Docwagon

Have you read the Torah and Old Testament as well? It certainly commands murder, as well as sets forth the manner of marking slaves and of course God was a lot more into killing folk in droves back then himself. Did you notice the parts in the Koran about reaching out to Christians because they are only one step from Islam? The concept of "People of the Book"? Rules of warfare that prohibit the killing of innocents and noncombatants? Reading religious texts literally, be it the Koran or the Bible, is a very modern idea which as risen along with the modern concept of science. To indicate that Islam calls for murder simply ignores the huge populations who don't murder anyone yet are faithful, and ignores the lengthy history of cohabitation with others. The news today talks about the groups of Christians and Jews under assault from ISIS. The unspoken statement is there are groups of Christians and Jews who've lived there for centuries without issue until ISIS. There are always people who will use religion as a cover for a secular power grab. Witness the Crusades. Allegedly a war by Christians to bottle up and stop Islam, yet when you look at who they actually attacked and where, who they claimed they were going to help and if they did, the timing, etc. Its rapidly apparent its not. Its an attempt for European nobility to gain wealth and power, to increase Papal authority over various eastern orthodox churches.

Thanks everyone. I got Oscar. Lil' Oscar was a line of coolers made by Coleman many, many years ago. He's the perfect size for car trips, as he's tall and narrow and sits in a rear floorboard perfectly. Oscar accompanied my grandparents and I on a lot of trips, traveling through Indiana, Kentucky, West Virginia and ranging as far as Texas upon occasion. Much later in life he was what my grandmother would send food related goodies home with me and my family in. Take some cake in Oscar, and bring him back next time you come. Once the will is read, I'm sure there are others but we're just parceling out the things like that now, photos and items with little to no financial value. My aunt took the quilt with the some of the panels made from an old shirt that had belonged to her father. There's no doubt my son is my son. Even I have trouble telling photos of the two of us at 6 or 7-ish apart.

I had a good day today. As soon as I saw the body I instantly knew she was at peace. The body is just an artifact, a thing to make us remember. She is beyond pain and concern. I said my goodbyes while she was alive and I have my memories and lessons from her. The funeral wasn't something I needed for closure, nor was it something I felt involved with. I'm glad its there for people who did, but I just wasn't one of them. This is the most at ease I've ever felt burying someone close to me.

There's always a chance. Remember the Amish school house that was attacked by the nutjob? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amish_school_shooting Of course that's not the norm. Pedophiles aren't normally active shooters. That said, I think you're right. The cities are fucking cess pits and always have been. People lose their connection with the land, they lose the need to rely on neighbors and friends, and they don't worry about their reputation because there's always strangers around you.

I appreciate everyone's condolences.

Thanks, and this will be the 3rd time for me for family.

Up to 6% because I couldn't sleep last night. Wow. I'm starting to get involved with some of the characters and the story is sucking me in. Jon Snow seems like he's going to be interesting.

People do what they are rewarded for. While I have no idea what the circumstances were here, the usual plot is pretty simple. Child is bullied, child feels powerless, in the days of social media there is no escape from bullying even when out of school. Child sees all the media coverage and fame (ie, power) associated with revenge by school shooting, the results are plain. I'm always vaguely surprised it doesn't happen more often with the children today. They grow up so fast in some regards and are so slow to mature in others. I'm sooo glad I didn't have to deal with Facebook and constant contact via cell phone and the like as a kid.

My grandmother had a large family as you can tell from her obituary. Her visitation is today. I'm sure it will be crawling with people who neglected to cherish her while she was alive who want their piece of her now. Her children were always loving and spent time with her, but most of her grandchildren didn't come around that often. I occupy some odd middle ground. Not one of the children, but since I lived with her for so long not really just one of the grandchildren, either. I've stepped back from it all as my input is neither needed nor desired. That upsets me in a way, but after dealing with 100% of the details of end care and funeral arrangements for my other grandmother it also relieves me. She was the glue that held many of us together. The family is spread out with only a small core left around the Louisville area. Odds are strong I'll never see most of my aunts and uncles again. I'm just one of many many many nieces and nephews to most of them. I'm only close with one aunt, the one we spend Christmas with, and we're 500 miles apart. I'm not going to the visitation today. I visited her while she was alive and have no need to visit the body she used to inhabit.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sevens_(card_game)

It CAN'T be any more complicated than Wheel of Time as far as characters and plot lines.

http://obits.dignitymemorial.com/dignity-memorial/obituary.aspx?n=Esther-Fink&lc=2356&pid=172919642&mid=6170079#.VExCONgdqkB.facebook

I was hesitant to buy these books for the perverse reason the series is so popular I figured it'd be too...I don't know...popular I guess. Amazon had the whole series for Kindle for $20 so I bought it and am now 3% through the series. Wow. I don't think it's going to topple Mistborn as my favorite series, but it's really interesting so far. Anyone else read the series?

