FrankL

Hopefully. But I notice that religions are far more likely to schism than to merge.

Pope Francis and Patriarch Kirill to meet in Cuba.

I read an article about that which I cannot now lay my hands on. But yes, healing the old schisms is part of Francis's agenda. There is, however, a lot of historical inertia. What I read said some things about what was done, where the sticking points are, etc.
 
Joys of having a a former Jesuit as Pope, and being at a Jesuit university. This place is part of his political base, so part of the story, anyway, is easy to come by.

Man loses 70lbs and drops his blood pressure in one year so that he can donate a kidney to his wife.
 
Damn. 

Ok. I enjoyed the Tarpit episode, more for the interaction between Wells and the others than the villain. The actor who plays Joe has some real chops on him, and I loved the whole "...or I'd kill him" bit. And yes, I actually felt sorry for Harrison. He DID practically beg Barry not to trust him...and then boom.
 
But real props go to Barry, or the writers who remembered that heroes don't let innocents die just because they're related to desperate jerks. 

I actually LOLed at this.  My moment was a few years back when I heard an easy listening version of Enter Sandman in an elevator.

Two Cajun pastors, Reverend Boudreaux and Reverend Thibodaux, were busy hammering a sign next to the road. It read, "Da end is near! Turn yo sef 'round afore it too late!"
 
As a car sped past them, the driver shouted out the window, "You religious nuts!"
 
The car rounded the curve, and the pastors heard a loud splash.
 
Boudreaux turned to Thibodaux and said, "I tole you it should jussay 'Bridge Out'."

Two Cajun pastors, Reverend Boudreaux and Reverend Thibodaux, were busy hammering a sign next to the road. It read, "Da end is near! Turn yo sef 'round afore it too late!"
 
As a car sped past them, the driver shouted out the window, "You religious nuts!"
 
The car rounded the curve, and the pastors heard a loud splash.
 
Boudreaux turned to Thibodaux and said, "I tole you it should jussay 'Bridge Out'."

Two Cajun pastors, Reverend Boudreaux and Reverend Thibodaux, were busy hammering a sign next to the road. It read, "Da end is near! Turn yo sef 'round afore it too late!"
 
As a car sped past them, the driver shouted out the window, "You religious nuts!"
 
The car rounded the curve, and the pastors heard a loud splash.
 
Boudreaux turned to Thibodaux and said, "I tole you it should jussay 'Bridge Out'."

What happens if you don't pay your exorcist's bill?
 
 
 

No doubt the teacher and school has a policy to wait for the nurse to indemnify them in case anything goes wrong, and thus protect themselves from any lawsuits. 
 
That is what I mean by political correctness in this case. A different example (maybe) if someone is choking in a restaurant, does a staff member (a) do the right thing and perform the heimlich maneuver or ( think about any potential legal ramifications resulting from this and follow restaurant policy? 

Sif, Frigga, Eir, Nanna, Hel, Hlin, Idunn, Lofn, Not, Ran, Skadi....what do you use to define "usable"?

RANT warning:   I have had a really crappy day, and this is coloring everything.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Comic writers seem to be doing it too.   There is a part of me (not one I like, but still)   That wants most, if not all of the PC re-imaginings of Comic characters to crash and Burn.   The "Has to be a Minority' Nancy Drew also. 
 
Make NEW characters people!   Killing one just so you can replace them with a minority...      I am really perplexed by the idea of a Female Thor...   Have not read it, but heard an interiew with the author.    I have NO understanding of the logic/storyline that changes the fundamental nature of a mythological Character like that.   I HOPE there is a reason besides just "I wanted to do it. 

"We" started naming winter storms when the Weather Channel decided they needed to sensationalize weather. When I am crowned emperor, those jackasses will be put up against the wall and shot. Right next to the guys who started capitalizing "Realtor" as though it were a royal title.

I survived the torments of the gods and all I got was this lousy shirt.

I bet it makes a jillion dollars because DC isn't targeting comic book fans, they're targeting everyone else who thinks that comic books are stupid and costumes are for children.  Marvel has gone more than halfway in that direction as is.  DC has decided they want to show how awful the world would be with superheroes in it, then put it to a soundtrack by Two Steps From Hell.

Me: "A satanic question is one that tests your faith. In this case, about yourself and your understanding.
 
"For example, you get a physics problem and you look at it and say, 'I can do that!' And you grind away at it and eventually you get an answer … an answer you did not expect.
 
