Volunteers at the Church of Scientology of Manchester put on a spectacular show of artistic talent on Sunday as Scientologists and their friends & family packed out the Church’s event room to see live performances of song, dance and poetry, and I even had a go at it myself.
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Words & Music at the Church of Scientology
Giving a hoot
You don’t have to be a Scientologist to care, but I must admit I find that Scientologists will, more often than not, actually give a damn about what is happening around them, even what is happening to people they don’t even know. I’ve just given the Poynton Commodores Drum & Bugle Corps a place to rehearse their musical ensemble for the winter, using new but empty Church of Scientology premises in the Manchester area. Why on Earth would I do that?
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Posted in Blog, Scientology
Tagged Commodores, Help, Manchester, Music, Scientologist, Scientology
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Why I’m not walkin’ on by
It’s just a part of my everyday life, helping people. I don’t need recognition; I’m not looking for a medal. It’s just what keeps me going, and maybe that’s different, but that doesn’t bother me. I’d been shouted at outside my Church by a drunk teenager and had to see the police to report the incident. I’d ended up working late and I finally finished up and walked home. It was cold, at least approaching zero degrees if not below. Everything seemed fairly normal for a Friday night—the girls were out with far too much skin showing than could realistically be good for them, the lads were singing football songs in the street.
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Creationism or Evolution: Should science decide?
I wanted to write about something else but I’m finding this issue keeps cropping up. I read some interesting comments on Facebook and I’m ready to throw myself out there. The Times said “Leading scientist urges teaching of creationism in schools,” while the Independent reported “One in 10 pupils believes in creationism.” Should we be teaching religious beliefs in science lessons? Where does Darwin’s theory of evolution come into this? Let’s find out. Continue reading
Posted in Psychiatry, Uncategorized, drugs
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Sex and Children: A Recipe for Disaster
Members of Parliament in England and Wales are calling for a reform to primary school sex education, which could see children as young as five being taught the mechanics of human reproduction alongside the emotional impact of recreational sex, pregnancy and parenthood. With teenage pregnancies in the UK at the number one spot in Europe, the Government understandably want to do something to arrest what seems to be an epidemic. But is this the right way to do it?
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So, you’re a Scientologist?
Um, uh, well… let’s cut to the chase. Yes, I am a Scientologist. I fail to see where we discovered something new there, but many people ask me questions about what it means to be a Scientologist, what is Scientology, and how I came to follow the Scientology religion. So without further ado, here are some answers to anticipated questions.
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In Memory of Isaac Hayes
Isaac Lee Hayes, Jr. (August 20, 1942 – August 10, 2008) was perhaps one of the most influential black musicians of the late 20th century. Providing entertainment through his songwriting, his singing, his acting, and later as the voice of South Park’s infamous ladies’ man Chef, Hayes kept us dancing, singing, laughing and generally feeling good throughout his diverse career. He died at home today, aged 65.
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Posted in Blog, News, Scientology
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I get knocked down…
…but I get up again, ain’t never gonna keep me down!
So here’s the thing… some random error seems to have occurred, bloating my website beyond belief and causing problems elsewhere. Those resident ‘elsewhere’ had to remove my files from the server to prevent a meltdown, and I was left stood in the middle of my site’s rubble.
But as the song goes, I got up again. This time we’re on a new hosting plan and so far things are fairly smooth. I need to find and replace the design, so I’m sorry if you’re viewing this in the WordPress default template, and I have copies of some of the content thanks in no small part to my friend in Belgium, Yahoo’s cache, and Mr K. We should have articles back up here very soon, and I think WordPress should let me change the date so it matches the original post date, if we’re going to get meticulous about the reconstruction.
Thank you werrry much, please come again.
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If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em
The over-worn phrase came into play today as I read an article on Reuters UK about English spelling. The general consensus inside the insular world of one Professor Ken Smith, a criminology lecturer at Bucks New University (where?), is that we should just accept commonly misspelt words and get over it. It almost sounds reasonable until you look closely at the insinuation. Smith is saying that the fact that people spell things incorrectly is ‘unchangeable’ and that rather than helping students—and people in general—to properly conform to the agreed-upon spellings of words so as to effect intelligible written communication, we should modify the agreements and accept it as a consequence of life, the universe and everything. I disagree… Continue reading →