Hypothesis:
Life, like oxygen, is all around us and we absorb until we don't (or as Jesus would say I am in the Father as you are in me,, and I am in you)
We Emit a Visible Light That Vanishes When We Die, Says Surprising New Study

Trump secures $600 billion Saudi investment pledge on Gulf tour​

....and I hate to be a lair.

It's been a slice of heaven. But now that Southside Bobby has been installed as the leader of the Redmen, I'll take my leave.

@CaDan, @Davidnc, good to see you both upright and breathing. DM me some time and we'll catch up.

@RileyG, @chevyontheriver always good to see you all.

@fide stay obscure brother.

and

@Michie

Don't ever die OBOB would have to shut down.


It's odd, you know, as an American Midwesterner to feel a kinship with the people of rural Peru just because some guy joined the Augustinians and ended up doing missionary work there.

Anyway....


Gone

For decades, Americans were covering their bodies with more and more tattoos. Now, they’re getting them removed as fast as they can. We speak with the patients going under the laser, the tattoo-removal technicians whose business is booming, and the tattoo artists whose work is being erased to understand how something so permanent became so ephemeral.

The worst part of getting a tattoo removed, apart from the searing pain and the two-year commitment, is the sound the laser makes as it hits your skin: a violent, unnatural popping and crackling that could soundtrack an animated video of someone being electrocuted. During the procedure, patients are advised to wear protective goggles to shield themselves from the laser’s rays, and they often close their eyes in fear. Without actually watching the removal process, the mind takes all the other sensory cues—mainly that awful sound—and conjures an image of some horrific mutilation occurring. It feels, and sounds, as if your body is a stretch of New York City sidewalk being torn into by a torch, electrical sparks flying every which way.

More and more people are choosing to undergo this form of torture, from reformed delinquents to millennial dads to celebrities freshening up their images. In February, Pete Davidson, long pictured with a full-body armor of tattoos, popped up in a fashion campaign looking like an AI version of himself: tattoo-free. Before the big reveal, the 31-year-old comic went on Fallon and described the experience. “It’s horrible,” he said. “They gotta burn off a layer of your skin…. And then you gotta do it like 12 more times.”

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Look for the hidden message in each pic.

In my desire to better know God I have been listening to some of his sermons on YouTube. I find him interesting and I believe he is helping me to better understand the Bible.

Does anybody here recommend his sermons (or not)? Can you recommend other preachers?

I’m often accused of contrarian views that run counter to fact or science.
my detractors all seem to assume That Darwinian evolution ( which doesn’t make it as a proper theory anyway) is now established as THE process of evolution , not what it really is - an overeach of conclusions based on too limited a data set, and that functionalist adaptation cannot explain the path to the main classes of life.

My detractors contend that there is a pathway to life via abiogenesis after which Darwinian process arrived at present life by more or less known route, instead of the REALITY as I have often said, that the void between the most complex non living structures we know to the simplest cell we know which is horrendously complex, is a vast unbridgeable chasm , and that there is not even conjecture that fills the gap.

The reality is my detractors seem to get their views from mass media, and they do not study enough , or know enough to notice my views are a mainstream in the minds of many evolutinary biologists. These are not creatonists but scientists who see The same problems I do.

This is a vast subject and far from closed .
It takes an entire book just to describe the different schools of thought attempting To address the serious problems with limitations of darwinian thinking , as other than fine micro adaptation, and why for example neither autocatalytic sets nor RNA world cut it as a solution To the second problem I mention.

I urge all to read a single book.

“ Michael Denton - evolution still a theory in crisis “

The consensus of many evolutionary biologists seems to be that present theories and Darwinian assumptioms and present biological science can never explain life, that the universe must be somehow predisposed to life, because random chemical and biological process can Never account for what we see.

So my views are mainstream science born of study, and much reading unlike the illinformed atheist kneejerk faith in Darwinism , who refuse to study counter arguments. I study both sides of all arguments, but then I am a scientist.

