Fiction isn't as strange

on ballot mayor is registered sex offender

4,000

Well. I know that I have written and spoken ill of the government and the causes to go to war and the war itself, but when you have a "news" story about 4,000 lives being lost ... move on Jack. I agree, ultimately, you don't want your military to die, but face it -- military personnel die. It has been now six years now ... 4,000 lives lost. As a whole, that isn't significant considering the muslim sympathizer in the military who grenaded his own platoon. Take out these lives and we haven't reached 4,000. I would suggest that he demonstrated what protesters don't accept. There are people who are militant and crazy and will kill without regard.

I don't support the position of WMD and Hussein's ties to Osama, but ... we are there and the government isn't stable yet. In fact, the local areas are either more militant and stable or in chaos now. Withdrawing forces would not "embolden" the enemy as stated, but rather either solidify the resistance or crush it. Once crushed ... it wouldn't resurface for a long, long time -- too late to save people.

The 4,000 number tragedy might be hailed by those who believe that 300 like the movie could have done the job in Afghanistan and Iraq. I guess they didn't remember history in that the Nazi blitzkreig worked, but they fell. Normandy stayed at a terrible price, but ... it was with time and people that made it happen. Sad to write, but we have to stay in some areas to make it work.

4,000 is just a number and a small one statistically for the number deployed, stayed, engaged and the time being there. It is a low number.

Enchanted

This Disney movie was OK, but not stellar. It had some re-watchability, but wasn't packed with songs. It had a reasonable plot, funny characters (two-dimensional to reality in more ways than one), with a happy ending. A life irony was Timothy Spall aka Peter Pettigrew battled a mouse. So, Mark Williams who was in 101 Dalmatians goes to Harry Potter and Timothy from Harry Potter to Disney, isn't that ironic? OK, no it isn't, just a useless factoid.

I hope they do more of these movies, Enchanted, rather than Wizard of Oz, poorly done with a singer who has raunchy lyrics or sequel three to a once-good classic movie. I don't want to know about (Love) Flubber No. 9 or Mulan: From Russia With Love or Son of a Stitch! (Lilo's Day) the like.

I suggest that you would like it if you generally like Disney movies. I wouldn't buy it, but might watch it again.

Pay now ... get ripped off now

TV EXTRAS, ACTORS, MODELS/ NO EXP. REQ'D/ $500+DAY
Company: $500 PLUS PER DAY/ MOVIE EXTRAS NEEDED

Well, I first looked on the net to see if it was a scam. I also spoke with Jason as did this person. When I said I wasn't interested in paying anything upfront, he hung up immediately. You get the privilege of paying $40 up front. I didn't go for it.

Bee Movie

Aptly named for it was all about bees and it wasn't an "A" movie. I'm not sure that I would give it a B, maybe a C. I wouldn't buy it. It had a lot of potential, but I don't think it exploited much of the potential it had.

"Hello Charlie" by Charles Hess and Davin Seay

The book was written by one of the self-proclaimed "Apple Dumpling Gang" of cold case file detectives. The book has an awkward format. Granted, unlike many other true crime novels, it details quite a bit of the backgrounds of the investigators. The bulk of the book is rather rambling. The useful part of this book is simple, people are stupid.

While difficult to follow, the suspect at the beginning of the book is arrested on murder charges. The investigators are doing background checks on him, which ties him to other murders. They interviewed people who knew the convict (and suspect). They didn't notice anything peculiar though he liked to destroy things. There weren't any signs, but he liked fire. He never set off any red flags, but he did robbery and killed pets nailing them to the wall to scare the occupants. He wasn't violent but punched walls and choked his wives. He showed no strange sexual fantasies, but favored little girls and tried to have sex with his male partner in crime who wasn't gay. He didn't do much serious crime, but stole vehicles, did armed robbery and was a drug dealer (trafficker by definition). He also murdered, but I detailing the other crimes and signs that clearly red flagged him as evil and bad.

Not guilty?

So, had anyone had a little mind. much of his violence and crime could have been prevented before it happened. I walk away from this book knowing that police work is made even harder when the officers have to talk with completely stupid people.

+ also, term "mass murderer" is inaccurate, as he was a serial murderer, not mass murderer by definition

my alter ego

They fell on the ground, but I found them on the bushes.

Dang ... I smash! I'm the Hulk under the right situations.

I thought Tyler Derden was scary ...

Indiana Spring

What is it like, you might wonder. New York has snow, ice, snow, and sun. Last night Indiana has ice, rain, snow, and thunderstorms. I found my car frozen shut and by noon, snow had melted away much of what was "Winter signs". I expect Indiana to be hit with tornadoes this year, I hope they are prepared.

