WordWolf

Sorry for prying, but if you'd indulge me for a moment.... ...When you went to the doctor, what was the treatment? Was it an antibiotic administered orally? Was it ear drops of some kind? Both? Something else? I'm just curious what a REAL doctor prescribed, and whether or not it worked (from the context, it seemed to have worked, but you didn't say so outright.) I'm not against the idea of trying some herbal remedies and so on for MINOR problems, although I'm certainly not familiar with most of them. HOWEVER, when it gets to significant PAIN, that's when you head to the doctor and get medical treatment. A "VERY PAINFUL EAR INFECTION" will not respond MUCH to some herbal treatments. Skipping a doctor to treat a "VERY PAINFUL EAR INFECTION" with "a clove of garlic in his ear" sounds a lot more like voodoo than any treatment (just put the tail of the lizard in his ear, recite this chant, then apply the sacred oil to his chest. Repeat this every hour.) For those who don't know, the idea behind the term "third aid" was that FIRST you pray, and SECOND you ask someone else to pray, and THIRD you seek medical treatment. To have gone through those steps and still not get past an herbal treatment is silly. That could have been done during step one. Locally, when someone explained the concept "third aid" to me, he also said that he and his wife didn't wait between steps. If she had a headache, she'd pray for the aspirin while taking it. I'd do so as well, and thank God for smart chemists who designed the medications. People like the ones in the article above would, no doubt, criticize me for my pragmatic position. They'd insist I had to FORGO all medical treatments and rely completely on divine healing. Yeah, whatever. I'm not taking criticisms like that from anyone who isn't getting results like they're claiming. If they normally are getting divine healing for serious injuries, serious illnesses, and instant recoveries upon getting to "amen", then, yes, I'll take the criticism. I'll also take notes because I want to know what you're doing right so I can get similar results. Until then, I'll pray while following sensible medical practices. I'm quite happy with the results I'm getting.

The most obvious things about that being plagiarism- besides comparing them side-by-side..... A) Outside of this sentence plagiarizing Stiles, vpw NEVER used the phrase "faith-blasters." He never used that term. B) That phrase doesn't fit vpw's schema. As Raf has pointed out before, vpw, had he used that expression at all, would have named those people "BELIEVING-blasters", as fit his deprecation of the term "faith" in general other than the phrase "faith of Jesus Christ".

"Well, I don't know why I came here tonight. I got the feeling that something ain't right."

"Since you've gone I've been lost without a trace. I dream at night, I can only see your face. I look around, but it's you I can't replace. I feel so cold, and I long for your embrace. I keep crying, "Baby, baby, please..." "

Madonna Evita Antonio Banderas

Once I had the next 2 words, I recognized the line and song. This is Cyndi Lauper's "Girls Just Want to Have Fun." (First hit off of her debut album, "She's So Unusual." We heartily agreed! )

Off-topic- another example of how much Jack Kirby made up for both DC and Marvel.... Bruno Mannheim and Intergang were both Kirby creations.

Ever wonder what it's like to live and work on a luxury yacht during the yachting season? No? Well, too bad- we're putting out 4 different series on the subject, all by the same company so they aren't in competition with each other, and all the same base name so you can see they're related shows. What's the name of any of the shows? (Bragging rights for anyone who can correctly name all 4.) The Spanish name for this show is "Under Cover." These shows are produced under Bravo, but are in syndication in a number of channels around the world, including streaming services.

I'm thinking you're imagining this is a scripted show dramatizing life on a boat. Allegedly, this is more documentary or docudrama, meant to film the real thing or depict it as it happens. (I think it's not REALLY the actual events, but possibly a reenactment of what happened, acted out so it could be filmed. This happens with some "reality" shows.)

She's so unusual!

Dick Shawn It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World Peter Falk

Ever wonder what it's like to live and work on a luxury yacht during the yachting season? No? Well, too bad- we're putting out 4 different series on the subject, all by the same company so they aren't in competition with each other, and all the same base name so you can see they're related shows. What's the name of any of the shows? (Bragging rights for anyone who can correctly name all 4.) The Spanish name for this show is "Under Cover."

