More Stupidity in Religion

I first saw this referenced in the J-Walk Blog, but it originally came from Thaindian News...

Lucknow, Dec 31 (IANS) A supreme forum of the Sunnis here has issued a fatwa (religious decree) that colouring the hair black is un-Islamic.The Darul Ifta of Deoband issued the fatwa saying, “Applying black colour in hair is unlawful.” The fatwa was issued in response to a question posted at its official website.

I have a suggestion for the Muftis who made this decree - issue a fatwa against eating and breathing. It would benefit all mankind.

Why Don't We Hear More About Iraq?

Good question, ey? Why is there so little reporting on what's going on in Iraq? Once in a while we hear of a bombing with some more casualties, but really - what do we know of what's going on within their government, with their business development or even how oil development is progressing?

Gawker has some thoughts...

The US is still engaged, supposedly, in the occupation of an unfriendly middle eastern nation, called "Iraq." We remind you of this because you won't learn about it on the television. It's expensive!

Brian Stelter reported on the lack of reporting from Iraq in today's Times. The problem? "Iraq has been, according to some executives, the most expensive war ever for TV news organizations." Because it is the deadliest country in the world for journalists, so they need massive security teams, so the networks are all cutting back on covering the country, which is ok because it's obviously much safer and more secure now, unless, apparently, you are unlucky enough to be a journalist.

It's A Small World

John Smith started the day early having set his

Alarm clock (MADE IN JAPAN) for 6 a.m.

While his coffeepot (MADE IN CHINA )

Was perking, he shaved with his

Electric razor (MADE IN HONG KONG ).

He put on a

Dress shirt (MADE IN SRI LANKA),

Designer jeans (MADE IN SINGAPORE)

And

Tennis shoes (MADE IN KOREA)

After cooking his breakfast in his new

Electric skillet (MADE IN INDIA)

He sat down with his

Calculator (MADE IN MEXICO)

To see how much he could spend today. After setting his

Watch (MADE IN TAIWAN)

To the radio (MADE IN INDIA)

He got in his car (MADE IN GERMANY)

Filled it with GAS (from Saudi Arabia)

And continued his search

For a good paying AMERICAN JOB.

At the end of yet another discouraging

And fruitless day checking his

Computer (Made In Malaysia),

Joe decided to relax for a while.

He put on his sandals (MADE IN BRAZIL)

Poured himself a glass of wine (MADE IN FRANCE)

And turned on his

TV (MADE IN INDONESIA),

And then wondered why he can’t find a good paying job in AMERICA .

(Thanks Jonco)

Muslim Women Trying to Eat Spaghetti

Some of the customs we pile on people in the name of religion is incredibly stupid - even when it comes off as funny. The stupid garb that Muslims require their women to wear is beyond stupidity...

CNN Reports on Republican Racism and Hatred

Bill Maher's final comment from Religulous

Saudis are Nuts

All religion is nuts. Just crazy. We might better deify the tooth fairy for all of the sense that organized religion makes. But it seems to bring comfort to a lot of people. Our government supports religion by endorsing practices and other nations that are religious.

One of our nuttiest moves is to support Saudi Arabia (but maybe we have to because of our need for their oil?). They are an Islamic nation and have some of the craziest views of any group of people on earth. You're just gonna love this story from Boing Boing...

The Telegraph reports that a Saudi court won't allow an 8-year-old girl to divorce her 58-year-old husband. The court in its wisdom ruled that the girl must reach puberty before she can pursue her case.

Read more by clicking here...

Another Bailout Request

I missed these hearings held just prior to December 25, but they are still significant. You should watch and be horrified. I sure hope Congress comes through THIS time!

Another Bush Funny

Fifteen Acerbic Political Images - Republicans

Most of these are dated: pre-election 2008 - but they're still pretty funny.

What Are We Coming To?

The degradation of our basic rights here in the U.S has had me really upset. Unauthorized surveillance (tapping phone calls), holding people in jail (and Gitmo) without filing charges and allowing torture of our prisoners is just far beyond anything I ever thought we would come to.

But as much as I dislike it all, I don't think it even comes close to some of the abuses taking place in Britain where they don't have our Bill of Rights. Check this out from the British Times Online...

The government has been accused of trampling on individual liberties by proposing wide-ranging new powers for bailiffs to break into homes and to use “reasonable force” against householders who try to protect their valuables.

Under the regulations, bailiffs for private firms would for the first time be given permission to restrain or pin down householders. They would also be able to force their way into homes to seize property to pay off debts, such as unpaid credit card bills and loans.

What Will I Do Without Bush to Kick Around Anymore?

On Describing President Bush

From the J-Walk Blog...

1,000 people were asked to describe Bush using one word. Here are the results from 2004 and 2008:

Here's To Your Retirement, George.

Solving The Afghanistan Problem

From Crooks and Liars. This is a hoot.

The Afghan chieftain looked older than his 60-odd years, and his bearded face bore the creases of a man burdened with duties as tribal patriarch and husband to four younger women. His visitor, a CIA officer, saw an opportunity, and reached into his bag for a small gift.

Four blue pills. Viagra.

