Daily Read 08/28/2008

Commentary: Internet can strengthen democracy – CNN.com

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• I wonder what the permanent church council would look like using this model… – post by umjeremy

• The Permanent Town Hall — Americans overall are pretty smart and we know how to run things, providing we can overcome the privileged trying for more privileges. The problem involves too many voices providing a wide range of ideas of varying quality. We need Internet-based platforms that people can use to voice needs and suggestions, with means by which the participants can rate the priority and usefulness of those statements.

Coded diary reveals secret sex scandal that haunted Methodist co-founder Charles Wesley | Mail Online

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• Fascinating! I wonder when we’ll see a movie version of “The Wesley Code” – post by umjeremy

• The surprising secrets of this founding father of Methodism have been uncovered by the Rev Professor Kenneth Newport, of Liverpool Hope University, after nine years of painstaking research.

  Charles Wesley began writing his diaries in 1736, and over the next 20 years filled 1,000 pages.

  Scholars have regularly pored over them, but remained mystified by the long sections written in a personal shorthand code.

  Prof Newport finally cracked the code after discovering that Charles had also transcribed gospels from the King James bible into this personal shorthand.

  Using these transcriptions in the same way as the Rosetta stone was used to crack Egyptian hieroglyphics, he was suddenly able to translate the secret passages in the diary.

Plan to exhume cardinal is ‘homophobic’ – Home News, UK – The Independent

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• Incredible…I guess the argument could be made that when you buy into a system, you are giving permission to the system to do what they deem appropriate. But still…classy.hack? – post by umjeremy

• “The Vatican’s decision to move Cardinal Newman’s body from its resting place is an act of grave robbery and religious desecration. It violates Newman’s repeated wish to be buried for eternity with his life-long partner Ambrose St John.

  “They have been together for more than 100 years and the Vatican wants to disturb that peace to cover up the fact that Cardinal Newman loved a man. It’s shameful, dishonourable betrayal of Newman by the gay-hating Catholic Church.”