Rick C.'s Comments

Wicca 101 Questions. by Rick C.

Sep 16, 2007 | rating: 10 | comments: 6

Rick C. Oct 21, 2009, 4:55pm EDT

nothing wrong with being wordy...

New Pagan Bulletin Board by Rick C.

Sep 15, 2008 | rating: 10 | comments: 4

Rick C. Oct 21, 2009, 4:53pm EDT

As of now the forum is down...it may come back up in the furture.

Have you ever had your Fortune told? by Gwen K

Oct 21, 2009 | rating: 10 | comments: 27

Rick C. Oct 21, 2009, 4:48pm EDT

My wife can read tarot and other things...the thing to remember when you have this done is that the reader is reading an outcome that may or may not happen...you can change it yourself, and unknown outside forces can cause change.
My wife says a remote reading is very hard to do...if you don't know the person it is even harder, and she will not do one unless the person sends her something they have handled. So beware of online and phone readings. Most good readers don't do it professionally either. (There are some, I sure). My wife will not take money or gifts for a reading, she feels it's wrong. I've seen her tell people things they had never told anyone...

NEW STAR TREK MOVIE - by Rick C.

Oct 24, 2007 | rating: 9.8 | comments: 27

Rick C. May 16, 2009, 9:19am EDT

Enterprise had some very good episodes, but on the whole it went it owns way, trying to be a space soap opera much like the last year of DS9. It was almost like the writers had no idea what Star Trek was about most of the time. The start was good and most of the first season, then they started loosing it.

The new movie did what I didn't think could be done...a complete reboot that fit into the Star Trek universe. It worked....Unlike the Enterprise after season1, except for the last episode of the series...which made it seem as if the power to be wanted to see how badly they could handle the show and get fans to watch, then after its been canceled do an episode that said "We knew how to do the show, we just didn't want to".

NEW STAR TREK MOVIE - by Rick C.

Oct 24, 2007 | rating: 9.8 | comments: 27

Rick C. May 13, 2009, 10:51pm EDT

Well, I feel the new Star Trek worked...They did something a lot of the reboots failed to do, they stayed true to the original and gave us something original. When I heard about the changing the time line I though of some of the really bad Enterprise episodes. But the way it was done really worked.

I felt that Enterprise would have been a good show if they had done what they said they were going to do, and that was give us the beginning of the federation and this they did very little. As to how the male stars acted, I had no problem with - just look at some of the tapes taken on the International Space Station....

TV is a funny art form. You have a show and it gets viewers, then you get some really bad scripts and you cancel the show instead of firing the writers... At least with the movies they waited until they got a good story...

Now the question is will be see Trek on TV again? And in what form? Also how will the Klingons look now? Personally I would like to see both kinds - since they gave us the reason they looked different in the Original Star Trek on Enterprise.

Time Zones...UGH! by Walker Bennett, SF Author

Apr 23, 2009 | rating: 10 | comments: 14

Rick C. Apr 23, 2009, 5:46pm EDT

I think tele marketing should be banned! It makes cons way too easy. And with the IP phones and cell phones area code is meaning less and less (for time zones). Also the hours they can call is based on people who work 9 to 5. If you work third shift some place the calls will be in the middle of your night. Even being on a don't call list, unlisted number, some would still get by - got callers id and now I just hear them on the answering machine once in a while.
Time zones are fun - I live East of Knoxville TN and the the time zone for central is just west of Knoxville - which makes you have to be aware of the time difference if you are planning to go in that direction...or call a business less than 50 miles away.

Democrats caught in a lie... by Kimberly L.

Apr 23, 2009 | comments: 58

Rick C. Apr 23, 2009, 5:32pm EDT

"And, actually, I'm not in the least bit interested in telling someone else how to live. I just want to be able to speak out my beliefs without retaliation. "

It seems that you are interested in telling someone else how to live...or else it wouldn't bother you. But then I'm sure you feel that they decide to be gay.... And as others have said it's alright to speak your beliefs as long as you don't cause harm and incite a crowd into doing harm, neither of which come under free speech. Would you like it if your life style and your religion made you the victim of discrimination?
I've alway wondered who Traditional values a group calling themselves Traditional Values Coalition are talking about? Most groups like that talk HATE. That anyone that believe different from them is wrong....

