Why I'll never be Worshipful Master

My postings to The Burning Taper have been scant lately. I've had business and personal issues to deal with, and frankly, lately my interest in Freemasonry has waned a bit.

It's now been over a year since I was ostracized by my “brothers” in my local blue lodge. Only a couple have I kept in touch with, and they were friends before I was a Mason.

As I was thinking of writing this article — about how I feel today about Freemasonry — I read an email backchannel that was sent by a Mason out West to a blue lodge secretary and to the Grand Master of Texas, informing them that one of their members had recently been arrested in a sting operation involving solicitation of sex from a minor.

That brought back memories of my experiences in my own blue lodge in 2005, when a member pleaded guilty to sexual exploitation of a minor in my hometown.

As then-webmaster of our lodge's website, I posted the news online (pursuant to Georgia Masonic Code, which states that information of that sort should be publicized to show the community that the lodge doesn't tolerate such behavior), and met with a torrent of criticism from my lodge brothers saying, “You can't put that online!” They didn't want the lodge, or the child exploiter's father, a Past Master, “embarrassed.”

As Junior Warden, it fell to me to “be in charge” when the lodge finally voted — remorsefully, as if it was the lodge's fault — to bring charges of unmasonic conduct against the brother who was by then a registered sex offender.

As JW, I signed the paperwork that led to the Masonic trial. The offender, and his Past Master Big-Shot-in-Town father took offense at me personally for having written up the charges, though I had never even met either one of them. Neither had attended a lodge meeting in years.

The full story can be found in parts 1-4 of “Small Town Freemasonry.”

Eventually, in a great imitation of Don Corleone, the father succeeded in having bogus charges of unmasonic conduct threatened against me. He even attended the meeting where another Past Master (who is in line to be Georgia's Grand Master in a few years) stood and accused me of unmasonic conduct for posting the information online. No official charges were ever filed, just threatened, to keep me “in line” until my term as Junior Warden officially ended in December, 2005.

Though of course advancement to the next chair is not guaranteed, here in the South, it's virtually assured. I've seen some most unqualified men advance to the East just because “it was his turn.”

Naturally, before all this happened, it was assumed I would become Worshipful Master when “my turn” came.

But at the election last December, I was unceremoniously dumped from the line by a vote of 27-4. The Godfather and the Heir to the Grand Master's Chair had called in their markers... brothers I'd never seen showed up to vote against me. (I'd missed only two meetings in three-plus years; I knew all the “regulars.”) I was also “deposed” as Director of Masonic Education, a position I'd held with pride for a couple of years. I was replaced by a “team” that could be controlled — a pig farmer who thinks of himself as a minister of God, and a new brother I had helped raise about two months before. I can only imagine the education those two have provided this past year since I've been gone.

It was a given that the Powers That Be didn't want me to come back to lodge meetings after that, and so I haven't.

Tuesday, December 11, is another election, the one I'd looked forward to for years, the one where I would most likely have received the honor of serving as Worshipful Master for 2007.

Ain't gonna happen.

I assume the Powers That Be (unaffectionately remembered as Jubela, Jubelo and Jubelum, plus Big Daddy and his pal Bro. Heir to the Grand Master's Throne) are still running things at the lodge, making sure they have their yes men in the Chairs and on their committees.

Same as it ever was.

“Making Good Men Better,” my ass. More like “Making Good Men Stop Attending.”

Image: The state of Masonry in the southern United States today — empty and devoid of any real meaning

Masons | Masonic Trial | Small Town Freemasonry | Freemasonry | BurningTaper.com | Grand Lodge of Georgia | United Grand Lodge of America | Burning Taper

Bro. Michael Richards' stage-rage: Scottish Rite Masonry's poster boy blasts hecklers

By now you've probably heard about the stage-rage of Michael Richards, the comedian who rose to fame by playing Jerry Seinfeld's wacky neighbor Kramer.

Last weekend Richards reacted to hecklers in the audience at a comedy club in Los Angeles with a rant peppered with f-bombs and n-words. His hecklers, who had shouted at him "you're not funny" were black.

One news report said:

Michael Richards stunned a comedy club audience, shouting racial epithets at people who heckled him during a stand-up routine.

The 57-year-old actor-comedian, best known for playing Jerry Seinfeld's eccentric neighbor Kramer on the hit TV show "Seinfeld," was performing at the Laugh Factory in West Hollywood Friday night when he launched into the verbal rampage, according to video posted on TMZ.com.

The tirade apparently began after two black audience members started shouting at him that he wasn't funny.

Richards retorted: "Shut up! Fifty years ago we'd have you upside down with a f------ fork up your a--."

He then paced across the stage taunting the men for interrupting his show, peppering his speech with racial slurs and profanities.

"You can talk, you can talk, you're brave now mother------. Throw his a-- out. He's a n-----!" Richards shouts before repeating the racial epithet over and over again.

While there is some audible chuckling in the audience throughout the outburst, someone can be heard gasping "Oh my God" and various people "0oh" after Richard uses the n-word.

Richards performed the next night at the Laugh Factory without incident.

Calls to Richards' representatives were not immediately returned early Monday.

He refused to comment on-camera when reached by CNN, but the network reported that he said off-camera he felt sorry for what had happened and had made amends.

Last night on Late Night with David Letterman, Richards, via remote from L.A., made an apology, while fellow comedian Seinfeld appeared in New York with Letterman. A video of that apology is available on TMZ.com today.

What many people may not know is that Michael Richards is a 32nd degree Scottish Rite Mason and a Knight Commander of the Court of Honour (K.C.C.H.). In 2000, he appeared on the cover of the Scottish Rite Journal.

Here's the story, titled "Brother Michael A. Richards, Renaissance Man, Not 'Kramer'," by Michael M. Marsellos, 32°, K.C.C.H., that appeared in the magazine, which is sent to all members of the Scottish Rite:

Cameras are rolling. Michael Richards is ad-libbing. "You ought to read Hinomaus," he informs a stunned actor. Behind the monitors, the production crew is in stitches. "Hinomaus?" Like so many of Richards' impromptus, it's ridiculous, and real, and funny at the same time.

Of course, you can't be sure the name is made up, because Richard's knowledge of great and obscure authors ranges wide. He collects rare books and reads voraciously, when he isn't acting, or hiking, or biking, or painting. The word "hobby" never applies because Brother Richards throws himself into every activity with the same intense passion.

Maybe that helped give rise to "Kramer," a character so real and subtle that viewers of the hit television series Seinfeld had a hard time separating Richards the actor from Kramer the role. But the two are worlds apart. Definitely, he is not Kramer!

Michael Richards was born on July 24, 1949, in Los Angeles, California, and grew up in Baldwin Hills and San Fernando Valley. At an early age, the adventurous lad enjoyed walking alone exploring the hillside and biking for miles from theater to theater spending the days watching movies. "These early treks of mine," says Richards, "produced an extraordinary freedom as well as a soulful sense of my own individuality."

In junior high, Richards, the perennial class clown, got his first taste of real fame when a performance in a school play brought daily plaudits from classmates in the halls. He says, "I enjoyed making my friends laugh by clowning around in classes, and I did get in trouble for it. I didn't know that I was actually doing what my calling in life demanded!"

Enrolled in the Los Angeles Valley College, he continued to dominate student productions and says "I am grateful that the public schools introduced me to the performing arts." With the Viet Nam war going on, Richards was drafted and stationed in Germany as one of the co-directors of the V Corps Training Road Show. He produced and directed shows dealing with race relations and drug abuse; "This was a successful, educational operation, boosting the moral of our men and incorporating the arts into the service."

Following an honorable discharge, Richards returned to the United States to pursue a formal education in theater at the California Institute of the Arts and Evergreen College in Washington State, where he graduated with a degree in Theater Arts. He returned to Southern California to perform with the San Diego Repertory Company and, later, at the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles. It was through his stand-up comedy at the Improvisation and the Comedy Store in Hollywood that ABC hired him for his first television series, Fridays. Richards highlighted Fridays with popular characters like "Vinnie," "Dick," and "Battle Boy."

