Quote:I asked my workmate Akeem, on his return to the factory today.
"Not too good, actually." He replied, solemnly. "My new bride died at the reception."
"What happened?" I asked. "Did she blow herself up over the gifts or something?"
"Oh fk you! FK YOU!! How dare you say something like that about her, about me, and frankly, about Muslim culture?" "We're not all barbarians who do such awful shit like that - We're a tolerant and peaceful religion and deserve some fkg respect."
"Look, Akeem, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have been so prejudiced, forgive me," I grovelled. "So how did she pass away?"
"We stoned her for drinking alcohol." ---------------------------------------- For those that think otherwise: Only in muslim countries are women stoned to death BECAUSE THEY WERE RAPED!!!!!!
I've always been a fan of Loch Ness and it's inhabitants, but now the BBC bring to light a small town that sits on the
Atlantic side of the Great Glen that leads to the mysterious expase of water. Fort William has a football team and
it holds a continuity that some may scoff at.
But in my books, it's the trying that counts.
Quote:The unlikely manager and Britain's worst football team.
'At the beginning of last season Russell MacMorran had no idea he would end up as a football manager let alone the
boss of a club with the worst record in British league football. Russell was not even involved in football when Fort
William FC kicked off last summer.
Russell MacMorran did not expect to find himself managing Fort William FC. Fort William's ground lies close to Ben Nevis.
The club started the season as it had ended the previous one - in crisis, having just gone a full season without a win
and yet again finishing bottom of the Highland League, the fifth tier of Scotland's league structure.
The part-time club, which pays its players an average of £20 a week, had been bottom of the table for 14 of the past
20 seasons but because there is no relegation it managed to hold onto its place in the Scottish football league structure.
However, the pressure was taking its toll and there was talk of throwing in the towel and dropping into junior football.
Fort William were down to just five signed players and the existing management board had announced they were packing
it in so an emergency meeting was held to find new blood to save the club.
This would be a task as huge as the UK's highest mountain, Ben Nevis, which looms over the club's Claggan Park ground.
Russell went to the open meeting and stuck up his hand to volunteer. Before he knew it he was the club secretary, taking
responsibility for the organisation of the whole set-up. The 43-year-old had played football when he was younger, mainly
in the Highland League reserves, but a serious knee injury ended his career when he was in his early 20s.
The father-of-five, originally from Inverness, had moved to the Fort William area a decade earlier to work as a police road
traffic officer but he had been off sick for months after being diagnosed with PTSD due to years of dealing with crash scenes.
He tells The BBC Scotland documentary, The Fort, he was feeling isolated, "staring at the four walls", and it was his wife
who suggested he should get involved with football again.
His idea was to work behind the scenes, trying to improve the way Fort William worked and hope a new professional approach
at the club would transfer to performances on the pitch. By January, Fort William had lost 21 games, drawn two and conceded
165 goals.
They had also been given a nine-point penalty for fielding an ineligible player three times at the start of the season, before
Russell took on his role.
Fort William FC board (left to right) Colin Wood, Peter Murphy, Russell MacMorran and Willie Edward.
(Imagine playing with that backdrop!)
The club's new board had a crisis meeting and team manager Kris Anderson was sacked. They decided the best man to take
over as caretaker manager was Russell. "It was a bit of a whirlwind to go from secretary to manager," Russell says. "But the
basic principle was to put a bit of stability into the changing room because of what had been happening."
"The morale of the guys was, as expected, really low."
But why did a man with PTSD and no experience as a football manager agree to take on the team with the statistically the
worst record in Britain?
Russell says: "I have the illness and that's a long road to recovery. I can't do my police work at the moment because of that
but the football gives me the chance to still be able to do things on a social level and an occupational level. It gives me some
form of identity, if you like. It has helped me massively."
He says being the manager of the worst club in Britain does not bring any stress, in fact "it is the polar opposite".
