Bug's Bleat - - GCF: Priests and Golf

Volume 7, Issue 06

Hello All,

Bobbie and Zac were in an accident this week. They were hit when another vehicle ran a red light. Praise God, they’re both just shook up a little. Zac has a better understanding of why we wear seat belts.
~~~~~
Annette and I are “on the mend” still fighting SARS (South Arkansas Respiratory Syndrome.) You know, when you feel bad, it seems like everything wants to crash. I ended up with a toe infection this week. After Annette and I fought it all week, I let Dr. Murphy take a look at it.
Sure enough he had to do a little work on the toe. The problem is that I don’t like anyone touching my toes. After a minor procedure that became a significant experience for both Dr. Murphy and I, the toe is healing nicely and doesn’t hurt much at all.
Now if Dr. Murphy just recovers from having someone scream in his ear.
~~~~~
This SARS stuff has pretty much hit everyone we know. Today, the last hold out in our office went home with a fever. Steve had held out for weeks as the rest of us fell one by one to this stuff.
I’d quit worrying about a dirty bomb. A biological attack would be the one I’m concerned about.
~~~~~
Dear Prayer Warriors, Family, and Friends,
It is with a very heavy heart that I write this email and ask you all a very special favor. You all remember my little friend Stanton Haynes from Minden, LA who was diagnosed with Neuroblastoma in January of 2003. He is at St Judes and has just finished a round of very HIGH dose chemo. The follow up scans were done this past week and the news is NOT good. His bone marrow if full of cancer cells and he possibly has a spot on his liver. The doctors have told his parents that there is nothing else that can be done for little Stanton except to make him comfortable and keep him happy. I URGE you all to go and visit Stanton's website if you have never or if you have, please do it again. Please write a prayer message to his family and let them know that you are praying for their precious baby. The website address is - - www.caringbridge.org/la/stanton - - Please pray for mercy and peace for this family. They also have a son Hayden who is in 9th grade and he loves his little brother very much, this will be very hard on him as well.
Thank you in advance for you prayers. PLEASE also send this message to anyone that you think will pray for little Stanton and his family. If it sounds like I am begging you to do this, well, you are right, I am. I love this family so much. I took care of them on the night that Stanton was diagnosed with cancer at Minden Medical Center and they have been in my heart and prayers ever since.

"Yea thought I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for thy are with me, thy rod and staff comfort me..."

I love you all. If you love someone, tell them. Never be afraid to tell them how much you love them and how you feel about them, because tomorrow may be too late.

IN HIS LOVE,
Julie Morris
Heartbroken and Praying
~~~~~
We extend our sincere sympathy to Tommy Jacks whose father passed away Tuesday.
~~~~~
Congratulations to the Columbia Christian School Crusaders Junior Varsity boys and girls basketball teams they were the ALCAL LEAGUE CHAMPIONS!!.
The JV Girls wound up with a 14 Win, 1 Loss Record and the JV Boys ended the regular season at 15 and 1 ..Way to go Crusaders and congrats on a great season.

~~~~~
This may not be new but some of you might not be aware that the ERG guidebook is available in a download at the following site: http://www.tc.gc.ca/canutec/en/guide/ERGO/ergo.htm The ERG 2000 file was updated in Jan 2004. It is very fast and a lot of information is available in a small file. I highly recommend you try it. When you get to the page you will see a link titled "download". Click it and pick one of the two options listed and "save it to your desktop". Run the file and you now have the electronic ERG. --
Chief Jason Sands
Mt Vernon VFD
~~~~~
WHERE DID I PUT MY CAR KEYS?
A research team at Johns Hopkins University has found a way to crack the code used in millions of car keys -- a development that could allow thieves to bypass the security systems on newer car models. The researchers found that the "immobilizer" security system developed by Texas Instruments could be cracked using a relatively inexpensive electronic device that acquires information hidden in the microchips that make the system work. The radio-frequency security system being used in more than 150 million new Fords, Toyotas and Nissans involves a transponder chip embedded in the key and a reader inside the car. If the reader does not recognize the transponder, the car will not start, even if the key inserted in the ignition is the correct one. (The Australian, 31 Jan 2005) Rec'd from J. Lamp, Deakin U.

~~~~~
YOUR LYING EYES IN THE PHOTOSHOP AGE
Have the ethics of photojournalism been changed in some way by such software as Adobe Photoshop, which allows easy manipulation of digital photos? The National Press Photographers Association says it's wrong to alter the content of a photograph "in any way that deceives the public," and the director of photography at the Los Angeles Times director of photography says, "If our readers can't count on honesty from us, I don't know what we have left." Dartmouth computer science professor Hany Farid is working to solve the problem of dishonest photographs by developing computer algorithms that can detect when an image has been altered. But Farid says, "It's a bit of an arms race. It's tamper and tamper protection, and we can already predict who's going to win. We simply make it harder" for the average person with the average amount of skill to get away with photographic deceptions. (CSM/USA Today 2 Feb 2005)

[Note: The concern with digital manipulation of photos is much ado about nothing to me. Back in the ‘70s we were taught how to take and process photos to represent our version of reality. For instance, at a public meeting, if you wanted to make it look like there was a lot of public interest, you took the photo with people in the foreground. If you wanted to indicate little or no public interest, you took the photo with empty chairs in the foreground. And this is not to mention “burning”, “shading” and other processing techniques to change the final photo.
All digital photography has done is make it easier to lie to the public. But we’ve been manipulating the images we produce for decades.]
~~~~~
Pam Prince gave us the following “Master’s Hands” Tanzanian Mission update.

Hello from Arusha!
For Christmas 2004, we were most thankful for our health!
We had quite a scare in the early part of December.
Brandt was having severe pain in his side and we took him to a doctor, who said it was acute appendicitis. We went for a second opinion who said the same thing. We then traveled to Nairobi, Kenya for emergency surgery. We arrived late at night and, after dropping the boys at a friend’s house, went to the emergency room. Two doctors looked at him and said he needed immediate surgery. They told me to go on home since the boys were waiting for me.
The next morning, when I returned, they hadn’t operated. The head surgeon said he wanted to wait; he wasn’t sure it was appendicitis. They kept Brandt in the hospital for two days, observing him and, in the end, said it had resolved itself. But we know the truth of the matter was God healed him! We are so thankful for all those who were praying for him and thankful to God who is faithful!
Building Projects:
Brandt finished the Bible school dormitory enough for the new students to move into, but still has lots of work to do to get it all completed.
Bible School News:
In December we had our 2nd graduation for the Bible school with 28 graduates. It was a day of rejoicing as they received their diplomas and were prayed for to enter into the harvest fields!
The Bible school started up again with a fresh batch of students in January. We have over 50 students from all over the country and several from neighboring countries. I have been busy teaching classes on Prayer, Gifts of the Holy Spirit, and Principles of Teaching.
On the Homefront:
Austin just turned 6 in December and is eagerly awaiting the loss of his two front teeth! Ty continues to be a challenge, but were thrilled to say, after 8 months of trying, he is finally potty-trained. He does, however, need his own personal dentist from all the candy I gave him to convince him to ‘go’ to the toilet.

Thank You:
We appreciated all of you who help us in so many ways. It means so much to us to know that we have a core of people who will pray for us, no matter what we need. Others of you send letters of encouragement and packages. Still others send financial support. All of it is meaningful to us. Thank you.
Joyfully,
Brandt, Pam, Austin and Ty

For financial support: please make checks payable to AMA and mail to Agape Missionary Alliance, P. O. Box 22007, Little Rock, AR 72221. Write PRINCE on the memo line.
~~~~~
"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.
~~~~~
National Do Not Call Registry - - https://www.donotcall.gov/register/Reg.aspx - - This Federal Trade Commission site lets you add your name to a registry if you do not want to be called by telemarketers. If you are already registered and receive a call, you can also File A Complaint. - - https://www.donotcall.gov/Complain/ComplainCheck.aspx
~~~~~
This week we share excerpts from “Da Bleat” of Friday, February 11, 2000.
~~~~~
We’re always looking for stories as well as jokes and other contributions. Don’t hesitate to share any offerings with us.
~~~~~
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. $1.89 $2.01 $2.08 $2.06
http://www.fuelgaugereport.com/
Magnolia Wal-Mart price today, $1.82
~~~~~
Recipe of the week; Chocolate Chip Blond Brownies
These are the brownies Annette remembers from high school days.


1/3-cup butter, melted
1-cup brown sugar
1 egg
1-teaspoon vanilla

1-cup flour
½ teaspoon baking powder

1/8-teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup walnuts
1(6-ounce) package chocolate chips (semisweet, milk or mini)


In medium bowl, mix melted butter and brown sugar. Add egg and vanilla. Mix in dry ingredients, then nuts. Batter will be thick. Spread into an 8- or 9-inch square, well-greased pan. Sprinkle chocolate chips over batter. Bake in 350-degree oven for 30 minutes or until brown and edges come away from the side of the pan.

Ann Satow, Frankenmuth, Mich.

Note: If you want to make special dessert, top a brownie with good quality vanilla ice cream and pour hot fudge over ice cream. To make delicious Garner Farms Hot Fudge, add 2 squares of unsweetened chocolate to 1 can of sweetened condensed milk (not evaporated). Microwave in a glass bowl, stirring occasionally, until chocolate is melted. Add 1-teaspoon vanilla.

Refrigerate leftovers; if fudge becomes too thick, thin with a little milk.

http://www.post-gazette.com/food/19991003suz1a.asp
~~~~~
A new source of Christian Music especially for you "Pod" people.
'Podcasting' Lets Masses Do Radio Shows
Feb 6, 3:43 PM (ET)
By MATTHEW FORDAHL

SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) - After getting a taste of the radio business in college, software designer Craig Patchett never lost his interest in broadcasting. But without a job in radio, it seemed likely to remain one of those unfulfilled passions - until something called "podcasting" came along.
Now, Patchett's creating shows and sending them out to the masses every day - not over the airwaves to radios but over the Internet, from his personal computer in Carlsbad, Calif.
His listeners download his shows to their iPods and other digital music players.
Patchett, 43, is among a growing number of people getting into podcasting, which is quickly becoming another of the Internet's equalizing technologies.
Less than a year old, podcasting enables anyone with a PC to become a broadcaster. It has the potential to do to the radio business what Web logs have done to print journalism. By bringing the cost of broadcasting to nearly nothing, it's enabling more voices and messages to be heard than ever before.

"It was just one of those things where you read about a technology and it clicks in your head: This is perfect and something I want to get involved with," said Patchett, whose podcasts focus on Christian and family programming.
For listeners, podcasting offers a diverse menu of programs, which can be enjoyed anywhere, anytime. Unlike traditional radio, shows can be easily paused, rewound or fast-forwarded. The listener doesn't need to be near a PC, unlike most forms of Internet radio.
The number of regular podcasts is well over 800 and growing daily. Many focus on gadgets, technology and podcasting itself. Others highlight new bands and music or discuss the latest developments in politics, movies and sports. There are podcasts for beer lovers and wine aficionados, even a few for astronomy buffs and for activities performed in the buff.
Productions range from stream-of-consciousness rants punctuated by "uhs" to highly professional shows complete with sound effects and music. Unlike radio, there's no time limit, deadlines or government oversight of what's said.
"There are going to be podcast stars who are just entertaining to listen to," said Adam Curry, a former MTV personality and a driving force behind podcasting. "There will be Howard Sterns who can use the seven dirty words on their shows."
Before podcasting arrived, Curry was frustrated by the state of broadcasting on the Internet, which is often done by streaming feeds. Unlike with traditional radio, streaming costs grow with the audience, and it's difficult for listeners to do save the show or do anything else with it afterward.
By comparison, regular downloads of audio files can be more evenly distributed over time and let listeners move programs to portable devices. Before podcasting, however, there was no simple mechanism to do that automatically.
Curry saw potential in a technology called Really Simple Syndication, or RSS, which automatically feeds text from Web logs and other sites to subscribers so they can read summaries from many sites at once.
After meeting with Curry in 1999, RSS co-inventor Dave Winer updated the protocol so that attachments, such as MP3 audio files, could be sent along with text.
But there was no program that could automatically transfer the files to a music player - until last summer when Curry taught himself the AppleScript programming language and created a small program called iPodder.
It caught the attention of programmers.
"Within in a week, not only had people improved the script dramatically, but they started creating their own versions in Python, Perl and Java" programming languages, Curry said. "A whole new category of software had been created."
Curry also started up a podcast, "Daily Source Code," to give the programmers something to listen to. But it didn't take long for other shows to appear.
"Basically, it was a radio show for a very small community, which just grew astronomically," he said. "Before I knew it, people were sending me links and clips from their own podcasts. We didn't even have the name 'podcast' - we were calling them shows, audioblog posts all kinds of different names."
It was in a Sept. 15 online post that Dannie Gregoire of Louisville, Ky., coined "podcast."
When entered into a Google search, the word now returns 1.6 million results. Curry says his own podcast now has 50,000 listeners, and Gregoire has created a portal that organizes podcasts by content. A number of Web sites do the same, including Curry's ipodder.org and Patchett's godcast.org.
But is there money to be made? Maybe, podcasters say.
Gregoire, who runs one of the go-to Web sites for anyone interested in the phenomenon, says he's looking at a number of business models, including offering a service to host shows or simple tools to put them online.
"Even though it's relatively easy, there are still stumbling blocks," he said.
Real radio stations are also taking note. Public radio's WGBH in Boston has started podcasting its weekly "American Stories" segment, which saw its downloads jump from 30 downloads in the first week to 57,000 in December.
"Those are the kinds of trend lines that get your attention," said Bob Lyons, the station's director of radio and new media initiatives. "They certainly got ours."
The corporate world is also jumping in. Thomson Petersons, best known for its college guides and test-prep books, was expected to announce plans Tuesday to begin podcasting 10-minute audio files offering students general advice on college admissions, financial aid and standardized tests.
Podcasting isn't likely to threaten traditional broadcasting any time soon, as the number of digital music players is only in the tens of millions, compared with hundreds of millions of radios. But as the player market grows - and more devices such as cell phones become capable of play audio files - it could pull away advertising dollars, especially those that target younger generations.
Public radio is showing the most interest, both in distributing traditional programs as podcasts and looking for new voices.
"It's easier for us to jump into this because our profit model is still very similar to the profit model of podcasting, which is put something out there and then figure out how to ask money for it," said Brendan Greeley, site editor of the Public Radio Exchange, a distributor of programming.
Some podcasters still see podcasting as just a fun hobby.
Mark VandeWettering, a Pixar Animation Studios technical director, podcasts from his El Sobrante, Calif., home on a range of subjects, including fatherhood, baseball and telescope building.
"It would be great if I made a fortune doing it, but I don't see how that could possibly happen," he said. "I'm not really trying for it, either. I'm hoping to meet some interesting people and establish some good communications with people on weird topics."
---
On the Net: Podcasting portals: - - http://www.podcastalley.com - - http://www.godcast.org
Adam Curry's iPodder software: http://www.ipodder.org
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20050206/D88382SG0.html
~~~~~
BREAKPOINT Commentaries
by Chuck Colson. - Prison Fellowship

Fighting For What’s Important
Million Dollar Baby and House
February 11, 2005

Spoiler Alert: This commentary gives away the ending for Million Dollar Baby.

One of the favorites for this year’s Academy Awards is Million Dollar Baby. The film tells the story of Frankie, a boxing trainer, and Maggie, a fighter he reluctantly agrees to train and eventually comes to love.

The film has earned a “Best Picture” nomination, as well as nominations for director Clint Eastwood, who also plays Frankie, and Hilary Swank, who plays Maggie. It has also earned some well-deserved criticism for it’s handling of the most important question of all: what makes life worth living.

For most of its two-and-a-quarter hours, Million Dollar Baby is a story about love and determination. Frankie and Maggie need each other because they both have something to prove, to themselves and to others. Under Frankie’s tutelage, Maggie rises through the ranks of women’s boxing.

Then tragedy strikes: An illegal blow causes Maggie to strike her head against the stool. She’s left as a quadriplegic. Frankie works just as hard at trying to help Maggie adjust to her new life out of the ring as he did helping her in the ring. But that’s not what she wants. She wants Frankie to help her end her life—which he does.

Why? As Frederica Mathewes-Green wrote, it’s not because she’s in pain or even because she’s depressed. Rather, it’s because “she can’t bear to be a has-been.” In the moral universe of the film, “anyone who comes to the end of their 15 minutes of fame is justified in seeking suicide.” The idea that, as with my friend, Joni Eareckson Tada, life goes on even after paralysis—and is even richer, perhaps—is alien to this universe.

Given what this says about the quality and worth of the lives lived by the disabled, it’s not surprising that disability-rights groups have protested the film.

You might not expect anything different from Hollywood, but there is one alternative. The new Fox hospital drama, House, tells the story of a diagnostician named Dr. Gregory House. He’s not what you would call a “people person.” As he says, “humanity is overrated.” Add the fact that he is in constant pain, which causes him to pop painkillers like candy, and you’ve got the man who put the mis in misanthrope.

And while House dislikes people, he hates death. Thus, he has no patience with people like Maggie who won’t fight as hard to preserve the gift of life as they did in less important pursuits. When patients say they want to discontinue treatment and die, House calls them “idiots” and disputes their sentimentality about “dying with dignity.” Death is always messy and always represents a waste—so much so that he even disregards the occasional “do not resuscitate” order. Instead of hastening death, he insists on “practicing medicine for a change.”

Exactly. While Christians shouldn’t fear death, we don’t prefer it to life. Like Dr. House, we know that death is an interloper. There comes a time to let go of life; but only after we’ve put up a good fight worthy of the gift of life. Because Maggie didn’t understand this, her life, like her death, was a waste. She didn’t die a “has-been,” but a “never-was” who refused to embrace this most glorious of all gifts, life.

For further reading and information:

Today’s BreakPoint offer: In Finding God in the Movies, authors Robert K. Johnston and Catherine Barsotti present a unique resource to help believers engage and enjoy films of faith. Included are resources for understanding and discerning the Christian message relevant to thirty-three recent movies now available in video or DVD formats.

Frederica Mathewes-Green, “ R-E-S-P-E-C-T: Million Dollar Baby goes too far and not far enough ,” National Review Online, 2 February 2005 .

Sanda Allyson, “Million Dollar Baby Cost Too High,” Joni and Friends.

Learn more about Joni Eareckson Tada’s advocacy group for the disabled, Joni and Friends .

David Grosz, “ Opposite Attraction: Clint Eastwood, Mel Gibson, and Death ,” New Republic, 18 January 2005 . (Available to subscribers only.)

“The backlash over ‘Million Dollar Baby’ ,” CNN, 7 February 2005 .

Jeffrey Overstreet, “ Review of Million Dollar Baby,” Christianity Today, 7 January 2005 .

Learn more about the show House.

S. T. Karnick, “ Must-Believe TV: Christianity Gets a Fair Shake ,” National Review Online, 21 December 2004 .

Tom Shales, “ ‘House’: Watching Is the Best Medicine ,” WashingtonPost, 16 November 2004 , C01.

Roberto Rivera, “ Lean on Me: Dignity and Dependency ,” BreakPoint Online, 28 January 2004 .

Rita L. Marker and Wesley J. Smith, “ Words, Words, Words: Terms used in the euthanasia debate—their use and abuse ,” International Task Force on Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide.

Arthur J. Dyck, Life’s Worth: The Case against Assisted Suicide (Eerdmans, 2002).

Richard John Neuhaus, As I Lay Dying: Meditations on Returning (Basic Books, 2002).

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:

pukka: genuine; also, first-class.
kvetch: to complain habitually.
brio: vigor; vivacity.
importunate: troublesomely urgent.
dishabille: the state of being carelessly or partially dressed.
purblind: having greatly reduced vision.
asseverate: to affirm or declare positively or earnestly.
celerity: quickness; swiftness.

from Dictionary.Com
~~~~~
"Before seeking revenge, first dig two graves." - Chinese proverb