These are not creationists speaking, but evolutionary biologists who see the same problems I do, but articulate them a great deal better. They should , it’s their specialism not mine.

You can either study it or stay illinformed .

Read that one book. Plenty of references
I can refer to other books I have but the essence is there.

My views on NDE which comments on the nature of consciousness , is also a big part of the question of life and is the hardest puzzle of life that chemistry can never solve, because it lies beyond the boundaries of chemistry, are also shaped by good mainstream science. The illinformed here seem to have no concept of how wide and deep that scientific literature is, and how many researchers and medics accept it.

we live in a fast food , quick fix, two minute video explains all world. I don’t.

That isn’t the world of science, which is seeing further by climbing a mountain of knowledge by study.
there is no 2 minute video to why Darwinism doesn’t work.

It takes a book. Read it. It’s a good review of where evolutionary science is at, and the holes it can’t fill.

I'm hoping that a few can be recommended to help me to better understand God and Catholic teachings. I don't presently belong to any church. Thank you.

The Episcopal Church will terminate its partnership to resettle refugees with the U.S. government over a request to resettle a group of white Afrikaners after the administration had effectively halted the U.S. refugee program.

Episcopal Church Presiding Bishop Sean Rowe released a letter on Monday regarding Episcopal Migration Ministries, which oversees the denomination's refugee resettlement programs.

Rowe said the Trump administration had informed them a couple of weeks ago that, per the terms of their federal grant, they were expected to help resettle some white Afrikaners from South Africa who had been labeled as refugees under a February executive order that accused South African government of seizing white landowners agricultural properties without compensation. Afrikaners are a people group that descended mostly from Dutch settlers who arrived in South Africa in the 1600s.

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I hope to learn from others here and, if I can, pass on what I've been told to others.

Thank you to management for accepting me.

Luke 17:31-37 KJV
31In that day, he which shall be upon the housetop, and his stuff in the house, let him not come down to take it away: and he that is in the field, let him likewise not return back. 32Remember Lot's wife. 33Whosoever shall seek to save his life shall lose it; and whosoever shall lose his life shall preserve it. 34I tell you, in that night there shall be two men in one bed; the one shall be taken, and the other shall be left. 35Two women shall be grinding together; the one shall be taken, and the other left. 36Two men shall be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left. 37And they answered and said unto him, Where, Lord? And he said unto them, Wheresoever the body is, thither will the eagles be gathered together.

Matthew 24:36-47 KJV
36But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only. 37But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. 38For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, 39And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. 40Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left. 41Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left.

42Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come. 43But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up. 44Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.

45Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season? 46Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing. 47Verily I say unto you, That he shall make him ruler over all his goods.

These cannot be about the rapture? It is bad to be taken, right?

Here's another take on AI and consciousness.

"But what if Spaceship Earth is itself developing (and indeed has already developed much of the infrastructure to support) a single emergent consciousness?"

"Could a planet really develop a brain? A mind? Would such an outcome be desirable, and could we thwart that development if not? I don't claim to predict what will happen, but rather what could happen. My contention is that Earth may, if we are lucky and diligent and clever enough, grow an emergent superconsciousness.

Could a planet really develop a brain?

Lawyers who represent the recently executed Mikal Mahdi are alleging that the South Carolina Department of Corrections (SCDC) “botched” their client’s firing squad execution, which caused him to scream out in pain and remain conscious for nearly one minute until he eventually died.

Mahdi, who was convicted of murdering a police officer and a convenience store worker, died on April 11 at age 42 in South Carolina’s second firing squad execution in the state’s history, both of which occurred this year just five weeks apart.

Although firing squad executions in the United States are extremely rare, the state legalized this method of execution, along with executions by the electric chair, in 2021 amid shortages of the drugs needed for lethal injections. Death row inmates can now choose whether to die by firing squad, lethal injection, or the electric chair, according to current state law.

