- PERSPECTIVE -

- EVERYONE SEEMS NORMAL UNTIL YOU GET TO KNOW THEM! -

My Photo
Name:
Location: London, Canada

Thanks for reading my blog.

Saturday, November 17, 2007

No thanks!

For some reason a bunch of Christian Right Wing Fundamentalists chose today to send me page after page of arguments on why Creationism is the "God's Honest Truth" and Evolution is a conspiracy by Godless left wing scientists to mislead us.

Rather than rise to the bait I am just going to say that I don't have the time or the inclination to get into any discussions with you people on this subject.

I would consider it a total waste of time since your arguments prove that every one of you are too fucking stupid to carry on a reasonable and logical debate and I have better things to do than play mind games with you.

Your "not so humble" narrator;
Allan W Janssen

Allan W Janssen is the author of The Plain Truth About God at www.God-101.com and the blog "Perspective" at http://God-101.blogspot.com

Labels: , , ,

Saudi's are no better than Taliban!

Yes, it's true kids, the Saudi's are a bunch of mysogynistic, reactionary, extremist, stick your head in the sand assholes that are no better than the Taliban.

I can say that based on what I have read and heard as well as a first hand account from my wife who spent 4 years in Saudi Arabia.

Don't believe me when I say these idiots are stuck in the twelfth century and refuse to join the modern world............................. then just read this.

Saudi court punishes rape victim with 200 lashes!

(Ruling harsh even by Saudi standards, lawyers argue.)


In a ruling decried by Saudi lawyers as too severe, a court in the desert kingdom this week sentenced a female victim of gang rape to six months in prison and 200 lashes for being alone with a man who was not her relative.

The 200 lashes included in the sentence, which was reached Wednesday by the Qatif General Court, more than doubled the woman's original punishment of 90 lashes. The court boosted her penalty because of the victim's "attempt to aggravate and influence the judiciary through the media," a report in the English-language Arab News newspaper said, quoting one of the judges.

The young woman, who was 19 years old when she was raped 18 months ago, became the centre of a debate about Saudi Arabia's justice system since going public with her case a year ago.

Saudi lawyers said they found the decision too harsh even by Saudi standards of justice.

Known only in the Saudi media as "the Qatif girl," the victim's offence was in meeting privately with a high-school boyfriend in a car in 2006 because she was about to marry another man and wanted to retrieve some photographs.

Under the Saudi penal code, which operates according to a strict interpretation of Islamic Sharia law, it is forbidden for a woman to be alone with a man who is not her husband or a relative.

The woman's former boyfriend, who was not one of the rapists, was sitting alone with the woman when a group of seven men abducted them and raped them both. The woman was raped 14 times, according to reports.

The male victim was convicted for violating Saudi Arabia's rigid gender-segregation law, and was himself sentenced to 90 lashes.

The couple's attackers were originally sentenced to prison terms ranging from 10 months to five years in prison, but also had their sentences increased to two to nine years this week, reports said.

Lawyer Abdulrahman al-Lahem, a well-known human rights activist who represented the female victim in court, appealed the attackers' sentences, arguing they were too lenient and that the treatment of his client was too harsh.

In its verdict on Wednesday, the Qatif General Court also suspended Al-Lahem's licence to practice law. For his regular appearance on Arab television to discuss the case, Al-Lahem faces a disciplinary hearing before a Ministry of Justice Committee in December.

Lashing is a common sentence in Saudi Arabia for crimes such as homosexuality and adultery. Bassem Alim, a lawyer in the western metropolis of Jeddah, told the New York Times that a typical punishment for adultery ranges from 60 to 80 lashes.

"I don't think she was committing adultery in that car," Alim said, adding he felt the young woman was treated unjustly in the case.
The victim's husband told local reporters that he plans to appeal the verdict, the Times reported.

For now, the woman is free and has not yet been lashed.

Now, just so you don't think it is just the Saudi's that need a reformation, we have this news from Iraq as well.

The chief of police in the southern Iraqi city of Basra has warned of a campaign of violence against women carried out by religious extremists. It has, Maj-Gen Abdul Jalil Khalaf said, included threats, intimidation and even murder.

Some victims were dressed in indecent clothes by their killers or had notices attached to them, he said.

Women interviewed by the BBC said they no longer dared venture on to Basra's streets without strict Islamic attire.

>"There is a terrible repression against women in Basra," Maj-Gen Khalaf told the BBC.