"The secret of joy in work is contained in one word - excellence. To know how to do something well is to enjoy it." - Pearl Buck

"Boys are beyond the range of anybody's sure understanding, at least when they are between the ages of 18 months and 90 years." - James Thurber

"Vanity and pride are different things, though the words are often used synonymously. A person may be proud without being vain. Pride relates more to our opinion of ourselves, vanity to what we would have others think of us." - Jane Austen

"The philosophy of one century is the common sense of the next." - Henry Ward Beecher

"Just as the wave cannot exist for itself, but is ever a part of the heaving surface of the ocean, so must I never live my life for itself, but always in the experience which is going on around me. It is an uncomfortable doctrine which the true ethics whisper into my ear. You are happy, they say; therefore you are called upon to give much." - Albert Schweitzer

"If you want to be creative, stay in part a child, with the creativity and invention that characterizes children before they are deformed by adult society." - Jean Piaget

"Love, is a quicksilver word; though you see plainly where it is, you have only to put your finger on it to find that it is not there but someplace else." - Morton Hunt
~~~~~
FLASH CARD "Someday, after mastering the winds, the waves, the tides and gravity, we shall harness for God the energies of love, and then, for a second time in the history of the world, man will have discovered fire." (Pierre Teilhard de Chardin)
*****
FLASH CARD "It is a paradoxical but profoundly true and important principle of life that the most likely way to reach a goal is to be aiming not at that goal itself but at some more ambitious goal beyond it." (Arnold Toynbee)
*****
FLASH CARD "Wilderness is not a luxury but a necessity of the human spirit." (Edward Abbey)
*****
FLASH CARD "I have come to believe over and over again that what is most important to me must be spoken, made verbal and shared, even at the risk of having it bruised or misunderstood." (Audre Lord)
*****
FLASH CARD "I don't deserve this award, but I have arthritis and I don't deserve that either." (Jack Benny)

><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><>
GCF: Priests and Golf

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

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.
--------------------------
Taking advantage of a balmy day in New York, my brother and three other priests swapped their clerical garb for polos and khakis and time out on the golf course. After several really horrible shots, their caddy asked, "You guys wouldn't be priests by any chance?"

"Actually, yes, we are," one cleric replied. "Why?"

"Because," said the caddy, "I've never seen such bad golf and such clean language!"
- --------------------- -
GCF: Refueling

Emailed to me another humor list (Pastor Tim's Clean Laugh List) -Tom Subscribe to Pastor Tim's Clean Laugh list at the website: Subscribe
----------------------------
Once my wife and I had to take a flight that had 4 other stops before arriving at the Dallas-Forth Worth Airport. At the first stop, a little white truck drove up to the plane and my wife watched it pull up to the wing. She asked, "What's that truck doing?"

I explained that some airlines don't completely fuel up a plane for various reasons & we were taking on more fuel. This process was repeated at the next three stops, and my wife watched the plane being fueled each time.

At the last stop, I said, "You know, in spite of all these delays, we're making pretty good time."

My wife pointed out the window and said, "I don't know. That little truck is keeping up with us."
- --------------------- -
GCF: Job Performance Review

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
--------------------------
"Suppose," says the old salt of a sea captain, testing his new recruit, "that a sudden storm springs up on your starboard side. What would you do?"

"Throw out an anchor, sir," says the new sailor.

"And what would you do if another storm sprang up aft?"

"Throw out another anchor, sir," the raw recruit replies.

"Now," says the captain, "a storm springs up forward of the ship. What would you do this time?"

"Throw out another anchor, Captain."

"Hold on, hold on. Where are you getting all these anchors from?"

"From the same place you're getting your storms, sir," replied the new recruit.

He got to keep his job.
- --------------------- -
GCF: Ulterior Motive?

Emailed to me from another humor list (Marty's Joke of the Day) -Tom To subscribe to Marty's Joke of the Day, send a blank email to: martysjotd-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
--------------------------
My dry cleaner very generously provides a stack of free newspapers for his customers.

As I took my copy, I told him, "I hope the business grows enough to offset the cost of the papers."

Oh, don't worry about us," he chuckled. "Nothing dirties clothes more than newsprint."
- --------------------- -
GCF: Wrong Number

Emailed to me another humor list (Pastor Tim's Clean Laugh List) -Tom Subscribe to Pastor Tim's Clean Laugh list at the website: Subscribe
--------------------------
I still have a lot of trouble with wrong numbers. Yesterday I dialed the Red Cross and got the Internal Revenue Service in error.
So the I.R.S. operator asked me what number I had dialed. I said, "The Red Cross, you know, where they take the blood."

She said, "Well, you aren't too far off, are you?"
- --------------------- -
GCF: Predicting the Future

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

--------------------------
Amy: Can people predict the future with cards?

Joan: My mother can.

Amy: Really?

Joan: Yes, she takes one look at my report card and tells me what will happen when my father gets home.
- ------------------------------ -
/ )| Thomas S. Ellsworth |( / / | tellswor@slonet.org | \ -( (- | http://www.slonet.org/~tellswor | -) )-
(((\ \>|-/ )----------------------( \-| \\\\ \-/ / How do I get my VCR to \ \-/ ////
\ / start blinking "1:00" when \ /
\ -/ Daylight Savings Time arrives? \- /
/ / \ (((\ \>|-/ )---------------------( \-| \\\\ \-/ / \ \-/ ////
\ / "Of all the things I've lost, \ /
\ -/ I miss my mind the most." \- /
/ / --Mark Twain \ (((\ \>|-/ )---------------------( \-| \\\\ \-/ / \ \-/ ////
\ / No sense being pessimistic. \ /
\ -/ It wouldn't work anyway. \- /
/ / \ (((\ \>|-/ )---------------------( \-| \\\\ \-/ / \ \-/ ////
\ / I spilled Spot remover on \ /
\ -/ my dog. Now he's gone. \- /
/ / \ (((\ \>|-/ )---------------------( \-| \\\\ \-/ / I love deadlines. \ \-/ ////
\ / I especially like the \ /
\ -/ whooshing sound they make \- /
/ / when they go flying by. \ (((\ \>|-/ )---------------------( \-| \\\\ \-/ / \ \-/ ////
\ / There is no snooze button \ /
\ -/ on a cat that wants breakfast. \- /
/ / \ \\\\ \-/ / \ \-/ ///// / \ / )| Thomas S. Ellsworth |( / / | tellswor@slonet.org | \ -( (- | http://www. slonet.org/~tellswor | -) )-
(((\ \>|-/ )---------------------( \-| *** Good Clean Fun ***
Stop for a visit, leave with a smile! To join Good Clean Fun, email: good-clean-fun-subscribe@yahoogroups.Com To leave Good Clean Fun, email: good-clean-fun-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.Com Or visit the Good Clean Fun web site at http://www. slonet.org/~tellswor/
><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><>
[GCFL.net] Insensitive Bag Boy

Checking out of the grocery store, I noticed that the bag boy was eyeing my two adopted children curiously. They often draw scrutiny, since my son's a blond Russian, while my daughter has shiny black Haitian skin.

The boy continued staring as he carried our groceries to the car. Finally, he asked, "Are those your kids?"

"Yes, they are!" I answered proudly.

"They adopted?" he asked.

"Yes," I replied.

"I thought so," he concluded. "I figured you're too old to have kids that small."

Received from Marty's Joke of the Day.
-=+=-
[GCFL.net] Calling In Sick

/* We got quite a bit of negative feedback on yesterday's pun. Let's see if I can do better. Have a great day! */

Negotiations between union members and their employer were at an impasse. The union denied that their workers were flagrantly abusing their contract's sick-leave provisions.
One morning at the bargaining table, the company's chief negotiator held aloft the morning edition of the newspaper. "This man," he announced, "Called in sick yesterday!"

There on the sports page was a photo of the supposedly ill employee, who had just won a local golf tournament with an excellent score.

The silence in the room was broken by a union negotiator.

"Wow," he said. "Think of the score he could have had if he hadn't been sick!"

Received from Pastor Tim.
-=+=-
[GCFL.net] Botany Discovery

Some botanists had just returned from an expedition to the South Pacific Islands and was discussing their adventures with their colleagues back at the university where they taught. "What was the most exciting discovery you found there?" asked a fellow professor.

One of them replied, "The people native to this one island had discovered the most amazing cure for constipation. Using only the leafs of the local palm trees they concocted a suppository which quickly cured the ailment."

Another professor asked, "A palm leaf suppository? Did it really work?"

Replied the botanist, "Sure! With fronds like these, who needs enemas?"

(Pretty punny, ain't it. :))

Received from Randall M. Rueff.
-=+=-
[GCFL.net] New Watch And Perfume

The small girl had recently received a new watch and some perfume, which she was very excited about. Their family asked the pastor over for dinner. The girl wanted so badly to tell the pastor about her new gifts, but her mother insisted she wait until after dinner and not interrupt at meal time.

Not able to contain her excitement, and not wanting to disobey, the little girl leaned over to the pastor during dinner and whispered, "If you hear a little noise and smell something, it's me!"

Received from Alana Unger.
-=+=-
[GCFL.net] Weird Fact

(GCFL has not verified these "facts" and does not claim they are true.)
The king of hearts is the only king without a mustache.

Mosquito repellents don't repel. They hide you. The spray blocks the mosquito's sensors so they don't know you're there.

Apples, not caffeine, are more efficient at waking you up in the morning.

The plastic things on the end of shoelaces are called aglets.

Most dust particles in your house are made from dead skin.

The first owner of the Marlboro company died of lung cancer.

Barbie's full name is Barbara Millicent Roberts.

Betsy Ross is the only real person to ever have been the head on a Pez dispenser.

The citrus soda 7-UP was created in 1929; "7" was selected because the original containers were 7 ounces. "UP" indicated the direction of the bubbles.

No standard 8 1/2 x 11 piece of paper can be folded in half more than 7 times.

One in every four Americans has appeared on television.

Oak trees do not produce acorns until they are fifty years of age or older.

A Boeing 747's wingspan is longer than the Wright brothers' first flight.

The albatross drinks sea water. It has a special desalinization apparatus that strains out and excretes all excess salt.

In Clarendon, Texas, there is reportedly a law on the books that lawyers must accept eggs, chickens, or other produce, as well as money, as payment of legal fees.

Cats purr at 26 cycles per second, the same as an idling diesel engine.

A dragonfly flaps its wings 20 to 40 times a second, bees and houseflies 200 times, some mosquitoes 600 times, and a tiny gnat 1,000 times.

Marilyn Monroe had six toes.

The first product to have a bar code was Wrigley's gum.

A duck's quack doesn't echo, and no one knows why.

The combination "ough" can be pronounced in nine different ways. The following sentence contains them all: "A rough-coated, dough-faced, thoughtful ploughman strode through the streets of Scarborough; after falling into a slough, he coughed and hiccoughed."

Facetious and abstemious contain all the vowels in the correct order, as does arsenious, meaning "containing arsenic."

The United States has never lost a war in which mules were used.

Blueberry Jelly Bellies were created especially for Ronald Reagan.

All porcupines float in water.

Non-dairy creamer is flammable.

When opossums are playing "possum," they are not "playing."
They actually pass out from sheer terror.

Received from FranCMT2.
-=+=-
– NEW! Go to http://www.gcfl.net/archive.php?funny=20050124 to rate this funny from 0 to 5.
-=+=-
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
><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><>
Momma's Bible

Four brothers left home for college, and they became successful doctors and lawyers and prospered.

Some years later, they chatted after having dinner together. They discussed the gifts they were able to give their elderly mother who lived far away in another city.

The first said, "I had a big house built for Momma."

The second said, " I had a hundred thousand dollar theater built in the house."

The third said, "I had my Mercedes dealer deliver an SL600 to her."

The fourth said, "You know how Momma loved reading the Bible and you know she can't read anymore because she can't see very well. I met this preacher who told me about a parrot that can recite the entire bible. It took twenty preachers 12 years to teach him. I had to pledge to contribute $100,000 a year for twenty years to the church, but it was worth it. Momma just has to name the chapter and verse and the parrot will recite it." The other brothers were impressed.

After the holidays Momma sent out her Thank You notes. She wrote:

"Milton, the house you built is so huge. I live in only one room, but I have to clean the whole house. Thanks anyway."

"Marvin, I am too old to travel. I stay home, I have my groceries delivered, so I never use the Mercedes. The thought was good. Thanks."

"Michael, you gave me and expensive theater with Dolby sound, it could hold 50 people, but all of my friends are dead, I've lost my hearing and I'm nearly blind. I'll never use it. Thank you for the gesture just the same."

"Dearest Melvin, you were the only son to have the good sense to give a little thought to your gift. The chicken was delicious. Thank you."

Thanks to Norma Kay
><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><>
Hit Tunes

Some of the artists from the '60s and '70's are revising their hits with new lyrics to accommodate us aging baby boomers. This is good news for "those feeling a little older" and missing those great old tunes.

Herman's Hermits
"MRS. BROWN, YOU'VE GOT A LOVELY WALKER"

The Bee Gees
"HOW CAN YOU MEND A BROKEN HIP"

Bobby Darin
"SPLISH, SPLASH, I WAS HAVIN' A FLASH"

Beatles
"I GET BY WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM DEPENDS"

Roberta Flack
"THE FIRST TIME EVER I FORGOT YOUR FACE"

Johnny Nash
"I CAN'T SEE CLEARLY NOW"

Paul Simon
"FIFTY WAYS TO LOSE YOUR LIVER"

Commodores
"ONCE, TWICE, THREE TIMES TO THE BATHROOM"

Marvin Gaye
"I HEARD IT THROUGH THE GRAPE NUTS"

Procol Harem
"A WHITER SHADE OF HAIR"

Leo Sayer
"YOU MAKE ME FEEL LIKE NAPPING"

The Temptations
"PAPA'S GOT A KIDNEY STONE"

ABBA
"DENTURE QUEEN

Thanks to Trina Montgomery
><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><>
Giving a man his physical, a doctor noticed several dark, ugly bruises
on his shins, so he asked, "Do you play hockey, soccer, or any physical
sport?"

"Not at all. I just play bridge with my wife."
- ------------------------------------- -
/ )| Thomas S. Ellsworth |( / / | tellswor@slonet.org | \ -( (- | http://www.slonet.org/~tellswor | -) )-
(((\ \>|-/ )-----------------------------( \-| \\\\ \-/ / \ \-/ ////
\ / If it weren't for electricity \ /
\ -/ we'd all be watching television \- /
/ / by candlelight. - George Gobel ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><>
SMILEAWHILE [E-mail Rules]
From: "Roy D. Knight"

This is not the "usual" kind of SMILEAWHILE, but when I read one or two
of these rules I both grimaced and laughed. We've all "been there" as
you will see. Thanks to the Quiggles of Myrtle Beach, SC for sending
this one to me! Roy
-------------------------

GREAT E-MAIL RULES

Thanks to Bob Hartman for passing these along...

Here are some great E-mail rules to live by. Whoever wrote this deserves

some sort of Internet Education Award.....

1. Big companies don't do business via chain letter. Bill Gates is not giving you $1000, and Disney is not giving you a free vacation.

2. There is no baby food company issuing class-action checks. MTV will not give you backstage passes if you forward something to the most people.

3 You can relax; there is no need to pass it on "just in case it's true." Furthermore, just because someone said in the message, four generations back, that "we checked it out and it's legit," does not actually make it true.

4. There is no kidney theft ring in New Orleans. No one is waking up in a bathtub full of ice, even if a friend of a friend swears it happened to their cousin. "The National Kidney Foundation has repeatedly issued requests for actual victims of organ thieves to come forward and tell their stories. None have." That's "none" as in "zero." Not even your friend's cousin.

5. There is no "Good Times" virus. In fact, you should never, ever, ever forward any email containing any virus warning unless you first
confirm it exists at an actual site of an actual company that actually deals with viruses. Try: http://www.norton.com. You cannot get a virus from a flashing IM or email, you have to download....ya know, like, a FILE!

6. If you're using Outlook, IE, or Netscape to write email, turn off the "HTML encoding," Those of us on Unix shells can't read it, and won't bother to save the attachment and then view it with a web browser.

7. If you still absolutely MUST forward that 10th-generation message from a friend, at least try to trim the miles of headers showing everyone else who's received it over the last 6 months.

8. It sure wouldn't hurt to get rid of all the " " that begin each line.

9. The "Make a Wish" foundation is a real organization doing fine work, but they have had to establish a special toll free hot line in response
to the large number of Internet hoaxes using their good name and reputation. It is distracting them from the important work they do.

10. If you are one of those people who forwards anything that promises "something bad will happen if you don't," then you are worrying for no reason, nothing bad will happen to you, so relax. Also you will not receive "good luck" for passing it along. Remember the Bible is not a luck book.

Bottom Line.....composing e-mail or posting something on the Net is as easy as writing on the walls of a public restroom. Don't automatically
believe it....ASSUME it's false, unless there is proof that it's true.

Now, forward this message to ten friends and you will win the Publishers Clearing House sweepstakes..................NOT!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
SMILEAWHILE is a "part time" ministry of the Rev. Dr. Roy Knight of Parkersburg, WV, where he pastors the Epworth and Lauckport United Methodist Churches. While people's tastes, background, theology, and culture differ it is NEVER his intention to offend "subscribers" to this list. Persons can be added (for free!) or removed by responding
personally to royknight@juno.com. Proverbs 17:22
><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><>
Subject: [GCFL] Stain-Removal Guide
From: GCFL
-----
Here's a handy guide to getting out those pesky fabric stains:

Blood-Spill more blood around area of stain so it won't stand out as much.

Ink-Fall to knees and plead, "Why, God, why? Why dost thou test me so?"

Grass-Write the name of your liquid detergent on stain. Wash. Hold up to camera, and show off the unbelievable results.

Mud-Place large iron-on NASCAR patch over stain. Apply heat for 60 seconds.

Tomato Sauce-Take out the mook responsible for your tomato-sauce stain by executing him gangland-style in the back of the head. Capeche?

Coffee-Rub cream and sugar into stain. Apply oral suction. Enjoy rich, robust coffee-stain flavor.

Wine-Apply mixture of 1/2 rum and 1/2 Coke to self until you no longer care about some little freaking stain.

Chewing Gum-Using permanent marker, draw dotted line around stain. Cut carefully on dotted line.

Nail Polish-Nail-polish stains are actually quite lovely. Why not leave them in for a pleasing "homecrafted" look?

© Copyright 1998 Onion, Inc., All rights reserved. The Onion
(Edited by GCFL)
Received from McHawList (http://www.onelist.com/community/McHawList)
-=+=-
Remember when the funniest jokes were the clean ones? They still are!
The Good, Clean Funnies List: Good, clean funnies five times a week, FOR FREE!
For subscription and other information, go to our web page at http://www.gcfl.net, or send email to gcfl-info@gcfl.net.

A cheerful heart is good medicine... (Prov 17:22a)
><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><>
Dear God...written by children

1. Dear God, please put another holiday between Christmas and Easter. There is nothing good in there now. Amanda
2. Dear God, Thank you for the baby brother but what I asked for was a puppy. I never asked for anything before. You can look it up. Joyce
3. Dear Mr. God, I wish you would not make it so easy for people to come apart. I had to have 3 stitches and a shot. Janet
4. God, I read the bible. What does beget mean? Nobody will tell me. Love, Alison
5. Dear God, how did you know you were God? Who told you? Charlene
6. Dear God, is it true my father won't get in Heaven if he uses his golf words in the house? Anita
7. Dear God, I bet it's very hard for you to love all of everybody in the whole world. There are only 4 people in our family and I can never do it.
8. Dear God, I like the story about Noah the best of all of them. You really made up some good ones. I like walking on water, too. Glenn
9. Dear God, my Grandpa says you were around when he was a little boy. How far back do you go? Love, Dennis
10. Dear God, do you draw the lines around the countries? If you don't, who does? Nathan
11. Dear God, did you mean for giraffes to look like that or was it an accident? Norma
12. Dear God, in bible times, did they really talk that fancy? Jennifer
13. Dear God, how come you did all those miracles in the old days and don't do any now?
14. Dear God, please send Dennis Clark to a different summer camp this year.
15. Dear God, maybe Cain and Abel would not kill each other so much if they each had their own rooms. It works out OK with me and my brother.
16. Dear God, I keep waiting for spring, but it never did come yet. What's up? Don't forget. Mark
17. Dear God, my brother told me about how you are born but it just doesn't sound right. What do you say? Marsha
18. Dear God, if you watch in Church on Sunday I will show you my new shoes. Barbara
19. Dear God, is Reverend Coe a friend of yours, or do you just know him through the business? Donny
20. Dear God, I do not think anybody could be a better God than you. Well, I just want you to know that. I am not just saying that because you are
already God. Charles
21. Dear God, it is great the way you always get the stars in the right place. Why can't you do that with the moon? Jeff
22. Dear God, I am doing the best I can. Really. Frank
And, saving the best for last . . ...
23. Dear God, I didn't think orange went with purple until I saw the sunset you made on Tuesday night. That was really cool. Thomas

Thanks to Angie Caldwell
><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><>
Sometimes you just need to hear the whole story.
----------------------------------------
A lady walks into a drug store and tells the pharmacist she needs some cyanide.

The pharmacist said, "Why in the world do you need
cyanide?" The lady then explained she needed it to poison her husband.

The pharmacist's eyes got big and he said, "Lord have mercy, I can't give you cyanide to kill your husband!
That's against the law! I'll lose my license, they'll throw both of us in jail and all kinds of bad things will happen!
Absolutely not, you can NOT have any cyanide!"

Then the lady reached into her purse and pulled out a
picture of her husband in bed with the pharmacist's wife.
The pharmacist looked at the picture and replied, "Well now, you didn't tell me you had a prescription."

Thanks to Sam Boggs
><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><>
Welcome to You Make Me Laugh, a free newsletter from Crosswalk.com, the world's largest Christian website.

Today's Clean Laugh

Fiery Love

Jolene had wanted new kitchen cabinets for a long time, but her husband insisted they were an extravagance.

She went to visit her mother for two weeks, and when she returned, she was overjoyed to find that beautiful new cabinets had been installed in her kitchen.

A few days later, a neighbor came over to visit and after admiring the new cabinets, the neighbor added,

"All of us were so glad that the fire your husband had while you were gone was confined to the kitchen."

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

Aunt Emma

A couple's happy married life almost went on the rocks because of the presence in the household of old Aunt Emma.

For seventeen long years she lived with them, always crotchety, always demanding.

Eventually, the old girl passed away.

On the way back from the cemetery, the husband confessed to his wife, "Darling, if I didn't love you so much, I don't think I would have put up with having your Aunt Emma in the house all those years."

His wife looked at him aghast.

"My Aunt Emma!" she cried. "I thought she was 'your' Aunt Emma!"

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

Weight Training

My grandfather worked in a blacksmith shop when he was a boy, and he used to tell me, when I was a little boy myself, how he had toughened himself up so he could stand the rigors of blacksmithing.

One story was how he had developed his arm and shoulder muscles. He said he would stand outside behind the house and, with a 5 pound potato sack in each hand, extend his arms straight out to his sides and hold them there as long as he could.

After awhile he tried 10 pound potato sacks, then 50 pound potato sacks and finally he got to where he could lift a 100 pound potato sack in each hand and hold his arms straight out for more than a full minute! Next, he started putting potatoes in the sacks.

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

Caught in the Act

I was playing tooth fairy when my daughter, Marina, suddenly woke up.

Seeing the money in my hand, she cried out, "I caught you!"

I froze and tried to think of an explanation for why I, instead of the tooth fairy, was putting the money under her pillow but her next words let me off the hook.

"You put that money back!" she said indignantly. "The tooth fairy left that for me!"

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

Graceless at Grandma's

Little Johnny and his family were having Sunday dinner at his Grandmother's house.

Everyone was seated around the table as the food was being served. When little Johnny received his plate, he started eating right away.

"Johnny, wait until we say our prayer," his mother reminded him.

"I don't have to," the little boy replied.

"Of course you do," his mother insisted, "we say a prayer before eating at our house."

"That's at our house," Johnny explained, "but this is Grandma's house and she knows how to cook!"

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

*Eye Laugh*

"CSI Egypt"
http://www.cybersalt.org/go.php?id=cw595

"Hair In Salad"
http://www.cybersalt.org/go.php?id=cw615

"Upside-down Reason"
http://www.cybersalt.org/go.php?id=cw624

"Hair Balls"
http://www.cybersalt.org/go.php?id=cw626

"Valentine's Back"
http://www.cybersalt.org/cleanweird/vback.htm

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://madkane.com/almanac.html - - Almanacs are evil. Who knew? 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
><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><>
Science of Music - - http://www.exploratorium.edu/music/ - - What is music? Is birdsong music? How about the tap-tap-tap of a hammer, or the wail of a creaking door? Is playing a garbage can different than playing a drum? Explore the science of music with us, through these online exhibits, movies, and questions. Along the way, you can compose, mix, dance, drum, experiment, and above all... listen.
><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><>
"Saturn's largest moon contains all the ingredients for life, but senior scientists studying data from a European probe ruled out the possibility Titan's abundant methane stems from living organisms. More than a week after the Huygens probe plunged through Titan's atmosphere, researchers continue to pore over data collected for clues to how the only celestial body known to have a significant atmosphere other than Earth came to be and whether it can provide clues to how life arose here. Initial findings have revealed an abundance of methane on the surface of Titan - the first moon other than Earth's to be explored - which is crucial to supporting its thick atmosphere. But scientists are still puzzling over the origin of the methane."
><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><>
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.
><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><>
