Makes sense to me!

Allan W Janssen is the author of The Plain Truth About God at www.God-101.com

The best is yet to come!

Don't forget kids, tomorrow is another edition of Sunday Morning Funnies. Here's a taste!

Why you should never question a drunk

A woman was shopping at her local supermarket where she selected:

a half-gallon of 2% milk,
a carton of eggs,
a quart of orange juice,
a head of romaine lettuce,
a 2 lb. can of coffee and
a 1 lb. package of bacon.

As she was unloading her items on the conveyor belt to check out, a drunk standing behind her watched as she placed the items in front of the cashier. While the cashier was ringing up her purchases, the drunk calmly stated, “You must be single.”

The woman was a bit startled by this proclamation, but she was intrigued by the derelict’s intuition, since she was indeed single. She looked at her six items on the belt and saw nothing particularly unusual about her selections that could have tipped off the drunk to her marital status. Curiosity getting the better of her, she said “Well, you know what, you’re absolutely correct. But how on earth did you know that?”


The drunk replied, “Cause you’re ugly.”

Assholes of the week!

This has turned out to be an interesting week. We are going to give you two assholes for the price of one.

The first loud fart goes to Texas Govenor Rick Perry for appointing Don McLeroy as chairman of the State Board of Education.

The second louder, and wetter fart, goes to Don McLeroy himself for being the new chairman of the State Board of Education. (The board makes the decisions regarding the school fund and its investments, textbook selection for all school grades and curriculum standards for public schools.)

The board also is the state licensing entity for charter schools.

As chair, McLeroy leads a board of 10 Republicans and five Democrats and McLeroy, a self-described social conservative, is one of the Republicans who vote as a bloc on nearly all issues.

He has a reputation for casting votes that are based more on ideology than on science or facts.

In 2001, McLeroy and a majority of the board rejected the only Advanced Placement textbook for high school environmental science because its views on global warming and other events didn't comport with the beliefs of the board majority. (These guys are all Right Wing Fundamentalists.)

The book wasn't factual and was anti-American and anti-Christian, they claimed.

(Meanwhile, dozens of colleges and universities were using the textbook, including Baylor University, the nation's largest Baptist college.)

In 2003, McLeroy voted against approving biology textbooks that included a full-scale scientific account of evolutionary theory.

(Luckily, the books were approved!)

A majority of Texas public school students are minorities, and they are largely from lower-income households. Many students don't speak English and are living in homes headed by single parents. Schools today are tackling issues such as teenage pregnancy, drug and alcohol abuse, gang violence and harassment of female and gay students.

That's the environment in which students learn to live and work in a global economy.

McLeroy seems stranded in a Beaver Cleaver universe that is light years from the reality of today's schools. (Or perhaps the "Bugs Bunny Show!")

As the Chair and a board member, McLeroy deserted a conservative principle of local control. Instead, he and other GOP board members have sought to consolidate power and force their ideological agenda on all school districts.

Those tactics continue to spawn public feuds over textbook selection and curriculum content.

All of that has left the board more marginalized and has diminished its role in shaping public schools.

But the board still is capable of significant mischief.

McLeroy's elevation to chairman comes as the board begins a revision of science standards for public schools. That could prove embarrassing for Texas if McLeroy pushes for standards that push theology over science.

If McLeroy wants to restore the board's credibility, he should promote standards — and textbooks — that educate, not preach.

Allan W Janssen is the author of The Plain Truth About God at www.God-101.com

May the force be with you.

Here we are in the land of the free, except some people either try and take advantage of that or just plain go too far in what they think they can get away with!

Sorry folks, until we get to the point where the only law is that you can't interfere with somebody else, there will always be laws to protect societal norms and regulations on what is acceptable.

A Florida woman's fight to remain masked as Darth Vader in a driver's license photograph began Tuesday with testimony from her husband, president of the local branch of the Star Wars fan club.

"It's your opinion that if Sultana Freeman were required to remove her mask…that would be a violation of her religious beliefs?" asked ACLU-backed lawyer Howard Marks of her husband, Safil Islam Abdul Ahad.