"They kill women, leave a piece of paper on her or dress her in indecent clothes so as to justify their horrible crimes."

The real face of Islamic Extremism?????
Forty-two women were killed between July and September this year, although the number dropped slightly in October, he said.

In one case, he added, a woman was killed in her home along with her six-year-old son, who was rumoured to have been conceived in an adulterous relationship.

Maj-Gen Khalaf, sent to Basra this year by Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki to impose order in the city, said the police were often too scared to conduct proper investigations into the killings.

"The relatives are reluctant to report the crimes for fear of a scandal or because they despair of the police's ability to solve them," he added.
A female lawyer in Basra contacted by the BBC by phone from London, who asked not to be named for fear of reprisals, said attacks on women in the city were occurring "every two or three days".

She told the BBC about a university student who had been shot in the legs for not wearing an Islamic headscarf, or hijab.

The lawyer also said that graffiti was painted on walls warning women to cover their heads or "be punished".

She said she had been told by a group of men that she should be at home and get married instead of working.

"They said to me: 'If anyone's willing to offer a good price for you, we wouldn't think twice about selling you'," she said.

"When they see a woman going out to work and being successful, I'm sorry, but they feel inferior to her."
A mother-of-six and government employee in Basra, who wished to be identified only as Um Zeinab, told the BBC she had almost been run down by a motorcyclist one day while waiting for her bus to work.

"I was wearing a shirt with a skirt and some make-up, as I usually do," she said.

"I was waiting at the bus stop when the motorbike headed straight at me, full speed."
Luckily, the motorcyclist skidded and fell before reaching her.

She said she had heard of other women attacked but who had not been as lucky.

"Two women were killed in al-Makal district two days ago. People said they had received warnings before and then gunmen came to their homes and killed them, one in front of their kids."
This is the statement issued by these so called men of GOD; "We warn against immodest dress. Violators will be punished. God is witness that we have conveyed the message!"

Allan W Janssen is the author of The Plain Truth About God at www.God-101.com and the blog "Perspective" at http://God-101.blogspot.com

Labels: , , , ,

DUCK!!!!

A great time can be had in St. Marten's, as long as you survive the landing!
Allan W Janssen is the author of The Plain Truth About God at www.God-101.com and the blog "Perspective" at http://God-101.blogspot.com

Labels: ,

Saturday Morning Confusion #9

Those Bedouin tribesmen sure have got me confused this week.

Members of Saudi Arabia's Senior Clerics Association have issued a fatwa banning camel beauty contests.

The fatwa stated that the contests are prohibited because they include perversion, waste money on futility and ostentation, and are similar to games banned by the Koran.

Camel beauty contests have been held annually at this time for the past decade, and are part of Saudi tribal folklore.






I have absolutely no idea how you can find anything about a camel that can be described as "beautiful" but then again I don't spend all day out in the sun getting heatstroke either!

Personally, if it was up to me, they would be having a "camel-toe" beauty contest!

Allan W Janssen is the author of The Plain Truth About God at www.God-101.com and the blog "Perspective" at http://God-101.blogspot.com

Labels: , , , ,

The Day the Universe Changed Episode #8







Allan W Janssen is the author of The Plain Truth About God at www.God-101.com and the blog "Perspective" at http://God-101.blogspot.com

Labels:

Asshole of the Week! #31

Well loyal readers, it wasn't really much of a contest this week. This guy took the prize without any serious competition at all.

The Hindustan Times reports P. Selvakumar married the sari-draped former stray named Selvi, who was chosen by family members and then bathed and clothed for the ceremony

Selvakumar told the paper he had been suffering since he stoned two dogs to death and hung their bodies from a tree 15 years ago.

He said that after the stoning, he became paralyzed in his hands and legs and lost hearing in one ear.

(Best man, Patches!)
The paper says an astrologer had told Selvakumar the wedding was the only way he could cure the maladies. It did not say whether his situation had improved.

After the wedding, the paper reports that the groom and his family sat down to a feast while the dog got a bun.


WOOF!

Allan W Janssen is the author of The Plain Truth About God at www.God-101.com and the blog "Perspective" at http://God-101.blogspot.com

Labels: , , ,

Friday, November 16, 2007

Mr Pissed with Laughter

There is a guy from Florida who has a blog called "Mr. Pissed" and some of the articles are well worth a read. (There is a link to it on the left side down near the bottom!")

I am going to give you a quick preview of a few of them along with comments of my own.