"It turns out some couch potatoes spend more time on the couch than others. And that could be a key to obesity. Researchers at the Mayo Clinic believe it's not the trips to the gym, but the everyday pacing, fidgeting and restlessness that may play a bigger role in whether someone's fat or thin, according to a small study of self-described couch potatoes. The scientists found that the obese people they studied sat for about 150 minutes more a day on average than their lean subjects, and that meant they burned about 350 fewer calories a day. The researchers looked at the role of routine activities such as sitting, standing, walking and talking. If the overweight subjects could match the behavior of their lean counterparts, that could work out to a weight loss of about 33 pounds a year, the study said. And it's not necessary to go to the gym to do that."
><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><>
Astronomy Picture of the Day - - http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html - - Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.
><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><>
"One in three U.S. high school students say the press ought to be more restricted, and even more say the government should approve newspaper stories before readers see them, according to a survey being released January 31, 2005, he survey of 112,003 students finds that 36% believe newspapers should get 'government approval' of stories before publishing; 51% say they should be able to publish freely; 13% have no opinion. Asked whether the press enjoys 'too much freedom,' not enough or about the right amount, 32% say 'too much,' and 37% say it has the right amount. Ten percent say it has too little. The survey of First Amendment rights was commissioned by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and conducted last spring by the University of Connecticut. It also questioned 327 principals and 7,889 teachers."
><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><>
"The Social Security system will take in more money annually than it pays out in benefits until 2020, two years later than earlier estimated, the Congressional Budget Office reported January 31, 2005 in a modest change unlikely to alter the growing political debate over the program. Congress' budget analysts also estimated the program's trust funds will be depleted in 2052, 'meaning that beneficiaries will be able to count on receiving only 78 percent of their scheduled benefits beginning then. After the trust funds are exhausted, Social Security spending cannot exceed annual revenues," the analysts said. 'As a consequence ... benefits paid will be 22 percent lower than the scheduled benefits.' In both cases, the CBO estimates are more optimistic than the most recent projections made by the Social Security Board of Trustees. In the annual report it issued last March, the board said annual income would fall behind benefit payments beginning in 2018, and the trust funds would be empty in 2042."
><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><>
Online Dictionary & Thesaurus - - http://www.thefreedictionary.com/ - - English, Medical, Legal, and Computer Dictionaries, Thesaurus, Encyclopedia, a Literature Reference Library, and a Search Engine all in one.
><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><>
"Arabic media channel Al Jazeera has been voted the world's fifth most influential brand in a poll of branding professionals that gave the top slot to U.S. iPod and computer icon Apple. In the survey of almost 2,000 ad executives, brand managers and academics by online magazine Brandchannel, Apple ousted search engine Google from last year's top spot, but the surprise to many will be Al Jazeera's entry into the top five. 'With all the news from Iraq and Afghanistan and the 'war on terror', a lot of people are really tuned into the news, and the major news sources have a western bias,' Brandchannel Editor Robin Rusch said. 'I think people are tuning in to Al Jazeera and looking at its Web Site because it does offer another viewpoint. For the global community, it's one of the few points of access we have to news from the region with a different perspective.' The annual survey asks respondents to rate the impact of a particular brand on people's lives, and does not attempt to quantify its financial value."
><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><>
Online Dictionary & Thesaurus - - http://www.thefreedictionary.com/ - - English, Medical, Legal, and Computer Dictionaries, Thesaurus, Encyclopedia, a Literature Reference Library, and a Search Engine all in one.
><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><>
"Arabic media channel Al Jazeera has been voted the world's fifth most influential brand in a poll of branding professionals that gave the top slot to U.S. iPod and computer icon Apple. In the survey of almost 2,000 ad executives, brand managers and academics by online magazine Brandchannel, Apple ousted search engine Google from last year's top spot, but the surprise to many will be Al Jazeera's entry into the top five. 'With all the news from Iraq and Afghanistan and the 'war on terror', a lot of people are really tuned into the news, and the major news sources have a western bias,' Brandchannel Editor Robin Rusch said. 'I think people are tuning in to Al Jazeera and looking at its Web Site because it does offer another viewpoint. For the global community, it's one of the few points of access we have to news from the region with a different perspective.' The annual survey asks respondents to rate the impact of a particular brand on people's lives, and does not attempt to quantify its financial value."
><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><>
LitLinks - - http://www.bedfordstmartins.com/litlinks/home.htm - - After reading a great story, poem, play, essay, or critical article, you may want to know more. The Internet provides all kinds of information to aid your research, this site shows you what kinds of information about a work, its author, or period you'll find on each site. LitLinks are organized alphabetically by author within five genres: fiction, essays, drama, poetry, and critical theory.
><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><>
"More people are killed in road accidents in the United States on July 4th, Independence Day, than any other day of the year, researchers said on February 3, 2005. On average about 117 people died every day on US roads between 1986-2002, although the numbers varied from a low of 45 to a high of 252. 'July 4 has more crash deaths on average than any other day of the year, with a relatively high number of deaths involving alcohol,' said Charles Farmer, of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, in Arlington, Virginia."
><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><>
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.
><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><>
Our Friend Norma Kay shared this prayer request with this.

This was sent to me by Michelle Osborne who lives in Shreveport. My neighbor, Anabel Moore, is her mother and some of you know her. This is such a tragic and sad situation. Please do pray for them. NK

-----Forwarded Message-----
From: Michelle Osborn
Sent: Feb 9, 2005 9:18 PM
Subject: Prayer request

Friends,
I am asking for your prayers. Our dear family members Charlie and Allison Andrews are expecting twin girls in July and have received some heartbreaking news. One of the babies has been diagnosed with anencephaly. This is a neural tube disorder resulting in the absence of most of the brain, skull, and scalp. (I will cut and paste some more information to the bottom of this note.) The other baby appears to be fine.

Please lift Charlie, Allison, Maggie (their almost 4 year old), and the babies in your prayers. They will see a specialist tomorrow (Thursday) around 2:30PM to get more information. I am praying for God's guidance and strength for Charlie and Allison, wisdom and direction for the physicians, and comfort and peace for the babies. These babies are so loved by so many people. There is so little we can do to help them, but I know our prayers will be heard. Please pass this to anyone you know who believes in God's power and who will pray for this precious family.
Love, Michelle
Anencephaly Information
What is Anencephaly?
Anencephaly is a neural tube defect (a disorder involving incomplete development of the brain, spinal cord, and/or their protective coverings). The neural tube is a narrow sheath that folds and closes between the 3rd and 4th weeks of pregnancy to form the brain and spinal cord of the embryo. Anencephaly occurs when the "cephalic" or head end of the neural tube fails to close, resulting in the absence of a major portion of the brain, skull, and scalp. Infants with this disorder are born without both a forebrain (the front part of the brain) and a cerebrum (the thinking and coordinating area of the brain). The remaining brain tissue is often exposed--not covered by bone or skin. The infant is usually blind, deaf, unconscious, and unable to feel pain. Although some individuals with anencephaly may be born with a rudimentary brain stem, the lack of a functioning cerebrum permanently rules out the possibility of ever gaining consciousness. Reflex actions such as respiration (breathing) and responses to sound or touch may occur. The cause of anencephaly is unknown. Although it is believed that the mother's diet and vitamin intake may play a role, scientists believe that many other factors are also involved.

Is there any treatment?
There is no cure or standard treatment for anencephaly. Treatment is supportive.
What is the prognosis?
The prognosis for individuals with anencephaly is extremely poor. If the infant is not stillborn, then he or she will usually die within a few hours or days after birth. [Editor's Note: The unborn child may have been diagnosed as having anencephaly, but be born with a less severe form of the disease, allowing the infant to live for years or more]
Anencephaly Support Foundation
20311 Sienna Pines Court
Spring, TX 77379
asf@asfhelp.com
http://www.asfhelp.com/
><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><>
A Pakistani Teenage Christian Barely Escapes Death at the Hands of Her Own Family!

Diana grew up in a strict Islamic family in Pakistan. Her life was pretty typical until she met a girl named Mary who was a Christian. Now Diana is also a Christian and on the run.

When Diana’s family learned that she had become a Christian, they repeatedly beat her and insisted she return to Islam. But Diana refused. She was then forced to a local canal where her uncle put a pistol to her head and gave her one last chance to return to Islam. Diana replied, “You can kill me if you want. I will not leave Christ.”

It was then that Diana’s uncle noticed an extremely poisonous black cobra swimming in the canal. Believing he could escape any prosecution for his niece’s death, he threw her into the path of the cobra. He also knew she could not swim.

Diana miraculously escaped from the canal and is in hiding today. She is a new Christian but has already learned what it means to suffer for Christ. She recently told The Voice of the Martyrs, “Jesus was crucified for us. Can we not endure some of the same for Him?”

Every month The Voice of the Martyrs reports on what is really happening around the world where our brothers and sisters are persecuted for their faith in Jesus Christ. Now you can receive a free subscription to The Voice of the Martyrs award winning monthly newsletter. You will be inspired, you will learn to pray and even discover practical ways to get involved. Subscribe today.

Click here to receive your free subscription to The Voice of the Martyrs monthly newsletter. - - http://etools.780net.com/a/jgroup/bg-wwwpersecutioncom-afa-email05-9.html
><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><>
How old is Grandma? Thanks to Jim Bussey

One evening a grandson was talking to his grandmother about current events.
The grandson asked his grandmother what she thought about the shootings at schools, the computer age, and just things in general.

The Grandma replied, "Well, let me think a minute, I was born, before television, penicillin, polio shots, frozen foods, Xerox, contact lenses, Frisbees and the pill. There was no radar, credit cards, laser beams or
ball-point pens.Man had not invented pantyhose, air conditioners, dishwashers, clothes dryers, and the clothes were hung out to dry in the fresh air and man hadn't yet walked on the moon.

Your Grandfather and I got married first-and then lived together. Every family had a father and a mother. Until I was 25, I called every man older
than I, 'Sir'- and after I turned 25, I still called policemen and every man with a title, "Sir.' We were before gay-rights, computer- dating, dual
careers, daycare centers, and group therapy.

Our lives were governed by the Ten Commandments, good judgment, and common sense. We were taught to know the difference between right and wrong and to stand up and take responsibility for our actions.

Serving your country was a privilege; living in this country was a bigger privilege. We thought fast food was what people ate during Lent. Having a meaningful relationship meant getting along with your cousins. Draft dodgers were people who closed their front doors when the evening breeze started. Time-sharing meant time the family spent together in the evenings and weekends-not purchasing condominiums.


We never heard of FM radios, tape decks, CDs, electric typewriters, yogurt, or guys wearing earrings. We listened to the Big Bands, Jack Benny, and the President's spee ches on our radios. And I don't ever remember any kid blowing his brains out listening to Tommy Dorsey.If you saw anything with
'Made in Japan ' on it, it was junk. The term 'making out' referred to how you did on your school exam.Pizza Hut, McDonald's, and instant coffee were unheard of.

We had 5 & 10-cent stores where you could actually buy things for 5 and 10 cents. Ice-cream cones, phone calls, rides on a streetcar, and a Pepsi were
all a nickel. And if you didn't want to splurge, you could spend your nickel on enough stamps to mail 1 letter and 2 postcards.

You could buy a new Chevy Coupe for $600 but who could afford one? Too bad, because gas was 11 cents a gallon.In my day, "grass" was mowed, "coke" was a cold drink, "pot" was something your mother cooked in, and "rock music" was your grandmother's lullaby."Aids" were helpers in the Principal's office," chip" meant a piece of wood, "hardware" was found in a hardware store, and "software" wasn't even a word.

And we were the last generation to actually believe that a lady needed a husband to have a baby. No wonder people call us "old and confused" and say
there is a generation gap.....and how old do you think I am ???.....

I bet you have this old lady in mind...you are in for a shock!Read on to see -- pretty scary if you think about it and pretty sad at the same time.
This Woman would be only 58 years old!
><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><>
Washington Monument

Claim: Item cites religious references related to George Washington and the Washington Monument. - - http://www.snopes.com/politics/religion/monument.asp

Washington continues to Give Praise to God

On the aluminum cap atop the Washington Monument in Washington, DC are two words: Laus Deo. No one can see these words. In fact, most visitors to the monument have no idea they are even there and...for that matter...probably couldn't care less!

But there they are...5.125 inches high ... perched atop the monument to the father of our nation. The Washington Monument is 55 feet wide at the base and 555 feet tall, overlooking the 69 square miles which comprise the District of Columbia, capital of the United States of America. It is made of 36,000 stones of marble (from Maryland) and granite (from Maine) and weighs 90,000 tons. The monument sees about 800,000 visitors a year.

Laus Deo! Two seemingly insignificant, unnoticed words ... out of sight and, one might think, out of mind ... but very meaningfully placed at the highest point over what is the most powerful city in the world. And what might those two words ... composed of just four syllables and only seven letters ... mean? Very simply ... "Praise be to God!"

Though construction of this giant obelisk began in 1848 when James Polk was President of the United States, it was not until 1888 that the monument was inaugurated and opened to the public. It took twenty-five years to finally cap the memorial with the tribute Laus Deo! Praise be to God!

From atop this magnificent granite and marble structure ... a visitor can take in the beautiful panoramic view of the city with its division into four major segments. And from that vantage point one can also easily see the original plan of the designer, Pierre Charles l'Enfant ... a perfect cross imposed upon the landscape ... with the White House to the North, the Jefferson Memorial to the South, the Capitol to the East, and the Lincoln Memorial to the West. A cross ... you say?

How interesting! And ... no doubt ... intended to carry a meaning for those who bother to notice. Praise be to God! One interesting feature is the interior iron stairway with 50 landings and 897 stone steps. These donated stones come from every state in the Union, as well as Native American nations and foreign countries. While the stairwell has been closed since the 1970s, visitors can gain access to the top observation area via elevator. As one climbs the steps and pauses at the landings the memorial stones share a message. On the 12th Landing is a prayer offered by the City of Baltimore; on the 20th is a memorial presented by some Chinese Christians; on the 24th a presentation made by Sunday School children from New York and Philadelphia quoting Proverbs 10:7, Luke 18:16 and Proverbs 22:6. Praise be to God!

When the cornerstone of the Washington Monument was laid on July 4th, 1848 deposited within it were many items including the Holy Bible presented by the Bible Society. Praise be to God! Such was the discipline, the moral direction, the spiritual mood given by the founder and first President of our unique democracy .. "one nation, under God."

I am awed by Washington's prayer for America. Have you never read it? Well now is your opportunity ... read on!

"Almighty God; We make our earnest prayer that Thou wilt keep the United States in Thy holy protection; that Thou wilt incline the hearts of the citizens to cultivate a spirit of subordination and obedience to government; and entertain a brotherly affection and love for one another and for their fellow citizens of the United states at large. And finally that Thou wilt most graciously be pleased to dispose us all to do justice, to love mercy, and to demean ourselves with that charity, humility, and pacific temper of mind which were the characteristics of the Divine Author of our blessed religion, and without a humble imitation of whose example in these things we can never hope to be a happy nation. Grant our supplication, we beseech Thee, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen."

Laus Deo!

As you might have guessed ... I kind of like the idea that our Pledge of Allegiance includes the phrase "under God." It is clear when one studies the history of our great nation that Washington's America was one of the few countries in all the world established under the guidance, direction and banner of Almighty God, to whom was given all praise, honor and worship by the great men who formed and fashioned her pivotal foundations. And when one stops to observe the inscriptions found in public places all over our nation's capitol ... one will easily find the signature of God.

We are a nation under God!!! Laus Deo!!! Praise be to God!!!

Origins: This item contains a good deal of information about the Washington Monument in Washington, D.C., but since most of the interest in this piece seems to be about the religious references cited, we'll focus on that aspect here.
# On the aluminum cap atop the Washington Monument in Washington, DC are two words: Laus Deo.
It is true that the words "Laus Deo" are inscribed on one face of the aluminum point which crowns the apex of the Washington Monument. Actually, all four sides of the point bear inscriptions, as follows:

(NORTH FACE.)

JOINT COMMISSION
AT
SETTING OF CAPSTONE.

CHESTER A. ARTHUR.
W. W. CORCORAN, Chairman.
M. E. BELL.
EDWARD CLARK.

JOHN NEWTON.
Act of August 2, 1876.

(WEST FACE.)

CORNER STONE LAID ON BED OF FOUNDATION
JULY 4, 1848.

FIRST STONE AT HEIGHT OF 152 FEET LAID
AUGUST 7, 1880.

CAPSTONE SET DECEMBER 6, 1884.

(SOUTH FACE.)

CHIEF ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT,
THOS. LINCOLN CASEY,
COLONEL, CORPS OF ENGINEERS.

Assistants:
GEORGE W. DAVIS,
CAPTAIN, 14TH INFANTRY.
BERNARD R. GREEN,
CIVIL ENGINEER.

Master Mechanic.
P. H. MCLAUGHLIN.

(EAST FACE.)

LAUS DEO.
# And from that vantage point one can also easily see the original plan of the designer, Pierre Charles l'Enfant ... a perfect cross imposed upon the landscape ... with the White House to the North, the Jefferson Memorial to the South, the Capitol to the East, and the Lincoln Memorial to the West. A cross ... you say?
As described by the National Park Service, architect Pierre Charles L'Enfant's original 1791 plan for the U.S. national capital was:
[A] Baroque plan that features ceremonial spaces and grand radial avenues, while respecting natural contours of the land. The result was a system of intersecting diagonal avenues superimposed over a grid system. The avenues radiated from the two most significant building sites that were to be occupied by houses for Congress and the President.

L'Enfant specified in notes accompanying the plan that these avenues were to be wide, grand, lined with trees, and situated in a manner that Washington Monument would visually connect ideal topographical sites throughout the city, where important structures, monuments, and fountains were to be erected. On paper, L'Enfant shaded and numbered 15 large open spaces at the intersections of these avenues and indicated that they would be divided among the states. He specified that each reservation would feature statues and memorials to honor worthy citizens.
Where the north-south axis of the White House and the east-west axis of the Capitol intersect (see map), L'Enfant intended to put an equestrian statue of George Washington. The Washington Monument was later erected in place of the equestrian statue, although poor soil conditions made it necessary to construct the monument slightly out of alignment with the intersection of the axes:
In 1848, sixty-four years after Congress had made the first proposal for a memorial to the first President, it granted a 37-acre site for it to the Washington National Monument Society. It was the same site, Reservation No. 2, on which L'Enfant had planned the [equestrian] memorial. Soil tests, however, showed the intended spot due south of the White House and due West of the Capital to be too marshy. A site about 100 yards to the southeast was chosen, thus altering both the monument's north-south alignment with the White House and its east-west alignment with the Capitol.
(The proposed equestrian statue of Washington was not completed until 1860 and was placed near the present location of George Washington University.)

While L'Enfant's plans did eventually create a "cross" in a literal sense, that shape was a byproduct of a symmetrical design laid out along two major north-south and east-west axes; there's no evidence that L'Enfant had any religious significance in mind. Moreover, the Lincoln and Jefferson memorials were not conceived until the 20th century, and decisions about where to locate them were not reached without some debate.

As the Park Service notes of the Lincoln Memorial:
Talk of a memorial began soon after Lincoln's death, but it was years before construction began. While an early design was made, there was no financial support behind it. The project stopped momentarily, but the idea did not fade away. Members of Congress kept the dream live. By February, 1911, a bill was passed establishing the Lincoln Memorial Commission. Two million dollars was set aside for the memorial. With such solid backing, the Lincoln Memorial would finally get started.

The next critical issue facing the committee was the location for the new memorial. At one time, an idea was discussed that a memorial highway should link Washington with Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. The bill, however, determined that [the memorial] would be in Washington, D.C. Many locations were discussed within the city. One suggestion was Potomac Park, newly created as a result of filling in the swampy area along the Potomac River. Although it was hard to imagine this as an ideal setting for a new memorial, some saw the potential. This Lincoln Memorial would be the perfect addition to Pierre L'Enfant's plan for the capital city, serving as the west end of the Mall, while facing the Washington Monument and the Capitol.
Even after the completion of the Lincoln Memorial, the choice of location for the Jefferson Memorial was by no means obvious:
In 1934, Congress passed a Joint Resolution to establish a Thomas Jefferson Memorial Commission. The commission subsequently was given the authority to plan, design, and construct a memorial which was to be a tribute to Jefferson's many accomplishments: president, politician, architect, farmer, and educator. The commission was to be for foundation of the memorial in the same way Jefferson was the foundation for this country. However, before the commission could began planning of the memorial they had some difficult questions to answer. Just how do you create a memorial fitting to a man who was so instrumental in the creation of this country? What type of design could embody the spirit and essence that was Thomas Jefferson? Could this even be done and if so where should this memorial sit so that all could see it?

For the commission these were not easy answers. Early plans included displaying the Declaration of Independence in the Archives building and placing a memorial directly across from the Archives. Another suggestion involved creating a colonial style library as a source of education and inspiration. However, the commission along with FDR, who was now President of the United States, felt that none of these ideas were suitable for conveying Jefferson's ideals and personality. They felt that a memorial to Jefferson needed to show all aspects of his character. Eventually, the commission would settle on a site that would complete the plans proposed by the McMillan Commission of 1901. Essentially, the McMillan Commission idea was to complete a five-point composition in the middle of the city which was first proposed by Pierre L'Enfant, the original designer of the federal city. By 1922, all but the left arm of the great cross had been completed. It seemed only fitting that a memorial to Thomas Jefferson complete the final phase of this composition.
# As one climbs the steps and pauses at the landings the memorial stones share a message. On the 12th Landing is a prayer offered by the City of Baltimore; on the 20th is a memorial presented by some Chinese Christians; on the 24th a presentation made by Sunday School children from New York and Philadelphia quoting Proverbs 10:7, Luke 18:16 and Proverbs 22:6. Praise be to God!
About 193 memorial stones adorn the landings throughout the Washington Monument (different sources put the number at between 190 and 195), contributed by each state (and territory) as well as by other countries, U.S. cities and counties, fire departments, fraternal organizations (such as the Masons, the Sons of Temperance, and the Odd Fellows), military units, Native American tribes, and other groups. (Peter Force, onetime mayor of Washington and a member of the Monument Society, got his own stone just before memorial stones from individuals were banned.) Visitors have not been allowed to climb the fifty flights of stairs within the Monument since the 1970s (except on guided tours), in large part because too many memorial stones were damaged by souvenir-chipping vandals.

Since the political divisions that ultimately led to the Civil War were looming as the Monument was completed, some of the memorial stones include inscriptions entreating Heaven to preserve the Union, such as a stone at the 140-foot landing, contributed by the city of Baltimore, which reads as follows:

MAY HEAVEN TO THIS UNION
CONTINUE ITS BENEFICENCE
MAY BROTHERLY AFFECTION
WITH UNION BE PERPETUAL
MAY THE FREE CONSTITUTION
WHICH IS THE WORK
OF OUR ANCESTORS
BE SACREDLY MAINTAINED
AND ITS ADMINISTRATION
BE STAMPED WITH
WISDOM AND VIRTUE

One of the stones received from other countries was a memorial stone placed at the 220-foot landing, contributed by Chinese Christians from Ningo, Chekiang Province, China. The inscription on the stone is not a prayer, however, but a eulogy for George Washington.

Some of the memorial stones include Biblical citations, such as two stones on the 260-foot placed by the children of Sunday School groups from New York City and Philadelphia:

THE MEMORY OF THE JUST IS BLESSED.
Prov. 10:7
PRESENTED BY
THE CHILDREN OF THE SUNDAY SCHOOLS
OF THE
METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH
IN THE
CITY OF NEW YORK
Feb. 22ND 1855

FROM THE SABBATH SCHOOL CHILDREN
OF THE METHODIST E[PISCOPAL] CHURCH IN THE CITY & DISTRICTS OF PHILAD[ELPHIA]. JULY 4TH 1853.

A PREACHED A FREE
GOSPEL PRESS

WASHINGTON
WE REVERE HIS MEMORY

The latter stone also includes a representation of an open Bible in relief at its center, on which are inscribed two Biblical quotations relating to children: Luke 18:16 ("Suffer little children to come unto me and forbid them not for of such is the Kingdom of God") and Proverbs 12:6 ("Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it").
# When the cornerstone of the Washington Monument was laid on July 4th, 1848 deposited within it were many items including the Holy Bible presented by the Bible Society.
A Holy Bible, presented by the Bible Society, was one of the many articles deposited in the recess of the cornerstone of the Washington Monument on 4 July 1848. Some of the other items deposited were:

