Paul Long's Ramblings

Pastor's notes for the 2 September 2012 bulletin It's Father's Day in NZ To read, click  HERE

Pastor's notes for the 26 August 2012 bulletin to read, click  HERE

May God have mercy and bring justice Muslim Brotherhood 'Crucifies' Opponents, Attacks Secular Media by Raymond Ibrahim Investigative Project on Terrorism August 15, 2012 http://www.meforum.org/3305/ muslim-brotherhood-crucifies- opponents  Print  Send  RSS Share:          Be the first of your friends to like this. Last week in Egypt, when Muslim Brotherhood supporters terrorized the secular media, several Arabic websites—including  Arab News ,  Al Khabar News ,  Dostor Watany , and  Egypt Now —reported that people were being "crucified." The relevant excerpt follows in translation: A Sky News Arabic correspondent in Cairo confirmed that protestors belonging to the Muslim Brotherhood crucified those opposing Egyptian President Muhammad Morsi naked on trees in front of the presidential palace while abusing others. Likewise, Muslim Brotherhood supporters locked the doors of the media production facilities of 6-October [a major media region in Cairo], w

Been avoiding posting on Malaysian politics for a long time but since I will be back later this year for a couple of weeks ... here's a link below that brings up some old information a friend shared with me over 10 years ago .. now updated in a nicely written piece. I am a Malaysian citizen with New Zealand PR status. What is sad is that often I feel more welcome in NZ with my PR than in Malaysia.  I feel this way whenever I arrive at the KLIA and Auckland airports immigration counters respectively. Even with my Malaysian passport and using the auto-gate at KLIA, I cannot avoid noticing the poor way many immigration officers treat non Malay looking Malaysian passport holders who for one reason or another do not use the auto gates ... Ok, maybe these have just been coincidences but have been my impressions ... But when I arrive at AKL airport, the atmosphere is so different despite my having to queue up at the long non NZ passport lines. The officer will check my passport, l

Pastor's notes for the 19th August 2012 bulletin To read, click HERE

Pastor's notes for the 12 August 2012 bulletin To read click HERE . 

From:  http://www.thepublicdiscourse.com/2012/08/6065 Public Discourse: Ethics, Law and the Common Good http://www.thepublicdiscourse.com view article in original form   Growing Up With Two Moms: The Untold Children’s View by  Robert Oscar Lopez August 6, 2012 The children of same-sex couples have a tough road ahead of them—I know, because I have been there. The last thing we should do is make them feel guilty if the strain gets to them and they feel strange. Between 1973 and 1990, when my beloved mother passed away, she and her female romantic partner raised me. They had separate houses but spent nearly all their weekends together, with me, in a trailer tucked discreetly in an RV park 50 minutes away from the town where we lived. As the youngest of my mother’s biological children, I was the only child who experienced childhood without my father being around. After my mother’s partner’s children had left for college, she moved into our house in town. I lived with both

Another excellent article by Tawfik Hamid and ... what scares me on a too close and personal level is point number 3 below which I have highlighted in bold red! Is the Egyptian 'Military' More Democratic than the 'ballot'? By Tawfik Hamid www.tawfikhamid.com Traditionally, the ballot is seen as the best way to achieve true democracy. Recent experience in some Muslim countries such as Egypt, however, demonstrate that there are exceptions to this widely held belief. Some of the basic values that are inherent in the word democracy include: People as the source of power. No group or faction or leader can impose their will, ideology, religion, or desires on anyone else (as  articulated  by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton). Equal rights for all citizens of the country. Rule of law. Respect for religious rights of citizens. Here are five observations based on the military leadership of Egypt over the last few decades: The constitution was clear th