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Posted
Fox News

A mysterious man known by some as the Iranian president’s “exorcist” has been arrested, in the latest sign that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s involvement with purveyors of the so-called “dark arts” is raising concerns among Iran’s leadership.

Abbas Ghaffari, described as Ahmadinejad’s “exorcist” or “jinn (genie) catcher” is reportedly among a number of people in Ahmadinejad’s circle who have been arrested lately, amid reports of continuing strains between the president and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. As is typical in Iran, details on the timing and specific charges behind the arrests are somewhat murky.

It’s also not clear from what or whom Ghaffari was protecting the president, and what he may have been doing to accomplish that aim. What does is clearer is that a particular target in the arrests is Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei, the president’s right-hand man, who has been marginalized more recently by Khamenei. Most of the arrests are said to be Mashaei associates within Ahmadinejad’s inner circle.

In a fiery speech Tuesday in the Iranian holy city of Qom, Mojtaba Zolnour, Khamenei’s representative in the Revolutionary Guard, said he asked Ahmadinejad: “What do you see in this Mashaei, other than links to exorcists, soothsayers and fortune tellers? … They come and gurgle on about his prophecies, and Mr. Ahmadinejad thinks he has divine knowledge.”

Ahmadinejad has also frequently raised concerns with what some see as his obsession over the concept of the “12th Imam,” a belief among some Muslims that a leader who has been in hiding since 869 will return and unite the world under the banner of Islam.

Believers say the 12th Imam will only appear during a time of worldwide chaos, however, leading some to fear Ahmadinejad would deliberately act to destabilize the international situation in the hopes of sparking the imam’s return. Ahmadinejad has reportedly stabilized a rift with Kahmenei, following a nearly two-week sustained sulk that kept him out of his office.

But the same apparently can’t be said for those arrested. Superstition and mysticism are to an extent vestiges of pre-Islamic Iranian culture. And while the Islamic system officially shuns them, a significant number of Iranians may share some of these unorthodox beliefs.

Nor do many Iranians think such beliefs exist only within the their own culture.

“The reality of conjuring ‘jinn’ is not exclusive to our society,” said Morteza Nabavi, a member of the Expediency Council, which mediates between the Iranian parliament and the Guardian Council and who is also managing director of Resalat newspaper. “In other places too, catching jinn and eliciting their help is also relevant.”

But that doesn’t mean the proponents of such beliefs should be running a government, according to Nabavi. “The deviant group that have recently been mentioned have reached out to others … and they have even influenced the president and gained his support.” Despite the fact that Ahmadinejad is at the center of this controversy, there are limits to how seriously others in the regime are willing to damage him.

He remains the most visible public face of the Islamic Republic. But by arresting and humiliating those around him, particularly Mashaei, the president’s detractors cause chaos without toppling the country’s political foundations.

It’s not the first time Ahmadinejad and his circle has been cast under the shadow of “dark arts.”

A campaign film for the reformist candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi, from whom many Iranians believe the 2009 election was stolen, plays up the mystic bogeyman.

Mousavi says in the ad, “The next government will be the government of reason. Not a government of soothsayers and palm readers.”

I am not sure what to say about that.

Posted

Enter: the honey badger

In case it wasn't posted somewhere else: Pastor's story of being a former Navy Seal collapses when someone realizes his tale sounded really similar to "Under Siege" Link

Guest 12XU2A3X3
Posted

WTF?

image001-3.jpg

time and a place....

Posted

Only in Texas...texas.gif

The 10 Hottest Women on the Texas Sex Offenders List

You probably would not be too surprised to learn that the vast majority of people in the Texas Department of Public Safety's sex offender list are male.

And most are not good-looking.

But there are females on there, too. Most of them are not good-looking, true, but who takes a good mugshot besides Tom DeLay?

We combed through 15 of the biggest counties in Texas and came up with the ten hottest women in the database. Warning: In some cases, we picked out the best of a series of mugshots. Alternative choices were starkly different. So click on each link before you send any marriage proposals.

Posted (edited)

CNN is running a story on how all the leaks about the operational details of the bin Laden raid are potentially putting the SEALs who took part in danger. They then go on to run down all the operational details that have been leaked recently, send a reporter to the supposed base where the team is stationed, and attempt to go to bars and restaurants "known to be frequented by SEALs" to get them on camera.

WTF...YOU ARE DOING EXACTLY WHAT YOU ARE REPORTING IS DANGEROUS!! Stop making it worse you idiots...

Best quote:

Ken "Former Special Forces Officer" Robinson, "The executive branch, the legislative branch, friends, relatives, and acquaintances; they need to shut the f*ck up."

Well said Ken...or should I say Rainman...

Edited by nsplayr
  • Upvote 1
Posted

What kind of cell phone was that? That's some impressive battery life right there.

Not just battery life, ala Jack Bauer; but where the fork were they going for SIXTEEN hours on a forking train? And just how slow was the train going? Good golly!

Posted

Not just battery life, ala Jack Bauer; but where the fork were they going for SIXTEEN hours on a forking train? And just how slow was the train going? Good golly!

She must've had her phone charger hooked up. There are outlets in the dining car which is obviously where this manatee was spending her time.

