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Whirled Views 12.14
Good morning!
Today’s movie quote: “I want what all men want, I just want it more.”
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back to top94 Comments to “Whirled Views 12.14”
No time to wait for Rants & Raves.
We’re headed down to Columbia in a few minutes. Oldest Granddaughter, Mary is graduating with a degree in nursing. She is being pinned today. I’m not sure I know all the significance of “pinning”, but I know it’s big. We are helping her celebrate.
Also, her other grandmother is coming from Springfield, Va. (suburb of DC) She is stricken with cancer and was in the hospital last week this time. But she is flying down for the pinning. They will put her back on the plane tomorrow. There is a direct flight form Columbia to DCA.
I know everyone is breathlessly waiting for me to tell about the graduation, but it’s not till Monday, so you’ll just have to wait.
Can you tell we are proud of Mary?
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#1 Chas
That is wonderful news. Nursing is a wonderful profession. Congratulations to your granddaughter and to you and your family. Best wishes for the other grandmother.
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As usual, I don’t know the quote, so everyone will just have to wait for a more useful person to come along and post the answer.
It is an odd coincidence that just as I was going to post the Cyberia chronicle about drugs and sports, the report on steroids and baseball was issued.
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CHRONICLES OF CYBERIA #10
Cyberia: Sports, Drugs, Fixing
As long as they engage in active competition, athletes are exempt from Cyberia’s drug farm requirements. At the beginning of a sporting event, athletes fill out a disclosure form revealing the drugs they use to enhance their performance. They also reveal any payments they’ve taken to influence their performance (from betters and bookies, for example). Officials immediately post this information on electronic tote boards in the stadium and on the Internet so sports fans at the event and persons placing wagers from home are fully informed of all relevant factors.
The playoff basketball game between the Vestal Virgins and the Divine Rights provides a risible example of how such information affects a sporting event. The centers of both teams had each taken bribes to throw the game. However, the shooting guards of each team (who were not packing heat, much to the disappointment of the more bloodthirsty fans) were taking speed to enhance their, well, speed.
A typical play involved the Virgin center trying to dunk the ball into his own basket, where he was blocked by the Rights center (probably goal tending, but the referee, also on the take, ignored the violation). In the resulting scramble the Rights shooting guard came up with the ball and raced down the court toward the opposite basket. However, both drug crazed shooting guards, traveling at incoherent speed, collided at midcourt, knocking each other out.
The game went downhill from there.
Athletes are exempt from living on drug farms as long as they are performing. After the cessation of their career, they have a year to get their system clean. If they are not clean and sober after a year, they have to go to a drug farm.
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Congratulations to your granddaughter Chas!
Here’s wishing the day is all she hopes it to be! Enjoy visiting with relatives and have a safe trip!
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The last words of Tiffany Johnson are ringing in my ears.
Tiffany, the 26-year-old who was killed in Denver by a gunman who hated Christians and YWAM.
Tiffany, who like all of us, has a story that makes the grace of Christ even sweeter.
Tiffany, who died serving.
Peter Warren, director of YWAM-Denver, recounted those final words to the Denver Post: “Warren then got choked up, standing over the spot in a rear hallway where Johnson and Crouse were shot. He pulled a napkin from his pocket – on it were words Johnson spoke to another student when she regained consciousness briefly after being shot. The words she said were: ‘We do this for Jesus, right? We do this for Jesus.’”
We do this for Jesus. Tiffany’s words are a reminder to all of us that as much as we love the people we serve, we don’t do it for them. Good thing – otherwise a little thing like a critical spirit or a big thing like a gun would deter us. We do this for Jesus. For His glory, His honor, His fame. “To know Him and make Him known.”
I’m oddly encouraged by the “right?” in the first part of her comment. She seems to seek reassurance, then provides it herself. Like Tevya in “Fiddler on the Roof” she asks “Right?” then answers in a way, “Of course right!”
We do this for Jesus. As far as anyone knows, those were her last words on this earth … words spoken after being shot. What would my words be in such a setting? Knowing me, they would be inquisitive (”What happened? Who’s that?”) or practical (”Turn off the oven before the ambulance gets here”). Hopefully they would honor God in some way. But my heart of hearts longs to so internalize the message of service and love that Tiffany Johnson embodied that my last words would be a reminder to those around me that even in suffering, “We do this for Jesus.”
