Category: What the Boss likes

what the boss likes – an amazing soldier and human being

Just found out about Joe Medicine Crow.  He was a WWII vet who was also a Crow war chief.   He was given the Presidential Medal of Freedom by Presiden Obama, when the medal meant something and wasn’t given to wannbee nazis.  He was an honorable man and a total bad ass.

“After spending the latter half of 1942 working in the naval ship yards in Bremerton, Washington, Medicine Crow joined the U.S. Army in 1943.[5] He became a scout in the 103rd Infantry Division, and fought in World War II. Whenever he went into battle, he wore his war paint (two red stripes on his arms) beneath his uniform and a sacred yellow painted eagle feather, provided by a “sundance” medicine man, beneath his helmet.[3]

Medicine Crow completed all four tasks required to become a war chief: touching an enemy without killing him (counting coup), taking an enemy’s weapon, leading a successful war party, and stealing an enemy’s horse.[6] He touched a living enemy soldier and disarmed him after turning a corner and finding himself face to face with a young German soldier:

The collision knocked the German’s weapon to the ground. Mr. Crow lowered his own weapon and the two fought hand-to-hand. In the end Mr. Crow got the best of the German, grabbing him by the neck and choking him. He was going to kill the German soldier on the spot when the man screamed out ‘mama.’ Mr. Crow then let him go.[3]

He also led a successful war party and stole fifty horses owned by the Nazi SS from a German camp, singing a traditional Crow honor song as he rode off.  – Wikipedia  (donate to them if you can, I do. )

What the Boss Likes : a story long in the making

So, I’ve finished a story I’ve been working on for…. oh 10 years or more.  I figured I needed to finish something since I’m depressed, tired and generally pissed off about a job that I interviewed for and then the employer decided that, at 3:30 on a Friday, they had to “rethink” the position.

It’s a sword and sorcery story, the beginning of a long possible set of stories about D&D characters we played long ago that I am very fond of.  It’s nothing original, but not much is.  It’s how you do it, not how original it is.  It’s loosely based in the Forgotten Realms, but my husband’s version.  Some names are the same, a lot of details aren’t.

If you are interested, you are welcome to read the 42 pages I wrote.  If not, no harm no foul.  If you like to do some critique, I welcome it.  If you are just out to be mean, trust me, no one is as hard on me as myself.  I won’t be impressed.

Here it is.

Oh and read this too.  It’s for free on scribd if you subscribe.

What the Boss Likes – whomever made this wins the internet: Ivanka, the beans and They Live

This is the perfect take on the Ivanka with beans meme.  Don’t know who did it, but thank you!


This imagery is from They Live, a John Carpenter movie from 1988.  It is about an anyman, played by Roddy Piper (yes the wrestler), and him dealing with aliens who are corrupting humanity.   Considering how inhumane the Trumps are, thinking that they are aliens isn’t the most strange thing.

It’s really a good movie.  Give it a watch.

And get a copper scrubby to stick in your hat.

What the Boss likes: or at least what the Boss finds facinating, nuke craters

Having grown up with the threat of nuclear war, I’ve always been fascinated by nuclear bombs.   I almost became a nuclear weapons technician in my abortive attempt to be in the USAF.  And in my college days, I took a couple of aerial/satellite imaging courses so I love the new version of Google Earth.  It’s really unbelievable for what you can see.

Here a link to quite a view.   You’ll have to use Chrome (and maybe some other internet providers) to see it right.

This is Sedan crater, one of the tests to see if nukes could be use for civilian purposes.  Here’s a good article on a handful of notable craters.

And here is a view of a *lot* of craters.  Sedan is the one in the lower right corner.

Yep, humans are essentially insane a lot of the time.  If you continue to hit the “-” button on the view in google earth, you’ll see just how close these sites are to major cities.  there’s also a little compass at the bottom so you can change which way is north on the image you are looking at.  To find scale, click on the ruler looking icon on the left frame, and click two spots to find out the distance between them.  For example, the Sedan crater is around 425 meters across.

This is a major time waster 🙂  so don’t say I didn’t warn you

 

 

Not So Polite Dinner Conversation – Christian prayers don’t work again, news at at 11

This from the Pew Foundation:

“The virus also has impacted Americans’ religious behaviors. More than half of all U.S. adults (55%) say they have prayed for an end to the spread of coronavirus. Large majorities of Americans who pray daily (86%) and of U.S. Christians (73%) have taken to prayer during the outbreak – but so have some who say they seldom or never pray and people who say they do not belong to any religion (15% and 24%, respectively).”

So, we have Christians who fail.  Their prayers aren’t answered and they get sick and die just like the rest of us.  Their god does nothing.

Despite these promises:

““Go into all the world and proclaim the good news[d] to the whole creation. 16 The one who believes and is baptized will be saved; but the one who does not believe will be condemned. 17 And these signs will accompany those who believe: by using my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; 18 they will pick up snakes in their hands,[e] and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover.” – Mark 16

Some Christians will know that these verses were added hundreds of years after.  They get upset if you mention that other Christians don’t have a problem with this claim.

