A News Round Up - 9 September 2014

Some news you may have missed:

• Everyone of California's 23 state universities has "derecognized" InterVarsity Christian Fellowships, a Christian collegiate group, because its leaders are Christian and non-Christians cannot lead the group. You might think it would make sense for leaders of a Christian group to be Christian, but academics in the U.S. do not think so.

• President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe recently declared that all descendents of the British who are in Zimbabwe "should all go back to England." Never mind the fact that many of these descendants would have been born in Zimbabwe. Several years ago the priests of my diocese took part in a racism seminar in which the presenter told me "you cannot be racist if you aren't white." And he meant it. President Mugabe shows the falsity of his words.

• The sale of Lego building bricks (which I loved as a boy and still enjoying playing with today) has surpassed even the sale of Barbie products. The increase of sales, we are told, is due to the success of The Lego Movie, which was a brilliant critique of contemporary American life, even if most Americas were oblivious to the criticism.

• As the militant Islamic army of Boko Haram gains yet greater strength in the north of Nigeria, more than 90,000 Catholics have fled their homes in the Borno state.

• Eight members of the Islamic Society in Boston, where the "Boston Bombers" worshiped, have been connected with the Islamic State Syria and Iraq.

• Following the horrendous report last week that at least 1,400 children were sexually abused over a 16 year period by members of an Asian Islamic gang in Rotheram, England - even as officials were aware of the abuse and chose not to act for fear of being labeled as "racists" - Raymond Ibrahim has written an article in which he claims that Muslims sexually enslaving children is a global phenomenon. To prove his assertion, he cites instances in Australia, the United States, Nigeria, Pakistan, Egypt; certainly, he could cite others, as well.

• The man police have arrested for the beheading of 82-year-old Palmira Silva in her home in Edmonton, England on September 4, 2014, Nick Salvadore, is a recent convert to Islam.

• 32-year-old Ahmad Abousamra, the son of a Boston doctor, has been added to the Most Wanted List of the F.B.I. for running the social media campaign for the Islamic State.

• A new taxi service has been established in New York City (She Taxis - She Rides) which employs only female drivers and will only transport female riders. Now, I understand the meaning and the purpose behind such an endeavor, but can you imagine the public outcry and cries of discrimination that would ensue if a taxi company was establish that would only employ male drivers and only transport male riders?

• Seven years ago scientists declared the Aldabra banded snail to be extinct, a victim of global warming. Now, however, the snail has been alive. One can't help but wonder what other declarations resulting from global warming will also be proved false.

• GoFundMe has shut down a woman's attempt to fund her abortion - a fund the Illinois woman called the "Stop Bailey From Breeding Fund" - through the web site because the fund is "not appropriate for our site". I commend GoFundMe for their sense of public decency.

• The Second Presbyterian Church in Chicago is currently facing a lawsuit after a gargoyle fell on Sarah Bean and killed her, though the church passed an inspection in 2013.