When Fridays ended, Richards continued to work in television guest starring on such diverse shows as Miami Vice, Hill Street Blues, Night Court, Cheers, and St. Elsewhere, followed by his second television series, Marblehead Manor for NBC. He was also a guest star on The Billy Crystal Special, The Bob Hope Comedy Special, The Jonathan Winters Comedy Special, The MTV Comedy Special, and The Andy Kaufman Special. In addition, he hosted The Montreal Comedy Special and The Aspen Comedy Festival.

Richards' fan base was ardent but limited—until a quirky, innovative show, NBC's Seinfeld, began to gain attention in the early 1990s. People who had never watched television tuned in to watch "The K-Man" flinging open doors and sliding into rooms, both physically and philosophically, as "a hipster-doofus on the prowl." Always exciting, never predictable, Richards created the off-the-wall memorable character "Cosmo Kramer" out of thin air and into one of the funniest, most unique characters ever created for television. His performances as "Kramer" brought him three Emmy Awards and three Screen Actors Guild Awards for Best Supporting Actor in a comedy series. He also co-starred in Diane Keaton's movie Unstrung Heroes, for which he was nominated for an American Comedy Award. Recently, he took on the role of Mr. Micawber in a soon to-be-aired TNT production of David Copperfield, the famous novel by Charles Dickens. Interestingly, Mr. Micawber was performed in the last American film production (1935) of this classic by another Brother Mason and great comedic actor, W. C. Fields. Currently, for NBC, Richards is producing The Michael Richards Show, an offbeat gumshoe comedy scheduled to premiere this fall, Tuesdays at 8:00 pm.

Like all great comedians, Richards is a complex man. Those lucky enough to have worked with him, or to have been his friends, know him as a quintessentially sensitive man, a playful practical joker, and serious student of the world as well as a seeker and a traveler in journeys to new horizons.

What prompted Richards to become a Mason? In 1996 at Lake Tahoe, Richards inducted Ill. Red Skelton, 33°, into The Comedy Hall of Fame. Bro. Richards says: "I was already interested in the Craft from reading Manly Palmer Hall's The Secret of All Ages, Albert Pike's Morals and Dogma, and Albert Mackey's Symbolism of Freemasonry. So, when I met Red and found out about his strong ties to Freemasonry, I was very impressed. Morals and Dogma certainly introduced me to Scottish Rite philosophy, but it was through Red's lovable nature, Masonic and all, that I really wanted to be a Mason."

Inspired by the high moral standards of Masonic teachings, as well as the fact that so many great men of all times were Freemasons, Michael Richards became a plural member of Riviera Lodge No. 780 and Culver City–Foshay No. 467, the Southern California Research Lodge, and a Life Member of the Los Angeles Scottish Rite Valley as well as a Life Member of the Scottish Rite Research Society.

Last year, the Supreme Council honored Bro. Richards by investing him with the rank and decoration of Knight Commander of the Court of Honour. He is humble and highly appreciative of this distinction bestowed upon him: "I am delighted and honored that I have had the opportunity to meet Scottish Rite leaders, such as Ill. Bros. Sovereign Grand Commander C. Fred Kleinknecht and Inspector H. Douglas Lemons, S.G.I.G. in California, as well as Ill. Bros. Rex Hutchens, Art deHoyos, Sean Graystone, and Bro. Michael Marsellos (whom I affectionately call "The Rat Pack" of the Scottish Rite), because they are devoted to the research and study needed to maintain and express the highest standards of Masonic wisdom." Bro. Richards' love of books and Masonry prompted him to donate over 1,000 volumes encompassing art, literature, science, and philosophy to the new Culver City–Foshay Lodge Library and Study Hall.

As a note of interest, at this year's 4th of July Pacific Palisades Americanism Parade (photo above), Bro. Richards was the Grand Marshall of the event, representing also Riviera Masonic Lodge. He was joined in this event by the Honorary Mayor of Pacific Palisades and last year's Grand Marshall, the renowned actor Anthony Hopkins.

Strangely enough, my path crossed that of Brother Richards, not so much in our common calling as Thespians, but in our common endeavors for enlightenment in Freemasonry. It is a privilege for me to share this article about Brother Richards with the readers of the Scottish Rite Journal and an honor for all Freemasons to be able to count this fine actor and scholar as a Brother in the Craft.

In a recent article in his Masonic blog Masonic Traveler, Bro. Greg Stewart, a Mason in Los Angeles, has called for Bro. Richards to resign from Freemasonry, or to be removed, for unmasonic conduct. Certainly brothers have been tried and expelled in Masonic courts for much less greivous acts. Others are saying that "we are all human," and that as Masons we should support Bro. Richards, who has already admitted and apologized for his mistake.

It will be interesting to watch as this story unfolds in the Masonic world.

Masons | Famous Masons | Michael Richards | Freemasonry | BurningTaper.com | Scottish Rite | Kramer | Burning Taper

Police shut down Old Bastards' stripper party

A Wisconsin newspaper's investigation put a damper on a bunch of old bastards' fun this week by provoking police into throwing cold water on their weekly stripper extravaganzas.

Since the 1960s, elderly men have been meeting weekly in Monona, Wis., near Madison, weekly to have fun. Their particular brand of fun is cavorting with strippers.

An investigation into the Old Bastards Monona chapter by the Wisconsin State Journal led police to attend Monday night's event and the exotic dancers were told they could mingle in the aisles and no touching was allowed.

The club was told it needed a city permit to hold such parties, UPI reported.

Richard Story, 60, the club's newly installed Arch Old Bastard, said no one knew there was a city permit required for the meetings, where the goal is "to do nothing."

"This isn't a young person's club," he said. "This is for elderly people who just want to have a good time with their peers."

The International Order of Old Bastards has about one million members in 4,600 chapters worldwide and was started in 1945 by Fred Kibbe, a U.S. soldier stationed in Brisbane, Australia.

Old Bastards | Strippers | BurningTaper.com | Burning Taper

A Mason 78 years, Bro. Perrin turns 101

Recently I've been called to task via emails for being "negative" about Freemasonry here on the Burning Taper lately. There hasn't been a lot of good Masonic news that I've been made aware of, so instead I've written about corruption and questionable practices in Shrine Clubs and the United Grand Lodge of England, and about the ongoing racism in the U.S. southern Grand Lodges. There hasn't been much news lately from the nearly year-old United Grand Lodge of America, and I'm not about to post announcements for upcoming chicken dinners and widow's breakfasts at local blue lodges.

But, perhaps, it's time for a warm fuzzy article. I found just the one.

Bro. Sidney Perrin turned 101 years young on Nov. 5. He was born in Chatham, Kent, England. He had a long career working in the oil industry in Europe and Iran.

In 1976, he retired and moved to Boston, Massachusetts Lincolnshire, England, where he still lives today.

His wife died in 1986, but Bro. Perrin still leads an active and independent life.

Bro. Perrin was raised a Mason in 1928, and has been a Mason longer than anyone now living.

"I've enjoyed life greatly and have thousands of friends to call on should I ever need a hand," Bro Perrin recently said.

He claims the secret to long living is not to worry and to just enjoy life.

Happy Birthday, Bro. Perrin!

Masons | Masonic History | Sidney Perrin | Freemasonry | BurningTaper.com | Burning Taper

Mysterious deaths, forbidden treasure and UGLE's Pro-Grand Master

You've seen National Treasure, the fictional movie that says the Freemasons collected vast treasures to protect them for the people of the world.

There's a real-life version of National Treasure playing out in London, with side stories from China, Italy and Hungary. Even Croatia and Lebanon get bit parts in this power play. Only in this story, the Freemason is looking out not for the people of the world, but apparently for himself.