“12 Very truly, I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these, because I am going to the Father. 13 I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 If in my name you ask me[e] for anything, I will do it.”  – John 14

I’ve had a christian claim that John 14 doesn’t mention “miracles”.  I asked him if JC’s “works” were building a really great wall then.  He ran away.

“13 Are any among you suffering? They should pray. Are any cheerful? They should sing songs of praise. 14 Are any among you sick? They should call for the elders of the church and have them pray over them, anointing them with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 The prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise them up; and anyone who has committed sins will be forgiven. 16 Therefore confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective. 17 Elijah was a human being like us, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. 18 Then he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain and the earth yielded its harvest.” – James 5

For christians who claim that only the “apostles” could do miracles.

“ 18 Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. 19 Again, truly I tell you, if two of you agree on earth about anything you ask, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. 20 For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.” Matthew 18

For christians who claim that its up to their god to do what it wants, it doesn’t answer prayers like this.

“22 He said to his disciples, “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat, or about your body, what you will wear. 23 For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing. 24 Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds! 25 And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life?[d] 26 If then you are not able to do so small a thing as that, why do you worry about the rest? 27 Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin;[e] yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these. 28 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will he clothe you—you of little faith! 29 And do not keep striving for what you are to eat and what you are to drink, and do not keep worrying. 30 For it is the nations of the world that strive after all these things, and your Father knows that you need them. 31 Instead, strive for his[f] kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well.

32 “Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. 33 Sell your possessions, and give alms. Make purses for yourselves that do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. 34 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” – Luke 12

For christians who don’t like to be reminded that their god will supposedly take care of them and they should give up all they have.

All in all, evidence that Christianity/the bible is nonsense or that every single self-proclaimed Christian isn’t one or that Christians refuse to heal people when they can.

Quite a choice there.

What the Boss Likes – kitties, beer and pie (and therapy too)

NB’s picture of the beer. Ours looked just like it.

During this quarantine stuff, my husband and the cats and I are doing well. Us being both introverts, anxiety-prone, and somewhat misanthropic, we are pretty happy with this.

I had a beer kit left to make so that got done. It is the Koa Coconut porter from Northern Brewer, where we get a lot of our brewing kits. It is damn good. We’re already half done with the batch. The coconut flavor is strongest when it is just done with bottle conditioning but even after that, it’s a damn good porter. I’ve ordered a couple of new kits, though NB is out of a lot of things (us homebrewers are bored, I see).   The two new ones are an Imperial Cream Ale, one of the few types of beer that is original to the US (AFAIK) and a hefeweizen which is always good in the summer with its fruity notes.

lime curd pie.

I also made a pie. We’ve been helping out our one neighbor who is older and she ordered some groceries for delivery from the one local supermarket chain. They managed to screw up her order so she had 4 bunches of bananas rather than 4 bananas, 8 limes when she wanted 2, and three dozen eggs when she wanted one. So she gave us some bananas, limes, and eggs. We already has enough so I was wondering what to do with the extra.

In the past I’ve made various citrus curds and since I love them so much, I often use the as the filling for a pie rather than just a pudding which is not as strong. So we have a lime curd meringue pie.   I used an oil crust which is way faster than a butter crust and that’s what I grew up on.

I’ve been doing some therapy via videophone (yes, it’s just the internet but I like the retro idea) for my anxiety since this forced isolation gives me some time to think and consider how I want my life to go after this. I’ve discovered ideas like hypersensitivity and childhood emotional neglect. I’ve also discovered, thanks to my husband, a most awesome artist who gets the whole feeling, “thelatestKate”. I used some of our covid money to support her by buying a couple of mugs. She also has books which you can find on amazon.

As for the cats, they are quite happy to have us around. Pretty much any time I’m sitting down, I have a cat wanting up on my lap. the kittens are about twice the size of their mom, Hera, and are just about a year old.  Here are the requisite cat video and pictures.

Not So Polite Dinner Conversation – and now the reason for all of the banana nonsense

So, about a week or so ago, I was looking around YouTube and I ended up on Living Waters’ channel. Those of you who may not know, this is Ray Comfort’s ministry, yes the fellow who tried to claim that the common banana, and orange and coconut, are evidence of his version of the Christian god’s existence. Unfortunately, Ray’s attempt to compare his god’s work gets tangled up in the fact that humans have made all of these edible from inedible progenitors.

There on one of the channel’s videos was an offer for any atheist to send their contact info to Ray and maybe get selected for a chat with him. And yes, my friends, I was at least one of those selection. Maybe you can be too by sending an email to atheisthotline@livingwaters.com I’m not sure if the offer is still valid or not.  Maybe not after this.

I sent this “Hi, I’m an atheist, a geologist and a former Christian.  I see on your youtube, you are offering to chat with atheists. I’d be happy to do this, handle the recording and let everyone see both sides.

Vel” – 4/13/2020

I got back an email from Jen, Ray’s assistant, for dates and times to set up a Zoom conference call. I gave some dates and times and then I made this request. (I do have the emails but won’t directly present them here unless needed. I will paraphrase LW’s reponses.) Continue reading “Not So Polite Dinner Conversation – and now the reason for all of the banana nonsense” →