Winter

Happy Winter Solstice to all and Merry Christmas to all my Christian friends.

The way some Republicans think

A friend of mine was chatting with a casual acquaintance a while back and mentioned an event they would be taking part in at church. The acquaintance said, in a surprised tone, “You go to church?” My friend said, “Of course, we go every Sunday. We are very active in our church”. The acquaintance then said, “but aren’t you Democrats?”

I want to own a Canadian

A friend sent this to me the other day and I just had to pass it along.

In her radio show, Dr Laura Schlesinger said that, as an Orthodox Jew, homosexuality is an abomination according to Leviticus 18:22, and cannot be condoned under any circumstance.

The following response is an open letter to Dr. Laura, written by a US man, and posted on the Internet. It's quite informative:

Dear Dr. Laura:

Thank you for doing so much to educate people regarding God's Law. I have learned a great deal from your show, and try to share that knowledge with as many people as I can. When someone tries to defend the homosexual lifestyle, for example, I simply remind them that Leviticus 18:22 clearly states it to be an abomination ... End of debate.

I do need some advice from you, however, regarding some other elements of God's Laws and how to follow them.

1. Leviticus 25:44 states that I may possess slaves, both male and female, provided they are from neighboring nations. A friend of mine claims that this applies to Mexicans, but not Canadians. Can you clarify? Why can't I own Canadians?

2. I would like to sell my daughter into slavery, as sanctioned in Exodus 21:7. In this day and age, what do you think would be a fair price for her?

3. I know that I am allowed no contact with a woman while she is in her period of menstrual uncleanliness - Lev.15: 19-24. The problem is how do I tell? I have tried asking, but most women take offense.

4. When I burn a bull on the altar as a sacrifice, I know it creates a pleasing odor for the Lord - Lev.1:9. The problem is my neighbors. They claim the odor is not pleasing to them. Should I smite them?

5. I have a neighbor who insists on working on the Sabbath. Exodus 35:2 clearly states he should be put to death. Am I morally obligated to kill him myself, or should I ask the police to do it?

6. A friend of mine feels that even though eating shellfish is an abomination, Lev. 11:10, it is a lesser abomination than homosexuality. I don't agree. Can you settle this? Are there
'degrees' of abomination?

7. Lev. 21:20 states that I may not approach the altar of God if I have a defect in my sight. I have to admit that I wear reading glasses. Does my vision have to be 20/20, or is there some wiggle-room here?

8. Most of my male friends get their hair trimmed, including the hair around their temples, even though this is expressly forbidden by Lev. 19:27. How should they die?

9. I know from Lev. 11:6-8 that touching the skin of a dead pig makes me unclean, but may I still play football if I wear gloves?

10. My uncle has a farm. He violates Lev.19:19 by planting two different crops in the same field, as does his wife by wearing garments made of two different kinds of thread (cotton/polyester blend). He also tends to curse and blaspheme a lot. Is it really necessary that we go to all the trouble of getting the whole town together to stone them? Lev.24:10-16. Couldn't we just burn them to death at a private family affair, like we do with people who sleep with their in-laws? (Lev. 20:14)

I know you have studied these things extensively and thus enjoy
considerable expertise in such matters, so I'm confident you can help.

Thank you again for reminding us that God's word is eternal and unchanging.

Your adoring fan.
James M. Kauffman, Ed.D. Professor Emeritus,
Dept. Of Curriculum, Instruction, and Special Education
University of Virginia

P.S. (It would be a damn shame if we couldn't own a Canadian)

War. When do we quit?

I read today that the war in Afghanistan recently completed it's 105th month. This makes it the longest war in our history. Longer that Vietnam which lasted 103 months. When do we stop? When do we realize that we can't win? When is enough, enough? If we haven't won the hearts and minds of these people in almost 9 years I don't think we ever will. It's time to stop wasting American lives on this hopeless tragedy.

Some Things Are Worth It.

As I sit here, I have a robot cleaning my kitchen floor. I know this seems decadent , but the older you get the harder it is on the back to mop floors. I would never buy but this thing for myself but my daughter gave it to me when she discovered it doesn't work well in a house with two dogs. It is not the "end all" in floor cleaning but I'm not the "end all" in housecleaning either. It's round so it doesn't get into corners but I really don't care. Corners I can do by hand. The only draw back is that it's a bit noisy and it takes much longer than by hand. The up side is, you can set it, forget it and go play games on the computer. That's a win, win in my book.