And at the center of the story is the Marquess of Northampton, Spencer "Spenny" Douglas David Compton. The Marquess is said to be the world's richest Buddhist. He is now married to his fifth wife, having sired semi-royal children with three of his wives.

And he is the Pro-Grand Master of the United Grand Lodge of England. The Pro-Grand Master deputizes for the Grand Master, who is currently Prince Edward, the Duke of Kent, the Queen's cousin.

The Marquess collects treasure — in this case the 2500-year-old Sevso Hoard. It comprises 14 or more items of silver and represents probably the most important collection of Roman silver ever found. It's also stolen property, and no musuem in the world will touch it. Until now.

The Hoard was originally discovered in 1978 by Jozsef Sumegh, a 22-year-old Hungarian, who hit a copper vessel containing the silver pieces with his shovel while doing excavation. Sumegh sold a few pieces on the black market, and soon found himself dead, swinging from a rope in an unused wine cellar. Two of his close friends were murdered, too.

Hungary, Lebanon and Croatia have all sued unsuccessfully for return of their "national treasure."

Through unnamed sources, the Marquess eventually paid nearly £14 million for the silver pieces. Saying he got bad legal advice over buying the silver — it's both priceless and worthless, as no one will buy it — he sued his lawyers, and received a £24 million out of court settlement.

That's one shrewd Buddhist Freemason. What is the sound of one hand counting money?

Read it here.

Masons | National Treasure | Sevso Hoard | Freemasonry | BurningTaper.com | Grand Lodge of England | Marquess | Burning Taper

Princeton University shows how to hack an electronic voting machine

Now that Election Day is over and done, and you're celebrating or bemoaning the win or loss of your favorite corrupt official, kick back with a drink or your morning coffee and watch this video.

Produced by researchers at Princeton University, it shows in plain detail how easy it is to install vote-stealing software into an electronic voting machine, and to virally spread that software to an entire network of voting machines.

Ah, democracy!



Voting | Elections | Diebold | Fraud | BurningTaper.com | Burning Taper

More Masonic bad news: Rape and embezzlement?

A couple of items of Masonic news caught my attention today:

• The clubhouse of the Shrine Club of Huntsville, Alabama, has been seized by national Shrine Club officials to pay off a debt they say the local club owes to the Shriner's Hospitals. Money raised through bingo games and earmarked for charity were allegedly spent on the club's internal expenses.
  
  "We are all pretty well shook up about it," club president Eric Terry said of the club's seizure. "We don’t like the way they handled it. They ought to have come in there and done it the right way instead of marching in on a Sunday morning and making demands."


• In Perth, England Scotland, a manhunt is underway for a man who brutally raped a woman last Saturday night after she had attended a function at the Masonic lodge in Atholl Crescent. Officials called the rape a "deeply disturbing attack."

Masons | Masonic News | Rape | Freemasonry | BurningTaper.com | Shriners | Embezzlement | Burning Taper

Recognizing Prince Hall Masonry: To be or not to be?

Recognizing Prince Hall Masonry: To Be or Not To Be? by W. Bro. Tim Bryce, PM, MPS

I guess it is time for me to finally weigh in on the subject of recognizing Prince Hall Masonry. This has been a subject that has been debated for a number of years and, as a young Mason, I originally bowed to the wisdom of my elders in this regard. But the Grand Lodge of Delaware recently recognized Prince Hall and thus brought the issue back into the spotlight. This leaves the Dixie states as the only remaining jurisdictions who have yet to recognize Prince Hall. (For a U.S. map showing Prince Hall recognition, see Bro. Paul Bessel's web page.

I have heard several rationalizations down here as to why this is so, such as, "Well, its those AF&AM's up north; they do things differently up there." Translation: "We have the true faith, the northerners are wrong." Another cop-out is, "According to our constitution, we are prohibited from approaching another Masonic body, but they can approach us." Translation: "They can kiss our ass."

I have listened to all of the arguments and I have come to the conclusion that no matter how you slice or dice it, it is all about bigotry. Don't let anyone con you on this; Its not about who recognizes who or who practices the proper degree work, its about bigotry. Period.

I have read many news clippings where Prince Hall Masons do exceptional work in the black community. They offer help, aid, and assistance when others will not. As such, they are a positive influence on their communities. Why? Because they took the same obligations as all other Masons do. I would much rather have Prince Hall Masons work with our communities than the Black Panthers or some other extremist organization. They are positive role models for others to emulate.

I've also heard stories that their degree work is every bit as good as any other jurisdiction (perhaps better), and their members every bit as committed to the fraternity as any other grand jurisdiction. If this is all true, I can think of no reason why we wouldn't be willing to sit down and discuss cooperation, unless of course we are unwilling to sit down with the black man. And understand this, recognition of a Masonic body is most definitely not the same thing as merging; it simply means we recognize it as a legitimate organization (not clandestine) and that the Brothers are entitled to be treated the same as any other Mason, with all of the rights and privileges thereof.

In 1994, the United Grand Lodge of England (UGLE) adopted a resolution recognizing the Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Massachusetts. Since then, the UGLE has also recognized Prince Hall in many other states (source, Bro. Paul Bessel). If the UGLE, the mother of Grand Lodges in the United States, recognizes Prince Hall, one has to wonder if the Dixie jurisdictions are in some sort of violation for not conforming with their mother Grand Lodge.

A few years ago the Grand Lodge of Minnesota created a stir in the fraternity when it recognized the Grand Lodge of France which was considered clandestine by many grand jurisdictions. Consequently, many jurisdictions rescinded their recognition of the Grand Lodge of Minnesota until they finally revoked recognition of France. Using this same logic, if the Dixie jurisdictions truly consider Prince Hall Masonry as clandestine, they should revoke recognition of all grand jurisdictions who recognize Prince Hall (including the UGLE). Failure to do so is hypocrisy. This of course won't happen as the Dixie jurisdictions would face isolation in a remarkably similar fashion as the southern states did in the American Civil War.

Back in the early 1960's, Alabama Governor George Wallace gained national recognition for his opposition to school integration. But Wallace's opposition was overturned by the federal government. To Wallace's credit though, he changed with the times. For those people who saw Wallace as nothing more than an icon for discrimination in the 1960's, they never saw the many black government appointments he made in the 1970's and 1980's. Although Wallace has been gone for some time now, he left behind a legacy of black officials who are performing their tasks as competently as their white counterparts. The point is, once Wallace recognized it was time to change, he adapted admirably.

Brothers, the choice is rather obvious: we either put our hatred and hypocrisy aside and sit down and act like Brothers, or we continue to embarrass the fraternity by fighting the Civil War for another hundred years. What will it be?

Keep the Faith.


NOTE: As with all of my Masonic articles herein, please feel free to reuse them in Masonic publications or re-post them on Masonic web sites (except Florida). When doing so, please add the following:

Article reprinted with permission of the author and www.FreemasonInformation.com

— W. Bro. Tim Bryce

Note from Widow's Son: Alabama Gov. George Wallace was a Freemason from an early age.

Masons | Masonic Bigotry | Small Town Freemasonry | Freemasonry | BurningTaper.com | Prince Hall Masonry | Tim Bryce | Burning Taper

UGLA Mason David Cooksey interviewed on Huntsville, Ala. radio show

Bro. David Cooksey, Grand Secretary of the United Grand Lodge of America, moments ago finished up an eye-opening interview with David Person of WEUP-AM in Huntsville, Ala. I listened online at the radio station's website http://www.weupam.com.

During the fifteen minute interview Bro. Cooksey told how the United Grand Lodge of America came into existence, after brothers in Georgia were "erased" from their blue lodges by the Grand Lodge of Georgia. He explained that the UGLA accepts all worthy brothers as Masons, without concern for skin color, unlike the Grand Lodge of Alabama.

He told of his 13 years as an Alabama Mason, before he resigned his blue lodge and the Scottish Rite and joined the UGLA, relating incidents of racism and character assassination that led to his resignation. He related a story about an Alabama Deputy District officer who was overheard telling another Mason that he "just can't imagine that black people can go to Heaven... because they have no souls."

