Quote from Hankstar :

Well, she'll never get any better if she doesn't practice.

Haha, I think this is one of those cases where "better" is very much a grey area.

It's strange and not too surprising, that over the last few years in mainstream Australian politics (atleast as I see it) it seems we've started turning away from this idealistic multicultural culture notion we once cherished and have begun to redefine ourselves as a Cristian culture again. Our Prime Minister is Christian, and so is his main challenger. Strange, because a quick glance down any main street of Melbourne and it's completely obvious that as a people we constitute this sea of wildly differing identities, nationalities, religions, values, perspectives... and sadly not too surprising because of course in a big way it all goes back to this phony war on terror- conveniently giving people this nice neat dividing line by which they can compartmentalise their emotions.

...

Of course, I blame Star Wars... :soapbox:

Quote from Hankstar :

a cult usually involves some kind of living human leader who claims either to be some form of divine being himself or the one true prophet of a divine being. In the case of Mormonism, founder Joseph Smith was that leader and I suppose using that definition you can call it a cult.

Not only that, but each successive leader of the church has been declared a prophet. Every crook and crony that has run the show has been given full license to rewrite the written word of god as they see fit.

Until relatively recently they forbade the admittance of blacks into their priesthood. Apparently god decided it was OK after all in the early '80s.

Joseph Smith himself, of course, is considered a martyr because he was killed by the state. The thing that differentiates him from Jesus being the fact that he died trying to shoot his way out of prison and killing a law man in the process, after being incarcerated for burning down a building belonging to a newspaper which had criticised him.

The whole translation of golden plates featuring Egyptian hieroglyphs part is pretty funny, but everything after that gets quite sinister. Brigham Young - Joseph Smith's friend and immediate successor as prophet - comes across as a particularly nasty piece of work.

This Joseph Smith guys sounds like an interesting (and comedic) subject for some research. I gotta look into the origins of Mormanhoodism....

Oh the whole story is just mindbogglingly ridiculous, and he and his church have been discredited in every way imaginable. exmormon.org is a good starting point, but sadly (as with all religions) also provides many personal stories that make the whole joke that bit less funny.

Quote from MAGGOT :

This Joseph Smith guys sounds like an interesting (and comedic) subject for some research. I gotta look into the origins of Mormanhoodism....

start out with the south park episode on mormons and smith ... its hilarious and apparently pretty accurate

I'll have a read tommorrow while I'm neglecting the things I should be doing, as usual.

there you go http://throwawayyourtv.com/200 ... y-of-joseph-smith_11.html

Love that SP episode about Mormons. The musical aspect is the best But the South Park episodee about WoW ("Make Love Not Warcraft") is the Best One Ever imho - real, live, no-fooling, literal rolling on the floor and laughing out loud funny. It's been nominated for an Emmy even .

Quote from Electrik Kar :

It's strange and not too surprising, that over the last few years in mainstream Australian politics (atleast as I see it) it seems we've started turning away from this idealistic multicultural culture notion we once cherished and have begun to redefine ourselves as a Cristian culture again. Our Prime Minister is Christian, and so is his main challenger. Strange, because a quick glance down any main street of Melbourne and it's completely obvious that as a people we constitute this sea of wildly differing identities, nationalities, religions, values, perspectives... and sadly not too surprising because of course in a big way it all goes back to this phony war on terror- conveniently giving people this nice neat dividing line by which they can compartmentalise their emotions.
...
Of course, I blame Star Wars...

And for that I blame George W Lucas. Sodding prequels. Burn the lot of them.