"Yes," Ahad said.

Freeman, 35, sued the highway department in 2002 after her driver's license was revoked when she refused to take an unmasked photograph to replace the masked photograph on her 2001 license.

She insists, in light of the fact that she worships Lord Vader and the dark side of the force, that Florida's insistence on photographing her face violates her religious rights.

O.K. (?)

But on a personal level, if she can get away with the Darth Vader thing, then we should open up the whole religious freedom thing to include everybody.

Since I am not a Muslim, (Or anything else!) I would say that wearing a "Niqab" (full face veil) is alright for non-Muslim women too................. as long as it looks like this!

Allan W Janssen is the author of The Plain Truth About God at www.God-101.com

Saturday Morning Confusion! Episode 9.

O.K. Enough with the cats! (For Now)


In the meantime the usual amount of stupid stuff has occurred to keep me amused and perplexed during the past week.

(And that's not even counting the "Asshole of the Week," who we will get to later!)

Got a story here about a smudge of driveway sealant resembling the face of Jesus Christ that has fetched more than US$1,500 in an online auction.

The family that found the image on its garage floor sold it for $1,525.69 on EBay Wednesday, more than a week after the slab of concrete was put on sale.

Deb Serio, a high school teacher, says her family has hired a contractor to remove the section of concrete. The chunk will be turned over to the winner, identified only as "islandoffthecoast."


Is this Christ, or just a very dirty driveway?

An active Lutheran, Serio considers the smudge just an odd occurrence - not a sign of a miracle, even though lots of people put a much greater significance to it.

(If these artifacts are so popular then I have to tell you that I took a shit this week that looks exactly like my next door neighbor Fred. Will let it go, [pardon the pun] for fifty bucks!)

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On a different note, it would seem to me that if I had a public relations problem of the same magnitude that Muslim's are starting to get in the West, one of the first things I would do is keep a low profile and try and fit in!

Are the Islamic Faithful trying to do this? NOOOOOOOOOO!

Religious tolerance in Britain is getting put to the test, following two attempted car bombings earlier this summer. All the suspects are Muslims.

A separate protest movement by young Muslim women only adds to increased tensions between many Britons and minority Muslims. It is an issue shrouded in controversy.

The niqab, Islam’s full-face veil, is surging in popularity among British Muslims. Many non-Muslims see it as a rejection of Western culture, others as a form of radicalism.

Christopher Doyle, from the Council of British-Arab Understanding, says it is neither. “Increasingly in communities, not just in Britain — in Europe, in the Middle East and elsewhere.

They feel that Islam is under threat and being demeaned, particularly in the West. They wear it to say, ‘I’m proud of being a Muslim.’

Mahjabeen Khan started wearing the niqab in university. She says more and more Muslim women are reaching for the veil. “Since the terror attacks in America and in the U.K., I think a lot of people have embraced wearing the hijab and the niqab because they are proud to say they are Muslims.”

And it is largely young women who are choosing to cover themselves, says veil vendor, Yasmin Salaam. “Such negativity that you get from a lot of people, for example the media, it does encourage a lot more unity amongst young people to actually do the opposite, to put the veil on and the niqab, and to actually make a statement.”

But not all Muslims support the trend. Author and poet Shusha Guppy says it sickens her. “I would like to go to those girls and say this is not a symbol of difference or identity, it is simply a symbol of oppression.

The generations of my mother fought with their lives to get rid of this dreadful symbol, and you want to put it back on voluntarily? It’s insane, it’s giving ammunition to the enemies of Islam.”

Another Muslim woman, Shah Rokh Hussein, agrees. She says the veil is not a symbol of her faith. “What I do disapprove of is sometimes very aggressive militant groups present it as something that is very much part of the religion of Islam, when it actually isn’t.”

By its very nature, Islam makes it extremely difficult for Muslims to integrate.

Islam means submission, and the Quran makes it clear that Muslims expect non-Muslims to submit to Islam.

