…Oprah Winfrey said, not good bye, but “until we meet again” yesterday on the “last” episode of show, “The Oprah Winfrey Show”.

Everyone is grieving.

Yes, for millions, each afternoon will be less joyful, more trying, and maybe even more boring.

Millions will have to tune in to a new show, dial UP a new afternoon friend, or watch old movies.

But, grief?

It’s not like she died.

She just moved to her OWN network…literally, her OWN network.

In what’s an amazing American success story, the little girl born into poverty in Kosciuko, Mississippi literally took the world by storm, became an icon, had success greater than she or anyone else expected, and changed lives every where.

I have a great deal of respect for her.  I’ve watched her show, I love her interviews, and I’m impressed that she gives back as much as she does…because, she’s worth a butt-load of cash.

Unlike many stars, Oprah’s largesse and philanthropy aren’t just window dressing, they are real, and they are effective.

So, yeah, I’ll miss her once in a while when I’m home in the afternoon, but for the love of Liz, I know how to work the remote.

The show may be gone, but the ubiquitous Oprah will be just a click away.

So, wipe the tears, “man-UP’ and change the channel!

…How not to mom…

Don’t do this!

Today is Victoria Day in Canada, it’s Queen Victoria’s Birthday.  Happy Victoria Day to both of all my Canadian readers.  I could have done a post about that, but I’m going another route since I figured you all were royaltied out, so here goes…

One of the most colorful characters in politics when I was a disco hanging out in young man in my 20s was Wilbur Mills, US Congressman from Arkansas.

He kinda led the way for naughty boys everywhere.

He was a Democrat, so Larry Flynt didn’t out him, Wilbur kinda did that himself.

Wilbur was born on May 24, 1902 – so he’s dead now –  to a progressive and financially comfortable family in Kensett, Arkansas.  His daddy was a banker, school superintendant, and ran the first school system in Arkansas to be integrated.

Wilbur was smart.  He was the valedictorian of his high school class, the salutatorian of his college class at Hendrix College in Conway, Arkansas, and studied Constitutional Law at Harvard. 

He pretty much had a lot going on. 

He was judge back in Arkansas, and began a county-funded program to pay medical bills, prescription drugs, and hospital treatment for the indigent.  He was a bit ahead of his time.

He went to congress in 1939, served until 1977, and for 18 of those years was the Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee.  He was a powerful man.

He was instrumental in creation of Medicare.  He was considered the primary tax expert in the Congress.  He was a fiscal conservative and a semi-social liberal. 

He also ran for President, but then again, who hasn’t?

Although he should be remembered for all that, which ain’t all that bad, most people remember him from the “Tidal Basin” Scandal in 1974.

Ya see, Wilbur liked to drink.

And Wilbur let liquor get him in trouble.

He was married for over 40 years.

Then he met a stripper.

In a bar.

While he was drinking.

Her name was Annabelle Battistella, and she was Argentine, but the world knew her as Fanne Foxe.

Wilbur fell hard for Fanne, and he fell from power.

The Nation section of Time Magazine on Decmeber 16, 1974 said…”From the stage of Boston’s Pilgrim Theater, a seedy burlesque house in the city’s newly designated “Combat Zone” for sex films and ecdysiast exhibitions, a shapely, silken-gowned Fanne Foxe, “the Argentine Firecracker,” had a surprise for her audience. “I’d like you to meet somebody,” she said, then called to the wings: “Mr. Mills, Mr. Mills! Where are you?” Onto the stage strode Arkansas Congressman Wilbur Daigh Mills, 65, the redoubtable Democratic chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee. Placing a hand on Fanne’s shoulder, Mills began a brief exchange of quips with the audience, then received a kiss on the cheek from his favorite stripper and calmly walked offstage. With that unlikely bit of business, Mills’ distinguished 36-year legislative career came crashing down around him.”

They weren’t wrong.

Earlier that year, Mills car was stopped by US Park Police, because the driver had not turned on his lights.  Mills was intoxicated, and he had bruises on his face from a “tift” with Ms. Foxe.   When the po-po approached the car, Ms. Foxe jumped from the vehicle and dove into the Tidal Basin in a feeble attempt to escape.

It was a scandal!

And we ate it UP.

