Bug's Bleat - - GCF: Ordering a Pizza in the Future

Volume 7, Issue 01

Hello ALL,

We celebrated a quiet New Years, highlighted by delivering meals Saturday night to some friends who haven’t been well. Then we stopped by our grandsons’ house to play board games (I hit a home run with this one) and visit with our son and favorite Daughter In Law.
Thanks to those who sent us notes and encouragement. It really rounded out the holiday for us.
~~~~~
Congratulations to all of the Albemarle employees for completing the entire year of 2004 without a recordable injury! This is a great accomplishment and to recognize it we will be serving chicken and fish from Woods' Catering to all Albemarle employees and full-time contract employees on January 19 and 20. If you are a day shift employee, you will need to eat on January 19.The meals will be served in the Maintenance Complex break room as is normally done. Serving times for the meals will be 11:15 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. both days.
Congratulations on a great year!
~~~~~
It seems to me that this century will be full of challenges. And, if we’re going to come out on top, we’ve got to trust in God and work together.

One thing I think is essential for survival is that we take care of each other.
What better way to start the New Year than to give to those less fortunate than us?
I encourage you to support those ministering to the Tsunami victims. If you have a missionary or other group you know, give to them. If you don’t have any group in mind right now, may I recommend the Red Cross?
Amazon.Com makes giving easy. They’ve put a link front and center on their
home page. - - http://www.amazon.com

Giving to the victims of December 26th's underwater earthquake and the resulting tsunami is the right thing to do. As Terry Stockdale wrote us; “I know we all are shocked at the destruction and deaths that occurred in Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Thailand, India, Somalia and additional countries from this natural disaster. As I write this message on the evening of December 29th, 81,000 people are estimated to have been killed and many more injured and made homeless. According to the UK newspaper The Herald's article, five million people were without food, shelter or fresh water last night (http://www.theherald.co.uk/news/30615.html).

The American Red Cross is responding to the disaster and needs our financial help. Amazon.com has set up a system to make it easy to make a donation. Quoting from the Amazon Associates' webpage, "One hundred percent of donations made will go to the American Red Cross disaster relief efforts."
...Please click on the "Click to Give" icon to make a donation, using Amazon's payment system, to the American Red Cross for this disaster relief.

... I've made my donation using this system.”
~~~~~
Of course, the Red Cross isn’t the only Aid group accepting donations for tsunami victims. - - http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/asiapcf/12/27/quake.aidsites/ - - Here’s a list of International aid organizations that are accepting donations to help victims of the powerful earthquake and resulting tsunamis that caused widespread destruction in parts of Asia and Africa.
~~~~~
Special Matching Gift Program for Tsunami Relief
Southeast Asia Earthquake and Tsunami
We Can Do That!

Albemarle wishes to encourage all employees to support tsunami relief by contributing to the Red Cross Southeast Asia & Tsunami Relief fund to help aid victims of this disaster. The World Health Organization continues to warn that diseases from contaminated water sources pose a major threat to the survivors of the December 26th Asian earthquake and tsunami. Because of this particular disaster's exceptional magnitude, and Albemarle's strong commitment to our value of "Good Citizenship", Albemarle is setting up a special corporate gift program.
Albemarle's corporate gift will be based on matching employee contributions until a maximum corporate contribution level of $20,000 is achieved. This program will be handled outside the corporate matching gift policy. You do not need to fill out the matching gift form ? just send evidence of your contribution (minimum amount matched is $25US) to Sandra Holub in Baton Rouge. Albemarle will match contributions made between 12/26/04 and 2/28/05.
Employees can also give to other globally recognized relief or aid agency whose funds will be used in direct support of earthquake and tsunami victims, but Albemarle recommends the American Red Cross for U.S. employees and the International Red Cross for European and Asian employees.
To keep you updated on this program, we will keep a running total of contributions given by employees on Albemarle Today. As usual Albemarle employees continue to surpass expectations with regard to continuing the supportive, giving attitude that has always been a hallmark of our company.
We thank you.

http://www.redcross.org Or by Phone in USA - Toll free number: 1-800 HELP NOW (1-800-435-7669)

http://www.americal.org/rc.htm This web site provides links to all
International Red Cross Orgs (each site has own phone number listed)
~~~~~
I just wanted to write and give you an update on the soldier from Springhill, La who was wounded in Iraq back in August, Kyle Burleson. He is now in Dallas at the Spinal Cord Unit at the VA hospital. He is doing well, and will most likely get to come home to Springhill in June. His family is working very hard to prepare him a home where he can be comfortable with his wheelchair, his ventilator and all the equipment he will need at home for 24 hour care.

He has a website and I would like to give it to you to post on the "Bleat". It is
www.adoptasoldiericare.com/kyle.htm

You can go to the website and see his story and see pictures of him and his precious family: his wife Christy, his daughter Ali and his baby son, Alex. Also on the website is the address where anyone can send him a card of encouragement. He loves to get mail, so please encourage people to send him a note letting him know they are praying for him and his family.

Your friend in Christ,
Julie Morris
~~~~~
Dear Prayer Warrior Friends,
It is with a heavy heart that I BEG you this morning to please pray for my little friend Stanton Haynes from Minden, LA. Most of you on my email list know him, because he's been in my prayers for a very long time. He has neuroblastoma, a cancer that strikes mostly children. Anyway, his mom has updated on the caring bridge website last night that his bone marrow is FULL of cancer cells. There are not many more treatment options, but they will give him heavy doses of chemo and then try for a bone marrow transplant. Please pray for mercy and grace for this family. Pray that the chemo will work and that God will find a suitable bone marrow donor for this precious little boy. You can visit him on the caring bridge website, most of you already know it but it is www.caringbridge.org/la/stanton.
Please forward this message to ALL of your personal prayer warrior friends, because I KNOW what the power of prayer can do. Please be in prayer for the Haynes family: Tina (mom), Jeff (dad), Hayden (brother who has to stay in Minden to go to school while his parents and brother are in Memphis at St Jude), grandparents from Minden LA and for the doctors and nurses who take care of Stanton each day at the wonderful St Jude. Most especially be in prayer for Stanton that his little body will take the heavy chemo and that he will continue to be his lively little bubbly self and that God will take this beast out of his body.
Thank you so much. Please remember what God says in Matthew: Whatsoever you shall ask for in prayer in my name shall be granted to you and what it says in James 5:14, "Is any of you sick: He should call the elders of the church to pray for him."
Praying heavily today,
Julie Morris
~~~~~
2004: Year in Review - - http://refdesk.com/2004best.html - - Top events, news, and photos of 2004.
~~~~~
‘05 started out with a bang when a Major Fire Forced Evacuations in El Dorado on Sunday, January 2nd.
Fire broke out Sunday morning at Teris Waste Management Center (Ensco)in El Dorado. Officials say the fire began around 8:15am from a explosion in a warehouse. Flames and plumes of black smoke could be seen throughout the city. Search and Rescue teams were called to the site. Reports are there were no injuries from the explosion. Approximately 1/6 or the city from East Main going east to Smith St north to the city limits were evacuated. Temporary shelters were set up at Immanuel Baptist and West Side Baptist.
~~~~~
Speaking of news, Thursday we tuned in on an NPR report of a deadly train wreck involving a Chlorine leak. Once again, I heard a national news organization spread ignorant disinformation.
News and documentary offerings are among m y favorite TV shows. Unfortunately, I’ve lost confidence in most news and documentary production organizations.
Over the years I’ve been involved in some incidents that garnered national headlines. Almost 100% of the time, the reporting has been inaccurate to the point of incompetence on the part of the reporters.
And, I’ve seen the same thing happen when watching documentaries on subjects that I’m familiar with.
This particular NPR reporter, Adam Hochberg stated; “... emergency responders can only work for about five minutes before the poison Chlorine gas starts to overcome them, even though they have supplemental oxygen...”
Just to set the record straight, emergency responders can only work for about five minutes because they’re probably using a level A or level B suit (hopefully Level A) and a 30 minute SCBA. The typical 30-minute SCBA will supply about 15 minutes of air to a reasonably healthy responder. So, if they change bottles on their SCBA, it probably takes about five minutes to get to the damaged car, work five minutes and then they have five minutes to get out of the hot zone before they run out of air.
Also, emergency responders don’t breath oxygen, we breath compressed air.
~~~~~
Three Arkansas soldiers supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom died Jan. 4 in Taji, Iraq, when an improvised explosive devise detonated near their military vehicle.
~~~~~
Torture ain’t moral. This week, many of the “talking heads” on TV news have been discussing the morality and legality of torturing prisoners in the war on terror.
I’m disturbed that we’re discussing this. Torture is not moral. We’re supposed to be bringing freedom and righteousness to Iraq and Afghanistan. I don’t think we can succeed by becoming like the terrorists we’re trying to defeat.
~~~~~
NASA celebrated the first anniversary of the Spirit rover's landing on Mars on Monday with a birthday candle that wouldn't go out - an apt symbol for an interplanetary mission that already has lasted four times as long as scheduled.
~~~~~
Millions of Americans are making 2005 the year to lose weight, and most of them say this time they’re going to skip diets like Atkins and Weight Watchers. A survey done for Health magazine found a whopping 65 percent of dieters plan to sue their own strategy.

For those going it alone, registered dietician Samantha Heler says one step to success is adopting a new way of eating, not just a temporary fix.

“What you want to do is make lifestyle changes you can keep forever, not just for ten days or two weeks, or a month,” Heler said.

Next, have a solid plan. Dieters fail when they make eating choices on the spot, so always know what you’re going to eat and when.

“That’s going to help you decide what to buy in the grocery store – you’re going to have it available at home, you may need to bring it to work or to school,” Heler explained.

Don’t starve yourself. Many wanna-be weight losers quit because they just get tired of being hungry. So remember – the quality of food is just as important as the quantity.

“If you’re eating healthy foods and lots of vegetables and lots of whole grains and beans and fruits, they are going to be lower in calories and the fiber is going to fill you up, and you’re not going to be as hungry,” Heler said.

Step four: set realistic goals for yourself. Many dieters quit when they don’t see the pounds falling off fast enough.

“For example, one to two pounds a week if you’re going to lose weight is reasonable,” Heler said. “It’s not reasonable if you think you are going to lose ten pounds in a week.”

Finally, stick with it. Even if you slip every now and again, don’t give up. No one said it was going to be easy. These tips can only start you on the road to success. The rest is up to you.
~~~~~
Safety From the Heart by Dale Mann
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
I used to have a couple bird dogs for hunting quail. Good dogs, but kind of fool at times if you know what I mean. I was hunting around some nice folks' house. I used to give them a few birds, etc. on a good day. One day I was hunting and missed one of my dogs and heard a bunch of chickens raising Cain. I yelled the dog’s name, Rambo!! and still didn't see him. Yelled Rambo!! again and directly he came running up and had a chicken in his mouth. Now he jumped up on me with that chicken in his mouth and you could just tell he had pride all over him. He was more or less saying, "look here, you didn't have to shoot this one, I got him for you." I slapped him beside the head and went to the people's house and paid for the chicken.

After I had paid for the chicken I loaded up Bud and Rambo in the back of the old station wagon I drove at the time, likely another safety message here, the one with the rag for a gas cap. I thought may as well try to do something with the chicken so threw it on the front seat. I was driving down the road and all of a sudden the chicken came to life, started fluttering around and I was trying to grab it.

As I was trying to grab it, the dogs came alive in the back and came to the front chasing after the chicken, back and forth they went with a barking and a fluttering of wings that would wake the dead, ran over me a few times while I was trying to stop the car, haven't seen such chaos since a hole in the wall bar at a Sioux Indian reservation in Idaho. Anyway, finally got the car stopped and hauled my behind out the door with the chicken and the dogs in close pursuit. The dogs never did catch that chicken again and they were some disappointed.