As many of you know, my grandparents (both sets) raised me most of my life. This week I lost my final one. My grandmother, at the age of 87, has been in hospice for a bit over a month. She was diagnosed on Sept. 13th with cancer throughout her abdomen, originating in an ovary, and she passed this past Wednesday. I am glad to say that she had her mind about her throughout, right up to the last hours. She knew who people were, remembered events and asked questions about current happenings (like my vacation to SC). I saw her for the last time on Monday and while she slept a lot, she was definitely herself while awake. Her pain was managed pretty well, and as we'd hoped when the end came it was quick and peaceful. My son has taken it pretty well, although at 9 I'm not sure how much he fully understands it. I had agonized on if I should tell him when she was diagnosed and given a month to live, and ultimately decided not to. I simply told him she was sick and left it at that. We visited several times, and since we routinely visit anyway it wasn't much different to him except she couldn't play with him much. Wednesday I explained that she was very old and the doctors could not cure her sickness. I explained it was a very special kind of sickness and it wasn't something he should worry about for himself or his parents, told him how much she loved him and how important it was to keep good memories of her. He's done pretty well since the initial sadness, so I guess I worried too much up front. My wife has taken it pretty hard. She's known her since she's been in the US and my grandmother always made her feel welcome and part of the family. We stayed overnight at her house fairly routinely during the summer when our son is out of school, so they are pretty close. Its tough to evaluate yourself, but I think I'm doing alright. I'm more irritable than normal and more clingy to my son than usual. It looks like I'll be a pall bearer come Monday.

Very nice. We had a big Burning Bush in our front yard until the drought killed it awhile back. I miss the color.

Murder is a legal concept and is not synonymous with killing. A sanctioned and justified killing is not a murder. Sometimes killing an individual is for the betterment of the group or is necessary for the group to survive. Someone with so little regard for the life of others, who after decades still shows no remorse, and who views the world in such a way that he is justified in killing in order to take the property of others does not belong in society, even incarcerated society. He posed a risk to guards and fellow inmates during his incarceration and was a drain on limited resources that would have been more usefully spent on things other than keeping his evil alive.

He should have swung in a noose 48 years ago and it wouldn't have been an issue today.

http://www.chow.com/recipes/30368-spicy-oven-roasted-chickpeas HOLY SHIT THESE ARE AWESOME!!!!! My wife made some of these as a substitute for chips and crackers than she normally snacks on. They are fan-fucking-tastic.

If you do go, the Coastal Discovery Museum is where we held the live alligators and its a don't miss attraction. http://www.coastaldiscovery.org/home/discover-and-learn/site-tours-programs/

That's really funny. I was flipping through the radio in the truck and heard "Take me to church" by the same group and really liked it. I thought the DJ said "Poser" as the group's name, but figured it out with Google.

Yeah, we'll probably do Savanna, GA one year and hit that sort of stuff. Next year we're doing Spain and probably won't do a stateside trip.

It depends on what you value, really. We enjoyed it but I doubt we go back. There's nothing else there that we wanted to do and didn't, and it wasn't standout enough to go again. Pro's: Clean, safe, many areas kept natural or set aside for parks, ordinances keep light pollution down so you can see the stars, decent amount of wildlife, a ton of bicycle and hiking trails, lodging costs are reasonable, traffic isn't bad. Lots of available nature oriented activities, alligator tours, etc. Reasonable amount of family friendly activities. Con's: Waves are pretty strong making swimming no fun but not really enough for surfing, shells are pulverized and not a great beach for collecting them, worst seafood restaurants in a seaside town I've ever seen, difficult to navigate without GPS and/or a guide because strong ordinances make all buildings look very similar (everything is brown and green, even things like CVS pharmacy or McDonald's that would ordinarily have their own paint scheme, all signs are small and wooden at ground level) No street lights makes navigating at night more difficult, vast majority of the town is tourism related and caters to upper end, so local restaurants and souvenir shops are really expensive. Nothing of much significance or interest as a historical attraction as it was built as a resort town. No "adventure" related activities like parasailing. Our only real disappointment was trying 3 seafood restaurants and two were just plain bad and one was meh. Compared to Florida, it was simply not up to par in that area. It caters to people who don't know any better and are willing to spend $25 a plate on food that's worse than most chain restaurants like Red Lobster.

The camera took about 360 photos, was left on for several hours to keep the GPS active, and wasn't charged at all during the week. It was in the red at the end of the vacation, but performed fantastically. The ability to take pictures using the smart phone as a remote was great for getting everyone in the picture.