Excitement at Westboro Baptist Church
Dennis Lewis
at Westboro Baptist Church.
<http://cjonline.com/stories/080308/loc_312960452.shtml>
The fire began outside a detached garage and destroyed two large trash
can totes.
Fred Phelps Sr., 78, and his wife Margie, 82, were evacuated from a
nearby home as firefighters battled the blaze.
A 91-year-old neighbor of the Phelps told Topeka's Channel 27 the fire
might be an attempt to scare her into selling her house.
"They keep claiming that this property is theirs, and it is not
theirs. They keep wanting to buy me, but I don't want to sell it. I
don't know if whethere they are trying to push me out. I don't know,"
Leona McQueen told KSNT-TV reporter Graham Winch.
ailuropoda melanoleuca torontonensis
> Topeka firefighters responded just after midnight Saturday to a fire
> at Westboro Baptist Church.
> can totes.
> Fred Phelps Sr., 78, and his wife Margie, 82, were evacuated from a
> nearby home as firefighters battled the blaze.
speaking of Fred and Co, they're apparently planning a couple of
sorties into canada to protest stuff. A play (that uses large chunks
of The Words Of Chairman Fred) is opening in Trawna soon; a benefit
thereof for Covenant House is scheduled for later this week. Then
again, someone out in Alberta is putting on a performance of The
Laramie Project. Westborovians do not approve and are planning to
come and do something here in the great white north. I got a call
from a global tv reporter this evening telling me all this,I'm a
little out of touch having been away.
such an unpleasant man (and family)
chemist by day, panda by night
occasional media slut
Frank R.A.J. Maloney
I don't suppose there's any chance of their being turned back at the
border as undesirable aliens, is there?
If the U.S. could block Farley Mowat, surely Canada ought to be able to
block Fred et cie.
--
Frank in Seattle
____
Frank Richard Aloysius Jude Maloney
"Millennium hand and shrimp."
ailuropoda melanoleuca torontonensis
> I don't suppose there's any chance of their being turned back at the
> border as undesirable aliens, is there?
>
> If the U.S. could block Farley Mowat, surely Canada ought to be able to
> block Fred et cie.
the US no-fly list can cause problems for canajuns going from, say,
trawna to vancouver, because this domestic flight usually cuts the
corner and flies through US airspace. given that the US no-fly list
once included a "Bill Graham", and thereby caused problems for the
then minister of foreign affairs (ie the guy who actually issues the
passports in HM's name), I suspect that the US turn-back-at-the-border
activity (actual turn-backs, as distinct from ability to do so) is
greater than that exercised by the frozen northland.
however, I believe it is possible. sexual orientation is now a
protected ground in hate speech legislation. This was not the case
the first couple of times Fred&Co came up to burn Canadian flags on
the lawn of the supreme court (I can't recall which pro-homo-inclusion
decision they'd reached to incur the Wrath Of Fred at the time), but
the legislation has since been amended.
Fred himself doesn't often travel these days, I believe; and of course
they don't show up everywhere they threaten to, but there's always the
possibility.
ailuropoda melanoleuca torontonensis
ailuropoda melanoleuca torontonensis
A delegation from their church was scheduled to come to Trawna
yesterday, to protest the play which uses Phred's public words
verbatim; and then going on to Red Deer AB to protest a performance of
*The Laramie Project*.
While this journey was pending, they heard about the recent horrific
murder in a Greyhound bus in Manitoba, where a clearly mentally
disturbed person killed Tim McLean - a total stranger, a fellow
passenger, with multiple stab wounds, and then mutilated the body.
This, the Phelpsites decided, had happened because God is punishing
the Canadians for having such lax laws as we do, in favour of
abortion, homosexuality and adultery. So they were planning to
demonstrate at the funeral of Mr McLean, which will be this Saturday
in Winnipeg (conveniently geographically between Toronto and Red Deer,
and between the two dates for demos in those two cities).
Reaction to this proposed funeral picketing (well, demonstration would
probably be a better word) in Winnipeg was very strong, with many
volunteers for a counter-demo, or ringing the church with a human
*cordon sanitaire*. Calls were made to MPs and the federal
government.
The Phelps contingent were stopped at the border, with all guards told
to be on the lookout for people with signs or printed material
promoting or constituting hate speech. The Westboro gang have
indicated other groups will slip in for the funeral, but they didn't
make it to Trawna in time for the play opening last night.
Story in today's *Winnipeg Free Press*:
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/local_picture/story/4209933p-4802511c.html
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