The Off Topic Topic

[Zanza]

Sin seems a strong word, but monarchies are usually based on the Royal family being chosen by God.  It seems that it would be tough for the head of a Church to  justify abdicating a throne that was given to her by God.

If the Pope can abdicate, why not the Queen?   

[Sheilbh]

She's the Head of the Church of England.

Sure.  Is it considered sinful in the Church of England for a monarch to abdicate?

No. I don't think religion has much to do with it.

I think it's impossible to imagine her abdicating because of her sense of duty and the religious sense of being Queen by the grace of God. By all accounts her side of the family had absolutely no time for her uncle after and because of his abdication and her mother continued with public duties until she died at 101. The Queen's definitely getting Charles, William and Harry to do more of her official duties so she's got less to do, but I think it's still pretty inconceivable that she'd actually abdicate.

As I say my guess is that this is bookies getting free publicity and free money.

[Martinus]

Chinese villagers sign petition to banish HIV-positive 8 y.o. boy

http://edition.cnn.com/2014/12/18/world/asia/china-aids-boy/index.html

Oh those lovely Chinks.

[CountDeMoney]

Chinese villagers sign petition to banish HIV-positive 8 y.o. boy

http://edition.cnn.com/2014/12/18/world/asia/china-aids-boy/index.html

Oh those lovely Chinks.

Now, now Marti.  Be tolerant of other intolerant cultures.

Besides, once again the Chinese are a day late and a dollar short when it comes to mimicking American achievements.  We accomplished this in the 1980's, man.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ryan_White

[mongers]

She's the Head of the Church of England.

Sure.  Is it considered sinful in the Church of England for a monarch to abdicate?

No. I don't think religion has much to do with it.

I think it's impossible to imagine her abdicating because of her sense of duty and the religious sense of being Queen by the grace of God. By all accounts her side of the family had absolutely no time for her uncle after and because of his abdication and her mother continued with public duties until she died at 101. The Queen's definitely getting Charles, William and Harry to do more of her official duties so she's got less to do, but I think it's still pretty inconceivable that she'd actually abdicate.

As I say my guess is that this is bookies getting free publicity and free money.

I said that before you. And in a sentence, not a paragraph.   

I think it's less about religion and more to do with tradition, English kings and queens tend to die in the traces.

[Sheilbh]

My favourite Christmas advert:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yvUmQg0Nhwc

[garbon]

[Josephus]

She's the Head of the Church of England.

Sure.  Is it considered sinful in the Church of England for a monarch to abdicate?

Let me start by saying I probably know less about this than most anyone here.

Sin seems a strong word, but monarchies are usually based on the Royal family being chosen by God.  It seems that it would be tough for the head of a Church to  justify abdicating a throne that was given to her by God.

The last pope did.

[MadImmortalMan]

Do you think some of the young female celebrities send the goofy tweets they do just so they can see Nick Offerman read them on TV? I bet they do.

[Caliga]

My friend has known this (co-worker) woman for years and has always noticed something... different regarding her demeanor toward him, like how she always stands a bit too close, flits her hair and tilts her head all the time, and follows him around like a puppy dog, including to a bar tonight where she kind of really wasn't invited.

He's flattered by the attention and is intrigued that a half-Asian accountant who obviously inherited her body type from her white parent may be interested, but at the same time he's also happily married.

Ok, so I told Princesca about this so I don't need to pretend anymore (not like any of you were 'fooled').

I also asked my former co-worker who lives in Sydney (the guy who witnessed the cafe hostage thing from his office window) about this chick, if he'd had any strange interactions with her, etc. ... He told me he didn't while he worked in the office, but after he relocated to Sydney she friended him on FB and started incessantly messaging him, and in an increasingly flirtatious way.  Finally he was like "I have a gf" and after that she immediately de-friended him.

[Eddie Teach]

I don't need to pretend anymore (not like any of you were 'fooled').

It's easier to believe you have friends than that you have women hitting on you.   

[Caliga]

 

Not the first time it's happened.  This time is actually not even close to the most awkward time.

[Ideologue]

Power arbitrarily assigned by a sick, tottering society is the greatest aphrodisiac.

[Syt]

For Sheilbh:

http://www.wsj.com/articles/when-old-vienna-acquired-a-taste-for-the-modern-1418948111

When Old Vienna Acquired a Taste for the Modern

A new exhibition shows how Josef Hoffmann and Adolf Loos transformed Viennese style

WHAT MATTERS more—how a room looks on the outside or how it makes you feel on the inside? That is the question at the heart of a new design exhibition, "Ways to Modernism: Josef Hoffmann, Adolf Loos, and Their Impact" at the MAK, Vienna's museum of applied arts.

Both architects were born in 1870 in Moravia, now a region of the Czech Republic, which was then Vienna's hinterland. Hoffmann, co-founder of the Wiener Werkstätte design movement in Vienna, made his mark as an aesthete, creating luxurious buildings and objects—like the Palais Stoclet in Brussels—for a wealthy European clientele.

The Vienna show portrays Hoffmann in all his sumptuousness, and argues that he helped pave the way for decades of modern—if not exactly Modernist—decoration.

In Hoffmann's work, we can see beginnings of the fine flourish of Art Deco, the fun of Pop, and even the archness of Italy's Memphis design movement in the 1980s.

Loos—who carried more weight than Hoffmann with turn-of-the-century Viennese highbrows like composer Arnold Schoenberg —is remembered as a theoretician of Modernism. While he is known for a mere handful of Viennese interiors and buildings, he made them count. His 1911 façade-less building on Michaelerplatz, known as "Looshaus," seemed to anticipate the stern ends and stripped-down means of the Bauhaus and Brutalism.

The exhibition seeks to reveal the real Adolf Loos, who has been wrongly labeled as a forerunner of minimalism, says co-curator Christian Witt-Dörring. Rather, he applied an ethical approach to decorating. Mr. Witt-Dörring sees his spirit in today's sustainable design.

But Loos's residential interiors were eclectic, using textiles and objects from different periods to help clients figure out a relationship between their inner lives and their surroundings. When clients thanked him, says Mr. Witt-Dörring, "Loos liked to tell them, 'You did it yourselves.'"

Until April 19, 2015, traveling later to Musée d'Orsay, Paris; mak.at

The Looshaus across from the Hofburg's Michaelertor caused a scandal when it was built:

[Caliga]

Power arbitrarily assigned by a sick, tottering society is the greatest aphrodisiac.