Welfare Recipients and Urine Testing by Elizabeth (This place IS my Soap Opera) O.

Apr 22, 2009 | rating: 9.7 | comments: 99

Rick C. Apr 23, 2009, 11:42am EDT

"Another insult to poor people is the practice of running credit checks on people before renting an apartment or purchasing auto insurance. Poor people rarely have good credit. And for 90% of them, it's because of huge medical bills they never asked for."

Most poor people buy cars from buy here pay here car lots that don't demand full coverage. There are usually many insurance companies that offer minimum coverage to anyone - and only check your driving record. And yes there are places that check your credit to rent - but most poor people can't afford the monthly rent of these places. I live in the Smoky Mts of East Tennessee, we have a lot of poor and low income people and there are many places that don't even check if you have a job or not. I'm sure this may be a problem in bigger cities and parts of the country - but I don't see this as a real problem. If your credit is good enough to buy a new car, it good enough to get full coverage insurance from most insurance companies. The person who rents high end rentals should have the right to do a credit check on a person, which also tells them if the person has ever been evicted and other information they need. A property owner is not the government and has the right to protect their property.

Welfare Recipients and Urine Testing by Elizabeth (This place IS my Soap Opera) O.

Apr 22, 2009 | rating: 9.7 | comments: 99

Rick C. Apr 23, 2009, 11:23am EDT

I think a few bad apples turn a lot of people off and blind them from seeing the truth. With food stamps - the only time I'm bothered is when I see someone with food stamps buying expensive cuts of meat with their stamps and then buying beer, wine and cigarettes with cash - and I'm not talking about a pack of cigarettes or a six pack, but cartons and cases. This is not a normal sighting, but its one your remember much more than the mother with three kids buying what she need to feed her family. Again the press exploits the bad apples, the cheats, and the cons. Unless you have needed help or have had friends or family that have - it can be hard to some to understand that these are the low percentage and not the norm.
Most welfare doesn't have a mid ground to help people get back on their feet. I've known people who have had to have assistance and once they got a job - it went right away - not giving them time to get caught up. So they had to go through a time with help from friends and family. (I feel for people who can't get help).

I have mixed feeling about drug testing - I'm against the government demanding it but it also bothers me - that if you can afford illegal drugs, why do you need welfare? And anyone using welfare money to buy illegal drugs need to be dropped from the system. I think a possible solution to this would be to have a case worker who feels that someone is mis-using the system could get a court ordered drug test on the person they feel is mis-using the system... make it court ordered so it's harder for the case workers misuse it.

Green Means Go by Jared G.

Apr 20, 2009 | rating: 10 | comments: 3

Rick C. Apr 23, 2009, 10:48am EDT

Hope they do it right....With Hal...the pre-crisis Hal...before he had a drinking problem...when he was a hero... A man without fear.. OK - most of my favorite stories and characters are from the Silver Age -

That Girl is Super by Jared G.

Apr 22, 2009 | rating: 10 | comments: 3

Rick C. Apr 23, 2009, 10:44am EDT

Looks like Supergirl....
I feel the first Supergirl movie was better than what they have been doing to her in the comics since they killed her in Crisis. (Haven't been really happy with comics since then...living in the past)

A Photo by glenda j.

Apr 23, 2009 | rating: 10 | comments: 9

Rick C. Apr 23, 2009, 10:29am EDT

Very nice

A Photo by Rick C.

Feb 21, 2009 | rating: 10 | comments: 6

Rick C. Feb 21, 2009, 11:32pm EST

Part...and she's a she.

The Year and A Day by Rick C.

Aug 13, 2007 | rating: 9.1 | comments: 16

Rick C. Jan 18, 2009, 8:37pm EST

What's a few years....

The decline of the American Flea Market by Rick C.