Me, Me, Me

On the News tonight: A man standing on a Gulf Coast Beach expressed disappointment with the Presidents speech last night. He said, "I don't care about an Energy Bill, I care about paying the bills". I understanding the frustration of those directly affected by the oil spill but a Me Now, Me Only attitude won't fix the problem. As we deal with this catastrophe now we must also look at the big picture and plan for the future. We can not continue to be as dependent on fossil fuels are we are now. There are other clean energy sources and we must work on developing them NOW.

BP

To begin with let me be clear about this. I am just as upset as everyone else regarding the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. I live 1.5 miles from the beautiful, white, sandy beaches of the west coast of Florida and I know how devastating this will be for all of us.

People here are carrying signs and protesting at BP gas stations everywhere and calling for a boycott of BP products. I understand their desire to punish BP and I believe BP should be punished but there are three points I would like to make.

#1
It will be very difficult to completely boycott PB. They are a HUGE company and many of the things we use every day and don't even think about are made by BP. The soda can you drink out of may be made by BP. The asphalt on our roads is very likely made by BP - and the list goes on.

#2
But lets say we were able to boycott BP and drive them into bankruptcy (their stock had already take a really big hit). What happens then? Who is going to pay for the cleanup of this awful mess? I can tell you who - the American taxpayer. Quite frankly, I don't want to pay for it with my tax dollars. So, even though I don't presently use BP gas, I am going to start. I need gas anyway and their gas costs the same so I will help them out until they get this mess taken care of.

#3
For the most part, BP doesn't own gas stations. They are owned by and independent station owner. He is a guy who has a wife and family just like the rest of us. He may live down the street from you or go to your church. His kid may play on the same little league as your kid. The money he makes from his station he spends in his community - your community. So when you boycott his station and deprive him of his livelihood, you are really hurting your neighbor and your community.

Not For Sale

I'm taking the pool off the market. It's back to being wonderful. We don't use AC yet so a dip in the pool right before I climb into bed is great. It took a month to get the mew pump in and now that the green scum is gone I am a happy woman!

Rush Limbaugh is an Idiot!

Rush Limbaugh said that the Sierra Club is responsible for the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

Really? The Sierra Club?

He says they have forced drilling off the land and far, far out into the Gulf where it is more difficult and dangerous to drill. I thought they were drilling in the Gulf because that's where the oil was. Apparently I am wrong.

Seriously Rush - The Sierra Club?

Let's All Bow Our Heads

The local Christians all got together last night on the beach an prayed for God to stop the oil spill. Can't wait to see how this turns out!

#$%&@*

Free to a good home. One, large, in-ground swimming pool. If you can get it out and haul it away, the dam thing is yours!

I'm Confused (but it wouldn't be the first time)

I own some stock in a small Telephone Company in the Midwest (inherited from my parents). Yesterday I received a copy of an Accountant's Report sent to the Board of Directors of the company.

The third paragraph reads as follows:

"Management has elected to omit substantially all of the disclosures and the statements of cash flow required by accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America. If the omitted disclosures and statements were included in the financial statements, they might influence the user's conclusions about the Company's financial position, results of operations and cash flows. Accordingly, these financial statements are not designed for those who are not informed about such matters".

What the hell does that mean? I think I'm insulted.

Cheating

Tiger Woods and Jesse James have been vilified for cheating on their wives. Let me first say, I do not condone their actions. If they wanted to screw around, they shouldn't have gotten married in the first place. It's hard for non celebrities to keep that kind of thing a secret and much harder if the world is watching you.

But what about the skaney women who slept with these guys knowing they were married? Don't they share equally in the responsibility for the break down of these marriages? Instead, they are being rewarded by becoming celebrities (if only for a short time) themselves. They could have said no. If I were the wives, I would be going after these women as well.

(I know skaney is ms - can't find it in the dictionary)

I don't think man was meant to be monogamous but if you stand up in front of all you friends and family and say you will, then you should - or get a divorce.

As an aside: Tiger's infidelity was probably a good thing for golf. I bet more people are watching the Masters that ever before. I know I am. Also, there isn't anything else on today.

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter to all my Christian friends.

To all others - I the hope the Easter Bunny brought you something anyway.

