Scratches to Sketches
Such is the way of peace!
UK BAHÁ'Í NEWS
Bahá'í News UK
Baha'is celebrate Ridvan at House of Commons
Posted: 26 Apr 2013 08:16 AM PDT
LONDON –
Ridvan guests at the House of Commons
The reception, which was hosted by the All-Party Parliamentary Friends of the Baha'is at the House of Commons, was an opportunity for the Baha'i community to share in this festive period with its friends and collaborators from across the country. Faith leaders, Members of Parliament, civil society activists, diplomats and others all gathered to celebrate the festival.
Louise Ellman MP, chair of the all-party group, welcomed the assembled guests.
Ridvan marks the time when the Founder of the Baha'i Faith, Baha'u'llah, announced that He was the Manifestation of God for today, the latest in an eternal series of Godʼs messengers, and had brought teachings which would ultimately transform and unify the whole world. It is this act, 150 years ago in April 1863, which marks the beginnings of the Bahaʼi Faith, as we know it today. Baha'u'llah, describes that day as ʻthe Day of Supreme Felicityʼ, a day when ʻall created beings are immersed in the sea of purificationʼ.
For Baha'is, the festival of Ridvan – which lasts twelve days, from 21 April to 2 May – is a time of great celebration.
But the festival also marks the painful history of the Baha'i Faith. Baha'u'llah had, in 1863, already been living in Baghdad for ten years, exiled from His native Iranian and a prisoner of the Ottoman Empire.
Baha'u'llah had become extraordinarily popular with the people of Baghdad because of His magnetic personality and His spiritual teachings. The Iranian and Ottoman authorities had decided to banish him still further – and over the next 30 years Baha'u'llah travelled from Baghdad to Constantinople (now Istanbul), Adrianople (now Edirne) and finally the prison-city of Akka on the Bay of Haifa in the Holy Land.
The tragic circumstances of a fresh exile saw thousands of well-wishers pay their respects to the departing Baha'u'llah in a garden on an island in the Tigris river, later called the garden of Ridvan. And it was into this atmosphere of uncertainty that Baha'u'llah declared His mission to His followers – transforming a moment of tragedy into one of joy.
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20130425kt
Canadians! Do you like Mr. Murdoch the mogul from Australia? Migrating away from Britain because his methods were unacceptable, he wants more control elsewhere which means America and Canada.Canadians already suffer from negative attack ads in politics. What if news were so biased?There are too many unanswered questions concerning his alleged participation in phone tapping in the UK.He is not impartial and his media companies are not unbiased. If you briefly watch FOX network in the US, you will appreciate how unCanadian the approach, verbiage, politics and content of a FOX News North could be. I understand many Brits consider his tactics bullying and cheating.Your dilemma?WoohFind more sketches from scratches: http://Woohs.blogspot.comConsider book offer by author "Wuh Lax and the Cosmic Lantern"
Begin forwarded message:Subject: Amazing response -- days to stop "Fox News North"Avaaz.org - The World in Action This is it -- just days to stand together to make sure we aren't forced to pay for "Fox News North"!
Dear friends,
In days, the CRTC could decide whether Canadians should be forced to pay for Sun News or 'Fox News North'. Both Avaaz and Sun News have been asked to appear at the hearing, and Sun News has built a petition of 53,000 over months. We have just a few days to blow it out of the water.
On Monday, a CRTC hearing will consider whether Canadians want to subsidize Sun News or "Fox News North" - a media outlet set up with the help of a top Harper crony. Both Sun News and Avaaz will appear before the hearing. We won this battle last time, but now Sun News has worked nonstop building a petition of 53,000 people over the course of months. Let's blow that out of the water in just days, with double that number saying no to paying for crony-media that corrupts our news and poisons our democracy:
After Harper and his top spin doctor Kory Teneycke met secretly with Rupert Murdoch, Teneycke was involved in modelling Sun News after Murdoch's Fox News, the political propaganda network that has poisoned U.S. politics. It's Canadian crony-media -- run by a political crony, pushing a political agenda, and now seeking to be funded by a government handout, asking the CRTC to force it onto our basic cable packages.