Please pray for me in this … as I will also pray for you! Together, “we do this for Jesus.”
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RJEDWAR,
Praying. And asking Him to work that in me as well.
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Chas,
Congratulations to you and a “well-done” to Mary! And yes, we can tell you are proud of her, as you should be!
God grant you and your wife a safe trip and your family a wonderful celebration.
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Chas,
Congratulations to you and Mary and the rest of the gang! I had no idea the significance either until last May when we went to daughter’s pinning in Florida. Very emotional bunch of people after four years of hard work and fear of not making it through and concern about whether one could take on that responsibility. A tremendous opportunity to serve her fellow man and God. Plus, you can get a job nursing anywhere! Enjoy the time.
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RJEDWAR,
I’m climbing on the prayer wagon. I want to always remember that everything I do should be for Jesus.
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Troy. I want a big, unsweetened latte, please.
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The headline in one of the articles in our local paper about Tiffany Johnson is something she apparently was known to say often, “I’m going to change the world by loving on people.” She was from my area and her family is here. The articles are heartbreaking. Ironically, there was a pastor’s daughter who had formerly lived about 65 miles away who was also murdered by a young man when she answered a Craigslist ad for a nanny. She had also done much Peace Corp or similar work. It says in Isaiah, God takes the young to spare them from a multitude of pain. But it is so painful for those left behind. I know so many young people who have now gone to be with the Lord. We do need to pray for all the families.
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I suspect the quote comes from Hillary.
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Thanks for sharing, Rjedwar. I was an acquaintance of Tiff’s but hadn’t heard that annecdote until now.
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Then our sympathies and prayers for you, too, Rob.
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kBells,
I haven’t seen you around this morning. But if you are so inclined, read the comments under “Psychiatry & Spirituality” (on “front page”) and e-mail me at janie1232@gmail.com.
Thanks.
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Anlir,
Are we allowed to nominate ourselves for a Wabbie award? If so, I have someone in mind I’d like to nominate. (I’m not going to say who–I want to keep Outkast guessing!)
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I’m still thinking on the movie quote. It sounds vaguely familiar, but I’m just going to have to guess… “Network”, maybe?
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Or, sticking with the Faye Dunaway theme, “Bonnie and Clyde”?
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Janie wins! Troy is correct. Here’s the big, unsweetened latte you requested…
~~@@@)
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Emoticon test:
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Emoticon test 2:
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Emoticon test 3:
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Emoticon test 4:
>:P
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Okay, how do you make the emoticon with a frown and his tongue sticking out?
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Emoticon test:
:<P
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Nope
:-r
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:-C
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Forget it. ;-(
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so, you guys used up all the emoticons on the internet and there aren’t anymore?
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Wikipedia has a list, of which I’ll try a few to see what works here.
%-( Confused
XD Laughing, means same as LOL
:-& Tongue tied
O:-) I’m an angel
^.^ or ^_^ Extremely pleased
:@ What??? (seriously?)
They seem like they’d be useful on our threads here.
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But obviously they don’t work either. Oh well.
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OK, now I’ll try a list I found specifically for Wordpress (if they work I’ve give the link).
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They worked
List is at http://txfx.net/2004/08/18/wordpress-smilies/
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Thanks, Pauline
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Thanks, Lynn, for the latte.
By the way, imho, Troy is not really that good. 
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Thanks, Pauline, I’ve been looking for a list like that. Now, if I could only learn to make words bold or italicized, I’d be all set
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:roll
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It didn’t work.
Congratulations to Mary, Chas.
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:1
:l
:/
:\
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Kayvee:
Bold:
1. left hat
type the word/phrase you want bolded, then:
4. left hat
Italics:
same process as above, only substitute the letter “i” for the letter “b”
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It did work!
Great list, Pauline.
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Argggghh! It erased most of my instructions!
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Trying again:
bold = left hat ().
Type the word(s) you want bolded.
Then, left hat ().
Italics is the same, except for replacing the “b” with an “i”.
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I give up.
E-mail me at bugsbunny8124@yahoo and I’ll give you the instructions for bold and italics.
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Re: #17 (Night Train),
I suppose on could nominate themselves for a “Wabby”, but please keep in mind the criteria:
This is day 12 of the announcement for nominations for the First Annual “Wabby” Awards here on WorldMag.