Bro. Cooksey said that most Masons in Alabama interpret, or are told to interpret, the traditional requirement that a candidate for Freemasonry be "freeborn" to mean that no black man can be a Freemason. When he then exclaimed, "There aren't any black slaves anymore!", the interviewer and another man in the studio, both of whom are black, replied with "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!"

The interviewer took Bro. Cooksey's concerns to heart, asking at one point "What century do they [Antient Alabama Masons] think they are living in?"

When asked if Gov. Riley and other prominent Alabama politicians could be members of a racist organization without knowing it, Bro. Cooksey said that yes, when you first join a Masonic lodge you may not realize it's a whites-only group, but that after 20 or 30 or 40 years of never seeing a "person of color" in a lodge meeting, it should become obvious. He also told about the Alabama Shrine Potentate Larry Simms who reneged on allowing a concert at a Shrine building in Montgomery when he learned that the concert-goers were primarily Latinos.

Radio host David Person invited Bro. Cooksey back to talk more about racism in Alabama Freemasonry. Bro. Cooksey has been mentioned many times before on the Burning Taper. Use the Blogger search engine [above] or the Technorati search engine [right] to find other Burning Taper articles about him.

David Person | WEUP-AM | David Cooksey | Freemasonry |
Masons | Masonic Racism | Gov. Bob Riley | Scottish Rite | BurningTaper.com | Grand Lodge of Alabama | United Grand Lodge of America | Burning Taper

Son of United Grand Lodge of England's Grand Master to marry at the Vatican

The royal son of the Grand Master of the United Grand Lodge of England converted to Catholicism in 2001. This weekend Lord Nicholas Windsor, godson of Prince Charles, will marry a Croatian noblewoman in a religious ceremony at the Vatican. They were legally married in a civil ceremony in England on October 19.

The following is reprinted from Independent Catholic News.

The Vatican will witness an historic moment in relations between the Catholic Church and the British Monarchy on Saturday, when Lord Nicholas Windsor, son of the Duke and Duchess of Kent, is married at a church situated in the papal gardens behind St. Peter's Basilica.

Lord Windsor, the least known member of the Royal Family will marry British-born Croatian noble, Donna Paola Doimi de Frankopan, in the Church of Santo Stefano degli Abissini. Bishop Alan Hopes, an auxiliary bishop in the Archdiocese of Westminster, will conduct the ceremony.

Lord Windsor, whose godparents are The Prince of Wales and the late Archbishop of Canterbury, Lord Coggan, will become the first ever member of the Royal Family to marry at the Vatican.

He will also be the first ever member of the Royal Family to marry openly and legally within the rites of the Roman Catholic faith since the Reformation. A recent meeting of the Privy Council confirmed the Sovereign's approval of the wedding as is required by law.

Lord Windsor converted to Catholicism in 2001 and by doing so automatically lost his rights of succession to the throne because of the notorious 1701 Act of Settlement that bars Catholics from becoming monarch.

The little known and publicity shy Lord Nicholas has since his conversion, been very active in Church affairs. He privately joined tens of thousands who queued for hours to file past the body at the lying in state of Pope John Paul II in April 2005.

He and his Cambridge educated wife, Paola attend Mass regularly at Westminster Cathedral and Brompton Oratory.

In 1994, his mother, the Duchess of Kent, became the most senior member of the Royal Family to convert to Catholicism. Lord Nicholas's uncle's wife, Princess Michael of Kent, and his sister-in-law, the Countess of St. Andrews, whilst Catholic from birth, both conducted civil marriages.

His father, The Duke of Kent, who is the Grand Master of the United Grand Lodge of Freemasons of England, is expected to attend the Vatican ceremony.

The Duke, who is known to be very close to his son, also and unusually issued an official engagement photograph taken by him at Kensington Palace.

Spokesman for the couple, Mr. Anthony Bailey said: "The wedding will be a small and strictly private family affair. It is expected that only immediate family members will attend. Lord Nicholas's godfather, The Prince of Wales, will not be attending as His Royal Highness will be returning from an Official Visit to Pakistan at the time which was arranged many months ago. Lord Nicholas and his bride will however be organising a private party to celebrate their marriage in London sometime in the New Year for other members of the Royal Family and close friends who will be unable to travel or have other commitments at this time."

Image: Lord and Lady Nicholas Windsor

Masons | Nicholas Windsor | Catholic Church | Freemasonry | BurningTaper.com | Vatican | United Grand Lodge of England | Burning Taper

Is there free speech in Freemasonry?

Is there Free Speech in Freemasonry? by W:.Tim Bryce, PM, MPS

There is a rumor circulating on the Internet that there is a resolution being prepared by a grand jurisdiction in the U.S. Southeast ("Dixie") that would, in effect, censor all forms of Masonic communications, including publications, blogs, discussion groups, e-mails, web pages, etc. This would mean that virtually anything pertaining to Freemasonry in the grand jurisdiction would have to first be reviewed and approved by the Grand Lodge prior to publication. If this is true (and I hope it isn't), this would be setting up a preposterous situation whereby Masonic communications would be grid locked at all levels. Such controls would be reminiscent of those enacted by Hitler and Goerbels in Nazi Germany.

There has always been a certain amount of censorship in Freemasonry. For example, some jurisdictions prohibit the publication of proceedings and any correspondence pertaining to Masonic charges. There have been instances where Masonic web sites were shut down and Masonic publications suspended simply because Grand Lodges wanted absolute control over what was written and said in their jurisdictions. Is this a violation of First Amendment rights? Undoubtedly. Nonetheless, this has occurred on several occasions around the world.

In my case, when I was censored by my Grand Master last year, I was given no warning and ordered to shut down my Masonic publications and web pages. To this day, I am at a loss as to exactly why this was done (nobody spoke to me about it before or after the order was issued). Based on the letter I received from the GM, it was obvious to me that he was unfamiliar with my work and was acting on some bad advice by his handlers (my detractors). Nonetheless, this forced me to find new venues for my work which is now published by Brothers in other jurisdictions. Interestingly, as a result of the censorship, my stock rose radically while the GM's plummeted. I am now asked to write for a variety of publications and speak to groups outside of my grand jurisdiction.

So, is there free-speech in Freemasonry? Only as much as allowed by the Grand Lodge. Constitutions are interpreted and enforced at the discretion of the Grand Masters which basically gives them broad powers to censor whoever they want. In other words, Masons must walk gingerly on egg cartons or face repercussions. Inevitably, this is causing Freemasons to go underground in their communications. Vehicles such as the Internet provide a convenient means for Masons to cloak their identity and whereabouts. When you think about it, this is barbaric as Masons should be allowed to identify themselves and speak on the level without fear of retribution.

To me, censorship is another indicator of how the tables have turned in Freemasonry. Instead of the Grand Lodges serving the Craft Lodges, it is just the other way around. It means Grand Lodges want nothing less than absolute power.

In a way, it reminds me of a chapter from Ayn Rand's acclaimed novel, "The Fountainhead," about a brilliant architect who dares to stand alone against the hostility of unimaginative conformists. In the book, Howard Roark, the protagonist, is brought up on charges of destroying a building he designed. In the courtroom, he offers an eloquent defense which ultimately leads to his vindication. Although space prohibits me from including his complete courtroom testimony here, there are several passages which have a bearing on the subject at hand. In the courtroom, Roark explains to the jury....

"Throughout the centuries there were men who took first steps down new roads armed with nothing but their own vision. Their goals differed, but they all had this in common: that the step was first, the road new, the vision unborrowed, and the response they received — hatred. The great creators--the thinkers, the artists, the scientists, the inventors — stood alone against the men of their time. Every great new thought was opposed. Every great new invention was denounced. The first motor was considered foolish. The airplane was considered impossible. The power loom was considered vicious. Anesthesia was considered sinful. But the men of unborrowed vision went ahead. They fought, they suffered and they paid. But they won.

