George Aar

I'm not going to string up my violin for this guy anytime soon. A HUNDRED miles an hour OVER the limit? Sorry, he's in need of a serious cranial adjustment, and some serious jailtime while were at it. But the whole deal of the cops ending up with his car really stinks. Should they have confiscated it? Yeah, I think that was warrented, but why the hell should the cops get to KEEP it? What did they do to deserve it? It should be sold at auction and the monies distributed to people injured in traffic accidents or some such. And the whole "D.A.R.E" thing is completely bogus. A complete waste of time and resources for a feelgood program that accomplishes NOTHING. This is just wrong on so many levels...

MC, Mostly I guess I'll just say a "me too" to what everybody else has already posted. It's so painful to read your story. All the needless hurt inflicted on you and the rest of the innocent kids. all in the name of some sort of "sold-out" allegience to superstition. It would be funny if it wasn't so tragic. Best to you and your brother, and thanks for sharing your story...

In Japan they sell a "patent medicine"-type cure for hangovers. It's a nasty peppermint concoction that you're supposed to drink all in one gulp (at least that was my instructions). Of course, later on that day I ended up getting an amburansu ride to the hospital, so I'm not enitrely sure it works all that well...

http://youtube.com/watch?v=cueOJXcsnHU Rickie Lee Jones' songs always seem to have an odd, unfinished characteristic. But, at the same time, are ethereal and really infectious. I can't this one out of my head. Not really sure what the hell the lyrics mean, but I can't help but sing along. And, or course I like the jazzy overtones...

I thought Father's Day was nine months before Mother's Day?

My lawyer walks on water. I've known him since we were in the third grade together. Really, I can't say anything bad about him... As for Mr. Nifong though, boiling in oil would be too good for him. And just a random thought, doesn't it seem like the south has more than it's fair share of egregious miscarriages of justice? Dunno...

"Murder He Says" by Tori Amos I never saw the movie (I heard it was a dog) but the "Mona Lisa Smile" soundtrack is very tasty...

Yeah, and why do you suppose the the Vickster gets more airtime? Maybe because he founded the cult? He certainly had more PR skills and charisma than Martindale. But just what kind of "critical examinations" are those that you found? Are they really scholarly critiques from peer-reviewed journals and such, or are they "find out what the cultists are up to" sort of investigative reports? I'd think more likely the later, but... Wierwille was pretty small potatoes cultwise, and attracted a little attention. Martindale was even smaller potatoes and attracted even less. Critically I would think his "work" would be regarded as simply the ravings of a buffoon, not much more...

Well, I'll restrain my urge to give a smarta$$ reply for a moment and just say that, given Mr. Martindale's extensively demonstrated LACK of anything approaching scholarly ability, I would tend to agree with Kit. Any credentialed Biblical scholar would most likely dismiss LCM's "research" out of hand. How much time would you spend researching and critiquing a tomb penned by a Moonie, a Branch Dividian, or a People's Temple devotee? Unless you were specifically looking into that particular organization, probably not much. Moe, Larry, and Curly's names attached to a religious thesis probably wouldn't garner a lot of attention from serious theological critics and I think Mr. Martindale's name carries about equal clout. Despite their rhetoric to the contrary, WayWorld's "research" was a pathetic joke. The vast majority of the teachings produced cute catch phrases at best (Mr. Martindale's in particular) and went out of their way to bolster WayDogma, but were well outside of anything even vaguely resembling a disciplined pursuit.

I never knew him personally, but, the little bit of contact I did have with him, and the stuff I saw him do convinced me to keep my distance. He was easily the scariest guy in WayWorld. Headcases often are. Serious mental hygiene issues. Avoid!

I gotta go with "Leibe Mutter". That "Heino" is one hot babe! (or is it a guy?) Anybody else thinking that she's wearing leather underwear and has a cute little whip handy?

"A group of scientists"? I think more like a group of fundies whose idea of "science" is closing their eyes, plugging their ears, and yelling "la, la, la, la" whenever anything that doesn't agree with their theology comes up in the discussion. Dinosaurs that cohabitate with men? Noah's ark cruising through the Grand Canyon? The entire fossil record just a huge error? These are the notions of committed, faithful, religionists, but science has NOTHING to do with it...

IIRC (and it's only been a couple of decades since I last took "The Class", When Mr. Wierwille is talking about Jesus' return he says that "He's coming back as Lord God Almighty". Yeah, I caught it (many times). And it never made any sense to me, given Wierwillian theology. I always just assumed the emminent "Teacher" had simply misspoke...

Hee! (ya got me)

No Mr. Moore, I think you're simply not understanding what Bolshevik is saying (and it's making me crazy). Yes, we can know what Mr. Wierwille SAID was the purpose of the PFAL class. But we don't KNOW what the REAL purpose was. I have my suspicions...

The Amazing Randi did an expose of the supposed "Psychic Surgery" when it was in vogue in the late 70's early 80's. I watched it while I was still lost in BelieverVille, and, after seeing Randi work his magic with an fake thumb cover and a little chicken blood, well, it gave me some pause. But then it was explained that sure there were counterfeits of the devil's power too, but "Doctor" had seen the "REAL THING!" O.K., fine. I'm still waiting for ANYONE to demonstrate the ability to violate the known laws of physics. It get's a lot of airplay amongst the devoted, but shore is hard to track down... http://forums.randi.org/showthread.php?t=58998

I know it's said all the time as a figure of speech, but I found I actually started feeling physically ill just reading your notes. Gawd, WayDogma is so repellant. It's just disgusting. Vile, disgusting, sickening, icky...

Well, given a little time, I'm sure you can straighten us all out and show us the true way once more...

"How does one regain their self-esteem, their sense of self-worth, confidence in making our own decisions, taking care of ourselves, asking for help when we need it? How do you / did you get back to the "real you"? " Geeze, I dunno if I ever really did. I'm a little reluctant to look too deeply into myself, there just might not be anybody in there... :blink:

I think it started around my neck of the woods (the PNW) with all the tech-savy geeks at Micosoft, who all owned all-wheel drive vehicles (with the mandatory kayak on the roof rack), but who never went anywhere other than to work. No, I've never done it, as I don't own a GPS and can't imagine why I'd want one. I don't recall anybody who did that relying on one either, though (just a little local TV show I watched about the hobby once). It's sounds like great fun to do with a 6-y-o though. They'd still get excited about the concept at that age. Good luck.

I believe that when you die your soul goes up on the roof and you can't get it down...

Here's another review of "What the Bleep" from Skepdic.com http://skepdic.com/ramtha.html It starts out just talking about J.Z. Knight and the spirit-guide "Ramtha", scroll to the bottom if you just want to read a couple of reviews of the movie...

O.K., everybody knows I think the whole concept is nonsense, I guess. But, PUHLEEZE, "What the Bleep" is an utter abomination of illogic. Throw out a few terms that most pedestrians will be totally unfamiliar with, and then say whatever you like, and all them big words will give you an air of intellectualism that you have not earned. It really is pathetic, and a blatant salespitch for "Ramtha" and her woo-woo cohorts...

Fred making his partner look good This is one of my favorite Astaire routines. As usual he makes his partner look good. I'm sorry though, "Pedro" is still a peculiar, no-talent dweeb, IMHO. Almost a sacrilege to post him next to Fred... O.K., I did something wrong, maybe one of the techsavy mods can sort out my link error?

Hell, I find most of Christianity to be an oxymoron. All sorts of conflicting dogma and beliefs. When you quit looking for some sort of Godly perfection in a work that obviously has none, it gets a lot easier to understand. Of course, by then, you no longer care all that much...