Not surprisingly these days, despite the scandal, Mills was re-elected to Congress in November 1974 in a heavily Democratic year with nearly 60% of the vote.  Back then, is re-election was a miracle.

Later on, in November of 1974, there was the theatre incident, which included an appearance on stage with Ms Foxe’s husgand and a press conference from the Stripper’s “dressing” room.  Just a thought, why do strippers need dressing rooms?  He told the press he went there to deny an affair with Fanne.

It didn’t work.

After leaving the Congress, Mills got sober.  He went to rehab, did not meet Liz Taylor, did not seek re-election in 1976, but did devote his time to counseling other alcoholics and rasising money for treatment centers.  One was eventually named for him;  the Wilbur D. Mills Treatment Center for Alcohol and Drugs, it’s in Searcy, Arkansas.

He had 15 minutes of ‘infamy’, and a great deal more than 15 minutes of fame!

Well, the big bang didn’t happen this weekend as predicted by a bunch of whackos the Religious Group We Can Know, so I guess you’re all still here.

I posted about this earlier, as in quite a while ago, you can read that by clicking here.

This kind of things drives me crazy!  I know, short trip.

Let me just say, that although it didn’t happen as predicted at 6PM Saturday, it will happen some day.  And the only One who knows is God.

At least that’s what the Bible says.  It says, in Matthew 24:36, by noneother than Jesus himself, that “…but of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.”

In Mark, He said, “But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father. ”

So, if Jesus doesn’t know, and since He’s the One coming back, no one out there can purport to know.

It’s just plain silly, and makes serious, devout, Bible believing Christians look silly.

So, please stop it, give it a rest, give it UP.

What the Bible does tell us, is that it will happen someday, and that it is imminent, and that we should live as though it could happen at any time.

Another thing the press, the We Can Know people and most others got wrong is, the “Rapture” isn’t the end of the world.  It’s the End of the Age of Grace, and it’s the beginning of the “time of sorrows”.

The Bible also says, in Matthew 24, Mark 13, and Luke 21 that “…And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. ”

Ya see, after the Rapture occurs, there are seven years of hell on earth planned…you know, everything’s really expensive, flood, famine, food shortages, people killing people…wait a minute…has it started?

No, before all that “hits the fan”, there will be a cataclysmic event that will stun the rest of the world.  Millions of people will just simply vanish.

There will be open graves too. 

The Bible says, “the dead in Christ shall rise first”…my Dad, who was probably right, said it’s because they had six feet further to go.

Luke 21:11 says, “And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven. ”

BTW, divers places, simply means, unusual places, or different places, not Connie Diver’s house in Germantown, like I used to think when I was a kid…I was always worried that the place would flood, fall from an earthquake…apparently, I had an imagination then too.

Now, all of that is happening, and has been happening for years.  So, in my opinion, there is absolutely nothing that has yet to happen for IT to happen.

And, when it does happen, most people are going to be really, really surprised.  I have a vision in my head of what it will be like…sort of…and this isn’t based on anything I’ve read, just supposition.

Let’s say you wake UP one morning and millions of people are gone.  The first thing you notice, is there is no new Redneck Latte Ravings post,  and people are going crazy.  The first place everyone will go is “Alien Abduction”.  Many believe in it now…they all wear tin foil hats, but there are seriously, quite a few.

The Bible says everyone “left behind” will believe the “big lie”. 

So, after a few days of chaos, all of whoever’s left in Washington, DC will come on the TV, introduced by the likes of Hannity, Alan Combs, Ann Coulter, Joy Behar, Carville, Matalin, Bortz and such…’cause we all KNOW they ain’t goin’…and they’ll introduce the person who’s replaced the President, since he’s probably going to be missing, and Hillary will say…”Fear not, my children, it’s alien abduction, and we have a plan in place to stop them from taking more and get the rest back.”  Meanwhile, all of this is being filmed by Michael Moore.

OK, so I’m just guessin’…but…everyone will want an explaination, and that’s as good as any, since I personally think all the Bibles are going too!

Having said that, God made it very clear that NO MAN KNOWS the hour.  You, the people at We Can Know, are making Christians everywhere cringe. 

So, stop it!

And, besides, my Mom’s still here, so I KNOW it didn’t happen yet!

But it will, so just be ready!