What’s a “Wabby” you ask? Why it’s a 24-K *digital* Golden Carrot given out for Excellence in Blogging.
Most of the “Wabby” Awards will be selected by the “Society of Wascally Wabbits”. However, we’ve decided to have a couple of “people’s choice” awards, that you will get to vote on:
Best Blogger – Christian
Nominees should be someone who sets a good example of the Christian faith and a WorldMag regular who upholds the standards of good conduct on here.
Best Blogger – Non-Christian
Nominees should be someone who represents the non-Christian minority well on here and a WorldMag regular who upholds the standards of good conduct on here.
Nominations for both categories are now being accepted. You may also submit your nominations directly to me via my e-mail at: bugsbunny8124@yahoo.com. You may nominate up to 3 people in each category, but please do so only one time.
After the nominations are in, the top 3 nominees in each category will be presented to you for final voting over a week’s period.
The final results, along with the winners in the other categories (coming from the Society of Wascally Wabbits) will be announced in early January at the First Annual “Wabby” Awards” Ceremony on CBS. Just kidding – they’ll be on “Whirled Views”.
The other categories for a Golden Wabby will remain secret until the Awards ceremony, so as to not unduly influence the judges.
One final note: Golden Wabbys are only given out for positive contributions to this site.
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(Bold/italics test.)
BOLD
italics
did that do it?
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Try again.
BOLD
italics
How about this?
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Obviously, I can turn it on, but not turn it off.
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Janie,
In the tag to turn it off, you have to put a forward slash in front of the i or b.
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Thanks, Pauline!
bold
italics
There.
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Google decides to out wikipedia wikipedia:
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20071214-google-to-wikipedia-knol-thine-enemy.html
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Has anyone besides me noticed that green, particularly lime green, seems to be the new “hot” color? Regions Bank and H&R Block have adopted it, as well as other places. I’m seeing more and more ads on TV and billboards with that lime green color in them. It definitely stands out and gets you noticed. I guess that’s why they’re doing it.
*****
In other news, there are a lot of movies out this weekend. I can’t decide between:
1. “No Country For Old Men”
2. “I Am Legend”
3. “Lars and the Real Girl”
Decisions…decisions…
One thing’s for sure, I’m NOT seeing that “Alvin & The Chipmunks” movie. I never could stand them for some reason.
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Hey, can I be the first to use Mr. Green and have an emoticon that isn’t yellow?
Cool!
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Janie, I didn’t know it was possible to do bold italics!
I have an author I’m working with who writes LIKE THIS!! Only to get the real picture, you have to add underlining too. (Can I do that? LIKE THIS!! )
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Lime green is so last year.
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Mumsee,
I still kind of like it, though.
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I like it very much, too, guess I am sooo last year.
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Cnheryl D,
Well, I did it by accident. But I do know how now. I don’t know about underlining–I’ll try it:
underline
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Nope. And that’s Cheryl D. Sorry.
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I like lime green for sherbet, but that’s about it.
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Anlir, go see I Am Legend. There’s a trailer for the new Batman movie ahead of it. Looks like they’ve hit it out of the park again.
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We live in such different worlds. Here are the three movies we want to see: The Kite Runner; Atonement and Enchanted.
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More good news on the “personal privacy and security is so yesterday” front.
http://redtape.msnbc.com/2007/12/thanks-to-last.html#posts
Thanks to last year’s scandal at Hewlett-Packard, consumers learned how easily private investigators can trick companies into divulging personal information. Now, thanks to a new federal indictment full of data theft allegations, we know they also can trick the IRS and the Social Security Administration into handing over information.
Ten suspects were indicted last week in Seattle for allegedly impersonating consumers and obtaining their bank records, tax returns and Social Security earnings statements.
According to the indictment, the Internal Revenue Service and the Social Security Administration were repeatedly tricked into coughing up very sensitive documents. In one case, the IRS gave a defendant nearly 10 years worth of tax records, the indictment alleges. In another, a suspect allegedly obtained tax records by claiming his accountant had recently been fired for embezzlement and the information was needed for verification purposes.
In all, 12,000 consumers were victimized by the defendants from 2004-2007, the indictment alleges.
[See link above for rest...]
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Michelle,
I too want to see “The Kite Runner” and “Atonement” when they come out. I’m also waiting on “There Will Be Blood”, which looks excellent, and of course “Sweeney Todd”. I’ll see anything with Johnny Depp in it.