A 79-year-old Roman Catholic nun pleaded no contest Monday to two counts of indecent behavior with a child for alleged sexual encounters with two male students at a church convent and school where she was principal during the 1960s.

The nun, Norma Giannini, and her attorney left the courthouse without comment after entering the pleas in Milwaukee County Circuit Court.

Giannini faces a maximum 10 years on each count when sentenced Feb. 1.According to the criminal complaint, the two men told authorities they had dozens of sexual encounters with Giannini, including intercourse, while attending St. Patrick's School.

One man said the nun told him in 1965, when he was 13, to open the buttons of her habit, but he was shaking so badly he could not do so. He said she then unbuttoned her clothing and had him touch her breasts, the complaint said.

The first incident was followed by 60 to 80 others, including two involving sexual intercourse, it said.The other man said he had sexual contact with the nun more than 100 times, beginning when he was in seventh grade. At least one incident involved sexual intercourse, the complaint said.Giannini went on to work in Illinois from 1970 to 1994.

Sister Betty Smith, regional president for the Sisters of Mercy in Chicago, has said the nun received extensive counseling at a St. Louis treatment facility after the order "learned of the situation" during the 1990s.

Giannini, listed in online court records as living in Oak Lawn, Ill., has been closely monitored and separated from minors since then, Smith said.

The nun has been retired from active work for five years because of failing health, she said.
Now you can think what you want of me but to be perfectly honest I have to tell you that if I was 13 or 14 and had a chance to be banging a Nun, I would have considered myself extremely fortunate and there is no way I would be telling anyone.

I also think I am in the majority on this if the truth be told.

At least that's the way I see it, for better or worse!

Sarah Carmen, 24, says the Permanent Sexual Arousal Syndrome that she suffers from can cause her to have orgasm at any time of day.

She explained: "Anything can set me off. Even the hairdryers cause funny pulsations through my body. "As a skin care specialist I have to use tools which vibrate a lot of the time for micro-dermabrasion and they sometimes set me off.

"I find if I'm nervous I'm less likely to get over-excited. So sometimes I try to psyche myself up and worry to control my orgasms. "Some of my regular customers know my problem. But with new clients it's hard to explain.
Who the hell brainwashed this woman into believing she has a problem?

Villagers at a wedding in Bihar decided the groom had arrived too drunk to get married, and so the bride married the groom's more sober brother instead, police said on Monday.

"The groom was drunk and had reportedly misbehaved with guests when the bride's family and local villagers chased him away," Madho Singh, a senior police officer told Reuters after Sunday's marriage in a village in Bihar's Arwal district.

The younger brother readily agreed to take the groom's place beside the teenage bride at her family's invitation, witnesses said.

"The groom apologised for his behaviour, but has been crying that word will spread and he will never get a bride again," Singh said by phone.
This reminds me of a true story that happened to me shortly after my first marriage went down the toilet.

There was a girl I liked and we went out on a date. I asked her how long she had been separated from her husband and she said that _______ was not her husband!

This perplexed me to no end since she had the same last name and I said; "Well, what a coincidence that you both had the same name then!"

She replied; "No, no coincidence at all, I used to be married to his brother!"

AND FINALLY!

A man has been placed on the sex offenders’ register after being caught trying to have sex with a bicycle.

Robert Stewart was discovered in his room by two cleaners at the Aberley House Hostel in Ayr, south west Scotland, in October last year.

On Wednesday Mr Stewart admitted to sexual breach of the peace in Ayr Sheriff Court, where depute fiscal Gail Davidson described how he had been found by the hostel workers.

She said: "They knocked on the door several times and there was no reply." They used a master key to unlock the door and they then observed the accused wearing only a white T-shirt, naked from the waist down. "The accused was holding the bike and moving his hips back and forth as if to simulate sex."

Both witnesses, who were extremely shocked, notified the hotel manager, who in turn alerted the police.
Apparently it took the cops about two hours to get his dick out of the spokes!

Your "all the news that fits" scribe;
Allan W Janssen

By the way I found out Mr. Pissed is not from Florida, he is from Pittsburg..... in which case he has my condolences.

Allan W Janssen is the author of The Plain Truth About God at www.God-101.com and the blog "Perspective" at http://God-101.blogspot.com

Labels: , ,

The Day the Universe Changed Episode #7







Allan W Janssen is the author of The Plain Truth About God at www.God-101.com and the blog "Perspective" at http://God-101.blogspot.com

Labels:

Superman Reaches Middle Age!


