After a nearly three week absence from the PMPChannel, Zaracon has returned. He was absent while spending time with his children. More than understandable there. And we at PMPC are very pleased he got to spend time with his family! <click the PWN banner to hear the show>

For his return to the Pagan Weekly News, Zaracon and RevKess dived right in and discussed many issues and events of note to the Pagan community, even though few of them had direct impact on the Pagan community specifically.  On PWN, Z and RevKess do their best to cover news from the Pagan community as well as talk about news and events covered by mainstream media but from a  Pagan perspective.  Whenever possible, RevKess does these show notes with links to the articles mentioned and further information on the issues athand. And of course, the music play list.

Tonight’s Topics (with Links):

1. Wild Fires – We started the show off with a discussion of some of the issues related to the Wild Fires in many states across the western U.S. In particular, the conflict between Arizona’s indigenous population and the courts over a fire ban. We continued with a recorded segment from our friend Peter Beckley at That Witchy Place on Magick without forethought as related to the  Wild Fires.
2. Scranton, PA has opposed a court order and reduced the pay of all city employees to the Federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour. The city is essential bankrupt. But is that a reason to make police, fire & rescue, and other city employees suffer? Many of these employees may well be unable to provide for their families at this significantly reduced pay rate. Don’t get us wrong, Z and RevKess are far from living high on the hog themselves, but Federal minimum wage has not been raised since 2006 and has less buying power than the minimum wage of 1968.
3. A Rolling Stone’s article on the sharp and sudden decline of the middle class during this current recession prompted your hosts to go into a conversation about service organizations and how some of them that are religiously operated tend to enforce their religious beliefs onto their clients and exchange for the services offered.
4. From there they talked about the Pagans with Disabilities or Developmental Differences Anthology being compiled by Immanion Press. They are still taken submissions for this anthology. In fact, they have extended the submission deadline to August 31, 2012. Check out the link or email tara.miller21@gmail.com for further information.
5. July 9th was the 20th anniversary of the death of Herman Slater. Slater was a writer, publisher, Pagan shop owner, and variously a Pagan rogue, hero, and jokester. RevKess, not having met Slater, does have fond memories of encountering his writings and video productions in the mid ’90s, after Slater’s death. You can read a full bio of Herman Slater on Controverscial.com.
6. A question of free speech, artistic license and the separation of church and state was addressed this past school year by the ACLJ. A source for information that we rarely use, but this article caught both Z and RevKess’s attention. An art project in a New York public school hit some controversy when the school administration required one of the contributors to alter her art to removed religious symbols. This after several other students had included apparent non-Christian symbols in their own contributions. Read and decide for yourself.

Pagan Weekly News is usually slated for three hours on BTR. That third hour being for any overflow discussion or major stories that need to be addressed. Z and RevKess usually wrap up around the top of the second hour. Tonight they ran out of time for the deep topic of the Higgs Boson (aka the God Particle). Tune in next week for a discussion of that topic and how it might effect science and religion in the very near future.

And now for the music:

• Celia – Ground, Center, Shield – For the Asking
• Cernnunos Rising – Heart Beat of Harvest – Wild Soul
• Jenna Greene – Dance with Me – Crossroads
• SJ Tucker – Cheshire Kitten (We’re All Mad Here) – Mischief