So that things are clear here

I should understand that an assistant principal who seduces a child may lose his job? Huh. I wonder why people may be moving out of the district then. I would want the school to be fairly prompt with their actions, not him-hawing about the whole thing. Well, he may be innocent of the charges despite claiming guilt. What a farce! I suppose that FWCS won't see the consequences of a slow action on their part. I would not feel safe sending my kids to a school where they may or may not fire a man who seduces students (in this case high schoolers.

not King

I saw a little blurb comparing Obama to Dr. Martin Luther King. Failing to think of another analogy, an American Bald Eagle (King) can't be compared to a cowbird by many means. Obama is not King by any measure. Dr. Martin Luther King was a unifier who sought the equality of all persons. I don't remember him ending speeches with, "looking forward to your vote this fall" or the use of "change" as an article like "the". It would help if Obama mentioned what his plans are, rather than the typical ...

I have plans
We need change
I am not like Hillary
I'm Black and I'm proud

What I won't remind you is that I'm new to all of this, have made some poor relationships along the way with butting heads, so if I were to "win" the Presidency, I would indeed be ostracized for a number of reasons, some of which are the course of me pushing away people abruptly. I am not a uniter, and I don't walk the talk and don't walk the walk.

Deuce Bigalo

European adventure ... not so good. I think it was a typical sequel being not as good as the first one. It had very few funny parts. I'm not really sure who is supposed to laugh at the drug jokes like Deuce getting high on spiked cake.

Mickey master

Charlie brought this back from Disney for me. It wasn't forced on me (bum, bum, bum .... tsh!)

reviewing Hook cast

Well, I'll be a monkey's uncle! Glenn Close and Crosby there! I never made the connection.+

+ "Mr. Obvious" show

Funny, these pick-up tips didn't work for me!

Chris lied to me! Darn you Tom Arnold!

convinced

part II of our talks

Could you convince people that they were abducted by aliens? First, people who "want to believe" would be easier to sway, but could you convince people that they were abducted by aliens for 8 hours, then returned. My first statement of, "no" was wrong as I didn't include the factor of 8 hours. Our first general statement was, 'at all' that I said, "no". Given a time frame of a month kidnapped by someone or people, most people could be convinced for the mind is weak enough to fold, regardless how strong.

I would contend that about thirty percent of people are susceptible to more dramatic suggestion. Studies in advertising show that people are generally lemmings or sheep and are programmed fairly easily with commercials. That being fact, I would like to more specially focus on more urban legendary or myth. I willing accepted that people are taken daily by other people. Of this population, few are taken by our people. Americans are taken by the government, but ... read this. I am not writing that the government habitually takes the typical Bubba. I would contend that the US has taken problem people away. I think that at times, they have had poor criteria for selecting those people.

I do not believe in alien abductions! I don't believe that aliens were poor fliers or were apprehended by Earth weapons.
I do know that people are convinced otherwise by themselves or others.

If, as my friend suggested, that someone wanted to tag a person to examine tracking abilities, a better target would be a metro person not a hillbilly in backwoods, name-a-state. Other than an over-productive incest gland, how would the abductor use the abductee? That goes to a point of asking, but I will stick with making others believe.

Could someone make me believe that ghosts exist ... no. I don't believe this because I don't believe in planet bound post existence. Why would these things stick around ... on Earth? I don't believe in aliens watching Earth much, but will surrender to the idea of other lifeforms. It is not surprising to me that lower-imagination people have humanoids working with them. Most of life on Earth is bacterial, aquatic, insect, reptile, or four-legged (in that order I think). The likelihood of upright humanoids is statistically insignificant.

I am a skeptic and a realist. I could not be convinced that two legged aliens grabbed me and released me. Those abductees polled generally had a working knowledge of pop culture, TV shows and commercial products. Is it coincidence that they don't nab the MIT professor or the SUN Systems program project manager or the senior robotics engineer of a company? They tend not to have genetic research biologists taken while doing a field survey.

Can a layperson be fooled into thinking they were taken by aliens, yes. Could just anyone, no. Sad to write that some people are taken, brutally handled and freed, then their mind makes a new perspective for the reality is too much to bear. I stand by that about thirty percent of people might be short-term swayed into drastically changing their concept of reality, while only eighteen percent would ever mostly-permanently keep this change.

