Open Thread: The FSM Abides
By mistermix July 14th, 2011
It was a long, hard slog against the heathens, but this true believer finally earned the right to wear his religious headgear in his drivers’ license picture.
Open thread by request.
Posted in Open Thread
A column on Obama’s strategy:
At a blog called “Vichy Democrats”: http://vichydems.blogspot.com/.....l?spref=tw
don’t let the name fool you.
July 14th, 2011 at 8:18 am
Score one for the Pastafarians!
July 14th, 2011 at 8:20 am
Pastafarians of the world, unite!
July 14th, 2011 at 8:21 am
That is what religious freedom looks like.
No wonder the god-botherers hate it.
July 14th, 2011 at 8:27 am
Ramen, brothers. Ramen.
July 14th, 2011 at 8:28 am
@Skip: That might be a good piece, but as soon as I see any reference to framing, I just stop reading.
July 14th, 2011 at 8:30 am
All Hail the Flying Spaghetti Monster!
July 14th, 2011 at 8:34 am
Fuck the Orthodox Pastafarians.
July 14th, 2011 at 8:38 am
I wanted to let BJers know that the full text of my book The Lifelong Activist: How to Change the World Without Losing Your Way (Lantern Books, 2006 is now online at
http://www.lifelongactivist.com . It’s a self-help book for progressives of all types, and sections include: Managing Your Mission, Managing Your Time, Managing Your Fears (aka, overcoming procrastination), Managing Your Relationship with Self, and Managing Your Relationship with Others.
@Skip and @mistermix – the last section includes a lot on framing, which is a valuable tool and just jargon for “effective sales technique 101”
July 14th, 2011 at 8:40 am
Let us prey the mighty FSM brings the circus to town for yet another day.
July 14th, 2011 at 8:41 am
Mr Alm said the sieve was a requirement of his religion, pastafarianism.
awesome … lol
needed that morning laugh after a couple of bad news emails…
July 14th, 2011 at 8:47 am
Effective sales techniques that are working:
Also: Americans would blame the GOP over Obama, 48-34, if the debt ceiling doesn’t get raised. And marginally more (45) think not raising it would harm the economy than think raising it would increase spending (43).
>
By the way, it’s “Sko”, not Skip (not sure where that came from).
July 14th, 2011 at 8:49 am
So say we all.
July 14th, 2011 at 8:52 am
Athenae of First Draft references John Cole and quotes our fearless leader this morning.
http://first-draft-blog.typepad.com/first_draft/
Yay, John Cole.
July 14th, 2011 at 9:03 am
On the morning after, some unfortunate sour grapes from Les Bleues.
http://www.lequipe.fr/Football.....a-vie.html
“There was one team that was very athletic, and the other team played football?” Please.
July 14th, 2011 at 9:12 am
Pastafarians is a false religion based on the tomato sauce heresy. The almighty FSM intends pasta to be the union between pesto and spaghetti only. Tomato sauce is the devil’s gravy. Cavatelli, fusilli and other variations are also an abomination. There is a special place in hell for these infidels where they will be forced to eat cold Spaghetti-O’s from a can, three times a day, FOR EVER! How’s your tomato sauce now?
July 14th, 2011 at 9:20 am
@Sko Hayes:
Those “itty bitty” tax loopholes you speak of that Obama’s after, are worth about $1T per year if we could get them closed. Personally, my eye is on Kentucky horse race owners loopholes, probably Mitch’s favorite. These loopholes are just yearly Earmarks for the rich.
July 14th, 2011 at 9:23 am
oh, this is so awesome! needed a laugh this morning, or rather this week…
July 14th, 2011 at 9:27 am
Es lebe die Kirche des Fliegenden Spaghettimonsters!
July 14th, 2011 at 9:29 am
BBC headline is most excellent.
Not to be a prick about it, but shouldn’t anyone who wears religious headgear be required to pass a psychiatric test before allowed behind the wheel?
July 14th, 2011 at 9:35 am
Cease this heresy or I’ll be forced to nail 95 lasagna noodles to an Olive Garden door…
July 14th, 2011 at 9:35 am
Color me skeptical. The man’s story is full of holes.
July 14th, 2011 at 9:48 am
I can assume that every person who claims a religious exemption to the rules undergoes a psychological test? Ha ha ha ha. I’m funny. You don’t have to do so if millions of people harbor the same unprovable beliefs as you. It’s only potentially delusional if you don’t believe what everyone else believes.
July 14th, 2011 at 9:54 am
@Sko Hayes:
It’s getting close to the 27% mark where the Repubs only have the crazy supporting them.
July 14th, 2011 at 9:57 am
I wonder how many strainers he had to try on before he found one that fits his head so perfectly.
July 14th, 2011 at 10:04 am
Fox News just embraced the “Obama walked out on the negotiations” idea. Then they discussed whether or not Social Security checks could go out without a debt limit increase. Yet they did not talk about the consequences of our credit rating being downgraded, which of course is the most dire issue.
Oh wait, did I say Fox News? That was on NPR’s Morning Edition.
http://www.npr.org/2011/07/14/.....tands-firm
(the claim about Obama walking out of the negotiations was in Steve Inskeep’s introduction to the story)
July 14th, 2011 at 10:05 am
@Karounie:
Perhaps it was custom made. The designer could make a fortune out of this.
