I am looking forward to spirited engagement without the flames and foils of political theater.

There are plenty of things to talk about besides red/blue nonsense.

Long live the healthy exchange of ideas,

Vroom

My first try at a thread here.  Let's see how I do.
No fancy links .. not sure how to here.
Just my own review.   Some spoilers but I tried to keep it mostly generic ... 

We don't go to the movies often.  It's too expensive and honestly there aren't many good movies.  But we decided the Wonka movie looked cute so we went.  

We thought it was pretty good.  Definitely a family movie.  No body count.  No real violence.  No sex.  

The story tells of Willie Wonka before he started the magical factory.  He was into magic and chocolate and imagination.  It tells of his struggle to get his chocolate factory going and how he had to work through the machinations of bad guys like Slugworth to get his chocolate to the people.  

The songs were catchy and the story was cute.  And we find out why the ooompalooompas are part of Willie Wonka world.

The bad guys worked out of a Catholic Church, and the lair was under the church only accessible through the confessional and the priest in the confessional hitting a lever to get the bad guys down to the lair.  There were bad guy chocoholic Catholic monks as well.  Didn't appreciate any of that.  But it wasn't too bad.  Just a minor thing that I didn't like.

Overall ... it's a good lite weight movie for a rainy Sunday Afternoon.

Let’s put on our hats and dive into the realm of what if’s, shall we?

Now I’ve been going back and forth and thinking on this for a while, and it just makes sense (to me, at least)

It’s my belief that the Demons of the Bible are the Gods of days passed. Oh yeah, we’re going deep into this one. You’re welcome. Happy Tuesday.

Many, many moons ago, there were people all over the world living their lives the way they wanted to, worshipping who they wanted to. From the Sumerians to the villages of Africa, Muslims and Jews, to Rome and Greece, the Aztec, Eastern Indians, the list goes on.

Looking at these different (and more popular) religions, there seems to be a recurring theme, one that we’ve all noticed and one that can’t be ignored – partly because it’s a big point of contention:
“Blah blah blah, my God is the one true God.”
In and of itself, it doesn’t make you raise your head too much as that’s something you would expect from a religion. That said specific one is the only correct one, the rest are false, basically a line of a “pick me” religion. But what if there was more to that?

In the Christian Bible, for one of MANY instances, there is multiple mentions of not following any other Gods but the one true God; no others shall be placed before him, etc. This in and of itself is nothing but an admission that other gods do in fact exist, in my opinion.
Let’s go a step further… What do the ancient gods and “Demons” have in common? A lot, to put it simply. You can summon them. You can build them altars. You can offer them sacrifices and gifts. You can commune with them and ask them for favors. They each have individual areas of expertise (so to speak). They are both not to be toyed with. According to a lot of tales and books, they’ve each been around since the beginning, if not beforehand.

Side note - Could that explain verified cases of possession? Essentially just pissed off Gods from thousands of years ago that went from being worshipped and having offerings presented on a regular basis, to being demonized (pun intended) and turned away from... That would definitely explain the hatred towards anything with a Holy connotation to it.

On that note, what better way to get people to turn away from all of these ancient Gods/Entities than to claim they are pure evil and wash the masses into believing you?

When you look at everything and say it all out loud, it makes sense. To me, anyway.
 
Thoughts?

Good day!

I am very happy to see this site. Thanks for the invite.

Theatreboy.

As we learn more about animals, our behavior towards them changes.  A good example would be dogs --in the past, our treatment of them has been brutal.  We've used them in vivisections (stomach-churning stuff), medical experiments, as labor, as first line defenses (think police dogs, war dogs), chained them up outside, and often abandoned them to starve for many reasons.

They were just "things."  Terry Pratchett famously said "Evil is when you treat people as things." -- but this argument could also be applied to animals.  Evil is when you treat an animal as a disposable thing.  When you learn to "read" an animal, you get a much better outcome both for the animal and for you.

So... an article came up about how livestock are not "things that wander around and eat grass" but actually are capable of some self-awareness and complex behaviors.  https://www.science.org/content/article/...E78YRM_5f4

Which raises an interesting question:  we are omnivores.  We do better if we have some meat protein in our diet.  But what's the level of sentience at which we should say "don't eat that critter"/don't farm it for its body (I'm thinking about whales, dolphins, animals raised for their fur)?

I realize everyone has their own preferences (I have sworn off pork (but won't turn down the occasional piece of bacon... so I'm kind of a hypocrite there) and won't eat octopus/calamari.  I eat the occasional bit of beef but prefer chicken or fish or shrimp... or vegetarian.