One thing about mathematics is that it is not studied in the real world, it's studied in the imaginary world of numbers. (Don't believe me? Then demonstrate the square root of negative 1.) Physics, chemistry, and biology all take place in the real world (with some calculations), and are subject to reality ruining experiments and so on. Since math exists separate from reality, there's no "sampling error" or anything like that to interfere. There's some ideas that float around some intellectuals that math and theoretical physics (the imagining stuff) are SUPERIOR to science you can encounter in your life because they are "pure". Personally, I consider the obverse to be true- that the science we actually USE to be superior than imaginings that may never go anywhere for us. But, that's all OPINIONS about existing areas of study. Naturally, there's all sorts of perspectives, opinions, and biases. So, mathematics can be exact because it is conceptual and is a manipulation of ideas. Interestingly enough, we can discuss ideas of God and so on, with about as much relevance to the world we live in (and arguably as much importance.) But, that's all ideas, and not relevant when discussing our lives and any experience. Philosophers have certainly done so for millenia and have drawn a comfortable paycheck doing so. Likewise, there's been any number of theologians (self-appointed and otherwise) who have drawn such a comfortable paycheck, vpw included. So, coming back to the thread's subject..... vpw wanted a living where he could tell people what to do AND draw a handsome paycheck doing so, preferably one with little labor and lots of job security. So, he considered entertainment and business management, and put them aside to go into religion. (It's been argued that he went into all 3, eventually.) When vpw finally got encountered the hippies (once they existed), he put on his full act, and convinced them that he was some great one, and got them to respect him under the premise that he studied about God and taught about God. Once he had them hooked, he slowly reeled them in more and more, and was bossy and authoritative around them in private, turning into a tyrant when it was REALLY private. He taught his inner circle to imitate him, and they taught others to imitate them. So, in twi, there was considerable education to be a jerk and to be bossy, depending on where you were in the group and what year it was. Oddly enough, your chances of escaping jerk training were worse AFTER vpw died. BEFORE he died, you had to be on-grounds somewhere (a "root locale") to get the training, since he kept it close at hand. After vpw died, a few years later, a lot of things were coming to light, and lcm decided to be twice the jerk and boss that vpw was rather than try and address any of the problems. So, lcm demanded an oath of loyalty to follow him blindly (when someone asked him directly, he confirmed this.) The immediate result was a refusal of most of the leadership in the US refusing to do so- resulting in lcm firing all of them- resulting in 80% of the twi rank-and-file leaving WITH them all in one year. What was left in twi was the 20% most likely to follow lcm off of a cliff- and all the moderating influences were gone. So, the jerk training was spread across twi with nobody putting the brakes on it locally any more. (Seriously, in the Bronx, when twi sent someone bossy, they were treated courteously to their faces, and ignored most of the time, until they left and were promptly forgotten. Yes, EL, I'm thinking of you here.) When lcm pulled his power play and canned ALL the NY leadership we respected- and I mean ALL, the only ones left were respected by family but not rank-and-file otherwise- we left with them. They had earned our respect, lcm had not. (As a sign of how empty we left twi at the time, I could have jumped from "local chair-warmer" to "branch coordinator" when it was all done. If I had been older, I might have had a shot at grabbing "territory coordinator" = which WAS grabbed by someone who went from "local chair-warmer" to "territory coordinator". I know because he'd warmed a chair next to mine from time to time. ) So, yes, jerk-training was a thing at twi- and all indications are that it still is. This leopard has not changed his spots.

Same artist, different song. "Since you've gone I been lost without a trace. I dream at night, I can only see your face."

His phrase was "with a mathematical exactness and with a scientific precision."

I don't think your friend is correct, but I think there's some truth to that. The merchandising and multimedia money is a lot more than the money for the comics, so the comics can be seen as the source for what generates revenue in other media, and if the comics are break-even, that's fine. But, they DO have to actually SELL the comics to retain all rights and renew all copyrights and trademarks. It's the same reason Marvel kept bringing in one Captain Marvel or another- to hang onto the rights to the comic book name just so DC couldn't get it. Seeing anyone just fiddle with Kirby's characters bugs me- and that includes the Eternals. Then again, I don't think Marvel knows what to do with them, anyway. The Inhumans were used as a substitute for mutants since Sony has the X-Men rights, but the Eternals are markedly different.

You presume correctly. The divide between ocean liner and luxury yacht- as described by yachtees- is enormous and has come up in discussion, as in whether or not someone can count liner experience when applying to work on a yacht.