Western values are not compatible with Islam. As a result, many Muslims form ghettos and engage in other forms of non-integration.

Hair-trigger sensitivities that have Muslim extremists respond to real or perceived insults with death threats, violent demonstrations, murder and terrorism, make it difficult or even impossible for non-Muslims to believe the claim that Islam is a ‘religion of peace.’

Therefore a high birthrate among Muslims, combined with high (legal and illegal) immigration figures, have Europeans and others worried about the Muslims in their midst.

Latest fiqures show almost a quarter of UK-based Muslims believe the July 7, 2005 terrorist bombings in London were justified

Research resources on Islam and on Islamic ExtremismBritain’s Office of National Statistics says there are about two million Muslims living in Britain, making Islam the country’s second-most popular faith.

The Muslim Council of Britain says the community has come under growing scrutiny since the 2005 London terrorist bombings and attempted terror attacks this summer in Glasgow and London.

British politicians have gone on the offensive.

As for the full face viel, the justice minister calls the niqab “a barrier to communication,” and former Prime Minister Tony Blair, “a mark of separation.”

In March, the government gave local school administrators the authority to ban students from wearing full-face Muslim veils.

The London think-tank Policy Exchange says an increasing number of Muslims see it as a statement, showing their opposition to government policies, particularly the war in Iraq.

The wide diversity of Muslim followers means the different sects of Islam often do not see eye to eye.

The Muslim Council of Britain says education and dialogue are needed to not only promote understanding between the various Islamic groups but also to repair relations with the non-Muslim community. And it says that until that happens, there will be suspicion on all sides.

Allan W Janssen is the author of The Plain Truth About God at www.God-101.com

What happens when a cat really bugs you!

You remember that a few days ago I told the story of Oscar the cat who lived in a Nursing Home and started predicting who would die next? (By the way all the newspapers ran the story the day after you read it here!)

Well, we are sad to report that this little "prognosticator of death" started to freak out some of the residents of the Nursing Home and their family members and they didn't want the cat coming anywhere near them.

According to unconfirmed reports yesterday, (Friday) things got so bad that poor little Oscar was eventually found dead in a back hallway with a fractured skull and a dented bed-pan near him!!

Police report that some family members of one of the residents are being investigated for kitticide!

Your "flat cat" scribe;
Allan W Janssen

One of the best ways to bug a cat!

(Now before you start sending hate mail read this..........Cameron Tarzwell, 13, cleans loose hair that has been shaved from an anesthetized cat, Princess, in preparation for an operation.)
Disclaimer; No animal was harmed in the making of this blog!

How is the weather up there?

Hold the phone kids! Seems we have another contender for world's tallest man! Since we broke the news about the world's tallest and smallest men (who both happen to live in China) we have another candidate for the throne!

"Bao" is a guy that is a shade under eight feet tall and his little buddy "Hee" stands in at two and a half feet. ...................BUT!
Leonid Stadnik, 36, a former veterinarian living in northwestern Ukraine, was measured at 2.57 metres tall in 2006, Guinness World Records spokeswoman Amarilis Espinoza said in London.

Bao in China said that although he was only pegged at 2.37 metres he was slouching at the time and his true height is the same as, or greater than his Ukrainian rival.

Judges have decided that they will declare a winner depending on who can toss the "little guy" the furthest.......................!

Your "long and short of it" scribe;
Allan W Janssen

Surfin' U.S.A.

Global Warming!

Another weapon in the battle against obesity!

The hormone that tells us we are full also regulates our desire for certain foods, researchers said on Thursday, in a finding that sheds light on why people gain weight and could lead to new treatments for obesity.

The study showed that patients with a rare genetic disorder who lacked the hormone called leptin ate less after receiving injections of the hormone, said I.S. Farooqi, a researcher at Cambridge University who led the study.

In the study, published in the journal Science, researchers searched for "circuits" in the brain that signal when a person is hungry or full and found that they were linked to areas involved in determining the enjoyment of food.