Jul 30, 2007 | rating: 10 | comments: 9

Rick C. Jan 18, 2009, 8:31pm EST

Peggy - thats the problem with flea markets today the vendors are small business, not people wanting to get rid of stuff. Some area make it harder for a person to just take stuff they want to get rid of by demanding licenses and such, so I understand why they are doing it. It has just become harder to find the fun flea markets anymore. A good flea market used to be like a hundred yard sales all together.
Sandra - you are lucky to still have a local flea market that's good. I wish that we did here. I still go when ever I can get off on a weekend. But the good deal and the weird stuff just is way to far between now.

Viewers control the Television Industry, Networks Listen or Lose by Theresa Chaze

Dec 2, 2008 | rating: 10 | comments: 4

Rick C. Dec 4, 2008, 12:25pm EST

This would be true except for the fact that the TV industry uses the outdated and never working Nielsens as the guide for what is being watch and what isn't. When a new show or change to a show they sometimes get from other rating companies what they call an "overnight" - but ads are still based on the Nielsens . According to their own site 25,000 households represent the US. For overnight information they randomly call homes. The overnight is just used by the networks for information ahead of the weeklys. And then a few times a year a week is picked which the advertising rates will be based. These are the sweeps. So its not the viewer, its 25,000 households that matter. According to the 2000 census their were 105,480,101 households in the us (Many more by now) so each Nielsen household represents 4,219,204 households. When mail for a show thats going off proves the rating wrong the networks will do something in the short term to make the fans happy - but in the long term they don't want the mighty Nielsens proved wrong- as the whole industry is based on them.

A question about TV shows? by Theresa Chaze

Nov 23, 2008 | rating: 10 | comments: 8

Rick C. Nov 24, 2008, 12:25pm EST

The big problem with the the almighty Nielson ratings is that they are still doing them the way they did in the 1960's. Based on the fact that if they follow the watching habits of one person for every X-Thousand. The only way fan reaction will help is if it shows the Nielson base is wrong. And the reason that even when it does - it short lived is that the in TV industry doesn't want Nielson to be shown as wrong. And they are always wrong, except by chance. Peoples likes and dislikes of TV shows are not something that you can take a small about of people and poll and use that percentage as the true percentage as watching. Also with Nielson they only count the shows you watch live - no take no tivo no hulu - live. So if a person who is polled is working during the time a show is on you like and tape to watch latter it will be counted as not seeing.

In the old days when a company would sponsor a show every week. Writing them if it was canceled could work wonders. If there mail shows them more people than the rating claim is watching the show they will want to keep it. (This still works wonders on local shows).

A Photo by Rick C.

Nov 3, 2008 | rating: 10 | comments: 2

Rick C. Nov 4, 2008, 9:39am EST

I love seasons - living most of my life in South Florida, the move to the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee was a big change. We've been here now over nine years and I still feel like a kid in fall, winter, and spring - the three season we didn't have in South Florida. All these pictures were taken around my house here in Tennessee.

A Photo by Rick C.

Nov 3, 2008 | rating: 10 | comments: 2

Rick C. Nov 4, 2008, 9:32am EST

So do I, that picture was taken from my back yard.

Hallowe'en: A Pagan, Christian or Secular Holiday? by Layla Morgan Wilde

Oct 29, 2006 | rating: 10 | comments: 30

Rick C. Oct 29, 2008, 7:14pm EDT

Samhain was the beginning of Winter. Anything not harvested after that time was usually bad and could cause sickness. (at that time we had Summer and Winter, Spring and Fall are fairly new seasons). Many names and many celebrations. Because of the dying of the plants, it became a time to celebrate the dead. It became a time the vale was thin and spirits could cross over. Good would be welcomed the evil not. Todays Halloween takes from a lot of these earlier holidays and festivals. The costumes, Trick r treat, Jack-o-lanterns, and many of the other events. Many looked on this day as a day between the years. The year ended with summer and the last day of the year would be Oct. 30 and the first day of the new would be Nov. 1 the beginning of winter. In our family the kids celebrate Halloween in the early part of the evening - going trick r treating and then latter that night we celebrate with a meal to honor the dead, and end up the night around a fire welcoming the good spirits to visit and join with us in the celebration.