports by the forensic lab of Ahmedabad found out that the bogies were burnt from inside and not from outside, as claimed by the rioters. In a preplanned manner, a day after, on February 28, 2002, BJP, VHP, Bajrang Dal and Hindu Jagran Manch called for Gujarat Bandh (Gujarat Closure). The rioters got an opportunity to emblaze the properties owned by Muslims hence they burnt them. State police escorted them in the entire episode.
 
Officially, the death toll hovers near 1000 and more than 3000 are still missing, but Citizen's Initiative, a coalition of the aid groups, believes that the actual number was about 2000. It was not violence alone that stunned many but it was a planned attack: an officially facilitated one. "Far from being spontaneous," concluded British diplomats in a report leaked to the British Broadcasting Corp, it was planned, possibly months in advance, and carried out by an extremist Hindu organization with the support of the state government." The reports are that heap of dead bodies was destroyed by pouring acid upon them or through collective cremation without doing any post mortem. The government didn't consider that Muslims bury their dead don't cremate. Ironically chief minister, Narendra Modi deemed the mob's acts as "a natural and justified anger of the people" after the Godhra train attack.  
 
Former Congress M.P, Ehsan Jafri, a secular Muslim, belonging to Gulbarga Society in Gujarat was burnt alive on February 28, 2002 along with 75 other Muslims. He called the police officers, ministers and Congress chief Sonia Gandhi for help for more than ten hours but no step was taken to safeguard him from the rioters. A recent Tehelka sting operation revealed that before burning Jafri alive the rioters had looted his property in a planned modus operandi, amputated his body parts and then killed him mercilessly. The sting operation unfolded many such realities in which culprits agreed to their follies in front of the hidden cameras.
 
Harsh Mandar, former IAS officer, expresses his deep concern over the issue, "I had served Indian Civil Services for two decades. I saw the atrocities perpetrated on the innocent masses by my own officers. I was aghast due to the misdeeds of my own officers, who could apply prudence in taking prompt action instead of waiting for permission from higher officials and political bosses, to save lives. A prompt step by a single officer could have saved lots of innocents from being slaughtered. The riot could be controlled effectively if the police would have reached on time. Seeing this brutality patronized by the political heavyweights, I preferred to safeguard my morale hence I resigned from my job." 
 
Ironically the "ambassadors" of Hatred praises "high heartedness" of Narendra Modi, whose ways got smothered for another term to rule the state. He grabbed power in his current innings. Is a second coming of the state sponsored genocide nearer?

October 01, 2007 , Kathmandu, Nepal

Cover Feature

Embers of a Sikh fire

With Punjab experiencing its worst tension in two decades, are we witnessing the beginning of a resurgence of Sikh fundamentalism?

BY: Asif Anwar Alig and Abid Anwar

The controversy over Dera Sacha Sauda, the breakaway Sikh sect, has only just begun to wind down. Early May saw a frenzy over Dera chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, who angered Sikhs by imitating Guru Gobind Singh, Sikhism's revered Tenth Guru. Gurmeet Singh had appeared in photographs carried in two dailies, in which he wore attire similar to the Tenth Guru in order to advertise his organisation. Gurmeet Singh apologised a few weeks later, but by then the matter had escalated so far that hardline Sikhs refused to accept his contrition. Besides being belated, the subsequent apology was undercut by Gurmeet Singh himself, who defiantly stated that he wears "whatever my followers design and give me to wear".

Groups on both sides were able to bring out supporters en masse. Under the leadership of a hardline Sikh religious group, the Damdami Taxal, more than 10,000 protesters moved towards Salabat Pura Dera, 30 km from Bhatinda, where Gurmeet Singh was alleged to have committed his act of sacrilegious imitation. There were subsequently clashes involving Sikhs and up to 3000 Dera activists, leaving at least one person killed and dozens more severely injured.

The Punjab state government, which initially attempted to maintain a distance from the issue, was forced to intervene after the supreme Sikh body, the Akal Takht, issued an ultimatum on 20 May, demanding that the state government close down all reform deras within a week. While Dera Sacha Sauda activists complained that they were being scapegoated, sword- and kirpan-bearing Sikhs blocked roads and organised dharnas. Punjabis were suddenly witness to a sight they had not seen in two decades, harking back to the days of militancy that had engulfed the state during the 1980s.

Rise of the Khalsa

Dera Sacha Sauda is one in a long line of reform movements to challenge mainstream Sikhism. But Sikhism itself initially emerged as a reform movement of sorts, in an attempt to end the caste discrimination rife in Hinduism. Established in the late 15th century by Guru Nanak (1469-1539), Sikhism grew to become the world's fifth-largest religion on the efforts of nine additional Gurus, all of whom the Sikhs believe were inhabited by a single spirit. After the death in 1708 of the Tenth Guru, Gobind Singh, this eternal spirit was said to have transferred into the sacred scripture of Sikhism, the Guru Granth Sahib, also known as the Adi Granth.