If you carry animals in your vehicle, secure them. They can come alive and cause an accident. Don't have enough time to tell the cat story, but you don't want to just throw a cat in the front seat and carry him to the vet as you would a dog. It can be painful.
~~~~~
Brother Paul Troquille shared at Men's Prayer Breakfast Tuesday. One of his comments was that he hadn't done any great deed going to Africa to be a missionary. "It's no big deal doing what God tells you to do. A big deal would be NOT doing what God tells you to do. Just ask Jonah." I never thought of it that way.
Paul really gave us a view of life in east Africa. Another thing he explained was the difference between Christians in Africa and here. Paul said; “An African pastor has less than a tenth of the material possessions of a US Pastor. An African pastor probably knows half as much scripture as a US Christian. An African pastor is probably 100 times happier than a US Christian.”
He went on to say; “African Christians have a vision for winning their continent for Christ.” “Most African Christians that I know are actively seeking ways to present the Gospel to their friends and neighbors. Are you doing the same?”
And one of his most surprising statements; “It’s easy to convert an African from Islam. All you have to do is present the Gospel. If they listen, they’ll usually respond and accept Christ as their savior.”

If you don’t attend the Tuesday morning prayer breakfast, your missing a blessing.
~~~~~
Congratulations to Brandon, Megan, and Anthony Dupont on the birth of Rece Garrett Dupont! Rece was born on December 30 at 7:06 p.m. weighing 7 lb, 8 oz, and was 20 ½" long. ~~~~~
"Rockin Romania" has been invited to the White House to participate in honoring the workers who've struggled to save Romanian Orphans. We'll keep you posted.
~~~~~
The World Championship Rotary Tiller Race, held each June at the Emerson PurpleHull Pea Festival, will be telecast twice on Jan. 20. The 2005 PurpleHull Pea Festival will be June 24 and 25, with the tiller race on Saturday, June 25.
~~~~~
Beginning this year, all Albemarle Magnolia employees will be eligible, once yearly, for lab work, at the on site medical clinics. A test panel will be done that includes kidney functions, liver functions, cholesterol, and a complete blood count. PSA (prostate specific antigen) will be included for those who are near or over 50 years old. Nancy Terry, RN, will review the results with the employee. Employees are also encouraged to follow up, if necessary, with their private physician. The tests may be done with or without fasting, but fasting is recommended. Each individual needs to schedule his or her own test during his or her birth month.
~~~~~
The Philadelphia Four

Act Now! After reading below, please contact Assistant Attorney General, R. Alexander Acosta [http://www.afa.net/clp/philly4-doj.asp], at the Civil Rights Division of the United States Department of Justice and ask him to investigate this profound abuse of power and violation of constitutional rights.

Please pray for the Philadelphia Four: Michael Marcavage, Mark Diener, James Cruse, and Dennis Green.

Eleven Christians were arrested on October 10 for praying, singing, and reading scriptures during an annual "gay pride" event known as "Outfest" in Philadelphia. Four out of the eleven were ordered on Tuesday, December 14 to stand trial because they were seen quoting scripture on a video. One, a juvenile, is still awaiting a preliminary hearing. The charges include three felony (criminal conspiracy, ethnic intimidation, and riot) and five misdemeanor charges. If convicted, they could face up to 47 years in prison! The City of Philadelphia has labeled the Bible hate speech and called Bible verses "fighting words." The Pink Angels, homosexual activists, did everything they could to obstruct, impede, and frustrate the Christians from sharing the gospel in a public forum, yet they were not arrested, cited, or even warned.

This is the clearest example of anti-Christian bigotry by city officials in the last century!
http://www.afa.net/clp/philly4.asp
~~~~~
WOW!!! check this out...

http://www.blueletterbible.org/kjv/Isa/Isa011.html

click on the blue letters beside each verse to link to in-depth study tools.
Incredible...
Thanks to Joe Tudor
~~~~~
Don't forget ... "Da Bleat" is now on the web. Just go to http://bugsbleat.blogspot.com
~~~~~
Feel free to share the "Bleat" with any and all. That's why we publish it.
~~~~~
www.aaa.com Regular Mid Premium Diesel
Current Avg. $1.76 $1.87 $1.94 $2.02
http://www.fuelgaugereport.com/
~~~~~
Recipe of the week; Mexican Chicken Soup - - From Food Network Kitchens
Difficulty: Easy

Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 35 minutes
Yield: 4 servings
User Rating: 5 Stars


If you can't find posole, which is also called hominy, feel free to substitute frozen corn kernels.


2 tablespoons canola oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1 medium rib celery, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
6 cups chicken broth, low-sodium canned
1/4 cup canned green chiles
1 (15 ½-ounce) can posole, drained or frozen corn kernels
4 canned whole peeled tomatoes, roughly chopped
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 cup cooked skinless shredded chicken breast (about 4 ounces)
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves
Juice of 1 lime
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper


Heat the oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion, celery, garlic, chili powder, and cumin, and cook until the onion softens, about 5 minutes. Add the chicken broth, bring to a boil, reduce the heat slightly, and simmer, uncovered, for 10 minutes. Add the green chiles, posole, tomatoes, and oregano and cook for another 5 minutes.

Pull the saucepan from the heat and stir in the chicken, cilantro leaves, and lime juice. Season, to taste, with salt and pepper. Serve hot.

Copyright 2004 Television Food Network, G.P. All rights reserved.

Nutritional Analysis per 2-cup serving Calories 250 Fat 11 grams Saturated Fat 1 gram
Carbohydrates 25 grams Fiber 5 grams Protein 16
http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,1977,FOOD-9936-29119,00.html
http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/
~~~~~
BREAKPOINT Commentaries
by Chuck Colson. - Prison Fellowship

The First Freedom
Religious Freedom Day
January 7, 2005

Each year, the president declares January 16 to be “Religious Freedom Day” and calls upon all Americans to “observe this day through appropriate events and activities in homes, schools, and places of worship.”

That date is the anniversary of the passage of the Virginia Statute on Religious Freedom in 1786. Thomas Jefferson drafted the legislation and considered it one of his greatest achievements. It stopped the practice of taxing people to pay for the support of the local clergy. But it did more than that.

Jefferson’s statute reflects a strong biblical worldview, asserting that, while God is Lord of both our bodies and our minds, He chose not to coerce us in our faith.

The statute further declared that no one should suffer on account of his religious beliefs, nor should a person’s beliefs affect his civil rights.

However, Eric Buehrer of Gateways to Better Education—a ministry to Christian parents and teachers in the public schools—writes that, in too many instances today, the civil rights of Christian students in public schools are suffering on account of their desire to express their religious beliefs.

Buehrer points out that even first graders get the message that their faith isn’t welcome at school, and many public school teachers don’t understand the religious freedom students do have. Consequently, Christian students are often told they cannot include their faith in their homework assignments or classroom discussions.

For example, Wendy Kinnear, a mom in Southern California , was shocked last year when her seven-year-old daughter, Lauren, told her one day that, “of course,” she can’t pray at school. Now, we’re not talking here about organized school prayer—just an individual choosing to pray.

Wendy determined to do something about it. She met with the local school district’s assistant superintendent and later addressed the school board. Due to her efforts, district officials have now encouraged all their schools—26,000 students—to recognize Religious Freedom Day.

Children’s religious liberties are clear. The U.S. Department of Education has issued guidelines that clearly explain that students in our public schools have the right to express their faith in their assignments. They can witness to their classmates. They can read their Bibles at school and pray. But many students and their teachers feel as though their classrooms are supposed to be religion-free zones.

You can promote greater religious freedom in your public schools this year by telling others about Religious Freedom Day. Since January 16 falls on a Sunday, I recommend you ask teachers and school officials to act on the president’s request and conduct appropriate commemorative exercises on Friday, January 14.

Gateways to Better Education has prepared a fact sheet explaining Religious Freedom Day and suggesting a number of ways public schools can celebrate it. It includes a summary of students’ religious liberties and is available by calling us here at BreakPoint (1-877-322-5527). Make copies and distribute this one-page document to families in your church.

Religious Freedom Day is a reminder that we don’t have to leave our faith at the door of the school, the office, or the public square.

For further reading and information:

Today’s BreakPoint offer: Two great fact sheets from Gateways to Better Education are “ Commemorating Religious Freedom Day (January 16) ,” which provides ideas to schools on how to observe this day, and “ Free to Speak ,” a useful handout to students explaining what their religious freedoms are, according to the U.S. Department of Education.

Tell Gateways to Better Education<< /> what your school did to commemorate Religious Freedom Day 2005.

Read President Bush’s proclamation on Religious Freedom Day 2004.

Read the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom.

Read the U.S. Department of Education’s Guidelines on Religious Expression in Public Schools.

Eric Buehrer, “Keep the Faith,” BreakPoint Online, 2001.

See FIRE’s (Foundation for Individual Rights in Education) Guide to Religious Liberty on Campus for college students.

BreakPoint Commentary No. 041230, “‘Exit Jesus’: God in the Public Square.”

BreakPoint Commentary No. 041208, “Expelling the Founders: God and History in California.”

BreakPoint Commentary No. 030710, “Wall of Separation: Text and Context.”
Copyright 2005 Prison Fellowship Ministries. Reprinted with permission. "BREAKPOINT with Chuck Colson" is a radio ministry of Prison Fellowship Ministries. Prison Fellowship Ministries may withdraw or modify this grant of permission at any time. To receive "BREAKPOINT" commentaries daily, you can subscribe for free at http://www. breakpoint. org/.
~~~~~
Words of the Week:
transmute: to change from one nature, form, substance, or state into another.
galumph: to move in a clumsy manner or with a heavy tread.
rejoinder: an answer to a reply.
distrait: divided or withdrawn in attention, especially because of anxiety.
vituperation: abusive language.
lubricious: lewd; also, slippery or smooth.
oblation: an offering.
from Dictionary.Com
~~~~~
"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed people can change the world; indeed, it is the only thing that ever has." - - Margaret Mead

"I do not believe that sheer suffering teaches. If suffering alone taught, all the world would be wise. To suffering must be added mourning, understanding, patience, love, openness and the willingness to remain vulnerable." - Anne Morrow Lindbergh

"Through our great good fortune, in our youth our hearts were touched with fire. It was given to us to learn at the outset that life is a profound and passionate thing." - Oliver Wendell Holmes

"We spend January 1 walking through our lives, room by room, drawing up a list of work to be done, cracks to be patched. Maybe this year, to balance the list, we ought to walk through the rooms of our lives ... not looking for flaws, but for potential." - Ellen Goodman

"The measure of success is not whether you have a tough problem to deal with, but whether or not it is the same problem you had last year." - John Foster Dulles

"Yes, I am the nation, and these are the things that I am. I was conceived in freedom and, God willing, in freedom I will spend the rest of my days. / May I possess always the integrity, the courage and the strength to keep myself unshackled, to remain a citadel of freedom and a beacon of hope to the world." - Otto Whittaker

"In Words, as Fashions, the same Rule will hold;
Alike Fantastick, if too New, or Old;
Be not the first by whom the New are try'd,
Nor yet the last to lay the Old aside." - Alexander Pope

"Time has no divisions to mark its passage, there is never a thunderstorm or blare of trumpets to announce the beginning of a new month or year. Even when a new century begins it is only we mortals who ring bells and fire off pistols." - Thomas Mann
~~~~~
FLASH CARD "I saw also that there was an ocean of darkness and death, but an infinite ocean of light and love, which flowed over the ocean of darkness." (George Fox)
*****
FLASH CARD "Slang is a language that rolls up its sleeves, spits on its hands and goes to work." (Carl Sandburg)
*****
FLASH CARD "I make big mistakes. Like I've said, I was wrong 80 percent of the time. But there was that 20 percent..." (Artie Shaw)
*****
FLASH CARD "I do not take a single newspaper, nor read one a month, and I feel myself infinitely the happier for it." (Thomas Jefferson)
*****
FLASH CARD "Besides the first degree of eminence in science, a professor with us must be of sober and correct morals and habits, having the talent of communicating his knowledge with facility, and of an accommodating and peaceable temper. The latter is all important for the harmony of the institution." (Thomas Jefferson)

><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><>
GCF: Ordering a Pizza in the Future

Emailed to me by a friend (Thanks, Howard) -Tom

If this was forwarded to you, please consider your own subscription to Good Clean Fun. It's free! A smile will enhance the quality of your life. Just send an email to: good-clean-fun-subscribe@yahoogroups.com or visit the Good Clean Fun web site http://www.slonet.org/~tellswor/ UNSUBSCRIBE INFO for Good Clean Fun is at the end of this email.
This email was scanned by Norton AntiVirus 2004 before it was sent.
---------------------------------

Operator: Thank you for calling Pizza Delivery. May I have your National ID number?

Customer: Hi, I'd like to place an order.

Operator: I must have your NIDN first, sir.

Customer: My National ID Number, yeah, hold on, eh, it's 6102049998-45-54610.

Operator: Thank you Mr. Sheehan. I see you live at 1742 Meadowland Drive, and the phone number is 494-2366. Your office number over at Lincoln Insurance is 745-2302 and your cell number is 266-2566. Email address is sheehan@home.net. Which number are you calling from, sir?

Customer: Huh? I'm at home. Where'd you get all this information?

Operator: We're wired into the HSS, sir.

Customer: The HSS, what is that?

Operator: We're wired into the Homeland Security System, sir. This will add only 15 seconds to your ordering time.

Customer: (sighs) Oh well, I'd like to order a couple of your All-Meat Special pizzas.

Operator: I don't think that's a good idea, sir.

Customer: Whaddya mean?

Operator: Sir, your medical records and commode sensors indicate that you've got very high blood pressure and extremely high cholesterol. Your National Health Care provider won't allow such an unhealthy choice.