"There is no expectations," he says. "There are no stresses. It is not like sitting in the Premier League where it really is
your job and you have to make a massive difference."
Russell says he has taken the young players "under his wing" and tries to be as positive and calm as he can.
"To be at rock bottom yourself, you can look at these kids and see in the broad scheme of things it is only a game,
he says.
For the first three weeks Russell was undefeated but that was only because the terrible weather meant all the Fort's
games were cancelled. When he finally saw action it was away against Lossiemouth, the second worst team in the league.
They had only won one game all season and that was against Fort William.
Could this finally be The Fort's first win in almost two years? Well, no. They lost 5-0.
The Highland league is harder than it looks, says club treasurer Willie Edwards, especially for a team with no money.
Willie says the top three or four teams in the league are competing to be in the Scottish third division and even mid-table
teams have ex-professionals from the upper levels of the Scottish league. "Money talks," he says and Fort William does
not have any.
The occasional small donations help. They come from fans around the world who have heard of their plight and as the
season wore on more became aware of their unenviable record.
Interest in the club on social media rocketed, as did sales of merchandise but it did not translate to success on the pitch.
In February The Fort were leading 1-0 just before half time when the match was abandoned because of a water-logged
pitch. Not only did they miss out on the elusive first win but they also lost the revenues from the half-time pies, says Russell,
still thinking like the club secretary, a role now filled by his wife Laura.
The Fort ended the season in April with a record of two draws in 34 matches, scoring 21 goals and conceding 245.
The new season kicked off on Saturday when they were defeated by Brora Rangers 6-0, despite the loan of nine players
from Inverness Caledonian Thistle. Last season, Brora beat them 11-0 and 9-0.
Russell remains the manager despite losing all his games so far. He says the team have worked hard on their fitness in
the close season and he has tried to instil more professionalism into how they approach the game.
"We are not going to be the same side that teams faced last year and they know that," Russell says. "I expect the guys
not to be the whipping boys like they were last year and to challenge all the way.
"It has to be that we look to finish off the bottom of the table. All the lads and myself are really positive going into the
new season and last season is well and truly behind us."...'
Anyone curious how this epidemic started or how about the family behind these drugs.
I would like to say this, Most Pain is Terrible and often beyond being bearable.
I understand this and I have often treat my husbands pain even my patients cancer pain with Acupuncture and Herbs.
Please if you can, try Chinese Traditional Medicine through a certified Licensed Dr.
Now to the video.
Quote:With over 200,000 deaths caused by Opioids, it's important to look at how this tragedy took place and who's behind it. In this video we look at the Sackler family, the family that has caused untold damage to the lives of millions.
Quote:CNN editor praised murder of ‘Jewish pigs’ in terrorist attack on Israeli bus.
'Social media posts from years ago by a CNN photo editor and writer reveal that he called Jews "pigs" and praised their deaths.
In a 2011 tweet, Mohammed Elshamy, 25, wrote, "More than 4 jewish pigs killed in #Jerusalem today by the Palestinian bomb
explode. #Israel #Gaza."
Elshamy joined CNN in January 2019.
Mohammed Elshamy.
The tweet was an apparent reference to the March 23, 2011 bombing of a crowded Jerusalem bus stop that injured 39 people
and killed two, not four. Among them was a 14-year-old girl who remained unconscious in the hospital for six years until her
death in 2017.
The terrorist attack, which took place after a bomb in a bag hidden behind a telephone booth exploded, was the first to strike
the Israeli capital since 2008.
In another tweet from 2011, Elshamy said,
"Israel is the main enemy for the people of Egypt and shall always remain rulers who lick Jewish legs."
In a series of tweets from 2010-2012, Elshamy also praised the terrorist organization Hamas, used "Zionists" as a slur,
and also appeared to downplay the Holocaust.