Sikhism's promise to give equal rights to all, without discrimination of caste or creed, led many Hindus, particularly Dalits, to join the new faith as a way to better their lives. But shaking off caste discrimination proved not so easy, and as the years passed, Sikhism too reverted to caste hierarchies. As realisation of this dawned on followers, the need was increasingly felt to initiate reform within Sikhism. The emergence of various reform movements began, with each group choosing to base itself in a different centre or camp, known as a dera.

As with reform, militancy is not new to Sikhism, which is characterised by a strong martial strand in both faith and practice. This martial tradition can be traced back to the early 17th century, when the Fifth Guru, Arjan Dev, was imprisoned by Mughal rulers, who were suspicious of the strength that Sikhism was gaining. The death of Guru Arjan Dev, in prison, prompted his followers to establish both a military and a political organisation, with which to repel further Mughal harassment. The Sixth Guru, Har Gobind Sahib, was responsible for the creation of the Akal Takht, which is still the central decision-making body of the Sikhs. Guru Har Gobind Sahib also became known for carrying two swords with him at all times – for temporal and spiritual (known as piri and miri) purposes. For the khalsa, or 'pure', defending the independence of Sikhism by the use of brawn became integral to the faith, a unique characteristic in comparison to the other major world religions.

Amidst reform processes and militancy, the past five centuries have seen the ebb and flow of fundamentalism within the Sikh ranks. Some of the most prominent of these schismatic uprisings have been the Nirankari, Namdhari, Radhaswami, Nirmale, Sewapanthi and Niladhari movements. Each of these groups came about in an attempt to 'cleanse' Sikhism. As such, though each worships the ten Sikh gurus, they also oppose some of the Sikh traditions, and mainstream Sikhs have regularly – and sometimes violently – opposed the actions of these sects.

One of the most prominent of these incidents involved the Nirankari movement, and its trajectory may prove insightful for the current situation surrounding the Dera Sacha Sauda. Sikh religious leader Dayal Das (1783-1855), from Peshawar, founded the Nirankari sect in Rawalpindi. In an attempt to 'purify' Sikhism of the rites and rituals that had crept in, he advocated the concept of nirankar, or a 'formless' god – a significant departure from the insistence on the supremacy of the text of the Granth Sahib. After Independence, the group's base moved to Chandigarh, where, during the 1970s, Nirankari leader Avatar Singh wrote his vani, a self-proclaimed scripture. Although the Nirankaris were always adamant that their movement constituted a new 'spiritual movement', rather than a new religion, mainstream Sikhs reacted negatively to Avatar Singh's vani. The tension escalated, and there were violent clashes during 1978 in Amritsar, led by hardliner Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale. Two years later, Nirankari leader Baba Gurbachan Singh was murdered in Delhi.

The Sikh community has constantly felt vulnerable, a feeling that comes from the perception of being politically short-changed throughout history. In 1929, at the famous Lahore session, Jawaharlal Nehru, then the president of the Indian National Congress, passed a resolution that the Constitution of India would not be finalised until it was acceptable to Sikhs. In 1946, he again reassured the Sikh community that there was nothing objectionable in the idea of Sikhs having a territory of their own. But the Congress suddenly changed its stance after 1947. When a draft of the proposed constitution began circulating in 1949, Sikhs were aghast to find that, instead of autonomous states and a federal constitution, the document proposed a purely unitary structure. Sikhs in the Punjab Assembly subsequently objected. There followed three decades of frustration with the central government of modern India, a standoff that prevented the Sikhs from consolidating their identity in a geographical territory of Punjabi-speaking people.

During the 1960s and 1970s, Sikh demands included regional autonomy for Punjab; the return of Chandigarh and other Punjabi-speaking areas in the newly created Haryana back to Punjab; a special status for Sikhs in the Indian union, as well as some protections for Sikhism; and a reworking of the allocation of river waters and electricity to Punjab. Yet, when the Sikh-dominated Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) came to power in Punjab in 1977, with support from the Janata Party, it did little to ensure that these demands were met. The dissatisfaction of the common Sikhs with the Centre was subsequently drawn upon by a militant nationalist separatist movement.

By the early 1980s, some Sikhs were calling for separate provincial statehood and even an autonomous area of their own, the Sikh khalistan, or 'Land of the Pure'. The Sikh leader at the time, Harchand Singh Longowal, abortively attempted to avert a civil war by negotiating between the uprising and New Delhi. But Bhindranwale, who emerged at the centre of the maelstrom, had already wrapped up the support of devout Sikhs around Amritsar.

