Monday 4 March 2024
Saturday 13 January 2024
"PHŒNICIANS IN DART VALE. [SPECIAL.]
"PHŒNICIANS IN DART VALE.
[SPECIAL.]
"Much interest, not only local but world-wide, was aroused a few months back by the announcement of a Phœnician survival at Ipplepen, in the person of Mr. Thomas Ballhatchet, descendant of the priest of the SunTemple there, and until lately owner of the plot of land called Baalford, under Baal Tor, a priestly patrimony, which had come down to him through some eighteen or twenty centuries, together with his name and his marked Levantine features and characteristics.
"Such survivals are not infrequent among Orientals, as, for instance, the Cohens, Aaron's family, the Bengal Brahmins, the Rechabites, etc. Ballhatchet's sole peculiarity is his holding on to the land, in which, however, he is kept in countenance in England by the Purkises, who drew the body of Rufus to its grave in Winchester Cathedral on 2nd August, 1100.
"Further quiet research makes it clear beyond all manner of doubt that the Phœnician tin colony, domiciled at Totnes, and whose Sun Temple was located on their eastern sky-line at Ipplepen, have left extensive traces of their presence all the way down the Dart in the identical andunaltered names of places, a test of which the Palestine Exploration Committee record the priceless value. To give but one instance. The beautiful light-refracting diadem which makes Belliver[1]the most striking of all her sister tors, received from the Semite its consecration as 'Baallivyah,' Baal, crown of beauty or glory. The word itself occurs in Proverbs i. 9 and iv. 9, and as both Septuagint and Vulgate so render it, it must have borne that meaning in the third century B C., and in the third century A.D., and, of course, in the interval. There are many other instances quite as close, and any student of the new and fascinating science of Assyriology will continually add to them. A portrait of Ballhatchet, with some notes by an eminent and well-known Semitic scholar, may probably appear in theGraphic; in the meantime it may be pointed out that hisname is typically Babylonian. Not only is there at Pantellaria the gravestone of one Baal-yachi (Baal's beloved), but no less than three clay tablets from the Sun Temple ofSippara(the Bible Sepharvaim) bear the names of Baal-achi-iddin, Baal-achi-utsur, and Baal-achi-irriba. This last, which bears date 22 Sivan (in the eleventh year ofNabonidus, B.C. 540), just two years before the catastrophe which followed on Belshazzar's feast, is in the possession of Mr. W. G. Thorpe,F.S.A.It is in beautiful condition, and records a loan by one Dinkiva to Baal-achi-irriba (Baal will protect his brother), on the security of some slaves."
[SPECIAL.]
"Much interest, not only local but world-wide, was aroused a few months back by the announcement of a Phœnician survival at Ipplepen, in the person of Mr. Thomas Ballhatchet, descendant of the priest of the SunTemple there, and until lately owner of the plot of land called Baalford, under Baal Tor, a priestly patrimony, which had come down to him through some eighteen or twenty centuries, together with his name and his marked Levantine features and characteristics.
"Such survivals are not infrequent among Orientals, as, for instance, the Cohens, Aaron's family, the Bengal Brahmins, the Rechabites, etc. Ballhatchet's sole peculiarity is his holding on to the land, in which, however, he is kept in countenance in England by the Purkises, who drew the body of Rufus to its grave in Winchester Cathedral on 2nd August, 1100.
"Further quiet research makes it clear beyond all manner of doubt that the Phœnician tin colony, domiciled at Totnes, and whose Sun Temple was located on their eastern sky-line at Ipplepen, have left extensive traces of their presence all the way down the Dart in the identical andunaltered names of places, a test of which the Palestine Exploration Committee record the priceless value. To give but one instance. The beautiful light-refracting diadem which makes Belliver[1]the most striking of all her sister tors, received from the Semite its consecration as 'Baallivyah,' Baal, crown of beauty or glory. The word itself occurs in Proverbs i. 9 and iv. 9, and as both Septuagint and Vulgate so render it, it must have borne that meaning in the third century B C., and in the third century A.D., and, of course, in the interval. There are many other instances quite as close, and any student of the new and fascinating science of Assyriology will continually add to them. A portrait of Ballhatchet, with some notes by an eminent and well-known Semitic scholar, may probably appear in theGraphic; in the meantime it may be pointed out that hisname is typically Babylonian. Not only is there at Pantellaria the gravestone of one Baal-yachi (Baal's beloved), but no less than three clay tablets from the Sun Temple ofSippara(the Bible Sepharvaim) bear the names of Baal-achi-iddin, Baal-achi-utsur, and Baal-achi-irriba. This last, which bears date 22 Sivan (in the eleventh year ofNabonidus, B.C. 540), just two years before the catastrophe which followed on Belshazzar's feast, is in the possession of Mr. W. G. Thorpe,F.S.A.It is in beautiful condition, and records a loan by one Dinkiva to Baal-achi-irriba (Baal will protect his brother), on the security of some slaves."