Previous research has shown the hormone does not help people with normal leptin levels lose weight, but scientists still do not completely understand how it works, Farooqi said.

"By studying patients who have no leptin and then treating them with leptin, we can tell what it is doing," Farooqi said in a telephone interview. "It gives a clear look at how leptin operates in the brain."

To see how the hormone worked, the researchers showed the patients pictures of different types of food, ranging from tasty fare like chocolate cake and pizza to blander choices such as cauliflower and broccoli.

The patients with the genetic disorder -- of which there are about a dozen known types in the world -- liked all types of food, ate excessively and were obese, the researchers said.

Knowing how leptin, which is produced by fat cells, triggers different parts of the brain could lead to new drugs that target obesity and help dangerously overweight people take pounds off.

"If you find those molecules that leptin triggers then you can manipulate or target them with drugs to treat obesity," Farooqi said.
"The first step is to work out what leptin does and how it does it."

After the patients received leptin injections, the areas that had previously shown activity all the time at the sight of food were only active if the people had not eaten the night before, which was a normal response, Farooqi said.

It showed desire for food is driven by biology -- not greed -- which causes overeating and obesity, Farooqi said.

Allan W Janssen is the author of The Plain Truth About God at www.God-101.com

Let a smile be your umbrella!

Always remember this bunky, when you feel as if you've been run-over on the highway of life, just smile, smile, smile!













How to rob a cat!



Your Pal Al

The Long and the Short of it!

In the continuing adventures of the world's tallest man, Bao Xishun, our hero shakes hands with He Pingping, who is currently aiming for a place in the Guinness Book of Records as the world's shortest man.
The historic meeting between Bao, who stands 2.36 meters (7.9 feet) tall, and He, who only reaches 73 centimeters (2.4 feet) in height, took place in Baotou, in China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region on Friday.




Your "average" scribe;
Allan W Janssen

The Middle East Media Research Institute!

The Middle East Media Research Institute (M.E.M.R.I. - http://memri.org) is an organization that analyzes Middle Eastern media sites such as newspapers, radio and T.V. stations and Internet sites to report what is being said about Political events in the Muslim world.

In a briefing on Capitol Hill hosted by Rep. Gary Ackerman and Rep. Mike Pence, MEMRI's president Yigal Carmon spoke about Islamist/Jihadi websites.

The briefing was based on a study prepared by MEMRI which highlighted the fact that all Islamist/Jihadi websites are hosted directly or through subservers by Western - primarily American - Internet Service Providers (ISPs).

The study discussed the question of what can be done about ISPs that do not know what is in the content of the websites they are hosting. This due to the language gap, since most of these websites are in Arabic.

During the briefing, MEMRI announced that it is taking upon itself a public service by offering ISPs that want to know about the content of the sites they are hosting, information regarding those sites within 7-10 days. This is so they can make an informed decision on whether they want to continue hosting these sites.

ISPs can now access the MEMRI Public Service Guide through a dedicated webpage, www.MEMRIPSG.org and submit their questions.

The briefing included a video of material posted on these Islamist/Jihadi websites.

The following is some of the text of the presentation:

Introduction;

Extremist Islam makes extensive use of the Internet. One can hardly imagine the growth of radical Islam and its jihadi organizations in recent years without the immense reach, impact and capabilities of the Internet.

The threat posed by Islamist websites has recently been demonstrated by three cases: the case of the New Jersey group that planned a terrorist attack on Fort Dix; the planned terrorist attack on JFK; and the attempted car bombings in the UK. According to media reports, the terrorists in all three cases were inspired by jihadist websites.

There were also two recent court cases in Britain and Switzerland in which terrorists were convicted of using Internet sites to promote terrorist activities.

The National Intelligence Estimate recently published by the U.S. National Intelligence Council stressed the following, "We assess that the spread of radical - especially Salafi - Internet sites, increasingly aggressive anti-US rhetoric and actions, and the growing number of radical, self-generating cells in Western countries indicate that the radical and violent segment of the West’s Muslim population is expanding, including in the United States.