Allan W Janssen is the author of The Plain Truth About God at http://www.god-101.com/ and the blog "Perspective" at http://god-101.blogspot.com/

Labels: , , ,

Thursday, November 15, 2007

!!!!!!!

Labels: ,

Ho, Ho, .......Ha!

Ladies and gentlemen, I really thought I had heard it all, but as usual I was just deluding myself. As a matter of fact, I will use the old phrase; "You ain't heard nothin yet!"

Santas in Australia's largest city have been told not to use Father Christmas's traditional "ho ho ho" greeting because it may be offensive to women, it was reported Thursday.

Sydney's Santa Clauses have instead been instructed to say "ha ha ha" instead, the Daily Telegraph reported.

One disgruntled Santa told the newspaper a recruitment firm warned him not to use "ho ho ho" because it could frighten children and was too close to "ho", a US slang term for prostitute.

"Gimme a break," said Julie Gale, who runs the campaign against sexualising children called Kids Free 2B Kids.

"We are talking about little kids who do not understand that "ho, ho, ho" has any other connotation and nor should they," she told the Telegraph."Leave Santa alone."
If you think the whole world is going to hell in a handbasket you might not be too far off!

Your "bah, humbug" scribe;
Allan W Janssen

Allan W Janssen is the author of The Plain Truth About God at www.God-101.com and the blog "Perspective" at http://God-101.blogspot.com

Labels: , , ,

The Day the Universe Changed Episode #6

(How the industrial and scientific revolution changed our universe!)







Allan W Janssen is the author of The Plain Truth About God at www.God-101.com and the blog "Perspective" at http://God-101.blogspot.com

Labels:

Cyber Security

Online Islamist extremists pose an increasing threat to public safety, a U.S.-based intelligence analyst warns, as evidence grows that they are beefing up their internet presence to find and nurture new members and wage hacking wars against opponents.

For example, a message posted recently on the year-old Al Fajr Media Center website, linked to the al-Qaeda extremist network, calls for volunteers to form "hacking battalions" — groups of internet-savvy sympathizers whose mission will be to mount spam e-mail attacks that will disable moderate Muslim websites.

Four months ago, the same website disseminated a sophisticated encryption program designed to prevent Western intelligence agencies from spying on them.

As a result of that posting, security analyst Ned Moran said, Islamist extremists from all over the world are meeting in password-protected chat rooms to plan attacks.

"They are using the internet to organize real-world operations, whether it's a bombing, a kidnapping or a major attack," said Moran, a senior intelligence analyst with the independent Washington-based Terrorism Research Center.

"We never know where the next hit will emerge."
Al Fajr sits atop a pyramid of sites feeding propaganda and information on military tactics to hundreds of Islamic extremist websites in cyberspace. Every day, its editors assemble a package of videos, communiques and news they consider of interest to Islamist extremists.

Many of the videos are produced by al-Qaeda's production company, Ah-Sahab. Much of the news copy is written by an extremist news service called the Global Islamic Media Front.

It's sophisticated and it’s frightening, given the estimated 5,000 to 6,000 Islamist websites in cyberspace, said Moran.

"It is typically a group of young individuals. Some are living in Europe, some in the Middle East. They are a technologically sophisticated second generation."

"The ability to disseminate propaganda, incite large masses and co-ordinate their actions is very, very threatening."
The "hacking battalions" being recruited this month will not be joining a new online war. American internet vigilantes on the other side of the ideological fence have organized denial-of-service spam attacks against the extremists' websites, and security analysts think even Western intelligence agencies may be getting involved in cyber-sabotage.

People like Moran believe the electronic Islamic extremists are gradually becoming more technologically adept. On several sympathetic websites, they say their ultimate goal is to develop their hacking skills to the point where they can take down strategic targets such as the New York Stock Exchange or the computer systems that run nuclear reactors.

Allan W Janssen is the author of The Plain Truth About God at www.God-101.com and the blog "Perspective" at http://God-101.blogspot.com

Labels: , ,

Wednesday, November 14, 2007

The Day the Universe Changed Episode #5

(How the industrial and scientific revolution changed our universe!)






Allan W Janssen is the author of The Plain Truth About God at www.God-101.com and the blog "Perspective" at http://God-101.blogspot.com

Labels:

For Better or Worse.

Not much surprises me any more kids!

Not only that, it's not just the Jews, Muslims and Christians who can get themselves all tied up in knots. No sir!

Got a Hindu guy here that is the front-runner for asshole of the week. (This is a different slant on the "man bites dog' story!)