State repression against the ultra-religious Amritdhari Sikhs further fanned the flames of Sikh separatism. Jagjit Singh Chohan, a leader of the Khalistan movement, subsequently called on the Sikh community to come forward and struggle for their own state. In 1984, armed with automatic weapons, members of the Khalistan movement took control of the Sikhs' holiest shrine, the Golden Temple, or Harmandir Sahib.

In June of that year, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, who had sought to encourage a Hindu-Sikh divide amongst the Punjabis, gave her generals permission to launch Operation Bluestar. Indian troops stormed the Golden Temple, killing Bhindranwale and hundreds of armed supporters. In the mayhem, hundreds of innocent Sikhs were also killed, as well as at least 100 soldiers. The bloodbath in the Golden Temple infuriated the Sikh community, ultimately leading to the assassination of Indira Gandhi. She was killed on 31 October 1984 by two of her Sikh bodyguards, which in turn sparked riots that killed several thousand across India, including 2000 in Delhi alone.

The July 1985 accord between Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and Longowal promised to pacify some sections of the Sikhs, particularly with the handover of Chandigarh to Punjab, but also due to accessions to demands relating to water and hydroelectric power. But barely a month later, the moderate Longowal was assassinated by Sikh extremists unhappy with the deal. The violence continued to spiral, with the common Punjabi caught between Sikh militants and the increasingly brutal police repression. Hundreds of youths were killed and hundreds more 'disappeared'.

In the early 1990s, after Punjab police chief K P S Gill had been given a "free hand" to crack down on extremists in the state, the Centre claimed success in quashing Sikh militancy. In 1993, New Delhi declared Punjabi militancy "over". While a combination of police repression and political dealing are said to have solved the Punjab problem, undoubtedly some sparks of rebellion remain. International pro-Khalistan organisations continue to exist. The three-decade-old Dal Khalsa, based in Amritsar, was revived in the mid-1990s after a national ban on its activities expired. Also very much alive is the Babbar Khalsa group, which claimed responsibility for the 1995 killing of Beant Singh, chief minister of Punjab , who played a large role in 'controlling' Sikh militancy in the state. In addition to armed militant Sikh groups such as the Khalistan Commando Force and the Khalistan Zindabad Force, which target the state, other Sikh breakaway groups also continue to exist, on occasion clashing with mainstream Sikhism.

The true business

The Dera Sacha Sauda came into existence in 1948 at Sirsa, in present-day Haryana, then part of the undivided state of Punjab within India. The organisation was founded by Shehenshahji Mastana, a pious Sikh leader from Balochistan, with an eye to social reform and spiritual purification – among the Sikhs in particular, but also others in general. The organisation takes its name, sacha sauda, meaning 'true business', from the place where a 12-year-old Guru Nanak was believed to have fed the poor, with money given to him by his father to do business. Indeed, with a charter to include all religions in the new faith, the Dera has emphasised humility, meditation and social work. Other prominent reform deras of pre-Independence India were those of Baba Prem Singh and Peer Buddhu Shah, both in Punjab, but Dera Sacha Sauda is by far the most prominent.

There are two types of reform deras in Sikhism. The first exclusively follows the tenets of the Sikh faith, and bestows its gurus with supreme power. These deras are popularly known as being part of the Nihang group. The second type does not restrict itself to Sikhism. While neither condemning nor supporting Sikhism, this second type claims to follow the positive aspects of every religion, including Sikhism. Dera Sacha Sauda falls into this latter category, as a social reformatory 'faith' with its own set of guidelines. The immense popularity of Dera Sacha Sauda, which claims to have 15 million followers, is a direct result of its active reform work over the past half-century.

The Dera Sacha Sauda purports to accept no donations, but owns 700 acres of donated farming land in Punjab and Haryana, from which the bulk of the organisation's income is drawn. (The group's income has come under regular suspicion in recent years for Gurmeet Singh's propensity to drive around in luxury cars.) The Dera's physical presence goes far beyond these two states, however, and includes 36 local and urban branches in eleven states across India. In tune with its mandate, the organisation's main outreach focus is on social work. In 1994, the Dera opened a 175-bed hospital at Gurusar Modia, in Rajasthan. In 2004, it also opened a girls' school in Gurusar Modia. The organisation has been active in responding to disasters, such as those that have taken place in the tribal areas of Chhattisgarh state. The Dera also has a number of world records under its belt, for having organised massive blood- donation drives.