* Constitution of the United States and Declaration of Independence; presented by Mr. Hickey
* American Constitutions; by W. Patton.
* Large design of the Washington National Monument, with the facsimile of the names of the Presidents of the United States and others.
* Large design of the Washington National Monument. Lithographed.
* Historical sketch of the Washington National Monument since its origin, in manuscript.
* Portrait of Washington, from Stuart's painting, Fanueil Hall.
* Plate engraved with the names of the officers and members of the Board of Managers.
* The Statesman's Manual, containing Presidents' messages from Washington to Polk, from 1789 to 1846, vols. 1 and 2.
* Copy of the grant for the site of the Monument under the joint resolution of Congress.
* Constitutions of the Washington National Monument Society, addresses circulars, commissions, instructions, form of bond, from 1835 to 1848.
* Small design of Monument and likeness of Washington, with blank certificates for contributors.
* Watterston's New Guide to Washington; by G. Watterston.
* Map of the City of Washington; by Joseph Ratcliffe.
* Laws of the Corporation of Washington; by A. Rothwell.
* The Seat of Government; by J. B. Varnum, Jr.
* Statistics by John Sessford of the number of dwellings, value of improvements, assessments of the real and personal tax, etc., in the city of Washington, from 1824 to 1848, print and manuscript; by John Sessford.
* Census of the United States, 1840;
* Force's Guide to Washington and vicinity, 1848; by W. Q. Force.
* Drake's Poems;
* Catalogue of the Library of Congress, printed 1839; Catalogue from 1840 to 1847, both inclusive; by Joint Committee on the Library of Congress.
* Memoir of a Tour to Northern Mexico, 1846—47; by R. B. Anderson.
* All the coins of the United States, from the eagle to the half-dime inclusive.
* Census of the United States from 1790 to 1848, inclusive.
* A list of the judges of the Supreme Court of the United States, its officers, with the dates of their respective appointments; by W. J. Carroll, clerk Supreme Court of the United States.
* Proceedings of the General Society of the Cincinnati, with the original institution of the order and facsimile of the signatures of the original members of the State Society of Pennsylvania; by Charles L. Coltman.
* Constitution and General Laws of the Great Council of the Improved Order of Red Men of the District of Columbia.
* By-Laws of Powhatan Tribe, No. 1, and General Laws of the Great Council of the same Order.
* American silk flag; presented by Joseph K. Boyd, citizen of Washington, District of Columbia, on the 4th of July, 1848.
* The Temple of Liberty, two copies, one ornamented and lettered with red. The letters are so arranged in each that the name of Washington may be spelled more than one thousand times in connection; by John Kilbourn.
* Design of the Monument, small plate, produced by a process called electrotype; by Charles Fenderich, Washington.
* A copy of the constitution of the first organized temperance society in America; L. H. Sprague, July 4, 1848. Sons of Temperance in the District of Columbia.
* Report on the Organization of the Smithsonian Institution; by Professor Henry.
* Coat of Arms of the Washington family; by Mrs. Jane Charlotte Washington, July 4, 1848.
* The Blue Book for 1847; Congressional Directory; by J. & G. S. Gideon.
* Thirty-first Annual Report of the American Colonization Society.
* Message of the President of the United States and accompanying documents, 1847.
* Navy Register, 1848; by C. Alexander.
* Coast Survey Document; Army Register for 1848.
* The Washington Monument; Shall It Be Built? by J. S. Lyon.
* Vail's Description of the Magnetic Telegraph; by A. Vail.
* Report of the Joint Committee on the Library, May 4, 1848, and an engraving; by M. Vettemare.
* Morse's North American Atlas.
* African Repository and Colonial Journal, 1848.
* Military Laws of the United States, 1846; by G. Templeman.
* Appleton's Railroad and Steamboat Companion.
* Daguerreotype likeness of General and Mrs. Mary Washington, with a description of the Deguerreotype process; by John S. Grubb, Alexandria, Va.
* True Republican; the likeness of all the Presidents to 1846, and inaugural addresses; by G. Templeman.
* Silver medal, representing General Washington and the National Monument; by Jacob Seegar.
* Copies of the Union Magazine, National Magazine, Godey's Lady's Book, Graham's Magazine, and Columbian Magazine, for July, 1848; by Brooke & Shillington.
* Constitution of the Smithsonian Association, on the Island, instituted November 9, 1847.
* Harper's Illustrated Catalogue; by S. Colman.
* Smithsonian Institution - Report of the Commissioners on its organization; Reports from the Board of Regents; by W. W. Seaton.
* American Archives; A Documentary History of the American Colonies to the present time; fourth series, vol. 5; by Peter Force.
* Guide to the Capitol; by R. Mills.
* Ann American dollar; by Miss Sarah Smith, Stafford, N. J.
* American State Papers, 1832; National Intelligencer for 1846 (bound); by Gales & Seaton.
* Abstract Log for the use of American Navigators; by Lieut. M. F. Maury, U. S. Navy; by M. F. Maury.
* Report of Professor Bache, Superintendent of the Coast Survey; by Coast Survey Office.
* Facsimile of Washington's accounts; by Michael Nourse.
* Claypole's American Daily Advertiser, December 25, 1799, and the Philadelphia Gazette, December 27, 1799, containing a full account of the death and funeral ceremony of General Washington, the official proceedings of Congress, Executive, etc.; by G. M. Grouard.
* Publication No. 1, Boston, 1833.
* A cent of 1783 of the United States of America; by W. G. Paine.
* United States Fiscal Department, vols. 1 and 2; by R. Mayo, M. D.
* Maps and Charts of the Coast Survey; by Survey. Office.
* Letters of John Quincy Adams to W. L. Stone, and introduction; letters of J. Q. Adams to Edward Livingstone, Grand High Priest, etc.; Vindication of General Washington, etc., by Joseph Ritner, Governor of Pennsylvania, with a letter to Daniel Webster and his reply, printed in 1841; American Anti-mason, No. 1, Vol. 1, Hartford, Conn., 1839, Maine, Free Press; Correspondence Committee of York, Pa., to Richard Rush, April, 1831; his answer, May 4, 1841; Credentials of a Delegate from Jefferson County, Mo. and proceedings of a meeting of citizens to make the appointment of a delegate; by Henry Gassitt, Boston, Mass.
* Annual Report of the Comptroller of the State of New York, January 5, 1848; Tolls, Trade, and Tonnage of the New York Canals, 1847; State of New York—first report of the Commissioner, Practice and Pleadings; by. Hon. Washington Hunt.
* Specimens of Continental money, 1776; by Thomas Adams.
* Report of the Commissioner of Patents, 1847; by Edmund Burke.
* Walton's Vermont Register and Farmers' Almanac, 1848; by Hon. Mr. Henry.
* Maury's Wind and Current Charts of the North Atlantic; by M. F. Maury.
* Astronomical Observations for 1845, made under M. F. Maury, at the Washington Observatory; by M. F. Maury.
* Casts from the seals of the S. of T. and I. O. R. M.; by; J. W. Eckloff.
* Journals of the Senate and House of Representatives of the Thirtieth Congress and Documents; by R. P. Anderson.

# I am awed by Washington's prayer for America. Have you never read it? Well now is your opportunity ... read on!
The words quoted in the example above are inscribed on a bronze tablet adjoining the Washington pew in St. Paul's chapel in New York City, but they are not "Washington's prayer for America." They are taken from the last paragraph of a circular letter dated 8 June 1783, addressed to the governors of the thirteen states by General Washington upon his disbanding of the Continental Army. Although Washington's letter did contain references to God, the paragraph cited has been removed from its original context and modified to make it sound as if it were composed as a stand-alone prayer. (In Washington's time the term "earnest prayer" also meant "earnest wish," not necessarily a prayer in a literal sense.)

Compare the original and modified versions:

ORIGINAL:
Now I make it my earnest prayer that God would have you and the State over which you preside, in His holy protection, that He would incline the hearts of the citizens to cultivate a spirit of subordination and obedience to government, to entertain brotherly affection and love for one another, for their fellow citizens and the United States at large, and particularly for their brethren who have served in the field, and finally, that He would most graciously be pleased to dispose us all to do justice, to love mercy and to demean ourselves with that charity, humility and pacific temper of mind which were the characteristics of the Divine Author of our blessed religion and without an humble imitation of whose example in these things we can never hope to be a happy nation. I have the honor to be, with much esteem and respect, Sir, your Excellency's most obedient and most humble servant. George Washington.

MODIFIED:
Almighty God; We make our earnest prayer that Thou wilt keep the United States in Thy holy protection; that Thou wilt incline the hearts of the citizens to cultivate a spirit of subordination and obedience to government; and entertain a brotherly affection and love for one another and for their fellow citizens of the United states at large. And finally that Thou wilt most graciously be pleased to dispose us all to do justice, to love mercy, and to demean ourselves with that charity, humility, and pacific temper of mind which were the characteristics of the Divine Author of our blessed religion, and without a humble imitation of whose example in these things we can never hope to be a happy nation. Grant our supplication, we beseech Thee, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
# It is clear when one studies the history of our great nation that Washington's America was one of the few countries in all the world established under the guidance, direction and banner of Almighty God, to whom was given all praise, honor and worship by the great men who formed and fashioned her pivotal foundations. And when one stops to observe the inscriptions found in public places all over our nation's capitol ... one will easily find the signature of God.
One last point to clear up a misleading impression one might form after reading the above paragraph: although many of the inscriptions associated with the Washington Monument do indeed include religious references and sentiments, they reflect the tenor of public thought in mid-19th century America, not the America of George Washington's time. Washington died in 1799, and the country he helped found was a very different place half a century later.

Additional information:
A History of the Washington Monument A History of the Washington Monument
(U.S. Park Service) - - http://www.nps.gov/wamo/history/chap1.htm
><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><>
Military Spouses
By Paige Swiney

It was just another harried Wednesday afternoon trip to the commissary. My husband was off teaching young men to fly. My daughters were going about their daily activities knowing I would return to them at the appointed time, bearing, among other things, their favorite fruit snacks, frozen pizza, and all the little extras that never had to be written down on a grocery list.

My grocery list, by the way, was in my 16-month-old daughter's mouth, and I was lamenting the fact that the next four aisles of needed items would pass by while extracting the last of my list from my daughters mouth, when I nearly ran over an old man. This man clearly had no appreciation for the fact that I had 45 minutes left to finish the grocery shopping, pick up my 4-year old from tumbling class, and get to school where my 12-year-old and her car pool mates would be waiting.

I knew men didn't belong in a commissary, and this old guy was no exception. He stood in front of the soap selection staring blankly, as if he'd never had to choose a bar of soap in his life. I was ready to bark an order at him when l realized there was a tear on his face. Instantly, this grocery isle roadblock transformed into a human. "Can I help you find something?" I asked.

He hesitated, and then told me he was looking for soap.

"Any one in particular?" I continued.

"Well, I'm trying to find my wife's brand of soap."

I started to loan him my cell phone to call her when he said, "She died a year ago, and I just want to smell her again."

Chills ran down my spine. I don't think the 22,000-pound Mother of all Bombs could have had the same impact. As tears welled up in my eyes, my half-eaten grocery list didn't seem so important. Neither did fruit snacks or frozen pizza. I spent the remainder of my time in the commissary that day listening to a man tell the story of how important his wife was to him -- how she took care of their children while he served our country. A retired, decorated World War II pilot who flew over 50 missions to protect Americans still needed the protection of a woman who served him at home.

My life was forever changed that day. Every time my husband works too late or leaves before the crack of dawn, I try to remember the sense of importance I felt that day in the commissary. Some times the monotony of laundry, housecleaning, grocery shopping, and taxi driving leaves military wives feeling empty -- the kind of emptiness that is rarely fulfilled when our husbands come home and don't want to or can't talk about work. We need to be reminded, at times; of the important role we fill for our family and for our country.

Over the years, I've talked a lot about military spouses -- how special they are and the price they pay for freedom, too. The funny thing is, most military spouses don't consider themselves different from other spouses. They do what they have to do, bound together not by blood or merely friendship, but with a shared spirit whose origin is in the very essence of what love truly is.

Is there truly a difference? I think there is. You have to decide for yourself. Other spouses get married and look forward to building equity in a home and putting down family roots. Military spouses get married and know they'll live in base housing or rent, and their roots must be short so they can be transplanted frequently. Other spouses decorate a home with flair and personality that will last a lifetime. Military spouses decorate a home with flare tempered with the knowledge that no two base houses have the same size windows or same size rooms. Curtains have to be flexible and multiple sets are a plus. Furniture must fit like puzzle pieces.

Other spouses have living rooms that are immaculate and seldom used. Military spouses have immaculate living room/dining room combos. The coffee table got a scratch or two moving from Germany, but it still looks pretty good. Other spouses say good-bye to their spouse for a business trip and know they won't see them for a week. They are lonely, but can survive. Military spouses say good-bye to their deploying spouse and know they won't see them for months, or for a remote, a year. They are lonely, but will survive.

Other spouses, when a washer hose blows off, call Maytag and then write a check out for having the hose reconnected. Military spouses will cut the water off and fix it themselves. Other spouses get used to saying "hello" to friends they see all the time. Military spouses get used to saying "good-bye" to friends made the last two years. Other spouses worry about whether their child will be class president next year. Military spouses worry about whether their child will be accepted in yet another school next year and whether that school will be the worst in the city -- again.

Other spouses can count on spouse participation in special events: birthdays, anniversaries, concerts, football games, graduation, and even the birth of a child. Military spouses only count on each other, because they realize that the flag has to come first if freedom is to survive. It has to be that way. Other spouses put up yellow ribbons when the troops are imperiled across the globe and take them down when the troops come home. Military spouses wear yellow ribbons around their hearts and they never go away. Other spouses worry about being late for mom's Thanksgiving dinner. Military spouses worry about getting back from Japan in time for dad's funeral.

The television program showing an elderly lady putting a card down in front of a long, black wall that has names on it touches other spouses. The card simply says, "Happy Birthday, Sweetheart. You would have been sixty today." A military spouse is the lady with the card, and the wall is the Vietnam Memorial. I would never say military spouses are better than other spouses are. But I will say there is a difference. I will say, without hesitation, that military spouses pay just as high a price for freedom as do their active duty husbands and wives. Perhaps the price they pay is even higher. Dying in service to our country isn't nearly as hard as loving someone who has died in service to our country, and having to live without them.

God bless our military spouses for all they freely give!

God bless America!

Thanks to Chris Watson
><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><>
Verse Of The Day ~=~ Harley E. Hudson

… and to bring to light what is the administration of the mystery which for ages has been hidden in God who created all things; so that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known through the church to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly places.

Ephesians 3:9 - 10 (NASB)
Have you ever looked at one of those 3D pictures … the ones that have the red, green, and blue dots that you have to look at cross-eyed in order to see clearly? I have tried them several times and have found that when I stand at just the right distance and look just right down my nose, the picture “pops” into focus. All it takes is the right perspective.

Paul tells us that the mystery was hidden “in God”, but we know that it is revealed “in Christ”. The perspective changed when God sent His Son. What was hidden in the broken relationship between man and the Father was revealed in the renewed relationship with the Father through the sacrifice of the Son! The mystery “pops” into focus; the solution is revealed. Why?

Our God is a God of purpose. He does nothing without a reason, a purpose. He created Adam, and mankind, with the express purpose of fellowshipping with Himself. He chose Abraham as the father of His people because Abraham was willing to believe in the One God and serve Him without question. He chose David because David was a man after God’s own heart. He chose each of the prophets because they were the best men for the particular hour. So why did God choose to hide His purposes and then reveal it through Jesus?

Paul has the answer: “so that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known through the church to the rulers …” Ah, God’s purpose is to reveal His wisdom to rulers. That’s nice. God chose to make Himself known to governments. Isn’t that interesting? Wait. You stopped reading too soon. (Oh. That’s right, I stopped quoting too early.) “…and the authorities in the heavenly places.” Now I see. God was revealing His wisdom to spiritual beings. See the italic font on “places”? That means “places” is a supplied word. An accurate translation is “authorities in the heavenlies.”

So who are these rulers and authorities? Good question. I don’t know. I could speculate. It could be that the Father wanted to reveal His wisdom to the angels of Heaven. It could also be that the Father wanted to reveal His wisdom to fallen angels and their leader, satan. I suppose there is a viable argument that God was revealing his wisdom to BOTH assemblies. The angels needed to know that they were on the right team … God’s team. Their faith in God was not misplaced. They had chosen rightly when they fought with God’s enemies. The enemies of God needed to see that their struggle with the Father was over. They could not win.

“What,” you ask, “does this have to do with our identity in Christ?” The answer is relatively simple. We, members of God’s church, are the Father’s messenger! We are the recipient of God’s wisdom! That means all of God’s wisdom is focused ON US … and that, my friends, is who we are … in Christ!

Harley
~=~
To me, the very least of all saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unfathomable riches of Christ

Ephesians 3:8 (NASB),

After again stating that he, as an apostle, is qualified to carry the message of the mystery to the Gentiles, Paul begins to add to our list of items defining “who we are in Christ”. In today’s verse, Paul tells us that he is preaching to us the “unfathomable riches of Christ.”

“Unfathomable” Now there is an interesting word. Obviously it is a nautical term used to indicate the depth of the water in a lake, sea, or ocean. If a part of an ocean is unfathomable, that ocean’s depth cannot be measured. Until the advent of sonar, certain parts of the ocean were too deep to be measured by “normal” means. A rope with a rock tied to the end was not sufficient to reach the bottom. The charts of the day would not even list the depth because it was immeasurable. It could not be calculated. Man could not begin to imagine how deep it was. This, of course, gave rise to some rather interesting fables created by the fertile imaginations of lonely sailors!

Now we find that we are to share in the “unfathomable riches of Christ.” That means that the wealth of the Messiah cannot be measured. All the scales ever built and used in the world from the beginning of time until now cannot begin to measure God’s riches! All too often we “limit” our understanding of the wealth to “salvation”. Not that I desire to diminish the importance of salvation. But I contend that salvation is just be beginning of the riches we have at our disposal. It is much like the “pearl of great price” in the parables of Jesus. The pearl was the seed of the man’s wealth. While he held that pearl in his hand, he was nothing but a starving landowner. He could not buy bread and milk to feed his children. He could not buy seed to plant in his new bought field. As a matter of fact, he had sold everything he had and poured it all into that field. It wasn’t until he sold the pearl that he was wealthy!

Salvation is the “pearl”, but it is just the beginning. The riches we have as children of God are immeasurable. All the money minted by every nation that ever existed is not enough to begin to compare to God’s vast wealth. Yes, my friend. Salvation is just the beginning. God has blessed you with so much that you have only begun to tap His resources. Rest assured, if God gives you a task to do, He will equip you well for that task – if you but wait for Him to prepare you.

Years ago I heard the story of the Final War. It seems that every able bodied man had been sent to the front and recruiters were dragging old men off the street and making them soldiers. One old man was so drafted. Upon swearing him in, the recruiter told him the battle was just outside the back door, but there were not rifles to be issued. The man was on his own. The elderly man had fought wars before. He refused to go without a weapon. The recruiter reached into the corner and handed the old codger a broom and told him to go “bang, bang” and the enemy would drop dead. The old fellow knew he needed more. He insisted upon a bayonet. The exasperated recruiter taped a pencil on the “gun” and informed the old man that if he went “bang, bang, stab, stab” that the enemy would fall down dead. Satisfied, the elder soldier marched out the back door and began “shooting” and “stabbing” and the enemy died at his feet. Finally in the distance a lone enemy approached. The victorious soldier thought, “I will wait until I see the whites of his eyes.” He did then began his “bang, bang, stab, stab” routine. It didn’t work. “BANG, BANG, STAB, STAB” he continued. The enemy march on and ran the man flat into the ground. With the last of his ebbing energy, he turned in time to hear the enemy say, “clank, clank, tank, tank.”

God is not sending us onto the field of battle so equipped! Out of His riches, He has prepared for us all we need to enjoy assured victory … but we must go through the training process to be able to use what He has prepared for us. While we are eager to enjoin the enemy, we must be willing to “wait upon the Lord” so that He can “renew our strength!” Only then will we be able to “sore like eagles.”

Harley
~=~
… to be specific, that the Gentiles are fellow heirs and fellow members of the body, and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel …

Eph 3:6 (NASB)

When we last saw our intrepid explorer … oops! Wrong story line. However, we have been looking at clues that will lead us to the identity of the mystery that we possess (Ephesians 1:9). We have already explored three clues. The first is that Paul is the one who is to reveal it to us. The second is that the mystery comes “in Christ”. The third and final clue we discussed last time is that generations of men have sought the solution and not found it. What we did not look at in Ephesians 3:5 is that the mystery has been revealed to the apostles and the prophets “in the Spirit”. That statement gives us an indication of the authority of the apostle Paul. He is an apostle and therefore has the right to reveal the mystery to us.

Now that we are up to date with our search for the mystery’s meaning, let’s look at today’s verse. Hey! There it is! Stated in plain English for all to read: “to be specific” and that is implied – not a direct translation, “that the Gentiles are fellow heirs and fellow members of the body …” A more literal translation might read, “The Gentiles are to be fellow heirs …” That is the mystery, especially to the Jews! How can this be? All of the promises of the Old Testament are made to the Jewish nation. It is through them that the promise given to Abraham would be fulfilled. There is no mention of the Gentiles being part of “the family”, at least according to Jewish tradition. (There is, but that will have to wait for another time.) And this dilemma, my friends, is why the phrase “in Christ” is so important in this book. All of the promises, all of the blessings, all of the identifying factors that make us God’s children are found as a result of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. Do you recall that God’s DNA is running through our bodies? That came “through Christ”.

The “mystery” is that we have become part of the family. Do you recall the discussion from last time when we were enumerating the physical numbers of the Jewish people? They can always be numbered. There are genealogies that identify most of them. They have never numbered greater than the stars of the sky or the sands of the seas. However, with the adoption of the Gentiles, the promise to Abraham can be fulfilled. The number of believers “in Christ” is indeed innumerable … uncountable! No firm record has ever been kept of the number of people who have called upon Christ as their Savior. That census is known only to God and His angelic entourage!

God knew from the beginning of time that He would have to redeem mankind from their own destructive ways. He knew from that time that the only One who would be perfect enough would be His only Son, Jesus. He knew the price that would have to be paid and was willing to pay it. He knew that the result would have to include the Gentile nations, though He also knew that the path to do that would involve a long history of the Jewish people. The link, the means to make that connection between two warring peoples was the perfect Lamb that would be sacrificed thus breaking down the barrier between the two!

We are partakers, joint heirs, bothers and sisters of those to whom the original promise was made! We have all the blessings of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob! Most importantly, we are FAMILY! We are no longer orphans wandering the streets in search of a filthy bread crumb. We are seated at the banqueting table with Jesus, and the Prophets, and the Lawgiver Moses, and all the saints who have gone before! Put that in your list and believe it!

Harley
~=~
By referring to this, when you read you can understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, which in other generations was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed to His holy apostles and prophets in the Spirit …

Eph 3:4 - 5 (NASB)

My wife loves a good “who-done-it” mystery. She instinctively matches wits with the author/writer to see if she can solve the mystery before the author wants her to. I suppose that is one reason why we watched “Murder,” She Wrote. Every week we tried to beat Angela Landsbury to the solution of the evening’s murder. Sometimes we won; sometimes we lost, but our minds were always stimulated with new ideas.

Paul is totally fixated on this idea of a revealed mystery … so much so that he spends a great part of this chapter taking about it. So, if Paul thought it was important to take this little side trip in our discovery of who we are in Christ, we must investigate it also. Ok, put on your hunter cap, hold your pipe in one hand, and a magnifying glass in the other. Watson, we have a mystery to solve!

First clue: Paul will reveal his insight into the mystery as we read. That is his promise. He will not keep us in the dark for too long … after all, His ministry is to reveal the mystery, not conceal it. We have already discussed Paul’s qualifications as an apostle that allows him to be a bearer of solutions to the ministry.

