Gimme that old-time religion

I was watching Bishop T.D. Jakes last night on Daystar.  He's a black evangelical minister and his audience is mostly black although I saw some whites.  Suffice to say he's extremely passionate in his preaching and his listeners really get into it as well.  All in all a very passionate evening.  Compare this with your typical white average Catholics who go to Mass every weekend and who barely know the readings in the OT & NT.  You might catch some rolling their eyes at a long homily and then somebody else has to crane their neck to see who just arrived in the back of the church.  Then some old guy's cane falls and everyone looks around for five minutes.  Some be leaving around Communion time, someplace to go I guess.  You never see anyone leaving during a Jake's sermon though.  Pull up a chair we're just getting warmed up.  The faith of African-Americans puts us Catholics to shame!

Here's a question

When we push the clocks back to gain that extra hour do insomniacs get an extra hour of non-sleep?

Is the Hillary e-mail scandal going anywhere?

At this snail's pace it could be years before the FBI finds and decides to do something. It's like with the PO Daniel Pantaleo/Eric Garner federal case it's in limbo somewhere and nobody much asks what's going on except Al Sharpton every once in a while. Are investigations this hard or is there something else at play in the Hillary case? Every Hillary scandal is by nature dry as a yak's head somewhere in the desert with the cacti, no sexual elements whatsoever so people quickly lose interest and move on to the other news of the day>>>>Lamar Odom/Khloe Kardashian. By contrast this is a ready-made for tv ongoing soap opera that's got everyone's attention. I'm kinda getting the hunch of a feeling that nothing's gonna happen to Hil but I could be wrong. It'd be kind of surreal if while she's giving her inauguration or installation speech they slap the 'cuffs on her.

What happens if Trump doesn't implode?

Since he has now pledged to not run as an independent it's Houston we have a problem for the GOP.  For me if it does wind up as Trump vs. Hillary my default setting is vote for Trump.  Trump giving the big speech at the RNC it's surreal but now not out of the realm.  Conventional politics on acid.

Papal thoughts

Re the wonderful papal mass at MSG it would have been such a nice touch if that great cantor got to sing the Prayer of St. Francis.  I have a somewhat more positive view of Francis after his trip to the States although he needs to get off the climate change.  What's up with Boehner?

Now why would you wanna rile old Huckabee up?

The case of Rowan County KY clerk Kim Davis and her biblically rooted refusal to license gay couples could be an episode of "Modern Family."  Federal Judge Bunning says she'll remain in jail until she complies.  What is this Cuba?  It reeks of an eerie and creepy totalitarianism.  Even the first gay couple to get their marriage license in that somewhat hostile county didn't want to see her go to jail.  Why not start with a fine and see how it goes?  Maybe Rosie O'Donnell can waterboard her:)

President Obama plans on some male bonding with Bear Grylls

President Obama plans to spend a few days in the Alaskan wilderness with reality-tv star and outdoor guy/survivalist Bear Grylls and he's doing this to throw a spotlight on the issue of climate change. You know this is why Trump is still surging in the polls - he doesn't talk about issues that most or many people don't care about but plugs into practical everyday bread-and-butter issues like immigration. Climate change imo is a kind of left-wing intellectual issue, a pet academic subject of theirs that tolerates no dissent and the average Joe or Mary ain't all that jazzed up about it to be honest. I myself can't get into it either though I'm told I should care and if the polar bears disappear tomorrow well the seals will be happy about the development. The question on everybody's mind though is will Bear Grylls drink Obama's urine?

Hillary Rodham Clinton compared some of the Republican presidential candidates to ISIS

From a free speech angle I got no problem if that's how she feels but where's the blowback, the media firestorm? just sayin'. Well she's at least updated the tired Nazi analogy. Trump says things that are half true and he's got the universe on edge. On the positive side at least she acknowledges that ISIS is bad for women.

Hippyfied health care

CVS won't sell tobacco products but medical marijuana dispensaries seem to be sprouting up everywhere these days.  Alcohol continues to be heavily demonized (e.g. nearly every insomnia website warns don't drink before bedtime) but hemp use is actually being medically encouraged within a limited for now framework of course.  Granny don't smoke, Granny don't drink, Granny light up a joint in the cancer ward.