Customer: What?!?! What do you recommend, then?

Operator: You might try our low-fat Soybean Pizza. I'm sure you'll! like it.

Customer: What makes you think I'd like something like that?

Operator: Well, you checked out 'Gourmet Soybean Recipes' from your local library last week, sir. That's why I made the suggestion.

Customer: All right, all right. Give me two family-sized ones then.

Operator: That should be plenty for you, your wife and your four kids. Your 2 dogs can finish the crusts, sir. Your total is $49.99.

Customer: Lemme give you my credit card number.

Operator: I'm sorry sir, but I'm afraid you'll have to pay in cash. Your credit card balance is over its limit.

Customer: I'll run over to the ATM and get some cash before your driver gets here.

Operator: That won't work either, sir. Your checking account is overdrawn also.

Customer: Never mind! Just send the pizzas. I'll have the cash ready. How long will it take?

Operator: We're running a little behind, sir. It'll be about 45 minutes, sir. If you're in a hurry you might want to pick'em up while you're out getting the cash, but then, carrying pizzas on a motorcycle can be a little awkward.
Customer: Wait! How do you know I ride a scooter?

Operator: It says here you're in arrears on your car payments, so your car was reposessed. But your Harley's paid for and you just filled the tank yesterday.

Customer: Well, I'll be a #%#^^&$%^$@#

Operator: I'd advise watching your language, sir. You've already got a July 4, 2003 conviction for swearing at a cop and another one I see here in September for contempt at your hearing for swearing at a judge Oh yes, I see here that you recently got out from a 90 day stay in the State Correctional Facility. Is this your first pizza since your return to society?

Customer: (speechless)

Operator: Will there be anything else, sir?

Customer: Yes, I have a coupon for a free 2 liter of Coke.

Operator: I'm sorry sir, but our ad's exclusionary clause prevents us from offering free soda to diabetics. The New Constitution prohibits this. Thank you for calling Pizza Delivery.
- -------------------- -

GCF: Eye Exam

Emailed to me from another humor list (The Funnies) -Tom To subscribe to The Funnies, send a blank email to: andychaps-the-funnies-subscribe@egroups.com
-------------------------------------

I believe my daughter wants a pair of glasses. I don't know why she does. Perhaps glasses are now "cool" to have in school? But though she sees just fine, she still says she needs glasses.

I took her to the eye doctor just to check it out though. She was asked to read the bottom row of letters on the eye chart.

She said, "All right, I can see the 'O' and the 'P' and the 'T,' but not the 'N' and the 'Z.'"
- ------------------ -

GCF: Chocolate is a Vegetable

Emailed to me by friends (Thanks, Randy & Theresa) -Tom
---------------------------------

Chocolate is derived from cacao beans. Bean = vegetable. Sugar is derived from either sugar CANE or sugar BEETS. Both are plants, which places them in the vegetable category. Thus, chocolate is a vegetable.
To go one step further, chocolate candy bars also contain milk, which is dairy. So candy bars are a health food.

Chocolate-covered raisins, cherries, orange slices and strawberries all count as fruit, so eat as many as you want.

If you've got melted chocolate all over your hands, you're eating it too slowly.

The problem: How to get 2 pounds of chocolate home from the store in a hot car. The solution: Eat it in the parking lot.

Diet tip: Eat a chocolate bar before each meal. It'll take the edge off your appetite, and you'll eat less.

If calories are an issue, store your chocolate on top of the fridge. Calories are afraid of heights, and they will jump out of the chocolate to protect themselves. (We're testing this with other snack foods as well.)

If I eat equal amounts of dark chocolate and white chocolate, is that a balanced diet? Don't they actually counteract each other?

Chocolate has many preservatives. Preservatives make you look younger. Therefore, you need to eat more chocolate.

Put "eat chocolate" at the top of your list of things to do today. That way, at least you'll get one thing done.

A nice box of chocolates can provide your total daily intake of calories in one place. Now, isn't that handy?

If you can't eat all your chocolate, it will keep in the freezer. But if you can't eat all your chocolate, what's wrong with you?

If not for chocolate, there would be no need for control top pantyhose. An entire garment industry would be devastated. You can't let that happen, can you?

Remember - - - "STRESSED" spelled backward is "DESSERTS"

Send this to four people and you will lose 2 pounds.
Send this to everyone you know (or ever knew), and you will lose 10 pounds. If you delete this message, you will gain 10 pounds immediately. That's why I had to pass this on - - - - - I didn't want to risk it.
- ------------------ -

GCF: Report Card
Emailed to me from another humor list (The Funnies) -Tom To subscribe to The Funnies, send a blank email to: andychaps-the-funnies-subscribe@egroups.com
---------------------------------

Eight-year-old Sally brought her report card home from school. Her marks were good ... mostly A's and a couple of B's. However, her teacher had written across the bottom:

"Sally is a smart little girl, but she has one fault. She talks too much in school. I have an idea I am going to try, which I think may break her of the habit."

Sally's dad signed her report card, putting a note on the back:

"Please let me know if your idea works on Sally because I would like to try it out on her mother."
- ----------------- -

GCF: New Year's Dinner

Emailed to me another humor list (Good Clean Funnies List) -Tom To subscribe The Good Clean Funnies List, (not to be confused with this list, which is Good Clean Fun) send an email to: gcfl-request@gcfl.net with subject = add
---------------------------------

As in many homes on New Year's Day, my wife and I faced the annual conflict of which was more important - the football games on television, or the dinner itself. To keep peace, I ate dinner with the rest of the family, and even lingered for some pleasant after-dinner conversation before retiring to the family room to turn on the game.

Several minutes later, my wife came downstairs and graciously even bought a cold drink for me. She smiled, kissed me on the cheek and asked what the score was. I told her it was the end of the third quarter and that the score was still nothing to nothing.

"See?" she said, continuing to smile, "You didn't miss a thing."
- ------------------ -
\\\\ \-/ / "I know that you believe that \ \-/ ////
\ / you understood what you think \ /
\ -/ I said, but I am not sure you \- /
/ / realize that what you heard \ is not what I meant."
\\\\ \-/ / \ \-/ ////
\ / The most destructive force \ /
\ -/ in the universe is gossip. \- /
/ / \ \\\\ \-/ / \ \-/ ////
\ / On anniversaries, the wise \ /
\ -/ husband always forgets the past \- /
/ / ... but never the present. \ (((\ \>|-/ )-----------------------------( \-||-/ )-----------------------------( \-||-/ )---------------------( \-|<> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><>
[GCFL.net] Who Does What

A man and his wife were having an argument about who should brew the coffee each morning. The wife says, "You should do it, because you get up first, and then we don't have to wait as long to get our coffee."

The husband says, "You are in charge of cooking around here and you should do it, because that is your job, and I can just wait for my coffee."

Wife replies, "No, you should do it, and besides, it is in the Bible that the man should do the coffee."

Husband replies, "I can't believe that, show me." So she fetched the Bible, and opened the New Testament and showed him at the top of several pages, that it indeed says "Hebrews" (He Brews).

Received from Donald T Ford
-=+=-
[GCFL.net] Moving Furniture

My mother's co-workers sympathized as my she complained that her back was really sore from moving furniture.

"Why didn't you wait till your husband got home?" someone asked her.

"I could have," my mother told the group, "but the couch is easier to move if he's not on it."

Received from FranCMT2.
-=+=-
[GCFL.net] Self Defense

While attending college, I worked evenings at a retail store. On slow nights my co-worker Susan would often sing along with the radio while we did paperwork or restocked merchandise.

One evening as the manager was leaving I expressed my concern to him about our safety, being two women working alone at night.

"Oh, you'll be fine," he said, waving of his hand. "If you see anybody who looks suspicious, just warn him that Susan knows karaoke."

Received from FranCMT2.
-=+=-
[GCFL.net] Subliminal Advertising: Does it work?

Q. Does subliminal advertising work?

A. That's an interesting question.
(Send GCFL a donation.)

The American public was first introduced to the idea of subliminal advertising in 1957 by James M. Vicary. In a press conference announcing the formation of the Subliminal Projection Company, Vicary claimed that he was able to increase sales of popcorn and Coke through the use of subliminal advertising. (You NEED to send GCFL a donation.)

According to Vicary, during a six-week test in a movie theater, he was able to drive up sales of popcorn by 57.5% and sales of Coke by 18.1% simply by flashing the slogans "drink Coke" and "eat popcorn" over the movie for 1/3,000th of a second every five seconds. (GCFL is such a great, free service. I bet they would appreciate a donation...)

As plausible as his assertions might have been, there was little evidence to support them. (Send us a donation.) For one thing, Vicary refused to reveal where he conducted his experiment or document it in any meaningful way. What's more, psychologists who performed similar experiments concluded that a subliminal ad was no more compelling than a billboard glimpsed from the corner of the eye.
(You'll never miss a dollar and you will feel so generous!)

In an effort to vindicate his claim, Vicary agreed to run the subliminal message "telephone now" during a Canadian broadcast. Like other documented cases, the experiment failed. Telephone usage didn't increase noticeably, and not a single viewer guessed Vicary's message. (Your wallet seems a little too bulky. Maybe you should reduce it's size... Send GCFL a donation.)

While neither this experiment nor previous experiments disproved conclusively the effectiveness of subliminal ads, American broadcasters were so convinced of the ineffectiveness of subliminal messages that they simply volunteered not to run them.
(You have an uncontrollable urge to send GCFL a donation.)

BTW, If you're still unconvinced and would like to see more research on the subject, you'll be happy to know that we're running our own little subliminal experiment. We can't tell you about it now, but in the coming weeks we'll reveal our findings.

(Source: THE STRAIGHT DOPE Column by Cecil Adams)

By the way, if you ever need to reach us--for any reason--our mailing address is:

GCFL
Box 100
Harvest, AL 35749
USA

This mailing address would be the one to use if, for example, you wanted to send a dollar or two as a donation to GCFL, or a check (written to "GCFL"), in theory, of course.

It just so happens that we also have a Paypal account (http://www.paypal.com) using the email address gcfl@gcfl.net, just in case. :)

We will send more information about our little experiment in the coming days!

Received from Shirley (with editing by GCFL).
-=+=-
[GCFL.net] Business Trip

Although he had packed his bag for a business trip the night before, my husband planned to come home from the office before leaving. That afternoon he called to say the meeting had been canceled and on the spur of the moment we decided to spend a romantic, child-free night in a hotel.

I quickly repacked his suitcase, replacing his belongings with two wine glasses, candlesticks and candles and some bubble bath. Then I dashed out to buy a bottle of wine. When I returned, the bag was gone. A note on the kitchen table read: "Sorry, hon, the business trip's on after all. I'll call you when I get there."

Received from Marty's Joke of the Day.
-=+=-
Brought to you by GCFL.net: The Good, Clean Funnies List "A cheerful heart is good medicine!" (Prov 17:22a) Go to http://gcfl.net/mlfrontend.php to change your subscription options or unsubscribe. To email this funny to a friend, go to http://gcfl.net/emailit.php?funny=20050107 The latest GCFL funny can always be found on the web at http://gcfl.net/latest.php
><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><>
Crosswalk - You Make Me Laugh: The Ten Most Common Forms of Office Illness

1. The Macy's One Day Sale Flu.

2. The Drivers License Renewal Appointment 24-Hour Virus.

3. The Friday-Afternoon-Start-The-Weekend-Early Sudden Unbearable Stomach Pains.

4. The I'm Looking for a New Job and I Don't Know How Long It's Going to Take, but I Want To Stay On The Payroll Until Then Mysterious Infection.

5. The My Boyfriend's Got the Week Off So Suddenly I'm Too Contagious To Come In To The Office Disease.

6. The I Need a Hair Cut and My Stylist Doesn't Make Evening Appointments Bout of Influenza.

7. The There's No Federal Holidays for Two Months and I Want a Day Off Sickness.

8. The It's Spring Break and I Want To Pretend I'm a Teenager Again General Ailment.

9. The I've Messed Up Royally and I Won't Come In To Face the Music Terminal Illness.

10. The I Really Am Sick and I've Got The Doctor's Bills and the Completed Medical Expense Reimbursement Forms to Prove It Infirmity.

*Thanks to Pastor Tim for this joke!*
http://www.cybersalt.org/cleanlaugh

Absent Minded Professor

One of the world's greatest scientists was also recognized as the original absent-minded professor.

One day, on board a train, he was unable to find his ticket. The conductor said, "Take it easy. You'll find it."

When the conductor returned, the professor still couldn't find the ticket. The conductor, recognizing the famous scientist, said, "I'm sure you bought a ticket. Forget about it."

"You're very kind," the professor said, "but I must find it, otherwise I won't know where to get off."

*Thanks to Pastor Tim for this joke!*
http://www.cybersalt.org/cleanlaugh

Movie Breakout

A fellow took his girlfriend to the movies.