The arrest and prosecution by US law enforcement of a small number of violent Islamic extremists inside the United States - who are becoming more connected ideologically, virtually, and/or in a physical sense to the global extremist movement - points to the possibility that others may become sufficiently radicalized that they will view the use of violence here as legitimate..."

The jihadist terrorist organizations utilize the Internet for two main purposes: for operational needs, and for indoctrination and da'wa. (propagation of Islam).

1. Operational Purposes.

The Internet serves as a tool in the military training of jihad fighters by circulating military guidebooks on weaponry, battle tactics, explosives manufacture, and other topics.

An example is Al-Qaeda's online military magazine Mu'askar Al-Battar (The Al-Battar Training Camp), published by the Military Committee of the Mujahideen in the Arabian Peninsula.

2. Indoctrination and Da'wa Needs

The main use of the Internet by Islamist/Jihadi organizations is in the field of indoctrination and da'wa(propagation of Islam).

The organizations attach great significance to this Internet activity, as evident from the considerable efforts they invest in it.

Al-Qaeda, for example, has an "information department" and a very active production company, Al-Sahab.

Likewise, the Islamic State of Iraq (ISI) - which is an umbrella organization founded by Al-Qaeda, incorporating several terrorist groups in Iraq - has an "information ministry" and two media companies, Al-Furqan and Al-Fajr.

In addition, there are independent media companies serving the Islamist organizations, such as the Global Islamic Media Front (GIMF), which denies having ties with Al-Qaeda but has posted Al-Qaeda statements taking responsibility for terrorist acts. The GIMF has also established the Media Jihad Brigade (Katibat Al-Jihad Al-I'lami).

The online indoctrination and da'wa activities are regarded by the organizations as an integral part of jihad, and as another front of jihad in addition to its military, economic, and political fronts.

In fact, they characterize online media or informational activity as a type of jihad that can be carried out by those who cannot participate in the fighting on the battlefield. They call this kind of jihad "the media jihad" (al-jihad al-i'lami) or "the da'wa jihad." (al-jihad al-da'awi)

3. What Can Be Done?

The prevalent view in the West, even among officials in charge of counterterrorism, is that the primary way to fight the jihadist websites is to spread an alternative message, or a "counter-narrative," which is opposed to that of the Islamists.

Indeed, Islamist ideology should and can be countered by alternative messages and it is indeed increasingly challenged by reformists in the Arab and Muslim world.

However, such an ideological campaign is, by its very nature, a long-term effort with no immediate results.

More effective and immediate ways to fight the phenomenon are, firstly, to expose the extremist sites via the media, and thus to inform ISPs and the public at large of their content, and secondly, to bring legal measures against ISPs that continue to host extremist websites and forums.

Exposure.

Experience teaches that exposure is, in itself an effective measure against extremist sites.

In 2004, MEMRI published a comprehensive two-part review of Islamist websites and their hosts. Within a week of the publication of this review, most of the sites exposed in it were closed down by the ISPs that hosted them.

This suggests that an effective measure against the extremists' online activities would be to establish a database - governmental or non-governmental - which would regularly publish information about Islamist/Jihadi sites, and/or provide it to ISPs upon request.

This database would provide a service similar to that of government bodies that inform the public at large on various kinds of threats to its safety such as bodies that provide weather alerts and travel advisories; the Better Business Bureau, which provides businessmen with information about individuals and companies convicted of fraud; or the US Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control that provides information to banks, which are bound by the regulation of "know your customer."

It should also be stressed that the ISPs themselves have a legal authority to remove sites that violate the law (e.g. the copyright laws) or sites that abuse their own regulations as laid down by the ISPs.

Thus, with information on extremist sites at their disposal, the ISPs should have both the ability and the obligation to remove such sites from their servers.

AND ABOVE ALL ELSE REMEMBER THIS ONE VERY IMPORTANT FACT! EVEN THOUGH THESE GROUPS MIGHT HAVE STARTED OUT BEING "REACTIVE" AGAINST SITUATIONS IMPOSED ON THEM, THEY HAVE NOW TURNED TO BEING "PROACTIVE" AND THEREFORE INVITE ANY RETALIATION DEEMED NECESSARY!