"Take one of these. You'll love it," the officer said. Compliments of Uncle Sam.

The enticement worked. The officer, who described the encounter, returned four days later to an enthusiastic reception. The grinning chief offered up a bonanza of information about Taliban movements and supply routes -- followed by a request for more pills.

United Church of Christ BANNED Ad

This was the church I grew up in - much more liberal than most.

You can see why it was banned - it promotes the acceptance of everyone. This is not well tolerated in the mainstream media.

A Religion I Could Believe In

The Conservative Agenda

One of the things that's so interesting to watch with conservatives and Republicans is their constant lament that the media is liberally biased. A big reason for their belief is that most members of the media seek out truth, not conservative lies. Conservatives have some trouble with the truth.

For evidence whereof I speak, watch this video all the way through - George Stephanopoulos lays bare the truth at the very end.

Letterman: W's Top Ten Moments

Fifteen Acerbic Political Images - Republicans (some dated)

Hiding the Bailout Money

Will Barack Obama change the way our government is working? He promised that everything would be more open and transparent. Let's hope.

From Boing Boing

Bloomberg News filed a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit against the Federal Reserve on November 7 to find out who is getting the $2 trillion in bailout money. The Federal Reserve told them to shove it.

The Fed responded Dec. 8, saying it’s allowed to withhold internal memos as well as information about trade secrets and commercial information.

Just in case you're not clear on the concept - that's your money and it's use should be subject to open government laws.

Edward Current: Five Biggest Lies About Christianity

Can you say "snark."

Rick Warren Has A Message For the Jews

image source

The Meaning of Words

Just this past week we celebrated ten years since the impeachment of Bill Clinton. Remember his famous line from the hearings into his behavior? "That depends on what the meaning of 'is' is."

Well we may have another debate with a Democratic president over the meaning of a word.

In his campaign, Barack Obama promised to get the U.S. troops out of Iraq within 16 months of being sworn in. But, just what is the meaning of "withdrawal?"

In an interview this past week with Charlie Rose on PBS, Joe Biden had this to say...

"He is committed within the context of what he said at the time," Biden said of Obama. "He said he would at the time confer with the military leaders on the ground. We will be out of Iraq in -- in the same -- in the -- in the way in which Barack Obama described his position during the campaign. That will happen."

But earlier in the week, Secretary of Defense Bob Gates told Charlie Rose the following about Iraq...

They are a sovereign country, and if they tell us after the end of 2011, we want you all out, I think we have no choice but to do that. I think that just in a ball park figure when I think of the support that they likely are going to need for their air force, for their navy, for counterterrorism, for continued training, for intelligence, for logistics and so on, my guess is that you’re looking at perhaps several tens of thousands of American troops, but clearly, in a very different role than we have played for the last five years.

For those of you who are old enough to remember the Vietnam war, think about how that war started - military advisers.

For the complete article, from which the quotes above were clipped, click here.

Our Falling Economy

Our current economic crisis is startling. It appears to me, a non-professional in the field of economics, that it all began with a borrowing frenzy here in the U.S. As middle-class incomes fell (due to the loss of jobs to overseas production and the loss of good-paying union jobs), folks out there in our middle class, turned more and more to home equity loans and credit cards to finance their middle-class lifestyle.

And in order for the government to keep up, after cutting taxes we couldn't afford to cut, the government went on a borrowing spree as well. Under the Bush administration the national debt has doubled.

All of this cash flowing into our economy kept our GDP growing - but at great expense for those in the middle. Those at the top never saw such great rewards - getting fat and rich off of all that borrowed money flowing into their bank accounts.

With all of that money, people began to speculate. People bought houses they couldn't afford believing that they would be able to sell them in a few years at great profit. Others with wealth began to speculate in oil and gasoline - thus the huge spikes in prices as crude oil was deliberately held offshore in tankers while the speculators waited for the price of gas to soar even higher.

Now all of it has crashed. It will probably be five years or more before any confidence is restored to the economy, and in the end, the middle class will probably be much worse off than they were just 2 or 3 years ago. The economy will have to adjust to less borrowing and more saving over the next decade.

But this is not all new. Robert Shiller, a professor of economics at Yale wrote an interesting article (Blowing Bubbles, P.52) in the November issue of Playboy. I found the following clip from that article to be of great interest. (Click on the image to view larger.)

Hitchens Speaks About Warren

The following quotes are grabbed from Adult Christianity...

Speaking of Obama's choice of Rick Warren for the invocation at the inaugural...

...the man he has chosen to deliver his inaugural invocation is a relentless clerical businessman who raises money on the proposition that certain Americans - non-Christians, the wrong kind of Christians, homosexuals, nonbelievers - are of less worth and littler virtue than his own lovely flock of redeemed and salvaged and paid-up donors.

---

But if we must have an officiating priest, let it be some dignified old hypocrite with no factional allegiance and not a tree-shaking huckster and publicity seeker who believes that millions of his fellow citizens are hellbound because they do not meet his own low and vulgar standards.

Osama On Christmas

Dick Cheney Admits to War Crimes

Fifteen Acerbic Political Images: Republicans (some dated)