So what's YOUR take on it?  At what point should we declare that an animal should be removed from our food chain?  Is "it's tasty" a good metric for determining what/who we should eat?





(By the way, on the topic of ethical treatment of animals, do you follow the saga of "Guard Dog", a character in the comic strip, Mutts?  It's heartwarming but a real tear-jerker... and the cartoonist actually raised awareness for folks about the difficulties dogs have when they're treated as things -- chained up and then abandoned when convenient.  (note: there's a very happy ending to the story, but if you're sentimental, grab a hanky first. https://mutts.com/pages/guard-dog)

I'm not sure how many here might actually remember me... but I am happy to find an opportunity to rejoin civil society...  It may be a while before I can return and respond to anyone ... life is keeping me distracted at the moment.  But I am hopeful... which is an amazingly uplifting experience... one that I really needed.

I was very happy to hear about this effort to restore the dialogue I had come to love so much.

Sorry to keep this atypically short (if you do remember me, I tend towards the long-winded.)  I will return for more as soon as I can.

I don't suppose any of you know this... but I actually have a "pick up" group of shanty singers (for those of you not familiar with this kind of thing, I let my friends who filk (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filk_music) that I'll be at a convention and will do a set of shanties and if any want to join me, we can all sing together.  So... no practice but we are musicians and we know how to fake it for entertainment's sake)

(yes, I have a peculiar set of accomplishments)

Aaaanyway, I was browsing a newly available book from the Oriental Institute of Chicago (many of their publications are free) and came across a poem from ancient Egypt that surely sounds like a shanty.  It's called "Oh, I’m bound downstream on the Memphis Ferry" and it's about a young man who's leaving home to go to the big city (Memphis.)

There's other things in there, including Akhenaten's Hymn to the Sun and a spell for love.

https://www.academia.edu/5961694/Ancient...Literature

But I was absolutely delighted to find a poem or song that might have been something like a shanty from the depths of time.  It's the little things like this that make scholarship fun.

Hey folks!

I'm here to wave papers and get into interesting discussions and not take a lot of umbrage at anything.

heccin heck is this;

Hi everybody.

I'm Arbitrageur from ATS, but people usually called me Arby for short, so I decided to just register with that name here, since it was available. And in case anybody is wondering, I have no affiliation with the similarly named roast beef sandwich restaurants, . Wow, we have the old ATS smileys here? I love it! I never liked the new smileys, these are the best!

I found this place when ATS had the lockout in October, but was just lurking and didn't sign up for a membership here then because I had too much going on, in fact I was too busy to try to get back on ATS for a while. But I took some time off for the holidays, and when KKloco sent me an invite, and I eventually discovered it, I decided it was time to register an account here, so I did.

I'm glad to see so many good people made it here, too bad not everybody made it yet, but hopefully some more will trickle over here like I eventually did.

We all need a laugh.  Or at least a smile.
Post your efforts to lighten up the day.....

I was invited here from the other place so a shout out to those members. Since 2017 I have returned to the grill making pizza every friday as we live in South carolina and sorry, other than everything is either sweet or bland the pizza is so so. 

I attached a link of a picture of one. 

In brief I have our "family" old world 200+ year old recipie from the old country. Specifically the sauce from scratch with real tomatoes. This is my "cheaters" sauce version which is almost the same. 

[1] Buy a 28 oz jar of RAGU original or old world sauce and put into a pot. Add the following spices:

[3] Tablespoons of Badia garlic, [1] Extra Virgin Olive Oil, [1] Sugar

[1] Teaspoon of Badia Black Pepper, [1] Oregano

[1/2] Teaspoon of Badia or McCormic Marjoram, Basil, Parsley

[2] Pieces of each; Bay Leaf, All Spice

[15] Thin sliced pieces of Pepperoni. Boars Head or equivalent. This is the dark red small diameter Pepperoni


Put all in the pot and put on low heat with lid. Stir as required for 40 minutes. You will smell the aroma. When done leave the pepperoni in and remove the Bay Leaves and All Spice. Put the lid on so to keep warm.  

For dough I also cheat in that we are buying pre made dough already rolled from Publix for $3.99. This isnt the dough ball as the pre rolled is better. So flatten it out and roll it to a 16" large pizza. Let it sit for 4 to 6 hours so it will rise. Then get a can a Crisco spread. With a napkin grease the pan. Then place the dough on it and spread the sauce. Then add the cheese and other toppings as follows:[/url]

Mozzarrella Cheese. We use only the following [1] pound each of either Tillamook shredded, Sargento (whole milk) shredded or a brick of Galbani (whole milk) sliced. 