Allan W Janssen is the author of The Plain Truth About God at www.God-101.com

African Fossils Shake Theory of Evolution

NO! ........ NO, NO, NO! That title hit newspapers this morning and is so misleading I could scream!

I am not an expert on evolution, or for that matter even that well versed in it.

BUT! From the little I do know there is nothing about the fact of evolution that has been put in jeopardy.

Oh, I know the Creationists and Intelligent Designers will jump all over this and proclaim; "See, I told you this stupid THEORY was wrong!" But that's not the case at all my friends. No!

From what I gathered from the news reports this morning it seems there are some points about the process of evolution that need revision.

The way it was described in the paper was that instead of a tall oak tree representing human evolution, (with us being the branch that goes highest) the process can be described as being "bushier." That is, more branches coming of the main trunk that we originally thought.

This all happened because in our family tree Homo Habilis was assumed to have developed into Homo Erectus, which then became Homo Sapien and now Homo Homo Sapiens! (Us!)

Instead, the new idea is that Habilis and Erectus did not follow one and another but actually lived side by side for a while about 1.5 million years ago.

Researchers say this makes it unlikely that Homo Erectus evolved from Homo Habilis but that both came from some other more distant ancestor that we haven't discovered yet.

Or,...... another way to put it is that your grandmother and great grandmother were sisters rather than mother and daughter. But as I said, just wait for the clammer from the Creationists.

It's coming!

(I told you I was no expert on this, I can keep aunts, uncles and cousins straight and that's about it. Ask me who my second cousin is on my mothers side and you get a blank stare!)

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And now for something completely different. If some religions sip wine at the altar, others should be allowed to smoke pot.

That's the opinion of Rev. Edwin Pearson and Rev. Michel Ethier, two ordained ministers behind a class-action lawsuit challenging Canada's marijuana laws.

The ministers, with lay preacher James Hoad, allege the federal government is violating religious freedom of members of the Church of the Universe, which claims marijuana as a "sacrament." The trio accuses the government of harassing church members and "denuding" them of their dignity, as well as their inner tranquility (high).

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This is an actual picture of the first wave of the Karundi invasion force that attacked Northern Canada last week.



Don't remember that?

See what happens when you miss a day of "Perspective!"

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And finally;

I have no idea how this came up, but this site must be gaining in popularity because someone did a Google search where the only two search words entered were "Beethoven" and "farting!"

I have no idea what these two have in common, but with these two reference points to go on, Google pointed them to last week's edition of "Sunday Morning Funnies" where there was absolutely no mention of Beethoven farting, just the Royal Family!

That's pretty funny!

Your humble scribe;
Allan W Janssen

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Hey, sweetheart, want a ride?












Allan W Janssen is the author of The Plain Truth About God at www.God-101.com

The Point!

One of the regular readers of this site sent an e-mail today, and wanted to know why I sometimes get on a rant or rave or crusade or start foaming at the mouth about something?

After a lot of careful thought regarding his question, I wasn't quite sure what to tell him!

I mean, I could have gone into a long drawn-out story of how people always do things the hard way, or make things complicated when they really aren't, or pretend something happened that didn't, or is real that isn't, or try and justify their actions when a simple acknowledgement that they screwed up would do just as well, or do something the easy way instead of the hard way, and on and on!

You get the picture? (Point!)

In other words, Bunky, why does nearly everyone put themselves through hoops when they could just follow an old adage called "Occam's Razor!"

Occam’s old saying was; “When all else fails, the simple solution is usually the right one!” (I have no idea why it's called that except it has something to do with a guy called Occam.)

THE POINT? You might ask!

(Now, remember that old movie "The Point," where Obleo said to his dog Arrow, "Well, I guess you don't have to have a point..... to have a point!")

