What's in the News

http://www.cnn.com/2012/11/22/world/europe/vatican-pope-jesus-book/index.html?hpt=hp_c1

So there were no cows or other farmyard animals present at that manger in Bethlehem and the choir angelic was not ushering in the arrival of the newborn King of Kings with hosannas and fierce harp-solo's ...only 176 pages...Seems like a slapdash job. Couldn't Il Papa have gone a little further and finally explained that whole thing with the fish and what kind of PA system was used for the Sermon on the Mount and whether or not that whole wedding in Canaan was just a story put in there to cover up the fact that the Messiah worked as a divine bootlegger on the sly. I mean, he had to make some scratch somehow, those twelve apostles weren't going to feed themselves. 

'Nail house' to beat all nail houses?

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2236746/Road-built-building-couple-refuse-China.html

@ETR well I am relieved to hear that my brethren did not kill Jesus 

@ETR well I am relieved to hear that my brethren did not kill Jesus 

But Jesus WAS killed by Jews. The Pope is saying that the Jewish race is not responsible; not that it was done by Jews.

I'll never understand why this is a controversy. Jesus was SUPPOSED to die according to the doctrine. That was the whole point of his being here as man. If you're a Christian, shouldn't you welcome his death. Don't you, literally, celebrate it?

Sorry ETR you are looking for LOGIC,in a RELIGION?? loaves and fishes,immaculate conception,transubstantiation,.. shall I go on? 

Piglet, you may not know it but I minored in history of religion so trust me, I know how illogical they are...all of them...I mean, really, God has so little to do that It will actually tell a father to kill his own son just so It can stop him? For what? A laugh? And God really cares if we cut pieces of male genitalia??? I don't think so. The only logical explanation for any religion is that God, being omnipotent and omniscient, is also incredibly bored and invented all the faiths of the world just to see how much It could mess with us (Yeah, I do think the PC form of God would be Neuter). I was simply arguing that, seeing Papa Palpatine(the man looks like Palpatine) decided to write a book explaining certain things in the Bible, he should have gone the whole hog and cleared up all of it. For instance, how did Adam, when naming all the animals, come up with Xenopus?
Why does God only talk to people when they are walking around, half-delirous from thirst, in a desert? Why did God create taxes? You know, I think we are owed certain explanations. Also, it is not news that the Jewish people did not kill Jesus, the Romans did. The Jewish people chose Barabbas over Jesus. Well, Israel was occupied. Barabbas was a Zionist freedom fighter who killed two Romans, Jesus sprouted parables and handed out fish and helped people get drunk at weddings...Seems pretty clear to me why they chose Barabbas to be released.

believe you mate. Check out "Jerusalem Syndrome" people who go nuts when they visit the Holy City I happen to reside in. We even have a pub named after it 
Lots of people think they talk to God -the problem is with those who think God has answered them.

believe you mate. Check out "Jerusalem Syndrome" people who go nuts when they visit the Holy City I happen to reside in. We even have a pub named after it 
Lots of people think they talk to God -the problem is with those who think God has answered them.

So, true...ain't been many wars that weren't in the name of some religion.

Shark tank bursts on East Nanjing Road

Following the sudden burst of the tank...water flooded the pedestrian street...the dead sharks lay scattered around

It's not the first time the tank has had safety issues. In June, four turtles were removed from the tank after a water pipe broke, killing two sharks.

"We will not build an aquarium again in the future," said Chen Yongping, an official with the store's management.

I should think not...

The Dead Rise From Their Coffins!
First Signs of Zombie Plague in China!

It's begun.  A dead woman got up in the middle of her funeral.

http://www.china.org.cn/china/2013-01/23/content_27773242.htm

http://now.msn.com/peng-xiuhua-a-101-year-old-woman-wakes-up-at-own-funeral-in-shenshuidong-village-china

Professional recommendations to prevent this sort of incident include using screws instead of nails on coffin lids, hiring armed guards to protect mourners, and cremating at quickly as possible.  Remember, the brains you save may be your own.

EL, that's why my family has been instructed to wait three days before disposing of my earthly remains. I'm claustrophobic you see and I would die of fright if I woke up in a box.  

If you did die of fright, at least you would be in a convenient location already.

If you did die of fright, at least you would be in a convenient location already.

And since the funeral is already paid for, you might as well use it.

I wonder if anyone can validate these two, relevant, legends.

1.) A wake is called that because it was done to make sure the person was really dead and, if not, people would be there when he "waked up".

2.) A bell would be tied to the corpse when buried so that if he became conscious he would move and ring it, thus the term "saved by the bell" and the person monitoring the bell had the "graveyard shift".  The first one sounds more like a boxing metaphor so I'm skeptical.

A-Train, I have heard of the second story, but can't remember any detail.

I wonder if anyone can validate these two, relevant, legends.

1.) A wake is called that because it was done to make sure the person was really dead and, if not, people would be there when he "waked up".

2.) A bell would be tied to the corpse when buried so that if he became conscious he would move and ring it, thus the term "saved by the bell" and the person monitoring the bell had the "graveyard shift".  The first one sounds more like a boxing metaphor so I'm skeptical.

1. "While the modern usage of the verb "wake" is "become or stay alert" meaning, a "wake" for the dead harks back to the antiquated "watch" or "guard" sense. This is contrary to the urban legend that people at a wake are waiting in case the deceased should "wake up.""Ivan Brunetti; Wilton, David A. (2004). Word myths: debunking linguistic urban legends, via Wikipedia
Debunked here; "Those phrases may have had nothing to do with bells being attached to coffins to guard against premature burial, but such devices did exist and were occasionally used. Given that some people had sufficient fear of being buried alive to invest in such coffins, it is at least plausible that they would also have made arrangements for someone to monitor the grave so that their coffin's bell could be heard in the event of them ringing it. Nevertheless, and as usual with phrase etymology, plausibility and truth are only distant relatives". http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/graveyard-shift.html