A man in southern India married a female dog in a traditional Hindu ceremony as an attempt to atone for stoning two other dogs to death.

The Hindustan Times reports P. Selvakumar married the sari-draped former stray named Selvi, who was chosen by family members and then bathed and clothed for the ceremony

Selvakumar told the paper he had been suffering since he stoned two dogs to death and hung their bodies from a tree 15 years ago.

He said that after the stoning, he became paralyzed in his hands and legs and lost hearing in one ear.

The paper says an astrologer had told Selvakumar the wedding was the only way he could cure the maladies. It did not say whether his situation had improved.

After the wedding, the paper reports that the groom and his family sat down to a feast while the dog got a bun.

Deeply superstitious people in rural India sometimes organize weddings to dogs and other animals, believing it can ward off certain curses.

The paper showed a picture of Selvakumar sitting next to the dog, which was wearing an orange sari and a flower garland.

(You know something, I'm not even going to make any puns or smart remarks about this. If the guy wants to marry a barker I wish them all the best! I just hope the bitch is housetrained!)

Allan W Janssen is the author of The Plain Truth About God at www.God-101.com and the blog "Perspective" at http://God-101.blogspot.com

Labels: , , ,

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

Homeless Frank in NYC!

Guest Post, homeless Frank;

You know how Unicorns are all cuddly and shit in movies? It ain't like that in real life. Them bastards got hate in their hearts. Their hooves throw sparks off the asphalt in your face. They do it and giggle.

Bunch of 'em live in Central Park. They ain't white, they change color. Like a chameleon.

That's why most people don't see 'em.

Sure they talk but you don't wanna hear what they say. It's evil. They keep whispering at you to do the most awful stuff.

Even when I sleep I can hear them telling me ideas no one would want to hear.

Sometimes I can smell their breath, all moldy grass and stale hay, right on my face.

I keep my eyes closed, hope they'll go away.

The werewolves in Grand Central are better in my opinion. Least they don't fill your heads with lies.

Course they kill people. But who misses the occasional uptight businessman coming into the city?

Most of those fuckers deserve it.

You shouldn't eat at Grand Central, foods all contaminated. I found a hunk of wolf hair in my Junior's cheesecake once. They laugh at gravity and clamber around the roof of the main room for kicks.

You can see 'em out the corner of your eye if you look just right. Their eyes blend into the stars up there.

Androids in Union Square usually don't bother no one. They leak oil too bad. Always wear too many clothes to try and sop it up.

Was a bad war a couple years ago 'tween them and the Bowery Cyborgs. Shit got nasty. You get up in the morning and see old circuit boards and metal wire strung down the street and into the sewers.

Sewers is where the homeless cyborgs live. You can see 'em down there if you know where to look.

But you gotta get past the alligators first.

Allan W Janssen is the author of The Plain Truth About God at www.God-101.com and the blog "Perspective" at http://God-101.blogspot.com

Labels: , ,

The Day the Universe Changed Episode #4

(How the industrial and scientific revolution changed our universe!)






Allan W Janssen is the author of The Plain Truth About God at www.God-101.com and the blog "Perspective" at http://God-101.blogspot.com

Labels:

Jumbo the Dumbo

Conservationists in Gauhati, India on Tuesday hailed socialite Paris Hilton, who has been convicted of driving under the influence of alcohol, for apparently trying to highlight the cause of binge-drinking animals in northeastern India.

After a week of partying with the elephants, monkeys, giraffe's and other sundry wildlife, Paris started to realized that they had a serious binge drinking problem and needed help.

Ms Hilton was heard to say; "They remind me of myself when I was drinking a lot, minus the smell of course, hee, hee!"
Activists said a celebrity endorsement was sure to raise awareness of the plight of the pachyderms and their buddies that get drunk on farmers' homemade rice beer and rotting fruit then go on a rampage.

"The animals get drunk all the time. It is becoming really dangerous. We need to stop making these fermenting fruits available to them," she said in a report posted on the World Entertainment News Network website.
Her comments were also picked up by other web sites and newspapers around the globe.

A spokesperson for Jumbo the Elephant said he was not availabe for comment due to an extreme hangover.

Allan W Janssen is the author of The Plain Truth About God at www.God-101.com and the blog "Perspective" at http://God-101.blogspot.com

Labels: , , ,

Monday, November 12, 2007

TV Preachers

Twenty years ago, amid an uproar over the sex-and-money scandal that brought down televangelist Jim Bakker, the country’s leading TV preachers were called before a powerful House panel to testify about their financial dealings.