According to a status report filed by Mahdi’s lawyers, the autopsy and eyewitness accounts of his death raise several questions about the execution. They note there are only two entrance wounds, despite three shots reportedly being fired, and allege that the shots “largely missed his heart,” which resulted in an unnecessarily prolonged death.

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How can we know that Christianity can't be considered a plagiarism? Why should it be the religion of the true God?

I spoke to a close relative about the gospel and he asked me if I could understand that some people are put off it because of Christians having different views on various matters. What would you say to explain why we differ sometimes?

My thoughts are that not everyone, or every church, claiming to be Christian is one. I would use the Nicene Creed as the basic requirement for Christian belief which means that certain sects such as Mormons, Jehovah's Witnesses and Unitarian Churches are not truly Christian.

Second point would be that within those who hold to the Nicene Creed there are those of us who are born-again. Jesus stated the necessity of this in John Chapter 3. However within the Body of Christ (i.e. born again believers) there is great unity and a broad consensus of belief. It is just the peripheral issues on which we may disagree and that is okay.

I also said that we are in a spiritual war and Satan will try and disrupt things.

Do any of you have further ideas to help me answer this question please? Many thanks.

Planned Parenthood employees at over 30 facilities were willing to provide cross-sex hormones to an undercover operative posing as a 16-year-old, and some even offered to prescribe the drugs at the first appointment, according to an investigative report released by a pro-life activist group.

Live Action released the results of its latest undercover investigation in a video posted on its YouTube channel last Wednesday. This investigation comes five years after The Christian Post's undercover investigations into the prevalence of Planned Parenthood clinics dispensing cross-sex hormones to clients.

Lila Rose, the founder and president of Live Action, shared the video in a post on X, writing, “Defund Planned Parenthood now!”

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The ignorant person sees every offense from others as an opportunity to attack. He believes he gains an advantage by attacking every offense from others. However, the wise person knows that his advantage lies in forgiving every offense from others.

The "Art of the Deal" President strikes again:

The Trump administration announced a sweeping 90-day de-escalation of the trade war, with both sides agreeing to lower tariffs and another round of negotiations. The announcement was full of vague promises of resumed trade — and no clear wins for U.S. structural demands.

Before the trade talks in Geneva over the weekend, Trump had floated slashing tariffs on China to 80% — down from the eyebrow-raising 145% he’d imposed just weeks prior. But he also said on social media that he would leave the details to “Scott B,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. Turns out Bessent had other ideas. The deal hashed out in Geneva landed at a 30% levy on Chinese imports — a number padded by a 20% fentanyl-related tariff already on the books.

The Administration announces a de-escalation to a trade crisis that Trump created.

Is this the Art of the Deal?

Create market chaos.
Declare our tariff policy will not change.
China doesn't budge......
Negotiate.
Announce deescalation.
Claim some vague agreements (without any evidence, of course).

....And then announce we won.

Grace is given rather than earned and all who receive it ought to be grateful for it.

In Catholic theology, grace is understood as God's free and undeserved gift to humanity, enabling individuals—and by extension, nations—to share in divine life and grow closer to God. While grace is often discussed in relation to individuals, Catholic teaching also acknowledges its role in shaping nations, guiding them toward justice, peace, and moral integrity.

St. Paul, for example, speaks of grace in connection with nations, emphasising obedience to faith and righteousness. The Church teaches that God's grace can influence societies, inspiring leaders and communities to act in accordance with divine will. This grace is not something earned but is given freely by God to help nations uphold truth and goodness.

Imagine that it's 2021 and you've run across a social media account loudly proclaiming that: 1. certain demographic groups are oppressed because of their race, gender, and sexuality 2. society is suffused by subtle "hegemonic narratives" that justify the power of dominant demographic groups, 3. most people are blind to these forces, and 4. the only solution is not reform but radical social transformation. You'd likely assume that you were talking to a progressive who was parroting the work of activist-scholars like Robin DiAngelo and Ibram X. Kendi.

