Romanian fortune tellers and witches can breath a bit easier now. A plan by the Romanian lawmakers to tax witches was rejected. Senators decided against leveling a witch tax on fortune tellers and witches, perhaps in fear of curses and spells. The proposal would have forced such practitioners to keep more thorough records and receipts, and would hold them liable for any wrong predictions. The land that brought us Vlad Tepes birthplace, otherwise known as Count Dracula, is shrouded in mystery. No less so than the Wiccan religion here in the U.S. with it’s witch capital of Salem, Massachusetts.
Maria Campina, a well-known witch in Romania, said the legislation would have been difficult to execute because of the erratic nature of the business. But some suspect lawmakers were afraid of curses being placed upon them by the witches and Gypsy fortune tellers.
Romania has been suffering from the economic downturn as the rest of Europe has. The economy has shrunk some 7.1% since 2009. Sales taxes have been increased from 19% to 24% and public sector spending and wages have been slashed by 25%. In 2009, Romania borrowed $26 Billion dollars from the International Monetary Fund to cover bond obligations.
Perhaps the Romanian witches and fortune tellers should give free reading to the Romanian lawmakers, especially in regards to recent statements by European Central Bank president Jean-Claude Tritchet. He is proposing that those EU nations unable to meet their economic requirements be stripped of any voting privileges in the EU Parliament. Such a drastic move may spell the end of the Euro and the European Union.
Did the Romanian senators reject the witch tax because of fears of curses and spells? Or is it simply that Romanian fortune tellers and witches do not make enough money to really bother with? The land that brought us Vlad Tepes birthplace, otherwise known as Count Dracula, is shrouded in mystery. No less so than the Wiccan religion here in the U.S. with it’s witch capital of Salem, Massachusetts.
Related Articles:
Romanian witch tax not ‘brewing’ with lawmakers there
Romania attempts to tax witches and fortune tellers
Romanian Witch Tax Proposal – Was it a Witch Hunt?
September 12th, 2010 at 8:00 am
See, this is why these witches and magicians should be put out of business permanently by the government, they use their witchcraft and threats of witchcraft and curses to scare the crap out of the common people and destroy their belief system and extort money from them.
67. So Moses conceived a fear in himself.
68. We said, “Fear not! Surely, you will have the upper hand.”
69. “And throw that which is in your right hand! It will swallow up that which they have made. That which they have made is only a magician’s trick, and the magician will never be successful, no matter what amount (of skill)he may attain.”
70. So the magicians fell down prostrate. They said, “We believe in the Lord of Aaron and Moses.”
(Surat Taa Haa)
September 12th, 2010 at 10:22 am
Excuse me Yazan, but how do you put a witch out of business? A witch is a witch!!!
“…they use their witchcraft and threats of witchcraft and curses to scare the crap out of the common people and destroy their belief system and extort money from them.
Didn’t Imam Rauf say just last week that if the mosque wasn’t built the extremist would become violent? Sounds worse than witchcraft to me.
September 12th, 2010 at 10:27 am
“See, this is why these witches and magicians should be put out of business permanently by the government,”
You should go back to your pi$$ a$$ homeland that you claim you belong to. Even though you say you were born and raised here.
We have the right to worship as we see fit without theological dictative mindsets such as yours that have ruined almost every middle eastern state there is.
“By the government” ?
You have absolutely not a fcking idea what America is all about.
LEAVE !
September 12th, 2010 at 1:30 pm
Normally politicians don’t tax witches. They usually marry them.
September 12th, 2010 at 2:51 pm
@ L Riveria
I think you have witches mixed up with the ‘b-word’. But, then again, some political ladies do cackled like witches I suppose.
September 12th, 2010 at 2:54 pm
@ Yazan
See, now here’s the basic problem, Yazan. These Wiccans believe in their religion just as strongly as you do to yours. Quite frankly, theirs has about the same legitimacy as any religion does. So you cannot pass a law against it. Power has a habit of expanding, so if you ban one religion, others will follow.
September 12th, 2010 at 3:44 pm
“so if you ban one religion, others will follow.’
Thats the whole idea, isnt it ?
Yazan is born and raised here. That should make him an American citizen.
I realize were talking about Romania, but only a devout radical Muslim would disregard American values and call for the banning of any religion in any country besides their own.
“Their own” being the key word because even though Yazan was born and raised in America, he calls some place in the middle east his “homeland”. More than likely that ficticious land called “Palestine”.
Getting to know Yazan in the last few months has been very interesting and good insight as to how radicals posing as ambassadors of peace work their way into our hearts and confidence.
In the last few months of peeling this onion weve doscovered he has positive sentiments for Hamas, will not condemn children marrying 50 year old men and wishs to abolish religions by way of government. Even if he is not the radical I’m portraying it still gives great insight to the veiled bullsht we can only look forward to under the guise pf peace.
How long before we have communities in America whos local governments are dictating what religions may and may not be worshipped in that community. Not that they could get away with it, but according to Muslim mindsets like Yazans the might give a try anyway.