"Man cannot survive except through his mind. He comes on earth unarmed. His brain is his only weapon. Animals obtain food by force. Man has no claws, no fangs, no horns, no great strength of muscle. He must plant his food or hunt it. To plant, he needs a process of thought. To hunt, he needs weapons, and to make weapons--a process of thought. From this simplest necessity to the highest religious abstraction, from the wheel to the skyscraper, everything we are and everything we have comes from a single attribute of man — the function of his reasoning mind.

"But the mind is an attribute of the individual. There is no such thing as a collective brain. There is no such thing as a collective thought. An agreement reached by a group of men is only a compromise or an average drawn upon many individual thoughts. It is a secondary consequence. The primary act — the process of reason--must be performed by each man alone. We can divide a meal among many men. We cannot digest it in a collective stomach. No man can use his lungs to breathe for another man. No man can use his brain to think for another. All the functions of body and spirit are private. They cannot be shared or transferred.

"We inherit the products of the thought of other men. We inherit the wheel. We make a cart. The cart becomes an automobile. The automobile becomes an airplane. But all through the process what we receive from others is only the end product of their thinking. The moving force is the creative faculty which takes this product as material, uses it and originates the next step. The creative faculty cannot be given or received, shared or borrowed. It belongs to single, individual men. That which it creates is the property of the creator. Men learn from one another. But all learning is only the exchange of material. No man can give another the capacity to think. Yet that capacity is our only means of survival.

"Rulers of men are not egotists. They create nothing. They exist entirely through the persons of others. Their goal is in their subjects, in the activity of enslaving. They are as dependent as the beggar, the social worker and the bandit. The form of dependence does not matter.

"But men were taught to regard second-handers--tyrants, emperors, dictators — as exponents of egotism. By this fraud they were made to destroy the ego, themselves and others. The purpose of the fraud was to destroy the creators. Or to harness them. Which is a synonym.

"The only good which men can do to one another and the only statement of their proper relationship is — Hands off!

"Now, in our age, collectivism, the rule of the second-hander and second-rater, the ancient monster, has broken loose and is running amuck. It has brought men to a level of intellectual indecency never equaled on earth. It has reached a scale of horror without precedent. It has poisoned every mind. It has swallowed most of Europe. It is engulfing our country."

The legislation proposed by the Dixie jurisdiction is frightening. If enacted, it sets into motion the enslavement of Masonic minds and, consequently, the erosion of this great fraternity. Freemasonry must remain free.

Keep the Faith.

NOTE: As with all of my Masonic articles herein, please feel free to reuse them in Masonic publications or re-post them on Masonic web sites (except Florida). When doing so, please add the following:

Article reprinted with permission of the author and www.FreemasonInformation.com

Image: Gary Cooper as Howard Roark, in Ayn Rand's The Fountainhead

Masons | Masonic Censorship | Ayn Rand | Freemasonry | BurningTaper.com | Grand Lodge of Florida | Tim Bryce | Burning Taper

Newly raised black Mason receives hate mail

A Massachusetts black minister who recently became a Mason by joining a regular Antient blue lodge working under the Jurisdiction of the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts says he received a letter last week showing an African-American man and containing racist remarks.

According the news reports by television stations WHDH-TV in Boston and WJAR-TV in Providence, the flier claimed the minister is being watched by the Ku Klux Klan, and bore the symbol of Freemasonry, the Square and Compasses.

"A brain is terrible thing to waste, that's why (expletive deleted) don't have any," the message said.

"To think that they are prominent up here as opposed to down South, no one thinks that," Bro. Chan-Williams said. "But now one must ask the question, how prominent are they up here?"

Bro. Chan-Williams refuses to believe the letter could have been sent by a new brother Mason.

"I think it's a coincidence that needs to be investigated by the police and by my lodge and the Grand Lodge. Whether it's a Mason, I do not believe so," Bro. Chan-Williams said.

The FBI and police call it a hate crime, and authorities have increased patrols around the minister's home.

The flier tells Bro. Chan-Williams that he should go home to Brooklyn, New York.

"I'm home," he said. "I'm not going anywhere."

Without a suspect, we're left here with only idle speculation. I doubt they're going to bring out the team from CSI to investigate this incident. Did the Klan send the letter? Did the Masons? Is it just a Halloween prank by some kid? Did the recipient fake it and send it to himself? Is this all a dream we'll wake up from when we click our heels together? Who knows?

All we can say for certain is, someone in the Boston area — home of the Boston Tea Party and the first Prince Hall Masonic lodge — doesn't want to join the 21st Century with class or style.

We'll keep you up to date if this story develops further.

Masons | Masonic Racism | Ku Klux Klan | Freemasonry | BurningTaper.com | Grand Lodge of Massachusetts | KKK | Burning Taper

Masonic sheriff lets Masonic prisoner attend lodge meetings

Minnesota sheriff Mark Harig is in hot water for allowing his Masonic brother, James Colstrup, an alcoholic serving 180 days for domestic abuse, out of jail to attend lodge meetings and to cook at a Masonic pancake breakfast. The convict has also been taken to a community festival for two days; whether he was supervised or not during the local Rendezvous Festival is not clear from the stories I've read.

Apparently the Freeborn County (interesting Masonic reference, isn't it?) jail has a policy of releasing prisoners temporarily so they can attend AA and NA meetings and religious services.

After this publicity, Colstrup is no longer being allowed time off for attending Masonic meetings, but is still under a work release program. Bro. Harig says Bro. Culstrup did not violate his work release and that the situation has been blown out of proportion.

Bro. Colstrup is in jail for domestic abuse after he refused to accept the alternate sentence of attending an alcoholic treatment program.

While in attendance at the Rendezvous festival, he helped his wife — the victim of his abuse for which he was incarcerated — sent up their tent, and was allowed to teach children over the two days of the festival. What they sold and taught at their tent is not mentioned.

Is this much ado about nothing, or a serious breach of ethics and a risk to the public? Is it a sign of Masonic favoritism? Is the story getting more attention that it would otherwise because Sheriff Harig is up for re-election in less than two weeks?

Read the local newspaper's and the local tv station's versions of the story, and tell us what you think.

Masons | Masonic Brotherhood | Small Town Freemasonry | Freemasonry | BurningTaper.com | Burning Taper

Masonic Racism: The October Surprise that won't go away

This morning's Huntsville Times features an editorial from David Person, its regular editorial opinion columnist.

This writer seems to understand Masonry a little better than the AP writer Jay Reeves, who "broke" the "Riley-Masonic Racism in the South" story a few weeks ago, and who followed that article up with another AP national wire story a few days ago. Person not only better explains the segregated nature of the dual Grand Lodges in Alabama (and elsewhere), but he understands, probably correctly, that Riley and other Alabama politicians (from both parties) might not actually be racists, though they all belong to a "racist organization." Face it, Freemasonry isn't the Klan, though I know several Masons who could be, and maybe are, members of the KKK, for all I know. God knows I've heard enough "nigger" jokes in lodge to last a lifetime.

Two other things are noteworthy to me about Person's editorial.

First, it marks the first time that I am aware of that a major publication has mentioned by name the less-than-a-year-old United Grand Lodge of America. The UGLA was formed in Atlanta last December after the 2005 Grand Master of Georgia Al Garner issued a bitter edict banning certain Masons from meeting to discuss ancient French Masonic rituals (Red Lodge Masonry) and the 2006 Grand Master of Georgia F. Ray Jackson threatened expulsion without trial of those members who would not sign letters of renunciation. Masons who refused to sign letters of renunciation were summarily "whited out" from their lodges' rolls at the turn of the year last January.

