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KINSHASA (Reuters) - Police in Congo have arrested 13 suspected sorcerers accused of using black magic to steal or shrink men's penises after a wave of panic and attempted lynchings triggered by the alleged witchcraft. Reports of so-called penis snatching are not uncommon in West Africa, where belief in traditional religions and witchcraft remains widespread, and where ritual killings to obtain blood or body parts still occur. Rumours of penis theft began circulating last week in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo's sprawling capital of some 8 million inhabitants. They quickly dominated radio call-in shows, with listeners advised to beware of...

To kill a man, Alejandro Gallegos García explains, all you need is a black cloth doll, some thread, a human bone and a toad. Oh, and you must ask the devil permission, in person, at a cave in the hills where he is said to appear. Assuming you have these things, plus the green light from the prince of darkness, you simply lash the doll to the bone, shove it down the unfortunate toad’s throat, sew up its lips and take the whole mess to a graveyard, reciting the proper words. “The person will die within 30 days,” Mr. Gallegos...

"If Jesse Jackson were not black, he wouldn't be in the race," she said. Really. The cite is an April 15, 1988 Washington Post story (byline: Howard Kurtz), available only on Nexis. Here's the full context: Placid of demeanor but pointed in his rhetoric, Jackson struck out repeatedly today against those who suggest his race has been an asset in the campaign. President Reagan suggested Tuesday that people don't ask Jackson tough questions because of his race. And former representative Geraldine A. Ferraro (D-N.Y.) said Wednesday that because of his "radical" views, "if Jesse Jackson were not black, he wouldn't...

It's the Barack Obama Magic 8-Ball! Obama knows all! Obama tells all! Just ponder any concern, then click the magic 8-Ball for Barack Obama's response. From your friends at News Talk 100.3 KTLK Minneapolis.

Presidential candidate, Senator Mrs. Bill Clinton (D-N.Y.), told a crowd of New Hampshire Democratic voters that all they need to do in order to ensure lower fuel prices is elect her president next November. “My ‘two-pronged plan’ to lower fuel prices will mean lower heating bills and driving costs,” the New York senator promised. The “supply side prong” calls for comprehensive price-controls. “Under my administration, oil profiteering will come to an end,” Clinton said. “Corporate greed feeding off of human need will be stopped. If we have to seize control of fuel producers to accomplish this—well, they’ve been warned.” The...

Yanadi Kondaiah, who claimed that those who touched his leg would be cured of illness or have wishes granted, was hospitalized in serious condition after the attack Tuesday, said R. Ravindranath Reddy, a senior police officer. "We are looking for the miscreants as well as the leg," Reddy told The Associated Press by telephone from the Chittoor district, a remote area 340 miles south of Hyderabad, the capital of Andhra Pradesh state. "This seems to be a case of superstition. The two people might have taken away the leg hoping to benefit from its magical powers," said Pendakanti Dastgiri, the...

DUTCH magician Ramana has been doing his best to freak out American people by levitating in Times Square and in front of the White House. The illusionist, real name Wouter Bijdendijk, hovered several feet above the pavement with apparent ease. His only "prop" was a stick that he held with his left hand.

Click the link. Watch and listen. :)

Federal authorities in Seattle apparently are involved in an investigation of magician David Copperfield, and a source with knowledge of the investigation told the Las Vegas Review-Journal the case involves "possible sexual misconduct by the illusionist." P-I reporter Levi Pulkkinen inquired Thursday night with the newspaper and called local authorities here for comment. Robbie Burroughs, spokeswoman for the FBI's Seattle office, declined to discuss any aspects of the case on the grounds that the investigation is pending. She did say that the case originated in Seattle, Pulkkinen reports. According to the Las Vegas newspaper, Copperfield's accuser said the misconduct occurred...

David Copperfield -- Investigated by FBI Posted Oct 18th 2007 7:52PM by TMZ Staff Filed under: Celebrity Justice Magician David Copperfield is being investigated by the FBI. Authorities won't comment about the investigation, but did confirm that agents raided Copperfield's personal belongings Wednesday night. We're told agents searched a warehouse in Las Vegas where Copperfield stores items for his show. The raid reportedly stems from an ongoing case in Seattle. TMZ spoke to an FBI spokesperson who refused to comment, saying only that there was an ongoing investigation. Eyewitness News in Vegas is reporting that 12 agents "stormed the warehouse,"...

