For those sick of the "passion controversy I present

[Scarran Raptor]

A reading from the gospels of Shecky, Henny, Red, and Milton

Pontus Pilate was in golgotha when he hears someone whispering his name, he tracks the voice down and hears it coming from Jesus on the cross, he sends for a ladder and puts his ear to Jesus' lips to hear him better "Pilate" he says
"I can see your house from here"


Jesus, Moses and and old man are playing golf, first moses hits, his ball lands in a water hazard, he stretches his arms wide, parts the hazard and hits it into the cup
next Jesus hits, his too lands in the water hazard, he walks out on to the water, picks up his ball, sets it on the water and hits it into the cup
then the old man hits, it flies into the water but a fish swallows it, then an osprey grabs the fish and drops it on the green, the fish spits up the ball and it lands in the cup, Jesus turns to the old man and says "hey Pop, quit screwing around and just play golf?"

St. Peter called in sick, so Jesus filled in for him at the gates, an old man came up to him, looking for something "can I help you?" Jesus asks "yes" says the old man, I'm looking for my son, perhaps you've seen him, he was born in a very unusual way, and despite having holes in his hands and feet he moved a great many people who still tell his tale to this day"
"FATHER!" shouts Jesus
the old man looks up bewildered "Pinocchio?"

[AnnieBW]

I'm going to wait for the "Passion" DVD to come out. I hear that Mel filmed an alternate ending. :evil:

[trubador]

I thought this was the thread about the "Passion Fruit" controversy???
:rollin: :rollin: :rollin:

[DRD2001]

:lol

[Kurt_eh]

Ya know, I've not considered myself a religious person in a long long time, but for a long time, I've been comtemplating getting a "Buddy Jesus" from the Viewaskew store...

Ah, Dogma. What a hilarious film! :D

http://www.viewaskew.com/main.html

[fermicat]

Passion flowers look kinda sci fi.....

[fermicat]

more....

[AgentSun]

buddy christ, what a buddy indeed. i want to know what the giant sunflower thing on him is...

[generic_screenname]

buddy christ, what a buddy indeed. i want to know what the giant sunflower thing on him is... You mean the Sacred Heart?

[Nicola]

I thought this thread needed bumping. :bump:

Anyone going to Athens for the Olympics this summer?

Athens unleashing a plan for its strays
Frank Bruni NYT Thursday, February 26, 2004

ATHENS As it struggles to complete its odyssey of pre-Olympics primping, this scraggly city finds itself pressed to prove more than its ability to pave roads, plant trees and prettify monuments.
.
It has to show that it hasn't gone to the dogs.
.
They are legion, and they are leash-less. Strays saunter through public squares, tails wagging or teeth bared, depending on their dispositions and the nearness of meaty alms. Strays flank the gilded portals to fancy boutiques, like furry, four-legged doormen with a naked hankering for table scraps.
.
In a widely publicized incident last summer, one stray bit a Ukrainian archery coach who was in Athens for Olympic test events and out for a run.
.
The wound was not serious, except to the scruffy image of Athens and its environs, whose caretakers are now trying, in a manner that might well be described as dogged, to tame the situation.
.
Just a few months ago, the national government enacted legislation intended to reduce the population of strays by holding Greeks more accountable, with toughened pet-registration requirements and stiff fines for abandoning their pets to the streets.
.
Athens, for its part, is funneling about $2 million this year into new animal shelters, new animal control officers and a major sterilization project. If the newly neutered strays are not adopted in two weeks, they are set free to roam anew, but in a less reproductive fashion.
.
City officials concede that those efforts will not work fast enough to make a major difference by the beginning of the Olympic games on Aug. 13, but they say that there may be some benefit.
.
"The city is trying to change," said Tonia Kanellopoulou, the deputy mayor in charge of managing strays. That has actually become a specially designated task and nearly full-time job.
.
Athens is not the only European capital with rampant strays, nor is it the first Olympics host city to have to deal with a dog-related problem.
.
But the situation in Athens has its own drama, in part because Greeks exhibit such a broad, complicated range of reactions to the strays in their midst. Many Greeks not only tolerate but also admire strays for being hearty, against-the-odds survivors, which is the way many Greeks see themselves.
.
But at least a few feel differently, and that conflict has bred mysterious deaths, insidious accusations and attention-grabbing antics in far-away locales.
.
In regard to the antics, an animal-rights advocate put on a dog costume and tied himself to a cross 12 feet, or more than 3 meters high outside the Greek Embassy in Berlin last December. The advocate was protesting what some animal welfare groups outside Greece claimed was a mass poisoning of stray dogs and cats that had been ordered by Greek officials who wanted the animals out of the way before the Olympics.
.
Greek officials denied any such slaughter, and several prominent animal-rights advocates here said the charges were unsubstantiated.
.
But they said that a little more than a year ago, as Greece assumed the rotating presidency of the European Union and more foreign dignitaries were due to arrive, dozens of stray dogs and cats disappeared from squares that the dignitaries were likely to pass by. In at least one case, advocates said, carcasses were found, along with containers of poison.
.
"It was organized," said Carol McBeth, director of the Greek Animal Welfare Fund, referring to the killings. But, she said: "We knew the city of Athens wasn't involved. We knew the Ministry of Agriculture wasn't involved."
.
The case was never solved, but animal welfare groups outside Greece raised a ruckus, and Greek officials confronted an unexpected public relations nightmare.