July 14th, 2011 at 10:06 am
@Karounie:
Orthodox mothers start their infants in tiny collanders, and the babies’ heads grow to fit the shape.
July 14th, 2011 at 10:08 am
@TGC:
Meanwhile, CBS Radio started their piece with Cantor’s version, then said pretty much everyone else disputed that. They also pointed out that he was interrupting Obama for his third attempt at offering a short-term solution. Made him sound like
a whiny*ass bitchwhat he is.July 14th, 2011 at 10:11 am
Ladies and Gentlemen!
I bring in the winning entry in next year’s EuroVision song contest (on the subject of the European debt crisis):
http://www.guardian.co.uk/busi.....song-video
While it may lack avant-garde hair, spandex, and gyrating torsos, you won’t be able to deny that its lyrics are catchy. Really one not to miss!
July 14th, 2011 at 10:21 am
@gex:
If Niko Alm were a Jew wanting to wear his yarmulke, or a Sikh his turban, the authorities would probably not have put him through a psych interview. But he showed up at the Austrian equivalent of the DMV and said ,,Ich will ein Sieb auf den Kopf tragen, weil ich pastafarisch bin.’’ You can’t blame a civil servant at for wondering whether Niko was taking the piss or just plain nuts. It never hurts to check.
On another matter: I’ve just seen Deathly Hallows part 2 in 3D. Most excellent, a fitting end-piece to a decade of film-making brilliance. Severus Snape’s memories of Lily Potter, nee Evans, are profoundly moving. Julie Walters does indeed get to say that line.
July 14th, 2011 at 10:30 am
burnspbesq (#15):
A doff of the beret for your recent links to L’Equipe!
With those, and now with apparently everybody here reading the Guardian each day, how very cosmopolitan this humble website has become from its rural, backwoods origins. :) Ooh la la!
July 14th, 2011 at 10:47 am
Only one, when divine grace is involved. Cheese be upon Him!
July 14th, 2011 at 10:49 am
@Amir_Khalid:
Just checked my German grammar notebook. That sentence should be ,,Ich will ein Sieb auf dem Kopf tragen, weil ich pastafarisch bin.’‘
July 14th, 2011 at 10:55 am
As a pastafarian I am pleased.
:)
July 14th, 2011 at 11:27 am
Being a Reformed Druid, I just can’t trust the Pastafarians. I mean, didn’t they kill Jesus, or something? or was it Elvis?, I forgets.
July 14th, 2011 at 11:42 am
Am now earwormed with that great Pastafarian hymn:
On top of spaghetti,
All covered with cheese,
I lost my poor meatball
When somebody sneezed.
July 14th, 2011 at 11:54 am
I hated that NPR mentioned pastafarian but could not bring themselves to say Flying Spaghetti Monster.
His noodly appendages are quivering in rage!
July 14th, 2011 at 12:06 pm
Wait until this chucklehead gets any kind of a ticket….........
July 14th, 2011 at 12:36 pm
Thanks to this woman, I now know what I’ve lacked all my life. All I have to do is bring my wife around to see our disperate need for a 5 foot tall iron chicken.
July 14th, 2011 at 12:49 pm
@31 – and your point is? No one can prove their religious beliefs correct, but some are subjected to psych tests and some are merely accepted.
I’m always amused and alarmed when psychology/psychiatry texts and courses tiptoe around the fact that we carve out a space for religion where we just don’t classify it as delusional if enough people believe the same thing.
Shouldn’t all religions be treated equally? Or is a-ok to single out minority religions for extra scrutiny by the government? You seem to be okay with the latter.
July 14th, 2011 at 12:52 pm
It certainly fits with Austrian precision. Hopefully it wasn’t too much of a strain getting it blocked.
Also, too, your typical liberal university professor at work.
http://blogs.sacbee.com/the_st.....gaini.html
May the FSM turn him into a pillar of gluten.
July 14th, 2011 at 12:54 pm
@burnsbpesq:
Meh. Predictable. I wouldn’t be so cavalier about it though—Les Bleues seriously bossed the middle.
And, honestly, if L’Equipe is writing about them, it means they’re now being taken seriously and are likely to get more support from the FFF.
Not that I’m in the “USWNT are on the way out” doldrums or anything … ;)
July 14th, 2011 at 1:04 pm
@gex:
I’m not saying it was okay to put Niko through a psych interview because (he says) he’s a Pastafarian rather than something more widely recognized. I would of course consider that religious discrimination. But mark you, Niko did also say he wanted to wear a sieve for a hat on his license photo. If you’re a civil servant not necessarily familiar with the current fashion in spoof religion, such a request might understandably make you concerned about his mental fitness to drive. No report I’ve seen on this story says that Niko had to do the psych interview because the authorities didn’t approve of his professed religion as such.
July 14th, 2011 at 1:51 pm
Open Thread?
If “The Almighty Johnsons”, series 1, ever comes to your screens, pay very close attention to episode 6, between minute 10 and 11. I am stating for the record now that it is my arrogant opinion they gave the game away right there…
July 14th, 2011 at 2:13 pm
And so, the war on Unlimited Salad and Breadsticks begins…
July 14th, 2011 at 3:19 pm
Okay, that was LOL hilarious. Great photo.
Just one question. I thought Pastafarians were supposed to dress in pirate garb?
July 14th, 2011 at 3:35 pm