A few ramdon (silly) things about ME

My favorite color is blue

I have never worn false eyelashes

My favorite ice cream is butter brickel (they don’t make it anymore)

I view numbers as an ascending ladder

My greatest achievement in life was having two remarkable, but different, children

I have beautiful feet

I am extremely organized

"Meatloaf" is my favorite artist

I love the scent of Gardenias

I love Orchids but hate waiting for them to bloom

I need to lose 20 lb

I have been madly in love with my husband since the day I met him 46 years ago

I have never eaten Sushi – and I never will

I have never played Scrabble

I don't know how to "text" and I don't want to learn

I love the mountains of Western NC

My name was misspelled on my birth certificate & I have been living with the nightmare ever since

(to possibly be continued at a later date)

Weekend

This was not one of my better weekends. We had two or three days of heavy rain last week. On Fri. afternoon when I came home from the store my daughter had stopped by and was parked in the driveway. I pulled up beside her on the grass. After she left I went to put the car in the garage and got stuck in the lawn. How stupid is that? I had to call AAA to get me out. Now I have big ruts in the lawn. I have no idea how to fill them in.

Also on Fri night our TV quit working. It's a 46" flat screen that I paid an enormous amount of money for three and a half years ago. I also bought an expensive extended warranty plan - which ran out 6 months ago. I have a repairman coming tomorrow. Can't imagine what this will cost.

I am not a happy camper.

Hockey

I am not a big hockey fan. My daughter is. On a business trip to Toronto she visited the Hockey Hall of Fame and touched the Stanley Cup. It was the highlight of her trip.

Canada is fanatical about hockey. It is as important to them as their religion and for some more important. Winning a Gold Medal in the Olympics in hockey is the most important thing in the world to them. Their national pride is on the line. I think they would trade all their other medals for just the Gold in hockey.

Canada is our neighbor and our best friend. Last night we beat Canada in hockey. Knowing how important this is to Canada, don’t you think we could have let them have this game and help them in their quest for the Gold? Really – we have more medals than anyone else. Do we have to be so greedy?

I’m just saying – isn’t that what friends do for each other?

I’ll go duck and hide behind my desk now.

I'll have coffee, please.

On the news tonight, a speaker at the "Tea Party Conference" stated that "the majority of Americans are not being heard".

Really?

Just a little over a year ago the majority of Americans elected a Democrat president. Is the Tea Party guy lying or is he just plain stupid?

More Than I Need To Know

A dog just came on TV and announced that his dog food made him an optimal pooper. He said he is not just a "good pooper now, but an optional one".

Really?

There are just some things I don't need to know.

Stop and think

Stop and think for a minute. Do the acts of terror accomplish anything for the group that is blamed for the terror?

Does terror achieve their ends or obtain the results they want? Or isn't it obvious that the acts of terror are actually achieving the objectives of those who claim to be the victims of the terror, to gain them sympathy and political alliances?
Douglas Lay 1/23/10

More of the same

Wednesday, Rush Limbaugh urged people not to donate to relief efforts in Haiti. He said that he wouldn't trust that money donated to Haiti through the White House Web site would actually go to the relief efforts. He said Americans don't need to contribute to earthquake relied because they already donate to Haiti through their income taxes.

How does this guy stay on the air?

Haiti

My heart cries for the people of Haiti.

But guess what? Pat Robertson has the answer as to why. He just stated that the earthquake hit Haiti because many years ago the people of Haiti made a pack with the Devil to get the French out of their country. He said perhaps something good will come out of this.

Really? How stupid can any one man be?

In any disaster there is one, great, shinning light. The Red Cross. If you can give anything at all, please go to www.redcross.org and click on donate. People are suffering and they need all the help they can get.

Norton Security

Does Norton Security really exist? I have been on hold (with a priority code number) for three hours a day for three days with no answer. Are they just some giant internet scam? Some guy sets up a web site promising to protect your computer, collects your money and gives you nothing in return.

I have been getting messages every other hour that my subscription has run out and I know it hasn’t. It is good till June 18^th. I don't know if my computer is protected or not. They do not respond to emails. I have tried to set up an appointment for them to call me but they have no available appointments. I was given a priority code which is suppose to get me through to them quicker but I am still on hold. To add insult to injury – their hold music sucks. It sounds like a three year old trying to play the piano.

Is there another protection that works well? Perhaps someone who actually cares if their customers have a problem.

If Norton ever does answer the phone – look out.