Yeah, I can see it now…
you can beat your wife and kids, chop off their heads for talking to another man, stone them in public, dress them like furniture in storage, make sure their only worth two thirds of any man…
but hey, watch out for those Wiccans and Christians
September 12th, 2010 at 10:15 pm
To Flyingmonkey
Im not even for the Masjid near ground zero. I wasn’t since the first time I heard of it months ago, because I thought these types of controversies would spread. And indeed the controversy has gotten worse since I first read about it in May or something I think.
I thought that some non Muslims would use this to provoke other non-Muslims against the Muslim Americans about this. Regardless of the man’s intentions the consequence of his action is not praiseworthy. There is too much misunderstanding. He should have thought about that. In Islam we have a principle “Repelling (or avoiding) harm takes precedence over bringing about good.”
This means that if there is an action that has a lot of possible good in it but also has the potential to cause great harm then it must be weighed out, so therefore if the harm is equal to or greater than the benefit it should be left off. The man should have thought about all of these things.
Of course as a Muslim I dont find Mosques offensive or all this terrible stuff some of the opponents say about it, but it was a serious error on the mistake of this guy and his developer friend. They should have thought how some grieving families and other unrelated people who are still blaming the entire Religion of Islam and all of the Muslims for their suffering, due to the fact that the criminals who perpatrated 9-11 were Muslims who claimed falsely to be making Jihad for the sake of Allah, and would be easily susceptible to the manipulation of anti-Muslim bigots taking advantage of this action for propaganda purposes — they should have contemplated on how these people would react.
I wish they would just compromise in order to quiet down this whole situation for everyone.
I would also like to say that I dont approve of his interpretation and methodology where he always talks about interfaith to the point of almost making it like the three major Religions that claim to be on the path of Abraham as the same thing.
Don’t get me wrong, I think there should be tolerance between the people of these Religions and respect for each other as human beings with some mutual rights but that does not entail the mixing of different beliefs together or watering down of Islam etc…
September 12th, 2010 at 10:38 pm
Yazan to Flyingmonkey
While I dont think ‘Abdur-Rauf was trying to make some sort of threat, I think his assertion is wrong… not building a Mosque in a certain location while still being able to build it somewhere else in order to avoid problems is something that would be understood by most Muslims, in shaa Allah. Though they would be hurt and offended by what some of the more extreme Mosque opponents said about Islam if they ever heard them. Its easy to understand the more reasonable argument about avoiding controversies when one can.
Its not the end of the world… no one said that the developers couldn’t build on another location somewhere a few more blocks away, so that it is still within their neighborhood for convenience.
The situation is nowhere near as provacative at all as drawing derogatory cartoons of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) or defiling the Quran. But even in those two cases I hate that some Muslims let the anger and frustration and degradation they feel inside lead them to violent protests that only usually get themselves killed and damage property in their own homelands anyway and then furthermore are used as propaganda in the War on Islam!!
So I think the man was wrong or mis-spoke and put himself in danger of being grossly misunderstood and misinterpreted to be threatening some sort of reprisal.
Also I’d just like to say that spending 100 million dollars on a Mosque or Mosque/activity center to only serve a few hundred Muslims on a regular basis seems extravagant and a misappropriation of funds. 10 very large Mosques at 10 million dollars a piece could be built for that price in areas throughout the United States where Mosques are way overcrowded and sometimes people end up praying outside in the parking lot on cardboard mats or rugs on Fridays. Or it could go to any number of causes that would be beneficial to Muslims and non-Muslims alike, in shaa Allah. ASSUMING THEY WOULD EVER BE ABLE TO GET THEIR HANDS ON THAT KIND OF MONEY!!!
September 12th, 2010 at 10:51 pm
To Micky
I wont respond to all of your crap.
But I must immediately respond to your false accusation that I agree with Hamas.
I don’t agree with Hamas, that is your assumption due to the fact that I am a practicing Palestinian Muslim.
I don’t agree with Hamas because they have used suicide bombings to kill non-combatant people and also throw stupid little rockets that have almost no accuracy at random having nor care for where they hit — whether it be a schoolyard or a valid military target. That is screwed up and wrong.
Plus I don’t agree with them for having split from the other Palestinians and letting themselves be tricked into being used to cause division and etc…
Plus I don’t agree with their relationship with the Iranian Shia government, who have their own seperate agenda and interests in mind, such as spreading shia’ism.
Having said that though, I will say that I still love my people, the Palestinian people in general, and believe that they have the general right to defend themselves and that their cause to be free from Zionist occupation is valid in general, while sadly being forced to admit that they have made some insane mistakes and continue to make insane and immoral mistakes in addition to dumb strategical and tactical errors in the name of their cause. May Allah rectify their situation and give them true justice and make them victorious upon those who wish to destroy them.
September 13th, 2010 at 6:55 am
Hey Micky,
I don’t know if you bother watching ‘Iron Chef America’ but i wrote a review of last night’s show, Battle Truffle.
http://food.rightpundits.com/?p=1774
Man, what a stinker!
