Vegancat, Zen & Jr are thick now. They play & eat together. Wawa is feeling a little left out, I think. Maybe its psychological on my part but I have a feeling that she’s a little sad .. her appetite has dropped in the last few days.
US church fined for anti-gay Iraq war protest
Thu, Nov 01, 2007
BALTIMORE (Maryland) - A US JURY ordered an evangelical church on Wednesday to pay nearly US$11 million (S$15.9 million) in damages for picketing the funeral of a Marine killed in Iraq and claiming the war was punishment for tolerating gays.
The nine-member federal jury ruled that members of the Kansas-based Westboro Baptist Church caused mental suffering to Albert Snyder, who says he became depressed after they paraded outside the funeral of his 20-year-old son Matthew in 2006.
They waved signs reading ‘Thank God for dead soldiers’, and ‘Fag troops’.
A video of the protests was played in court during the week-long trial of Fred Phelps, who founded the church in 1955, and two of his daughters, Shirley Phelps-Roper and Rebekah Phelps-Davis.
Their lawyer Jonathan Katz said the funeral was a public event and their actions were protected by the constitutional rights to free speech and religious expression.
But the jury decided the church members should pay US$2.9 million in compensatory damages and a further US$8 million in punitive damages, said Snyder’s attorney Craig Trebilcock.
The church says the United States is losing troops because it tolerates gays, including in the military - hence the many protests it has held at military funerals such as Snyder’s.
The late soldier’s sexuality was not an issue at the trial.
Church members say they have carried out similar pickets more than 30,000 times, but the Baltimore case was the first time they had been taken to court. — AFP
October 31, 2007 at 9:17 pm
So happy to see Lapis so at home. Zen is truly his name.
October 31, 2007 at 9:36 pm
Vegancat, Zen & Jr are thick now. They play & eat together. Wawa is feeling a little left out, I think. Maybe its psychological on my part but I have a feeling that she’s a little sad .. her appetite has dropped in the last few days.
November 1, 2007 at 3:34 pm
But 337A still in force leh
November 1, 2007 at 3:35 pm
Oops.. i meant 377A
November 1, 2007 at 4:36 pm
Jr says “Donch care! I lurrrve all tom toms”
November 1, 2007 at 9:26 pm
U have enough straws in the house?
November 1, 2007 at 9:29 pm
US church fined for anti-gay Iraq war protest
Thu, Nov 01, 2007
BALTIMORE (Maryland) - A US JURY ordered an evangelical church on Wednesday to pay nearly US$11 million (S$15.9 million) in damages for picketing the funeral of a Marine killed in Iraq and claiming the war was punishment for tolerating gays.
The nine-member federal jury ruled that members of the Kansas-based Westboro Baptist Church caused mental suffering to Albert Snyder, who says he became depressed after they paraded outside the funeral of his 20-year-old son Matthew in 2006.
They waved signs reading ‘Thank God for dead soldiers’, and ‘Fag troops’.
A video of the protests was played in court during the week-long trial of Fred Phelps, who founded the church in 1955, and two of his daughters, Shirley Phelps-Roper and Rebekah Phelps-Davis.
Their lawyer Jonathan Katz said the funeral was a public event and their actions were protected by the constitutional rights to free speech and religious expression.
But the jury decided the church members should pay US$2.9 million in compensatory damages and a further US$8 million in punitive damages, said Snyder’s attorney Craig Trebilcock.
The church says the United States is losing troops because it tolerates gays, including in the military - hence the many protests it has held at military funerals such as Snyder’s.
The late soldier’s sexuality was not an issue at the trial.
Church members say they have carried out similar pickets more than 30,000 times, but the Baltimore case was the first time they had been taken to court. — AFP
November 3, 2007 at 9:54 pm
Oh dear, poor Wawa…..hugz