Gurmeet Singh has said, "Our religion is humanity and to help the needy." The group's faith, considered a combination of all religions, is referred to within the Dera as insaan. Though Dera Sacha Sauda technically does not follow any one religion (other than Insaan) – its base of followers, though mostly Sikh, is also Hindu and Muslim – it is still considered a Sikh breakaway group because all three of its chiefs have been from the Sikh community. As such, the organisation's movement away from Sikhism has inevitably irked the Sikh community, which has long criticised the Dera, as well as other deras, for 'diluting' the spirit of Sikhism. At times, these criticisms have been more intense than others. While violence has not been unheard of, the incidents of May 2007 were in a category of their own.

The Dera leader's personality has not helped matters. Indeed, at the centre of the storm – several storms, in fact – is Huzoor Maharaj Sant Gurmeet Ram Raheem Singh, third leader of the Dera Sacha Sauda, himself. Gurmeet Singh was born on 15 August 1967 to a devout Sikh couple in Ganganagar, a frontier town in Rajasthan. By the time he was seven, the Dera's second guru came to know of Gurmeet – "In other words, one Master Saint found the Other one", according to his official biography. Sixteen years later, on 23 December 1990, during the peak of the militancy in Punjab, Gurmeet Singh took over as the head of the Dera Sacha Sauda.

Subsequent years, particularly the first several months of 2007, have revealed Gurmeet Singh to be less than a 'god incarnate'. Indeed, past indiscretions aside, he now appears to be more of a thoroughly earthly megalomaniac – even worse, one that has found, in faith, a convenient outlet for indulging his lusts. Gurmeet Singh now stands accused of murder, sexual exploitation and illegal possession of arms and ammunition, amidst longstanding demands by the Punjab and Haryana High Courts of a CBI probe. In early August of this year, the CBI filed a charge sheet against the Dera and Gurmeet Singh.

Anxieties of identity

Although it is the Dera's social work that has been key in drawing millions of followers in recent decades, its numerical strength has given the Dera significant political clout, particularly in Punjab and Haryana. This has also made the organisation the centre of intense speculation. More than most, Punjab cannot afford to exclude religion from politics, and state politics are dominated by Sikhs. Punjab's biggest party is the Shiromani Akali Dal, which has significant influence over Sikh religious organisations, including nearly eight decades of control over the Shiromani Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC), the most prominent Sikh religious body.

As such, when violence erupted this past spring, the SAD-led Punjab government had little space in which to turn: the state government could not suppress the Dera, given its numbers; nor could it turn its back on the mainstream Sikh community, which had come out onto the streets in the tens of thousands. Meanwhile, the SAD's coalition partner, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), was also experiencing difficulties, with memories still fresh over the large-scale killings of Hindus in Punjab during the 1980s. BJP worries over the possibility that Hindus would again be victimised if violence were to spiral have had the party favour a solution that would rein in both the Dera and the Sikh community at large.

Further complicating matters is the fact that, in the last state assembly elections, Gurmeet Singh threw his support not behind the SAD, but behind the Congress. Indeed, with the Congress having won 37 out of 75 seats in the Legislative Assembly during the last election, largely in constituencies that have a significant number of Dera supporters, some have even warned that the Dera is stealthily entering Punjab and Haryana politics through the backdoor. The pan-India following of the Dera Sacha Sauda could ultimately spoil the SAD's future political ambitions.

Given that the Dera leadership encourages its followers to sacrifice their lives in the name of their guru, any action against the 15 million Dera followers throughout India could have an immediate impact on Punjab politics. At the same time, Gurmeet Singh's alleged imitation of Guru Govind Singh has fuelled such anger among Sikhs that there now is a palpable sense of foreboding. Did this issue really deserve such attention? Meanwhile, the extent of mobilisation on the part of community points to insecurity among the Sikhs about losing its identity – anxieties that seem based more on an imagined sense of persecution than on ground realities.

Indeed, the Dera Sacha Sauda controversy seems to have revived the dormant flicker of Sikh extremism. Given that Sikhs have the impression that deras weaken the Sikh spirit, countering these organisations is presented as a struggle to retain the 'purity' of Sikhism, and adhere to its fundamental teachings.

Today's Sikh youth has moved far from the path of extremism, having emerged from the ravages of the Punjab insurgency. Young Sikhs have built new lives by forgetting their past, and realise that religious fundamentalism and militancy not only destroy ethnic diversity, but also put secularism in danger of collapse. Yet, with religious extremists having found a new lever, the hold of rational elements may be more tenuous than many realise. There is tension in the air in Punjab, and the renewed violence potentially inviting Sikhs to travel back in time, revisiting the traumas of the 1980s. Perhaps they will uncover some of the old embers, which could well ignite. Before the Sikh opposition to the Dera goes down the same path as the bloodshed sparked off by the opposition to the Nirankaris three decades ago, the moderate voices must make themselves heard.