In 2021, you would likely have been correct — a person making such claims would have almost been certainly a progressive. But anyone who has spent time on X (formerly known as Twitter) in the last few months knows that things have changed. Today, a small but vocal group of people on the right, including some Christians, are making these same claims with all the roles reversed: 1. straight white men are oppressed, 2. society is ruled by women and is suffused by hegemonic narratives like "the longhouse" and "the postwar consensus" 3. "normies" are blind to this reality and 4. the only solution is a Protestant Franco or a Christian prince.

Does this sound unbelievable? See for yourself here, here, and here. Some Christians on the right really are embracing a bizarro-world, photo-negative analog of wokeness, but with all the demographic roles reversed. For this reason, many ardent critics of wokeness, including atheist activist James Lindsay, cultural commentator Konstantin Kisin, comedian Andrew Doyle (aka Titania McGrath), and psychologist Jordan Peterson have begun to warn about the "woke right." To this list, we could add Evangelicals like Kevin DeYoung, Doug Wilson, and Seth Dillon, who have raised related concerns about what will happen to the Church if it rejects left-wing wokeness only to embrace the right-wing version.

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One of the most significant takeaways from the 2024 election was not tied to a single candidate or ballot measure — it was the overwhelming rejection of radical gender ideology.

Since taking office, President Trump has followed through on his commitments to remove this pervasive and damaging ideology from federal policies by signing a host of executive orders undoing the extremist gender policies implemented under the Biden administration.

By contrast, on his first day in office in 2021, former President Biden signed an executive order conflating the definition of “sex” in federal law with “sexual orientation and gender identity.” This order spawned a flurry of agency rules that undermined biblical truth and biological reality. These rules amended Title IX discrimination protections for women, attempted to permit biological men to compete in women’s sports, and mandated taxpayer-funded healthcare coverage of “gender-affirming care.”

On his first day of office earlier this year, President Trump signed an executive order rescinding the Biden order that had launched this assault on people of faith, women, children, and biological reality. After enduring four years of the Biden administration’s progressive agenda pushing for abortion on demand and radical gender ideology, a change in the executive branch's policies are a welcome reprieve from the madness.

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It seems like lately I've noticed that I feel as though I should be devoting more time towards God. Like a lot more. Now at first glance thats sounds like a good thing but the amount is what im curious about. Like I've gotten more i guess thoughts/feelings of not eating because I may be idolizing it because it tastes good and I wanted it. Then just now I wanted to play some minecraft but it's just this feeling of I should instead spend more time with God or that I shouldn't be playing minecraft and instead devote my time towards God or the bible. I do have a thing I try to do which is putting God first in my life and have tried to tell myself putting God first doesn't just mean reading the bible it can mean talking to God as well. This issue has just been more noticeable as of late and I don't know why. I have tried to improve my mental health and am wondering if this is a side effect. Hopefully I explained this correctly and sorry if I didn't I just wanted to talk about it and ask for some advice. I can also try to answer any of your questions so you can get a better idea of what I might be dealing with.

Hello

Good morning and thank you for this wonderful reception! They say when they clap at the beginning it does not matter much, if you are still awake at the end and you still want to applaud…thank you very much!

Brothers and sisters,

I welcome you, representatives of the media from around the world. Thank you for the work you have done and continue to do in these days, which is truly a time of grace for the Church.

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus proclaimed: “Blessed are the peacemakers” (Mt 5:9). This is a Beatitude that challenges all of us, but it is particularly relevant to you, calling each one of you to strive for a different kind of communication, one that does not seek consensus at all costs, does not use aggressive words, does not follow the culture of competition and never separates the search for truth from the love with which we must humbly seek it. Peace begins with each one of us: in the way we look at others, listen to others and speak about others. In this sense, the way we communicate is of fundamental importance: we must say “no” to the war of words and images, we must reject the paradigm of war.

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