The second thing this article points out without knowing it is pointing it out, is that a majority of Freemasons don't know a thing about Freemasonry. The editorial quotes Alabama Gov. Bob Riley as saying he hasn't attended a blue lodge meeting since he was in his 20's, and doesn't even know who this year's Grand Master is. (Hint: That's him in the recent photo above, standing next to you!) He's just another one of those "Pay Your Dues So You Can Call Yourself a Mason" Masons. Did he just memorize his lines well enough to get through the Three Degrees, earn the right to wear a ring and call himself a Mason, and then dust off his shoes and not look back? It seems he's a Mason only by virtue of paying his dues every year. Big shots do that all the time. They join all the groups they can, for the business contacts and the networking and to say "Yeah, I belong...."

I conferred the Entered Apprentice degree, and acted as Senior Deacon during his 2nd and 3rd degrees, on a bank president a few years ago that we never saw in the lodge again after he was made a Master Mason. It happens all the time, everywhere, I'm sure. These aren't the guys that stop coming to the lodge because they didn't find what they were looking for; these are the guys that got exactly what they were looking for — membership and privilege without responsibility and honor, without truly becoming a part of the brotherhood except in name only.

And they gave Riley the KCCH!

Here's the article by David Person, from today's Huntsville Times:

Gov. Bob Riley and the Masons, Redux by David Person

Friday, October 27, 2006
Reprinted from The Huntsville Times

Some folks say that the most segregated hour of the week is Sunday morning at 11 a.m. That's when most folks go to church, and most — even in this new century and millennium — don't worship with people of other races on a regular basis.

Seems church folks have something in common with Masons, who are as segregated as Sunday morning. Most white Masons are members of the Grand Lodge. Blacks become Prince Hall Masons.

If both groups merely were self-segregating as most churches are, it would be bad enough. But this is worse because by charter or tradition, Grand Lodges across the South won't allow Prince Hall Masons to become members or even visit their meetings.

In turn, some Prince Hall Masons have reportedly done the same thing.

Why does any of this matter? Because it's an election year, and the rap on Gov. Bob Riley is that he is a racist because he is a member of Alabama's Grand Lodge.

I don't think Riley is a racist, but I understand why others do. What's the old saying? Lay down with dogs and....

In Riley's defense, he said he hasn't attended a meeting since he was in his 20s.

"I don't even know who the head of the Masons in Alabama is," he told The Times editorial board Tuesday afternoon. Well, the head Mason knows who Riley is.

In May 2005, Riley's Grand Lodge brothers gave him the rank of Knight Commander of the Court of Honor. When I asked Riley about this a month or so ago, he dismissed the honor as ceremonial.

Nevertheless, active or not, he didn't turn it down.

Other Alabama Masons have been more decisive. After a failed attempt to integrate Alabama's Grand Lodge in 1999, some members left it.

White Masons in Alabama now can be affiliated with the United Grand Lodge of America, which was formed specifically to ensure that Masonry does not discriminate based on race or religion.

Most Grand Lodges across the nation now practice what is called "mutual recognition," meaning that they accept blacks as members and visitors. The Associated Press reported that Masonry is segregated only in the South - Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and West Virginia.

The governor's responses to this issue have been somewhat tepid, but his campaign's have been worse. The Montgomery Advertiser reported that campaign spokesman Josh Blades outed lieutenant governor candidate and former Gov. Jim Folsom as a Mason, along with House Speaker Seth Hammett and state Sen. Lowell Barron, both of whom are running for re-election.

If the message from the Riley campaign is that we should get off the governor's back because Democrats are in the Grand Lodge too, that's the wrong message.

Masons refusing to accept members based on race is wrong, whether white or black, Republican or Democrat. Riley knows this, as does the head of Alabama's Grand Lodge, Grand Master Frank W. Little.

To his credit, Little told The Advertiser that while he doesn't know of any blacks among the 32,000 Masons in his Lodge, "if I heard of any lodge that denied a man membership because of his race they wouldn't be a lodge for long."

Riley, to his credit, told The Times editorial board that he agreed.

"I think that's where you go," he said.

However, we all know that saying the right thing isn't the same as doing it. Little needs to investigate what his lodges are — or are not — doing. And the governor needs to back up his words with action.

If Riley doesn't believe that Masons should be discriminating — if he truly believes that mutual recognition is the way to go — then he ought to use his bully pulpit to get loud and pushy about it.

If the Grand Lodge won't budge, Riley should disassociate himself with it. And so should Folsom, Hammett, Barron and any other Grand Lodge member who wants to be elected to public office.

Riley should also renounce the rank the Grand Lodge gave him. Knight Commander of the Court of Honor sounds mighty royal. But there's no royalty in racism.

Masons | Masonic Racism | Gov. Bob Riley | Freemasonry | BurningTaper.com | Grand Lodge of Georgia | United Grand Lodge of America | Burning Taper

Nifty new ideas for raising and spending Masonic funds

It's been my experience that Masonic blue lodges in the U.S. aren't that experimental in their fundraising activities. I've seen a couple of horse shows and rodeos sponsored, but many lodges simply rely on the tried-and-true traditional fundraiser: selling food. Lots of lodges host annual or bi-annual barbecues, fish frys, fried chicken dinners, or "hobo dinners" (beans and rice). A more recent variation, according to Small Town Texas Masons blog, is the "no chicken" chicken dinner. Apparently, you tell the public "If we felt like cooking, we'd have a chicken dinner, and you'd buy a plate, not because you're hungry but to help us, so look, let's just pretend we went to all the trouble of frying up some greasy chicken, and you give us $6.00 a plate for it, okay?" Kind of reminds me of that bit from Douglas Adams's Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy where Ford tells the foreman it's a given that Arthur will be lying in the mud in front of the bulldozer all day, so let's just say that he is actually lying there, but really we're going to pop off to the pub for a pint or two, and why don't you join us?

Hey, if it works, I say, go for it.

Keys Lodge No. 297 of Hyderabad, India, has found a unique fundraising idea: A contest to determine who has the best signature. Yep, the three best signatures will win gold worth 10,000 rupees (about 221 USD), silver worth 7,500 rupees, and a DVD player worth 6,000 rupees. Ten runners-up will receive prizes worth 500 rupees (11 USD) each. And maybe a plaque. Masons like plaques. Funds raised will go towards buying supplies and equipment for a government-run school in the slum area of Hyderabad.

What do lodges do with the money they raise?

Most give it to a charity or a "cause" of some sort, eventually, or so I hope. Often money is simply given, with no strings, to a local Boy Scouts unit, or to a children's charity, or to a general health-related or health-issue-specific group. My lodge had to form a committee just to figure out which charities in the area were worthy of receiving a donation. Seldom have I seen money go to a group where you would see an immediate community benefit; donated funds seemed to just slip into the budgets of ongoing charity organizations.

The lodges under the jurisdiction of the Grand Lodge of New Zealand in Rangiora have come up with a novel use of their funds — Using them to help improve the health not only of their own members, but all men. While men's health is often talked about — or should I say grumbled about? — unofficially at lodge meetings, a concerted effort by Masons to help other Masons, and all men, is not something I've heard of before.

Our New Zealand brothers have enlisted the help of a New Zealand television celebrity, Lloyd Scott, who was recently diagnosed with colon cancer, to help them gain attention for their program.

The lodges are sponsoring a month-long men's health campaign called "No More Secrets." Masons nationwide will hold events at lodges and community centers to encourage men to taker positive steps to improve their health.

Specialist speakers will talk about blood pressure, stress, diabetes, heart conditions, prostate, kidney, bowel and testicular cancer, alcohol use and abuse, obesity and erectile dysfunction.

"I think we have to face it, men are not fussed on dashing off to the doctor. We tend to put up with complaints, rather than seek advice — at times we are actually are a bit secretive about our health, I guess you could say this campaign is about revealing those secrets," said Lloyd Scott.

Image: Lloyd Scott (right) meets Deputy Grand Master Neville Patrick of Rangiora, New Zealand. Note Scotty's t-shirt.