“People … need to know what their money is being used for — is it being used for the Lord’s work or is it being used to buy a million-dollar house?” asked then-Rep. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D.

That furor quickly fizzled.

Congress passed no new laws. The IRS, which oversees tax-exempt ministries, got no new powers, money or agents.

Now, the same line of questioning looms for a new generation of televangelists.

A congressional investigation into the finances of six media-oriented ministries, including the Fenton-based Joyce Meyer Ministries, comes as megachurches have flourished. Since the scandals in the 1980s, televangelists’ revenue and reach have grown exponentially.

But even as media ministry has become a billion-dollar industry, it has continued to operate with little or no government oversight, critics say. An overburdened IRS and wary lawmakers have tread lightly in the face of growing questions about the financial operations of powerful and popular preachers.

“There’s no accountability,” said Ole Anthony, president of Trinity Foundation, a ministry watchdog group. “None, zero.”
That void, said Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, is part of what prompted him to act last week when he requested extensive information about the salaries, expense accounts and business practices of the TV evangelists.

Grassley, the ranking Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, said he was disturbed by reports about preachers living lavishly — driving Rolls-Royces and flying around in private jets — as their tax-exempt church finances escaped scrutiny.

“The IRS hasn’t been doing their job with nonprofits,” Grassley said. “We have a responsibility to review the laws and make a determination” about whether the rules are adequate and whether they are being properly followed and enforced.

Ministers targeted in Grassley’s inquiry said last week that they fully comply with the law and operate with integrity.

A statement from Meyer’s attorney, Thomas Winters, said JMM goes “above and beyond the level of accountability required by law,” including voluntary independent audits.

Under federal law, churches get tax-exempt status and don’t have to report financial data to the government as other nonprofits do. The law prohibits leaders and founders of such ministries from dipping into the organizations’ accounts for personal use, and a pastor’s compensation must be “reasonable”; expenses of tax-exempt groups are supposed to further their causes.

Grassley said he won’t know what the next step is until after Dec. 6, the deadline for the ministries to provide his Finance Committee staff with the requested information. The panel could then hold hearings, craft new rules for churches or work with the ministries on internal reform.

BOOMING MINISTRIES

Two decades after the fall of Bakker and others, televangelism is a booming enterprise.

“The size (of congregations) continues to grow, and so does the income and the scope of their ministries,” said Scott Thumma, a professor at the Hartford Institute for Religion Research and author of “Beyond Megachurch Myths.”
Thumma said there are about 1,250 megachurches in the United States, up from 310 in 1990, and some have congregations well over 10,000. In 2005, such churches had an average income of $6 million a year, up from about $4.5 million just five years earlier, he said.

The growth of such ministries has been fueled in part by religious cable networks. And they don’t limit themselves to TV.

“They now have publishing companies, they have movie companies, they have recording studios that maybe 20 years ago” were not part of a televangelist’s portfolio, said Grassley.
Many of the ministries set up their own internal governing boards, but critics say those are sometimes stocked with family members or friends.

As media-oriented ministries have mushroomed, the IRS hasn’t been able to keep up.

The IRS doesn’t keep data on how many churches are in the U.S. But in 2006, there were about 1.5 million nonprofit 501(c)(3) groups, the section of the tax code that applies to churches.

That number keeps climbing, with nearly 100,000 nonprofits added to the IRS’ rolls in the last three years.

“They just don’t have the manpower,” Anthony said. The law is “meaningless” because no one is enforcing it, he said.
ON THE SIDELINES

Politicians have not rushed to fill this vacuum.

Observers say it’s no surprise that Congress is reluctant to act. Lawmakers don’t want to take steps that might anger or alienate a key segment of the electorate. Nor do they want to do anything that appears to blur the separation of church and state.

“A lot of legislators just don’t want to take on religious groups … so they have been able to operate under pretty lax oversight or no oversight,” said William Martin, a religion scholar at Rice University’s James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy.
Indeed, religion experts said Grassley’s move is surprising and could put him in an uncomfortable spot.

“That’s a large step for the government to take and potentially a kind of slippery slope as to where it’s going to stop,” said Thumma.
If Grassley wonders what kind of criticism he may be in for, the 1987 House hearing —the only congressional session on the subject in the last two decades — may provide a hint.

The head of the National Religious Broadcasters association called that hearing “the beginning of a new inquisition” against televangelists.