The speed of light is the speed of light, and that's that. Right? Well, maybe not. Try and figure this out. Astronomers studying radiation coming from a distant galaxy found that the high energy gamma rays arrived a few minutes after the lower-energy photons, even though they were emitted at the same time. If true, this result would overturn Einstein's theory of relativity, which says that all photons should move at the speed of light. Uh oh Einstein. The discovery was made using the new MAGIC (Major Atmospheric Gamma-ray Imaging Cherenkov) telescope, located on a mountain top on the Canary...

Harry Potter: The Archetype of an Abortion Survivor By Marie Peeters-Ney, MD and Philip G. Ney, M.D., M.A., FRCP(C), FRANZCP, RPsychOriginally published in Catholic Insight December 2003Republished with permission and encouragement of authors One could speak about a worldwide "Harry Potter phenomenon," appearing soon after the Pokemon craze. The object of this discussion is to reflect on the possible reasons for the remarkable popularity of Harry Potter. Can the current craze be only due to good marketing skills? Does this book have exceptional literary value? Could the book be an indicator of a deeper cultural trend?  We wish to hypothesize...

Harry Potter and "the Death of God" - by Michael D. O'Brien Special to LifeSiteNews.com Editor's Note: LifeSiteNews.com, the news service which first put online the letter signed by Cardinal Ratzinger - now Pope Benedict XVI - against the Harry Potter books, is proud to present Michael O'Brien's latest essay on the Potter series.  The author, North America's foremost Potter critic, has written many articles that analyze in detail the Harry Potter novels. Here he reflects on the significance of the series as a whole. Well, July 21st has come and gone and the world is muggling onward. The date,...

Lesson 34: The First Commandment "Come let us praise the Lord with joy:  let us joyfully sing to God our savior.  Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving; and make a joyful noise to Him with psalms.  For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods.  For in His hand are all the ends of the earth:  and the heights of the mountains are His.  For the sea is His, and He made it:  and His hands formed the dry land.  Come let us adore and fall down:  and weep before the Lord that...

A Westminster family planning doctor prescribed an exorcism to a patient seeking contraceptive advice, a medical tribunal has heard. Dr Joyce Pratt, 44, is said to have told the woman she was possessed by an evil spirit and had "something moving inside her". The patient - known as Mrs K for the hearing - mentioned she was experiencing pain and bleeding during an appointment for a routine contraceptive injection, the General Medical Council heard. During the "bizarre" consultation at Westside Contraceptive Services in Westminster, Dr Pratt told Mrs K she would use her "black magic powers" to help her, the...

MUSLIM WORLD LEAGUE CALLS TO REMOVE TV MAGIC SHOWS; ARABSAT AGREES ARABSAT, one of the Arab world's leading satellite operators, has caved in to pressure exerted by the Muslim World League to remove television channels broadcasting magic shows, the London-based daily A-Sharq Al-Awsat reported. “We will take the necessary steps to remove these channels off the air in the next two weeks unless they cease to broadcast these programs,” said Khalid Bin Ahmad Balkhayour, acting president of ARABSAT, an organization founded in 1976 by the 22 member states of the Arab League. ARABSAT has already begun the legal proceedings to...

Swedish magician Joe Labero has provoked a strong reaction with suggestions that Las Vegas is controlled by "Jewish business syndicates, American dollar millionaires and homosexual booking agents". The magic master's comments were made in an interview with rail company SJ's on-board magazine Kupé. As a prelude to his controversial thesis, Labero explained that he has long been close to getting his own show in Las Vegas. "But at the end of the day it seems to be impossible - unless you are a homosexual, a Jew or an American. "I don't mean to sound prejudiced of course, I'm just cynical....

Barack Obama, caught up in the fervor of a campaign speech Tuesday, drastically overstated the Kansas tornadoes death toll, saying 10,000 had died. The death toll was 12. "In case you missed it, this week, there was a tragedy in Kansas. Ten thousand people died—an entire town destroyed," the Democratic presidential candidate said in a speech to 500 people packed into a sweltering Richmond art studio for a fundraiser. Obama mentioned the disaster in Greensburg, Kan., in saying he had been told by the office of Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius that the state's National Guard had been depleted by its...

AN elderly Indian husband and wife were burnt to death after villagers accused them of practising black magic, tied them together on a pyre and set them on fire. “The aged couple died screaming for help,” police superintendent P V KuMarch said. Sayanna, 70, and his 61-year-old wife, Pochamma, were set ablaze after being doused with kerosene. Both were farm labourers near the southern city of Hyderabad who also practised traditional medicine. Police have arrested six villagers for the incident.