During the previews, she asked him if he would go and buy her some M & Ms.

When he returned with her candy, she opened the bag, picked out all the brown ones and threw them away.

"What did you do that for?" he asked her.

"I'm allergic to chocolate!" she replied.

*Thanks to Pastor Tim for this joke!*
http://www.cybersalt.org/cleanlaugh

Hard to Pronounce

As a Dominican sister, I lived in a convent named for a deceased pope.

One day while I was wearing contemporary clothes instead of my habit, I drove into a gas station to get the communal car filled up.

After the young attendant topped off the tank, he walked toward my car window to return my credit card. It was clear from his furrowed brow that he had something on his mind.

The young man looked at me shyly and pointed to the convent's name, John XXIII Hall, imprinted on the card.

"Pardon me," he asked hesitantly, "but how do you pronounce your husband's middle name?"

*Thanks to Pastor Tim for this joke!*
http://www.cybersalt.org/cleanlaugh

CIA Note

A college graduate applied for a job at the Central Intelligence Agency.

Together with several other applicants, he was given a sealed envelope and told to take it to the fourth floor.


As soon as the young man was alone, he stepped into an empty hallway and opened the packet.

Inside, a message read:

"You're our kind of person. Report to the fifth floor."

*Thanks to Pastor Tim for this joke!*
http://www.cybersalt.org/cleanlaugh

*Eye Laugh*

"Red Sea Prank"
http://www.cybersalt.org/go.php?id=cw568

"Dirty Laundry"
http://www.cybersalt.org/go.php?id=cw590

"Stratic Cling"
http://www.cybersalt.org/go.php?id=cw591

"Sign Apathy"
http://www.cybersalt.org/go.php?id=cw592

"Diversified"
http://www.cybersalt.org/go.php?id=cw593

Daily devotionals are available at http://link.Crosswalk.Com/UM/T.asp?A1. 39. 17757. 1. 494611 You can access more information on Crosswalk's Fun page http://www.Crosswalk.Com/fun/! Crosswalk gives credit to the author of a joke when author is known. Feel free to send notification to admin@cybersalt.org in cases where credit has not been given to the author! -SUBSCRIPTION INFO- * Copyright2004 Crosswalk.Com, Inc. and its Content Providers. All rights reserved. Introducing www.Crossguide.Com Where Christians find Products, Services & Ministries.
><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><>
"Don't strive for recognition, but work for achievement." -- Vanessa Malone
><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><>
Madeleine Begun Kane Latest Columns - - http://www.madkane.com/notable01-05a.html#01-02-05 - - There Once Was A Year Named '04 It's time to review the horror referred to in polite company as 2004. But first, a limerick...
Madeleine Begun Kane, Humor Columnist
http://www.madkane.com
http://www.madkane.com/notable.html (Notables Weblog)
http://www.madkane.com/bush.html (Dubya's Dayly Diary)
Subscribe to MadKane Humor Newsletter (weekly) here:
http://www.madkane.com/email.html
><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><>
Scripps Institution of Oceanography - - http://scripps.ucsd.edu/
- - Scripps Institution of Oceanography is one of the oldest, largest, and most important centers for marine science research, graduate training, and public service in the world. Scripps has occupied 170 acres in La Jolla, California, since 1910, after initially being housed at the Hotel del Coronado (1903-04), then in a small laboratory building near La Jolla Cove (1905-09).
><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><>
"Mars shows signs of geologically recent volcanic activity, and scientists find to their surprise that there might well be another volcanic blast in the Red Planet's future. 'We would be very lucky to see it, but it would be a massive event,' says Gerhard Neukum of Berlin's Free University, lead author of the study in the journal Nature. Images taken by the European Space Agency's Mars Express orbiter suggest there have been lava flows from intense volcanic activity within the past 2 million years. To geologists, that's yesterday, Neukum says. Although Mars is littered with volcanoes, most notably Olympus Mons, the largest volcano in the solar system, geologists generally regard them today as duds. But Neukum's team reports that the new images indicate some volcanoes are merely dormant, not dead."
><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><>
Smithsonian Education - - http://www.smithsonianeducation.org/ - - This site offers educational content for students, families, and educators. Find teaching materials, links to hundreds of online resources, and access to the world's largest museum complex: The Smithsonian Institution.
><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><>
"Massachusetts was the only state in the nation to lose residents in 2004, U.S. Census data shows. The state lost an estimated 3,852 people, or about 1.1 percent, in the last year, despite continuing growth in immigration to the Bay State, the Boston Sunday Globe reported. Paul E. Harrington, an economist at Northeastern University's Center for Labor Market Studies, attributed the fall to a stagnant job market. He said the decline could be an ominous sign for the state. 'Population loss is a pretty fundamental number,' he said. Offsetting the trend is a boost in foreign immigrants, Harrington said, who are counted by the Census but often don't show up in job or unemployment data. That suggests that these workers are being paid under the table, which could create 'long-term economic growth problem,' he said."
><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><>
Operation Dear Abby: Messages from Home - - http://anyservicemember.navy.mil/ - - Send a special message to our men and women in the military defending American freedom worldwide. In 1967, Sgt. Billy Thompson wrote Abigail Van Buren asking for a Christmas present for our servicemembers -- "Just a letter from home," American citizens have been sending their best wishes to the troops every holiday season. "Operation Dear Abby," has brought joy to hundreds of thousands of U.S. military personnel deployed away from home around the world. Concerns about regular mail delivery have prompted the military to suspend the letter-writing campaign. However, Dear Abby, the U.S. Department of Defense, and the U.S. Department of the Navy's LifeLines2000 Services Network in association with SPAWAR SCC is providing this private and secure online resource that will allow you to send a Sailor, Marine, Soldier, Airman, or Coast Guardsman a holiday greeting or message of support.
><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><>
"The United States is in a league of its own when it comes to sending junk mail to e-mail users. Researchers at security software company Sophos found that 42 percent of all spam sent this year came from the United States, based on a scan by its researchers of a global network of honey pots - computers designed to attract spam e-mails and viruses. Sophos said this is evidence that America's antispam legislation simply isn't working. 'When we released the first report back in February, the U.S. had the excuse that the Can-Spam Act had been in existence for only three months,' said Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant for Sophos."
><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><>
Insects on the Web - - http://www.insects.org/ - - This site aims to help you really see insects for the miniature marvels they represent and to understand how intertwined our cultures have become with these alien creatures. New content includes an expanding the links section, adding another issue of Cultural Entomology Digest and adding more educational modules to the Class Insecta section.
><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><>
"America Online said on December 27, 2004, that it has seen a substantial decline in unsolicited e-mails this year, though some anti-spam experts said the company may be the only Internet provider experiencing such a drop-off. The average number of so-called spam e-mails that AOL blocked daily dropped from a peak of 2.4 billion in 2003 to 1.2 billion late this year, the Dulles-based company said. AOL also said the company received 2.2 million spam complaints from its subscribers in November, down from 11 million for the same month a year ago. To register spam complaints, AOL subscribers must click a 'report spam' button on their screen rather than simply deleting the offending e-mail."
><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><>
National Weather Service - - http://www.noaa.gov/ - - The National Weather Service is the primary source of weather data, forecasts and warnings for the United States. Television weathercasters and private meteorology companies prepare their forecasts using this information. The NWS is the sole United States official voice for issuing warnings during life-threatening weather situations.
><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><>
"Ten to 20 million people in the United States have kidney disease but most don't know it, according to researchers at the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases at the National Institutes of Health, the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, and the National Center for Health Statistics at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The findings are in the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology. Over the past decade the number of people with kidney failure doubled and the number starting dialysis or having a first kidney transplant increased by 50 percent, so that more than 400,000 Americans are now being treated for kidney failure at a cost of $25 billion annually. In contrast to these dramatic increases, the study also found that the number of people with earlier stages of kidney disease remained stable. About 7.4 million people have less than half the kidney function of a healthy young adult. Another 11.3 million have at least half of what's considered normal function, but they also have persistent protein in their urine, a sign of kidney disease. The researchers can't explain the paradox between stable prevalence of kidney disease and rising incidence of kidney failure, but they suggest that fewer patients may be dying and more may be progressing faster to dialysis."
><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><>
"Big cities were less deadly places to live in 2004 as murder rates declined in several urban areas, including New York, Chicago and Washington, D.C., according to a survey by The Associated Press. Officials in New York and Chicago credit the drop to crime-fighting strategies that included putting more officers on the street and beefing up patrols dangerous neighborhoods. 'We really targeted gangs, drugs and guns,' Chicago police spokesman Pat Camden said. 'Technology enabled us to take our gang tactical units and put them in places where we anticipated violence, areas where narcotics trafficking was bold and blatant.' There were 445 homicides in Chicago as of Thursday, compared to 600 in all of 2003, police said. That is a decrease of about 25 percent, and would mark the first year since 1965 the city finished with fewer than 500 murders. The high mark was in 1992, when there were 940."
><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><>
Yahoo Image Search - - http://images.search.yahoo.com/info/image-whatsnew.html - - New and improved Image Search resource from Yahoo. Provides latest celebrity and news images, photos, illustrations, and more. Site allows search by format, coloration, and size, including wallpaper-sized images. The database contains more than 630 million images.
><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><>
Our Church, Magnolia Christian Center, has the following mission statement. Our purpose is to build a great church for the glory of God through the great commission and the great commandment. MCC' Vision - That MCC will be a place hopping with children, energized with teenagers, balanced with diversity and transformed by the power of God! We want to turn uninterested people into interested people and win the lost to make fully devoted followers of Christ.
><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><>
Learn To Recognize A Stroke

* Sudden numbness or weakness of the face, arm or leg, especially on one side of the body
* Sudden confusion, trouble speaking or understanding
* Sudden trouble seeing in one or both eyes
* Sudden trouble walking, dizziness, loss of balance or coordination
* Sudden, severe headache with no known cause

Call 9-1-1 immediately if you experience symptoms! Time lost is brain lost!

Doctors say a bystander can recognize a stroke by asking three simple questions:

*Ask the individual to smile.
*Ask him or her to raise both arms.
*Ask the person to speak a simple sentence.

If he or she has trouble with any of these tasks, call 9-1-1 immediately and describe the symptoms to the dispatcher
><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><>
Two companies aren’t getting it. They need to hear from you!

Will you help me send a very loud and clear message to two companies? Would you spend a few minutes to let these two companies know that their advertising practices are an attack to common decency?

Will you stand in the gap for your family?

Burlington Coat Factory and the Dentyne gum people aren’t listening. They have disregarded literally thousands of emails. They need to hear your voice to understand!

Burlington Coat Factory insists on keeping up their financial support of ABC’s Desperate Housewives and Life As We Know It. Week after week, they push their advertising behind adult/child sexual scenes on television. And they show no sign of letting up!

And, the makers of Dentyne gum keep hurling their sexcapaded ad in our faces. Cadbury Adams, USA, too, is ignoring emails.

Will you personally contact these companies by making a short phone call to them?

1. Ask Burlington Coat Factory to drop its sponsorship of ABC’s Desperate Housewives and Life As We Know It.

2. Ask Cadbury to pull its offensive Dentyne Fire gum commercial from the airwaves.

Burlington Coat Factory – Toll-free: 888-223-2628
Monroe G. Milstein – Chairman, President, and CEO
1830 Rte. 130
Burlington, NJ 08016
Phone: 609-387-7800
Fax: 609-387-7071

Cadbury Adams USA LLC (Dentyne Fire) Toll Free: 877-492-3267
Matt Shattock - President and CEO
400 Interpace Pkwy.
Parsippany, NJ 07054
Phone: 973-909-2000
Fax: 973-909-3051

Thank you in advance for taking time to call these companies. We’re making a difference by standing together!

Sincerely,

Donald E. Wildmon, Chairman
OneMillionDads.com
><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><>
PENNSYLVANIA CHRISTIANS FACE 47 YEARS IN PRISON FOR READING THE BIBLE IN PUBLIC
Philadelphia charges Christians with hate crimes, inciting a riot, and using a deadly weapon.

Bill O'Reilly reported on the situation on Fox News Channel.

What we have been saying has now happened. You cannot quote what the Bible has to say about homosexuality in public or you will be charged with a "hate crime." Philadelphia is only the beginning. If we fail to take a stand here, this "crime" will soon be applied across America.

In the 27 years of this ministry, I have never witnessed a more outrageous miscarriage of justice than what is happening in Philadelphia. Four Christians are facing up to 47-years in prison and $90,000 in fines for preaching the Gospel on a public sidewalk, a right fully protected by the First Amendment.

On October 10, 2004, the four Christians were arrested in Philadelphia. They are part of Repent America. Along with founder Michael Marcavage, members of Repent America—with police approval--were preaching near Outfest, a homosexual event, handing out Gospel literature and carrying banners with Biblical messages.

