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Breaking news: Munich shooting!

Report coming in is that there has been multiple deaths as a result of a shooting in Munich. More details coming through.

Segregation in churches

A friend was asking me why I was not attending church anymore. Somehow, we got talking and landed on the topic of segregation in churches.

The dictionary definition of segregation is 'the action or state of setting someone or something apart from others'.

So I have done the whole church business and worn the badge. I was one of those people who in their weakest point in life found solace in the church and naively thought everyone in church was pious and full of love.

I was so wrong!!! Initially, I was oblivious to all this segregation business until I noticed that some particular women- those that screamed when they spoke in tongues, jerked as if they were having paroxysmal attacks and went to the pulpit to testify how 'marvellous' their lives were - were actually the ones who were championing segregating people.

To me, the church atmosphere was akin to the surface of an ocean that was calm but inside rumbling with tensions. At the surface, people pretended to be all about holiness, perfection and agape love but underneath that pretence/mask were hearts full of deceit. You ask how I know the heart was deceitful? Because I have had first hand experience of being segregated. I couldn’t give a reason why I was segregated from the 'herd' but I could definitely say that insecurity had a lot to do with this.

Insecurities yep! There were unnecessary competitions among  some people in the church. Those who wanted to be identified as the 'best couple', 'exotic couple', 'perfect family', have 'most friends', 'most popular', 'most loved', 'most helpful' 'first to have a child' 'marry' etc.! One is now dragged into some stupid person's insecurities whether they are aware of it or not.

OK, did I mention that I was in church when I was at my lowest? Yep, but even at that lowest, my spirit was very cautious about some of these great 'pretenders'.

I remember some incidents that made me ask WTH I was doing with these people. One particular type of incident I remember was during the 'friendly' exchange at at the end of the service when the pastor says to the congregation to shake hands with ‘brothers and sisters’; I noticed some strange behaviour from some 'sisters' - the ones with great testimonies of how godly they are, tongue speaking, vision seeing sisters umhum! I say 'strange behaviour' because there were certain of them that definitely did not want to shake hands with others. I laugh about all these now.

The summary of it all as I told my friend was that I have lost faith in church people especially those with judgemental and sanctimonious attitudes. I have lost faith in people who use religion to hide who they really are and use the gullible in championing their demented sense of worth. I find that in many churches now, the competition to be the most popular, head of the herd is taking over from what a church should be! Those who want to be the leader of the pack and if one does not conform then that person gets segregated. The mob mentality seems to be taking over!

I now find people that use the bible and God to cover up their personal agenda very creepy. I can say that one finds the best actors and actresses in church. At the moment, I do not want to share my life and space with such people. I am taking this time to learn about my spirituality. I may go back to church someday, maybe another denomination.

Caveat:  Churches are not generalised in this write-up as there are no empirical studies carried out to definitely state that segregations happens in all churches. This write-up is based on personal experience and vicarious experiences.

Africa and some customs

In some remote southern regions of Malawi, it's traditional for girls to be made to have sex with a paid sex worker known as a "hyena" once they reach puberty. They “hyena” are paid from $4 to $7 (£3 to £5) each time. The act is not seen by village elders as rape, but as a form of ritual "cleansing". However, as Ed Butler reports, it has the potential to be the opposite of cleansing - a way of spreading disease.

Teenage girls, after their first menstruation, are made to have sex over a three-day period, to mark their passage from childhood to womanhood. If the girls refuse, it's believed, disease or some fatal misfortune could befall their families or the village as a whole.

According to custom, sex with the hyena must never be protected with the use of condoms. But they say a hyena is hand-picked for his good morals, and therefore cannot be infected with HIV/Aids.

This is sad! Who wakes up and comes up with these weird destructive customs and traditions?

Culled from BBC News:http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-36843769

Police Shoot Unarmed Man With His Hands Up

Police are investigating after an officer shot a therapist who was looking after an autistic man while he was lying in the street with his hands up.

Charles Kinsey, was trying to get his 27-year-old patient to return to a treatment facility when police arrived in response to reports of a man threatening to shoot himself.

Video shot by a witness who saw the scene unfold shows the 47-year-old Mr Kinsey lying in the street on his back and with his hands in the air, while his patient plays with a toy truck and screams at him to "shut up".

Mr Kinsey can be heard shouting to the officers, who are armed with rifles: "All he has is a toy truck. I'm a behaviour therapist at a group home." He also urges his patient to comply with the officers: "Rinaldo, please be still, Rinaldo. Sit down Rinaldo, lay on your stomach." Moments later, shots were fired and Mr Kinsey was hit in the leg.

"It was so surprising. It was like a mosquito bite," he later told WSVN-TV, adding that he had called out there was no need for firearms.

North Miami Assistant Police Chief, Neal Cuevas, told The Miami Herald that police ordered Mr Kinsey and his patient to lie on the ground before an officer fired three times, striking Kinsey in the leg. No weapon was found.

Mr Kinsey is a member of the Circle of Brotherhood collective who do good deeds for the community and the group have demanded answers from the police.

Culled from Sky news: http://news.sky.com/story/police-shoot-unarmed-man-with-his-hands-up-10507939

Incredible or ridiculous!

Saw this and didn't know if I should laugh or cry! 

TV Host Faces Backlash Over Muslim Ban Call

An Australian TV presenter is facing a social media backlash after calling for a ban on Muslim immigrants to the country during a live discussion about the terror attack in Nice.