Asif Anwar Alig is the editorial coordinator for Vision --- The Journal of Business Perspective, at the Management Development Institute, Gurgaon & Abid Anwar is associated with the United News of India in Delhi.

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In an unrelated story, there's a group of people in Madison headed to California, but found on flight to Rome.

UPDATE: In a related unrelated story, support Bishop Morlino.

I can’t help but wonder why the Democrats don’t use smear tactics in email spam.  It would probably help them get elected...

I’ve checked the so-called “facts” contained in the various smear mails against Obama.  None so far has been true.  The emails are written in a way that makes then sound reasonable and factual.  But they simply aren’t.  Some are just plain lies.  ... Will the people who send and receive such smear mails bother to check the actual facts?  Apparently not.  One of my cousins has been regaling me with smear mails about Senator Obama and his wife.  Normally, I, like other reasonable people, simply delete such smear mails automatically. 

This year, I decided I would write back to her in my own words, to combat the canned messages that stem from gutter of the Republican campaign. First, since several emails attacked Michelle Obama, I wrote back and told her that Cindy McCain had stolen drugs from a charity she supported and that she had gone out with John McCain while he was still married to his first wife.  I also pointed out some of the troubling information about how McCain’s first marriage ended.  My cousin got my email and wrote back that she thought that McCain’s private life should be private, that what his wife did shouldn’t have anything to do with the election.  I wrote back and asked her why Michelle Obama’s private life wasn’t private and why was it okay to attack her.  My cousin answered that ‘we just don’t think alike.’    

Then I told her she should check out [the Snopes] Urban Legends website to discover what was true and untrue in the bulk spam smear mails she sends to everyone. ... My cousin hasn’t written back.  

... It is ironic that the conservative right wing of the Republican party are the ones who utilize negative campaigning and smear tactics the most.  They claim to be on the moral high ground.  They declare their Christianity and high morality at every turn and yet they don’t seem to have a problem sinking into the gutter to lie and spread rumors.  Perhaps their high morals are meant for everyone else.

... Senator McCain can't make up his mind whether he likes the negative comments he makes about his opponent or not.  In one sentence he admonishes his supporters at a town-hall meeting and states that he knows Senator Obama is a good man and that there is no reason to be afraid for him to be the President.  Then McCain ...[stretches] the truth to the crowd, saying Senator Obama is linked to terrorists.  ... How can Senator John McCain stand in front of crowds who are shouting "kill him" about Senator Obama (or anyone for that matter) as if this is acceptable or normal? 

via Birmingham Examiner Negative campaigning works

Why did Ganguly announce sudden retirement?
The Holy Grail! The news channel famous for its sting ops claimed to have laid its hands on the "real" truth. Whole affair was portrayed as some Watergate scandal waiting to be unearthed. The news went, "Ganguly ki beizzati ki thi tyaari. Dada ko nahin chahiye thi yeh beizzati. Dada ne kiya kinare hone ka faisla". According to the channel, Kumble had plans to leave out Ganguly from the first test match squad. He wanted to avenge the insult that Ganguly laid on him by not playing him during the 2003 World Cup despite his constant pleads. According to the "well placed" sources it would not be possible for Kumble to keep Ganguly out now.

Kumble and the 2 CD’s
The same channel claimed that Kumble-the captain have played 2 VCD’s to the team. First one contained clippings from the farcical Sydney test, Australia claiming dropped catches and the Monkeygate scandal. The second one relived Kolkata 2001. It got players pumped up. CD may or may not have pumped up the players but this news would for sure have left viewers boiling and hungry for revenge against the Australians.

Oz media slam Ganguly for delaying tactics in 'farcical draw'
This was a heading from the PTI. I searched online for related articles by the Australian media. I checked Sydney Morning Herald, The Age and others but couldn’t find any such report. What I found was a single article titled "Farcical draw like kissing mother-in-law" by some Andrew McKinlay. PTI claimed as if the entire Oz media was after Ganguly.

Recently, according to a report BCCI advised a sports channel not to advertise this as revenge and hatred filled series. Whatever be the case, sometimes such reporting do help in keeping up the popularity of the sport. I for one enjoyed run-in’s between Zaheer and Haddin, Shane Watson’s antics and Brett Lee’s glare a lot among other things. In fact I might not have enjoyed the match so much but for the media backed controversies.

