I'm a 60%er and proud of it!

I wish sarah's rededicate itself to God by taking a vow or silence, or meeting its maker - and not at the Faire.

Saving souls in St Ann
Published: Tuesday | November 10, 2009

It was on a hot day in the middle of the week that I found myself standing next to a small restaurant in the town, trying hard not to be overcome by the inviting aroma beckoning from within. It seemed to have been a particularly busy day in the town. There were dozens of people moving around, some selling, others buying, some driving, others walking. However, there was one fellow who stood out in the crowd. That might have been because he was standing in the middle of the street shouting, "Repent! Repent and be born again, oh ye heathen!" ...

...I figured I would regret it but I decided to go over to Prophet and find out what his story was. So, when the man walked over to lean on the wall of a shoemaker's shop, I guess, to take a rest, I strolled over to him and bid him a hearty hello.

"Eh? What?" he said, whirling around. It appeared he was taken aback by the greeting.

"Hello. Repent!" he shouted. I asked the man his name but he only shook his head and started questioning me. "Howdy, mi son. You will see here that the good Lord is on his way and is time for all those who are in sin to repent and reunite with the maker. What yuh planning to do to prepare?" he asked. I told him he was certainly on to something and tried to change the subject by asking him if he did that (stand in the street preaching to the sinners) every day. "Well, not every day. Mi have tings fi do yuh know. But I am here today to do the work of God," said he.

A woman was walking by us at that moment. She was a curvy belle with flowing synthetic hair and alarmingly thick eyelashes. She was sporting a low-cut blouse and a skirt that could easily have been mistaken for a belt.

The man caught a glimpse of her and grimaced immediately.

"Woman, go cover yuhself!" he shouted.

The woman stopped in her tracks and I braced myself for the worst.

She spun around and looked at both of us. I realised she was, in that moment, trying to figure out who had dared deal her such an impertinent reproach. She was looking at me first. Now let me be clear. The scowl on the woman's face was enough to scare a lumberjack, so I tilted my head ever so slightly in Prophet's direction and signalled to her with my eyes that he was the culprit, I was innocent and so deserved to live another day.

The woman picked up on the signal and walked over to the man with the sign.

"Hey likkle short tukuh-tukuh man! Why yuh nuh go home to yuh wife and stop watch me and what mi wearing? Look pan yuh too!" she said before turning around and walking off. ...


Ed. Note: Brown's Town is jus' a lickle t'ing, but Market Day is shockingly busy.
Ya mey wanna h'avyde (Anglicé - avoid) tryna drive t'ru dere, h'eeven if yu wanna shop. Yu nevah gwan get ennywheere in a car, an' ya nevah gwan find a parkin' spot. Bes' have a frien'/drivah tek ya dere who nah vex lookin' for a spot.

Come to think of it, Brown's Town's Market Day (it really wants capitalis/zation!) is also a great excuse for the adventurous visitor to try a local cab or bus journey. Staff where you're staying will tell you where and when to catch a bus, and how much it will cost.

The less adventurous and/or stressed should inquire after a driver instead.

Catching a cab involves drawing a circle at the ground not far from one's feet, using an extended arm and pointing hand. Inform the charioteer of your destination even before you hop in, and make sure you settle the price after you've smiled at each other at least a couple times. Be prepared for frequent stops, a crowded vehicle, lotsa laughs, and remember that esp in the tropics the possibility of odo/ur is acutely present.
The driver and your fellow passengers will not treat you like a tourist while riding a local cab or bus, tho they may ask you why you are doing so. They will love it when you enthusiastically tell them, "Brown's Town Market Day!"

A bus is a good idea for the ride back if you'll have lotsa scandal bags (plastic handle bags) of produce. A local will hip you to where and when the appropriate vehicle will arrive - or, should you become obscenely overloaded, a driver who will "carry" you (non-cab stylee) home. Inquiring at small bars or nearby shops with a smile will succeed if you don't find anyone on the street you'd ask.

Use your brain (and calculator if need be) when tipping, but be a good tipper. Be rather lavish if the driver also helps you carry in your scandal bags when you arrive.

