Scientists and the new habit of conjecture.

More and more I am reading about scientists who make preposterous claims that have no fact in evidence. Most recently is the discovery of a child who had a Denisovan father and a Neanderthal mother. The child's bone was found in a known Denisovan cave. Fine. I can believe that!

What I can't believe is what I'm hearing them say about it. For example Svante Pääbo, the lead author in the study said to Science Daily that, "Neanderthals and Denisovans may not have had many opportunities to meet. But when they did, they must have mated frequently -- much more so than we previously thought." Pääbo goes further when speaking to The Guardian and said, "I’m beginning to think that when these groups met, they were quite happy to mix with each other." Why? Because you found one instance? Even if you found one hundred instances, what makes you think they were happy?

If we're going to make suppositions, then it sounds even more to me like the Neanderthal was taken by force. I mean, this was a Western Neanderthal not found in the region she was from! Who is to say that these were not warring beings and that the Neanderthal wasn't a slave?

The father, though obviously Denisovan, did carry some of his own Neanderthal DNA. That doesn't mean that his ancestor wasn't taken, raped or something else just as violent.

Scientists unfortunately look at the past with rose colored glasses. The past was a brutal hateful place! Murder was acceptable in many instances and the death penalty was very well appreciated. There were no human rights and suffering was rampant.

It's too bad then that we can't seem to get the real truth from scientists, today. I do apologize to Mr. Pääbo for picking on him because it's not just him. I see it all the time now. I would prefer that they stick to the evidence and don't try to coat it with sugar. Let's hear the real science and leave it at that.

BEWARE of Chinese Mobile Apps

There are a number of conspiracy theorists out there who make false claims that are really nothing to be concerned about. Fake news is loaded with it and so are those who believe the government is hiding alien information and so on.

Then comes along something that is a bit uncomfortable. China has been known to hack into United States government computer systems. China is a communist nation. Many millennials (even people in their 30's and I know because I've met them) do not really understand what that means.

A quick lesson is (Wikipedia is pretty useless these days when trying to read something that should be easy) a basic Karl Marx teaching. That is that the government makes the decisions for you. They decide where you work, how much you make, etc. They take most of your money and put it in a pile. They pass that pile out to others. The only rich people are government workers and you have no chance for advancement, ever. They take a large portion of your money and keep it for themselves. They give you health care with a mortality rate (the noted article says, "China faces huge health care problems that make those of the United States seem almost trivial by comparison") that is very high and is call socialized health care for everyone, even if it's killing them. Karl Marx is the founder of communism as well as fascism. We all know how evil the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany was and so China, who follows this same philosophy is truly an enemy.

What Christians can tell atheists and other non-believers.

The problem with non-believers is that they don't understand God nor the Bible. The ONLY verse they seem to remember is Matthew 5:39. That's the most often quoted verse that any non-Christian seems to know.

There are 31,102 verses in the Bible. How do this "specialists" know what the other verses say? They don't! They know Adam and Eve but somehow miss the "fall of man" and its significance, which clearly means that we ALL are sinners, even Christians. I will never understand why this is confusing to them.

How You can Kill a Church with Lilies and How You can Help to Avoid It

Every day we live for God. God created us and God can destroy us. It's that simple. We can sugar coat it all we want, but God is the Alpha and the Omega and there is no way to argue that.

Atheism is spreading at an alarming rate. They are, themselves, a religion. I'm not going to get into why I say that because only Christians would understand what I mean and since you do, I can skip it. Suffice it to say, they preach much more loudly than Christians do.

For that reason, I'm here to admonish Christians around the world, to include Nancy Pelosi and Barack Obama. Why aren't you doing what it says in the Bible? We'll come back to that part.

You see, churches are dying. My own church did. The church I've known all my life. It was my foundation. It was where I learned about Jesus and his sacrifice for us all. Yes, yes, my family taught me too but that's off subject. The point I'm making is that this church was my life and family. It shut its doors and do you know why? Stupidity. That's why.

CNN's is disgusting!

Today I was reading about the current FBI most wanted list. Just bored, wanted to do something online.

They captured one Eduardo Ravelo. Curious about the circumstances, I Googled a couple of articles. Now check this out!

This was posted on the 14th of March. Notice that headline. They are headlining that a Mexican killed Americans with ties to the US Consulate. The Americans are of Mexican ancestry but who cares? They are Americans and at least one of them works for the US Consulate so that makes it even worse. This is a serious allegation now. We have a man killing protected Americans with access to the US consulate. Hello? You would think that CNN would hop all over that. It's a sensational story. Right? Wrong. Instead, they did nothing.