Second clue: The mystery is … you guessed it … “of Christ”. Didn’t you just know that Jesus had something to do with it? Everything we have discussed in Ephesians to date has come to us as a result of Jesus Christ, so this should have come as no surprise.

Third clue: Generations of men have not been able to solve the mystery. Here we need to slow down and take a look at what Paul is saying. Who are the generations? Why couldn’t they figure it out? Why was it hidden from them?

Let’s take the questions one at a time. The generations must include the entirety of the Jewish family tree. Abraham searched for the promise when he left Ur and, in blind trust, move to a land that God would show him. He received the promise that God would multiply his seed to outnumber the stars in the sky. Still, Abraham had only one son that qualified as part of God’s plan. Isaac was that son and he only had two sons … and they were constantly at each other’s throats. Isaac received the promise of his father Abraham, but he did not see the multiplication. Jacob was next in line … and he only had twelve sons who survived to receive the yet unfulfilled promise. These twelve sons possessed the land we know as Israel, but they were constantly threatened from outside forces and never saw the promise of Abraham fulfilled. David and Solomon established Israel as a great nation … but it was not the fulfillment of the promise. Even in his latter years, David took a census of his people. He could count them. Solomon’s kingdom consisted of vast numbers of people, but countable. Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel, and all the prophets knew the answer was coming … but they never saw the mystery solved. Even the people who surrounded Jesus didn’t understand that He was the one who would bring the solution to the mystery. They had the Messiah in their midst and misunderstood all He said. Those are the generations.

Why couldn’t they figure it out? All of these could only see part of the solution. And they assumed the solution involved only themselves. However, their nation, even in its golden age never consisted of numbers that could not be counted. They knew the promise, but their vision was limited by their prejudice. That is probably the answer to the remaining question as well. It was hidden from them because of their inability to see beyond their nationality. Even in Jesus’ day, the people were looking for a political Messiah who would deliver them from Roman tyranny and establish a political nation. They were blinded by their own misunderstanding.

By the change on my computer screen, I see that I am out of space so further clues will have to wait until tomorrow. Stay tuned for our next episode. Will the mystery be solved? Who will solve it? What does this mystery have to do with us? Discover the answers to these and many more questions next time on Verse of the Day.

Harley
~=~
c. 2005 Harley E. Hudson

If you received Verse of the Day as a forward and you wish to have your own subscription, simply send an e-mail to hhudson719@earthlink.net and request a free subscription.
><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><>
TGIF-Today God Is First

Becoming a Fool
--------------------------------------------------
Friday, February 11, 2005
by Os Hillman

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline. ~ Proverbs 1:7

Marvin Wilson, author of Our Father Abraham, has written incisively about the various meanings for our word “fool”:

In Biblical wisdom literature, the pupils of the sages and mentors are the unwise, often termed "fools" (Prov. 1:7) or "simple one" (1:22). In wisdom literature, the different levels of fools - both young and old - are the raw material on which the sages had to work, and they represent the varying degrees of rawness. Perhaps as much as anything else, the term fool is descriptive of an attitude, bent of mind, or direction in life, which needs correcting. The various Hebrew words for fool occur more than a hundred times in the book of Proverbs. [Marvin Wilson, Our Father Abraham (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1989), 284-286.]

The reference to someone being a fool was not necessarily a negative term. A simple fool, or peti, was a person who made mistakes, but quickly righted them and was restored to fellowship with God and with others. King David was a simple fool, one who made mistakes, but kept a repentant heart toward God. This is why God did not turn away from him for his many sins.

The hardened fool, kesil and ewil, makes mistakes, but never learns from them and will not listen to others. Such people can expect God's reproof to continue and will eat the fruit of their own way (see Prov. 1:31-32). The hardened fool "returns to his own vomit." King Saul was a hardened fool, one who made mistakes and continued in them even after realizing he was wrong. We're going to err in our ways. The question is, once we know we have made a mistake before God, do we make the necessary adjustments that will allow Him to intervene on our behalf? And will we avoid the same course of action in the future? God says that if we do, He will pour out His Spirit on us (see Prov. 1:23). He will make known His words to us.

The third level of fool mentioned in Proverbs is the mocking fool or letz. The mocking fool mocks the things of God. This word means "scoffer" or "scorner." When you encounter cynical people who disregard the things of God, you know these people are "mocking fools."

The fourth level of fool is the God-denying fool or nabal. This term relates to the morally wicked person who ignores the disgrace he brings on his family and who despises holiness (see Prov. 17:21). This person says, "There is no God." By failing to acknowledge God for who He is, the nabal declares himself to be a "God-denying" fool.

I have found that it is helpful to try to understand if people are teachable. Are they simple fools, those who make mistakes but seek to learn from them? I can work with those people. But if I sense I am working with a hardened fool, I know I should not spend much time on that person. Jesus did not spend much time trying to convince the rich young ruler. He presented truth, and let him make his decision. Some people must get broken before they can become simple fools. Sometimes it is simply better to let satan chew on people until the ground is fertile enough to present truth to them.
---------------------------------------------------
Copyright 2005. www.MarketplaceLeaders.org
---------------------------------------------------
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"

HERE COME THE PODCASTERS
It's called "podcasting," and it has the potential of changing the dynamics of broadcasting the same way blogs have changed the dynamics of print and TV journalism. Podcasting allows anyone with a PC to become a broadcaster -- at virtually no cost. Programs distributed with this technology can be received anywhere, anytime (without requiring the listener to be near a PC), and they can be paused, rewound or fast-forwarded. The number of regular podcasts is now more than 800, with many focusing on gadgets, technology, new bands and music, or developments in politics, movies and sports. One podcaster says, "It would be great if I made a fortune doing it, but I don't see how that could possibly happen. I'm not really trying for it, either. I'm hoping to meet some interesting people and establish some good communications with people on weird topics." (AP/USA Today 7 Feb 2005)

FORMER AOL EMPLOYEE FACES JAIL FOR HELPING SPAMMERS
Virginia software engineer Jason Smathers, formerly employed by America Online, has pleaded guilty to stealing 92 million screen names and e-mail addresses and then selling them to spammers. The spammers in turn used them to generate seven billion unsolicited e-mail messages. The 24-year-old Smathers now faces from 18 months to two years in prison and mandatory restitution of between $200,000 and $400,000, the estimated amount of what AOL had to spend as a result of the e-mails. Authorities said he used another employee's access code to steal the list of AOL customers in 2003 from its headquarters in Dulles, Va. He was promptly fired by the company. (AP/San Jose Mercury News 7 Feb 2005)

VOIP COMPANY FOCUSES ON DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
A Virginia company called Xyrous Communications has built a voice-over-Internet (VoIP) network to reach developing countries such as Vietnam, India, and Turkey, and well as troubled countries such as Iraq, Afghanistan, and Iran. The idea for the business is to sell access to the network to other telecommunications companies that carry the calls into those areas. One of the principals of the project says that the hardest part of dealing with those countries is that "rules of law don't really exist." However, Xyrous benefits from the fact that few competitors are willing to deal with the challenges or risks of doing business in out-of-the-way places. As a result, the company can charge far more for carrying a phone call to those areas than would otherwise be possible. (Washington Post 6 Feb 2005)

GREECE BANS E-MAIL SNOOPING
Greece's personal data watchdog has ordered companies not to violate employee privacy by snooping into their private e-mail. The independent Data Protection Authority (DPA), whose decisions are binding, has barred firms from collecting and processing information on workers' communications, including e-mail. The decision did not include fines. The authority acted on a complaint by the workers' union of an unnamed company, alleging the company remote-controlled employees' computers through virtual network control, specialized software that transmits the screen and keyboard and mouse clicks between two computers on a network. (The Australian 2 Feb 2005) By J Lamp Deakin U.

SUPER-DUPER MICROCHIP FROM IBM, SONY & TOSHIBA
Optimized for broadband-rich applications such as digital home entertainment, a fast new microprocessor (known as "Cell") from IBM, Sony and Toshiba will be used in 2006 in Sony's PlayStation 3 and Toshiba advanced high-definition televisions. Industry analyst Richard Doherty of the market research company Envisioneering says, "There is a new game in town, and it will revive an industry that has been kind of sleepy for the last few years." The Cell chip could have a theoretical peak performance of 256 billion mathematical operations per second, enough to have it ranked among the top 500 supercomputers. Kevin Krewell of Microprocessor Report says, "This is extremely impressive, and it proves that architectural innovation isn't dead."

U.K. CELLPHONE COMPANIES REJECT ROLE OF 'MORAL ARBITER'
A London city councilman wants cellphone companies to strangle the vice trade by declining calls to the numbers shown on business cards soliciting prostitution, but most cellphone companies say it isn't their job to interfere with a customer's service. A Vodaphone spokesman says, "We are not content to play the role of moral arbiter." The decision is supported by the English Collective of Prostitutes, which says that women who are unable to advertise in phone booths may be forced to walk the streets, a more dangerous activity than operating from an apartment. Although prostitution itself (though not street solications) is legal in the U.K., the city councilman says a crackdown is crucial because the world's oldest profession has been booming in London ever the fall of the Berlin Wall, when organized crime gangs began to coerce young women from Eastern Europe and Russia to work for them. (Wall Street Journal 7 Feb 2005)

FLAT-PANEL SHAKEUP
Fierce competition from Korean manufacturers is driving down prices of flat panel displays and eroding profits for many of the companies that make them. With LCD screen prices down as much as 40% in the last year, Fujitsu announced it's selling its LCD operation to Sharp for an undisclosed amount. The divestiture comes on the heels of an announcement last week that Fujitsu will sell back to Hitachi a large piece of the 50% stake it has in the companies' plasma display joint venture. "Fujitsu's been planning an exit strategy for flat panels for some time and it's finally come to fruition," says an analyst for UFJ Tsubasa Securities in Tokyo. Meanwhile, Hitachi and Matsushita are joining forces to develop, manufacture and market plasma displays, a market they hope will prove more lucrative than LCDs. Matsushita is the world's third-largest maker of plasma displays after Samsung and LG Electronics. Hitachi will rank No. 4 once it's completed its deal with Fujitsu. (New York Times 8 Feb 2005)

ASK JEEVES TO BUY BLOGLINES
Search company Ask Jeeves is buying Bloglines, a California startup that claims to have more than 200 million blog articles in a searchable database, for an undisclosed sum. The acquisition will enable Ask Jeeves to build a specialized blog search engine that it can incorporate into its MyJeeves personalization product and its Excite.com portal. Bloglines will also survive as a separately branded site. "The primary benefit here is gaining the leading doorway to all these [RSS] feeds online," says Ask Jeeves senior VP Jim Lanzone. The move reflects the search engine community's focus on blog publishing in an increasingly cutthroat market. Google in 2003 bought Pyra Labs, creator of Blogger software, and Yahoo recently revamped its personalized Web service to rely on RSS to aggregate news headlines and blog entries. MSN recently launched MSN Spaces, a publishing service for blogs. (CNet News.com 7 Feb 2005)

DESIGNING GREEN FROM THE GROUND UP
As the movement toward safe disposal and/or recycling of obsolete consumer electronics devices gains traction, companies increasingly are factoring in their products' demise as they redesign from the ground up. For example, Matsushita's Panasonic SD Video Camera contains no lead, no mercury and no brominated flame retardants, and it's housed in an aluminum casing that's easy to melt down and make into other products. "We wanted to eliminate hazardous materials and make it easy to recycle. This is a design objective that's being built into all of our products," says Matsushita's environmental chief David Thompson. At Panasonic, designers now conduct a 40-step review that, among other things, looks at the ability to quickly dissemble and recycle materials used in their prototypes. The company is moving away from plastics, favoring metals that are easier to recycle, and is also working toward reducing the number of parts or materials used in each product, making it easier to sort and recycle. With increasingly short product life cycles, the move comes none too soon: In U.S. landfills, electronic devices account less than 4% of total solid waste, but 70% of all hazardous waste. (Seattle Times 7 Feb 2005)

HOLOGRAPHIC DISKS WILL STORE HUNDREDS OF MOVIES
With the competition between the next-generation Blu-ray and HD DVD technologies still red-hot, technology firms are seeking a cooler solution for the third-generation DVD. Six leading companies, including Sony, Fuji Photo, CMC Magnetics and Optware, have formed the Holographic Versatile Disc (HVD) Alliance in the hope of building a consensus early. The Alliance says consumers conceivably could store a terabyte of data -- as much as 200 standard DVDs -- on a single HVD disc, and transfer data at over one gigabit per second, or 40 times faster than a DVD. (WebIndia123.com 7 Feb 2005)

POLAND'S SPIES EXPOSED ONLINE
A leaked list containing the names of about 240,000 people who allegedly spied for Poland's former communist regime has overtaken sex as the hottest search item on the Net in Poland. "This thing is huge. We have recorded around 100,000 Internet searches a day for the list, which is 10 times the number looking for sex," Piotr Tchorzewski, who works at Poland's biggest Internet portal Onet, told Rzeczpospolita Daily. The list, which contains in alphabetical order the names of alleged agents and collaborators of the communist-era secret service, mixed together with the names of those who were allegedly spied on, has also been put up for auction on the Internet, but its bid price late today -- 2.99 zlotys (about $AU1.25) -- was hardly breaking records. (The Australian 7 Feb 2005) rec'd from J. Lamp, Deakin U.

HP BOARD OUSTS FIORINA
Carly Fiorina, CEO and chairman of Hewlett-Packard, has been fired by the company's board of directors over "differences about how to execute HP's strategy." Fiorina's best-known achievement was the company's controversial takeover of Compaq, which led to clashes with board members and lackluster response on Wall Street. Industry analyst Rob Enderle said the current dispute most likely stems from what the board perceived as Fiorina's inattention to day-to-day operations. "The next CEO will undoubtedly be much more operationally focused; there is a strong possibility that the office of the CEO will be more shared, but in the end, the company will also be a lot stronger depending on how well the selection is done." Computerworld editor-in-chief Don Tennant had this take: "Carly deserves a lot of credit for making the Compaq acquisition happen simply because it demonstrated her fortitude. But what she apparently forgot is that in an increasingly services-oriented economy, pushing more boxes than the next guy is going to get you less and less glory." (Washington Post 9 Feb 2005)

ONLINE BANKING BOOST
About a fourth of all U.S. adults -- 53 million -- are now using online banking services offered by their financial institutions. That's up 58% from late 2002, and coincides with a jump in high-speed broadband connections and the increasing maturation of the online population. GenXers (age 28 to 39) are the most likely age group to use online banking services (60%), followed by GenY (38%). Only 25% of the over-60 crowd use online banking. Men are more likely to bank online than women (49% vs. 39%) -- a change from two years ago when the two groups were more equal. The boost in numbers stems from two major trends. The first is that as online users gain experience, they're more likely in general to conduct financial transactions, whether it be book-buying on travel reservations, on the Web. And the second is that banks have discovered that online customers tend to be more profitable than offline and banks are therefore marketing their electronic services more aggressively. (Pew Internet & American Life Project 9 Feb 2005)

COMPANIES BAND TOGETHER TO PROMOTE VoIP SECURITY
A group of more than 20 companies, including 3Com, Alcatel, Avaya, Siemens, Symantec and Ernst & Young, have formed a VoIP Security Alliance to tackle voice-over-IP security problems and strive toward making VoIP as reliable as traditional telephony. Alliance chairman David Endler warns that as businesses embrace VoIP as a cheap alternative to their current phone system, many network operators are unaware that they need to alter their security strategies when they add the service. For instance, traditional firewalls cannot police VoIP traffic, he notes. "VoIP networks really inherit the same cyber-security threats that data networks are today prone to, but those threats take greater severity in some cases," says Endler. (Wall Street Journal 9 Feb 2005)

NEW STUDY WARNS OF CAR VIRUSES
A report by IBM Security Intelligence Services predicts that viruses spreading to mobile phones, PDAs and wireless networks could infect the embedded computers that increasingly are used to run basic automobile functions. The average new car runs 20 computer processors and about 60 megabytes of software code, raising more opportunities for malfunctions. In addition to the threat facing vehicles, the report noted the fastest growing threat last year was phishing -- a method of deceiving computer users into revealing personal information -- and predicted that activity would grow more serious in 2005. (Reuters/CNet.com 8 Feb 2005)

A MODERN VALENTINE'S DAY FABLE
A budding romance between a Jordanian man and woman turned into an ugly public divorce when the couple found out that they were in fact man and wife, state media reported on Sunday. Separated for several months, boredom and chance briefly reunited Bakr Melhem and his wife Sanaa in an internet chat room, the official Petra news agency said. Bakr, who passed himself off as Adnan, fell head over heels for Sanaa, who signed off as Jamila (beautiful) and described herself as a cultured, unmarried woman -- a devout Muslim whose hobby was reading, Petra said. Cyber-love blossomed between the pair for three months and soon they were making wedding plans. To pledge their troth in person, they agreed to meet in the flesh near a bus depot in the town of Zarqa, northeast of Amman. The shock of finding out their true identities was too much for the pair. Upon seeing Sanaa-alias-Jamila, Bakr-alias-Adnan turned white and screamed at the top of his lungs: "You are divorced, divorced, divorced" -- the traditional manner of officially ending a marriage in Islam. "You are a liar," Sanaa retorted before fainting, the agency said. (The Age 7 Feb 2005) rec'd from John Lamp, Deakin U.

AFTER FIORINA'S FALL: WHAT'S NEXT FOR HEWLETT-PACKARD?
Technology journalist Mike Langberg says "it's hard to imagine Hewlett-Packard shareholders could suffer more under new management than they did during the 5 1/2 years of Carly Fiorina's reign at Silicon Valley's largest company," and adds: "What is clear, given the wisdom of hindsight, is the magnitude of Fiorina's failure to perform for investors." So what's next for HP? Langber offers three scenarios. Scenario One: More of the same, only better-executed, since there is "reason to believe that HP could flourish under new leadership." Scenario Two: More of the same, only not better -- because HP is trying to do too much in too many businesses in the midst of faster-moving competitors. Scenario Three: The big breakup, in which HP sells or spins off its non-printing businesses. "Which scenario will prove true? I don't know, and neither does anyone else. I can only say for sure that HP won't be a safe widows-and-orphans stock anytime soon." (San Jose Mercury News 10 Feb 2005)

MICROSOFT AND PFIZER CAMPAIGN AGAINST SPAM
Microsoft and drug manufacturer Pfizer yesterday filed 17 lawsuits against various alleged spammers and Web-site operators that push fraudulent versions of drugs (especially Viagra). This is the first time an Internet service provider (Microsoft's MSN) has joined a major retailer to attack the entire supply chain of online scams. Pfizer attorney Marc Brotman says that one-fourth of all spam is related to pharmaceuticals, and that Pfizer suggested that it and Microsoft pool the two firms' investigative resources. (Washington Post 9 Feb 2005)

PROFESSOR OF GAMES
Electronics Arts, the world's largest game publisher, has joined with the University of Southern California to establish the nation's first endowed university chair for the study of electronic gaming. Bing Gordon, the chief creative officer and a founder of Electronic Arts, has been named the inaugural holder of the faculty chair at the USC School of Cinema-Television. Accepting the appointment, Gordon said that "today's students, who are already the world's leading experts in new technology, are the best bet to have the vision and energy to invent sweeping change" in digital entertainment. (AP/USA Today 9 Feb 2005)

AUCTIONING 'PROMOTIONAL' RIGHTS TO UNBORN BABY
A couple in Perth, Australia has attempted to sell the "naming, advertising and promotional" rights to their unborn daughter for at least $AU1 million via Internet auction site eBay. In an advertisement on eBay Australia under the item title Truman Baby, individuals and companies are invited to make bids on the right to name the baby girl, due to be born March 1st. "Offers are invited for your opportunity to be part of HISTORY in the making. We are taking bids on the naming, advertising and promotional rights to my unborn BABY GIRL!! For a period of FIVE YEARS from the date of birth, we are offering the exclusive naming rights (first name only) to my unborn baby due March 1, 2005." (The Australian 9 Feb 2005) rec'd from John Lamp Deakin U.

VIDEO VOYEURS
Prosecutors across the country have been finding that loopholes in state laws make it difficult to convict individuals who shoot voyeuristic "upskirting" or "downblousing" videos of teenagers at public places like the local mall. Most states with video voyeurism laws prohibit unauthorized videotaping or photographing of people who are in private areas, such as dressing rooms, or in situations where they have "a reasonable expectation of privacy" -- but public places pose a different problem. One Virginia state delegate says, "It's certainly immoral, it's certainly wrong, but under the code, it's just not a written offense. We're trying to tighten the code so some pervert isn't able to do that." But attorney Lawrence Walters counters: "Certainly it's a good idea to stop perverts from filming down women's blouses or up little girls' skirts. But we have to step back as a society once we get past that visceral reaction and think this through." Mary Lou Leary of the National Center for Victims of Crime suggests that the problem is the public's diminished expectation of a right to privacy: "We're used to the notion that if you're in a public place, you can take pictures and you can be photographed." (AP/USA Today 8 Feb 2005)

WHAT IS GOOGLE THINKING?
Six months since its public stock offering, Google yesterday gave a four-hour presentation to financial analysts yet talked about everything but money. Analsyt Mark S. Mahaney of American Technology Research quips: "They had a formal presentation by their chef but not their chief financial officer. I have never been to an investor day where the CFO didn't speak." Indeed, Google's top chef spoke to the analysts and investors about the lunch he'd prepared, but the company's chief financial officer moderated the presentation and answered a few questions but didn't give a formal talk -- nor did Google executives answer questions about their product plans. Incidentally, the lunch included grilled pork tenderloin, and was quite tasty. (New York Times 10 Feb 2005)

BLOGGING WHILE YOU WORK: MAYBE NOT A GOOD IDEA
Using the pseudonym "Sarcastic Journalist," reporter Rachel Mosteller of the Durham (N.C.) Herald-Sun newspaper wrote this entry on her personal blog one day last year: "I really hate my place of employment. Seriously. Okay, first off. They have these stupid little awards that are supposed to boost company morale. So you go and do something 'spectacular' (most likely, you're doing your JOB) and then someone says 'Why golly, that was spectacular.' then they sign your name on some paper, they bring you chocolate and some balloons... Okay two people in the newsroom just got it. FOR DOING THEIR JOB." The day after her posting, Sarcastic Journalist was fired (even though it did not identify the newspaper in her posting). Lee Rainie, director of the Pew Internet & American Life Project, comments: "We all complain about work and our bosses. And the ethos of the blogosphere is to be chatty and sometimes catty and crude. Even in an era of casual Fridays, that is not what companies want to be portrayed by the world." And labor lawyer Gregg M. Lemley notes: "In most states, if an employer doesn't like what you're talking about, they can simply terminate you." (Washington Post 11 Feb 2005)

RAPID DISPERSION OF 3G TECHNOLOGY
Ericsson
chief executive Carl-Henric Svanberg says that seven million cellphone users in Europe and Japan switched in the last quarter of 2004 to "3G" (high-speed third-generation) mobile networks that allow computer-like services on cellphones. Svanberg notes that Ericsson has built all or part of 35 of the 56 high-speed 3G networks operating in Europe and Asia. (New York Times 11 Feb 2005)

SHOWDOWN AT HEWLETT-PACKARD
Who pulled the trigger at Hewlett-Packard to start the race to remove CEO Carly Fiorina? Answer: HP board member Patricia Dunn, who at a January meeting confronted Fiorina with a one-page analysis critiquing her performance and suggesting that Fiorina needed to share power. The 51-year-old Dunn then led the board in evaluating Fiorina's record and helped it reach a unanimous decision for radical change. Although Fiorina had countered with a suggestion that HP have co-presidents, tensions soon increased between Fiorina and the board, and the board decided to fire her -- and make Dunn the new non-executive chairman. (San Jose Mercury News 11 Feb 2005)

NAZI MEMORABILIA DECISION SEEN AS VICTORY FOR FREE SPEECH
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals announced it will rehear some arguments in a 5-year-old lawsuit against Yahoo by two French human rights groups that want to ban the sale of Nazi-related items on any Internet site viewable in France. Since French law bars the display or sale of racist material, the groups had won a French court order requiring the company to block Internet surfers in France from auctions selling Nazi memorabilia there, but Yahoo kept such memorabilia on its popular U.S.-based site, yahoo.com. The two-sentence ruling Thursday does not explain how the judges came to their decision but compels both sides to argue their cases again in front of an 11-judge panel. Yahoo attorney Mary Catherine Wirth says, "If American companies have to worry that foreign judgments entered against them might be enforceable, it could end up with companies censoring their Web sites, but Richard Jones, who represented the French organizations, called the decision "meaningless."(AP/USA Today 11 Fe 2005)

CONTROVERSIAL USE OF RFID TECHNOLOGY IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