WAKE-UP CALL?

Creflo Dollar, a minister in College Park, Ga., and one of those on Grassley’s list, made similar objections to the current inquiry, although his tone was softer. He said in a statement that the Iowa Republican’s investigation could “affect the privacy of every community church in America.”

A spokeswoman for Meyer declined requests for an interview about Grassley’s inquiry, referring questions to the statement from Winters, JMM’s attorney.

That statement provides some rebuttal to critics’ contention of a lax IRS. Winters said JMM was the subject of a recent IRS inquiry, which determined that the organization still qualifies for tax-exempt status.

The JMM spokeswoman did not answer an e-mailed question about whether Meyer would cooperate with Grassley’s inquiry.

But even supporters of Grassley’s move said they hoped the senator would not have to initiate legislative action.

“I would prefer the church police itself, instead of the government,” said Anthony. “I hope this is a wake-up call” to these ministries to “begin having independent boards and real accountability.”
Grassley said he, too, would rather see “self-reform” than hearings or legislation.

“We’re looking for changes within or some sort of standards to make sure they’re not abusing their tax exemption,” he said.
Yea, right!

Allan W Janssen is the author of The Plain Truth About God at www.God-101.com and the blog "Perspective" at http://God-101.blogspot.com

Labels: , ,

Let's show a bit of maturity and tolerance!

What's wrong with this picture?

About the same thing that's wrong with the picture further down!

Both of these pictures take unnecessary cheap shots a people's religion and is a sign of disrespect for other people's beliefs.

Now don't get me wrong, I have run down religion quite a lot on this blog, but, it has always been about something that is wrong or perverted about a belief system, not the religion itself.

When people publish pictures like these it reduces us to the lowest common denominator. In other words, this sort of action is no better than the people they are trying to denigrate.

For example, I have made quite a few comments about Muslim Fundamentalists and Extremists and will continue to do so because I believe that these people are as misguided and delusional as some of the Christian Fundamentalists who infest North America.

There is no place for these "Children of God" in modern society and they have to be ostracized in one way or another, otherwise they will continue to infect others with their crazy ideas.

Muslim Extremists like Osama Bin Laden hate not only "Western" society, but all "Modern" society in general because they like things the way they were in the twelfth century and anyone who disagrees with them is an "infidel."

The same can be said for the Christian Extremists who are still fighting a war with Charles Darwin and Scientists in general because it doesn't conform with their interpretation of a two thousand year old document.

I really don't have any ideas about how to address and contain these wayward souls except by possibly trying to educate them. After all we can't just eradicate them because then we would be no better.

Until human society as a whole is more tolerant, and everyone has a chance to learn the reality of this world and not just the delusional rantings of a religious shaman I am afraid that we are going to continue to have a rough time of it!

(That is why documentaries like "The Day the Universe Changed" are so refreshing to watch because it reminds us that a lot of us are taking a reasoned and enlightened approach to the world in general!)

Allan W Janssen is the author of The Plain Truth About God at www.God-101.com and the blog "Perspective" at http://God-101.blogspot.com

Labels: , ,

The Day the Universe Changed Episode #3

(How the industrial and scientific revolution changed our universe!)







Allan W Janssen is the author of The Plain Truth About God at www.God-101.com and the blog "Perspective" at http://God-101.blogspot.com

Labels:

Sunday, November 11, 2007

Sunday Morning Funnies #223

Famous Quotations

1) I saw a woman wearing a sweatshirt with 'Guess' on it. I said, Thyroid problem?

2) When I was a kid I used to pray every night for a new bike. Then I realized that The Lord doesn't work that way, so I stole one and asked him to forgive me.

3) My mom was a ventriloquist and she always was throwing her voice. For ten years I thought the dog was telling me to kill my father.

4) I've often wanted to drown my troubles, but I can't get my wife to go swimming.

5) I was doing some decorating, so I got out my step-ladder. I don't get on with my real ladder.

6) I went to a restaurant that serves 'breakfast at any time'. So I ordered French Toast during the Renaissance.

7) Well I was bullied at school, called all kinds of different names. But one day I turned to my bullies and said - 'Sticks and stones may break my bones but names will never hurt me', and it worked! From there on it was sticks and stones all the way.

8) My Dad used to say 'always fight fire with fire', which is probably why he got thrown out of the fire brigade.

9) Sex is like a game of bridge: If you don't have a good partner, you'd better have a good hand.