It appears that Quinnipiac is not the only newspaper having problems with these types of issues, "The Advocate", a paper at Mt. Hood Community College in Oregon is also having problems with who and how they are allowed to interview on campus: The Advocate

i had a chat with an NSF senior medic from my team.
i believed, both of us had issues with one another.
i won't say that we get along swell,
and, we are not that close in the first place.

he mentioned that i used to take him, initially when he first started out.
i do remember vaguely,
but i believed it was because,
after a few times i took him,
i realised that i could not handle him.

i did sound out my honest opinion to my colleagues,
zuoyi, joshua and even faiz back then.

though for them,
THEY JUST DO NOT GIVE a damn about how that senior medic feels,
whether its his working attitude,
or his nature of work or whatever,
but as for me,
i do care.
because it reflected on my working progress.

those days when everything was swell,
of course it looks beautiful and nice.
i don't have a problem with the senior medic,
because he was hardly ever my crew.

but now,
ever since issues have been brought up,
and a few resentments that came along the way,
my team and i had decided to rotate the NSF medics,
so that we don't get too darn bloody emotional about everything.

some issues are very easy to solve.
just small chit chats, and then everyone is happy.
but some issues are rather complicated.
complicated issues are never meant to have answers!
it simply means, its there to leave it hanging.

if every issues can be solved by talking,
and explaining in greater details,
i guessed,
which comes first?
the chicken or the egg?

i'm sure there's gonna be a long debate about it.
some issues does not necessary have the right answers to it...

ps : pictures taken @ east coast - big splash.

So who or what decides success? Is it your genes, is it your family or is it the simply the circumstances in life one was born too? Lets give them deeper contemplation:

Genes..., many are inclined to believe that having 'good' (often good in this sense means forefathers who were geniuses) genes guarantees success. The general impression is that such children will grow up with better learning abilities and 'gifts' or talents that will set them apart from the rest - thus branding them instant and certain success.

It's not uncommon to hear people say, "Oh her parents are surgeons, she's going to grow up to be one too!" But just how far accurate is that perception? Who is to say that a man who is deemed 'brilliant' by today's standards will have just as brilliant a child or that an illeterate farmer will not have children who will win the next Nobel prize?

So my answer is no, genes do not guarantee success. I acknowledge that some people learn faster than others but whether or not that is an ability directly attributable to his or her 'genes' remains an arguable question.

What about family then. Does having loving parents who take an active interest in your life guarantee success? Are parents truly the driving force behind a successful man or woman's achievements? Yes but not necessarily.

With youth comes purity and innocence - which explains why children do not discriminate or have the pride to identify themselves as being gifted. Children are simple, they like being happy and are easily taken by stories, colours and noise. All of which can end up spelling either 'inspiration' or 'distraction' to the child's development (depending on circumstances).

If anything, a parent's role is to recognise that talent and guide the child into having a proper development. Bear in mind that focusing on a single talent does not spell success. If you think about it carefully, it actually places a limit and a pressure on your child because the focus has now closed the door of 'options' for the child. Being a master of only one trade, his success in life is confined to that one single area.

Take for example, if the child's gift is to play a musical instrument and you only focus him or her on that, never bothering to balance out or expose them to the other skills/areas (e.g: math, writing, reading, socialising) you would have actually cornered your child into having one and only one option in life- to succeed in that instrument and nothing else.

Yet that is not the only damage to the child? Remember I said children are innocent and they don't identify their talents but that's your job as a parent? Well that same innocence also dictates that they child might take some time before he finds himself and what he really wants out of life. Don't be fooled into believing that having the talent for something makes you automatically  fall in love it. It doesn't work that way. Many people have talents which they find more amusing to make a past time off then a full fledged career. Parents should make the child aware of his given talents but ultimately let him decide his own course in life.

So at the end of it all, are parents 'the' determining factor in achieving success? I say, "No". Some of us are not such fortunate souls to have parents who have their hearts and interests in the right place. Some of us might not even have any parents, but does that mean we are doomed to failure? Of course not! We just have to work a little harder to develop/find ourselves. We may take a little longer to achieve what our more fortunate peers already have for themselves, but in time and with perseverance we all get there.

Now, the circumstances in life in which one was born to...what about it and how does it effect success?

It's a renowned fact that we don't get to choose where we came from or to which family we were born to. We simply are who we are and that's the final word on it. You may have been born to a wealthy upper class family living in the most advanced country - one that could afford you with all your hearts whims and fancies or you may just have been born in a third world country to a single mother who had to give you because she couldn't afford you. Life situations are strange and many so yours could be anything in between and more.

But how does it matter? Does it even matter? Does being born to a less favourable situation make you out for a failure? Is it fair to say that being born of wealth guarantees success? The answer is a plain and stern,"No". Having the opportunity and resources merely gives you a chance, not having the opportunity of resources dropped on your lap simply means you've got to go that extra mile to get there.