"Do you believe it? How's your faith? If your understanding and faith are strong, then you say, 'Huh. Yes, I believe that, because …((physics)).' But if your faith is weak, then you say, 'I made a mistake,' and you do it again. And you get the same answer. Do you believe it now? Or do you burn another slug of time and try it again?
 
"See, that's a satanic question. It punishes your weakness by costing you time. That's the role of Satan in the Universe: to punish your weaknesses and make you stronger in the end."
 
(Later) "And if that doesn't get me burned at the stake, I don't know what will."

Different strokes for different folks. To me it is more slaughter of characters and backgrounds just because they can. And get off my lawn ya damned whippersnappers!

I've given up social media for the New Year and am trying to make friends outside Facebook while applying the same principles.  Every day, I walk down the street and tell passersby what I've eaten, how I feel, what I did the night before, and what I will do tomorrow.  Then I give them pictures of my family, my dog, and me in my bathing suit.  I also listen to their conversations and tell them I love them.  And it works.  I already have three people following me - two police officers and a psychiatrist.

I basically assume that all major sports leagues are corrupt: we have franchises generating huge amounts of money, that operate as legal quasi-monopolies, but which are exempt from the kind of oversight that we expect for businesses and financial institutions. Moreover, they are allowed to operate as cartels. At the same time the code of conduct that they used to run on in the pre-franchise era has been scrapped. Frankly, it would be a miracle if any of them were not corrupt.
 
cheers, Mark

A devout man prays to God one day.  "Please, God, let me win the lottery.  I promise to use the money to help others."

He doesn't win that week, so he prays again.  "God, I'm imploring you to let me win the lottery.  Think of all the good I could do to help Your children!"
 
After he again fails to win, he kneels and prays, "I'm imploring you, Lord, please let me win..."
 
At this point, a booming voice from above interrupts him.  "AT LEAST MEET ME HALF WAY AND BUY A TICKET!"

(I thought this might have been posted here previously, but a quick search didn't find it.  So if it was already posted, my apologies.)
 
A woman gave birth to fraternal twins (one boy, one girl) but the birth process was too much for her and she passed out.  When she came to and saw her kids, she mentioned to the nurse that she wasn't sure what to name them.

"Your brother gave us the names while you were unconscious," said the nurse.  "We thought they were what you wanted."
 
Oh, no, thought the woman.  I can't imagine what kind of names my moron brother would pick.  "What names did he tell you?" she asked hesitantly.
The nurse said, "Well, he named the little girl Denise..."
 
The new mother thought, Well, that's not too bad.  I like that one.
 
The nurse continued, "And he named the little boy Denephew."

I'm posting this because I want to give praise to my boys, but I can't post this to Facebook. You'll see why.
 
On Sunday, we got word that the parents of a family at church had just lost their overtime hours at their jobs. They have 4 children still at home (and the father has 4 living with their mother). As such, they have to scale back Christmas for the kids. My wife and I decided to help them. She told our boys yesterday morning about this, three of the kids are in the same Sunday school class. She then said, "Would you like to help them?"
 
These two boys, 6 and 8, got their money envelopes, pulled out 50 cents to keep for their Royal Ranger dues, and gave her the rest of the money.

I'm posting this because I want to give praise to my boys, but I can't post this to Facebook. You'll see why.
 
On Sunday, we got word that the parents of a family at church had just lost their overtime hours at their jobs. They have 4 children still at home (and the father has 4 living with their mother). As such, they have to scale back Christmas for the kids. My wife and I decided to help them. She told our boys yesterday morning about this, three of the kids are in the same Sunday school class. She then said, "Would you like to help them?"
 
These two boys, 6 and 8, got their money envelopes, pulled out 50 cents to keep for their Royal Ranger dues, and gave her the rest of the money.

I'm posting this because I want to give praise to my boys, but I can't post this to Facebook. You'll see why.
 
On Sunday, we got word that the parents of a family at church had just lost their overtime hours at their jobs. They have 4 children still at home (and the father has 4 living with their mother). As such, they have to scale back Christmas for the kids. My wife and I decided to help them. She told our boys yesterday morning about this, three of the kids are in the same Sunday school class. She then said, "Would you like to help them?"
 
These two boys, 6 and 8, got their money envelopes, pulled out 50 cents to keep for their Royal Ranger dues, and gave her the rest of the money.