Wailing Wall Tweet Prayers

It used to be you had to go to the Wailing Wall to pray in person, and slide your prayer request into one of the cracks in the wall. No longer content to merely fax or e-mail their prayers, their tweets can be taken by Alon Nil to the Kotel. He is looking for an assistant to help handle the demand.



Here's the link to the BBC:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/8166680.stm

Posted By: gdanea - Wed Jul 29, 2009 - Comments (2)
Category: Religion

Lynval Samuels

Lynval - "A Tree Grows In Brooklyn"


I just learned about nutcase preacher Lynval Samuels. So here he is for your enjoyment.

Posted By: Paul - Mon Jul 06, 2009 - Comments (2)
Category: Eccentrics, Regionalism, Religion

Weird Britannia!

Time to point our telescopes of weirdness at "the old country", methinks.

Speaking of old, recent research carried out by the University of Michigan has revealed that US seniors are smarter than their UK counterparts. The study, lead in the US by Kenneth Langa, measured the recall abilities of over 8000 elderly Americans and over 5000 elderly Brits, and found that the yanks scored 1.4 more on the memory tests, out of a possible 24. Langa suggests that part of the difference was due to higher average levels of education and income in the US group, and higher levels of depression in the UK sample, but points out that nothing is certain at the moment. "It's like a view from 30,000 feet" said Langa (New Scientist).

And it's not just British brains that are shrinking, the UK's sheep are getting smaller as well. Because of a trend towards milder weather believed to be due to climate change, Sheep on the Outer Hebridean island of Soay are getting smaller at the rate of 100g/year, say researchers from Imperial College, London. Though it might seem that warmer winters and a greater abundance of food might make for bigger sheep, Tim Coulson, the professor leading the study, points out that fewer weaker and smaller lambs will die over winter, bringing down the average size (Telegraph).

Now, in some good news, UK campaigners have won a second victory in a three-year battle... to bring back a chocolate bar. The "Wispa Bar", made by European confectioners Cadbury, was introduced in 1995 along with a caramel laced version called the "Wispa Gold", only for both to be discontinued in 2003. This prompted some die-hard fans of the bubbly chocolate bar to start a petition to have it go into production again, resulting in a "limited edition" run of the original Wispa last year. When the 40 million bars produced sold out in just 18 weeks, Cadbury decided to relaunch the brand. Not satisfied with just one bar, campaigners have kept up the pressure, causing Cadbury to start producing Wispa Golds "for a limited period," as before. However to some commentators, this latest move looks more like slick PR than grassroots victory (Sky News).



More in extended >>

Posted By: Dumbfounded - Fri Jul 03, 2009 - Comments (5)
Category: Animals, Food, Candy, Law, Judges, Nature, Weather, Political Correctness, Religion, Products

Biblical Re-enactments

[From Life magazine for April 4 1949.]

Here Peggy Lee plays Salome and Dean Martin plays John the Baptist.

Posted By: Paul - Thu Jul 02, 2009 - Comments (2)
Category: Celebrities, Food, Religion, 1940s

Blue Jesus Tat

Posted By: Paul - Mon Jun 15, 2009 - Comments (3)
Category: Body Modifications, Tattoos, Religion

Voodoo in Benin

Nearly twenty-five years ago, I wrote a novel titled CIPHERS, which featured scenes of voodoo in Benin. Long before YouTube was even a concept, I had to do all my research in books. I would have killed to see this video.

Posted By: Paul - Mon Jun 08, 2009 - Comments (0)
Category: Music, Religion, Books, Dance, Africa

Christian Wrestling Garb

JESUS DIDN'T TAP is a line of wrestling wear for Christians.

Posted By: Paul - Tue May 19, 2009 - Comments (11)
Category: Fashion, Religion, Martial Arts

A Little Light Weirdness

First up is a story I have been trying to track down for over a week. Chichester Town Council in the UK were unable to remove a garbage bin that had been illegally dumped in a four-inch deep stream, because they did not have anyone qualified to use wellington boots (Chichester Observer).

The three man crew of a specially eco-refitted yacht, had to be rescued from hurricane force gales on the outward leg of a voyage billed as the "Carbon Neutral Expedition" and designed to raise awareness of green issues. Their rescuer? An oil-tanker delivering 680,000 barrels of crude (The Guardian).

The CEO of the company that supplies and installs most of the speed cameras for the UK Highways Agency has been banned from driving for six months after he was caught speeding at over 100 mph (The Times).

Sikhs serving in the UK police force are looking to develop a bulletproof turban so that they can meet the requirement to wear protective headgear of the force's armed response units without having to break their religious prohibition not to remove them (The Telegraph).

Finally, plans for a Berlin Monument of National Unity, to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin wall, had to be scrapped after the spoilsport jury rejected all the entries as too weird. Not one of the 538 submissions from members of the public, which included a 30 meter high gilded banana, a German version of the Statue of Liberty holding a Rubik's cube, a group of Smurfs dancing on a recreation of a section of the wall, and a giant statue of a man pushing a shopping trolley, was accepted. The jury has now invited contributions from selected professional artists (The National).

Posted By: Dumbfounded - Tue May 12, 2009 - Comments (3)
Category: Art, Government, Regulations, Oceans and Maritime Pursuits, Religion

Midwest Division’s Friday Feast

Turtle Huntin’; Batesville, Ind.: Turtle Huntin’ offers you “the ultimate outdoor adventure,” through guided turtle hunting instruction and hunts. You can read all about turtle hunting at their website, but for a “minor charge” you too can turtle hunt like the pros. Turtle Huntin' Link fixed 2333 May, 9, 2009.

Garbage Clocks; Evanston, Ill: An Evanston man has been featured by CBS Sunday Morning and Thrillist for his clocks made out of garage sale junk. His clocks are available for purchase on Etsy. Thrillist

131 Years of Prayer; La Crosse, Wisc: At the Adoration Chapel of the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration in La Crosse, Wisconsin; the Sisters have prayed at a consecrated host, the Holy Eucharist, for the past 131 years. Since 1878 the Sisters have prayed at the Holy Eucharist in shifts around the clock. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

11 Year Old Steals Car; St. Cloud, Minn.: An 11 year old was arrested in St. Cloud Minnesota for stealing a car in Waite Park, Minnesota and driving it to the next town. Charges are pending. WCCO

Shoplifter Wrote Address On Job App; Dayton, Ohio: A man shoplifting at a clothing store filled out a job application with his real address before he left and set off the alarms. Chicago Tribune via the Associated Press.

Another BB Gun Robbery, Deadly; Chicago Ill: Ernesto Garcia decided to use a BB gun to rob a gas station. The weapon looked like a real handgun. So, one can assume that the police thought it was real when he refused to put it down. Garcia was shot eight times by the Chicago Police Officer. Garcia was a suspect in 25 other robberies. Chicago Tribune

Posted By: chris_cantwell - Fri May 08, 2009 - Comments (3)
Category: Boredom, Cops, Crime, Death, Guns, Religion

Baby-Dropping Ritual

Muslims in western India have been dropping babies off the roof of a fifteen-meter-high temple for five-hundred years, and none of the babies have been hurt yet, though they look a bit dazed after landing. So the organizers of the event figure, why stop now? In fact, they claim that dropping the babies off the temple helps the kids grow up strong. Reuters has more details.

Posted By: Alex - Wed May 06, 2009 - Comments (2)
Category: Babies, Ceremonies, Religion