The Buddha loves Moxie

These are some articles and pictures from My Favorites on the tool bar - just click the links. I’ve been saving some of these up for blogging.

High rise hawks raise family

Scientist to make “Stuart Little” mouse with the brain of a human This was reported in several reputable papers. My first link is gone, but I found this through a search. The story was also featured in this month’s Fortean Times

Fast Food Facts I’ve done this one before on the blog, but I’d like to list it for newer readers. It links to calorie caculators for all the major fast food chains. Often it shows that the item the restaurant is marketing as healthy often has the most fat and calories.

For writers - the red tool bar on the right side of the page is your best friend.

For writers - this site has a database of submission contacts at magazines and publishing companies.

JBIPix of the day This Canadian has got an eye for beauty. His photographs are amazing

This one is for the girls.

I always mean to get around to reading this witchy article but haven’t.

I’m not sure I understand this website fully, because I haven’t looked at it in depth, but the stories hook me. It’s biblical - sort of. Possibly even strange.

So feminine

12 Ophiuchi - hey it’s mine!

Adam Curry, Kylie Minogue

This one is sort of schmoopy, but it gives you a little comfort in times of crisis. This is done at Unity Village 24 hours a day for 30 days.

Okay, this is hard because it’s in German. It’s video though, so it’s easy to follow. I learned how to make a drink cup! Just pick one of the figurens and press starten.

More pretty pictures . Some of them freak me out because they look like fake miniaturizations.

Yes, they’re safe, but what about my right to be an idiot? Here also, is a lawyers personal rant and story. He makes some excellent points.

Hot patooty, bless my soul. Note - I avoid playground equipment.

A blog that blows my mind. I am usually so entranced by the images that I forget to read the text.

Most people think she’s a nut job, but I love her. Some things on her site may seem far fetched, but some things do have merit.

Are you handsome? Beautiful?

The Hass . And for his own interpretation . . .

Statuesque

Read the article, not the site name. Secondhand fat?

Well, that’s all folks.

Mary Hartman (Louise Lasser)

I ran across this fat mama in the backyard this morning (well not this one exactly, I grabbed the picture from another site). As I stood in mute amazement I wondered if there had been a toxic leak somewhere that had created this mutant. So that you understand the scale of her largess, I have to tell you that her circumfrence was slightly more than that of a Marlboro. Huge. Here’s what I found on the net:

Cowkillers are parasites of cicada killer wasps. They use their amazing stingers for protection should the cowkiller be discovered by the cicada killer wasp in its nest. This attractive velvet ant squeaks audibly, especially when stepped on, and is exceptionally tough. However, if stepped on barefooted, the squeaks of the cow killer would be drowned out by screams of the victim. Perhaps this is the derivation of the name, cowkiller. All velvet ants are parasitic wasps. The females are wingless and resemble hairy ants. The males have wings and resemble other small, dark, wasps. Female velvet ants seek out a host nest and lay their eggs on the host larva. The velvet ant larvae consume the host wasp larvae, pupate and mature into another generation of velvet ants. The cow killer parasitizes the nests of the cicada killer. Cow killers slip into the host wasp nest, lay their eggs and depart. The exceptionally tough exoskelton of the cow killer protects it from stings of the host wasp in case they meet in the nest. Velvet ants are not usually numerous, and no control measures are usually needed. However, one of the commercial aerosol bee and wasp sprays or one of the flying insect aerosols will also kill this insect.

Oh, and did I mention how great those popovers were last night? You should definitely make some. The best part? NO YEAST. Whip ‘em up in less than five and bake for forty. Scrumptious.

So most of my friends are anti-Iraqi “involvement”, but I’m going to post this anyway. Liberal media be damned. Besides, it’s so much easier to post than to forward.

All of the facts are verifiable on the
Department of Defense website.

Have you read any of the following in your newspapers or heard about these things happening in Iraq on radio or television?