Next round. Ever wonder what it's like to live and work on a luxury yacht during the yachting season? No? Well, too bad- we're putting out 4 different series on the subject, all by the same company so they aren't in competition with each other, and all the same base name so you can see they're related shows. What's the name of any of the shows? (Bragging rights for anyone who can correctly name all 4.)

I didn't announce a change of song- it's the same song. This song made it to 1 on the Top UK Singles and Top Canadian Singles, and 1 on the US Billboard Top 100, both weekly and for that year. In fact, it made it to 5 on the Billboard Chart for the Decade. And it fits under my usual rule of "1985 or earlier."

That's the thing. Under capitalism, people vote with their dollar. In the case of television, they vote with their viewership. If your show lacks broad appeal, it will lack broad viewership. If it targets a niche market, you will have niche ratings. Both DC and Marvel seem to be putting a lot of that niche entertainment out now. In the case of Marvel, one of the executives has set, as a goal, 50% of ALL protagonists in Marvel to be lgbt+ . I don't know how far they will get, but their attempts keep resulting in shows with dismal ratings. Eventually, both companies will have to decide whether it suits them to do this sort of thing regularly, or not. My complaints also include changing characters to make them fit quotas. I don't recognize their "Eternals" because they changed a lot of things. It improved nothing that one of the actresses (Angelina Jolie) berated the fans for not embracing their changed characters wholeheartedly. It just showed another example of someone who just doesn't "get it." I mean, there's a way to address fan concerns and still promote something. But just dismissing complaints about the depictions categorically is not going to work. The Cosby Show was largely about a family in the US. They could have been any ethnicity, and the early seasons could have had them OF any ethnicity. So, the settings and jokes had a broad appeal.

"1-2-3, it's as easy to learn as your A-B-Cs."

"Once that you've decided on a killing, First you make a stone of your heart. And if you find that your hands are still willing, Then you can turn a murder into art. There really isn't any need for bloodshed, You just do it with a little more finesse. If you can slip a tablet into someone's coffee, Then it avoids an awful lot of mess." "Now if you have a taste for this experience And you're flushed with your very first success, Then you must try a twosome or a threesome And you'll find your conscience bothers you much less." "Because murder is like anything you take to It's a habit-forming need for more and more. You can bump off every member of your family And anybody else you find a bore." "Now you can join the ranks of the illustrious In history's great dark hall of fame. All our greatest killers were industrious At least the ones that we all know by name." "But you can reach the top of your profession If you become the leader of the land. For murder is the sport of the elected, And you don't need to lift a finger of your hand."

Then again, I've been reminded of something when watching politics in the US right now. [Specifics redacted.] So, some people may feel no need to take action when they think something is self-evident and requires no explanation. Only when someone either messes up explaining it- or challenges it- would they need to offer an explanation, or would need to be articulated. (To phrase it differently, if one explanation resulted in people misunderstanding, another explanation might follow, meant to correct the misunderstanding, with both explanations being correct but one more prone to being misunderstood.)

Different adherents to The Trinity doctrine have different views on what it means. One hard-line explanation of The Trinity is that all 3 parts are Co-Equal. One time, way back in twi, I asked a Roman Catholic if he believed that Jesus was the Son of God or if he was God. When I phrased the question that way, he said, with a look of "obviously", that he believed Jesus was the Son of God. He didn't sound like he believed that The Trinity was Co-Equal. However, I strongly suspect that, had I asked him if he believed in The Trinity, he would have said he did- again, with a demeanor that it was obvious. So, there's room for different concepts of The Trinity, including ones where, in practice, it doesn't SOUND like a "trinity" to us. There's also a practice, around the world, of being a Roman Catholic but not embracing everything about it, feeling free to ignore or disregard official doctrines here and there. The name for that in the US is "cafeteria Catholic." (For example, the RCC officially rejects birth control methods as devices of any type, whether chemical or physical. Most RC's in the US completely disregard that, and have for more than a generation.) So, don't be too shocked if some people's idea of The Trinity includes a concept of Jesus where he's not actually in a "trinity" while officially being in "The Trinity."

I don't know if they're "fundies", but there's Buddhist terrorists. ""The problem is far too many Westerners fail to understand that Buddhism, like any other religion, can be misused for political purposes," Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch."" The Khmer Rouge were, and look into Myanmar or Sri Lanka if you want some current examples. There's more out there as well- but that's POLITICS, so, off-topic at the GSC. You can look it up fairly easily on the internet in 2022.