Suffer little children
A GAY vicar aged 65 has stunned his flock - by announcing his "marriage" to a Nigerian toyboy.Bearded Colin Coward met 25-year-old model Bobby Egbele at a Christian conference in Africa.
Now the pair are planning a civil partnership ceremony in Devizes, Wilts, where Rev Coward presides over St John the Baptist Church.
The marriage has caused a stir because the ceremony will be followed by a blessing-type service inside the church.
Mr Coward has also refused to confirm he will stay celibate following the union - which is a Church of England requirement of gay clergy.
The vicar, who lives with Bobby in Marston, near Devizes, said he hoped to set a "visible example" to other gays within the church.
He said: "My goal is for everyone to feel comfortable with the situation because at the moment the majority of gay Christians marry secretly.
"It is a taboo subject but the church is now under huge pressure to change. Clearly the blessing is going to be a sensitive issue. I know many people will view it with horror."
Mr Coward, a former architect, came out openly as a gay vicar in 1991. He later set up the gay and lesbian campaign group Changing Attitudes.
He and Bobby, a fashion designer and model who runs an online clothing shop, fell in love after meeting in Togo three years ago.
The vicar's boss, Bishop of Ramsbury the Right Rev Stephen Conway, is expected to ask him to remain celibate - and he plans to refuse.
Mr Coward said: "It is a very intrusive question. It's a ridiculous situation."
A spokesman for the Diocese of Salisbury described the blessing service - known as a Communion Eucharist - as "separate" from the civil ceremony.
But last night critics attacked the idea as "an abomination before God".
Stephen Green, of lobbying group Christian Voice, said: "Mr Coward is an emotionally disturbed man trying to inflict his predilections on the rest of the church. I fail to recognise him as a Christian."
Schools told 'no swimming in Ramadan' for Muslim pupils
Swimming lessons in some Staffordshire schools should stop during Ramadan to ensure Muslim pupils "do not swallow water", a council has suggested. Stoke-on-Trent City Council has issued an 11-page Ramadan guide for schools to help pupils who may be fasting when the school year starts in September..It said swimming was acceptable to Muslims but posed a high risk of swallowing water that may break a fast
Islam requires Muslims to fast from dawn until dusk for one month per year. This year's Ramadan is expected to begin on or around 11 August and finish 30 days afterwards. The council guide states: "Schools with a significant number of Muslim pupils should try to avoid scheduling swimming lessons during Ramadan to remove unnecessary barriers to full participation."
It also
suggests re-scheduling sex education classes during the holy lunar month, as Muslim followers who have reached puberty are required to avoid sexual thoughts during this period. Because of the religious requirement for Muslims to avoid eating during sunlight hours,
some pupils get up before dawn to eat with their families. Schools have been advised this can disrupt pupils' sleeping patterns and it suggests examinations could be re-scheduled to reflect their lower levels of concentration.
The council said the document, produced by its Standing Advisory Council on Religious Education, was based on information from the Muslim Council of Great Britain, an umbrella organisation that claims to represent up to 500 Muslim groups in the UK. "The overriding consideration should be that children do not feel disadvantaged in school activities because of their religious observance," the council added
Drunk dad didn't notice his car full of children was on fire
A father was so drunk driving his three children around he failed to spot his car was on fire. Adam Whitehead, 36, had his kids aged just nine, seven and five in the car with him when he was five times the drink-drive limit. A court heard how a woman driving behind Whitehead's car noticed black smoke billowing from his Fiat and sounded her horn.Whitehead failed to stop but when he eventually got caught up in traffic, the worried motorist got out of her car and banged on his window. When he then still failed to act, she and her mother pulled the children out of the car and on to the pavement. Even then, a court heard, Whitehead failed to notice his missing kids and carried on driving - leaving them stranded by the side of the road.
He eventually stopped 70 yards away and was breathalysed by police who discovered he was five times the limit. He told them he had drunk a bottle of vodka the night before. Huddersfield magistrates spared him jail and sentenced him to 16 weeks in prison, suspended for two years. Chairman Mary Hirst told Whitehead: "Your driving ability was so impaired that you didn't even realise the clutch had burnt out and the car was on fire."
The court heard that one of his children was in the passenger seat with two in the back as he drove to a friend's house in Huddersfield, West Yorks, last month. When he was arrested by police he said he had stayed up drinking alone until the early hours to celebrate a job offer after three months out of work. He had driven a mile. The court heard he had previously lost a "high paid" job and was depressed after splitting from his wife who was in France. The pair still lived in the same house together because of financial constraints. Whitehead pleaded guilty to driving over the limit. He was banned for three years and told he must complete an alcohol treatment course. The dad was also told to do 60 hours' unpaid work and pay £85 court costs.