The only thing that they did was the very next day. Instead of taking this where they should have, they change the entire headline and downplay the political implications to ZERO. They simply call the consulate "busy". Get that? Busy?! As in "The consulate is a busy place." This is something you would read in your first grader reader books. No, please don't die of shock and disbelief. It is incredible but true!

Android for Seniors: Chomp and Textra compared, again.

I wrote a blog post several years ago on a comparison between the two. Since then, a lot has changed. I decided it was time to write another one. The one thing to remember is that it does everything the stock Android messaging app plus what is listed here. I may list features already present in the Android stock app but you get the idea.

I am a visual learner. Also, I'm often in a hurry. Most of the time, I simply want a comparison chart. That will tell me what I need to know. If you're like me, then skip on down to the chart, which by the way, is a 3rd grade type of table I'm not sure if you can see it right but lets hope so. ;)

The features I list are the most basic and necessary ones. At least, to me but I'm pretty sure others feel the same. Usually the biggest questions are answered by my chart. Usually.

Now about ads, ads are the new way of doing things to keep apps free. I am divided on the issue. I find them annoying and they give me a headache. You can usually pay for messaging apps to stop the ads. Chomp used to charge for ad removal but I don't remember how much I paid. That will likely be the only information that may be incorrect. If anyone knows, please let me know so I can update it.

You may wish to know which I'm using. I have used Chomp for years, but the one feature I really need isn't available, even though I've requested it for all those years. Textra offers it and so bye-bye Chomp. You may not need that one feature. For me, it is scheduling MMS and group chat messages.

You see, I am a night owl. This arises, for example, when I wish to send a picture I took of a dog (I have 5 dogs now) after everyone went to bed. The problem is that I'll forget to send it to them the next day. Maybe it's an article instead and in Chomp, links are considered MMS. Either way, you can see my problem. Group chat in Chomp is also MMS so I had to toss it in favor of Textra.

I'm new to Textra which is what prompted me to write this blog post. In any case, the list of features may grow so check for updates if you're interested. 

Feature(s)	Chomp Ver. 7.18 ($)	Textra Ver. 3.44 (ads)
Basics
Cost	Free (ads), (?$) (ad free).	Free (ads), $2.99 (ad free)
Group chat/conversations	Yes	Yes
Pins conversations to top	Yes	Yes
Customize notification tones with system and mp3 sounds	Yes	System only1
Customize notification vibrations	Yes	Yes
Tone or vibrate when sent, setting.	Yes	Tone only
Scheduling messages
Schedules SMS	Yes	Yes
Schedules group chat/conversations	No	Yes
Schedules recurring SMS	Yes	No
Schedules MMS	No	Yes
Visual Customization
Change background to photo	Yes	Color change only.
Allows increase/decrease of text size and color.	Yes	Yes
Has themes	Yes, free and ($)	Yes, basic only
Can customize colors	Yes	Yes
Can customize contact colors	Yes	Yes

Notes (most is common sense but, you know how it is):

• Prices are current until 16 Apr 2018, after that prices may be different.
• These are not all the features, it's best to check their websites for a list of features and by the time you read this some features may not even be available. 

Request #1: If this table formatting looks odd, please let me know in the comments.
Request #2: If you wish to know about a feature, please also let me know in the comments. At least, for the version(s) listed above.

1. You are able to copy your music or customized tones over to the system, so that they will become available in Textra. I recommend downloading ES File Explorer (free) and then follow the instructions posted by BOAC.

Is Yoga okay for Christians? It depends on who you ask.

Before I get to the question of Yoga, I must share some personal explanation as to why I even wanted to try Yoga. This desire led to my quest on whether or not it's really okay for a Christian to participate, even though I know it's beneficial health wise.

Fixing minor Windows issues: NEVER download "tools" from anyone! EVER!

When your computer starts acting up, it can be confusing on how to solve it. Doing a search will reveal a lot of websites that tell you "First, download this tool..." NOPE! Skip to the next answer. If it requires a tool, then prepare to make it worse. Trust me. 

Killers go free and the innocent go to prison.

This is the story of two victims, both in Texas. One is of Lisa Stone and the other, Frances Hall. One had a spouse, the other had a partner. Both were betrayed by their loved one and both have suffered the consequences for it. Only one of these victims, though, has been murdered. The other, sits in prison.