September 13th, 2010 at 7:08 am
“I wont respond to all of your crap.But I must immediately respond to your false accusation that I agree with Hamas.”
Sorry, the majority of your people voted for them.
And you still havent answered me as to why as someone who was born and raised here in the states calls the fictional land of Pelestine your homeland.
Are you and American or a Palestinian Muslim first ?
the little cluster of Arabs from neighboring Arab states whos only intention is to kill every last Jew need to pack up their rugs and go to the states in which they came from. half theirs and the Israelis problems would be solved if they did that.
All they’re doing is fighting Irans proxy war and quite frankly I dont care if they’re aware of it or not. Because if they are aware, that makes them evil. If they’re not aware, that makes them stupid. And if its a combination of the two that makes them twice as dangerous.
“Your people” if they had any morality would denounce Hamas and put them out of Parliament.
Aint happening, is it ?
“This means that if there is an action that has a lot of possible good in it but also has the potential to cause great harm then it must be weighed out, so therefore if the harm is equal to or greater than the benefit it should be left off. The man should have thought about all of these things.”
Sooo…are you going to participate in protests asking for re-location of the mosque ?
September 13th, 2010 at 7:10 am
Actually Yazan, I dont believe you’re an American first. A true American would never ask for any religion to be banned the government in any country.
September 13th, 2010 at 9:43 am
“Sooo…are you going to participate in protests asking for re-location of the mosque ?”
No way! I wouldnt want to spend one minute with those vile racist animals that hold up signs saying the sharee’ah is bloody and wear confederate flags and call Muslims terrorists. What in the world does the confederate flag have to do with New York!!?
The majority of people that show up to the rally are anti-Islam bigots and nothing else. They even harrased a black guy that passed by their demonstration and assumed he was Muslim and they harrased two Arab Christians who were protesting with them in their rally who had to shout out that they were Christians and be taken away from the rally for their own protection.
The vast majority of those protesters are nothing but a conglomoration of low-lifes.
I don’t even like protests of any sort in the first place. God willing I wont be going to any protests.
September 13th, 2010 at 9:57 am
‘No way! I wouldnt want to spend one minute with those vile racist animals that hold up signs saying the sharee’ah is bloody and wear confederate flags and call Muslims terrorists.’
You are completely incoherant, arent you ?
Did I say you had to join any racist group ?
What I said was that I dont see enough organization on the part of Muslims to do anything they claim they support.
There actually were peaceful Muslims protesting the location of the Mosque. Did you know of that ? If so, where were you ?
Now, its been days…
Answer my questions please.
September 13th, 2010 at 10:01 am
@ Andy
Yeah, I used to watch Iron Chef in its infancy when they werent calling every glorified fry cook an “Iron Chef”.
In my experience truffles are incredibly overated, good for hype and garnish but in all sincerity taste like the bark off a tree.
September 13th, 2010 at 10:03 am
I idolize Batali
Sam Choy and I had the same instructors at the UH.
I think I’ve actually had more experience and apprenticships abroad than him
September 13th, 2010 at 11:07 am
@ Micky
I figured you were not going to have much good to say about truffles or Iron Chef.
I like Batali, too, he’s my favorite. I think he actually had a better win percentage than Morimoto. Those two guys rarely scored below 50, even below 55 out of a possible 60 points. last night’s show was just horrible! 40-37? That’s atrocious!
September 13th, 2010 at 1:19 pm
Batali educates.
I loved his own show because there was always a background given to the recipes and ingredients regional merits.
Ya know, you gotta figure, someone with my background is not easley (easly?) impressed by alot of these guys. Puck drives me nuts, Rachel makes want stuuf a bird up her a$$.
Ramsey is pretty much what you’d be dealing with if you were in my kitchen.
I cant even get a simple job waiting tables just for a little cash and carry. Everyone says I’m over qualified and that I’d become discontent very soon. No I wouldnt. I dont ever wany anything to do with management in the front or back ever again unless ownership is involved. I just want to wait tables for a few days a week.
Theres no market on this side of the island for my product and I’m not really sure that me running around Waikiki at 2 am with a couple hundred in cash is a good idea for a married man trying to maintain his sobriety.
Anthony Bordain has become a favorite past time lately
September 13th, 2010 at 2:34 pm
That’s sad, Micky. Maybe you should try creating a Spam-truffle panini? Maybe that would sell and you can charge top dollar for it. LOL!
September 13th, 2010 at 2:50 pm
Hah !
Yeah, Spam is very popular here.
My wife is a local girl, Hawaiian, Scottish, Portugese and just loves her Spam Musubies, Spam & eggs, Spam on a stick etc.
I’m well versed in the local foods here that go into every eastern culture. Unfortunately the side of the island I live on is already packed with joints offering that brand of food and what I’d like to offer (a decent NY deli) would never survive.
I’m thinking of offering catering where I would be void of any state regulations or overhead.
You give me your menu and head count (no more than 30) and I’ll go out and buy the sht, prep it in your kitchen and if you like go home throw on a tux and serve it.
Its just to damn risky and expensive, especially in this environment, to open my own physical structure.