Be sure you get his card and give him more custom if your driver rocks! It's never easy finding a superb charioteer with whom you'd happily spend several days. Hip him to your plans for your holiday, and he'll tell you what he'll charge for "carrying" you there and back each day. He may even quote you a weekly rate.

Should your new driver be returning to collect you the next day, farewell him with the phrase, "A marnin'!" and he'll be best pleased. It just means "See you in the morning," but it's viewed as thoroughly brilliant when a non-Jamaican uses it. :)

Ta much, dear Edosan

Her collaborator isn’t just a creationist. There’s the white supremacy issue, too ...

... The Palin book, moreover, is clearly being styled as a work of polemic, appealing to the Christianist base, thereby fanning homophobia, and empowering those who would like nothing more than to push gay people back into the closet, out of marriage, out of the military, and out of the workplace. Burnham is now directly party to this effort.

It's not possible to accuse Jonathan Burnham of hypocrisy because that would imply he has any convictions or principles at all. Here, for example, is his quote about a 400-page book written in two months:

“Governor Palin has been unbelievably conscientious and hands-on at every stage, investing herself deeply and passionately in this project…. It’s her words...”

Hey, if it makes a buck, and advances his career, Burnham will do it. As gay people prepare to march for their civil rights, Burnham, one of the more powerful gay men in New York, is preparing to capitalize on their avowed enemies. It's just money, after all. And buzz. Always buzz.

God Hates Elms T-Shirt
By Daniel Florien on August 21, 2009 in Atheism, Christianity, Humor, Superstition.

Yesterday, while ridiculing those who believe a supernatural being sent a tornado to Minneapolis because of TEH GAYS!!!, PZ Myers said:

"It seems, if you look at the conference schedule, that the liberal Lutherans were contemplating making some friendly statements about their gay congregants, so obviously this was an example of gentle smiting of sodomites.

Of course, also on the schedule were bible study and hymn singing — god hates “Onward Christian Soldiers”. And a middle school in North Branch — god hates education. It knocked down many trees — god hates elms."

God hates elms. What a great idea for a t-shirt, I thought. Some commenters on PZ’s site also thought so, so a friend and I whipped one up:


...

Ta much, dear Anneliese

... There's no doubt that history education needs a boost in Texas.

According to test results, one-third of students think the Magna Carta was signed by the Pilgrims on the Mayflower and 40% believe Lincoln's 1863 emancipation proclamation was made nearly 90 years earlier at the constitutional convention.

Why is Charlotte Allen so mad at atheists?
She says it's because we're boring. More likely, it's because we speak out against the intellectually bankrupt beliefs of religion.
By P.Z. Myers
May 22, 2009

Charlotte Allen is very, very angry with us atheists -- that's the only conclusion that can be drawn from her furious broadside in The Times on May 17. She can't stand us; we're unpopular; we're a problem. What, exactly, is the greatest crime of modern atheists?

We're boring. ...

... We live in a world where the majority of the population are quite convinced that they have a direct pipeline to an omnipotent, omniscient being who has told them exactly how to live and what is right and wrong, and has spelled out his divine will in holy books. Unfortunately, there are many holy books, and they all disagree with each other, and of all these multitudes claiming possession of such a potent source of information, we similarly see widespread disagreement. This god seems to be an exceptionally unreliable oracle -- most of what he has supposedly said is wrong. We atheists do take glee in pointing out God's lack of consistency, which I'm sure Allen finds irritating. ...

... Allen requests that we atheists take religious belief seriously. We do; it's hard not to take seriously a bizarre collection of antiquated superstitions that are furiously waved in our faces in our schools, on television, in our politics and even on newspaper editorial pages. That we take the intellectually bankrupt beliefs of religion seriously is precisely why we do question it, and will continue to question it, in our boring way: by simply speaking out.



This page never would load, even after an hour passed. Golly! I wonder why?

Also may be found here, maybe.

Wow, man - it's that golden calf thing all over again. Are none of these witlings at all familiar with the bib-lee?

People who are mistaken and/or just plain wrong have the loudest and most empty arguments.