Brittan Elementary School in rural Sutter, California, is requiring students to wear radio frequency identification (RFID) badges that can track their movements in order to simplify attendance-taking, curtail vandalism, and improve student safety. But civil libertarians are alarmed, and ACLU representative Nicole Ozer warns, "If this school doesn't stand up, then other schools might adopt it. You might be a small community, but you are one of the first communities to use this technology." Angry parent Michael Cantrall, who alerted the ACLU to the school¹s decision to use RFID technology, which is also used to track merchandise, says: "There is a way to make kids safer without making them feel like a piece of inventory. Are we trying to bring them up with respect and trust, or tell them that you can't trust anyone, you are always going to be monitored, and someone is always going to be watching you?" Each student is required to wear identification cards around their necks with their picture, name and grade and a wireless transmitter that beams their ID number to a teacher's handheld computer when the child passes under an antenna posted above a classroom door. But the IDs have been welcomed by some parents, such as one who notes: "This is not Mayberry. This is Sutter, California. Bad things can happen here." (AP 10 Feb 2005)

*****

PETE JENSEN, R.I.P.
Pete Jensen, a great friend and a great man, has passed away after a long illness. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution prepared this very nice obituary:
Pete Jensen, pioneer in computers at Tech
By KAY POWELL
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 02/09/05
**
Pete Jensen led Georgia Tech into the forefront of information as a science.
He was a pioneer in creating Tech's first computer center, said his colleague John Gehl of Cherokee County. Tech's separate College of Computing was created in 1990.
"He was the symbol of Tech's acceptance of computing as a major new thrust at the university," Mr. Gehl said. "Tech was the first institute to form a separate college of computing, and Pete was its champion. He made it a separate major college in its own right, not tucked away in a math department."
"Tech is now world-renowned for our College of Computing," said Mary Alice Isele of Atlanta, the college's director of development.
Mr. Jensen established the school's first computer laboratory and installed Tech's first e-mail system in 1965.
"I'm not sure if we curse him or bless him for that," Ms. Isele said. Alton P. "Pete" Jensen, 79, died of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease Sunday at his Atlanta residence. The graveside service is 11 a.m. today at Georgia Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Milledgeville. A.S. Turner & Sons is in charge of arrangements.
Mr. Jensen joined Tech's research faculty in 1954, retired in 1984 and came out of retirement in 1987 to create the College of Computing.
He was the ideal person to guide Tech into information science, Mr. Gehl said. "He was wonderful both with systems and with people. That was the right combination. He realized the most important part of the human/computer interaction is the human."
When he was a student at Emory University, former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich sought out Mr. Jensen to learn about computers and wound up learning much more, he said.
"He really cared about people, and he really cared about ideas," Mr. Gingrich said. "He somehow combined the best of modern science and technology with a redneck, good ol' boy point of view. He understood them both."
Though his filing system was piles on the floor, he never forgot a detail about anything. "He had an amazing mind and an amazing character. All who knew him respected him," Ms. Isele said.
He is treasured for his vision to create a college of computing, she said. "He had that vision a long, long time before anyone else. So many leaders in technology today credit their success to Pete."
Mr. Jensen was given a lot of freedom at Tech to explore information and computer science. He extended that same freedom to his students, as long as they completed assignments correctly and on time, said his wife, Judith Jensen.
Away from Tech, Mr. Jensen liked to fish and appreciated nature, tried his hand at poetry and enjoyed cooking, Mrs. Jensen said.
"I thought he was a great facilitator," she said. "People would ask for his expertise, and if he didn't have the answer, he could put them in contact with people who could help, even people from years ago. It's not like playing the piano, but it's a human talent."
Survivors include a son, Allan P. Jensen of Atlanta; a daughter, Jean Terrell of Fayetteville; two brothers, Edward Norman Jensen of Whitesburg and Joseph John Jensen of Plainfield, Ill.; and a grandson.

HONORARY SUBSCRIBER: JACK BENNY
Today's Honorary Subscriber is the legendary comedic entertainer Jack Benny (1894-1974), who went from the vaudeville stage to a career in film, radio and TV that lasted until his death in 1974.
Jack Benny was born Benny Kubelsky in Waukegan, Illinois, where as a boy he helped out in his father's dry-goods store. He studied the violin and at age seventeen he played well enough to get work in vaudeville. In 1918 his stage career was interrupted for service in the U.S. Navy as an entertainer. While in the Navy he discovered his talent for comedy, and after World War I he returned to vaudeville as a comedian.
While he still played the violin seriously in private, on stage he began using it as a prop he would play ineptly for comedic effect. As a comedian, Benny was neither a joke-teller nor given to slapstick. His humor was based on the careful cultivation of his stage image as a vain, stingy man and would-be violinist, who was the butt of insults and other people's jokes. He adopted a set mannerisms that included a martyr-like stare with chin resting on hand, three fingers on the cheek, accompanied by facial expressions of disbelief and frustration, all made funnier by perfectly timed utterances of "Well!," "Hmmm," and "Now cut that out!" Over the course of his career he surrounded himself with the same group of supporting players: his wife Mary Livingstone, Eddie "Rochester" Anderson as a black valet, announcer Don Wilson, and band leader Phil Harris.
Benny made his first motion picture in 1927, completing 18 more between 1930 and 1945. Perhaps his most memorable film was "Charley's Aunt." Real stardom, however, came in 1932 when he went on radio with the "Jack Benny Program." From 1934 to 1936 the program led the popularity polls and after that was seldom out of the top ten. His television program, "The Jack Benny Show," began as an occasional special in 1950 and continued as a biweekly and then weekly show until 1965, winning Emmys in 1957 and 1958. From 1965 he appeared in a few specials a year. His final show was "Jack Benny's Second Farewell," broadcast in 1974, the year of his death.
***
[To find a library copy of Jack Benny¹s memoir ³Sunday Nights at Seven: The Jack Benny Story² visit RLG's RedLightGreen service at http://www.redlightgreen.com/ucwprod/servlet/ucw.servlets.UCWController?ACTI ON=EDITION&WORKID=8381639& -- or to purchase a copy of the DVD ³The Best of the Jack Benny Show² go to:

HONORARY SUBSCRIBER: AUDRE LORDE
Today's Honorary Subscriber is the American poet, novelist, essayist and memoirist Audre Geraldine Lorde (1934-1992). Even as a child she wrote poetry and published her first poem in the magazine, Seventeen, while still in high school. Almost two decades would pass, however, before she would receive the National Endowment of the Arts grant that made it possible for her to publish her first book of poetry. A second collection of her poems followed her short stay as poet-in-residence at Mississippi's Tougaloo College. She wrote with passion about issues of gay rights, racial justice, and sex discrimination.
Lorde was born in New York City to an immigrant couple from the West Indies, and she grew up in Harlem. In 1954, she attended the National University of Mexico for a year, after which she attended Hunter College in New York, worked at a variety of low-paying jobs, and kept up her poetry-writing. She received a bachelor's degree in literature and philosophy in 1959 and a master's in library science from Columbia University in 1960.
For several years, she worked as a librarian in Mount Vernon and then New York City. In 1962, she married Edward Rollins, an attorney, but they divorced in 1970, after having two children. As she began to experience success as a writer she gave up library work for full-time writing and occasional teaching and lecturing. She offered courses on poetry at City College and on racism at Lehman College and John Jay College of Criminal Justice.
Lorde's writings upheld Black American culture in an otherwise white-dominated society. She protested the perpetuation of sex discrimination, and argued for gay rights. In 1973 her poetry collection, "From A Land Where Other People Live," was nominated for a National Book Award. Her strongly political poems, "New York Headshop and Museum" and "Coal" broadened her readership. Then in 1978 came what is widely considered her masterpiece, "The Black Unicorn," which relates African mythology to the experiences of the black diaspora.
In both her poetry and prose Lorde blended social criticism with personal revelation. "The Cancer Journals" revealed her terror during the treatments she received for breast cancer, and her last book, "A Burst of Light," poignantly described her decision to terminate further invasive cancer treatments.
About her, Renee Graham wrote in a Boston Globe tribute: "She took her frailties and misfortunes, her strengths and passions, and forged them into sometimes startling, always stirring verse. She could weep like Billie Holiday, chuckle like Dizzy Gillespie or bark bad like John Coltrane."
***
[To find a library copy of Lord's "Undersongs Old and News" visit RLG's RedLightGreen service at or to purchase a copy of Lorde's Collected Poems go to:
Note: We donate all revenue from our book recommendations to adult literacy programs.]

MAILBAG: THE WORLD AS WE FIND IT

OPEN AND PUBLIC BLOGGING IS JOURNALISM
Re:
First off let me say that I enjoy each issue of NewsScan. It is always very informative and packs a lot of information in a small space.
At the risk of being accused of practicing "journalism," let me offer the following opinion on NewsScan article entitled "Who Gets To Decide What Journalism Is?" Are the two bloggers mentioned in the article journalists? I am not sure, but I am leaning closer to saying yes than no. I thought the opposing view offered by Professor Bezanson was very weak. First off, I do not think the size of one's audience should be a major factor in deciding if a person is a journalist or not. The "old media" consisting of the national network's newscasts and many of the major newspapers around the country have been suffering from a decline in viewers and readers, respectively, whereas the "new media," the Internet, has enjoyed an increase in people seeking news from alternative sources. The U.S. Constitution does not provide a magic number of readers or viewers that, once exceeded, a news or opinion outlet can cite to claim journalist protection, or if circulation falls below this number then the rights of a journalist are lost.
I would not be surprised if these two bloggers have a larger daily readership than many of the small-town newspapers in this country. Professors Bezanson¹s example of writing a letter to his mother and claiming to be a journalist is to me comparing apples and chainsaws. I would argue that the professor¹s letter is a private communiqué between two individuals, whereas the web logs of these two people are in an open and public forum to which anyone who wishes may enter and take part. That to me should be the real test of a journalist and free press -- are these bloggers' opinions open to the public? Not how many people actually choose to come and read then. Maybe the next Constitutional crisis will be, does the First Amendment protection of the right of assembly extend to U.S. citizens gathering in an Internet "chat room" to argue politics?
Thanks for use of the soapbox. Keep up the good work. (Dan Weber)

REIN YOURSELF IN
Re:
"Why isn't a blog the electronic equivalent of a letter?" reader Michael H. Bell has asked. Seems quite obvious to me -- a blog is deliberately published without editorial or legal constraint for all to read at the Parish Pump. His point is completely valid. Letters originated as sealed confidential correspondence. Is it now seriously suggested that at the Pump, or the latter-day equivalent the Water Cooler, or now the blog, that any individual can display any opinion right or wrong attached to, and any information provided from, an intercepted but erstwhile private communication possibly edited to reflect the blogger's views, and then all of that then should be published for all to see, with no redress? Do I blog -- darned right I don't -- nothing I have to say to my friends or any of my contacts is of any interest to anyone else -- and that's MY decision!! Anyone who thinks differently, well, why not publish your Credit Card number, and the Security Code, on your blog, and have it indexed by Google or any of the other blog indexers springing up, as per the story in NewsScan. I'm sure we're all looking forward to seeing the information from Electronic Frontier Foundation attorney Kurt Opsahl. There's freedom and there's stupidity. Could it soon be time for the Internet gurus to examine how far this has gone and whence hither? Edited Internet... OUCH!!! But you seem to be going for it, people. Just ask yourselves whether the best way of suppressing Freedom might not be to challenge others into believing that one is making too much use of it and wait for the backlash? Think about it, EFF and others. Push the envelope hard enough and it will burst. Please think about reining yourselves in. Pornography has been largely sidelined. More serious matters will correctly not be so handled. (Scott Pollard)

ANOTHER VALENTINE FABLE
Re:
Although it's fascinating to see something like this actually happen, I first encountered the idea as a humorous fictional account in the cartoon "Firkin" by Hunt Emerson and Tym Manley. They depict an English couple, needing "space," taking his-and-hers vacations to mutually undisclosed locations -- which just-so-happen to be the same tropical getaway. The act of completely cutting loose and assuming alter-ego personalities makes them unrecognizable to each other -- and quick lovers. Back in England, they arrange a tryst and get into a knockdown-dragout at the assignation point! A great little one-pager! And it shows that sometimes our cartoonists/scenarists function as prophets. (Ron A. Zajac)

WHO SHOT THE PILTDOWN MAN?
Re:

You could add to your biography of Pierre Teilhard de Chardin that he was marginally involved in 1912 in the discovery of the Piltdown Man, later revealed to be a hoax. There is no convincing evidence that Teilhard was one of the hoaxsters, but neither is he without suspicion. There is a minor industry in trying to figure out who knew what about the hoax, and occasionally some writers (notably Stephen Jay Gould) come to the conclusion that Teilhard had to have known. Others disagree. It's the "Who shot JFK?" of paleontology! To find out more, start with a web search using "Teilhard Gould Piltdown". (John M. Astell)

A SHOCK OF TULIPS FROM THE NOOSPHERE
Re:

Thanks for the piece about Teilhard in NewsScan Daily. After his death he was buried in the Jesuit cemetary at St. Andrew on the Hudson in Poughkeepsie NY. The cemetery is preserved, though overlooked, as the property now belongs to the Culinary Institute of America. Each spring, among all of the plain, austere graves, a shock of tulips bursts from Teilhard's grave. (Dick Hezel)

WORTH THINKING ABOUT: THE LAND WE LOVE
Historian John Steele Gordon, columnist at American Heritage magazine, notes that our differences with Europe begin with the land itself:
"The land that would become the United States presented a world that was at once hauntingly familiar and quite unlike the one in which the first European explorers and settlers had grown up. Western Europe was a world of dense population, concentrated in cities, towns, and villages; intense cultivation of arable areas; limited wildlife; and limited and carefully husbanded forests.
"America was located in the same temperate zone and featured often familiar trees, plants, and animals, along with some exotic new ones, such as raccoons, skunks, maize, and rattlesnakes. But beyond the rocky shore of what is now the state of Maine and the vast sandy beach that stretches nearly unbroken from New Hampshire to Mexico and far beyond, lay a wilderness, upon which the hand of its human inhabitants had lain very lightly indeed.
"This wilderness was a forest larger than all of western Europe, broken only by the occasional beaver meadow, bog, swamp, rock outcropping, mountain bald, and the slash-and-burn fields of Indians. It stretched from the water's edge to well past the Mississippi. From there it extended fingerlike along river and creek bottoms into the great plains that covered the center of the continent.
"The climate of North America that the first settlers encountered was, like the land, both familiar and exotic. It is temperate rather than arctic or tropical, and with abundant rain. But, being on the eastern edge of a great continent, the climate is continental in nature, whereas western Europe's is maritime, and greatly tempered by the warmth of the Gulf Stream. American winters are much colder than western Europe's while the summers are hotter. The high and low temperature records for London, located north of the fifty-first parallel of latitude, are 99 degrees and 2 degrees and only rarely approach either extreme. The records for New York, just north of the forty-first, are 106 degrees and -15 degrees, and the extremes are approached with disconcerting frequency. By European standards, New England winters and southern summers were long and brutal."
***
[Source: John Steele Gordon, "An Empire Of Wealth: The Epic History of American Economic Power." To purchase a copy go , or to find a library copy of his "Business of America" visit RLG's RedLightGreen service at .

HONORARY SUBSCRIBER: PIERRE TEILHARD DE CHARDIN
Today's Honorary Subscriber is the French Jesuit priest and noted man of science Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, S.J. (1881-1955), whose posthumously published speculations on man's evolutionary future made him a cause celebré among the world's intelligentsia.
During his lifetime, Teilhard was known mainly for his seminal contributions to the science of paleontology, based largely on his scientific fieldwork in China and Africa. He was actively involved in the 1929 discovery of the skull of Peking man. As a scientist who was also a deeply spiritual man, Teilhard was stirred philosophically to blend his scientific work with his Christian faith to develop his theory that man is evolving, mentally and socially, toward a final spiritual unity. He strived with limited success to convince religious believers that the acceptance of evolution does not involve the rejection of Christianity.
Teilhard's own superiors refused him permission to publish his evolutionary theories, with the result that he confined himself to writing up his strictly scientific investigations, avoiding all mention of his philosophical-theological conclusions. Only after his death did friends succeed in going to press with "The Phenomenon of Man," the book he wrote in the 1920s and '30s containing his controversial insights into the course he expected human evolution to take in coming times.
Teilhard was a gentleman farmer's son, and at age 10 he was sent to the Jesuit College of Mongré, where as a boarding student he developed his first interest in geology. When he was 18, he joined the Jesuit novitiate at Aix-en-Provence to begin his studies for the priesthood that culminated in his ordination in 1911. He served with the French Army during World War I, as a stretcher-bearer and not as a chaplain, earning the Legion of Honor for his courage on the battle lines.
After the war he taught at the Catholic Institute of Paris, and in 1923 he made the first of his paleontological and geological missions to China. Later in the 1930s he traveled to the Gobi desert, Sinkiang, Kashmir, Java, and Burma (Myanmar) to conduct pioneering studies of Asia's sedimentary deposits and the dates of its fossils.
The outbreak of World War II found him in Peking, where he was forced to spend the war years from 1939 to 1945. Teilhard returned to France in 1946, but then moved to the United States when he was denied his wish to teach at the Collège de France and publish his philosophical works. He spent the remaining years of his life at the Wenner-Gren Foundation in New York City. The foundation supported the two paleontological and archaeological expeditions he made in South Africa.
In his theory of cosmic evolution Teilhard sought to reconcile Christian thought with modern science and traditional philosophy by postulating an evolutionary process that would proceed from its biological beginnings to embrace an intellectual and spiritual endpoint Teilhard called "the Omega point." Initially greeted with skepticism by both scientists and philosophically traditional thinkers, Teilhard's ideas have since gained an interested following among a variety of Information Age thinkers seeking a conceptual structure and vocabulary to deal with evolving cyberspace realities.
[To find a library copy of H. James Birx's "Pierre Teilhard de Chardin's Philosophy of Evolution" visit RLG's RedLightGreen service at -- or to purchase a copy of Teilhard's "The Phenomenon of Man" go to:
Note: We donate all revenue from our book recommendations to adult literacy programs.]

MAILBAG: THE WORLD AS WE FIND IT

MORE PODCASTING
Re:
I am a subscriber and enjoy your newsletter very much. I wrote an article on podcasting and have attached it. This was part of my PILOTed newsletter, which I send out monthly. If you are interested in receiving it, let me know. The most recent issue is an interview with Susan Patrick, the Director of the Office of Educational Technology of the Dept of Ed. You can view it at http://nl.pilotonlinelearning.com/. (Mitchell Weisberg)

OVID IN EXILE
Re:

Death in exile should be one aspect of our study: think of the Spaniards who died in exile because of the Civil War, or of the Jews because of the Nazis. Their feelings were of nostalgia, bitterness and anger. Exiled from Florence, before dying in Ravenna in 1321, Dante said bitterly "Ingrata patria, non avrai le mie ossa." (Ronald Hilton)

O SPELLCHECK, WHERE ART THOU?
Re:

Ovid's biography refers to his exile to "Tomis (modern Costanza, in Romania)", but this misspells the modern name. The city is actually Constanza (and many English speaking readers probably know it as Constanta). (John M. Astell)

E-MAIL PRIVACY, OR LACK THEREOF
[This is from a well-known and large company in Southern Ontario.]
Everybody today would like to have a firewall, but theirs goes even further. It actually reads the content of each message and scans for banned words. You have recently posted information about newer applications which continue this trend towards further loss of privacy by employees, and this is just another example. Most privacy issues between determined parties can be easily beaten by the use of encryption, even the simplest like the famous rot13 encryption. Many tools exist to send .zip files hidden within a [previously] small .gif or .jpg file. The system can be easily defeated. In fact if anyone wishes to have me challenge their e-mail system, they should send e-mail to my junk address efficient@canada.com.
I have read your e-mail notes for a long time, and you are doing a good job. Hope you can keep it up. E-mail is still the killer app, and Google or whoever takes the lead in search technology in the future is the second best thing about the .www part of the net. Remembering that the private networks remain a larger part of the Internet than the .www part, I understand their desire to prevent illegal access to their private domains -- even if they have to stomp on the civil rights of their employees... yadda... You may publish edited versions of whatever I write, just don't identify it. (Name Withheld, Canada)

JOURNALISTS AND BLOGGERS
Re:
If the letter University of Iowa law professor Randall Bezanson writes to his mom about what he is doing included any information about any project considered "classified" or for which he signed a non-disclosure agreement, I'm sure he would be deliriously happy that it was protected by the free press clause of the Constitution. Why isn't a blog the electronic equivalent of a letter? (Michael H. Bell)

APPLE, MICROSOFT, AND NAPSTER DON'T WRITE THE MUSIC RULES Re:

I find it somewhat amusing that Napster is attacking iTunes and the iPod on their website while themselves distributing digital music files in a DRM-encumbered proprietary media file format. DRM-encumbered WMV files can only be played on Microsoft Windows computers and portable media players that support DRM-encumbered WMV files. Despite Napster's claims on their website, these files cannot be played on an MP3 player - they can only be played on a WMV-compatible media player. Making the claim that you can fill your MP3 player with Napster files gives the false impression that Napster is selling MP3 files, which it is not. I have two MP3 players, yet neither is compatible with Napster's service, because they play MP3 files, not WMV files. False advertising at its best!
Instead of attacking their competition, maybe they should try to offer a better service. Work with Apple and support Fairplay, sell unencumbered media files, support Macintosh and Linux systems. Frankly I would prefer to stick with buying regular CDs from the secondhand store around the corner, which I can rip into MP3, OGG or any other format I choose so I can play them wherever I want, not where Apple, Microsoft or Napster will allow me to. (Amos Bannister)

HONORARY SUBSCRIBER: IBN KHALDUN
Today's Honorary Subscriber is the Arab scholar and statesman Ibn
Khaldun (1332-1406), who is celebrated as a pioneer in the philosophy of
history. He was one of many Muslim historians who wrote detailed histories
of the world, attempting to synthesize the knowledge and lore of the ancient
civilizations of Persia, Byzantium, and the Near East.
Scornful of other historians' blind trust in tradition, Ibn Khaldun
took pains to explain the phenomena that he recorded. He believed that
dynasties have a natural lifetime just like individuals, because they draw
their strength from a sentiment he called "group solidarity," which is
difficult to maintain for more than three forty-year generations. He noted
that a proper understanding of events can be achieved only by comprehending
human society in its different manifestations, distinguishing the nomadic
from the sedentary, and studying the effects of geography and climate on
them.
His masterful history of the world, "The Book of Lessons and Archive of Early and Subsequent History," which contains his theories of history and society, was called by English historian Arnold Toynbee "the most comprehensive and illuminating analysis of how human affairs work that has been made anywhere."
Because he took a scientific view of the rise and decay of human societies, arguing that such changes followed empirically verifiable laws, his analyses are not without relevance to modern problems. His scholarly output encompassed today's disciplines of history, sociology, anthropology, folklore, geography, linguistics, economics and political science
Ibn Khaldun was born in Tunis to a family with roots in the aristocracy of Seville, Spain. In 1352 he entered the service of the Sultan of Fez, butin 1356 he was imprisoned for two years under suspicion of political disloyalty. After spending some years in Granada, Spain, he returned to Africa and entered the service of the Sultan of Tiemcen. After various vicissitudes, including further imprisonment and a period of residence in a monastery, he obtained employment with the Sultan of Tunis. After visiting Mecca in 1384, he was appointed grand qadi in Cairo, Egypt, an office from which he was removed and reinstalled no fewer than five times. He died inCairo in 1406.
As an example of his writing, we include the following quotation on economics (anticipating the Laffer curve), taken from the Wikepedia Website:
"In the early stages of the state, taxes are light in their incidence, but fetch in a large revenue...As time passes and kings succeed each other, they lose their tribal habits in favor of more civilized ones. Their needs and exigencies grow...owing to the luxury in which they have been brought up. Hence they impose fresh taxes on their subjects...[and] sharply raise the rate of old taxes to increase their yield...But the effects on business of this rise in taxation make themselves felt. For business men are soon discouraged by the comparison of their profits with the burden of their taxes...Consequently production falls off, and with it the yield of taxation."
***
[To find a library copy of Michael Brett's "Ibn Khaldun and the Medieval Maghrib" visit RLG's RedLightGreen service at-- or to purchase a copy of M.A. Enan's "Ibn Khaldun: His Life and Work" goto:


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
~~~
Magnolia Arts Council’s “Open Mic Night”, Tuesday, Feb. 15, 6:30 p.m. @ Mules Cantina.
~~~
Robert Burns Night, 5 pm, Saturday, Feb. 19 @ Reynold Center.
~~~
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. Sgt. 1st Class Sean M. Cooley, 35, from Ocean Springs, Miss., died February 3 in Northern Babil Province, Iraq, when his vehicle was struck by an improvised explosive device. Cooley was assigned to the 150th Engineer Battalion, 155th Armor Brigade, Lucedale, Miss.