When they tried to speak, they were surrounded by a group of radical homosexual activists dubbed the Pink Angels. A videotape of the incident shows the Pink Angels interfering with the Christians’ movement on the street, holding up large pink symbols of angels to cover up the Christians’ messages and blowing high pitched whistles to drown out their preaching.

Rather than arrest the homosexual activists and allow the Christians to exercise their First Amendment rights, the Philadelphia police arrested and jailed the Christians!

They were charged with eight crimes, including three felonies: possession of instruments of crime (a bullhorn), ethnic intimidation (saying that homosexuality is a sin), and inciting a riot (reading from the Bible some passages relating to homosexuality) despite the fact that no riot occurred.

You may think I am exaggerating. I’m not. Our AFA Center for Law and Policy is representing these four individuals at no cost. We will take this case all the way to the Supreme Court if necessary to get justice.

There is so much more about this case I don't have room for it in this letter. We have prepared a 25-minute VHS/DVD in which two AFA-CLP attorneys discuss the case in detail.

Please help us with our expenses in representing these committed Christians. With your tax-deductible gift of $15, less than the cost of a cup of coffee once a month for the next year, we will send your choice of either the VHS or DVD. Watch the VHS/DVD, then share it with your Sunday school class and church. This VHS/DVD should be required viewing in every church in America.

Click https://store.afa.net/ProductCart/pc/viewPrd.asp?idproduct=27 to get your copy of the Philadelphia 4 Story
Thanks for caring enough to get involved. We must not allow this travesty of justice to continue.

Sincerely,

Donald E. Wildmon, Chairman
OneMillionDads.com
><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><>
Albemarle Achieves Record Safety Performance in 2004

As a company, Albemarle finished 2004 with a record low OSHA recordable injury/illness rate (IIR) of 0.44. This IIR rate equates to injuries of 14 employees requiring medical attention which is an improvement from an IIR of 0.89 in 2003 when 26 employees were injured. During 2004, Albemarle also set a new corporate record for consecutive days without an injury - 180 days.

As part of this record performance, many of our sites had record setting years also. In 2004, Dayton, Avonmouth, and, for the first time, Magnolia completed an entire calendar year without an injury. Bergheim established its own record of consecutive injury-free days at 522 days. Tyrone and Orangeburg had their best safety years ever. Since becoming Albemarle facilities in 2001, Tyrone has reduced its IIR from 4.44 to 0.66 this year and Bergheim from 2.94 to 0.25.

Truly, 2004 was a great year for safety, but we cannot rest or lose our focus. In 2004, we concentrated on awareness and established the SCAN program to help raise our awareness. Although injuries were reduced, awareness was a factor in most of the injuries of 2004. We have already had our first injury of 2005 and once again awareness was a factor. With the fast pace and distractions in today's world, maintaining awareness is needed more now than ever before to prevent injuries. So, watch out for the gorillas and keep your safety awareness high.

Our 2004 performance once again illustrates Albemarle committment to and leadership in safety. Albemarle continues to be a top performer in the chemical industry and in companies belonging to the American Chemistry Council.
><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><>
Chlorine Lingers After S.C. Train Wreck
Jan 7, 9:15 PM (ET)
By JENNIFER HOLLAND

GRANITEVILLE, S.C. (AP) - About 5,400 residents within a one-mile radius of a train wreck that killed at least eight people and sickened more than 250 were forced to evacuate on Friday after one of the nation's deadliest toxic chemical spills in years.

With one ruptured tanker continuing to leak deadly chlorine gas and the possibility of another leak from a second damaged tanker, rescue workers in protective suits searched for a worker still missing from the Avondale Mills textile plant. They also went door to door to find out whether there were any more deaths or injuries.
...

Sheriff's Lt. Michael Frank said 30 percent to 40 percent of the contents remained in the leaking tank, which can carry up to 90 tons of liquid chlorine under pressure. The material turns to gas when released.

Two nine-member crews were working around the clock to apply a steel patch over a hole in the tank about the size of a fist, Frank said. He said it could take up to a week to remove the chlorine in that tank and in two other railroad tankers.

In June 2004 in Texas, the collision of two freight trains near San Antonio released a chlorine cloud that left a conductor and two nearby residents dead.

Eight people were killed in February 1978 when a cloud of chlorine gas floated over a highway from a ruptured tank car after a freight train derailed near Youngstown, Fla.
><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><>
TGIF-Today God Is First
Please pray...
-------------------------------------------------
The Purpose of the Desert
-------------------------------------------------
Friday, January 07, 2005

by Os Hillman

Therefore I am now going to allure her; I will lead her into the desert and speak tenderly to her. ~ Hosea 2:14

If you have an important message to convey to someone, what is the best means of getting the message through? Have you ever tried to talk with someone who was so busy you could not get him to hear you? Distractions prevent us from giving our undivided attention to the messenger. So too, God has His way of taking us aside to get our undivided attention. For Paul, it was Arabia for three years; for Moses, it was 40 years in the desert; for Joseph, it was 13 years in Egypt; for David, it was many years of fleeing from King Saul.

God knows the stubborn human heart. He knows that if He is to accomplish His deepest work, He must take us into the desert in order to give us the privilege to be used in His Kingdom. In the desert God changes us and removes things that hinder us. He forces us to draw deep upon His grace. The desert is only a season in our life. When He has accomplished what He wants in our lives in the desert, He will bring us out. He has given us a mission to fulfill that can only be fulfilled after we have spent adequate time in preparation in the desert. Fear not the desert, for it is here you will hear God's voice like never before. It is here you become His bride. It is here you will have the idols of your life removed. It is here you begin to experience the reality of a living God like never before. Someone once said, "God uses enlarged trials to produce enlarged saints so He can put them in enlarged places!"
He brought me out into a spacious place; He rescued me because He delighted in me (2 Samuel 22:20).
--------------------------------------------------------------
To contact Os Hillman, request reprint permission, or to book Os to speak in your town write to os@marketplaceleaders.org. Marketplace Leaders Website: http://www.marketplaceleaders.org/ Copyright 2004
--------------------------------------------------------------
Please recommend this TGIF daily devotional to everyone interested in applying their faith to their worklife. Tell them to subscribe at http://www.TodayGodIsFirst.com

Os Hillman Copyright 2004
><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><>
NewsScan Daily, 2005 ("Above The Fold")
***********************************
NewsScan Daily is underwritten by RLG, a world-class organization making significant and sustained contributions to the effective management and appropriate use of information technology. NSD is written by John Gehl and Suzanne Douglas, editors@NewsScan.com.
*************************************

"ABOVE THE FOLD"

MAPPING THE BLOGOSPHERE
In the last year the number of Internet users who read blogs has risen 58%, according to a report by the Pew Internet & American Life Project. Not surprisingly, most blog creators (70%) have broadband connections at home and have been online for six years or more (82%). Fifty-seven percent are male and 39% have college or graduate degrees. Forty-two percent live in households earning more than $50,000. Like bloggers, blog readers are more likely to be young, male, well-educated Internet veterans, but in recent months there's been a growth in readership among women, minorities, users between the ages of 30 and 49, and those with dialup connections. Still, the blogosphere represents a fairly small percentage of people: Of the 120 million Internet users in the U.S., only 38% said they had a pretty good idea of what a blog was, while 62% professed ignorance of this latest online phenomenon. (Pew Internet & American Life Project 2 Jan 2005)

CAN-SPAM LAW GETS MIXED REVIEWS
The Can-Spam Act, signed into law on Dec. 16, 2003, was touted as a major weapon in the arsenal aimed against spam-mongers, but after a year the law has been used against only a few spammers and recent surveys show that Internet users face more spam than ever. In November, a Virginia jury recommended a nine-year jail term for a North Carolina man who earned the dubious distinction of being the first person convicted of felony spamming. (The case had been brought under Virginia's spam law, which is similar to Can-Spam but allows stiffer penalties.) However, despite this minor victory, experts agree that during the past year spam e-mails represent an ever-increasing portion of users' e-mail -- up to 75% to 80% now, according to anti-spam firm Postini. The trend has resulted in most major ISPs turning to technology rather than litigation to stem the flow, and each of the four major U.S. e-mail providers is involved in a nationwide effort to develop e-mail "authentication" technology that would make it more difficult for spammers to disguise their messages. "You've got to stop [spam] from getting to the customers' machines," says Dave Baker, VP of law and public policy at Earthlink. "If you're suing a spammer, you're going after them for damage that's already been done. The biggest single element remains technology solutions. None of these companies are relying solely on litigation." (Washington Post 3 Jan 2005)

TIVO GOES MOBILE
TiVo has introduced a mobile option for its subscribers called TiVoToGo. The service, which requires the installation of free TiVo Desktop software on the target computer, enables users to transfer programs to their laptops, as long as copyright protections are in place. "Consumers don't want to be tied to their living room to watch their favorite entertainment," says TiVo chief marketing officer Matt Wisk. "With TiVoToGo, subscribers can take their favorite shows with them to enjoy on business trips or family vacations." The TiVo Desktop software is designed for the Windows XP and 2000 operating systems, and avoids content that uses Macrovision copy protection technology, including pay-per-view and video-on-demand programming and commercial DVDs. (CNet News.com 3 Jan 2005)

HIGH-TECH FASHION HITS THE RUNWAY
Gone are the days when clunky beige desktops or black cell phones represented the best tech companies had to offer. Now, the hottest tech gear designs mirror those seen in clothing and home styles. "The consumer electronics industry is going the way of the tennis shoe, where fashion really matters," says Ideo's Paul Bradley. In response, Sony is trying to shorten its product cycles to coincide with fashion design cycles, and fashion icons such as Chanel are considering rolling out their own cell phone line. Meanwhile, Nike has already launched its own brand of music players (made by Philips Electronics) and watchmaker Fossil offers smart timepieces that download sports scores. But design is more than 'skin deep,' says HP brand design director Sam Lucente. "Fashion matters with everything since it's relatively easy to assemble the commodity technology now. The real payoff is when beauty is more than skin deep. It's when the form and emotion begin to fit your life. You have to design experiences, not just gadgets." (San Jose Mercury News 3 Jan 2005)

THE FUTURE OF PUBLISHING: THE WEB, OF COURSE
The distinguished computer scientist Ramesh Jain says in his blog that his interview with John Gehl for Ubiquity received widespread attention and demonstrated that the importance of paper publications is becoming less significant compared to appearance of ideas or articles in cyberspace: "None of my articles that appeared in well respected journals got the attention of relevant people so rapidly... I am convinced that this is clearly the direction for ideas propagation and distribution." And last week's Ubiquity interview with technology visionary Michael Schrage also received a tremendous response from readers. You'll find the two interviews at: and .

RADAR INFO 'MORE RELIABLE' THAN WHAT THE AIRLINES TELL YOU
The Yosemite International Airport in Fresno, California, has become the first in the nation to use a Web-based wireless system that relies strictly on radar (rather than on reports from the airline carriers themselves) to obtain the flight information it displays on monitors and portable kiosks. Ron Dunsky, of the company that developed the software, says: "It is a way to inexpensively kick information up to a more accurate level." (AP/Washington Post 4 Jan 2005)

THE CONTINUING FIGHT AGAINST ONLINE PIRATES
A company called BayTSP of Los Gatos, California, has developed a monitoring system to identify the sources of bootleg copies of movies transmitted over file-sharing networks such as eDonkey and BitTorrent. BayTSP chief executive Mark Ishikawa explains, "Pirated copies of movies and software typically appear online within hours of release. Identifying and taking action against the first uploaders can greatly slow the distribution of illegally obtained intellectual property and might make users think twice before doing it." Ishikawa says the technology not only identifies the hard-core pirates who contribute to massive online piracy, but is also able to quantify the number of illegal copies made from the original bootleg (information necessary when a copyright-infringement lawsuit is subsequently filed).(San Jose Mercury News 4 Jan 2005)

VONAGE TO OFFER WI-FI INTERNET PHONE CALLS
Vonage, the No. 1 Internet phone company, is offering its subscribers a wireless Wi-Fi phone that can make calls over the Internet at homes or at public Wi-Fi hot spots. A phone will cost around $100. Wi-Fi calls are essentially free, in contrast to cell phone calls, and customers will plug a regular phone into an adapter linked to a broadband Internet line. Vonage will then turn the calls into data that travel by Internet before being converted back to voice at the other end. (USA Today 3 Jan 2005)

'ENHANCED INTENSIVE CARE': IF YOU NEED IT YOU'LL WANT IT
New technology known as eICU ("Enhanced Intensive Care") lets physicians miles away from their patents manage health care via cameras and banks of computer screens. Developed by Baltimore-based VISICU Inc., the technology is already in use at least 18 hospital systems nationwide. Whereas traditional health care systems rely on nurses to notice a problem with a patient and relay the information to a doctor, eICU informs the doctor directly. The doctor can check the patient's ventilator, intravenous medication and anything else in the patient's room, and one physician notes: "The camera is such that I can count eyelashes." (AP/Los Angeles Times 4 Jan 2004)