China's Purple Army Made for Magic Jennifer Viegas, Discovery News April 10, 2007 — China's terracotta army, a mysterious collection of 8,000 life-size figures of warriors and horses found "ready for battle" in a 2017-year-old tomb, was painted in many colors, most distinctively bright purple. New research on the purple paint suggests it was due to Taoist experiments in creating fake jade, which was thought to bestow immortality. The discovery explains why the otherwise fierce army sports a springtime shade. It also suggests a religious link with the army and reveals how inventive China's early chemists were, even when they...

BOGOR, Indonesia - A renowned black magic practitioner performed a voodoo ritual Thursday to jinx President George W. Bush and his entourage while he was on a brief visit to Indonesia.

Democrats must be cursing that damn Karl Rove. How does he do it? From where in the black depths of his soul did he conjure the idea of putting a microphone in front of John Kerry’s mouth during the last week of a campaign season? We all know the truth now, and it is incontrovertible: Karl Rove is one magnificent bastard! For those of you late to the party, here’s the source of the controversy: According to the Pasadena Star-News: "Kerry then told the students that if they were able to navigate the education system, they could get comfortable jobs...

Vatican's Chief Exorcist Repeats Condemnation of Harry Potter Novel ROME, March 1, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The Vatican's chief exorcist, Rev. Gabriele Amorth, is reported to have repeated his condemnations of the Harry Potter novels yesterday.  According to press reports, Fr. Amorth, said of the books, "You start off with Harry Potter, who comes across as a likeable wizard, but you end up with the Devil. There is no doubt that the signature of the Prince of Darkness is clearly within these books."  "By reading Harry Potter a young child will be drawn into magic and from there it is a...

David Copperfield says he's found Fountain of Youth By Jane Sutton Tue Aug 15 The man who made the Statue of Liberty appear to vanish may soon claim to do the same for unsightly bags and wrinkles. Master illusionist David Copperfield says he has found the "Fountain of Youth" in the southern Bahamas, amid a cluster of four tiny islands he recently bought for $50 million (26.4 million pounds). One of his islands in the Exuma chain, Musha Cay, is a private resort that rents for up to $300,000 a week and the other islands serve as buffers to keep...

7/11/2006 - SAN ANTONIO (AFPN) -- Lights, camera, action! Airmen at Holloman Air Force Base, N.M., home to the Air Force's only operational F-117 wing, got to experience a new kind of rush as Hollywood invaded their base. The DreamWorks/Paramount Pictures live-action film "Transformers," set to release in July 2007, will feature several different aircraft including the F-117 Nighthawk from Holloman and the CV-22 Osprey from Kirtland Air Force Base, N.M. More than 300 Airmen participated as extras in the movie and providing logistical support during the filming. "It's a thrill to know my face will be seen in a...

Borders, Culture, Language, Morals, SAVAGE, Truth! Happy Tuesday everyone!

MIA Peter Arnett magically appears in Vietnam journo reunion pic In its December 2005 issue, Vanity Fair magazine manipulated a photograph to make it appear that veteran journalist Peter Arnett was among a group of war correspondents gathered on a teeming Ho Chi Minh City street during a reunion of the Vietnam press corps. In fact, according to a source familiar with the photo shoot, Arnett was not present when photographer Jonas Karlsson shot a group portrait of eight journalists last April. Instead, the former CNN star (who covered the war for the Associated Press) was subsequently photographed solo and...

In John They TrustSouth Pacific villagers worship a mysterious American they call John Frum - believing he'll one day shower their remote island with riches By Paul Raffaele   In the morning heat on a tropical island halfway across the world from the United States, several dark-skinned men—clad in what look to be U.S. Army uniforms—appear on a mound overlooking a bamboo-hut village. One reverently carries Old Glory, precisely folded to reveal only the stars. On the command of a bearded “drill sergeant,� the flag is raised on a pole hacked from a tall tree trunk. As the huge banner...

I went to see the Harry Potter movie yesterday and I was struck by the lack of any controlling moral authority. I've been living in Asia the last couple years and meet lots of Europeans in Thailand. It's amazing how shallow and vacuous they have become. I was immediatly struck by the message in Harry Potter, "nobody has to work. Nobody plants a seed or hammers a nail. Everyone, and I mean EVERYONE, gets all the food, cakes, dessert, luxuries, protection, and priviledge they want". Almost just as I was thinking that, Harry (in the movie, of course) walks into...