Been on that Amtrak a few times when I was in school. It's fvcking awful. It tops out at about 65 or so mph. Southbound it's usually on schedule but when it's going north it's always late. And what's more is that whole rail line is owned by Union Pacific, so if a 2 mile long freighter is coming through, you're SOL and waiting on the sidetrack until it passes.

Guest Ponis
Posted

WTFO...awake for 18 hours and just walked to the other side of base for help with admin queep, only to find a sign on the door saying something to the effect of "sorry, we combat-shoe clerks have uber stressful jobs and need to decompress with a two hour lunch break. We apologize that you will not be helped until your after your crew rest kicks in, so you are SOL, see you Monday."

Posted (edited)

This article almost deserves it's own thread... Washing machine a casualty of indoor target shooting

WILL GREENLEE, Scripps Treasure Coast Newspapers

ST. LUCIE COUNTY, Fla. - Officials are investigating a weekend incident in which a woman apparently fired an AR-15 rifle at a target inside her future ex-husband's master bedroom closet, missing the target and blasting holes in a washing machine.

The last line of the article is classic.

Edited by Timbonez
Posted (edited)

https://edition.cnn.com/2011/US/04/06/maryland.toilet.prank/index.html?iref=obinsite

Police in Maryland are on the hunt for the perpetrator of what appears to be an April Fools' Day prank that left a man glued to a toilet at a Wal-Mart store

There, they found the 48-year-old victim, who called for help after realizing the sticky situation he was in when he tried -- and failed -- to stand up and leave the superstore's restroom, Donnelly said.

It took responders 15 minutes to remove the victim from the stall, but they were unable to disconnect the toilet seat from his body, Donnelly said.

Instead, the victim was taken to Union Hospital of Cecil County, where the seat was detached. He left with only minor injuries to his buttocks, Donnelly said.

Ok, with all sympathy in mind...BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA :moon: But seriously, that stinks. No pun intended. (ok, maybe it was intended)

Two good points were brought up in the comments:

1. He had a dirty butt when the paramedics pulled him off because he couldn't have wiped.

2. Super glue dries very quickly. Either he went in right after the perp (gross, use an effing seat cover...or hold it until you get home) or he glued his own fat rear to the seat so he could sue Wal-Mart later.

Edited by snizz
Posted (edited)

Way too easy...

edit to add link: https://www.cbsnews.c...n20067242.shtml

"Rep. Weiner: I did not send Twitter crotch pic"

Dave Arnold told The Associated Press in an email that the tweet, directed at a woman, was "a distraction" from the married New York Democrat's "important work representing his constituents."

"Anthony's accounts were obviously hacked," Arnold said. "He doesn't know the person named by the hacker, and we will be consulting on what steps to take next."

The photo showed a man's bulging underpants.

It first was reported Saturday by BigGovernment.com, a website run by conservative commentator Andrew Breitbart. The site said the photo was tweeted to a Seattle woman.

The photo was quickly deleted.

For her part, the woman who allegedly received the photos also said Rep. Weiner was almost certainly not responsible. In a statement, Genette Cordova said "The account that these tweets were sent from was familiar to me; this person had harassed me many times after the Congressman followed me on Twitter a month or so ago. Since I had dealt with this person and his cohorts before I assumed that the tweet and the picture were their latest attempts at defaming the Congressman and harassing his supporters.

After being called everything from "Anthony Weiner's 21-year-old coed mistress" to the person responsible for the hack, and after her friends and family were also allegedly harassed, Cordova said: "All of this is so outlandish that I don't know whether to be pissed off or amused, quite frankly."

Weiner later joked about the account hacking on Twitter, asking whether his kitchen blender would be next to "attack" him.

Weiner represents New York's 9th District, which covers parts of Queens and Brooklyn, where he was born and raised. He failed in a 2005 bid for the Democratic nomination for mayor of the city but still is widely considered a contender for the office.

He has worked on issues including public housing, homeland security and energy for his constituents.

Weiner, 46, is married to Huma Abedin, an aide to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

Edited by nunya
Posted

https://www.foxnews.com/world/2011/06/04/hypnotists-on-stage-injury-leaves-three-audience-members-in-trance/?test=latestnews

PORTLAND, England -- A British hypnotist's subjects were temporarily left in a trance when he was knocked unconscious during a show, the Dorset Echo reported Saturday.

David Days was performing a hypnotism demonstration Friday night in Portland, in the south of England, when he tripped over an audience member's leg and was knocked unconscious by the fall.

When he fell, Days was in the process of bringing three volunteers from the audience out of a hypnotic trance.

Audience members initially believed the fall was part of the act and reportedly applauded. But they were then asked to clear the theater while the three volunteers on stage remained in a trance.

Days recovered consciousness within a few minutes and was able to bring the three audience members back to consciousness.

Days' manager said the incident "damaged his ego a bit," but he was otherwise fine Saturday.

Read more: https://www.foxnews.com/world/2011/06/04/hypnotists-on-stage-injury-leaves-three-audience-members-in-trance/#ixzz1ONoCoo75

It is now being reported that one man later stopped caring about his job and was ironically promoted. He celebrated with friends by smashing an old copier and listening to rap music...wait a minute, that sounds familiar.

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