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Bat Guano

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Everything posted by Bat Guano

  1. Going to go with the continuing protests in Gaza for today; lots of Palestinians shot, only one killed today, but this kind of thing has the potential to spiral out of control. Like just about everything in the Middle East. That is, until the Friday night news dump. Who knows what will come up?
  2. OP has 2 posts, and they're both on this thread. What do you think?
  3. No, we need to merge it with NSAA. Make it the repository for the three things you should never discuss in polite society.
  4. csb: I attended what was called 'religious education,' which we called religious ed, for a few weeks in elementary school, which turned me off from organized religion to this day. Backstory: my father grew up in a very religious household. His mother went to church (Eastern Orthodox) at least twice a week, and expected the whole family to go on Sundays if not more often. My father, being a dutiful son, went along with that for quite a while. One Sunday, though, in his 17th year, he decided he didn't want to go to church anymore. So he didn't. He never talked much about his religious beliefs or lack thereof, but I'm pretty sure he's an atheist. So I was not raised in a religious household, and was surprised when my mother signed me up for this religious ed stuff; I guess she thought it would be good for me or something. I was probably going through one of my pretty much continual rebellious phases, so maybe that had something to do with it too. Anyhoo, it was a way to get out of class for a couple hours on Wednesday afternoons, so I didn't fight it too hard. It was held in some church a couple of miles from the school, and the other religious ed folks and I took a bus. The church was old and smelled musty, and the pews were hard and uncomfortable. The speakers or teachers or whatever they were supposed to be were uninspiring. The first day I went they passed out copies of the Book of John, along with some instructions. Instructions were as follows: 1. Read the Book of John. 2. Read the Book of John 50 times. 3. Memorize the Book of John. No, I'm not making that up. There was more, but I knew damn well I wasn't going to follow those instructions, so I don't remember what the rest of them were. I could recognize attempted indoctrination when I saw it, even at that age. I read the little book once, got the gist of it, and didn't bother with the rest. Stopped going to religious ed soon after that; it wasn't worth it. I could sit in class and draw pictures or whatever, and not have to put up with what I saw as prime, grade A bullshit.
  5. If it really bothers you, there's an app for that. No, seriously: https://www.wecroak.com/ All it does is remind you, 5 times a day at random times, that you're going to die. Then there's a pithy quote about death, or how to properly value your life while you have it, or some such semi-uplifting claptrap (actually some of them are pretty good). It's based on the Bhutanese idea that you should contemplate death 5 times a day. I thought it was silly at first, but after a few days it sort of worms its way into your brain, and really helps reconcile you to the idea that you're going to die, there's not a damn thing you can do about it, so you might as well get used to it. It probably won't be as bad as you think, either. If you're really as bothered by the concept of death as your post indicates, I think it would help.
  6. Welp, I'm convinced.
  7. Bat Guano

    Western Novels

    Yeah, I discovered L'Amour late, just a couple of years ago. He knows how to spin a tale, and as noted above the research he puts in is worth the read as well. I can't read them back-to-back, because the formula becomes too obvious, but as a diversion/escapism they're pretty good.
  8. Not intended to be cloaky, but I can see how it could easily go that direction. If it does, feel free to delete thread, ban user.
  9. I save the paper towels used to drain bacon in a plastic bag. Wad one of them up under the chimney and light it; the bacon grease on the paper towel makes it burn long and hot enough to get the charcoal going. You're welcome.
  10. Fake. Hands are too big.
  11. Maybe it's too early to pick one for today. Most news outlets seem to be going with Trump's tweet that an attack on Syria may or may not happen soon. That doesn't seem like real news to me, and it would be my preference to ignore anything on Twitter in general. For now it's a tossup between the Algerian plane crash and New Zealand shutting down offshore drilling.
  12. Bat Guano

    Tax reform

    If it is a given that spending won't be curtailed (probably a realistic assumption) and you don't want rampant inflation, then the only other way to significantly reduce the debt is to raise taxes. Gotta be one or the other, inflation or taxes; take your pick.
  13. Thanks. I'm not a good/serious enough player for it to make a shit.
  14. Username does not check out.
  15. Some days there isn't a clear top story. Today's would seem to be pretty easy: Ryan announcing he's not running again.
  16. Pic is from after they passed through, apparently.
  17. Damn! Pete's getting some air!
  18. One time I was playing with some old golf balls that had been in my garage for several years. Teeing off with one of them and it split in half. As in, half the ball went one direction, the other half went somewhere else. How do you score that? Which half ball do you play? I never figured it out.
  19. I was reading about the 1920s goldfish-swallowing craze a few years ago, and was intrigued. They say you can feel the fish flopping around in your stomach. So I may or may not have tried it.
  20. Make bean tacos for the vegetarians. Refried beans cooked prior or canned, your choice. Cheese or not, depending on the vegetarian.
  21. l'etat c'est moi.
  22. The ones with means are not the problem; they can always find a way in, legally. All it will require to sell a national ID program to the rubes, though, is the promise of keeping out the darker and poorer illegals, whether that promise is kept or even intended to be kept or not.
  23. The issue that pushes this over the top will be immigration. How else are you going to prove you're a citizen if we don't have a national ID database? Biometrics is the best technology available, and we don't want those illegals gaming the system. It's going to happen.
  24. He must have said something Trump didn't like on the Sunday shows. Or his suit didn't look good enough.
  25. Fuck that. Foo Fighters are on the same level of Nickelback. Spare, generic band that cranks out simplistic songs for the radio. Nickelback??? You go too far, sir. I demand satisfaction. Pistols at dawn!
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