Offsite Comments

Morning, Glories. Overcast and cool here for a Memorial Day morning.

Gonna go back up and catch the VNN now, but first, kicking off the day with a playful (wild) kitteh video c/o BlazingCatFur appropriately enough.

https://youtu.be/2oSh_zOaVFk

The Lord is a man of war: the Lord is his name. Pharaoh's chariots and his host hath he cast into the sea: his chosen captains also are drowned in the Red sea. The depths have covered them: they sank into the bottom as a stone. Thy right hand, O Lord, is become glorious in power: thy right hand, O Lord, hath dashed in pieces the enemy.

Good night, Gracies!

Cruising through my newsfeeds (I keep saying I've got to quit doing this at bedtime) - several sites this weekend have pix of U.S. military graveyards, here, and abroad.

All those rows and rows of headstones. Each one a story, families heartbroken, lives lived but futures cut short. Hard to see without choking up.

War New Updates: Soldiers place American flags in front of headstones during "Flags In" at Arlington National Cemetery
http://bit.ly/1Vprv3U

Jim: To their honor, SAAAL-UTE!

* raises glass *

I was not drawn to the service. All the more humbly I respect and honor those who served, and those who gave all, for my country's and family's freedom.

----♥----

So, home again, and back in for a few minutes.

Something on the front porch smells like death. Fortunately, not any of our cats, all accounted for, but possibly something they dragged in. Cleaning up the clutter is the first project of the morning.

Ah, time to head home at last. Short commute, but it takes all day to get there.

I just checked out the kbdabear posts for tonight - strictly to ensure they were, indeed, in compliance - and I noticed that several of those ladies seem to have trouble keeping their swimsuits tied on.

They obviously need some Moron to lend a hand...

Hey, Cap'n Whitebread - Glad your ticker-scare proved not to be an attack. Stay with us!

So, not to get into politix or anything, but the Libertarians reluctantly picked Johnson on the second ballot.

I liked this interview with McAfee. Note his reasoning for not supporting Johnson.
https://youtu.be/MobTJolSyUE

The LP will probably not even be on our state's ballot, but I could've almost voted for McAfee.

I think that's the only time I've seen McAfee other than the classic "How to Remove McAfee Virusware" video. His manner of talking and presence of mind kinda reminded me of ol' Frank Zappa.

Josephistan: ...And my car window got stuck half-way up & it's been pouring outside....

Count your blessings. If it'd been stuck half-way down, it'd be much worse.

I was browsing elsewhere when someone apparently quoted back the whole thread. Missed the whole thing.

...If you lose half an island...

...make sure it's the Haiti half, not the D.R. half.

All you Powerball and MegaMillions winners, if you're not interested in buying your own island, maybe you'd like...

English Castles That You Can Buy
http://bit.ly/1Z7y22o

Grab one before they're all sold out... or turned into mosques.

h/t Bookworm

eman #11: That skirt doesn't go with those shoes.

The phrase "you know how we know you're ghey?" comes to mind. (Cf Legally Blond)

When all you have is a screwdriver,
everything looks like a nail.

Another video - don't know how I got to this... possibly some commenter or overnight thread? Don't recall. But, it's foodish.

Cooks: "You won't Instagram my food, but you'll eat it."
This Is That | CBC 3:27
https://youtu.be/9kGtgBJKyZM

"To me, food doesn't have to be interesting. It just has to be edible."

I've got a nephew whose "foodie" restaurant menu was interesting. Much of it was edible. All of it was pricey. Along with a poor location and Obameconomy, I didn't think his place would last long, and it didn't.

If he'd served up the basics this guy talks about, it might've made him rich.

Late to the thread perhaps, but I just watched this, so I thought I'd pass it along... why there are different cheeses, like cheddar, swiss, ricotta, mozzarella, Limburger...

8 Cheesy Science Facts
SciShow 9:43
Some science to go along with that board of cheese at the party.

Oh, whew. Good news. Coffee maker's fine. It was just the surge-protector power strip needed to be reset.

I finished a whole book. Wasn't easy. But I did.

Among other books I got last Christmas was "The boy who came back from heaven - A remarkable account of miracles, angels, and life beyond this world - a true story" by Kevin & Alex Malarkey.

I've long had an interest in "back from death" visions, partly from curiosity about the psychological component, partly because, well, maybe something of value can be gleaned even if it's not "real."

In this case, a car wreck causes six-year-old Alex to be "internally decapitated." The X-rays, shown in the book with other pix, are tough to look at, skull and backbone disconnected. He spent months in a coma, and only gradually got any restoration of movement and speech.

The labors of the medical personnel, the strain upon the family, and the community of support and prayer are powerful stuff. (I have a cousin whose baby had the organs-outside-the-body thing and had a similar experience in all three points; alas, she lasted only a couple of months after birth.)

Spoiler: Alex does not fully recover, physically, but he does have tremendous strength of will and positive spirit. Since he wasn't expected to live, or, if he did, to recover from traumatic brain injuries, you could say he "fully recovered" his personality.

Alex was the first child to go through the "Christopher Reeve" surgery that provided a prosthetic way for him to be able to breathe on his own again.

The author is Alex's father, Kevin, who was the driver in the accident. He struggles with his own guilt over a moment of carelessness. He writes about all the consequences of the accident, his guilt and doubt, marital difficulties, struggles with faith; these are hard realities frankly expressed.

That all is a wrenching, but fascinating story. But the medical story is just the basis for the main aspect of the book - Alex during and after his time comatose, seeing and talking to angels, describing his time in heaven with Jesus, even doing battle with the Devil.

Among the community of folks praying for Alex, in his room at the hospital, in churches, in a wider community via the web, others see angels and have insights, and there's "fortuitous coincidences."

I really don't know what to make of that. I don't want to dismiss the extra-natural material as either a youngster's wild imagination under duress, nor parental fraud (the unfortunate family name of Malarkey invites cynicism).

Angels at hand I can believe more readily than Alex's descriptions of the literal gates and walls of heaven. Allowing for some subjectivity of perception, I give it a maybe who knows. But the miraculous is not separate from the mundane - they are one story.

When doctors decide to try to fuse Alex's neck vertebrae, a visitor sees angels holding Alex's head, and miraculously his neck heals enough the doctors decide they don't need to do anything. In fact, throughout the ordeal, medical work amounts to maintenance, like keeping Alex breathing, and all the healing "just happens."

A minor layout complaint. There are snippets of testimony by Kevin's grandfather, by doctors and preachers and others, and things Alex himself has to say, "sidebar" items which are placed in a rather interruptive way.

As inspiration, I take more from the worldly struggles and praying community than I do from the supernatural parts. I'm one of those for whom angels and divine intervention are not outside my belief system, but such things always seem to happen to "somebody else." Amusing or ironic, or something, that the main selling point of the book is the least of it for me. Still, inspiring overall.

Me: ...he could have been just checking stats...

Ah, I see Obnoxions A-Hole #134 already thought that.

I read several complaints about the kid in the photo having his face buried in his cell.

Hey, he could have been just checking stats on the game or something, y'know.

Maybe not. But could have. H8rs.

Well, okay, I guess the post wasn't that extraordinarily long. Just seemed that way at first glance. I was only on my first cup of coffee.

And I think the coffeemaker died today. At least it brewed the pot before it quit.

In the who's the dad pic, I like the mouth-open look on (what you can see of) the kid's face. Just looked up from his cell, hasn't yet quite figured out the imminent danger.

Scrolled down through the post - Muse, that looks like about five posts' worth of verbiage. I'll still be reading it by the time next week's book thread is posted.