In summary, none of those 3 factors decides success. On the contrary, YOU do! Remember the following basics:

1. You can't decide who you are or where you come from, but YOU decide who you want to be and where you want to go!
2. What is brilliance anyways? Is it the ability to solve the hardest of math equations or is it simply the knowledge to know how to find happiness for yourself.
3. You may say, " I'm not a gifted child". I say, "What makes you think that?" Everyone came blessed with something, you just need to recognise it and if you haven't found it yet, maybe you're looking at the wrong direction. A gift doesn't have to be as obvious as a voice or a photographic memory. In fact the most subtle of gifts are often the ones which leave the most impact. You could have anything from a green thumb ( you have the gift to help mother nature) to empathy (a talent that can guide you to making right decisions and bringging about a movement of change in the world).
4. Your life was not great...fine I get that. I never said mine was either. The past doesn't change. Sitting in a corner, angry at the world, asking never ending whys...will not do your mental and emotional health any good. I sympathise that you had it rougher than the rest and I don't know why...(no one does and I'm not sure if anyone ever will). But I think and find it's more worth the while to just stop caring why (no one's going to answer you anyways) and place that effort into finding/creating a better life now.
5. Success is about knowing what you want of of yourself for your life. You can't get there if you don't know where 'there' is. The steps are simple, recognise who you are, determine who you want to be then take action to get to be that person.
6. How do you recognise success? Simple...just answer yourself honestly...Are you happy with your achievements? Don't bother about what your mother thinks or what she hoped for. So you're not that lawyer son she hoped for. So what? Did you ever really want to be a lawyer? Stop chasing dreams that aren't yours because one day you're just going to wake up feeling lost.
7. He's got the privileged life that you never had! He's go the edge! Are you sure? Have you not come to notice that with privilege tends to come slack? Those who have it all often take things for granted because everything came so easy. Having the access to the education but not the interest to be educated pretty much places him behind you if not at par. Besides, life is not about a race to the finish line against him or her. Fact is you're the only one in your race and in your race it's all about you feeling good about yourself up when you reach that finished line.
8. Life's not fair...stop wishing it was. I don't know why and I've given up asking. Instead take a positive stand against whatever hard knocks life wants to keep throwing at you. If it won't give you an opportunity, create one! (That's really how entrepreneurs are born).  Even if chances are slim...a chance is a chance...so why not? You've got nothing to lose when you try.

My advice, don't waste your time comparing and envying. Don't let others (even you closest loved ones, sad to have to say) dictate who you are or who you should be. In today's modern age, so much of what we do and who we become have become entangled and confused by 'Society's Standards'. Don't get caught up and don't lose yourself trying to fit in.

Revolutionists never fitted into 'society', they were often ousted by their peers for having their own ideas and being proud of them. These were the people who brought about the biggest change, in my opinion," Pollinators of evolution!"

Who decides success? YOU do for yourself!

When I spoke to director James Fox about his entry (Memorial Day) at the CineVegas Film Festival, he was a bit tight-lipped about the project.

But, when I crossed paths with actress Sarah Nedwek - who stars in the film - I was able to slip the muzzle off a bit for an intriguing reveal.

At this juncture, for instance, I learned that the mysterious feature with a macabre twist was somewhat experimental in nature.

More succinctly, the promotional blurb boasted a wild sort-of ride.

"Beginning as a rowdy beach weekend, Memorial Day turns to find the dark hearts of Americans who live to tape their most debauched adventures. The characters are thrust into full exposure, both physically and emotionally, to a place where self-exploitation and the exploitation of others give rise to a shocking new kind of entertainment."

Well, one that the movie-going public may not be ready for!

At the screening a handful of irate filmgoers stormed out of the Theatre in disgust.

"It was well-done," one agitated theatre-goer assured me.

"But, the images were shocking."

Another film buff argued that while the offering was a turn-off in respect to the controversial subject matter, the actors were quite competent and turned in finely-tuned performances worth catching.

Ms. Nedwek informed me that although this was her first film, she flexed her acting muscles in a number of Theatre Stage productions in recent years, which amply prepared her to get a grip on the complexities of the "Memorial Day" role.

"We did a lot of improvisation."

In fact, Fox urged his actors to go beyond the basic framework - take risks, plumb the depths of their psyches, exorcise demons, if necessary - to meet the specific demands of their characterizations.

While the director may have succeeded in accomplishing his vision, it may have been too much for a viewing audience to handle.

From Fox's perspective, the camera created a sphere of provocation wherever it went, ramping up actions, and pushing characters to a place of hyper-real catharsis.

In spite of the lofty reach - "Memorial Day" - left filmgoers at a loss for words, for the most part. In fact, many were inclined to make a quick exit from the troubling images.

Another film - "South of Heaven" - affected audiences the same way.

"Pointless violence," one criticized.

"Shocking footage of females that were degrading and upsetting, " another lamented.