++ a short note, alien abductions are always too contrived for belief, no matter how sincere the person is

intersting conundrum re-visited

creation vs evolution
susceptibility

On both sides you have an act of faith. As far as Christianity goes I will add that regardless of the age of the Earth you believe, you still have to take a leap of faith regarding the creation of humans (man). As an evolution proponent, you have to accept that there are missing steps from primate to man. Both sides accept a rationalization for the missing evidence.

Keith and I had an interesting discussion on faith, susceptibility, receptiveness, rationale, and reasoning. Can reasonable and rational people be convinced of things in direct opposition to their core beliefs? Can any person write down the steps, start to finish, the creation theory with partial or inclusive evolution or the denial of it? Can evolutionists write full steps of evolution start to present and explain what "causes" life in an otherwise viable collection of matter?

First, a person must understand part of how a person learns, thinks, and develops. When things don't match, then there is a logical conflict. Whereas you have the creation theory (or faith), which has some logistical flaws, you have to reason out the errors. If the bible's account of the creation is accurate to human standards, then it is beyond the scope of possibility unless you give miracles to 90% of the bible. This itself causes a problem because the bible itself is not error-free.

Problems with the bible are: it is an abridged text, selected volumes by a monk collective. If you are at all a more diverse person with an understand or exposure to the dead sea scrolls, you will be aware also of the Gnostic monks generally known for their bible efforts. The bible that the mid-20th century and later 20th century folk experienced was the King James version. It's important to remember the term, "version", as that is a clinching phrase.

In the 60's, you had a resurgence of counter-culture and abandonment of the church, so true were people wanting to reach the layperson. These people revised the bible in more modern American English vernacular. This again is a version of a version -- altering the text and the meaning. Language is a mighty, powerful and Babel-esque divisive tool. Now there are many versions ... Latin, Catholic, many protestant versions (New American, NIV, NIV II, American Standard, etc.)

So, if you are to accept the bible as the word of God, pure and unquestionable, which version is correct? That, readers, is the error with the bible being the one, true pure word of God. I will not go into the level of inconsistencies with God's reversal of judgment from the Old Testament seeking sacrifices and stoning deaths for minor offenses to Christ's entry and message of, "love" to the point of forgiveness for all persons. This is not to mention the book of Revelations were, again the wicked or sinful are smote and drawn into Hell.

Another thing readers tend to forget is that the books of the bible weren't written start to finish by the "author" as they are attributed. Any bible scholar will report that the book of Luke was not wholly written by Luke. If so, is that all he wrote -- certainly not! The books of the four were written after they died. That's a neat feat for the HUMAN dead. The bible doesn't have any entries by women who were part of the ceremonies in the early parts of Christianity. I'll stop here showing just a few of the limitations of the bible. It is, however, an important book especially if you are Christian.

Creation is not without flaws also. The work of fossil hunting wasn't done much during the 14th century and really wasn't started until the 16th century by the few and wealthy. The more educated were the clerics who could not develop a science that countered the norm standards and powers of the church, so ... you had some educated people searching, but generally it was by luck.

Most fossils aren't "gosh -- lookee there, a whole dinosaur with scales, eyes, etc". I wouldn't doubt that some of the fossils were dragons that were completely and utterly destroyed out of fear. Other fossil rocks were dismissed or used in the manufacturing of homes, tools, etc. and lost forever. As far as the evolution of man ... well, there is the problem.

There are no fossils of the single-celled organism that spawned all life on Earth. There are no fossil records of the the missing link. There are problems in the stratification dating of items:

you know that this area is this old because of rocks and fossils, which you use to verify other dates, but ... if there isn't radio-active dating possible on the local rocks, you have to guess that the rocks are not pushed up from tectonic movement some time last century. If so, your whole time scale is millions or more off. Also, old dating is used as a center point to date more reliable finds. So, rather than use the new find, with more testable features, you go back to the old, "pottery of the 4,000 B.C. (BCE) was found here, so it is this old.

So the questions neither can answer are tough. Creationists can't fully deny evolution, sorry folks, that's a demonstrated fact. Creationists also might want to reconsider the thought of a small family (Noah) breeding everyone on the planet, as well as the two of each species. How, in the short span of the bible did Noah's offspring get to Norway, Australia, the Americas, Mongolia, Hawaii, and these places were "hidden" and unknown to the general populace? How could two of an animal spawn thousands of different species? I will note the incest thing of Noah, but I think you anticipated that.

Evolutionists can't fully write the story of evolution and there are missing links between man and other primate. Also, mentioned by Keith, et al, modern man has no strong limiting factors like predators. I mentioned that technically people do eat people, but societies developed a taboo on these practices for health and group function.