The photojournalist's LinkedIn bio states he is headquartered with CNN in Atlanta and has been the recipient of the Chris
Hondros Fund Award, established in memory of the Pulitzer Prize-nominated photojournalist who was killed April 20, 2011,
while on assignment in Libya.
The Washington Examiner did not receive immediate comment from CNN, the Chris Hondros Fund, or Elshamy himself.
Elshamy's work can be seen in many CNN articles. Most recently, CNN posted an Instagram photo credited to Elshamy
from the recent protests in Puerto Rico. He has also contributed the occasional article.
UPDATE:
CNN told the Washington Examiner on Thursday evening that "the network has accepted the resignation of a photo editor,
who joined CNN earlier this year, after anti-Semitic statements he’d made in 2011 came to light.
CNN is committed to maintaining a workplace in which every employee feels safe, secure and free from discrimination
regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation or religion."
SECOND UPDATE:
Elshamy released a statement on Friday that reads:
“Yesterday, tweets that I made in 2011 resurfaced in which I made offensive and hateful comments.
I want to unequivocally express my apology to everyone, especially those in the Jewish community, who were offended
by the tweets.
I also want to apologize to my family, friends, and mentors who I am ashamed to have let down in this way.
These views, which I posted when I was 16, are ones I no longer hold and have not held for many years,” Nor do they
represent the values I carry in my professional career, which began at a very young age, and, through which, I have
witnessed first-hand wars, massacres and conflicts - in short, the awful cost of hate, especially when directed at
marginalized people.
I would like to thank everyone at CNN, especially my manager, for the opportunity they gave me. It is with great regret
that I have presented my resignation. I hope that the work I have produced in my photography career, as well as the work
I hope to be privileged enough to continue to produce, will be a testament to the ethics that I value today.
I will continue to work on becoming a better person, one who does not discriminate, hate, or accept injustice, and I will
continue to hold myself accountable for my actions, and work to correct any harm I have caused.”...'
Or to put it another way... "Aw f*ck, I'm out of work 'cos I said something I believed when I was a kid -the same type of kids that
we -at CNN, are trying to rally today. But thank God nobody realised that."
Nobody is asking you to beat them, you're just asked to keep-up.
Quote:Wicca is a Pagan Witchcraft tradition. Today, the name Wicca is frequently applied to the entire system of beliefs
and practices that make up the spectrum of contemporary Pagan Witchcraft.
However, although Wicca and Witchcraft are often used interchangeably, it is important to note that there are also
Pagan Witchcraft traditions that are not Wiccan.
Wicca was used originally to distinguish the initiatory tradition of Witchcraft practised as a religion, but American popular
television series have adopted the word to include what would once have been called natural magic or white witchcraft.
When people in Britain describe themselves as Wiccan though, they generally mean that they are practising a form of
religious Witchcraft. Media images often show Wiccans as teenage women, but in fact it is practised by males and
females of all ages.
Origins of Wicca
Religious Witchcraft is not merely a system of magic, but is a Pagan mystery religion worshipping Goddess and God
and venerating the Divine in nature. Its origins lie in pre-Christian religious traditions, folklore, folk witchcraft and ritual
magic, but most Witches draw their inspiration from the 'Book of Shadows', a book of rituals and spells compiled by of
one of Wicca's major figures Gerald Brosseau Gardner (1884-1964).
Gerald Brosseau Gardner.
Gerald Gardner claimed to have been initiated in 1939 into a coven of Witches who met in the New Forest in Hampshire
and his two most well known books Witchcraft Today (1954) and The Meaning of Witchcraft (1959) produced a huge surge
of interest, inspiring a movement that has spread around the world.
Gods
Wicca honours the Divine in the forms of the Triple Goddess, whose aspects of Virgin, Mother, and Wise Woman or Crone
are associated with the waxing, full and waning phases of the Moon, and as the Horned God.
The principal names by which the God is known are Cernunnos or Herne, both of which mean 'Horned One'.