Sunday 3 December 2023
Liberal London
Liberal London, from the battalions of Left-wing lawyers in the Inns of Court to the cultural revolutionaries and teenage pundits of the BBC, The Guardian and the Financial Times, must be drooling at the prospect of Boris Johnson's approaching appearance before the Covid Inquiry this week.
The man they loathe will be, they hope, in the dock of just such a political show trial as they would like to arrange for him. They must yearn for the power to convict him of conservatism and patriotism, and have him led away in handcuffs for these things, which they regard as offences.
Fortunately, as yet, they do not have such authority, though the Left in this country increasingly do wield the devastating power of cancellation through social media, which can destroy political careers and all too easily defeat conservative policies.
And of course they can damage reputations, such as Mr Johnson's, so badly that they find it hard to recover.
The Covid Inquiry so far has been oddly myopic and narrow, seemingly uninterested in even discussing the possibility that the Chinese-style policy of closing down the nation may have been excessive or even wrong. It has been fascinated, in a slightly maidenly way, with the rudeness which inevitably accompanies disagreement in high places, in an age heavily influenced by TV drama.
But now comes the moment when it can question the former Prime Minister himself (full disclosure: Boris Johnson is a columnist for our sister paper, the Daily Mail), the man accused of callously carousing while the country suffered and was confined to its homes in austere conditions.
He will also, no doubt, be accused of indecision, a curious charge when the Government was confronting a wholly new problem with weapons it had never used before, and there were significant divisions among its advisers – some of whom have themselves since changed their minds.
The whole point of the privacy of government meetings, at the time, is to allow those in power, and their advisers, to disagree, debate fiercely and so reach the best conclusion, without alarming the public. It is not a sign of weakness, or of indecision, to change your mind if the facts change or if the advice changes. On the contrary, it is a sign of an open and lively mind.
In any case, why exactly is Mr Johnson in trouble anyway? Britain's eventual Covid outcome was in fact not especially bad. It is impossible to prove that acting faster or more severely would have made this any better, and there is evidence from Sweden that it might have made things worse.
Many have now forgotten that, in the midst of the crisis and while at his post, he fell seriously ill and needed actual intensive care. The idea that, having had such an experience, he was ever thereafter frivolous about the disease or the reaction to it is surely absurd.
Boris Johnson has great comic talents, as we all know. But people should not make the mistake of thinking that he is therefore not a serious and thoughtful person. On the contrary, perhaps his greatest contribution to the resolution of the whole crisis was to take the decisions which led to the creation of an amazingly effective vaccine programme, far ahead of any other country.
Given what has happened since Mr Johnson left Downing Street, many, not just Tories, must be wondering what exactly the Tory Party thought they were doing when they ousted him in 2022. It is very possible that, after hearing him give his own account of his stewardship at the inquiry, many more will ask themselves the same question.
Saturday 25 November 2023
Tuesday 14 November 2023
New 'Sars-like' coronavirus identified by UK officials Published 24 September 2012
New 'Sars-like' coronavirus identified by UK officials
Published
24 September 2012
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Coronavirus
IMAGE SOURCE,SPL
Image caption,
In both cases to date, the infection was acquired in the Middle East
By Michelle Roberts
Health editor, BBC News online
A new respiratory illness similar to the Sars virus that spread globally in 2003 and killed hundreds of people has been identified in a man who is being treated in Britain.