02. Lance Cpl. Travis M. Wichlacz, 22, of West Bend, Wis., died Feb. 5 as a result of hostile action in Babil Province, Iraq. He was assigned to Marine Forces Reserve’s 2nd Battalion, 24th Marine Regiment, 4th Marine Division, Milwaukee, Wis.

03. Lance Cpl. Richard C. Clifton, 19, of Milford, Del., died Feb. 3 as a result of hostile action in Al Anbar Province, Iraq. He was assigned to 2nd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, Calif.

04. Spc. Jeremy O. Allmon, 22, of Cleburne, Texas, died Feb. 6 in Taji, Iraq, when an improvised explosive device detonated near his military vehicle. Allmon was assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division, Fort Hood, Texas.

The Department of Defense announced the death of two soldiers who were supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.
05. Staff Sgt. Steven G. Bayow, 42, from Colonia Yap, Federated States of Micronesia, died February 4 in Bayji, Iraq, when an improvised explosive device hit his vehicle. Bayow was assigned to the 2d Battalion, 7th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Infantry Division, Fort Stewart, Ga.
06. Sgt. Daniel Torres, 23, from Fort Worth, Texas, died February 4 in Bayjii, Iraq, when an improvised explosive device hit his vehicle. Torres was assigned to the 2d Battalion, 7th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Infantry Division, Fort Stewart, Ga.