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Continuing a series I call Worst of Random , repeating [mostly old] comments to supplement my already irritating Cyberia series and to ensure you do not remember me fondly.
WOR #2
Although I knew some people considered the Bible inerrant when I was young, it wasn’t until I began participating at WMB that I really began to have extended discussions on this topic with supporters of such a point of view. My superficial understanding was that people who believed in God based much of their belief on faith and did not consider that arguments from science and from other ordinary evidence of everyday life were becessary to support their religious beliefs.
Reading the discussions here I notice two lines of argument commonly presented to support the “inerrant Bible” point of view.
1) The Garden of Eden is a literally true story of how humans began and Darwin’s Theory of Evolution is in fact the real myth. (It gets a little complicated with Old Earth and New Earth, etc., but those are minor details in the great parade of truth.)
2) Everything in the Bible is historically true, especially the New Testament. Jesus was surely born of a virgin and there’s too much evidence and corroboration to argue that he didn’t rise from the dead.
To me, these are very fragile cables to support a person’s faith that science and history confirm the truths of the religion.
Also, if there is a God, the idea of the Great Watchmaker who wound up a universe where scientific laws prevail at least strikes me as coherent. People here have told me that the same God would suspend those laws to deliver the miracle of Christ’s birth and recovery from the Cross.
Ed/qwerty, my main competitor as most irritating secular poster, was fond of slandering belief in God by referring to the Deity as the “magic man.” I generally don’t use that term, but when people are attracted to a God who intervenes from time to time in an otherwise orderly universe, I am tempted.
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ops:
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Victoria needs bold emoticons. Or perhaps just a large volume of them.
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I have no idea how to respond to that!
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I started reading “Atonement” and couldn’t get through it – it was draggy. Has anyone read it? Maybe I stopped too soon?
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Anlir,
I am a Johnny Depp fan, too. Even when he’s in a bad movie, he’s good!
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RN, are you aware of the difference between “most irritating” and “most tiresome”?
I’m having trouble thinking of any blogger habit more self-congratulatory than sharing again, devoid of context, one’s own zingers from bygone days.
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Troy.
I liked that movie.
I guess it’s a bit more interesting when you’ve read the story it’s based off of.
If anyone is interested in the real story behind that movie, do a web search for the story of “Achilles”
It’s really quite interesting…
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testing
bold
italics
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Yea!
Anlir, you threw me with the term ‘left hat,’ but between you and several others, I finally figured out that I should use and [without the spaces], and that did the trick.
Thanks to all
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Hmmm, it was supposed to show the formula that time.
I used a with the b in the middle and a \ added before the b in the closer. Apparently it doesn’t care if there are spaces.
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Why won’t it show those things I can’t remember the names of? The ones above the comma and period on the keyboard. They should appear between ‘a’ and ‘with’ in post 77
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#73
I believe that is known as two with one blow.
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Kayvee,
HTML uses those symbols for its “tags” that tell it how to format text. Anything without those symbols will not be displayed because it is assumed to be formatting instructions rather than text to display. Even if what is in the “tag” is nonsense from HTML’s perspective, it simply ignores it rather than displaying it (as a lot of computer programs would do). That is because HTML is trying to be “forgiving” of mistakes, and rather than simply “barf” when it encounters bad code as most computer programs do, it ignores it and goes on with the rest of what it finds. A lot of times that’s helpful, other times it’s annoying. I’m sure there must be a way to display those characters for instruction purposes – I’m sure I’ve seen them in HTML tutorials on the web – but I don’t know how to do it myself.
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It’s all beyond me. I’m just happy I learned how to bold and italicize and make a few faces.
When I see “html” my eyes start to glaze over and my head starts hurting.
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michelle- I took my 13 year old to see Enchanted the other evening. For a Disney princess movie, it is not half bad. There are some funny moments, and a couple of surprises, but overall I would give it a 7 or 8.
Anlir- I agree on Alvin. I liked the old cartoon, but this movie looks like a flop.
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I can’t imagine why there has been such a dramatic increase in “paper shredding” expenses by the Federal Government these last few years. [/sarcasm off]
” In 2000, the feds spent $452,807 to make unpleasant truths go away; by 2006, the “Cheney Effect” had bumped that number up to $2.9 million. And by halfway through 2007, the feds almost matched that number, with $2.7 million and counting.”
