Google has promised a worldwide block on search results
linked to child abuse, despite previously arguing that it was not possible to
do so. They have developed algorithms to block pathways to illegal content; to
block auto-complete features which prompt terms relating to child abuse; and to
identify new code words used by paedophiles. Microsoft and other search engine
providers are expected to announce similar measures soon. There is some
scepticism about the effectiveness of these measures as much of the illegal
material is hosted on the “dark Web” which Google does not index, but it is
being seen as a positive step.
The retiring Bishop of Liverpool, James Jones, once
considered an evangelical front runner for the post of Archbishop of
Canterbury, has used his valedictory address to call for Anglicans to accept
same sex relationships. His argument is that “on a number of major moral issues
the church allows a large space for a variety of nuances, interpretations,
applications and disagreements” and believes that issues of sexual ethics
should be considered as acceptable disagreements so that “nothing should
distract us from our mission.” However,
a Christian commentator has compared such views to “situation ethics” which
teach that moral principles can be cast aside if an alternative course of
action would result in more love; in contrast, Jesus’ love was often
accompanied by a call to moral change (“Go and leave your life of sin”; “Give
all you have to the poor”) and always upheld, or exceeded, the laws of the Old
Testament (“You should have practised the latter without neglecting the
former”; “Anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has committed adultery”). The
commentator also notes that the founder of situation ethics started teaching
these beliefs as a priest at a divinity school, but ended his life as an
atheist, a humanist, and a supporter of eugenics.
A Dutch
charity created a computer-generated image of a ten year old Filipino girl called
Sweetie and gave ‘her’ an Internet chat page as bait for paedophiles. Around
1000 men contacted Sweetie and tried to persuade her to undress or to perform
sex acts on webcam. The conversations were recorded as evidence, and the charity
then spent months identifying suspects by cross-referencing suspects’ e-mail or
Skype addresses with social media profiles and other public information. They
have passed to Interpol details of men from 71 countries, including 254 from
the USA, 110 from the UK, 103 from India, and around 50 from each of Australia,
Canada and Germany.
Thousands of Spaniards took to the streets on Monday in 46
cities throughout the country to ask the government to repeal the current
abortion laws, which were approved in 2010 by the previous government. The current premier announced he
would reform those laws in January 2012, but still hasn’t done so. The
rallies went peacefully except for five topless Femen activists, some with
slogans painted on their bodies, who briefly interrupted the march in Madrid. The
protesters were spray-painted red by pro-life demonstrators, and later arrested
without further incident.
At the time
of the last general election, Premier Christian Radio was due to air a 30
second advert which requested information on whether Christians had been
sidelined at work, in order to “help make a fairer society”. But the Radio Advertising
Clearance Centre stopped it from being broadcast, claiming that it was
“directed to a political end”. The case went to the Court of Appeal, which this
week decided by a majority verdict that “helping to make a fairer society” was
indeed a political goal, and upheld the decision. A spokesman for Premier Radio
said, “The public interest cannot be best served by preventing people
from gaining information and we believe that such a ban represents an attack on
freedom of speech for everyone.”
In sport, several countries qualified for football’s World
Cup via play-offs. The biggest surprise was France coming back from a 2-0
first-leg deficit against Ukraine to win 3-2, albeit with one goal that should
have been disallowed for offside. Portugal, Croatia, Greece, Ghana and Algeria also
qualified, at the expense of Sweden, Iceland, Romania, Egypt and Burkina Faso.
And finally, the Earth is to get a celestial light show in
the next month that hasn’t been seen for 225 years. Comet ISON is to pass a
mere 1 million kilometres from the Sun on November 28; if it isn’t destroyed by
the Sun’s heat it should be visible to the naked eye thereafter, perhaps even
during the day. It’s already visible as a tiny speck with a long wispy tail;
look to the south-west just after sunset.
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