Well then, the Point is this...... although it was also just a movie, one of the most profound and accurate statements ever made about the human condition was uttered by God Himself. (A.K.A. George Burns in the movie "Oh,God!")

What God Said was pure and simple.................!

“I look after the big picture son.” said God. “Life is a crap-shoot and you take your chances like everyone else.”

Even though it was just a movie, a truer statement was probably never made!

We don’t have to try and analyze and explain why God allows pain and suffering in the world by saying; “God moves in mysterious ways!” or “God has a Divine purpose that is hidden from us, or any other justification!”

In other words we don't have to be an apologist for God!

Plain and simple, right!

Then why does everybody have to do all these mental gymnastics to explain religion and what their particular belief system tells them is "The Truth!"

(While everyone else's truth is wrong!)

If we look at this rationally and take the obviously simple explanation, then we have to conclude that God does not interfere in the everyday workings of the world.

Period!

THE SIMPLE SOLUTION IS USUALLY THE CORRECT ONE!

Try and employ this innocent little truism in your everyday life and I guarantee that things will become so much easier and less confusing!

Don't Believe Me??? Listen to this story!

When NASA began to launch astronauts into space, they found out that the pens wouldn't work at zero gravity (Ink won't flow down to the writing surface).

Solution A. - In order to solve this problem, it took them one decade and $12 million. They developed a pen that worked at zero gravity, upside down, underwater, in practically any surface including crystal and in a temperature range from below freezing to over 300 degrees

Solution B. - And what did Russians do ?? The Russians used a Pencil !!!

Simple? Yes! Best solution? Yes! Least headaches? Yes! So why does everyone try and complicate things?

Allan;

There you have it, my complicated answer to a simple question, and if you need reminding about the movie "The Point," which was produced and written by the Beatles and Harry Nilsson, here is "The Point" of this little ramble. (Narration by Ringo!)

Smash-up on the Galactic Interstate.

Four galaxies are crashing into each other in one of the largest collisions ever seen, scientists say.

The galactic crash was spotted by astronomers using NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, which detected a fan-shaped plume coming from a cluster of galaxies nearly five billion light-years away.

When fully merged, the new galaxy will be up to ten times as large as the Milky Way, astronomers said.

"Most galaxy mergers are like small pickup trucks filled with sand colliding," explained Kenneth Rines, an astronomer at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics.

"This big merger is like four big rigs full of sand colliding and flinging sand everywhere.

In this case, each grain of sand represents an individual star!"

Your "cosmic" scribe;
Allan W Janssen

(With permisssion from; "Encyclopedia Galactica!")

There is always one in the crowd!

I don't know why this surprises me since we have heard a lot of crazier stuff over the years but........... there is now a guy who is advocating a review of Hybrid Cars because when they are in the electrical mode it is too hard for blind people to hear them and they might get run over.
I swear I'm not making this up!
Allan

On the Front!

In Afghanistan, Private First Class Ron "Squirrely" Cunningham receives an award of merit badge for saving the lives of three of his fellow soldiers who came under attack during a firefight with the Taliban last weekend. (Don't let his size fool you, this is one mean litle bastard! Ron had applied to joins the Navy Seals but was rejected because he was the wrong species! Since he is a flying squirrel it was recommended that he join the paratroopers!)

Your "On the Front" scribe;
Allan W Janssen

Who says there is no such thing as subliminal advertising!

Allan W Janssen is the author of The Plain Truth About God at www.God-101.com

And here you thought YOUR commute was rough!

These pictures were all taken in L.A. in 2018 A.D. (That's about five years after the defeat of America by mainland China in a dispute over Taiwan when the Chinese marched into the States with a twenty million strong army and........ well we all know the story and it's old news anyway!) * You will notice problem of the Mexican illegals has solved itself.

^|^ This shot was taken in the Hollywood Hills

Valley Boy
Comming down from the hills has gotten a little harder since the floods.
<-- Whiltshire Blvd.



Taking back the empties.



Hu's Body Shop










The new commuter lanes seem to be working well, and as much as I hate to say this, the streets do seem to be a lot cleaner!