ANOTHER HIGH-TECH LEAP IN INDIA
The Indian state Andhra Pradesh is planning a new $90-million network that will move data between Hyderabad, the state's capital, and 23 districts at a speed more than 5,000 times the speed of the existing network. Hyderabad is already a hub of knowledge-based industries, and it has attracted Microsoft and numerous other world-class companies to establish research centers there. Mohammed Ali Shabbir, the state's information minister, predicts predicts the new system will revolutionize the entire communication network. He explains: "Widespread availability of broadband services at very low and affordable rates is expected to take government services to the doorsteps of the citizens and also trigger significant economic activity in every sector." (AP 3 Jan 2004)

WIRELESS COMPANIES EYE NEXT NEXT-GENERATION TECHNOLOGY
About 26 wireless carriers, including Cingular, Vodafone, China Mobile and NTT DoCoMo, are working together to develop an advanced mobile phone standard called W-CDMA that will enable users to transmit and receive high-resolution video instantaneously. Currently, 3G (third generation) technology relays data at about 384 kilobits per second, but companies taking part in the project hope to raise that speed to 100 megabits per second, or about 2,000 faster than conventional dialup modems. The companies hope to settle on the new standard by 2007 and launch the new, faster version by 2009. (AP 4 Jan 2005)

A HOTSPOT FOR YOUR CAR
A closely held Northern Virginia company has developed a satellite antenna that turns a moving vehicle into a mobile Wi-Fi hotspot. RaySat says it expects to launch its new product in the third quarter of this year, priced at around $3,500. Monthly charges are likely to range from $50 to $200. The company already sells antennas for delivering Internet access to high-speed trains in Europe, and plans to target long haul truckers, emergency personnel and other mobile workers in this country. "The people who want it are dying for it," says RaySat president and CEO Samer Salameh. In addition to the Internet access service, RaySat has developed an antenna that enables cars to receive satellite TV broadcasts -- an application that may have broader appeal among consumers, according to RaySat rival KVH Industries, which also offers mobile satellite TV. (Wall Street Journal 5 Jan 2005) (sub req'd)

SIRIUS TO LAUNCH VIDEO SERVICE NEXT YEAR
Sirius Satellite Radio says it's planning to launch a video service during the second half of 2006. Subscribers will pay a monthly fee, just as Sirius' radio customers do now, and the company says it will devote two to three channels to children's programming. (Reuters 5 Jan 2005)

'SPAM KING' AGREES TO CEASE-FIRE
Under an agreement with the Federal Trade Commission, a man dubbed the "Spam King" will stop distributing spyware until a federal lawsuit is resolved. In addition, Sanford Wallace has agreed to send online ads only to people who visit the Web sites of companies -- SmartBot.net of Richboro, Pennsylvania and Seismic Entertainment Productions of Rochester, New York. "The commission does believe this is great relief for consumers until the matter is ultimately resolved in the courts," says FTC lawyer Laura Sullivan. "This provides wonderful protection for consumers in the interim." Wallace's most recent exploits included sending pop-up messages to Microsoft Word users offering to sell software that would block the pop-ups (but according to the government, didn't work). In the 1990s he earned the nickname "Spam King" after spewing out as many as 30 million junk e-mails per day to consumers. (AP/CNN.com 4 Jan 2005)

CARBON TVs ON THE DRAWING BOARD
Forget plasma and even LCDs -- the next big thing in television could be a new type of flat-panel display that relies on diamonds or carbon nanotubes to produce images. Theoretically, these "field effect displays" (FEDs) could deliver a sharper picture, consume less energy and even cost less than today's high-end alternatives. "The concept of a nanotube TV will give you image quality similar to CRTs (cathode ray tubes), and the best image quality is still found on CRT TVs," says Tom Pitstick, VP for marketing at Carbon Nanotechnologies. "All the major display manufacturers are looking at nanotube TVs." Samsung has already developed a prototype using Carbon Nanotechnologies' nanotubes and commercial versions should start appearing on the shelves in late 2006. One advantage of the FED technology, which is described as a sort of hybrid of CRT and LCD technologies, is that size is not an issue as it is with LCD screens. A 2004 prototype of a nanotube FED measures 38 inches -- far larger than most currently available LCDs -- and U.K. developer Advance Nanotech says the technology is suitable for screens up to 100 inches across. (CNet News.com 5 Jan 2005)

BEWARE TSUNAMI INTERNET FRAUDS
The FBI has issued a warning about online frauds that try to capitalize on the recent tsunami disaster by offering to help tsunami victims or relatives for a fee. Audri Lanford of ScamBusters.org comments: "Within hours of 9/11 we had the 9/11 scams. We've seen them for every major disaster." (New York Times 6 Jan 2005)

TO PROTECT ITS "DNA," APPLE SUES THINKSECRET.COM
Apple Computer is suing the Web site thinksecret.com for allegedly distributing Apple trade secrets by leaking details of upcoming products. The suit alleges that Think Secret owner Nick dePlume and other unnamed individuals posted information on thinksecret.com that could only have been obtained by someone who had signed a confidentiality agreement with Apple. A statement from Apple says: "Apple's DNA is innovation, and the protection of our trade secrets is crucial to our success." But dePlume says he's confident that Think Secret's reporting is consistent with the rights and privileges granted by the First Amendment. (Reuters 6 Jan 2005)

SOFTWARE GROUP WANTS TO CHANGE COPYRIGHT ACT
The Business Software Alliance, whose members include Microsoft, IBM, Intel, Adobe, and other high-tech giants, wants Congress to clamp down on Internet service providers who allow their users who swap copyrighted software, music or video files online through services such as Kazaa, Grokster and Morpheus. The group wants Congress to amend the 1998 Digital Millennium Copyright Act but has so far offered no specifics on how that law should be changed -- except to suggest that Internet service providers should no longer enjoy blanket immunity from liability for piracy by users. However, the BSA approach has a number of critics, such as Mike Godwin of the group Public Knowledge, who calls the approach a "terribly bad idea," and Verizon attorney Sarah B. Deutsch, who warns: "The best policy is not to have the service provider become Big Brother. BSA wants its own shortcut, at the expense of consumer privacy and the ISPs." (Washington Post 5 Jan 2005)

INTEL TURNS SAND INTO LIGHT
Intel researchers have developed an all-silicon laser -- a development that could revolutionize the field of photonics. Mario Paniccia, director of Intel's photonics lab, says: "You can imagine starting to siliconize photonic devices, and maybe integrate photonics and electronics." The next research breakthrough will be to produce a device that emits a continuous beam, an advance that would be more useful for communications than the light pulses that have been generated up to this point. (AP/San Jose Mercury News 6 Jan 2005)

KODAK CAMERA IS ALL ABOUT SHARING
Kodak new EasyShare-One digital camera, which allows users to send images directly from the back of the camera itself, is billed as the first camera to allow consumers to transmit or print images without first connecting to a personal computer, digital imaging kiosk or printer. The camera also provides new levels of on-board photo storage, the largest LCD screen of any digital camera on the market, and high-speed connections to Kodak's online photo service. A Kodak executive says, "This is much more than just another camera introduction. It's about giving consumers the ability to instantly share a picture while they're still in the moment." Michael Miller, editor of PC Magazine, says: "I think the concept is terrific. Connectivity is part of way of future. All of these devices are going to talk to each other. The fact that we're moving ahead in doing that is terrific." (USA Today 5 Jan 2005)

CANADA CONSIDERS BAN OF INTERNET DRUG SALES
Canadian health officials have drafted a proposal that would ban Internet sales of prescription drugs to U.S. consumers and effectively destroy a $700 million industry that has become increasingly popular with patients in search of cheaper medicine. Within Canada's socialized medical system, the Canadian government sets drug prices lower than those charged in the U.S., and Canadian doctors now co-sign prescriptions for U.S. patients without examining them in person. The new proposal would prohibit prescriptions for foreigners who are not present in Canada. (AP/Los Angeles Times 6 Jan 2005)

U.S. SCHOOLS ARE RELUCTANT USERS OF TECHNOLOGY
A report from the Department of Education says that although virtually all U.S. schools are now connected to the Internet (with one computer for every five students), many educators remain doubtful about the benefits of online learning. Secretary of Education Ron Paige says in the National Education Technology Plan: "Education is the only business still debating the usefulness of technology. Schools remain unchanged for the most part despite numerous reforms and increased investments in computers." (AP/San Jose Mercury News 7 Jan 2005)

MICROSOFT OFFERS ANTI-SPYWARE SOFTWARE
In a move indicating its increasing interest in the security market, Microsoft is giving away software designed to protect Windows users from spyware (programs that transmit information about the user without his or her knowledge). Industry analysts believe the company will eventually enter the market for computer security software, and George Kafkarkou of Computer Associates says that Microsoft's entry into the anti-spyware arena brings "validation" to that marketplace. (Washington Post 7 Jan 2005)

L.A. SUES INTERNET TRAVEL SITES FOR ROOM TAXES
The city of Los Angeles is suing Internet travel sites Travelocity, Hotwire, Priceline, Expedia and Orbitz for failing to pay millions of dollars in hotel room taxes. The way it works is this: the travel sites negotiate discount rates for bulk purchase of rooms, mark up the rates for online sales of individual rooms, and then pay the city taxes on the negotiated rates rather than on the marked-up rates. A spokesperson for the city says, "The Web sites can't have it both ways. They can't charge consumers taxes based on retail price but give back to the city only part of the money." The defendants call the allegations in the lawsuit are "entirely without merit." (AP/USA Today 7 Jan 2005)

TIVO INTRODUCES INTEGRATED VIDEO RECORDER
TiVo, which makes video recording systems, is introducing new models that integrate cable TV converter boxes into the TiVo systems -- thereby making it unnecessary for a TiVo customer to connect their digital video recorders to a separate box. TiVo chief executive Mike Ramsay says, "By eliminating the need for a separate set-top box, consumers will enjoy more choice and flexibility over their entertainment delivery." (AP/Los Angeles Times 7 Jan 2005)

RECYCLING ELECTRONIC GADGETS
EBay and Intel have developed a recycling program that encourages Americans to safely dispose of their discarded computers and other electronic devices. Gartner, the marketing research firm, estimates that U.S. consumers decommission 133,000 personal computers every day, and eBay chief executive Meg Whitman says that the user's quandary is, "You don't want to throw them out, and you don't know what to do with them." If not properly disposed of, discarded electronic devices can leak lead, cadmium, chromium, mercury and other toxins into the environment. The new eBay-Intel "Rethink" recycling program will only endorse recyclers who promise not to dump machines in landfills in developing nations. (AP 7 Jan 2005)

*****

HONORARY SUBSCRIBER: EMMA HART WILLARD
Today's Honorary Subscriber is the early American educator Emma Hart Willard (1787-1870), who successfully demonstrated that women could teach and girls learn classical and scientific subjects commonly thought at the time to be suited only to men.
A pioneer in the movement for higher education for women, Willard introduced instruction in mathematics and philosophy in her school for girls. Later she lobbied in New York State for female seminaries and in 1821 opened her own seminary in Troy, New York. In 1895, after a long history of training teachers in the hundreds, the Troy seminary was renamed the Emma Willard School. Of necessity, Willard was the author of many textbooks needed for use in her school and others that sprung up in her wake. A talented poet, she also wrote a volume of poems that included "Rocked in the Cradle of the Deep."
Willard was born Emma Hart in Berlin, Connecticut, the next-to-last of 17 children. Unusual for the time, her father encouraged her studies beyond those considered proper for girls. In 1802 she enrolled in the Berlin Academy, where she made such rapid progress that by 1804 she was became one of the schools' teachers. In 1807 she taught briefly in an academy in Westfield, Massachusetts, and then became head mistress of a girls' academy in Middlebury, Vermont, where in August 1809 she married Dr. John Willard, a physician 28 years her senior.
In 1814 she opened the Middlebury Female Seminary in her home and over the next few years taught her students with a curriculum comparable to that used at nearby Middlebury College. Her success prompted her to write her famous "Plan for Improving Female Education," which was praised by such readers as Thomas Jefferson and John Adams, but ridiculed and rejected by the New York legislature to whom it was specifically addressed. New York Governor, DeWitt Clinton, however, encouraged her to open her school in New York State, which she did in Troy, where the town council had raised $4000 in tax money to build a girls' school. The Troy Female Seminary opened in September 182, antedating Mary Lyon's Mount Holyoke Seminary by 16 years.
Willard's husband died in 1825 and she remained head of the Troy Female Seminary until 1838 when she retired to devote her time to improving public schools. A second marriage had proved a failure, and from 1838 to 1844 she lived in Connecticut, where she worked closely with Henry Barnard to improve the public school system.
In 1844 she returned to Troy. Her later years were filled with travel, lecturing, and writing. She organized teachers' conventions; developed model schools; and gave lectures on teaching, textbooks, and the need for adequate teacher salaries and proper schoolhouses. In 1854, with Barnard, she represented the United States at the World's Educational Convention in London. She died in Troy in 1870.
***
[To find a library copy of Willard's "Plan for Improving Female Education," visit RLG's RedLightGreen service at: -- or to purchase a copy of a biography of Willard by Alma Lutz go to:

