The UK Parliament has passed a motion to make sex selective
abortions illegal. Since last year, when the Crown Prosecution Service refused
to prosecute two doctors who were found to be performing sex selective
abortions, top abortion providers BPAS have been advising their clients that such
abortions are legal because the law is silent on the matter, and the British
Medical Association has proffered the (even more far-fetched) reason that having
a baby of a particular sex could damage the mother’s mental health. As a
result, a “Ten Minute Rule” bill to declare such abortions illegal was put
forward by a female Conservative MP, and passed its first reading almost
unanimously; 181 cross-party MPs voted for it, only the Labour MP and former
actress Glenda Jackson voted against. This vote allows the Bill to move into
the Government’s legislative programme, although it is unlikely to become law
before the General Election in May.
In Fort Lauderdale, Florida, a 90 year old man and two
pastors have been charged by police with feeding the homeless on a public
beach; one of the police apparently said, “Drop that plate right now!”. They
face a possible fine of $500 and up to 60 days in jail. Fort Lauderdale
recently became one of 33 US cities to institute a ban on such volunteer feeding
programmes; in a similar court case in another Florida city, the city argued
that such programmes draw homeless people away from centralised city-run
facilities, and that the homeless people sometimes mistreat the public areas
where the feeding stations are located. The 90 year old man, who faced a
similar charge 15 years ago but won in court, plans to continue his feeding
programme even in the face of further charges; he said, “They are the poorest
of the poor. How can you turn them away?”
The UK has used foreign aid money to set up and fund a treatment
centre for Ebola in Kerry Town, Sierra Leone.
It can treat 100 patients and is the first of six planned centres. It is
being run jointly by the Department for International Development and Save The
Children. It will be staffed by British volunteers and army medics.
The Equalities Commission has reached a decision regarding
the Christian bakers in Northern Ireland who refused to bake a cake supporting
gay marriage: the bakers are deemed guilty of “unlawful religious, political
and” [sic] “sexual orientation discrimination” and must either apologise and
pay compensation, or face legal action. A spokesman for the Christian Institute
described the accusation of political discrimination as “baffling.” The bakery
says it is continuing to take its original stand because “we believe it’s
Biblical, we believe it’s what God would want us to do, and we also think that
if we do cave in, it’ll put pressure on other citizens who are defending their
view of traditional marriage.”
A man who has volunteered for the Red Cross for 20 years has
been ‘sacked’ by the charity because he held a sign that said, “No Same Sex Marriage.”
The charity wrote him a letter saying that his views on marriage were incompatible
with the Red Cross’ ”fundamental principles and values.” Former MP and minister
Ann Widdecombe has called on the Prime Minister to condemn the actions of the “supposedly
neutral” charity, and has confirmed that she herself will withdraw her support
from it.
In the recent US elections, an 18 year old woman from West
Virginia became the youngest ever elected member of the House of
Representatives. Her website says, “I believe this country was founded on Judaeo-Christian
principles. Our constitution guarantees freedom of religion, not freedom from
religion.”
In technology news, a recent review of gadgets that are
produced and marketed in China included a gyroscope-stabilised unicycle that
fits in a commuter’s briefcase; a smartphone that automatically edits selfies
to remove freckles, soften lighting, improve skin tone and add lights to eyes; a
cooker that uses downloaded recipes to cook food for the correct time and temperature
(and can be switched on remotely); a
phone that displays 3D holographic images (by using one of its several cameras
to monitor the user’s eye movements) and can also print out the image on a 3D
printer; and a cigarette lighter that aims to cut down on smoking simply by
reminding users how many cigarettes they have smoked that day.
And finally, a correction published several years ago by the
Guardian newspaper (which used to be infamous for its spelling errors) has
recently been re-circulated. The correction read as follows: “In our interview with Sir Jack Hayward, the chairman of
Wolverhampton Wanderers, page 20, Sport, yesterday, we mistakenly attributed to
him the following comment: ‘Our team was the worst in the First Division and
I'm sure it'll be the worst in the Premier League.’ Sir Jack had just declined
the offer of a hot drink. What he actually said was ‘Our tea was the worst in
the First Division and I'm sure it'll be the worst in the Premier League.’
Profuse apologies.”
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