Did you know that 47 countries have re-established their embassies in Iraq, the Iraqi current government employs 1.2 million Iraqi people, 3100 schools have been renovated, 364 schools are under rehabilitation, 263 schools are now under construction and 38 new schools have been built in Iraq? Iraq’s higher educational structure consists of 20 Universities, 46 Institutes or colleges and 4 research centers, all currently operating. 25 Iraq students departed for the United States in January 2005 for the re-established Fulbright program, the Iraqi Navy is operational - they have 5- 100-foot patrol craft, 34 smaller vessels and a naval infantry regiment.
Iraq’s Air Force consists of three operational squadrons, which includes 9 reconnaissance and 3 US C-130 transport aircraft (under Iraqi operational control) which operate day and night, and will soon add 16 UH-1 helicopters and 4 bell jet rangers.
Iraq has a counter-terrorist unit and a Commando Battalion, the Iraqi Police Service has over 55,000 fully trained and equipped police officers. There are 5 Police Academies in Iraq that produce over 3500 new officers each 8 weeks. There are more than 1100 building projects going on in Iraq, including 364 schools, 67 public clinics, 15 hospitals, 83 railroad stations, 22 oil facilities, 93 water facilities and 69 electrical facilities. 96% of Iraqi children under the age of 5 have received the first 2 series of polio vaccinations. 43 million Iraqi children were enrolled in primary school by mid October. There are 1,192,000 cell phone
subscribers in Iraq and phone use has gone up 158%. Iraq has an independent media that consist of 75 radio stations, 180 newspapers and 10 television stations. The Baghdad Stock Exchange opened in June of 2004. 2 candidates in the Iraqi
presidential election had a recent televised debate.

Does anyone remember me complaining about a certain church and their luau, conga line baptisms? Well, they had it again this year. Here is the picture from the paper and a few excerpts from the article. The pastor is one of the two bald men, front and center. He’s the one on the left.

I will refrain from commentary and just give you the excerpts:

“People are desperately trying to fill up the “God Hole” . . .”

“490 believers participated in the annual event”

” ‘What was equally meaningful, was that there was a live cam there taping the event . . . (M)y family and friends can now go to the church website and see me getting baptized.’ ”

“The church sems to have a community appeal beginning . . . with a paltry membership of eight into . . . 13,000 attending every Sunday.”

The church “has been featured in many publications and news outlets including Fox News, NBC, PBS . . .”

The church “is one of the 25 largest churches in America”

The preacher “invites the community to ‘experience a casual and relaxed atmosphere with innovative messages and presentations’ claiming that they will enjoy ‘the best hour of your week’.

Well, that’s all. I will not rant. I will say that the kicker is “the best hour of your week”. Sounds like a commercial for Friends.

Excerpts taken from The Villager, Thursday, June 23, 2005, Wick

A letter I received from the Defenders Of Wildlife organization:

Dear Jinny :

The majestic, but mysterious ivory-billed woodpecker was thought by many to have gone extinct more than 60 years ago. Conservationists now have compelling evidence that this beautiful bird still lives on the Cache River National Wildlife Refuge in Arkansas.

Jamie Rappaport Clark, Defenders of Wildlife’s Executive Vice President, stated: “Today’s compelling evidence of ivory-billed woodpeckers in protected land near the Cache River National Wildlife Refuge in Arkansas is cause for celebration, and for reflection on what we’ve done right to protect the land that has been a hidden home to these mysterious birds for decades. Today, the importance of our National Wildlife Refuge System gained new meaning as our efforts to protect one of America’s wild places yielded a true miracle of nature.” For Rappaport Clark’s full statement, go to: http://www.defenders.org/releases/pr2005/pr042805.html

The ivory-billed woodpecker is the largest and rarest woodpecker in the United States. It is distinguished by its large size (18-20 inches in length), a crest (red in males, black in females), ivory-colored bill, and large amount of white on its wings. Historically, it inhabited lowland forests from eastern Texas to North Carolina, including much of the Mississippi delta area.

