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KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia - Malaysian authorities on Wednesday arrested 58 followers of a bizarre cult built around a giant teapot, two days after the sect’s headquarters was torched.



The official Bernama news agency said those arrested were aged between 20 and 60 years and included a New Zealand woman.



Cult leader, Ayah Pin, was not among those arrested and was believed to have gone into hiding after about 30-35 assailants armed with machetes and Molotov cocktails attacked the commune on Monday, torching a car and the roof of a building and scorching the giant teapot itself.



Police have detained a 65-year-old man over the attack.



The sect, which believes the teapot has healing properties, is in Malaysia’s northeast, a devoutly Muslim area that has suddenly lost patience with the cult, headed by the man who says he is God and owner of everything, his “Sky Kingdom.”



State religious authorities have outlawed the teapot sect as a deviant cult.



State religious affairs department Assistant Commissioner Azam Awi was quoted as saying by Bernama that the 58 cult followers had admitted to converting to Islam eight years ago and will be charged in the court of shariah, or Islamic law, on Thursday.



They face a fine of up to 3,000 ringgit (about $789) or two years in jail for flouting a ruling by authorities that Ayah Pin’s teachings and belief were false and had strayed from the true teachings of Islam.



Islam is the state religion in this Muslim-majority country. Malaysia also tolerates followers of other major religions, including Christianity, Hinduism and Buddhism.

msn.com

Funny Moments



At two in the morning I discovered sugar ants infest the salt. The first thing I did was wonder if any of these ants I was fishing out of my water were pro-life or "abortion" ants. Did they fight for equal opportunities for all ant larva, or were they for eating their young when toughing it during our family vacation? Did they have ant ralleys, or picket their queen or the larve chambers? Did they fast for a certain number of days, to prove what the believed?

I had to smile at this idea. If all human life compared to the universe is as insignificant as an ant in a kitchen, then what’s stopping an ant, besides some IQ points, from raising moral debates among its peers? And after finishing all of this, only to die in a twist of fate in a glass of saltwater. Does it wonder for however brief of a second that its life was meaningless? Is it thankful that tonight I feel pro-ant-life? I carefully scooped it and its six followers on my spoon and smacked them into the sink, frazzled but unharmed. Now they have a little longer to accomplish something in their lives, and some distant part of me hopes that they have had a revaluation from this episode.

Do you ever find yourself doing what is right and direct, only to catch a glimpse, like a window's view from a car, that your going about it all wrong? Follow your heart, something inside whispers, only there will you find your happiness. Perhaps in a next life, I replied. For now I feel like the half-dead Dumbledore, and it is past my time for me to go to bed.

New Post

License Plate Bingo Makes it Better

In case you haven't noticed, I re-did my blog again. Hopefully people can read it now, I know I can. I really like the background pic, one of my favorite I took in New Orleans. I can't believe I finally got the comments up and running. Big achievement, and I owe a big part of it to Trevor.:>!(pay no attention to the old comment icon next to the word)... But floggle and Titles are still a no show. I am open to suggestions. Well, tomorrow is another day, right? Right? Meh, well, it is tomorrow anyway, 1:36 A.M. I am starting to feel a little punchy.

I started the Mother Teresa's Cooking class today. Learned some wonderful artery hardening recipe's. I can now almost cook Chicken cacciatore, Cream of Mushroom Soup, and Madelines, not La Madeline though, that's next week. I'll get that kid, and her funny little Barrett too.

We finally made it back from our trip, 11 states and 15000 miles later. What's the point? All we did was make a big loop. No, it really was a great experience. I really saw the country side, and got most of Rachel's state jokes. Kentucky was the most scary, and Arkansas took the most time, but that was because our car broke down in Hot Springs. The most common 18 wheeler on the main artery in Arkansas is from Connecticut. On our way back, in Tennessee, a state trooper stepped out in front of one of those when he was giving someone a ticket. They must have had half the freaking force out there for the investigation. He was the 28st state trooper to be killed while on the job in the state.

On the road again

So I've read 4 books, beaten 3 games, and videotaped 30 min of footage of "America" the past 7 days. I found I really get peeved when I sit in a car for more than 6 hours straight. There were some fun stuff, some boring stuff, and all that junk in between. This is the second time I've reached a hotel with cable and was coherent enough to use it. Uncle Pat, who is not crazy, just likes to abuses systems of government to prove to himself how flawed they are, has recently been re-ordained as a Bishop in the Universal Life Church. To achieve this yourself, just visit the website and 'donate' $20. For a bit of little known but interesting history, Uncle Pat originally became a Pope ($45) back during Vietnam so he could avoid the draft. He ordained all of his friends, too. Then, because they said he had to be in practice, kicked himself out of the church based on heresy. Strangly, he is still Catholic, I believe.