Rutabaga

It's nice out . . . I think I'll leave it out. R

Never put off until tomorrow what you can kick to next week. R

I just hope neither of our boy dogs figures out how to do that. R

I've only read a couple of Erle Stanley Gardner's Perry Mason novels (wherein, it should be noted, the lead character is much less the noble and virtuous guy we saw on television) but I imagine the same issue must have come up for him as well. On the TV show there were enough external forces to keep things moving -- Ray Collins became ill, then Bill Talman was dropped after CBS invoked the morals clause in his contract, then Raymond Burr's ongoing health problems flared up seriously and we had a stellar procession of guest stars like Bette Davis, Walter Pidgeon, Hugh O'Brien, Michael Rennie, and others taking center stage. So even though the stories were often a bit on the hokey side there was enough variety that it didn't become stale. Back to the original issue, though: I have to say that I thoroughly agree with the many folks who have said they would love to continue following the characters after a story's end. Intellectually I understand the argument as to why not, but that doesn't mean I have to like it. R

I feel certain that I must have read this a while ago, because certain things in it seem familiar, but it's been long enough that I don't really remember it. Not that I really needed yet another story to soak up time! R

So glad we haven't lost Seth, Logan and Grayson! R

Spoiler question: r

I guess those twists and turns never materialized. And now here's a story with enough characters and situations to spawn another Sanitaria Springs outpouring. :laugh: R

A bit of extra context here. R

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I can only assume that Pat Robertson's audience is inundating him with complaints about what's going on elsewhere on that same channel, and it wouldn't surprise me if he has talked about it on the 700 Club broadcasts. But there's not a whole lot Robertson can do about what ABC (owned by Disney) decides to broadcast at times outside of the 700 Club block. Since Disney seems to be working to be a gay-friendly employer I doubt if Robertson could persuade them to do anything differently on this show. R

I believe this paper was a compilation and synthesis of previous studies. R

Reassuring news to those of us with sub-Bel-Ami endowment: http://www.latimes.com/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-average-penis-size-20150303-story.html R

What's ironic is that before ABC bought the Family Channel it was owned and operated by Pat Robertson's 700 Club ministry. Robertson must be apoplectic about this. Robertson's deal with ABC requires that the 700 Club broadcasts continue to be carried on that channel. R

Perhaps less shocking in its time than when Captain Kirk (white) kissed Lieutenant Uhuru (black) on an episode of Star Trek in the mid-60s. That was definitely a first on prime time network television. R

And now Ellery/Josh is proven to be brilliant in his reasoning abilities -- it seems like he pretty much figured it out. Except it seems he may have been wrong about the Scowler not knowing who the woman was. Or maybe Josh's point was that the Scowler didn't know how important the woman was in the overall operation. Something tells me there may still be some twists and turns ahead. R

It has to be remembered that Levitical (and related) laws had to do with ritual purity or cleanliness more than anything. There is nothing inherently sinful or immoral about wearing clothing made from two different fibers. But refraining from doing that was a symbolic way for the Jews of that era to signify that they were being observant. Just as ritual circumcision of Jewish males showed primarily that they had some skin in the game. (Yeah, pun intended.) I read the New Testament as saying, overall, that we've moved beyond these ritual observances. The letters of Paul, for example, go to great lengths to explain why Gentiles did not have to be circumcised in order to participate in the new church. In Mark 7:18-19, Jesus says, " Don't you see that nothing that enters a person from outside can defile them? For it doesn't go into their heart but into their stomach, and then out of the body." Jesus, in other words, declared all foods clean, thus overruling the Old Testament restrictions on pork, shellfish, etc. Paul, in Romans 13:9, writes, "For the commandments, 'You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,' and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'” In Matthew 22:36-40, after being asked by a disciple, "what is the greatest commandment in the Law?" Jesus replies: “'‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” I could cite many more examples, but I think it is undebatable that Jesus wants the world to move beyond the harsh and legalistic approach of Old Testament laws. Indeed, he points out that the Pharisees -- the most learned in Old Testament law -- had taken that law to perverse results that were in no way consistent with what God really wanted. So while this proposed ballot initiative really doesn't have a prayer (another bad pun) of qualifying for the California ballot anyway, my main point is that I can't imagine that any educated and thoughtful Christian with an adequate knowledge of the Bible could possibly see the provisions of this initiative as comporting with genuine Christian values or principles. R

I hate to nitpick, but it's not obvious to me that this whack job purports to be espousing a particularly Christian doctrine here. In truth this lunacy seems to me to draw almost entirely on the Old Testament. R

I thought "High Plains of Wyoming" succeeded pretty well in creating a consistent and authentic voice for the narrator (Mason). It was steely and not lighthearted, yet there was kind of a Zen quality to Mason's approach to his life circumstances that was curiously engaging. R

I'm really sorry! Well, not really, because it's such a great story. But you should definitely feature it on the home page because many more people will see it there. R

Very funny. I need to send this to a guy I know who is from New Orleans. R

I believe you're right, if we all pull together! r

I noticed some more troubling changes on closer examination of the home page. I'm very sorry to see them. R

I see the Sanitaria Springs listing on the home page has vanished. I hope some form of it will reappear. R