Slim Woman Booted From Flight So Fatty Can Have Two Seats
Southwest Airlines made headlines earlier this year for kicking overweight actor-director Kevin Smith off a flight because he took up more than one seat.Now we're hearing the airline recently removed a 5-foot-4, 110-pound Sacramento-area woman from a plane so a hefty passenger could have an extra seat.
The incident happened last week on an early-evening Southwest flight from Las Vegas to Sacramento.
The local woman was flying standby, paid full fare for the last available seat, got on board, stowed her bags and sat down – only to be told she would have to deplane immediately.
The reason?
A late-arriving passenger required two seats because of her girth.
The Sacramento woman, a frequent-flying sales rep, was stunned.
"It didn't seem right that I should have to leave to accommodate someone who had only paid for one seat," she tells us. (She has asked to remain anonymous for fear some may regard her as insensitive.)
She's even more miffed because she says Southwest personnel berated her when she questioned the decision to boot her from the plane.
She ended up getting on the next flight.
"It's small potatoes, in the scheme of things," she says. But she believes Southwest should have been more considerate.
Airline spokeswoman Marilee McInnis agrees.
"We know this was awkward and we should have handled it better," she says, adding that the airline intends to apologize to the local woman.
McInnis says normal policy is to ask for volunteers when a flight is overbooked for any reason.
In this instance, she says, airline personnel may have been influenced to choose a faster course of action to reduce embarrassment for the late-arriving passenger.
Why the extra concern? The person requiring two seats was just 14 years old.
Beer and pigs
(go together like Frank Sinatra and schmaltzy songs)
Two fetishes in one - when furries and adult diapers collide
If that doen't bring the search engine visitors, then what on earth will?
Luddite dick-headery
(Is this guy subsidized by Rand McNally ?)
House OKs bill to strengthen penalties for 'virtual map' crimes
A Senate bill to toughen penalties for crimes committed with the aid of Internet-generated "virtual maps," including acts of terrorism, won quick approval Monday in the House.
By an vote of 89-0, lawmakers approved Senate Bill 151 by Sen. Robert Adley, R-Benton, sending the measure back to the Senate for approval of clarifying amendments made by a House committee.
Adley's bill defines a "virtual street-level map" as one that is available on the Internet and can generate the location or picture of a home or building by entering the address of the structure or an individual's name on a website.
Rep. Henry Burns, R-Haughton, who handled Adley's bill on the House floor, said that if the map is used in an act of terrorism, the legislation requires a judge to impose an additional minimum sentence of at least 10 years onto the terrorist act.
If the map is used in the commission of a crime like burglary, Burns said, the bill calls for the addition of at least one year in jail to be added to the burglary sentence.
Does that frighten you? It frightens me! That's the logic of people who make laws. The internet is evil, but if you consult Rand McNally then that's just dandy.
Man Who Installed TV With Gun Accidentally Killed Wife
A Missouri man fatally shot his wife while using a gun to put holes in his wall to install a TV. The victim was standing outside in their lawn when the second bullet he fired struck in her in the chest.Investigators say they haven’t decided to press charges.
Sofa? So bad!
Porno burger van busted
Two teenage 'entrepreneurs' have been arrested for selling burgers and beer - with free porn DVDs - from a caravan near clubs and bars. They allegedly screened porn movies onto a nearby wall to attract custom to their unlicensed venture in Driffield, East Yorkshire.The pair even had a Facebook page - Driffield Porn Burger Caravan Lads for Junior Apprentice 2011 - set up in their 'honour'. Customers were allegedly given a free porn DVD if they spent more than £5 on food and drink. But the offer was spotted by outraged locals who alerted police and two men were arrested following an undercover operation.
Police also seized their caravan which was parked on an access road in the centre of the market town, close to clubs and bars. Sgt David Jenkins said: "We received complaints that free porn DVDs were being offered to everyone who spent £5 or more on beer and burgers.
"Undercover officers made test purchases and found this to be true before Saturday night's operation when the caravan was seized. It was inevitable that we would have to take some action along with our colleagues from licensing, the food standards agency and trading standards. Enquiries are ongoing and there are decisions to be made as to the fate of the van and the entrepreneurs."
On this day in previous years...
2009 UK Government plans to link criminal records to ID cards2008 NASA admits computer viruses have made it into space