In either group, people are susceptible to suggestion either way. Because humans don't have to spend so much of their existence just surviving long enough to breed (some sociologists might make a strong case in some cultures and subcultures that breeding supersedes survival) they can wonder why they exist and how. Because life is an enigma and generally people are more emotionally sound when things are reasonable, most people have a "pretty good idea of why things are". Generally, though people are less intelligent than they would like to think they are.

Did one guy write the bible ... uh, no. Only through a collective do we have any knowledge at all. We therefore rely on other people for information and baseline data. I doubt that any person could look at the world and, having no knowledge of much of anything, come up with what we know and learn today. People are swayed by people and there is a certain level of susceptibility individually and as a group. How receptive you are defines how malleable you are. Moreover, you are more receptive to things that can fit into your preexisting perspective (Tetris).

So, believe who are silly putty are more easily shaped while iron working is possible, it takes a long time. Another factor is the "I want to believe"+ factor. You want to believe something that does a best fit and miracle job of making things just right. Sadly, nothing is just right for there are leaps of faith you have to make, either as an evolutionist or a Christian.

I believe the bible is a good guide for behavior, in that the the commandments were not too difficult to follow and that the teaching of Christ's love everyone, while very difficult to do, is simple enough to try. I do not, however, believe that God was able to meaningfully convey existence to people who were not too bright. How do you explain a million years or a billion years to someone who maybe has counted to a thousand? How do you explain oceans and other continents to someone who will grow, live and die in the desert (Luke Skywalker's would-be fate)? How do you explain marsupials and monotremes to people who don't understand animal husbandry?

I think God has tried very hard to explain the simple to a simple breed of thing -- humans, in a way that somewhat makes sense. Made man in his own image shouldn't mean that God is humanoid or has two eyes, etc. Could you fully explain to a three year-old or some adults of a disembodied entity that created everything? How about souls? The bible isn't written like a newspaper or like an encyclopedia. You should read it for the basics. In the end, you should love others as God loves you.

As far as creation goes, well ... I think people trying to put humans and dinosaurs together are wrong. I think the concept of 10,000 years old or younger is wrong. It can be argued that man, however genetically linked to other primates we might be, is not the same critter. In the end, language, which enables greater thought and expression separates apes and man. They communicate in many ways like and unlike us, but don't have a written language, but have been spared extinction because of language.

I once would have typed that God created evolution, even within man, and let him sort it out, impacting him with His word, filtered as it was. Now, I would write that no ... this puzzle is still not complete despite the "4-6 years "printed on the box. Please note my timid and regrettably non-committal vernacular; I guess I believe in God, Christ, but not the Holy Ghost, and in evolution. My Zen collection is that genetically we are all linked together, the many "races" finally rejoining into a homogeneous species of generalized humans. There is the only short-term recorded human evolution apart from disease-resistance and other small adaptations (wisdom teeth) and later greater visual
dependence. We are smaller than the whole of the world, each being important to a small degree to a larger impossible to see thing.

An ant cannot perceive the globe as we cannot perceive the whole of existence.

+ accredited to Christ Carter of, "X Files" fame

I'm telling you ...

The Mouse was this big, dude! It was fire-breathing, eight feet tall, no ordinary mouse. Yes, Sylvester was a kitten once too.

3 dogs, naughty in their own ways

Ekko likes to crawl the wood fence, jump, then run around the neighborhood, especially near a neighbor who doesn't like dogs, for she has cats. Doh!
While not especially naughty, Cheyenne instigates a number of entanglements with brother Ekko with toys, either theirs or other person's toys.
Maia likes to "hide" toys in furniture or "just out of her reach" so the person near her has to retrieve it and throw the said item. She also is an avid beggar without cause.

go from here

What I have left isn't so pretty, but with time and effort, it can be cleaner, and perhaps better and more cherished than before.

coming to close on a chapter

So ... it was not to be, permanent and I knew that.

It appears that my "partnership" with this special woman will forever change as I encourage her to return to her relationship with 'him'. He made an effort to make things better, to improve things, to reunite them as a couple. How could I interfere with that? I encouraged her to pursue that possibility. She was worried that she would lose me, but really what will happen is that she and I will separate and be friends -- nothing more.

It's a lot better than the many breakups I've had ... I don't really feel bad, sorry, or terribly ill. I still have a friend, with whom I have shared some interesting times, personal goals, secrets, and parts of me I rarely share for she inspired me to do stupid things to impress her or to make her happy, even at the cost of my would-be "dignity".