There’s a graph and link to the .gov page here.
http://radaronline.com/exclusives/2007/12/bush-secret-shredding-soars.php
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Thanks everyone. We had a nice trip. There were lots of pretty girls. Eighty seven graduates, and about 9-10 were men. I’ve never seen so much hugging. But I only got one.
It wasn’t supposed to be a graduation, that is Monday, but honors students were recognized anyhow. Mary was Cum Laude.
Her grandmother was there. She looked good, not herself, but good for what she’s been through. One of her daughters came with her.
Thanks again. It was good.
I can only make a couple of emoticons work:
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Jesus: Got a quarter?
Woman: How is it that you are from uptown and you’re asking ME for a quarter?
Jesus: If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says, “give me a quarter” you would have asked him and he would have given you riches beyond your wildest dreams.
Woman: Sir, you don’t even have a quarter. How are you going to give me riches? Do you own this place?
Jesus: The people who own this place will always be looking for more money. But whoever comes to me, will never need money again. The riches I give you will result in eternal life.
Woman: Give me these riches!
Jesus: Go, call your husband.
Woman: You think if I had a husband I’d be living in this dump?
Jesus: That’s right. You’ve had five husbands. Only the man you are living with now isn’t even your husband. So you are right.
Woman: How’d you know that? You must be a prophet or something. You know, I go to church sometimes. You probably think your church is better.
Jesus: Let me tell you something. Not all religions are the same. Nonetheless, an hour is coming when people won’t need a place to worship God. All these religions have it wrong. The time will come when the true worshipers will worship God in spirit and truth. For such people the Father seeks to be his worshipers.
God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.
Woman: Our church believes and I know that Messiah is coming. He will tell it to us straight.
Jesus: You’re looking at him.
[At this point, His disciples showed up with the quarters . . .]
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Looks like rape cover-up/not prosececuting rapists isn’t just a Halliburton and KBR thing. It’s goes all the way to the State Department and Department of Justice.
http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/story?id=3998439&page=1
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Christmas Shopping!!
My wife has asked if I’ve done my shopping yet. I have not. I think she would be very surprised if Santa brought us this!! I’m thinking about it for the game room. Seriously. It’s history!
http://www.officialkucinichstore.us/votingmahcine.html
Palm Beach County Voting Machine…
used in Election 2000 containing actual chads, a replica butterfly ballot, plus a bonus letter “The Stolen Presidential Election of 2000″ personally signed by Dennis Kucinich.
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Wouldn’t it be nice to have a full fledged forum software that would write the html for you?
No more guessing what tags will work.
??? Comment previews and spell check would be standard. 
And you might even have the potential for signature lines and (gasp) an easily editable AVATAR!
……………………………………………..
Perhaps I should have posted this on the Raves and Rants section…
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The artists and artisans involved in our craft show have helped with publicity (unlike my turning club!). We even got a nice write up in a small local paper.
My wife worries that we’ll not have any one coming. I worry that I don’t have enough stuff to sell.
I’ve got all my craft show items gathered up and priced. It doesn’t look like much but I have 69 pieces. Now if I can just come up with a decent display…
I’ll have to load up the pieces and lathe tomorrow morning and head over to our first annual craft show.
Ready as I’ll never be. Wish me luck tomorrow.
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Now I’m just playing…
BANG! {::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::D
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Make It Man: Good luck.
And I hope you escape the rap for #90.
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Wow, great job Roger!
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Amen, MIM. Things are still pretty primitive around here. Is it the the resistance to science and technology inherent to conservatism that’s preventing us from moving forward? Lack of will? Lack of pixels? Lack of html? God? Lack of bandwidth? Lack of plug-ins? Jesus’ brother Satan, as Mitt Romney believes the relationship to be?
Life in the Afterblog is not as good as many of us expected. I expect Christians and other religious people with paradise after death dreams will be equally disappointed when the lights go out on them, and they find that’s it. Poof. Game over. Recycle those atoms. Thanks for playing. Please insert another quarter to continue, “But all we have are $20’s….”
Amen, MIM.
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Thanks Outcast, If you haven’t guessed, I tried to imagine what it would be like if Jesus met a modern woman at the laundry mat rather than at a well.
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