The 49-year-old man, who was transferred to a London hospital by air ambulance from Qatar, is the second person confirmed with the coronavirus.
The first case was a patient in Saudi Arabia who has since died.
Officials are still determining what threat the new virus may pose.
The World Health Organization has not recommended any travel restrictions.
Prof John Watson, head of the respiratory diseases department at the UK's Health Protection Agency, said: "In the light of the severity of the illness that has been identified in the two confirmed cases, immediate steps have been taken to ensure that people who have been in contact with the UK case have not been infected, and there is no evidence to suggest that they have.
"Further information about these cases is being developed for healthcare workers in the UK, as well as advice to help maintain increased vigilance for this virus."
He said there was no specific evidence of the virus spreading from person to person and he had no advice for the public or returning travellers.
Peter Openshaw, director of the Centre for Respiratory Infection at Imperial College London, told Reuters that at this stage the novel virus looked unlikely to prove a concern, and may well only have been identified due to sophisticated testing techniques.
And Prof John Oxford, a virology expert at Queen Mary, University of London, said he felt "somewhat relaxed" about the news.
"Sars was very quick off the mark infecting hospital staff etc and this new virus does not to me appear to be in the same 'big bang' group."
Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses which includes ones that cause the common cold and Sars (severe acute respiratory syndrome).
This new virus is different from any coronaviruses that have previously been identified in humans.
There have been a small number of other cases of serious respiratory illness in the Middle East in the past three months, one of whom was treated in the UK but has since died.
This person's illness is also being investigated, although there is no evidence as yet to suggest that it is caused by the same virus or linked to the current case. No other confirmed cases have been identified to date in the UK.
Sars is a serious respiratory infection that caused a global outbreak in 2002, spreading from Hong Kong to more than 30 different countries around the world and killing around 800 people. Although it has not been eradicated its spread was fully contained in 2003. Like other coronaviruses, it is spread through droplets of body fluids - produced by sneezing and coughing.
Believe Out Loud An online network that empowers Christians to work for LGBTQ equality. www.believeoutloud.com
Believe Out Loud
An online network that empowers Christians to work for LGBTQ equality.
www.believeoutloud.comTransgender rights
Main article:
Transgender rights in the United Kingdom
Vigil in Glasgow for Brianna Ghey, a transgender teenager murdered in 2023
In 1970, the decision of the court case Corbett v Corbett made it legally impossible for transgender people to change the sex marker on their birth certificate, rendering them legally unable to marry people of the other gender, as this would legally be considered a (then unrecognized) "same-sex" marriage. The ruling was subsequently used as precedent by many courts in the United States.[102][103] In the 2002 European Court of Human Rights case Goodwin v United Kingdom, the UK was found to be in breach of Articles 8 and 12 of the European Convention on Human Rights under this status quo. The ruling would lead to the passing of the Gender Recognition Act in 2004.[104][105]
In December 2002, the Lord Chancellor's office published a "Government Policy Concerning Transsexual People" document that categorically states that transsexualism "is not a mental illness."[106]
Since 4 April 2005, as per the Gender Recognition Act 2004 (Welsh: Deddf Cydnabod Rhywedd 2004; Scottish Gaelic: Achd Aithneachadh Gnè 2004), it has been possible for transgender people to change their legal gender in the UK, allowing them to acquire a new birth certificate, affording them full recognition of their acquired sex in law for all purposes. Transgender people must present evidence to a Gender Recognition Panel, which considers their case and issues a Gender Recognition Certificate (GRC); they must have transitioned two years before a GRC is issued. It is not a requirement for sex reassignment surgery to have taken place, although such surgery will be accepted as part of the supporting evidence for a case where it has taken place. There is formal approval of medical gender reassignment available either on the National Health Service (NHS) or privately.
However, there have been concerns regarding marriages and civil partnerships. Under the Gender Recognition Act 2004, transgender people who are married have been required to divorce or annul their marriage in order for them to be issued with a GRC. The Government chose to retain this requirement in the Act as effectively it would have legalised a small category of same-sex marriages. The Civil Partnership Act 2004 allowed the creation of civil partnerships between same-sex couples, but a married couple that includes a transgender partner cannot simply re-register their new status. They must first have their marriage dissolved, gain legal recognition of the new gender and then register for a civil partnership. This is like any divorce with the associated paperwork and costs.