It shits me when I hear politicians talking about this country's so-called "Christian values" (ditto any leader and their nation). The values they talk about - honesty, charity, fairness etc - are all totally humanist and universal and not specific to Christianity at all - or any other religion for that matter. To some people it's just a subtle way of saying "white Anglo-Saxon" values, but that's another story (so's the story about me never seeing any indigenous Aussies anywhere).
But you're right EK, this town's anything but snow white & Jesus-crazy. Maybe in Toorak or Hawthorn everyone's a white Christian with a giant luxury SUV and a kid at Hogwart's but not everyone lives in bloody Toorak like TV's Eddie McGuire. On the train into the city from Elwood (next to Elsternwick which has a huge orthodox Jewish community) in the morning I reckon white Christian-looking people only make up 50% of the passengers, and I love that about Melbourne. Anything to make this place less white-bread and more multi-grain is a good thing - it would be nice if our elected leaders could act like they've noticed it though.

HAha, the Warcraft episode was great I haven't seen the mormon one, yet.

look at where i linked then it has all the important bits

Quote from MAGGOT :

I love how you put a phallic representation on a ballot at a church

No imagination required..


Wandering slightly back on topic, the Verichip RFID truth is taking its time to explode. Now companies are beginning to require that employees have one implanted and there's nothing in law to stop them doing that, so I fully expect it will soon. My ex wanted the kids implanted but I stopped her. I don't think many Americans have a grasp on the implications of this technology, and I'm not sure they'll be able to stop it once it's rolling.

At one time, I'd planned to return to the US and was keeping my permanent residency alive. I've let it lapse now, though, and there isn't a chance in hell I'll set foot in that country again. Not just because it's about to hit another 20s-style depression, but more specifically because it isn't a safe place for foreigners to go. It looks like some of the first people to get the RFIDs are the foreign nationals, along with the gun owners of course.

Quote from SamH :

Wandering slightly back on topic, the Verichip RFID truth is taking its time to explode. Now companies are beginning to require that employees have one implanted and there's nothing in law to stop them doing that, so I fully expect it will soon.

Where my dad works it is in the form of a keyfob which he has to use to get in and out of rooms. With the only room not mapped being the toilets.

Quote from SamH :

My ex wanted the kids implanted but I stopped her. I don't think many Americans have a grasp on the implications of this technology, and I'm not sure they'll be able to stop it once it's rolling.

That is stupid, I've heard of baby low jacks, but always thought they were jokes.

Quote from P5YcHoM4N :

Where my dad works it is in the form of a keyfob which he has to use to get in and out of rooms. With the only room not mapped being the toilets.

I used a keyfob at work, which allowed me access to the offices and let me into the server room etc. It was a key, used that way, and I have no issue with it. That's not what the verichip is, though. It's a much darker thing than that.

Quote from P5YcHoM4N :

That is stupid, I've heard of baby low jacks, but always thought they were jokes.

Yeah, it's sold as a life-saver, to make it more palatable. They're trying to get you to have the implant for "medical safety" reasons, despite the fact that it doesn't bring any more expedient information than your health insurance card in your wallet, or your drivers license for that matter. In fact the mere fact that they're selling it on this basis, and actually preferring not to talk about it *yet* in regard to matters of security, is very telling IMO. First thing is to get everybody thinking positively about what can come. What happens next is another story. So what does happen next? Well, here's a starter...

You visit Walmart 3x per week, and you always pay cash. You're anonymous. What you buy is your business, nobody asks your name or any details. You do this for a year. Then one day, you have no cash. You pay by check. Now they know exactly when you came in the store, for the whole year, and they know what you bought every time - even when you paid with cash - because they logged your RFID when they took your cash. Now they know who you *were*. They have your buying history.

You always pay by cash at Office Depot, so they don't know who you are, right? Nuh huh! They share their information (your RFID) with K-Mart, who share their info with Office Depot. Why? Because Office Depot shares their info with Wal-Mart. It's a reciprocal deal. Regal Cinemas share, too. So does MacDonalds and Burger King. Pretty soon, they all know who you are, they know where you shop, what you like to eat, how you like your burger. They know what meds you take (Wal*Mart's pharmacy, of course), they know your shoe-size (the Wranglers you bought with cash at K-Mart)...

The problem is that, in the US, there are actually no laws in effect to prevent this information sharing. I dunno about any of you, but it's not something that appeals to me.