Welch's Grape Juice: What's the difference between Heart Healthy and regular?

I am lucky in that our local Walmart Market allows online shopping and all I have to do is go pick up my groceries. I love that! It has its drawbacks but it does make large shopping trips easier.

The problem is their lack of information on products. Day before yesterday I did my online shopping. What I really like about it is that I can add things to the "list" throughout the week and then buy it all at once at the end of the week. Circling back around to day before yesterday....

I wanted some grape juice. I had been buying the smaller single serving bottles but I quickly realized that we were drinking more than usual since we changed our lifestyle to healthier eating. For this reason, I decided to go with a 64-oz bottle. I buy Welch's grape juice. Originally I tried the Great Value brand but it tasted to me like watered down grape Kool-aid. The ingredients lists juice but it just didn't taste like it to me. Welch's has that nice tart grape flavor we like.

Things to do when you're sick... and bored... and you're a woman.

As I write, I am feeling like death. Today, I have the flu. My stomach is queasy, my nose is running, I'm coughing, my eyes feel like they're on fire and I'm feeling general misery overall, and I have a general feeling wishing that I was dead.

With tissues stuck in my nose, I Googled "how to pass the time when you're sick" and there were a number of articles that popped up. I read them and wished I could take a marker and mark out nearly everything they said. For example, one said watch a chick flick. Um, what? The last thing I want to do is cry and turn my nose up from jogging to running in full blast mode.

I think it's pretty clear that the people who wrote these well intended articles, probably weren't sick when they wrote it. Since I am, let's see what works.

Tara Grinstead: Finally an arrest!

As some of you know, I've written about this woman before. Her case has baffled me from the beginning. It reads like a whodunnit but in fact, it turned out not to really be like that. The killer was not at the table. 

It took over ten years but at last, someone has finally spoken up and and an arrest has been made. Not because of any evidence but because thankfully, a heroic witness came forward with information. I call them heroic because had they not, this case would still be mysterious and unsolved.

How to easily remove a black or white solid background in PSP x8x

This is an easy trick that many of you novice users may not know about. When I say novice, I do not mean newbies, but those who do not use it for professional reasons.

There is no need to use this for gradient backgrounds because the background remover does a rather fine job of that and this not so much in that instance. This is best used on a black or white solid background.

eMeals: Update of Review

I've been using eMeals for a few weeks now relying completely on it. I wrote up a full review here, but there were a few things I did not address, that I felt like needed to be added.

I use the Quick and Healthy plan. I will say that if I buy the ingredients that they call for, it is indeed quick and definitely healthy, but my grocery bill was over $350 one week which is unacceptable. I had to rethink how I did "quick". 

The main cost problem comes in two parts. One, the quick ingredients are pre-prepared items that you're paying someone else to do and that gets expensive fast; and two, the produce ingredients can be pricey. Let's look at a couple of things to explain.

Nearly every week it calls for 1 or 2 dinners with packages of pre-cooked rice. While convenient because it's already cooked, it gets expensive very quickly. Walmart sells a single package (all cost the same, but this example is the Spanish rice), at the time of this writing, for $2.74. I have the family plan so I need two packages of it so that will cost me $5.48. Each package yields 2 cups of rice, so that's $5.48 for 4 cups of rice. Now for Spanish rice, that's probably okay. If I had to make homemade Spanish rice it would likely cost about the same, but what about brown rice, or basmati or jasmine? Absolutely not! That is very expensive for just plain rice. 

You can buy one 32-oz bag of Mathama brown rice for $2.16. A 32-oz bag yields 16 cups of cooked rice. You see the price difference there, right? Now imagine having to buy 4 of the pre-cooked a week. That's a huge money loss by the end of the year. 

Next it's the produce. This past week it called for 6 bok choy. Each bok choy was 96 cents each, so that's roughly 6 dollars. Six dollars for only the side dish! We're not talking the main dish. That is very expensive. I ultimately went with plain 'ol cabbage, which was 46 cents, total. That saved me 5 dollars. 

I went through my list for this past week and had to substitute a number of items. I bought a bag of jasmine rice instead of pre-cooked, cabbage instead of bok choy, fresh bell peppers and onions than pre-cut frozen, etc. My food bill dropped to an amazing $147. Well, I did spend $75 at the Asian market buying sauces and such it called for, but only part of that was for this past week. Some was for my son's Japanese cooking and some were for the week before. I had skipped one recipe from the week before that I'd use this past week instead. Either way, that's still way less than the $350 it was week before last. 