Mushrooms or Onions: Slice and pre cook all in olive oil in a separate pan to remove all water. Dont carmalize as you will lose the flavor. Then spread on top of the mozzarella. 

On the grill. We use an all nartural outdoor gas grill that gets between 500 - 600 degress faranheit. Do not put direct onto the grill grates. Put two bricks on top of the grates and put the pizza pan on top of the bricks so the pan is above the grates by 3". Cook for 11 minutes. Begin watching at 10 minutes as you may need to rotate the pizza. 

In the Conventional Oven. Pre heat to 500 degrees. Place pan in oven for twelve minutes. The hose will smell like a pizza joint. 

Wonderful, no bugs


[url=Pizza by Waterglassnapkin grease the pizza pan, lay the dough on it and put the sauce on.]Pizza

Never thought about our solar system moving through space, as shown in the second depiction, it seems so chaotic 
no doubt this model shows more of a possibility of cosmic collisions 

There are no stationary objects in the Universe: even our Solar System is moving not only around the center of the Galaxy (828,000 km/h) but also relative to its nearest stellar neighbors (70,000 km/h)

https://vxtwitter.com/Rainmaker1973/stat...54133?s=20

Happened on this site and thought I would check it out.

Hi,

Ray(1990) here, I was told about this place and figured I'd sign up. I'm loving the format and all I've seen so far and I must say this place definitely has a relaxing and homely vibe.

My interests are a bit all over really but I do love a good history or cooking thread.  At the other place I was always more of a participant than a thread maker but I'll do my best at attempting to make content. Thanks for making this place it definitely put a big ol' smile on my face first time I saw it.

Thanks 

I quite like the new 'Deny Ignorance'. In particular, the editor. There are new features I like, such as the 'code' option. Also familiar users from elsewhere.

I can see there is also a learning curve that goes with any new site.

One of those curves is the subject of images.

There is an option to 'Upload' which takes us to a window where we can browse our computer for the image we want to upload. Unlike ATS, we don't seem to have a dedicated place for user images. In using the 'Upload' button it seems a black hole, I have not seen the image uploaded again. If I were to wish to upload the same image to another post I cannot return and use the same image URL.

One can alternatively make an imgur account and have an image repository there that can be returned to. That works.

However, going forward, I can see problems if my personal ingur image repository is not maintained. The personal imgur account image source may be lost in the future and the thread may lose images.

So a master 'Deny Ignorance' image repository is probably best. Come to think of it, one may simply need to use and copy the uploaded image URL at the time of uploading. A few duplicates may not matter in the master repository.

So what are the site's designer / maintainer thoughts on the matter?

Hey everybody, I like the new place and that new smell

I shared a house with one pirate, remember those baby screams...

As corporate law likes the maritime jurisdiction, its a boat that sails this world. Much easier to get away with genocide before the internet age, those stories sill continue hundreds of years on. The idea of raising a family in the carpark/tent city of Gaza is going to have a dark side for a while.

I ain't a spook, but know that feeling. Fighting that fear is where the real trade craft is. Acceptance of our mortality helps. Till then, live a good, strong, moral life, something you can rest in peace in. As best we can.

Lou said, "This ain't no game"

In understanding pirate rules these days, Vinny Eastwood is one being candid about matters. Its a tough job he has, Got some of that MK, disassociation, perfect possession as he flows with his story telling. Gotta work on a start tag line, but does kinda fit. A dark place to laugh at those jokes.

This thing is bigger that Vinny. For one voice as a lighthouse in the dark, he is kicking goals.

A New Why Files is about to drop in about an hour of me posting this;

Enoch's dire plea sung,
Giants and Watchers heed not,
Floodgates unleash wrath.

Ark sails through chaos,
Survival on mountaintop,
Noah, a rebirth.

Myths weave through the Earth,
CIA veils ancient proof,
Noah, not of Earth.



Alien Abductions in the Book of Enoch and the Search for Noah's Ark

Enoch warned the Giants and the Watchers of the world. Repent or feel God's wrath.

They ignored his warning.

The floodgates of Heaven burst forth and water rushed over the Earth, destroying everything.

The only thing to survive is a single vessel, a huge ship: the Ark.