Maybe Festival Director (Trevor Groth) felt that he needed to push the envelope, and go beyond the bounds of good taste and cinematic excellence, in a bold-faced effort to conjure up controversy?

Get the theatre-going public in the door at any cost?

The scheme may have backfired.

A handful of filmgoers were turned off by a number of the films that were unveiled - signaling without doubt - that CineVegas needs to re-access Festival goals.

Ignoring the obvious may result in a slip in CineVegas credibility - which, bottom line - may reflect in poor ticket sales and attendance next year.

Samuel Goldwyn once said,

From Salon:

“My government is my worst enemy. I’m going to fight them with any means at hand.”

This was former revolutionary terrorist Bill Ayers back in his old Weather Underground days, right? Imagine what Sarah Palin is going to do with this incendiary quote as she tears into Barack Obama this week.

Only one problem. The quote is from Joe Vogler, the raging anti-American who founded the Alaska Independence Party. Inconveniently for Palin, that’s the very same secessionist party that her husband, Todd, belonged to for seven years and that she sent a shout-out to as Alaska governor earlier this year. (“Keep up the good work,” Palin told AIP members. “And God bless you.”)

AIP chairwoman Lynette Clark told me recently that Sarah Palin is her kind of gal. “She’s Alaskan to the bone … she sounds just like Joe Vogler.”

So who are these America-haters that the Palins are pallin’ around with?

Oh, read more...

via Salon: The Palins' un-American activities

Racism is still alive as is apparent in Bobby May's anti-Obama column.

John McCain’s campaign has confirmed the removal of their Virginia leadership representative Bobby May, over the prominent GOP veteran’s penning of a racially charged column parodying the policies of Barack Obama.

The piece, entitled “The (clarified) Platform of Barack Hussein Obama,” appeared this week in The Voice newspaper.

I find it hilarious that some people actually think his middle name is significant and/or scary. Yes, Barack Obama's middle name, which he did not chose, happens to be Hussein. The only other Hussein I know of is Saddam Hussein. Since Saddam Hussein was an evil man and Barack Obama's middle name is Hussein...this can only mean one thing! Of course, Bobby May was just writing out his full name for the title. When was the last time you heard someone refer to John McCain's middle name?

On the White House, May mocked that Senator Obama would “hire rapper Ludacris to paint it black.

Taxes [would] be increased to buy enough paint for the job plus spray-paint for the graffiti.”

Seriously?

Regarding the economy, May ranted that the Democratic presidential nominee would change US currency to pictures of Oprah Winfrey, Ludacris and Shelia Jackson-Lee, while appointing mogul 50 Cent as the new Secretary of the Treasury.

I think 50 Cent as Secretary of the Treasury would be good for the country. Think how much money he's made since 2003. I'm getting off track, though. It's good that McCain fired this loser.

Source:AllHipHop

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The Gardasil vaccine is very expensive. It is administered in a three injection series over a 6 month period. The cost is approximately $405 for Canadian women and girls. This vaccine is an additional cost to be covered by the already overburdened public health budget. Experts say that the benefit of this vaccine would be no more than getting regular Pap tests, which is cheaper and a more effective use of public health resources.

Pap screening for abnormalities is the most important prevention method for detecting and treating cervical cancer from an early onset. In the parts of the world where Pap tests are not available, thousands of women die every year from this disease. Since the introduction of the Pap test in Canada, the cervical cancer death rate has dropped by half. In the United States, the incidence of cervical cancer fell by 74%.

The HPV vaccine does not eliminate the need for regular Pap screening because it only protects against two strains of cancer-causing HPV.

Not all women have access to regular Pap screening. These women include the poor, immigrants, women in remote areas and aboriginal women. This same population is less likely to be able to afford a HPV vaccine.

Women who get the vaccine may develop a false sense of security about their sexual activity. The vaccine still requires protected sex and caution when choosing the number of sexual partners. Other methods of protection, such as condoms, are still a necessary to prevent AIDS and other types of STDs.

Giving young girls ages 9-13 Gardasil is important because it ensures that they get vaccinated before their first sexual contact. However, clinical studies on the risks and side effects of this vaccine for young girls has been relatively few. Data on how safe this vaccine is may not necessarily be applicable to these girls. There is especially little data on the long term safety of this vaccine.

We must also keep in mind that Gardasil only protects against two types of HPV that is responsible for 70% of cervical cancer. This is not a complete protection against cervical cancer, rather, we need to remember that is is only reducing the chance one will get HPV. Therefore, the NACI's proposal to make this vaccine mandatory may not be an appropriate use of public health funds.

While Gardasil is useful method of preventing some forms of cervical cancer, we must consider that regular Pap screening and educating the marginalized populations of women about Pap tests may be a more important use of time and money.

info by Courtney