Oh and I almost forgot about the tenderloins! Last week the list called for chicken tenderloins, which would mean that I wouldn't have to do much with it. However it was 4 times more costly to buy them and then I was incensed when I opened the package. Each package had 6 and of those 6, 6 had tendons from the breast. Basically, I had to spend time slicing the tendon out and by the time it was all said and done, it would have been cheaper and just as fast if I had just bought breasts in the first place. I felt like hitting Walmart's butcher with those so-called "tenderloins". What a rip off! 

In the end, you have a choice. You can either spend a lot of time in the kitchen or save money. You cannot have both. 

I decided to compromise. I shop on Wednesdays (which is one reason I wish the list would come out earlier in the week, I have to plan their plan and that irritates me to no end) so I spend more time in the kitchen on Thursday than I do the rest of the week. I slice vegetables that they told me to get frozen. I slice up breasts that they told me to get as tenderloins, or whatever. I cook up rice and freeze them in bags. 

Then the rest of the week, dinner is pretty easy. I get the convenience of a fast meal without that fast cost. I looked at the plain healthy menu to see if it would be more economical, but it really isn't. It still calls for things like bok choy and other expensive produce or ingredients. Sadly, eating cheap is what it is. 

I'm a little saddened because I had looked forward to a variety of foods and not having to eat the same thing over and over again. However if I do it their way, I'll be homeless when I retire. I can't stand liberals who say "Well you'll just die young then if you don't spend the money on good health now." My retort to that is "Well good, because I'd rather be dead than eating out of trash cans because I'll have to live on the street." Liberals don't understand simple economics, but I digress. 

We'll see how long I continue to use eMeals. Perhaps the company will read this and offer a solution, but for now I don't see one. If I have to constantly edit, make changes, buy cheaper and on and on, then what am I paying them for? 

I want to give them a fair shake though and see how this plays out. 

Discussion Part 2: Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath

I have completed the first 6 episodes of Leah's documentary and I understand that there are only 7 and next week 7 (or will it be 8?) will be airing.

Now that I've seen the shows and read the letters, I am convinced that David Miscavige (whom I will now refer to as #PsychoDave from here on out) is a psychopath. His is an abusive, self-serving, egotistical rat bastard of a psychopath. He brainwashes his followers and pockets millions of dollars by ripping them off. This is no religion, it's at best, a self-help group, but in reality a self-destruction group.

I doubt very much any Scientologist will ever read what I have to say. They're not allowed to read it. They are censored something fierce, and is an abomination. If you know a Scientologist print out the St. Petersburg articles and give it to them. Know first, that you will likely never be spoken to by them again, but know that what you did was the right thing.

Post these articles in public. Some will be curious, some may actually read them and if only ONE person reads them and changes their mind, then you've likely saved their life.

If you can't watch the A&E documentary because you've gone off of cable/satellite TV, then the articles are the way to go. Hell, if you even watched the documentary, I still recommend the articles. They outline the same things really, but the article has more information. Watching them on TV though brings you closer to the humans that they are. You really need both, but one or the other is absolutely required.

Where do I even begin to discuss the atrocities that #PsychoDave has committed? They are so numerous that a single blog post couldn't possibly cover them all. Except for the master race business and the mass executions, #PsychoDave is exactly like Hitler. He has established labor camps. He imprisons his followers. He beats his executives into submission. He makes his followers take lie detector tests, has them interrogated then charges them money for it. His own father had to plan his escape six months in advance. His own father! When your father has to escape, you know there is a problem.

Go here and read this 3-part article, then come back and finish my post. Read it slowly and carefully.

Discussion: Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath

I knew Leah Remini had produced an 8-part series that detailed the abuses of the so-called "Church" of Scientology, which is the last time you'll see it written that way in any more of my posts. Merriam-Webster defines Church as a place of Christian worship. Scientology is not a Christian entity; not in the least. Christianity is about forgiveness and the belief that Christ is our Savior. They preach none of that. In fact, they preach that you alone are responsible for well-being. That is an anti-Christ teaching.

Let's put the nit-picky part aside though. Let's instead look at the one thing that is proof it is anything but a church. Let's look at their own words.

eMeals.com: A Full Review

I have a love/hate relationship with eMeals.com. To begin with, I love the service they provide. They plan the meals, they look at what's in season so it's cheapest and they give you recipes to make. A lot of meal planning books and websites give you the main dish but never any sides. Thankfully, eMeals.com includes sides! There is no more spending time trying to plan what your family will eat.

