I’m still trying to figure out how best to deliver these links to you guys, so this time I’m trying starting with the bad news and then transitioning to nicer links so that you don’t end up with severe depression:
THE BAD:
EGYPT
Blasphemy trials have increased sharply since the revolution with at least 13 receiving prison sentences. Most cases have been directed against the Christian minority, but a Muslim preacher was sentenced to 11 years in prison for tearing up a bible.
ECUADOR
University student kidnapped and tortured on parents’ orders to cure her of being a lesbian. (Better link, but in Spanish).
NIGERIA
Islamic teacher arrested for buying people (alive) and selling them for parts to witchcraft practitioners.
CHINA
Half of men surveyed confessed to have physically or sexually abused their wives or girlfriends. 1 in four admitted to having raped a woman and 1 in 25 of participating on a gang rape.
ARGENTINA
A 19 year-old girl died of anorexia after refusing medical treatment due to her religious beliefs.
AUSTRALIA
The Anti-vaccination Network hasn’t complied with the TGA’s (Australia’s FDA) order to stop advertising a quack cancer remedy in their website and DVDs. (From Jack99) (UPDATE: See Jack99’s comment)
SAUDI ARABIA
Two activists jailed for bringing food and water to a Canadian woman and her children locked in their house by the husband for a week.
THE GOOD, COOL, INTERESTING OR JUST WEIRD:
KAZAKHSTAN
Awesome pictures of Baikonur, the home of the Baikonur Cosmodrome, where Yuri Gagarin and Laika (and now every American astronaut) were launched into space.
TURKEY
The standing man protest is very powerful. So is this picture. (From Mary)
MEXICO
Awesome time lapse video of the Popocatépetl volcano (aka “El Popo”) erupting.
CAMBODIA
Laser scanning revealed a previously undocumented urban planning in the 1,200-year-old temples of Angkor Wat.
THE VATICAN
Unofficial gay dating site for priests allegedly based on the Vatican.
SOUTH AFRICA
The strange world of the Tokolosh and the even stranger way to keep these mystical creatures away.
AUSTRALIA
Atheists in Adelaide are getting things done. (UPDATE: See Jack99’s comment)
Featured image: Angkor Wat by me.
I’m curious to know if the Vatican gay dating site uses 29 dimensions of compatibility
I was just at Angkor Wat a month and a half ago! Fascinating stuff.
Yeah, I loved that place. I took a million pics and lost most of them for some unknown glitch on the card. I almost cried.
Update on the street preachers: the City Council has passed new bylaws allowing the street preachers to continue :P
OTOH the AVN’s recalcitrance is bound to pan out very badly for them as they have already caught the attention of the AMA and Health Minister Pilbersek.
So maybe the “preachers” link should go first (as moderately bad news) and AVN second as potentially good!
Thanks. Will update.