Offsite Comments

FenelonSpoke, Oh, certainly folks can have life-changing visions, regardless of how real the experience of a seeming afterlife vision. After all, just having a brush with mortality can do that.

The thing is, there's death and there's near-death. Nobody who is brought back to life actually died, by definition, so that's why I can't really put much stock in what their brain showed them during trauma. But, that one fellow who we know the Romans did a thorough job on making sure he was dead....

However, people who say this "There is no afterlife" are making an assumption with no evidence and they're just saying it to be pains in the backside to religious people....

Of course. Absolutely. (See Prager article I mentioned above.)

"Merry Christmas" to All

...The opponents of "Merry Christmas" and other uses of the word "Christmas" know exactly what they are doing. They are disingenuous when they dismiss defenders of "Merry Christmas" as fabricating some "war on Christianity." Of course it's a war on Christianity - or, more precisely, a war on the religious nature of America....

Dennis Prager, National Review
http://bit.ly/1Onr0FI
Javascript required to read

FenelonSpoke, there seem to be reasons, chemically and psychologically, why folks with near-death experiences see an afterlife. Study shows those who had beliefs saw something beyond the grave, those who didn't, didn't. Seems in trauma we hallucinate what we are pre-programmed to see. Sort of how people in ancient times saw angels, but today see UFOs. (Sort of, roughly.)

Never trusted that such experiences were any kind of validation. Only one person I know of ever actually died and came back to talk about it. I trust him.

Hand of Count Petofi: ...In fact, the slightest investigation would show his thin veneer of Christian faith is a cover for a deep well of big govt activism and social justice...

Even Rev Wright said "Church was never really his thing."

Five-minute video I did Jul 2014 about his "religion":
Cover
https://youtu.be/hJnqYiUwOfo

BourbonChicken: Trump's proposed temporary ban on Muslims entering the country until we come up with a better screening process....

FWIW, I ran across this little item yesterday:

Islam Banned in USA in 1952

The Immigration and Nationality Act passed June 27, 1952 revised the laws relating to immigration, naturalization, and nationality for the United States. That act, which became Public Law 414, established both the law and the intent of Congress regarding the immigration of Aliens to the US and remains in effect today. Among the many issues it covers, one in particular, found in Chapter 2 Section 212, is the prohibition of entry to the US if the Alien belongs to an organization seeking to overthrow the government of the United States by "force, violence, or other unconstitutional means." This, by its very definition, rules out Islamic immigration to the United States, but this law is being ignored by the White House...

Ringo, commenting on USACarry
http://bit.ly/1O9lOmL

c/o Reaganite Republican
http://bit.ly/1V7k6Uf

A delightful 60° here in NE Oklahoma this morning. Yet, radio weather guys talk about heavy snow coming to the panhandle, on the far side of the state. At least we're not supposed to see blizzards before Christmas.

Milady and I were both awake at 5:30, and she said, if we both get up now, we could make it down to Tulsa (for the Cruz Christmas concert) by 9am. I got up. She went back to sleep. We probably aren't going to make it.

Thoughts which drive me from my bed because they must be asked: whatever happened to "man-size Kleenex"? Too sexist? Too many bad jokes?

A quick search shows that Yahoo Answers says they were discontinued, but I see them advertised on Amazon, BestBuy, Sears, and elsewhere, and the Kleenex website still has a page for them.

Well, then...

Morning, Glories!

cthulhu: ...Tried to leave $1.10 for a 99-cent purchase and get out......20 minutes later, with multiple levels of management.....

Decades ago, at a restaurant-bar, the bar computer-cash register went down. I might've had a few of their frozen margaritas already - which beverage was why most people were there. They just stopped serving booze. As time dragged on, I tried to encourage the bar manager - a strict business school type, I gathered - to just do cash business, and enter the transactions FTR when the computer came back on. Nearly got myself kicked out of the bar.

Meh, I only ran my own businesses, but never went to school - what did I know?

And on that sour note, I am about to head undercovers.

Good night, Gracies!

Red Flyer, ready to roll...?

Milady went to the Dollar Store tonight. Purchases totaled $15.19.

She handed the clerk a $20 and a $1. Told the clerk, you can give me a $5 back. The change is the same.

Clerk had, apparently, entered only $20.00 in the register because it was reading $4.81.

Clerk looks around as if trying to find a manager. Finally reaches for her cell and uses the calculator. Gives back 81¢ change. (Give her props, at least she could use the calculator.)

I asked Milady, did you ask the clerk if it came out to 81¢? Milady said, no, I said nothing but Thank You and got out of there.

Modern education for teh winz again.

How can Crichton be sure nobody in 1900 knew about lap dances?

Howdy, Horde.

FenelonSpoke: The cartoon is now in a fund raising appeal from Cruz...

That's... almost Trump-like. Good for Ted!

Hrothgar: I went to the telnaes twitter account and she actually posted that cartoon as a gif so the little Cruz "monkeys" are indeed dancing....

Ugh

Hrothgar: Did the monkeys dance?

Ohh. You meant an animated gif.

That would've taken work. Can't imagine the cartoonist who cut-paste-resized for the smaller monkey doing that much work.

Burnt Toast: But they are not dancing. I heard the monkeys dance.

You're just messing with me. Right?

(Checks settings anyway - huh, in old Opera12, there was an option for showing/not animations. Not in suckier current version.)

Hrothgar: Hey at least the WaPo had the good taste not to post this as a GIF on the web version!

??? My copy was a gif because theirs was. At least, that's what my browser said when I saved it.

For those who missed the cartoon, here's a copy.

http://bit.ly/telnaes-ugly

They've taken it down.

Editor's note from Fred Hiatt: It's generally been the policy of our editorial section to leave children out of it. I failed to look at this cartoon before it was published. I understand why Ann thought an exception to the policy was warranted in this case, but I do not agree.

Failed to look at it... or thought you could get away with it?

Looking at the cartoon again, I notice she just did a copy, paste, resize for the smaller monkey.

So, hypocritical, crude, and lazy.

Didn't like giving that a click, but had to see. When I started the article, I thought she was going to criticize another artist, but before I got through reading her lame self-justification, I saw her cartoon.

I used to follow Telnaes when she had a regular editorial cartooning gig. Admired her clean style, but by the time her regular gig ended, I was getting pretty sick of her.

I see she's still a sicko.

Second art thread gets stomped in less than ten minutes. Oh, it's only Ace. Carry on.

I would, but things to do aren't getting done, so, l8r.