WORTH THINKING ABOUT: WHAT HAPPENED AT THE TIMES?
In a book highly critical of the way the New York Times has evolved in recent years, attorney Bob Kohn examines the issue of opinion and bias in news reporting:
"Today, it seems, newspapers are in the business of identifying solutions to society's problems and influencing public opinion to agree with those solutions. News gathering and reporting are no longer the ends of the newspaper; they have become merely a means to an end.
"Over the course of the past fifty years, the line between the editorial opinion and the news article has become increasingly blurred. Today, the two are nearly indistinguishable. Though maintaining some stylistic differences, the editorial opinion and the news article have the same purpose and often work in tandem to maximize the newspaper publisher's influence over public opinion.
"The profession has become very open about these changes. In 1975, when the American Society of Newspaper Editors assembled to rewrite the code of ethics that served them for nearly fifty years, they took their original canon -- 'News reports should be free from opinion or bias of any kind' -- and turned it on its ear with the following: 'Distinguish between advocacy and news reporting. Analysis and commentary should be labeled and not misrepresent fact or context.'
"No longer did the society stress that news be free from opinion or bias of any kind. The focus shifted away from how news reports should be written to how 'analysis and commentary' should be labeled. The straightforward canon established in the 1920s was replaced with the rather vague, 'Distinguish between advocacy and news reporting.'
"Those in the profession -- whose day-to-day tools of trade are words and their meaning -- fully understood the future they were forging. The message they sent to their fellow editors and reporters was now clear: straight news articles need no longer be 'free from opinion or bias of any kind.' And while the new ethics code elsewhere demands that the deliberate distortion of facts is 'never permissible,' it merely recommends that analysis and commentary 'should be labeled.'"
***
[To purchase a copy of Bob Kohn's "Journalistic Fraud: How The New YorkTimes Distorts the News and Why It Can No Longer Be Trusted," go to < ref="nos"> -- or to find a library copy of Harrison Salisbury's (more favorable) 1981 book about the Times called "Without Fear or Favor: The New York Times and Its Times," purchase a copy go to: -- or to purchase a copy of Pinckney's letters go to: .

WORTH THINKING ABOUT: PRIGGER-NAPPERS
Harvard-educated fourth-generation New York cop Edward Conlon's autobiographical book on what the real life of a cop is like is crammed with nuggets of police lore, of which the following is an example:
"The first book by a member of the NYPD was written by the first Chief of Police, George W. Matsell, in 1859, and it was called 'Vocabulum; or, The Secret Language of Crime.' While most true-crime writing offers lurid gore in the often thin guise of moral condemnation, Matsell's book is an amazing miscellany of slang, some criminal, some not. The book claims to be both a decryption of a universal underworld code -- 'The rogue fraternity have a language peculiarly their own, no matter where they were reared' -- as well as a list of funny or foreign words that poor New Yorkers use, which 'are being interwoven with our language and many are becoming recognized Anglicisims.'
"Words with which Matsell presumed his audience was unfamilar included 'booze', 'bordello', 'negligee,' and 'pimp,' which seem to fit as ordinary words for impolite things. In the same vein, he cites 'swag' for stolen goods and 'scrape' for trouble, not to mention 'bilk' and 'bluff,' which aren't even slang anymore. There is nothing criminal or even off-color in 'duds' and 'togs' for clothes, unless slang itself is seen as irreverent instead of merely irregular. 'Birthday suit' for 'naked' we still say, but 'wooden coat' and 'eternity box" for 'coffin' we don't -- it's hard to believe this kind of jokey euphemism has much to do with crime. It shows the same kind of wit to refer to pride as 'starch,' watered-down liquor as 'baptized,' or a black-clad widow as the 'ace of spades.'
"Many words have gone, but some have come again: a 'crib' was a house for the Bowery B'hoys of the mid-nineteenth century as it is for the rappers in the late twentieth. (Incidentally a 'rapper,' according to Matsell, is a perjurer.) A lot of the technical, criminal terms are obsolete, such as those that describe MOs for thefts with female decoys, or that pertain to using inside men to make wax impressions of keys. I don't know of any recent arrests for 'sweating' or 'finagling,' the first defined as 'reducing the weight of gold coin by putting it in a bag and shaking it violently for some time, and then collecting the gold dust which is then worn off.' 'Snagling,' of course, is 'stealing poultry by putting a worm on a fish-hook, thereby catching the fowl.' To 'pork,' in those days, was to 'inform the coroner of the whereabouts of a corpse.' On the other hand, to commit a robbery then as now, was to 'do a job,' and to kill someone was to 'hush,' 'stifle,' 'silence' him, or to 'make him easy" -- all of which are clear in meanings even when they're not current. To inform was to 'peach,' 'snitch,' or 'squeal,' and a bit of such information was a 'tip.' Except for 'pigs,' all of the words for cops are now out of date -- 'Philistines,' 'Moabites,' 'prigger-nappers' (literally, 'thief-catchers'), 'shadows,' 'trappers,' 'traps,' and 'stops'-- but all of the slang terms for arrests are still in use: you could book 'em, collar 'em, pinch 'em, nab 'em, or run 'em in, ideally when you had them dead to rights.' Maybe you could infer that who we are has changed, but what we do has not."
***
[For a library copy of Edward Conlon's "Blue Blood," check out RLG's RedLightGreen service at: -- nor to purchase a copy go to:

CONGRATULATIONS TO TPR
We want to note the occasion of the 1,000th weekly issue of Ken Robinson's remarkable Telecommunications Policy Review. Of all the reader comments made over the years, Ken's favorite is one sent to him in the 1990s saying: "Telecommunications Policy Review is like crying 'fire' in a theater full of arsonists!"

HONORARY SUBSCRIBER: GEORGE FOX
Today's Honorary Subscriber is the English preacher and missionary George Fox (1624-1691), who founded the Society of Friends, known as the Quakers. Based on his personal experience, Fox became firmly committed to what he felt was a God-given inward light far more inspiring than any scripture or creed. His religious background was more Puritan than strict Anglican, and he apparently had no trouble rejecting the formalism and traditionalism of the established church in favor of the Quaker movement, which grew out of this belief in personal religious experience as the true source of religious authority.
Fox was born the son of a weaver in Leicestershire. He had little formal education, but he read extensively and learned to write legibly. Early on he began to keep a journal in which he recorded his personal religious experiences that took the form of direct revelations. He called these revelations "openings," that by and large consisted of corrections of the traditional concepts of faith and practice in the English religious life of his time. His antipathy towards ecclesiastical customs expanded to include political and economic conventions, such as oaths, titles, and military service. He began preaching the tenets of his newfound faith, traveling on foot first in the English Midlands and then the northern counties. The Seekers, a 17th century Puritan sect, welcomed Fox and were sympathetic to his message. Gradually Fox gathered followers who formed themselves into local congregations that came to called the Society of Friends, though members were derisively nicknamed Quakers. (The Encyclopedia Britannica explains: "Fox's teaching was primarily a preaching of repentance... The trembling among the listening crowd caused or confirmed the name of Quakers given to the body; men and women sometimes fell down and lay struggling as if for life.")
The Friends spread rapidly, with major concentrations in London and Bristol by 1654. By 1660 there were Quakers in America, Ireland, and the West Indies. The organizational center became Swarthmoor Hall, and Fox and Margaret Fell, whom he married in 1669, coordinated the missionary activity. Because of their non-conformist beliefs, Fox and his followers suffered public hostility and official constraint. They were often arrested and imprisoned; Fox himself, suffered eight imprisonments. To keep the movement alive and strong under such oppression, Fox established procedural guidelines and a structural framework of monthly, quarterly, and yearly meetings. He also proclaimed the right of women to full spiritual equality, and insisted that Friends should not participate in war. Harassment of the Quakers continued with only intermittent relief until the English Parliament passed the Toleration Act in 1689. By the time of Fox's death in 1691, the Quakers in England had shed much of their missionary zeal and had become a respectable denomination.
Throughout his life, Fox shared the contemporary practice of writing controversial pamphlets, scores of which were published. About 1675 Fox dictated a summary of his life that, with supplementary material, was posthumously edited and published as his Journal. For most of the last 15 years of his life he lived as a boarder or visitor among friends in or about London, attending consultations and committees on practical questions, preaching at meetings for worship, and engaging in a wide correspondence with individual Friends or with congregations to whom he was known.

[For a library copy of The Journal of George Fox, check out RLG's RedLightGreen service at: or to purchase a copy go to:

Note: We donate all revenue from our book recommendations to adult literacy
programs.]

SUBSCRIPTION INFO FOR NEWSSCAN DAILY: To subscribe to the
text, html, or handheld versions of NewsScan Daily, send the appropriate
subscribe messages (i.e., with the word 'subscribe' in the subject line) to the addresses shown below:
Text version: Send message to NewsScan@NewsScan.com
Html version: Send mail to NewsScan-html@NewsScan.com
NewsScan-To-Go: http://www.newsscan.com/handheld/current.html

TELL YOUR FRIENDS ABOUT NEWSSCAN DAILY! Send them our little frog:
http://www.newsscan.com/newsscan/newscup.html

****************************************
Please visit the site of RLG, the great organization that makes NewsScan Daily possible. (RLG has no influence over, nor any responsibility for, our
editorial content.) Created in 1974 as the Research Libraries Group, RLG is a not-for-profit membership corporation of more than 160 universities, national libraries, archives, museums -- and other institutions with remarkable collections for research and learning. Its major initiatives are long-term retention of digital materials, resource sharing among member
institutions, and improvement of researcher access to primary source material. RLG supplies online research resources worldwide. Visit RLG at
http://www.rlg.org.
*********
To subscribe to the TEXT version of NewsScan Daily, send an e-mail message to NewsScan@NewsScan.com with 'subscribe'
in the subject line. To subscribe to our HTML version of NewsScan Daily, send mail to NewsScan-html@NewsScan.com, with the word 'subscribe' as the subject.
*********