As it struggles to complete its odyssey of pre-Olympics primping, this scraggly city finds itself pressed to prove more than its ability to pave roads, plant trees and prettify monuments.

It has to show that it hasn't gone to the dogs.
.
They are legion, and they are leash-less. Strays saunter through public squares, tails wagging or teeth bared, depending on their dispositions and the nearness of meaty alms. Strays flank the gilded portals to fancy boutiques, like furry, four-legged doormen with a naked hankering for table scraps.

In a widely publicized incident last summer, one stray bit a Ukrainian archery coach who was in Athens for Olympic test events and out for a run.

The wound was not serious, except to the scruffy image of Athens and its environs, whose caretakers are now trying, in a manner that might well be described as dogged, to tame the situation.

Just a few months ago, the national government enacted legislation intended to reduce the population of strays by holding Greeks more accountable, with toughened pet-registration requirements and stiff fines for abandoning their pets to the streets.

Athens, for its part, is funneling about $2 million this year into new animal shelters, new animal control officers and a major sterilization project. If the newly neutered strays are not adopted in two weeks, they are set free to roam anew, but in a less reproductive fashion.

City officials concede that those efforts will not work fast enough to make a major difference by the beginning of the Olympic games on Aug. 13, but they say that there may be some benefit.

"The city is trying to change," said Tonia Kanellopoulou, the deputy mayor in charge of managing strays. That has actually become a specially designated task and nearly full-time job.

Athens is not the only European capital with rampant strays, nor is it the first Olympics host city to have to deal with a dog-related problem.

But the situation in Athens has its own drama, in part because Greeks exhibit such a broad, complicated range of reactions to the strays in their midst. Many Greeks not only tolerate but also admire strays for being hearty, against-the-odds survivors, which is the way many Greeks see themselves.

But at least a few feel differently, and that conflict has bred mysterious deaths, insidious accusations and attention-grabbing antics in far-away locales.

In regard to the antics, an animal-rights advocate put on a dog costume and tied himself to a cross 12 feet, or more than 3 meters high outside the Greek Embassy in Berlin last December. The advocate was protesting what some animal welfare groups outside Greece claimed was a mass poisoning of stray dogs and cats that had been ordered by Greek officials who wanted the animals out of the way before the Olympics.

Greek officials denied any such slaughter, and several prominent animal-rights advocates here said the charges were unsubstantiated.

But they said that a little more than a year ago, as Greece assumed the rotating presidency of the European Union and more foreign dignitaries were due to arrive, dozens of stray dogs and cats disappeared from squares that the dignitaries were likely to pass by. In at least one case, advocates said, carcasses were found, along with containers of poison.

"It was organized," said Carol McBeth, director of the Greek Animal Welfare Fund, referring to the killings. But, she said: "We knew the city of Athens wasn't involved. We knew the Ministry of Agriculture wasn't involved."

The case was never solved, but animal welfare groups outside Greece raised a ruckus, and Greek officials confronted an unexpected public relations nightmare.

The New York Times

I was in Athens in 2002 and I have to say the efforts on behalf of stray dogs and cats in the city is quite commendable. There are many volunteer groups that feed animals and keep and eye on them. On the other hand, there are many more animals then there are volunteers.

I like that the policy is to neuter strays and then release them if they aren't adopted, but it still doesn't solve the problem of uncared for animals.