For more information on the ivory-billed woodpecker, go to:

http://www.defenders.org/wildlife/birds/04/ivorybill.html

Here’s a pic of my new church : )

Bahai gardens and temple in Israel

I took a quiz at Beliefnet.com that’s purpose was to connect you with the faith most appropriate to your beliefs.

Rankings:

1. Bahá’í Faith (100%)
2. Unitarian Universalism (98%)
3. Mahayana Buddhism (96%)
4. Liberal Quakers (92%)
5. Mainline to Liberal Christian Protestants (92%)
6. Jainism (86%)
7. Sikhism (86%)
8. Theravada Buddhism (86%)
9. Hinduism (82%)
10. Reform Judaism (80%)
11. Christian Science (Church of Christ, Scientist) (77%)
12. Neo-Pagan (76%)
13. New Age (75%)
14. Orthodox Judaism (71%)
15. Taoism (69%)
16. Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons) (69%)
17. New Thought (68%)
18. Islam (61%)
19. Scientology (59%)
20. Jehovah’s Witness (58%)
21. Secular Humanism (53%)
22. Mainline to Conservative Christian/Protestant (52%)
23. Orthodox Quaker (50%)
24. Seventh Day Adventist (38%)
25. Nontheist (38%)
26. Eastern Orthodox (36%)
27. Roman Catholic (36%)

Agnostics may even be interested in the quiz because it accounts for that, and for every question there is a science option. The quiz is very speedy; I was done in about a minute and a half.

It seems that one must be censored, even in their own domain.

Let’s go a little lighter . . . Anyone care to join me for a new wave, techno gyration? Pull out the strobe light, baby and get down!

Last night, Smokin, SeanMC and I were driving by the Woodlands Mall and we saw a coyote cross the street. This is the fourth coyote I have seen in four months. Growing up around here, I always heard them, but never saw them. Lately, since all of the building has been going on, I’ve been seeing them a lot. What worries me is this: they are being run out of their woods, their prey is running out of their woods, and assholes like this will start doing things like this:

I was educated about the true nature of the coyote after reading Barbara Kingsolver’s

Prodigal Summer

. Here are some facts about coyotes from reputable sources: Coyotes are opportunitic feeders and will eat almost anything, alive or dead, garbage, meat, fish, vegetables, berries or whatever they can find easily. Their natural diet consists mostly of rabbits, rodents and carrion. They do not normally pose a threat to livestock, however hungry coyotes may occasionally take small domestic animals or poultry. - Texas Parks and Wildlife
However, they do hunt either singularly or in relays with other coyotes. They do not usually hunt in packs as some may think. It is believed that coyotes mate for life. - Big Bend River Tours
The animals have been shot from airplanes, injected with chemicals, trapped, run down with snowmobiles and buried alive in dens. - Colorado Division of Wildlife.

Chutzpah, and Christie’s dogs are descended from coyotes. Coyotes are very nearly dogs. Can you imagine Chutzpah taking down a bull? I can’t. You wouldn’t make Thanksgiving dinner to eat all by yourself, neither would a coyote, hunting alone (which is the norm) kill a cow to eat by himself.

I was going to do this post about all of the wildlife in danger of losing their homes to the SuperWal-mart and other building in the Woodlands until I saw all of the pics on the net of guys with machine guns smiling over their prizes. Sick.

Just remember to be on the look out for animals crossing the road late at night. It’s not their fault some jerk had to have a brand new 2 bedroom box in what was once a forest, instead of buying a four bedroom house with a pool for the same price in an established neighborhood. Thanks for your patience with me while I stood on my soapbox.

Image Details:

So. I want to know what you all think of this:

Go to this website and report back: ChristianityDaily

Go on! Go!

So, Day Two in our Mormon education. Let’s start with . . .

