Dinah Lord

UK comedian infiltrates US State Department.

No kidding.  Although if anybody is looking for joke material these days, the State Department can sure provide it. How do we count the gaffes?

Comedian Armando Iannucci got past security guards at the US State department in Washington with a pass which "could have been produced by a child", in what he described as "probably international espionage".

He was able to wander around unescorted, merrily snapping pics for his movie's set design for over an hour.  Go figure.

Best written line of the day goes to...

Joseph Curl of the Washington Times reporting on the appearance of Maersk Alabama captain, Richard Phillips in front of the Senate Foreign Relations committee:

But on Thursday, the captain was among comrades - Mr. Kerry is an old Navy man, as is ranking committee Republican, Sen. Richard G. Lugar, who served from 1956 to 1960. Mr. Kerry, who captained a Swift boat in Vietnam during the war, clearly enjoyed a taste of the seaman.

Hah!  Read it all to savor the whole ludicrous flavor of the exchange...

Can John Kerry get more ridiculous/pompous?

ZoNation: Celebrating 100 days 'Under the bus'

Bwa-ha-ha. 200 Mosques in Mecca point the wrong way for prayers.

So much for that old facing the Kaaba, bowing down, and throwing your ass up in the air rule.  According to Saudi government officials,  'it doesn't effect the prayers.'

<- A Mecca arrow at Camp Gitmo.

From the BBC

Some 200 mosques in Islam's holiest city, Mecca, point the wrong way for prayers, reports from Saudi Arabia say.

All mosques have a niche showing the direction of the most sacred Islamic site, the Kaaba, an ancient cube-like building in Mecca's Grand Mosque.  But people looking down from recently built high-rises in Mecca found the niches in many older mosques were not pointing directly towards the Kaaba.

Some worshippers are said to be anxious about the validity of their prayers.

There have been suggestions that laser beams could be used to make an exact measurement.

Tawfik al-Sudairy, Islamic affairs ministry deputy secretary, downplayed the problem in remarks quoted by the pan-Arab newspaper al-Hayat.

"There are no major errors but corrections have been made for some old mosques, thanks to modern techniques," he said.

"In any case, it does not affect the prayers."

Heh.

The Department of Defense briefed the president this morning and told President Obama that two Brazilian soldiers were killed in Iraq.

To everyone's surprise, all the color drained from Obama's face.

Then he collapsed onto his desk, head in his hands, visibly shaken, almost in tears.

Finally, he composed himself and asked, "Just how many is a brazilian?"

This is especially enlightening since he obviously has no concept of a billion or a trillion, either.

(Thanks to FReeper BHOworstpresidentever.)

This might not be funny to you...

but it just cracked me up.  (thanks to those mad, bad and dangerous to know boys of Jawa Report)

(My vote for the gas passer is the old guy asking for a recess at the very end.)

Jacko's bro to build slavery theme park...

in Nigeria....  Rides!  Robots!  The Jackson 5 - the 'Biggest African Group in the world"?

"This will be an adventurous ride giving you an historical overview of African music. From hologram images, concert footage, a state of the art recording facility, to robotic figures displaying the rhythmic beats from 300 years ago where music began leading up to the biggest African group in the world, The Jackson Five," The Motherland Group (TMG) said.

From news.com.au

Marlon Jackson is said to be prepared to invest in a $5.3 billion theme park where tourists can visit a replica slave ship and walk the route of shackled slaves, before playing a round of golf or relaxing by a pool, reports The Guardian

The former Jackson Five band member and the Badagry Historical Resort Development Project hope the park will attract African-American tourists keen to trace their roots back to Nigeria.

But critics have labeled the theme park inappropriate and an insult to the dead.

"It is not appropriate from a cultural or historical point of view," Nigerian historian Toyin Falola told the BBC.

"Moneymaking and historical memory are allies in the extension of capitalism. You cry with one eye and wipe it off with a cold beer, leaving the other eye open for gambling."

However, the investment group behind the plan says it will honour the history of the transatlantic slave trade and provide employment opportunities for Nigerians.

...

TMG believes the resort will pull in 1.4m visitors in the first year, rising to 4.4m in five years.

Saudi Arabia: Man eats 22 live scorpions.

But wouldn't dream of eating a BLT.

Bwa-ha-ha!