5 months later, the waters recede and the Ark made ground on a mountaintop. A man named Noah emerged, and civilization began again.

Some version of the Noah's Ark story exists in almost every religion and every culture on Earth.

But did Noah and the Ark really exist?

There's evidence that they did.

So much evidence, that it was classified by the CIA for almost 50 years.

But why classify it? Well, there are two problems with the Noah's Ark story. One, the Ark is much older than anyone thought. And two, the man named Noah? He wasn't a man. At least, not a man from Earth.

This is a topic from the heart, so please bare with me. I lost my husband of 8 years six months ago to stage 4 colon cancer. We had no idea he had cancer, but he was sick, and we thought it was everything but that. His first doctor's visit we were told that if he didn't start Chemo immediately, he would be put on hospice that day. So, of course we agreed that Chemo was his best option and the doctor's seemed to give us hope that though he couldn't be cured his life can be extended.
His first few rounds of Chemo were devastating, but after a few months his numbers seemed to go down or at the least the growth process was still... for the moment. We finally thought that there really was a way for him to live longer, even though he was told 5 years would be his limit, but that it seemed possible.

After about 6 months, his numbers were fluctuating, and we weren't sure what to do. His medication for pain was elevated, but it wasn't to much. About 8-10 months later, he lost his voice, and Chemo was again starting to take a toll, he lost about 60 lbs, he was about 280, and we could really start to see a decline.

Let's jump a bit more, as to not make this to long, and go to the point of why I am making this thread. After about a year and a half in, he was told that the Chemo was no longer working and they gave him 2 more rounds, with 2 types of Chemo, now he had lost about 100 lbs, and about 2 months he was told nothing was working anymore, and he had to go into hospice. At this point he was on about 20 medications including, oxy, morphine (pill), liquid morphine and fentanyl. He no longer ate, only drank Ensure, and slept 80% of the time.

He passed away June 2, and it was a slow agonizing death, he weighed about 120 lbs, and he passed in the hospital, I was right by his side. Now here is the issue I have been having since he passed.

Did we make a mistake in starting Chemo? He would have had months to live, but he wouldn't have died the way that he did. Being a part of this community, we discuss so many things, but knowing Big Pharma is b.s., knowing that people can and are used a guinea pigs, knowing that there are far to many thoughts about death, and what happens afterwards, possibly of course.

He was not a part of what I have come to love about research, so he didn't really know what was going through my head, while watching what he wanted and being torn about what I have learned. I wasn't going to bombard him with info concerning my real thoughts on this, especially because he was also religious, and I am agnostic, what was I supposed to say.

So I will end with this. Knowing what many of us know, even if not believed but are aware of, would your choice if you didn't have one, be directed by what you have learned, shared, and been informed of if the time came? I never really considered it myself, and have written a living will, but many of my choices will I am sure be swayed by what I have learned over the years, and be misunderstood by those who don't subscribe to my thoughts and research.

Thank you for taking the time to read this. I thought maybe by asking those in our community their thoughts, that I in fact may see things in a different light.

Peace, NRE

The Case for Sasquatch by Bob Gymlan 

Always enjoy Bob Gymlan's videos
from the video transcript

  I think it is worth taking some time to discuss what we know about primates and see how that supports
or refutes the probability feasibility and possibility of an unverified primate in North America and other parts of the
world. 

I'm just kidding, I have the same number and everything.

So, we're back to the good ol fashioned conspiracies, wild, weird, and left of center paranormal over here? I like it, I like it a lot.

I think that's why a lot of my thread starting died out elsewhere..... nothing really got traction or a good discussion without politics.

Super stoked. I'm going to have to start looking through my old drafts of "what could've been" and see what I can put up here for discussion and dissection.

Thanks for the invite, it feels good to be onboard!

Wasn't sure where to put this cryptozoology seemed the best fit

Caves supposedly dug by giant sloths 10,000 years ago in Brazil...

I suppose 10,000 years ago giant sloths were much more active, not saying sloths did some of the digging bu that looks finished off by somebody or something else

I was recommended to check this out by my boss the other day, so I gave it a try and I think I only made it like 15 minutes in (out of a whopping 2 hours 21m) and it gave me the distinct impression the director wanted to give a very Stanley Kubrick kind of feel but with the usual modern trappings of film. The whole premise (gleaned from reading the description on IMDB) basically was a Y2K styled event and just did not seem to come across very well due to a slow start and some disjointed dialog.

Has anyone else watched it further or to completion and found it to improve further in?