Blood Atonement. This time I’ll bring you up to speed before I give references. In the early days it was the practice to quite literally atone for your sins through the shedding of your own blood. It wasn’t just a little blood, and you didn’t administer it yourself. For a sin such as adultery, the prophets, apostles or just about any priest (not as important as you think) or leader could convince you to willingly walk to a pre-dug grave where they would slit your throat from ear to ear, killing you. (The ear to ear thing, BTW, is because of an oath you take in the temple.) Blood atonement was sought even from people who merely left the church or spoke out against it. These people were called apostates. From the mouth of Mr. Brigham Young: “I could refer you to plenty of instances where men have been righteously slain, in order to atone for their sins.” And to the future killers: “This is loving our neighbor as ourselves; if he needs help, help him; and if he wants salvation and it is necessary to spill his blood on the earth in order that he may be saved, spill it….” Here is an example of an actual case: “In point would be a verbally reported case of a Mr. Johnson in Cedar City, who was found guilty of adultery with his stepdaughter by a bishop’s court and sentenced to death for atonement of his sin. According to the report of reputable eyewitnesses, judgment was executed with consent of the offender who went to his unconsecrated grave in full confidence of salvation through the shedding of his blood.”

If you thought that was bad: “In Utah it has been the custom with the Priesthood to make eunuchs of such men as were obnoxious to the leaders. This was done for a double purpose: first, it gave a perfect revenge, and next, it left the poor victim a living example to others of the dangers of disobeying counsel and not living as ordered by the Priesthood.” In Nauvoo it was the orders from Joseph Smith and his apostles to beat, wound and castrate all Gentiles that the police could take in the act of entering or leaving a Mormon household under circumstances that led to the belief that they had been there for immoral purposes…. In Utah it was the favorite revenge of old, worn-out members of the Priesthood, who wanted young women sealed to them, and found that the girl preferred some handsome young man. The old priests generally got the girls, and many a young man was unsexed for refusing to give up his sweetheart at the request of an old and failing, but still sensual apostle or member of the Priesthood.

Here’s why: Jesus didn’t do a good enough job: “It is true that the blood of the Son of God was shed for sins through the fall and those committed by men, yet men can commit sins which it can never remit…. There are sins that can be atoned for by an offering upon an altar, as in ancient days; and there are sins that the blood of a lamb, or a calf, or of turtle dove, cannot remit, but they must be atoned for by the blood of the man.” “All mankind love themselves, and let these principles be known by an individual, and he would be glad to have his blood shed. That would be loving themselves, even unto an eternal exaltation. Will you love your brothers and sisters likewise, when they have committed a sin that cannot be atoned for without the shedding of their blood? Will you love that man or woman well enough to shed their blood? That is what Jesus Christ meant…. ” All entries above are taken from: (Sermon by Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses, Vol. 4, pages 53-54); also published in the Mormon Church’s Deseret News, 1856, page 235) Keep in mind that blood atonement wasn’t a radical, fanatical punishment for “serious” crimes - the purpose was to save your eternal soul.

Living Prophets and Apostles: The LDS, to this very day, believes that God still communicates to his chosen people through the Prophet. God has called prophets to lead His Church in our day, just as He did anciently. The current prophet and President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is Gordon B. Hinckley. He is assisted by two counselors—Thomas S. Monson and James E. Faust. Together, they make up the First Presidency of the Church (much like Peter, James, and John after Christ’s death).

All members of the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles are apostles and prophets. This was taken directly from the official website of the LDS.

Mountain Meadow Massacre: This is the story the book I was reading revolved around. The Mormons, anticipating a coming ‘war’ with the U.S., killed over 120 ‘Gentiles’ to take their goods and because Brigham Young told the congregation that these people were terrible and deserved to die.

Now, what you’ve all been waiting for . . . Actually, I can somewhat tell how they arrived at this spiritual conclusion. The white garment symbolizes purity and helps assure modesty, respect for the attributes of God, and, to the degree it is honored, a token of what Paul regarded as taking upon one the whole armor of God (Eph. 6:13; cf. D&C 27:15). It is an outward expression of an inward covenant, and symbolizes Christlike attributes in one’s mission in life. Garments bear several simple marks of orientation toward the gospel principles of obedience, truth, life, and discipleship in Christ

There are, however, several articles on the net that talk about the Masonic origins of the symbols on the garments. In case you didn’t know, Old Joe Smith was a Mason . . .