10) I saw six men kicking and punching the mother-in-law. My neighbour said 'Are you going to help?' I said 'No, Six should be enough.'

11) If we aren't supposed to eat animals, then why are they made out of meat?

12) I think animal testing is a terrible idea; they get all nervous and give the wrong answers.

13) You know that look women get when they want sex? Me neither.

Questions

1) Why does your gynecologist leave the room when you get undressed?

2) If a person owns a piece of land do they own it all the way down to the core of the earth?

3) Why can't women put on mascara with their mouth closed?

4) Is it possible to brush your teeth without wiggling your arse?

5) Why is it called Alcoholics Anonymous when the first thing you do is stand up and say, 'My name is Bob, and I am an alcoholic'?

7) Why is there a light in the fridge and not in the freezer?

8) Why does mineral water that 'has trickled through mountains for centuries' have a 'use by' date?

9) Why do toasters always have a setting that burns the toast to a horrible crisp no one would eat?

10) Is French kissing in France just called kissing?

11) Who was the first person to look at a cow and say, 'I think I'll squeeze these dangly things here and drink whatever comes out'?

12) What do people in China call their good plates?

13) Why do people point to their wrist when asking for the time, but don't point to their crotch when they ask where the bathroom is?

14) What do you call male ballerinas?

15) Why is a person that handles your money called a 'Broker'?

16) If quizzes are quizzical, what are tests?

17) If corn oil is made from corn, and vegetable oil is made from vegetables, then what is baby oil made from?

18) Why is it that when someone tells you that there are over a billion stars in the universe, you believe them, but if they tell you there is wet paint somewhere, you have to touch it to make sure?

19) Do illiterate people get the full effect of Alphabet Soup?

20) Did you ever notice that when you blow in a dog's face, he gets mad at you but when you take him on a car ride, he sticks his head out of the window?

Universal Truths

1) Triangular sandwiches taste better than square ones.

2) At the end of every party there is always a girl crying.

3) One of the most awkward things that can happen in a pub is when your pint-to-toilet cycle gets synchronised with a complete stranger.

4) You've never quite sure whether it's ok to eat green crisps.

5) Everyone who grew up in the 80's has entered the digits 55378008 into a calculator

6) Reading when you're drunk is horrible.

7) Sharpening a pencil with a knife makes you feel really manly.

8) You're never quite sure whether it's against the law or not to have a fire in your back garden.

10) Nobody ever dares make cup-a-soup in a bowl.

11) You never know where to look when eating a banana.

12) Its impossible to describe the smell of a wet cat.

13) Prodding a fire with a stick makes you feel manly.

14) Rummaging in an overgrow garden will always turn up a bouncy ball.

15) You always feel a bit scared when stroking horses.

16) Everyone always remembers the day a dog ran into your school.

17) the most embarrassing thing you can do as schoolchild is to call your teacher mum or dad.

18) The smaller the monkey the more it looks like it would kill you at the first given opportunity.

19) Some days you see lots of people on crutches.

20) Every bloke has at some stage while taking a pee, flushed half way through and then raced against the flush.

21) Old women with mobile phones look wrong.

22) Its impossible to look cool whilst picking up a Frisbee.

23) Driving through a tunnel makes you feel excited.

24) You never ever run out of salt.

25) Old ladies can eat more than you think.

26) You can't respect a man who carries a dog.

27) There's no panic like the panic you momentarily feel when you've got your hand or head stuck in something.

28) No one knows the origins of their metal coat hangers.

29) Despite constant warning, you have never met anybody who has had their arm broken by a swan.

30) the most painful household incident is wearing socks and stepping on an upturned plug.

31) People who don't drive slam car doors too hard.

32) You've turned into your dad the day you put aside a thin piece of wood specifically to stir paint with.

33) Everyone had an uncle who tried to steal their nose.

34) Bricks are horrible to carry.

35) In every plate of chips there is a bad chip.

36) Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit; Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad

Allan W Janssen is the author of The Plain Truth About God at www.God-101.com and the blog "Perspective" at http://God-101.blogspot.com

Labels: ,

The Day the Universe Changed Episode #2

(How the industrial and scientific revolution changed our universe!)






Allan W Janssen is the author of The Plain Truth About God at www.God-101.com and the blog "Perspective" at http://God-101.blogspot.com

Labels:

11.11.11


Allan W Janssen is the author of The Plain Truth About God at www.God-101.com and the blog "Perspective" at http://God-101.blogspot.com

Labels: , ,