Masons | Masonic Fundraising | Fish Fry Masons | Freemasonry | BurningTaper.com | New Zealand | Hyberadad, India | Burning Taper

Dirty deeds done dirt cheap

Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap by A Concerned Freemason

The society of Freemasons was founded three hundred years ago in London, England. Since that time it has become a global society composed of men and women from around the world. Time, however, has not been kind to the society of Freemasons in America. It has devolved from a society of enlightened thinkers and artists into a run of the mill social club administered by the surviving veterans of World War II. Plagued by racism, financial scandals, and immoral behavior the once honorable society has dwindled in numbers since 1963.

Recent articles from the Associated Press reveal many disturbing facts about American Freemasonry. In places throughout the country it is divided along strict racial lines, with African Americans being left out of the main body of the group, and forced to form their own lodges. That this type of human behavior is still taking place in the United States of America will be a shocking revelation to many.

The problems, however, go beyond just racism. Independent journalist Sandy Frost has revealed a multitude of financial issues that include both fraud and theft. To become a Freemason in the United States is quite easy, according to the Grand Lodge of Ohio. A man can become a Master Mason over the course of a day for as little as one hundred and fifty dollars. According to Frost and the Orlando Sentinel the real cost of Freemasonry is not to the Masons, but to the public. Many of the charities organized by the Masons barely meet the legal guidelines regulating charitable organizations. According to the Orlando Sentinel only about twenty-five percent of the monies collected from the public actually go to help anyone. The largest amounts go to support private golf courses and liquor purchases for the Masonic Shrine organization.

According to one Internet blog site, The Burning Taper [http://burningtaper.com], Freemasons were expelled in Georgia for their opposition to both the racism and fraud within the organization. This may be a sign of growing unrest within the organization as new leaders begin to replace the aging group that has controlled the society for the past fifty years.

The House of the Temple of the Scottish Rite, the national headquarters of American Freemasonry, admitted in a recent interview that the society had fallen into hard times and was suffering significant membership losses. When questioned about the racial and financial issues they had no comment.

— A Concerned Freemason

Masons | Masonic | American Freemasonry | Freemasonry | BurningTaper.com | Grand Lodge | Scottish Rite | Burning Taper

There's a new Masonic blog in town: 'Small Town Texas Masons'

I recently discovered a new Masonic blog I think you'd enjoy. Called "Small Town Texas Freemasons," it's written by a 78-year old brother named Corkey, who lives in Pine Island, Texas.

With only eight posts so far, he's already taken on the anti-Masonic Christians John Ankerberg and John Weldon, and covered Masonic lodge barbeque fundraisers, the Knights Templar as Masonry's predecessors story, racism in southern lodges, the Morgan Affair, and today, Masonic "toleration."

Check Brother Corkey's blog out. I think you'll like it.

Masons | Masonic Blogs | Small Town Freemasonry | Freemasonry | BurningTaper.com | Grand Lodge of Texas | Pine Island, Texas | Burning Taper

Chinese bloggers must sign their names, Ministry of Information demands

The Chinese government's Internet Society of China, the "consulting" arm of the Ministry of Information, has recommended that Chinese bloggers be required to register their blogs in their real names, Reuters reported.

Apparently, all those anonymous Chinese bloggers are saying things the Chinese government doesn't like.

"A real name system will be an unavoidable choice if China wants to standardize and develop its blog industry," the official Xinhua news agency quoted the Internet Society's secretary general, Huang Chengqing, as saying.

"We suggest, in a recent report submitted to the ministry, that a real name system be implemented in China's blog industry," Huang said.

WTF is a "blog industry"? Are there millions of Chinese adults and children hunched over in sweatshops, churning out blogs for mere pennies per day?

Bloggers anonymously disseminating untrue information on the Internet brought about a negative influence on society, the Xinhua report said.

Just like its namesake in George Orwell's novel 1984, the Ministry of Information's sole job seems to be to suppress information.

Has the Ministry itself gone high-tech yet? They better be using some pretty sophisticated computers, to keep up with the 1,313,973,713 people living in China as of July, 2006, according to the CIA World Factbook.

Then again, with half the population having just one of nine surnames, and 90% of the population having one of only fifty surnames, they're likely to have a lot of bogeys on their watch list. How do they keep up with them all?

Fifty percent of the Chinese population is surnamed Chen (Chan), Lin, Huang (Hwang, Hwong), Li (Lee), Zhang (Chang), Wu (U, O, Oh), Wang (Wong), Cai (Tsai) or Liu.

Complicate matters with the fact that Chinese parents, just like their counterparts in the United States and elswhere, tend to give their children trendy first names, so that everyone ends up with the Asian equivalent of Jacob, Michael, Joshua, Emily, Emma and Madison (2005's top three names of newborn boys and girls in the USA).

Here is the order of frequency of the most common characters chosen for Chinese first names:

1. Wen (culture, writing)
2. Zhi (will, intention; emotions)
3. Yi (cheerful)
4. Ya (elegant)
5. Ming (bright)
6. Hui (smart, wise)
7. Hong (great, wide)

Sources:
Chinese names
American names

China | Blogs | Chinese Bloggers | Communism | BurningTaper.com | Free Speech | Burning Taper

Atomic buckshot: Contest to name newly discovered element #118

What do you get when you bang calcium together with californium, really really fast?

A new element, Number 118, that's what!

Experiments in 2002 and 2005 have been adjudged "for real" (as if anything in the atomic world is really real) and given a place on the Periodic Table to the not yet formally named element being referred to variously as ununoctium (Latin for "one-one-eight"), eka-radon, or just good ol' Number 118.

Ununoctium didn't stay around long, just a mere nine ten-thousandths of a second, but the presence for any length of time at all is all that is needed to qualify as "existing." Oh, I do loves me some quantum physics.

"One never knows what the application of the things you find may be," said Darleane Hoffman, a professor of chemistry at the University of California at Berkeley, tossing out the example of plutonium-239, the key fissile ingredient in atomic bombs, first created in 1941, the Washington Post reported last week.

Nature, without the help of man, has only given us 92 elements of which the universe is composed. The 26 newer elements are the results of lab experiments, and usually are of only a fleeting state of existence.

When the calcium and californium smacked into each other, they transformed into the new Element 118, which them rapidly threw off a pair of protons and a pair of neutrons to make element 116, then did so again to make element 114, and again to make element 112, which then split in two. Nobody hangs around long up in the triple-digit neighborhood of the Period Chart.

Researchers are working on ways to make these elemental cameo appearances last a bit longer.

"We're nibbling away at the shores of the island of stability," said Livermore Laboratory's physicist Ken Moody.

See a real live Periodic Chart. It's interesting to note that the recent elements numbered 111 and above have names beginning with "unun." Why not name them after gods and goddesses, like we do planets and planetoids, or sell the naming rights to corporate sponsors, like we do stadiums and football bowl games?

Until they come up with a better method of naming these high-end elements, I hereby officially claim the unofficial rights to unofficially name the following numbered elements:

Element 111 — Widowssonium
Element 112 — Burningtapersacredfemium
Element 113 — Freemasonium
Element 114 — Ronbondsium
Element 115 — Grouchogandhium
Element 116 — Robertantonwilsonium
Element 117 — Dylanium
Element 118 — ???

As self-proclaimed unofficial Namer of the High-Numbered Elements, I'm leaving Number 118 unnamed for the moment, while we take suggestions. Please post your ideas in the comments section. What should be the name of Element Number 118?

Thanks and an aluminum foil hat tip to GrouchoGandhi's Greatest Week in History for digging up this story last week.

Quantum Physics | Atomic Research | Ununoctium | Science | BurningTaper.com | Reality | Periodic Table | Burning Taper

'No more deviant love for you!'

Despite 17 centuries of the Church's "unofficial" approval of dividing and alienating families, Pope Benedict has finally had to put his foot down.

Yes, after all those years of breaking up families by burning daddy at the stake, twisting kids' minds and abusing kids' bodies at the hands (and mouths) of pervert priests, and making average Christy Catholic into a neurotic with all those rules against divorce and sex while making her wear those cute little Catholic school skirts, the Pope has at last said enough is enough.