They also have several different plans. Eating cheaply, paleo diet, low carbs, quick meals, quick and healthy, etc. They have different sized meals. They have cooking for two and family size meals for 4-6. The possibilities are endless and you can switch meal plans if you want to anytime.

Then there's the grocery list they have for you. You can print it, or open the app on your Google Play Android phone or iPhone, you cannot open it in a Kindle without hacking your Kindle. It has it's problems, granted. You need to not be in a hurry the first time you use it else you may buy three times as much parsley like I did, which I'll explain in a bit.

The Sherri Holland and Sherri Vanessa Holland murder cases.

It is very unusual to have two women murdered who lived in the same state (in fact, in the same region of the state) with the same names a few years apart. I'm sure this is not the first instance, but I don't recall another time.

Tomorrow, a man is to (rightly) be executed for one of the murders. The killer of the other is still at large, but it seems probable that it was one of two people. 

Let's look at the similarities of the cases:

1. Both women were named Sherri Holland.
2. Both women were from NW Georgia.
3. Both women had recently broken up with their lovers.
4. Both women were murdered within 5 years of each other.

There, the similarities end. We do not know who killed Sherri Vanessa, or even that she's actually dead since her body has never been found, but we definitely know who killed the other Sherri. Steven Spears, her former boyfriend, even confessed and did so without remorse stating he'd do it again. She was his and his alone and he'd not share her. He stuck to his word. 

It is very suspicious that Sherri Vanessa's lover was a married man who could not let her go too. That said, her business partner had a lot to gain from her death and it's been noted by police how said business partner spoke of her in the past tense, which is unusual for close family and friends to do when someone is only missing.

Sure, on the surface it seems plausible that Sherri Vanessa staged her own disappearance but leaving her dogs behind? Especially abandoned? Doubtful! That's like leaving your children abandoned. Dog owners do not do that. Ever. Well, good dog owners and we know that Sherri Vanessa was a good one.

This means there is definite foul play here. 

Justice for Sherri is about to be handed down. Unfortunately for the other, Sherri Vanessa, justice still remains. If you can help, please contact the GBI at (404) 244-2600.

Finding my Christian faith.

I was raised in the Methodist church. It wasn't until I was nearly an adult that I experienced other churches such as Baptist or Catholic and even Mormon. I was shocked at the difference in behavior and practice. Baptists screamed at me that I was a sinner and Catholics did a lot kneeling and some odd thing with water. I began to question not my faith, but how to worship in the right Christian manner. What was the truth?

Truth is different for many of us. What I say here is not meant to be insulting, but describes my journey which has led to my own personal belief system. It may not agree with yours, but that is not to be debated here. I will not debate what I believe, why and whether it's right or not. I'm just going to share how I came to be who I am.

I have never doubted that Jesus is my savior. That is fact to me and no so-called science is going to change that. Just as one believes that a parent loves you, without any absolute proof except that they say so (they could be lying), I believe in Jesus' love.

What I doubted was the right way to worship Him. There are so many variants. The first thing I had to decide for myself was how to know. You can't come to a conclusion of worship unless you have a guide of some kind.

Feast of St. Francis of Assisi wasn't a vegan nor was he a vegetarian!

Let's get something straight. I've decided that vegans and vegetarians have a little less brains than meat eaters. Just because St. Francis is the patron saint of animals, doesn't mean he didn't eat meat. In fact, he did eat meat. He even encouraged others to eat meat!

You can love animals and still eat meat. Any real Christian knows this since it is very clearly written in the Bible.

Do not be fooled by all these blogs who blithely say that St. Francis was vegan, would want you to eat vegan and all that other nonsense. It is a bald faced LIE. Show me. Prove it.

Guess what? They can't because it isn't true.

Lois Rogers even notes this on her blog in the comments. She writes:

Franciscans aren’t vegan. In fact, St. Francis is known to encouraged the friars to consume lots of meat at Christmas in celebration. But mostly they ate very simple food that was heavy on vegetables.

She is absolutely and steadfastly correct in this. Do the research people and don't let some vegan nut job tell you a false history that doesn't exist. They need to get their act together and become more trustworthy if they want to have people join their "cause". Their way of eating isn't for health, it's for a frame of mind which is totally different.

So eat meat and enjoy people!