The emphasis placed on Goddess and God differs between groups, traditions and localities, but most Wiccans believe that
for wholeness the image of the Divine must be both female and male.
Structure
There are no central authorities in Wicca. Some Witches are solo Witches. Others belong to covens –groups of like-minded
people who meet together to worship the Gods and to do magic. Some covens are part of initiatory traditions in which more
experienced people act as teachers to newcomers.
Others are formed by groups of friends who want to meet and learn together.
The classic number of people in a coven is thirteen, but many covens are smaller. Some are mixed sex groups; others cater
for Witches who prefer single sex covens.
Rites and celebrations
The major festivals of Wicca are known as sabbats. These are held eight times throughout the year and mark changes in the
seasons. The festivals are Winter Solstice or Yule on December 20/21, the shortest day, Summer Solstice or Midsummer on
June 21/22, the longest day, and the Spring and Autumn Equinoxes (March 20/21 and September 20/21) when the hours of
darkness and light are equal.
The other four festivals are Imbolc, February 1/2; Beltane or May Eve on April 30/May 1; Lughnasadh also known by its Anglo
-Saxon name of Lammas or Loaf Mass, August 1/2, and Samhain, also known as All Hallow's Eve, October 31/November 1.
Witches also honour their deities at monthly rites known as esbats, which are held on the full Moon, when the mind is thought
to be more magically powerful.
Sabbats begin at sunset and end at sunset the next day and most rites are held at night, lit evocatively by candles if indoors or
by the moon, bonfires and lanterns if outside. For indoor rituals, some Witches have rooms set aside as temples in their houses,
which they use for rites. Others use their ordinary living space.
Rites take place in a consecrated space, the circle, and even if there is a temple, the circle space is created anew for each rite.
The space is first swept with a broomstick or besom to purify it and then blessed with the four elements –air, fire, water and
earth.
The circle is then symbolically sealed by drawing a circle around it in the air with a wooden wand or a black-handled knife known
as an athame. The four directions –east, south, west and north –are then honoured. Within the sacred space, the Goddess and
God are invoked and magic performed. Rituals usually end with blessing a chalice of wine and cakes that are shared among the
participants.
Magic and ethics
Like many Pagan religions, Wicca practices magic. Witches believe that the human mind has the power to effect change in ways
that are not yet understood by science. In their rituals, as well as honouring their deities, Witches also perform spells for healing
and to help people with general life problems.
Magic is practised according to an ethical code that teaches that magic may only be performed to help people when it does not
harm others.
Witches believe that the energies that we create influence what happens to us: negative magic rebounds on the perpetuator but
magnified.
This process is often known as 'Threefold Law'. Other important ethical teachings are that people should strive to live in harmony
with others and with themselves, and with the planet as a whole. Environmental issues are important to Wiccans.
After death
Wicca teaches reincarnation. After death, the spirit is reborn and will meet again those with whom it had close personal ties in
previous lives. The aim of reincarnation is not to escape life on Earth, but to enjoy experiencing it again and again until everything
that can be learned has been absorbed.
When the spirit ceases to reincarnate, it remains in a blissful realm known as 'The Land of Youth' or the 'Summerland'.
Wicca and other contemporary Pagan spiritualities
Wiccan ideas and rites have been taken up by the Goddess spirituality movement.
They appeal to both women and men who have rejected male-dominated religions and who prefer to venerate the Divine in female
form as Goddess.
There are many similarities between Wicca and Druidry. Both emphasize the importance of developing close links with Nature and
their rites frequently take place out of doors. Both also stress the importance of guardianship of the Earth and environmentalism.
Some distinctions are that Druidry is more purely Celtic than Wicca, there is less emphasis on magic in Druidry, and Druidry more
actively encourages the development of music and poetry as paths to spiritual growth...'
Yes our North and South Poles are changing faster than expected. The Magnetic North is moving much faster than it was two or three years ago.