The women’s underwear is traditionally crotchless.

But, I’m tired and not going into all that!

I will leave you with one last thing. On a page that I can’t remember the address of, an old farmer was talking about how he got the Mormon boys to leave him alone. He said that he was on his porch one day when two Mormon boys pulled up on their bicycles and he said to them “Now do you boys really care about saving my soul, or are you just trying to get further up in that hierarchy?” The boys gave him a nasty look, a snarl, and promptly left.

Goodnight!

Of husband’s cherry coke that is.

Now, are you ready to peek into the secrets of the LDS? Utah, Ho!

I’m not a mean Mormon basher, but I read an incredibly scary book about the early church (The Veil) and found out some of their wackier beliefs and thought that I’d tell you all about them because I know I’ve wanted to know what was behind some of these rumors for a long time. I’ve tried to find sources of info outside the book that you can look up. The lady who wrote the book is a historical fiction author and her husband is a history professor. If any of you go and convert after reading this, it isn’t my fault, you’re just a wacko.

Jesus and Lucifer are brothers. “The story of Lucifer is the most terrible example of such apostasy. … He pitted his own plan and will against the purposes of God. He strove to gain the birthright of his Elder Brother, Jesus the Christ. ” - Apostle John A. Widtsoe

God used to be a normal man. It is the first principle of the gospel to know for a certainty the character of God, …and that He was once a man like us; yea, that God himself, the Father of us all, dwelt on an earth, the same as Jesus Christ Himself did; …you have got to learn how to be gods yourselves, and to be kings and priests to God, the same as all gods have done before you, namely, by going from one small degree to another,. (History of the Church, Vol.6, Ch.14, p.305-6).

Men can become gods and have their own planets just like God. “The Father has promised us that through our faithfulness we shall be blessed with the fullness of his kingdom. In other words we will have the privilege of becoming like him. To become like him we must have all the powers of godhood; thus a man and his wife when glorified will have spirit children who eventually will go on an earth like this one we are on and pass through the same kind of experiences, being subject to mortal conditions, and if faithful, then they also will receive the fullness of exaltation and partake of the same blessings. There is no end to this development; it will go on forever. We will become gods and have jurisdiction over world, and these world will be peopled by our own offspring. We will have an endless eternity for this” (Doctrines of Salvation, Vol. 2, 48).

How Plural Marriage was justified. God introduces the “law of the priesthood”: that a man can, with the approval of his first wife, marry one or more other women without committing adultery “…for they belong to him and they are given onto him…”:
61: “….if any man espouse a virgin, and desire to espouse another, and the first give her consent, and if he espouse the second, and they are virgins, and have vowed to no other man, then is he justified; he cannot commit adultery for they are given unto him; for he cannot commit adultery with that that belongeth unto him and to no one else.”
62: “And if he have ten virgins given unto him by this law, he cannot commit adultery, for they belong to him, and they are given unto him; therefore is he justified.” Doctrines and Covenants, Section 132.

Here’s the catch (Secret Names): Secret names thus have a profound implication for the LDS wife. She does not know her husband’s name but he knows hers; she, therefore, is cast in an inferior role in a very real, occult sense. Nevertheless, the husband is permitted to know his wife’s new name, and I learned my wife’s (Joan), so I could call her up from the grave. Having her “new” name, he “possesses” her spirit, her essence. This gives the LDS wife no “spiritual space” of her own. She is like a butterfly trapped in the jar of her husband’s secret knowledge. This was often used as a bargaining tool or threat to get first wife to agree to let husband have other wives. The husband can refuse the wife entry into the next world.

That’s enough for tonight. Tomorrow I’ll have more: blood atonement (murder), secret handshake, living prophets, Old and New Testaments aren’t translated right, Meadow Hills massacre, Masons, the veil, Jesus didn’t get rid of all sins on the cross, and . . .

A PICTURE OF THE SECRET UNDERWEAR!!!!!!!