We call our news section "Above The Fold" to honor the tradition of the great "broadsheet" newspapers in which editors must decide which news stories are of such importance that they should be placed "above the fold" on the front page. The NewsScan Credo: Be informative, have fun, and get to the point! See http://www.newsscan.com/, and send us mail: John Gehl and Suzanne Douglas , or call
770-704-7517.
*********
Get a free 6-week trial subscription to Innovation Weekly, an executive summary of trends, strategies and innovations in business and technology.
Send mail to Innovation-trial@NewsScan.com with the word 'subscribe' in the subject line.
What customized news and information services do you need for your company?
Get in touch with us at Editors@NewsScan.com or call 770-704-7517 to talk over the possibilities.
Copyright 2005. NewsScan Daily (R) is a publication of NewsScan.com Inc.
><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><>
Activities and Events of Interest
~~~
January 10 El Dorado 7:30 p.m. In Honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
~~~
February 5 El Dorado 7:30 p.m. Krystle Maczka, Piano
February 6 Magnolia 2:00 p.m. "
~~~
March 5 Camden 7:30 p.m. Premier String Quartet
~~~
April 3 El Dorado 3:00 p.m. Xiang Gao, Violin
~~~
MCC Tanzania, Africa Mission Trip, July 2005. Get your passport!
><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><>
"September 11 WDYTJWD" W. P. Florence
Justice first, then peace."
"September 11" Never forget.--Tony Moses
"ONE NATION UNDER GOD ...the only way"--Phillip Story
"We have nothing to fear but fear itself." -- Franklin D. Roosevelt
"Keeping my head down but face toward Heaven" - - Jody Eldred, ABC News Cameraman in Kuwait
"Remember Pearl Harbor? Remember 9/11!" --"Bug"
Tell the people you love that you love them, at every opportunity. - - George Carlin
"Stop telling God how big your storm is. Instead, tell the storm how big your God is!" - - Queen E. Watson
><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><>
NEVER FORGET! We're listing the names of our soldiers killed weekly. These records can be
found at http://www.defenselink. mil/releases/ This posting covers the last two weeks.

01. Spc. Craig L. Nelson, 21, from Bossier City, La., died Dec. 29 at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., of injuries sustained Dec. 16 in Baghdad, Iraq, when an improvised explosive device detonated near his military vehicle. Nelson was assigned to the Army National Guard's 1st Battalion, 156th Armor Regiment, Shreveport, La.

The Department of Defense announced the death of two Marines who were supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.
02. Lance Cpl. Brian P. Parrello, 19, of West Milford, N.J.
03. Lance Cpl. Jason E. Smith, 21, of Phoenix, Ariz.
Smith died Dec. 31, and Parrello died Jan. 1, both as result of hostile action in Al Anbar Province, Iraq. Smith was assigned to 1st Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Pendleton, Calif. Parrello was assigned to Small Craft Company, Headquarters Battalion, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C.

04. Spc. Jeff LeBrun, 21, from Buffalo, N.Y., died Jan. 1 in Baghdad, Iraq, when his military vehicle was struck by an improvised explosive device. LeBrun was assigned to the Army’s 2nd Battalion, 15th Field Artillery Regiment, 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry), Fort Drum, N.Y.

05. Sgt. Damien T. Ficek, 26, from Pullman, Wash., died Dec. 30 in Baghdad, Iraq, when his patrol was attacked by enemy forces using small arms fire. Ficek was assigned to the Army National Guard’s 1st Battalion, 161st Infantry Regiment, Spokane, Wash.

06. Sgt. 1st Class Pedro A. Munoz, 47, of Aquada, Puerto Rico, died Jan. 2 in Shindand, Afghanistan, of injuries sustained Jan. 1 when his patrol encountered enemy fire. Munoz was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 7th Special Forces Group, Fort Bragg, N.C.

07. Sgt. Jeremy R. Wright, 31, of Shelbyville, Ind., died Jan. 3 in Asadabad, Afghanistan, when his military vehicle hit an improvised explosive device. Wright was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 1st Special Forces Group Fort Lewis, Wash.

08. Sgt. Thomas E. Houser, 22, of Council Bluffs, Iowa, died Jan. 3 as result of enemy action in Al Anbar Province, Iraq. He was assigned to 2nd Force Reconnaissance Company, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C.

The Department of Defense announced the death of a soldier supporting Operation Enduring Freedom and two soldiers supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. A review of records revealed the omission of news releases for these soldiers.
Operation Enduring Freedom
09. Staff Sgt. Robert K. McGee, 38, of Martinsville, Va., died June 30, in Manila, Republic of the Philippines, of non-combat related injuries. McGee was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 1st Special Forces Group, Fort Lewis, Wash.
Operation Iraqi Freedom
10. Sgt. 1st Class Otie J. McVey, 53, of Oak Hill, W.V., was medically evacuated from Baghdad, Iraq, on Sept. 23 for treatment of a non-combat related illness. He died Nov. 7 in Beaver, W.V. McVey was assigned to the Army Reserve’s 706th Transportation Company, Kenton, Ohio.
11. Sgt. Foster Pinkston, 47, of Warrenton, Ga., died Sept. 16, in Eisenhower Army Medical Center in Augusta, Ga., from a non-combat related illness. Pinkston was assigned to the Army National Guard’s 878th Engineer Battalion, Augusta, Ga.

12. Pvt. Cory R. Depew, 21, of Beech Grove, Ind., died Jan. 4 in Mosul, Iraq, when his Stryker military vehicle was struck by a rocket-propelled grenade. Depew was assigned to the 2nd Squadron, 14th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Brigade, 25th Infantry Division (Stryker Brigade Combat Team), Fort Lewis, Wash.

13. Lance Cpl. Julio C. CisnerosAlvarez, 22, of Pharr, Texas, died Jan. 6 as result of hostile action in Al Anbar Province, Iraq. He was assigned to 1st Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Twentynine Palms, Calif.

14. Pfc. Curtis L. Wooten III, 20, of Spanaway, Wash., died Jan. 4 in Balad, Iraq, when an improvised explosive device detonated near his military vehicle. Wooten was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 77th Armor Regiment, 1st Infantry Division, Schweinfurt, Germany.

15. Sgt. Bennie J. Washington, 25, of Atlanta, Ga., died Jan. 4 in Brooke Army Medical Center, San Antonio, Texas, of injuries sustained Oct. 14 in Ar Ramadi, Iraq, when his military vehicle was struck by a rocket-propelled grenade. Washington was assigned to the 44th Engineer Battalion, 2nd Infantry Division, Camp Howze, Korea.
16. Sgt. Zachariah S. Davis, 25, of Twentynine Palms, Calif., died Jan. 6 as result of hostile action in Al Anbar Province, Iraq. He was assigned to 3rd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Twentynine Palms, Calif.

The Department of Defense announced the death of three Arkansas soldiers supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. They died Jan. 4 in Taji, Iraq, when an improvised explosive devise detonated near their military vehicle. Killed were:
17. Spc. Jimmy D. Buie, 44, of Floral, Ark. Buie was assigned to the Army National Guard’s 3rd Battalion, 153rd Infantry Regiment, 39th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, Fordyce, Ark.
18. Spc. Jeremy W. McHalffey, 28, of Mabelvale, Ark. McHalffey was assigned to the Army National Guard’s 39th Infantry Brigade, Little Rock, Ark.
19. Spc. Joshua S. Marcum, 33, of Evening Shade, Ark. Marcum was assigned to the Army National Guard’s 3rd Battalion, 153rd Infantry Regiment, 39th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, Camden, Ark.
><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><>
Remember that for every soldier killed in modern war, 10 are wounded. Don't forget to pray for them and their families.
><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><>
Join the Delta Diamondbacks 24-hour prayer team sponsored by First Baptist Church of McNeill by calling Debi Scott at 695-3403.
><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><>
War Prayer list for those in harms way.(12/24)

Remember to pray for the American soldiers stationed everywhere around the globe and especially in Iraq. Times have been and are very tough and it would be nice if you would all just say a prayer for their safety and for their families. Our own Delta Diamond Backs, local national guard personnel are now patrolling Bagdad. They are part of the 1st Cavalry Division's, 39th Infantry Brigade.

Please update us when you know of someone who comes home (or is activated for service.)

Command Sergeant Major Tom Broom - U.S. Army - Kuwait
Kyle Burleston - U.S. Marines - Iraq
Jim Carrol - U.S. Navy Intelligence
Greg Davis - U.S. Army - Bagdad - Mark Davis's oldest son. Greg has two children; Jhett,
12 and Baily 3
Lang Doster - National Guard - Iraq - Angel Cranston's Brother
Sgt. Douglas E. Chappel - Kuwait
Alaina Downey - USAF - Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri - Steve Downey's daughter
Michael Drake - U.S. Navy - Persian Gulf
Lisa Dyson - U.S. Army Intelligence - Johnny Dyson's daughter
Jeremy Lee Eades U.S. Army - Roger and Jerri Eades son.
John Ford - U.S. Army Korea - Steve and Sharon Ford's son
Dickie Hartsfield's son - U.S. Army - In Bagdad
Warren Haynie from Lewisville - Serving in Iraq
Matthew Johnson - Marines
Robby Johnson - USAF C-130 Crew Chief
Brennan Jones - U S Marines - Iraq
James A.Jones - US Navy
Pat Keister - USMC -
Terris Lyons - National Guard - Back home in Minden
Mick McDaniel - U.S. Air Force, unknown location - Richard Matherne's son-in-law
David Mitchell - U.S. Army - In Bagdad
Opheline Moore - USArmy -
Brian Morgan - US Navy - in the Gulf somewhere
C.H. Osman - CAPT USN - Pentagon
Andrew Paladino - US Army SRA - Don and Ronda Paladino's Boy
Nick Paladino - US Army Ssgt - Don and Ronda Paladino's Boy
Bob Polk - Kuwait
Todd Raymond - USAF - Germany - Another MCC young man.
Bryan Ross - Wayne Specie Roy and Loretta Specie's
Jason Varner Deployed to an unknown Location Roy and Loretta Specie's
Lloyd Young - USMC - North Carolina - Cindy Martin's son
Please let us know of any updates to this list. James F.McClellan - KC5HII@Magnolia-Net.Com Also, at kvma.Com they have a list of people over seas.
><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><>
Scheduled Activities
~~~
Alcoholics Anonymous meets at 8 p.m.Monday - Friday.At noon on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays and at 7 p.m.Sunday at 914 N. Vine
~~~
Columbia County Amateur Radio Club meets Every second Thursday @ 7:00 p.m.Union Street Station.And YOU'RE invited.Net is every Sunday at 20:30 on 147.105.
~~~
Columbia County Diabetes Support Group - Every third Monday, 7:00 p.m. room 222, Magnolia Hospital
~~~
"Focus on the Family" with Dr. James Dobson weekday afternoons at 1 PM on KVMA am 630 it's a great show!
~~~
MCC - Abraham Prayer - Sunday at 5:00 p.m and Wednesday from 11:30 am to 1:00 pm
~~~
MCC - Early Morning Prayer - Monday - Friday, From 6:30 am to 8:00 am
~~~
MCC - "Beth Moore" Video Class - Thursday nights at 5:45 pm
~~~
MCC - "Faith Builders" Small group meets at 1051 Columbia 36 the second and fourth Tuesdays, 6:30 pm to 7:45 pm.
~~~
MCC - Firm Foundations Class, Sunday 9:30 to 10:15 a.m
~~~
MCC - Meadow Brook Nursing Home Ministry Tuesday from 10:00 to 11:00 a.m
~~~
MCC - Mom's Day Out - Every Tuesday and Thursday from 9 to 2.$10 for the first child, $5 for the second.Call 234-3225 for reservations.
~~~
MCC - Nursing Home Ministry - Meadowbrook Every Tuesday from 10 to 11 am. Taylor, the last Thursday each month.
~~~
MCC - Over comers: Fridays @ 7:00 p.m- Director, Traci Foster invites you to a 12 step Christian support program.For anyone with a life controlling problem. Child care is provided.
~~~
Men's Prayer Breakfast held every Tuesday morning at 6 AM in Miller's Cafeteria. If you aren't a regular participant at the Men's Prayer Breakfast, you're missing some great food, fellowship and inspired teaching of the Word. Hope to see you there, especially in January when we've got the program. Here's our list of January speakers; January 11 - - Joe Sledge, January 18 - - Eric Williams, January 25 - - Gary McKinnie.
><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><>
Emergency Phone Number 911
(Fire, Police, Ambulance, Sheriff, etc. )
Central Dispatch 234-5655
(Non - Emergency Number)
Direct Numbers
Ambulance - 234-7371 (24 Hour)
Jail - 234-5331 (24 Hour)
Poison Control - 800-222-1222 (24 Hour)
http://www. aapcc. org/
><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><>
"Fight till you win!" - - Mark Brazee
"Bring 'em on!" - -President George W. Bush
"There is not enough darkness in the world to put out the light of one candle."
"Laugh whenever you can and cry if you need to." -- "Bug"
"I read the end of the book. We win!" -- "Bug"
"We may not be able to cure the world, but we don't have to make it sicker." -- "Bug"
"There just ain't enough fingers for all the holes in the dike." - - "Bug"
"If you can read this e-mail, thank a teacher. - - If you read it in English, thank a serviceman."
"A simple way to take measure of a country is to look at how many want in ... and how many want out." - - Tony Blair
"Information is the currency of democracy." - Jefferson
"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed people can change the world; indeed, it is the only thing that ever has." - - Margaret Mead
~~~~~
Hope you enjoy the newsletter.
Again, thanks to all our contributors this week.

God bless and GOD BLESS AMERICA!!!
Acts 4:2-4 Col 3:16-17 Phil 1:18b-19 Luke 9:43-45 Prov 16:32
God is Good and Faithful CU 73 IC JFM CSP NREMT-I KC5HII

P. S. If you'd like to be added to the distribution, just drop us E-mail at KC5HII@Magnolia-Net.Com. We offer "Da Bleat" as text, a "Blog" and as a newsletter with pictures in Word and PDF format. For the "Blog" version just go to http://bugsbleat.blogspot.com/ to see the latest issue. This week, "Word" and "PDF" subscribers get to see photos of Malones, a Garcia and a Brown.
Let us hear from you if we can switch you over to the "Word" or "PDF" version of "Da Bleat".
If you'd prefer to read "Da Blog" version, just drop us a note at KC5HII@Magnolia-Net.Com and we'll switch you from e:mail delivery to "Da Bleat" Blog. Of course "Da Bleat" is now on the web. Just go to http://bugsbleat.blogspot.com to see the latest issue (usually updated sometime Friday evening or Saturday morning. We appreciate your encouragement. We also appreciate your communication when you desire to be taken off our mail list. If you are on this mail list by mistake or do not wish to receive "Da Bleat," please reply back and tell us to discontinue service to you. This email was scanned by Norton AntiVirus 2004 before it was sent.
><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><>