When the pole was first measured in the Canadian Arctic, it has moved about 2,300 kilometers toward Siberia. The speed of its movement has increased from about 9 miles a year to about 33 miles per year since 2000.
I also understand that due to the rapid movement our protection from the sun's rays has decreased and we will get hotter and have more adverse weather patterns.
Some are blaming Planet X for this problems also.
Watch this very interesting short video.
Ok I know I have been away from it all but what is this about the next James Bond been a woman!!!!!
I think that is a step too far, Bond was written as a man, and should be played by a man
What do people think
I am not on an altruistic mission to help some one out, this is purely selfish. I am the Old Bugger.
Perhaps this is the wrong place to put this, but knowing the "natives" here are friendly I thought I could brave this.
It is beyond me how this place works and I would so like partake in an intelligent manner.
When I first joined every one was so kind and helpful, but I gave up due to my own inability. "Someone" kindly nudged me to try again, so here I am a little miffed.
There are so many interesting topics and it seems like a diverse and open environment.
Thank you and please be patient. I work crazy shifts and can't always be present.
I have soooo many questions.
OH, Hello to the grumpy old curmudgeon from the High Lands
Quote:Mexico is smarter than US, this is reality in Mexico
Voter registration cards with photo and fingerprint with hologram to prevent forgery is the law in Mexico.
*New Immigration Laws*
Be sure to read to the bottom or you will miss the message...
1. There will be no special bilingual programs in the schools.
2. All ballots will be in this nation's language.
3. All government business will be conducted in our language.
4. Non-residents will NOT have the right to vote no matter how long they are here.
5. Non-citizens will NEVER be able to hold political office.
6. Foreigners will not be a burden to the taxpayers. No welfare, no food stamps, no health care, or any other government assistance programs . Any who are a burden will be deported.
7. Foreigners can invest in this country, but it must be an amount at least equal to 40,000 times the daily minimum wage.
8. If foreigners come here and buy land, their options will be restricted. Certain parcels including waterfront property are reserved for citizensnaturally born into this country.
9. Foreigners may have NO protests; NO demonstrations, NO waving of a foreign flag, NO political organizing, NO bad-mouthing our president or his policies. These will lead to deportation.
10. If you do come to this country illegally, you will be actively hunted and, when caught, sent to jail until your deportation can be arranged. All assets will be taken from you.
Too strict? The above laws are the current immigration laws of MEXICO!
If it's good for American's to obey Mexican laws, then it's good vice versa!!!
![[Image: mueller-testimony.jpg?fit=987%2C576&ssl=1]](https://i1.wp.com/www.nationalreview.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/mueller-testimony.jpg?fit=987%2C576&ssl=1)
We know what most Democrats Wish.![[Image: mueller.jpg?fit=987%2C576&ssl=1]](https://i0.wp.com/www.nationalreview.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/mueller.jpg?fit=987%2C576&ssl=1)
![[Image: lisa_benson_current_cartoon_2019-07-24_5_.jpg]](https://www.realclearpolitics.com/cartoons/images/2019/07/23/lisa_benson_current_cartoon_2019-07-24_5_.jpg)
![[Image: chip_bok_chip_bok_for_jul_26_2019_5_.jpg]](https://www.realclearpolitics.com/cartoons/images/2019/07/26/chip_bok_chip_bok_for_jul_26_2019_5_.jpg)
![[Image: darrin_bell_darrin_bell_for_07262019_5_.gif]](https://www.realclearpolitics.com/cartoons/images/2019/07/26/darrin_bell_darrin_bell_for_07262019_5_.gif)
![[Image: 9976498c-9db7-4872-b977-c3b1e9175de3-too...&auto=webp]](https://www.gannett-cdn.com/presto/2019/07/23/USAT/9976498c-9db7-4872-b977-c3b1e9175de3-toon.jpg?width=520&height=390&fit=bounds&auto=webp)