Sun News have been pushing their petition non-stop for months. If we can double it in a few days, it will send a powerful signal to the CRTC about where Canadians stand -- click below to sign and share this email with everyone who cares about Canadian democracy:
http://www.avaaz.org/en/stop_fox_news_north_2013_crtc_2/?bBEuVbb&v=24586
The CRTC is the government agency that implements and enforces Canada's broadcasting laws. Among other things, it has the power to require all Canadian cable providers to carry certain channels. But it rarely does this because it would prefer to let consumers choose what channels they want. Canadians aren't choosing to pay for Sun News, and it's losing millions of dollars. So Sun is asking the CRTC to order all cable providers to carry Sun News and pass the cost on to us -- even if we don't want it!
In 2010, tens of thousands of us banded together and helped stop "Fox News North" from getting a similar deal -- even contributing to Harper's aide, Kory Teneycke, resigning as head of the network! But then, the network sneakily hired him back and now they are launching a similar application, hoping we won't speak up while they try and recoup their $17 million in losses from our pockets!
Fox News fuels hate. While constantly claiming to be "fair and balanced," it has allowed hysterical anchors like Glenn Beck to compare President Obama to "Hitler." Bill O'Reilly, another anchor, has threatened to boycott Canada, and Anne Coulter has said on its network that Canada is lucky the US allows it to "exist on the same continent." The network has cunningly fuelled the tea party movement in the US, a mobilisation of the fringe right with members who threaten violence upon its opponents and wear guns to political rallies.
This is a fight for the soul of Canadian democracy. Our media is not perfect, but a 'news' network that slavishly serves a political agenda through mass manipulation and fear threatens the fabric of our democratic society. And while such a network has the right to offer its views, it doesn't have a right to demand we subsidize it.
Canadians don't like watching "Fox News North", which is why they are losing millions and need a sweet government deal to survive. But we can stop the CRTC from taking money from our pockets to pay for right-wing news. Click below to stand with Avaaz's representative at the live hearing and help us build a big enough call to hammer home our best legal arguments:
http://www.avaaz.org/en/stop_fox_news_north_2013_crtc_2/?bBEuVbb&v=24586
"Fox News North" threatens to make the country we love look more like the U.S. Thankfully, the CRTC and their public process stands in the way -- let's use this chance to be heard and stop Sun News's grab for our dollars for good.
With hope,
Jeremy, Ari, Emma, Ricken, Mélanie, Laryn and the entire Avaaz team
SOURCES
Sun News Must-Carry Application: CRTC Sounds Skeptical About News Network's Bid (Huffington Post)
http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2013/04/23/sun-news-crtc-hearings_n_3141932.html
Sun News On Basic Cable? CRTC Opens Hearings As Channel's Losses Widen (Huffington Post)
http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2013/04/23/sun-news-basic-cable-crtc_n_3133898.html
Hating the Jew, hating the 'gypsy' (National Post)
http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/2012/09/25/bernie-m-farber-et-al-hating-the-jew-hating-the-gypsy/
Sun News Network viewership lags on first anniversary, controversies continue (Canadian Press)
http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2012/04/18/sun-news-network-turns-first-anniversary_n_1433521.html
Sun Media breaches Code of Ethics (Canadian Broadcast Standards Council - CBSC)
http://www.cbsc.ca/english/decisions/2012/120613.php
Investigation into alleged racist comments against blacks (CBSC)
http://www.cbsc.ca/english/decisions/2012/120620.php
Warning: This column contains scary Sun News scenes unsuitable for some readers (Globe and Mail)
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/television/warning-this-column-contains-scary-sun-news-scenes-unsuitable-for-some-readers/article5215962/
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