Medical apps and insomnia, sometimes just technically wrong

The Web MD and Home Remedies apps both have a variation on the same official formula when it comes to insomnia. WebMD says if you don't fall asleep by 20 minutes get up and perform a quiet task (??) and Home Remedies advises if you don't fall asleep within 30 minutes go in another room and start reading but keep the tv off (maybe the book Stephen King's Insomnia?) Traditionally and down through the ages we've always defined "falling asleep" as that sharp and definitive moment when the curtain magically drops and you lose consciousness and awareness. For practical purposes that definition is fine and works most of the time but many times it doesn't work that way. The best starting point for managing your insomnia is to simply lie in bed the whole night with your eyes closed. It's a scientific fact which the apps somehow neglect to mention that if you do this you will have brief periods of sleep which you're unaware of hence the feeling of being awake all night. You'll make it through the next day adequately as opposed to following their advice and getting up every 20 minutes performing quiet tasks and going in the next room and picking up a copy of William Manchester's The Arms of Krupp. It helps if you have or cultivate good dream recall because during such torturous nights you can often remember brief dreams you've had and you can use this as a kind of yardstick. The other thing which I've never understood is the official medical line mandating that everyone needs 8 HOURS OF SLEEP A NIGHT otherwise bad medical things are gonna happen like maybe five years from now they'll have to remove a couple of diabetic toes. At this point you're working on your sleep and doing the best you can and you don't need this added pressure. Chuck it and while we're on the subject I've been wondering what else the medical apps which are so popular these days are wrong about. TIPS - Next time you have trouble sleeping count all the names of the Republican presidential contenders over and over again in your head. Charlie Rose also works for me or maybe you can DVR a late Sunday afternoon golf game:)

Defunding Planned Parenthood

I have sincerely tried to understand this liberal apoplexy whenever the subject of defunding Planned Parenthood is broached but when I've posed the question throughout the years I never get a clear answer or quite often no answer at all.  WHY is Planned Parenthood entitled to or why are we morally obligated to subsidize this organization through millions of dollars in federal taxpayer funds every year???  Even if I were pro-choice I wouldn't automatically come down on the side of the federal subsidy.  There are quite a few organizations in this country who do yeoman's work on the side of good and yet they don't receive such a subsidy and yet it is mostly a Democratic Article of Faith that PP needs to be federally subsidized and if you don't quite morally calculate it this way you're on the side of darkness and devils.  I have to say though I have always found the pro-abortionism of the NY Times editorial board to be quite stunning even with the string of undercover sting videos by the pro-life although I'm supposed to say the anti-abortion group Center for Medical Progress. So throw your coins in the fountain here or if you prefer just walk by and glance and give the old Sitemeter an uptick.

Thoughts on the Ashley Madison hacking issue

Ashley Madison has 37 million users? Why get married? play the field if that's your thing. I can't believe nobody but nobody saw this coming! OK so the hackers are threatening to release ALL the account information on all the millions of users of this online adultery website. That'd be real interesting when the List finally does come out. I wanna know if anyone I know is on the list. Don't tell me you're not curious. Reminds me of typing your VIN# on the government safer cars website to see if you have an open recall. How many open recalls on marriages are there gonna be in this new and massive adultery database? They can't be fixed either by ordering an airbag inflator or ignition part. Notice your spouse suddenly having more bouts of diarrhea? skid marks in the drawers? anxiety/stress, poor sleep? kinda quiet lately? goes for that extra tumbler of Scotch and made stronger than usual without the ice cubes and the ginger ale? Wanna see the doctor honey? Yup it should be interesting.

Auto recalls - the new normal

Car recalls are not unheard of but there's been too many of them in the news of late.  A good chunk of them have to do with airbag defects like the notice I got in the mail just yesterday for my 2005 Honda Civic.  Now let the year sink in for a minute, roll it around  as my notice also said the recall covers the years 2001-2005!!!  I've had my car for a decade now and I've driven it practically everywhere.  Danbury Mall, Poughkeepsie Galleria, Middletown New York among other daytripping destinations  and Honda Corporation tells me now?!?  Now picture the poor mechanics who work for Honda.  IN ADDITION to their normal regular daily work schedule they now have to do the recalls.  Parts may run out and then Honda offers to reimburse you for any alternative transportation you may have to take.  Total clusterf*×k.  Thanks guys.  May my next car not be a Honda.