With the legalisation of same-sex marriage in England and Wales, existing marriages will continue where one or both parties change their legal gender and both parties wish to remain married. The legislation also does not restore any of the marriages of transgender people that were forcibly annulled as a precondition for them securing a GRC and states that a GRC will not be issued unless the spouse of the transgender person has consented. If the spouse does not consent, the marriage must be terminated before a GRC may be issued.[107]
Since 1 January 2021, UK telecommunications regulator Ofcom explicitly includes "gender reassignment" (alongside race, disability, religion, sex and sexual orientation) within its hate speech legal policies and procedures.[108]
In April 2021, it was reported that the fee for a Gender Recognition Certificate would be reduced to £5 in early May 2021.[109][110]
In September 2021, a report from the Council of Europe on anti-LGBTI sentiment in Europe described anti-trans rhetoric in the United Kingdom as having gained "baseless and concerning credibility, at the expense of both trans people's civil liberties and women's and children's rights", citing an increase in anti-trans hate crimes since 2015 and statements made at the 2021 IDAHOT forum by Minister of Equalities, Kemi Badenoch.[111][7]
Transgender youth
Transgender youth are equally covered by the Equality Act 2010, and therefore protected from discrimination as with adult trans people. Children who wish to medically transition are referred to the NHS Gender Identity Development Service, the only gender identity clinic for people under eighteen in the UK. There, no surgical options are available for transition, per National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidance. In October 2019, the service was subject to a legal case, Bell v Tavistock,[112] and in December 2020 the High Court of Justice ruled that children under 16 cannot independently consent to the use of puberty blockers.[113] This was widely condemned by LGBT rights groups, such as Stonewall,[114] The Consortium[115] and Mermaids,[116] as well as human rights organisations, including Amnesty International and Liberty.[117] The Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health issued a statement hoping for further clarity,[118] and leave to appeal was granted in January 2021.[119] This appeal was successful, with the original ruling being overturned in September 2021.[120] In September 2020, the NHS launched a review of gender identity services for young people,[121] which as of July 2021 is still ongoing.[11
promoting human rights, respect for diversity or child mutilation
The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence® are a leading-edge Order of queer and trans nuns. We believe all people have a right to express their unique joy and beauty.
Since our first appearance in San Francisco on Easter Sunday, 1979, the Sisters have devoted ourselves to community service, ministry and outreach to those on the edges, and to promoting human rights, respect for diversity and spiritual enlightenment.
We use humor and irreverent wit to expose the forces of bigotry, complacency and guilt that chain the human spirit.
List of LGBT-related organizations and conferences
International
Affirming Pentecostal Church International — an Apostolic Pentecostal denomination operating in the US and many other countries
All Out — a global not-for-profit organisation that is focused on political advocacy for the human rights of LGBT people
Axios — organization of Eastern Orthodox, Byzantine Rite, and Eastern Catholic Christians who are LGBT
Emergence International — support group for LGBT Christian Scientists (not to be confused with Scientology)
Federation of Gay Games — fosters LGBT self-respect through the Gay Games, an organized international participatory athletic and cultural event
Frontrunners — LGBT running and walking clubs
GALA Choruses — Gay and Lesbian Association of Choruses
Gay Games — an organized international participatory athletic and cultural event held every four years
Global Alliance of Affirming Apostolic Pentecostals (GAAAP) (Encompasses the former Apostolic Restoration Mission) International LGBT-Affirming Apostolic (Oneness) Pentecostal denomination
GRIN Campaign — campaigning for social and political equality in education
Lavender Languages and Linguistics Conference — an international conference for queer linguistics
International Association of Gay Square Dance Clubs
International Conference on Bisexuality
International Mister Leather
InterPride — an organization of over 200 Pride event organisers
Metropolitan Community Church
OutRight Action International — international human rights organization dedicated to improving the lives of people who experience discrimination or abuse on the basis of their sexual orientation, gender identity or expression
Q Christian Fellowship — global membership and attendance, but conference has only been hosted in the United States
Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence
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