Sonia Kruger, a co-host of Channel Nine's Today Extra programme, was responding on Monday to a column by conservative columnist Andrew Bolt, who asserted in his article that "jihadist terrorists" had made "France Europe's bloodiest battlefield" because "France let in the most Muslims".

Kruger, who also presents The Voice Australia said she thought Bolt "has a point", and that while she had a lot of Muslim friends who were "peace-loving, beautiful people", "fanatics" also existed.

She said she would like to see the immigration of Muslims to Australia "stopped... because I want to feel safe."

Culled from: http://news.sky.com/story/tv-host-faces-backlash-over-muslim-ban-call-10505100

Three Stabbed As Water Fight Turns 'Hostile'

Three people, including a police officer, have been stabbed in London's Hyde Park after a water fight got out of control.

A second police officer was wounded by a bottle.

The officers are in hospital and their injuries are not life-threatening.

The other two people were both taken to hospital. One has injuries that are not life-threatening but the condition of the second is unclear.

Police were at the park's Serpentine from 3pm after a large number of people gathered for the water fight.

A Met Police spokesman said that at about 8.40pm parts of the crowd became "hostile" and began to throw things - including bottles - at officers.

It is not yet clear what sparked the trouble but some people who said they were at the gathering blamed police.

One Twitter user, @imanilindsay, said she thought there had been no problem before the police arrived.

She wrote: "I do not in any way condone the throwing of bottles. I cried when it happened.

"I have an issue with how the teens were lured into a trap.

"It was like watching an animal being back up against a wall and playing on the fact that it reacted."

She added: "They got what they wanted ... to get the Black people out of the park."

 Culled from Sky News: http://news.sky.com/story/three-stabbed-as-water-fight-turns-hostile-10506705

Trump seals Republican nomination

Donald Trump has officially clinched the Republican nomination for US president!

Mr Trump is expected to accept the nomination on Thursday after state delegates formally selected him.

Mr Trump gained 1,725 delegates, with Texas senator Ted Cruz on 475, Ohio governor John Kasich on 129 and Florida senator Marco Rubio on 113.

Could Donald Trump be the next President of the United States of America? Anything is possible!

News Source: Sky News and BBC News

Raising money for children dying of hunger in the IDP camps in Nigeria.

Hi all, I am raising funds for charities in Nigeria to help feed children in the internally displaced persons camps IDP in the North of Nigeria.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has categorised 4.4 million people in the Lake Chad region as “severely food insecure” – meaning they are in need of urgent food aid.

Please visit my crowdfunding page, support me, leave comments or donate. Your support would be much appreciated.


https://crowdfunding.justgiving.com/lilian-schofield

Breaking News: Three people dead in firearms incident near swimming pool in Spalding, Lincolnshire, UK

Three people dead in firearms incident near swimming pool in Spalding, Lincolnshire, police say. More news coming through.

Culled from BBC news: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-36834293

Melania Trump accused of plagiarising Michelle Obama in convention speech

Ha! This got me laughing. Any similarities in these?

Mrs Trump speech continued: "[My parents] taught me to show the values and morals in my daily life. That is the lesson that I continue to pass along to our son. And we need to pass those lessons on to the many generations to follow, because we want our children in this nation to know that the only limit to your achievements is the strength of your dreams and your willingness to work for them."

Mrs Obama said: "And Barack Obama and I set out to build lives guided by these values, and pass them on to the next generations. Because we want our children, and all children in this nation, to know that the only limit to the height of your achievement is the reach of your dreams and your willingness to work for them."

Mrs Obama's speech in 2008 carried the lines: "And Barack and I were raised with so many of the same values: that you work hard for what you want in life; that your word is your bond and you do what you say you're going to do; that you treat people with dignity and respect, even if you don't know them, and even if you don't agree with them."

Mrs Trump said: "My parents impressed on me the values that you work hard for what you want in life; that your word is your bond and you do what you say and keep your promise; that you treat people with respect."

What is Plagiarism? Dictionary definition goes as thus: the practice of taking someone else's work or ideas and passing them off as one's own.

Does this meet being labelled plagiarism? It would be interesting to discuss this.

German train attack

A teenage boy injured four people from Hong Kong, two critically, in the attack in Wuerzburg on Monday evening. He was shot dead by police as he fled.

He had reportedly shouted Allahu akbar" ("God is great"). The teenager, 17, who had claimed asylum after travelling to Germany as an unaccompanied minor, had been living with a foster family after moving from a refugee centre in the town.

The South China Morning Post said it was believed the four people injured were a 62-year-old man, his 58-year-old wife, their daughter, 27, and her boyfriend, 31. The 17-year-old son travelling with them was not hurt, it said.

A source told the paper the father and boyfriend had tried to protect the other members of the group.

Culled from BBC News: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-36832909

Baton Rouge attacker

The man identified as the killer of three US police officers in Baton Rouge had posted videos complaining at police treatment of African Americans and urging them to "fight back".

One of Gavin Long's videos stresses he is not linked to any group but is "affiliated with justice".

The ex-Marine, 29, was killed by police during the attack on Sunday morning.

Tension has been high since police shot dead a black man in Baton Rouge two weeks ago.

Culled from BBC News: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-36822618

Well done Evelyn for taking part in Cancer research race for life event today!

Brave, brilliant and inspiring human being you are! This is to Evelyn and other brave individuals who took part in cancer research race for life today. Well done for taking part and raising funds for this worthy cause.