Planned Parenthood, fetal harvesting and a roomful of beagles

Liberals have always acted like you're emotionally, morally and spiritually obligated to support Planned Parenthood. Actually that's not true, it's up to you. I'm not against birth control but I am personally against abortion so for me to support Planned Parenthood is a logical impossibility and the extended topic of fetal harvesting is definitely out of the question.  Doesn't make me a bad person. It's a larger issue for me than the latest undercover viral video made by the pro-life group Center for Medical Progress showing PP not in the best light. We can discuss that and folks are sure to bring up PP health clinics are big on breast cancer screenings, STD prevention and whatnot but now we got a little beagle problem on our hands. Let's say your local animal shelter does exemplary work for the most part, placing adoptions of pets, spaying and neutering and shots but in the room in the back they gas beagles maybe once a week. Some will support the shelter 100%, some will support part of the shelter and pretend the other room doesn't even exist and some may not go there at all because they're morally opposed to cat/dog euthanasia on principle. The grisly room in the back overrides everything else for some people. In my view that's perfectly valid and needs to be respected. Ditto those who withhold their moral support for PP because an integral part of their daily work is they do provide abortions. Again I'm not getting why I'm a bad person if I don't support the organization.

Greek Mythology

...that you can get endless freebies from the government and not have to pay the price in the end.  Now where can I get myself a gyro?

The Dukes of Hazzard problem

To start off I don't think this old show was particularly great but it anchored my Friday night tv schedule when I was growing up.  I remember it well, Dad and Mom would come home from food shopping and Dad would give us a box of Devil Dogs but Mom would say go eat an orange.  So TV Land is yanking the show because of the whole Confederate flag controversy which wouldn't be that much of a controversy had that young Aryan racist not shot up that black prayer meeting.  Wondering does Katy Perry now have to tweak her hit song "California Gurls" because it includes a line about Daisy Duke bikinis?

Take me to your 9 Leaders

Thoughts on the SCOTUS' latest rulings on ObamaCare and gay marriage...

More from the Opining Pope

Maybe after he's done with the environment and maybe the $15 minimum wage he can promulgate an encyclical on Donald Trump after he excommunicates Hannity.

Obama, man in search of a legacy

In a way you can't blame him, every president wants a legacy and not a Carter legacy.  In the twilight of his second term his motivation is obvious from his opening up relations with Cuba to his attempted but failed for now trans-Pacific trade agreement.  It's not that these things make the most sense necessarily but in terms of legacy he needs stuff.  Probably as his last term comes closer to winding down he'll come up with even more things from his grab bag of Ideas one of the latest being he's somehow trying to tie in climate change with national security.  Not sure how this works, should ISIS go green?  Can he do something on race and the police? doubt it.  Your ponderings......

Why throw rocks at a junkyard dog?

The Garland TX Mohammed cartoon shootings, our little version of Charlie Hebdo - ISIS is now claiming responsibility which even if true you'd think they'd be a bit hesitant as it hardly came off in their favor, not their best work you could say. Pamela Geller of her American Freedom Defense Initiative coordinated this event in TX and from what I understand it was some sort of cartoon contest for who could come up with the best sketch of the Prophet Mohammed I guess. I might be in the minority but her subway ads in NYC which the MTA had a huge problem with I don't find them the least bit offensive. I'm sure you've heard of them and they always have the angle of radical Islamists are anti-Semitic which they are so it's kind of hard for me to unravel just why the MTA has their collective knickers in a twist. However having said that what was the point of this little sketchathon in Garland TX? Are they suddenly interested in this particular faith system? Are they contributing to global culture? Was the whole affair designed to be provocative? (x) I'm thinking we have enough to worry about. Thanks guys and gals and all you Bob Ross wannabes.