Halcyon Lodge prevails in court case brought against them by Grand Lodge of Ohio

This is post number 1,000 on The Burning Taper . What a long, strange trip it's been. Just in time for Christmas there's a reason fo...

Bro. Dean Kennedy interviewed at B2B Expo

Bro. Dean Kennedy, co-creator of the podcast Masonic Central , was interviewed on Oct. 20 by the Canadian website Haligonia.ca at the B2B E...

AMC's 'The Prisoner' miniseries debuts Nov. 15

AMC's mini-series The Prisoner debuts Nov. 15-17, 2009. Based on Patrick McGoohan's British television series from the late 1960...

Where the tide ebbs and flows?

Police found the beaten and mutilated body of a man in his late 50's, with its tongue cut out, hanging by its neck from a bridge in Tiju...

Dan Brown's 'The Lost Symbol'

Dan Brown's new novel, The Lost Symbol , hits bookstores tomorrow. Will the wait have been worth it? He'll sell a zillion copies, pr...

Frank Haas lawsuit against GL of WV trial date set for November 2, 2009

According to Masonic-Crusade.com : The MW Grand Lodge of WV and MW Brother Frank J. Haas's attorneys met in mediation and failed to meet...

Homophobic Florida mega-church boots Pepsi

Who needs comedians when you have Christian mega-churches to make fun of? Bell Shoals Baptist Church in Brandon, Florida, is making news to...

Jester Ronald Tills sentenced to 18 months, fined $25,000, for human trafficking

In a recent Huffington Post article about human trafficking, Robin Sax, a former district attorney, writes: Trafficking happens right here ...

Georgia edict forbids negative references to race of petitioners

On August 19, 2009, the Grand Lodge of Georgia finally moved into the 20th century. (Yes, I know it's the 21st century now.) Grand Maste...

Be seeing you: AMC's 'The Prisoner' trailer

This nine-minute trailer for AMC's mini-series The Prisoner debuted at Comic-Con last month. The "re-creation" (not remake, t...

Georgia congressman goes berserk at town hall meeting

Georgia on my mind.... Watch below, or read about it here . Georgia | Congressman David Scott | Town Hall Meeting | Burning Taper | Burn...

Burning Taper gets racist Masonic hate mail

It's been way too long since The Burning Taper has received hate mail. Finally, over the weekend, we got one, and it's from an old ...

Freemasons arrested for sorcery

"Are you a good witch, or a bad witch?" Glinda asked Dorothy. Apparently in Fiji, it doesn't matter what kind of witch you are...

Cats don't go to Heaven!

This excellent essay was submitted by Bro. James C. Stewart of North Bay Lodge No. 617, in Canada. Thank you, Bro. James. Cats Don't Go ...

Monkey burglarizes Texas gardening store

This just in to our All-Monkey News Network news desk: Owners of a Richardson, Texas gardening store were burglarized by a monkey, surveilla...

'For the children': Shriner Potentate arrested on child porn charges

Shriner and former Potentate Ray Highsmith, of Khedive Shrine Temple in Hampton Roads, Virginia, is in federal custody after agents discover...

Masonic racism in Georgia

For years, Bro. Chris Hodapp of Freemasons for Dummies fame and I have had an unofficial competition going on, even if he didn't know i...

Footloose: Christian school suspends student for attending public school prom

A few weeks ago Toldeo, Ohio's Heritage Christian School principal Tim England suspended 17-year old student Tyler Frost after Frost too...

Living with War: Memorial Day 2009

So we're now living in the Era of Change, are we? New president, new vice president, new name for the War in Iraq. For the past three Me...

'Freemasonry's use of hip hop to deceive and destroy souls'

I'm perplexed as to what the point is of this video (see below). It seems to be something produced by your typical conspiratorial "...

Doing the dog

The sadness in Robert John Ward's eyes in this photo reminds me of the look on the face of alleged Mason and alleged murderer Leroy Tell...

Texas Mason charged with murder of younger woman

An "alleged" Texas Mason has been charged with murder in the disappearance of his female friend. The Oklahoma State Bureau of Inve...

Jester Michael Stebick avoids jail time for role in prostitution scandal

Here's more television footage from Buffalo's WIVB on the Royal Order of Jesters scandal. This one is about former law clerk and pro...

TV footage of Jester's court appearance

Here's a video news report about Royal Order of Jesters' members Ronald Tills, John Trowbridge and Michael Stibeck, from WIVB-TV, Ch...

Trends in Masonic blogging

Our blogging brother at The North Eastern Corner wrote the other day about how the face of Masonic blogging has changed over time. He notes...

Retired police captain sentenced in Jester-prostitute probe

One of the three Masons who pleaded guilty to transporting prostitutes across state lines to service brothers at Royal Order of Jesters'...

You can't have a light without a dark to stick it in

Last weekend I was driving home from the grocery store. As I approached an intersection, I noticed a fez-wearing Shriner standing in the roa...

Tornado kills Eastern Star sister in Arkansas

The powerful thunderstorms that had my son and me in my basement playing cards by candlelight Friday evening pummeled north Georgia as far s...

Gathering of 8,000 Drums

This Saturday, March 21, is the first day of spring. You are invited to celebrate the season by participating in The Gathering of 8,000 Drum...