07. Spc. Richard M. Crane, 25, of Independence, Mo., died Feb. 8, in Kandahar, Afghanistan, of non-combat related injuries. Crane was assigned to the Army Reserve’s 325th Field Hospital, Independence, Mo.

08. Staff Sgt. Zachary R. Wobler, 24, of Ottowa, Ohio, died Feb. 6 in Mosul, Iraq, when his dismounted patrol encountered enemy forces using small arms fire. Wobler was assigned to the Army’s 2nd Battalion, 325th Airborne Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division, Fort Bragg, N.C.

09. Capt. Sean L. Brock, 29, of Redondo Beach, Calif., died Feb. 2 from wounds received as a result of hostile action in Al Anbar Province, Iraq. He was assigned to Headquarters Battalion, Marine Corps Base Camp Butler, Okinawa, Japan.

10. Sgt. Jessica M. Housby, 23, of Rock Island, Ill., died Feb. 9 in Route Golden, Iraq, when an improvised explosive device detonated near her convoy. Housby was assigned to the Army National Guard's 1644th Transportation Company, Rock Falls, Ill.

11. Sgt. Jessica M. Housby, 23, of Rock Island, Ill., died Feb. 9 in Route Golden, Iraq, when an improvised explosive device detonated near her convoy. Housby was assigned to the Army National Guard's 1644th Transportation Company, Rock Falls, Ill.

12. Spc. Jeffrey S. Henthorn, 25, of Choctaw, Okla., died Feb. 8 in Balad, Iraq, from non-combat related injuries. Henthorn was assigned to the 24th Transportation Company, Fort Riley, Kan.
><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><>
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
~~~fs
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.
><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><>
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!!!
Psa 30:4-5 James 1:26-27 1 Tim 4:14-16
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 Steeples and bridges.
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.
><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><>