Maybe it was the "Priest gets naked with Mark Foley" story that drove the Pope to rally the troops for Family Values.

Earlier today His Holiness spoke in Verona, Italy to a national convention of Italy's politically powerful Roman Catholics. He urged them to defend the traditional family and in an apparent reference to gay marriage said they should oppose any moves to legalize "weak and deviant" unions.

While he did not specifically mention gay marriage, thousands of listeners at the fairgrounds in Verona's outskirts strongly applauded the two parts of his speech about the family and "other forms of unions."

Ironically, he urged them to fight "with determination... the risk of political and legislative decisions that contradict fundamental values and anthropological and ethical principles rooted in human nature." By ironically, I mean, he played the "anthropological principles" card, meaning, I assume, that he thinks it's "natural" for one man and one woman to be married, but yet, denies the right of marriage to his own Christian Soldiers, er, I mean, priests.

The Pope said they had to defend "the family based on matrimony, opposing the introduction of laws on other forms of unions which would only destabilize it and obscure its special character and its social role, which has no substitute."

In another section of his speech, the Pope made another apparent reference to homosexual marriage, stating that the Church had to say "'no' to weak and deviant forms of love."

He said the Church wanted instead to say "'yes' to authentic love, to the reality of man as he was created by God."

Since his election in April 2005, Benedict has firmly backed the Roman Catholic Church's strong opposition to legalizing gay marriage or to legally recognize unwed heterosexual couples.

Studies have shown that the more homophobic a man is, the more likely he is to be a closet homosexual.

More info at The Daily Mail.

Pope Benedict | Catholic | Homosexual | Mark Foley | BurningTaper.com | Gay Marriage | Burning Taper

Gov. Bob Riley's 'racist' Masonic association again in the national news

The Associated Press just moments ago moved with a story again featuring the charge of Alabama Gov. Bob Riley's association with what has been called the "racist" Grand Lodge of Alabama. It talks about the 1999 episode at their Grand Lodge meeting where Bro. Alex Harris was shouted down for even discussing the idea of white Alabama Masons recognizing black Alabama Masons.

ABC News affiliate WMAR-TV in Baltimore links to the article from their homepage, where the story is titled "Black, white Masons in South struggle with racial separation." Such frontpage coverage indicates it will probably be a featured story on their news programs this evening.

The report also delves into the Grand Lodge of North Carolina vote a few weeks ago, which once again kept that state's white group from recognizing the black group.

It also looks at the recent vote in Delaware, where that state's Grand Lodge finally joined the 20th century and began recognizing their black counterparts.

This story also contains some of the first remarks from black Masons about the race issue in Freemasonry, quoting Arkansas Prince Hall head Cleveland Wilson as saying, "...[W]e're fine without [white Masons]. I'm of the attitude that since they haven't shown any interest, I'm not interested, either."

With the recent movie flap over The Da Vinci Code, the upcoming sequel The Solomon Key, and many other books on Freemasonry and "secret societies," the mass media has been writing more and more stories about Freemasonry. The New York Times recently wrote about the fraternity in its Sunday edition, and countless small newspapers across the country have been writing features and/or printing items on their "society pages" about upcoming meetings and lodge anniversaries, etc.

It's interesting — and hopeful — to see the mainstream media picking up on stories The Burning Taper and other Masonic blogs have been following for several months. It's also good to know that the "Masonry is the last bastion of racism" meme is going to finally get an airing in the national media. Just wait til Jesse Jackson, a Freemason, Al Sharpton, status unknown, and other black national spokesman put the issue on their radar.

Update, Sunday, Oct. 22: Other news outlets apparently saved this AP story for their Sunday editions. The Columbus, Ga., Ledger-Enquirer, for example, ran this story in today's edition.

Update, Monday, Oct. 23: And now the Houston Chronicle has published the AP story, as has Yahoo News.

Update, Monday, Oct. 23, later: I've just received a list of over 40 newspapers, news sites, and television stations that have published the most recent Jay Reeves AP story about racism within Freemasonry, that noble and ancient institution dedicated to universal brotherly love. The world now knows about what we've been telling you here for months, that Freemasonry in the South is the last bastion of institutional racism.

Masons | Masonic Trial | Grand Lodge of Delaware | Freemasonry | BurningTaper.com | Grand Lodge of Alabama | Grand Lodge of North Carolina | Burning Taper | Bob Riley | Grand Lodge of Georgia | Prince Hall Masonry

Save the Internet: Tune in tonight to PBS's 'The Net at Risk'

The following is an email I just received from SavetheInternet.com.

Tune in to PBS tonight to see the SavetheInternet.com Coalition featured in "The Net at Risk," a documentary produced by award-winning journalist Bill Moyers.

Then join other SavetheInternet.com members in an online Web discussion at PBS.org.

Bill Moyers' show airs at 9 p.m. in most cities (check local listings). Immediately following the East Coast broadcast, PBS.org will host a live Internet debate between Free Press Policy Director Ben Scott and phone industry flack Mike McCurry.

You can be a part of this online debate. Here's how to join in:

• When: Oct. 18, 10:30 pm Eastern / 7:30 pm Pacific
• Where: http://www.pbs.org/moyers

You'll be asked to log in to participate in the online discussion. With your help, we hope to light up the PBS Web site with our campaign to save Net Neutrality.

It's important to have you there. In the six months since the SavetheInternet.com Coalition was launched, millions of Americans have joined the campaign, spoken out for Internet freedom, and put Congress and the phone companies on notice.

Tonight's program could make millions more aware of this issue.

They need to hear the real voices of people like you instead of industry mouthpieces. Help us use the Internet to save it from corporate efforts to stifle online innovation, free speech and competition.

Please join us tonight!

Timothy Karr
Campaign Director
Free Press and SavetheInternet.com
www.savetheinternet.com

1. For the latest information on the campaign visit www.SavetheInternet.com

2. Don't miss Bill Moyers' new essay on Net Neutrality: "Against an Imperial Internet"


Net Neutrality | Save the Internet | BurningTaper.com | Bill Moyers | Burning Taper

It is in dying that we are born

The Prayer of Saint Francis

"O Lord, make me an instrument of Thy Peace!
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
Where there is injury, pardon;
Where there is discord, harmony;
Where there is doubt, faith;
Where there is despair, hope;
Where there is darkness, light, and
Where there is sorrow, joy.

Oh Divine Master, grant that I may not
so much seek to be consoled as to console;
to be understood as to understand;
to be loved as to love;
for it is in giving that we receive;
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
and it is in dying that we are born to Eternal Life."

St. Francis of Assisi | Prayer | BurningTaper.com | Burning Taper

3,001 coalition troops have died in Iraq — for what?

There have been 3,001 coalition deaths — 2,767 Americans, two Australians, 119 Britons, 13 Bulgarians, six Danes, two Dutch, two Estonians, one Fijian, one Hungarian, 32 Italians, one Kazakh, one Latvian, 17 Poles, two Romanians, two Salvadoran, three Slovaks, 11 Spaniards, two Thai and 18 Ukrainians — in the war in Iraq as of October 16, 2006, according to a CNN count. The list includes the names of the soldiers, Marines, airmen, sailors and Coast Guardsmen whose deaths have been reported by their country's governments. The list also includes seven employees of the U.S. Defense Department. At least 20,895 U.S. troops have been wounded in action, according to the Pentagon.

For what?

These two American troops died yesterday:

ADCOCK, Shane T., 27, Capt., Army; Mechanicsville, Va.; 25th Infantry Division.

WALSH, Justin T., 24, Sgt., Marine; Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio; Eighth Engineer Support Battalion, Second Marine Logistics Group, Second Marine Expeditionary Force.

What did their deaths accomplish?

Click here for the entire list of 3,001 Americans and coalition forces who have died in Iraq in the last three years.

Iraq War | Body Count | Death | BurningTaper.com | Burning Taper