A month ago, I submitted a video I recorded. It is a magic trick I do. In it, I take a nickel, cover it, and it turns into a penny. I cover it again and it turns into a dime. Here is the dialog I submitted: "This video tells that if you are allowed to invest Social Security into investments, for every nickel you pay in, you will receive a dime instead of the penny that the current Social Security plan will pay you at retirement." Here is what they put: "This video tells that if you are allowed to...

The Magic Practical Joker Guy who gets made up to look like he's old, and pranks the h*ll out of everyone is too good to miss. Although it is in Japanese, there is no need to understand the words to appreciate this clip.

Harry Houdini, the most celebrated magician and escape artist of the 20th century, dies of peritonitis in a Detroit hospital. Twelve days before, Houdini had been talking to a group of students after a lecture in Montreal when he commented on the strength of his stomach muscles and their ability to withstand hard blows. Suddenly, one of the students punched Houdini twice in the stomach. The magician hadn't had time to prepare, and the blows ruptured his appendix. He fell ill on the train to Detroit, and, after performing one last time, was hospitalized. Doctors operated on him, but to...

In August 2001, an audience got to see Arnold Schwarzenegger drive the M-47 Patton tank he originally drove during his short stint in the Austrian army when he was 18. Riding next to the turret was Paul Wachter. The photo op was part of a ceremony in which the tank went on permanent display at the Motts Military Museum in Groveport, Ohio. But, according to some of his critics, the tank ride with Arnold might be the perfect illustration of Wachter’s career. Wachter, one of the most powerful political insiders in the state, is the manager of the blind trust...

Pope Opposes Harry Potter Novels - Signed Letters from Cardinal Ratzinger Now Online RIMSTING, Germany, July 13, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) - LifeSiteNews.com has obtained and made available online copies of two letters sent by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, who was recently elected Pope, to a German critic of the Harry Potter novels. In March 2003, a month after the English press throughout the world falsely proclaimed that Pope John Paul II approved of Harry Potter, the man who was to become his successor sent a letter to a Gabriele Kuby outlining his agreement with her opposition to J.K. Rowling's offerings. (See below...

FIREWORKS ON TELEVISION I hate watching fireworks on TV. The only thing worse than fireworks on tv, is watching magic on TV. There are just some things that one needs to see live. That's all. Have a great 4th of July celebrating our Independance

Magician Penn Jillette a father to Moxie CrimeFighter NEW YORK — Comedian/magician Penn Jillette's has a new sidekick — a baby girl. Jillette, 50, and his wife Emily, 39, welcomed 6-pound, 6-ounce Moxie CrimeFighter Jillette on Friday, according to publicist Glenn Schwartz. It was the first child for the couple, who married last year. "We chose her middle name because when she's pulled over for speeding she can say, 'But officer, we're on the same side,'" Jillette explained. "'My middle name is CrimeFighter.'" His show sidekick — the typically mute Teller — had no comment on the new arrival. Penn...

War of the black magic cults brings death to Nigeria's universities By Christian Allen Purefoy in Ekpoma (Filed: 20/04/2005) War of the black magic cults brings death to Nigeria's universities By Christian Allen Purefoy in Ekpoma (Filed: 20/04/2005) If students at British universities are "freshers" or "finalists", their counterparts in Nigeria are members of the "Black Bras", the "Black Axes" or the "Pyrates". But there the similarity ends. While British students are struggling to pay tuition fees, their Nigerian counterparts are risking death in violent clashes between rival university cults steeped in black magic. "They indulge in all sorts of...

Lord, Keep our Troops forever in Your care Give them victory over the enemy... Grant them a safe and swift return... Bless those who mourn the lost. . FReepers from the Foxhole join in prayer for all those serving their country at this time. .................................................................. .................... ........................................... U.S. Military History, Current Events and Veterans Issues Where Duty, Honor and Countryare acknowledged, affirmed and commemorated. Our Mission: The FReeper Foxhole is dedicated to Veterans of our Nation's military forces and to others who are affected in their relationships with Veterans. In the FReeper Foxhole, Veterans or their family members should...

The purpose of FreeRepublic.com's multiple message boards is to limit the topics for each board to particular topics. Posting the same message on all the boards defeats the purpose of multiple-boards for special topics. It is very annoying to see the same message on every bulletin board. PLEASE! DO THE READERS A FAVOR. STOP CROSS-POSTING YOUR MESSAGES!

The Center for Reclaiming America is rallying 250,000 citizens to keep Sen. Specter from chairing the Judiciary Committee in the 109th Congress. Specter’s pro-abortion comments have disqualified him from this important position. Read our Fact Sheet. First, we implore Sen. Specter to remove himself from consideration for the chairmanship of the Judiciary Committee. Second, we call on Republican Leadership to take necessary action.

CHICAGO (Nov. 11) - It's a lesson children learn even before their ABCs - say you're sorry when you hurt someone. But it's now being taught in the grown-up world of medicine as a surprisingly powerful way to soothe patients and head off malpractice lawsuits. Some malpractice-reform advocates say an apology can help doctors avoid getting sued, especially when combined with an upfront settlement offer. The idea defies a long tradition in which doctors cultivated a Godlike image of infallibility and rarely owned up to their mistakes. The softer approach, now appearing in some medical school courses and hospital policies,...

Ok, I can understand the restlessness I've been feeling since yesterday. There's a lot riding on this election, and passions are running high on both sides, so naturally eceryone and their naked brother who has an ounce of Power and no clue about Shielding is leaking energy like a hair dryer in a bathtub. So it's Shields Up for me, but I'm still getting enough bleedover to make me jittery and a little manic if I don't concentrate. That's all to be expected. What wasn't expected was that once I filtered out all that background noise, I started hearing a...

Today, while browsing the In-Tar-Net, a friend pointed out to me the website of a young lady who offered up what is quite possibly the oddest explanation for the Kerry defeat that I’ve read so far. She writes:Magical Election Tampering: SHUT IT DOWN! Ok, I can understand the restlessness I've been feeling since yesterday. There's a lot riding on this election, and passions are running high on both sides, so naturally eceryone and their naked brother who has an ounce of Power and no clue about Shielding is leaking energy like a hair dryer in a bathtub. So it's Shields...

Compare & Contrast(Regular type from the Guardian article and italic type from the frontpagemag article) On Saturday, June 19, 2004 it was reported Anonymous (an anonymous senior intelligence official [supposedly] from the Bush administration) "is about to publish a bitter condemnation of America's counter-terrorism policy, arguing that the west is losing the war against al-Qaida and that an "avaricious, premeditated, unprovoked" war in Iraq has played into Osama bin Laden's hands." Progressives find it easier to blame the Israeli or American governments for their mistakes than to stare long and hard into the face of radical Islamist evil. People often...

Here is an article on the "science of luck," based on a ten-year study. It provides some very interesting reading. Apparently the author found consistent patterns of behavior between people who would be considered lucky in life and those considered unlucky. Over the years I have interviewed these volunteers, asked them to complete diaries, personality ques-tionnaires, and intelligence tests, and invited them to my laboratory to participate in experiments. The findings have revealed that luck is not a magical ability or the result of random chance. Nor are peo-ple born lucky or unlucky. Instead, although lucky and unlucky people have...

Political sleight of hand -- it's no magic "People have been wondering whether a word from my discipline — ''misdirection'' — can be applied to another world altogether: the world of politics." By PENN JILLETTE I've been a professional magician for 28 years. I'm not the best magician in the world or even the best magician in Penn & Teller. Those "bests" are the same guy, my partner, Teller. He knows his magic -- he can lie, cheat and steal on stage better than anyone I've ever known or heard about. But I'm the theoretician. So I'm going to try...

American magician David Blaine stands on the London Eye Thursday Aug. 28, 2003, as part of his latest challenge for the programme David Blaine- Above The Below. Blaine aims to spend 44 days starting in early September suspended in a clear glass box over the River Thames without food, communication or distraction of any kind. (AP Photo/Tim Anderson and Chris Lobina, HO) Magician Blaine Drenches British Press in Blood Add Entertainment - Reuters to My Yahoo! LONDON (Reuters) - American illusionist David Blaine shocked a group of journalists Monday when he appeared to cut off part of his ear...

MINNEAPOLIS - Four-year-old Shira Rabkin wanted to ask just the right questions, so she thought long and hard. AP Photo   "Dear Mr. Little Guy," she finally scrawled in big letters across a sheet of paper. "Do you like mints?" After some more pondering, she added, "and going to Camp Snoopy? Love, Shira." Mr. Little Guy was nowhere in sight this early August evening, so Shira stuffed her letter behind his door at the base of a hollowed out ash tree. It's always open, and always full — of letters, pens, flowers and coins. The elusive elf has enchanted Twin...