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Nov 15, 2010
Nov 14, 2010
This Weeks Sound Off
Obama Lauds Indonesia As A Model Of Religious Tolerance
Indonesia and the United States share principles of unity and tolerance and both can benefit from strengthened ties that will bolster trade and combat terrorism, President Obama said in a highly anticipated speech Wednesday.
As the nation with the largest Muslim population in the world, Indonesia was chosen as the site for Obama to further address U.S. relations with the Islamic world following his speech on the topic last year in Cairo, Egypt.
He referred specifically to the Cairo speech of June 2009, noting he called there "for a new beginning between the United States and Muslims around the world -- one that creates a path for us to move beyond our differences."
"I said then, and I will repeat now, that no single speech can eradicate years of mistrust," Obama said. At the same time, he promised that "no matter what setbacks may come, the United States is committed to human progress."
America "is not, and never will be, at war with Islam," Obama insisted. "Instead, all of us must defeat al Qaeda and its affiliates, who have no claim to be leaders of any religion -- certainly not a great world religion like Islam."
Indonesia has been rocked by terror attacks such as bombings on Bali in 2002 and 2005, and Obama noted the nation's progress "in rooting out terrorists and combating violent extremism."
However, Muslims staged rallies across Indonesia on Sunday to protest the American president's visit, and about 20,000 people attended the demonstrations, a spokesman for a protest group said.
"We don't see the differences between Obama and (former U.S. President George W.) Bush. They both oppress Muslims. They both have blood on their hands," said Ismail Yusanto, a spokesman for the Muslim group Hizbut Tahrir. "That's why we reject Obama and we don't believe that he's reaching out to Muslims."-Read more at CNN World
Woooo, hold on Obama! Not so fast! Building a relationship with Islam? All well and good, but not until the Islamic Nation publicly and politically denounces radical Islam and turns over those who murdered Americans in the 2001 attack on our country. I’m not exactly in the mood to simply forgive and forget and become bosom buddies with a nation that is willing to kill us and destroy what we now know as America.
The Islamic nation has to understand that there are consequences for their radical beliefs, hellish actions and murderous ways … to simply say we need to improve relationships, I’m not ready for that until I see some radical changes, not only from overseas, but right here in our own country where radical Islamic Muslims have more rights than American citizens do. Change, yes!, I’d like to see it come about, but it’s not us Americans who needs to change … it’s the Muslims. Until then, yeah!, we’re at war!
Ragbag Headliners
Faith Groups Divided Over New York Islamic Center
American Christians, Muslims and those of other faiths are divided over what to do about a proposed Islamic community center near ground zero in New York, a new poll shows.
While some six in 10 Catholics and Mormons think another location should be found, less than a third of Muslims, other non-Christians and non-religious Americans feel the same way, according to the Gallup survey. Jewish Americans, Protestants and other Christians fell more in the middle.
No majority exists in any of the groups for building the center on the proposed location. –Read more at CNN U.S.
American Christians, Muslims and those of other faiths are divided over what to do about a proposed Islamic community center near ground zero in New York, a new poll shows.
While some six in 10 Catholics and Mormons think another location should be found, less than a third of Muslims, other non-Christians and non-religious Americans feel the same way, according to the Gallup survey. Jewish Americans, Protestants and other Christians fell more in the middle.
No majority exists in any of the groups for building the center on the proposed location. –Read more at CNN U.S.
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Scientists Convert Skin To Blood
Researchers at Canada's McMaster University report that they've figured out how to make blood out of human skin.
The breakthrough could eventually mean that patients needing blood for surgery, cancer treatment or treatment of blood conditions like anemia will be able to have blood created from a patch of their own skin to provide transfusions, the university said.
Skin cells that are removed from the patient can be multiplied in a petri dish and converted into a large quantity of blood cells, which themselves can be multiplied, lead researcher Mick Bhatia told CNN. –Read more at CNN Health
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Iraqi Christians Welcome In North, Kurdish Leader Says
Iraqi Christians under siege by Islamic militants are welcome in the country's north, a Kurdish leader said Thursday, after a string of attacks that have killed dozens of the faith.
"I want to let them know that the Kurdistan Region is open to them. If they want to come, we will protect them and provide them with all services," said Massoud Barzani, president of the Kurdistan regional government. "We are extremely sorry for the crimes they have been subjected to and we condemn these criminal acts, they are innocent people and a precious part of this nation."
In the past, the regional government has opened its doors to other persecuted minorities.
Many Christian families that CNN spoke to Wednesday said they feared for their own safety and wanted to leave Iraq, but didn't have the means to do so. Some Iraqi church leaders and politicians such as Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki have been discouraging Iraqi Christians, one of the oldest Christian civilizations in the world, from leaving.—Read more at CNN World
European Life Died In Auschwitz
(An article in the Jan 15, 2008 issue of The Barcelona Daily News, one of Spain's English newspapers, after the Madrid train bombing by Moslem terrorists.)
I walked down the street in Barcelona, and suddenly discovered a terrible truth - Europe died in Auschwitz. We killed six million Jews and replaced them with 20 million Muslims. In Auschwitz, we burned a culture, thought, creativity, talent. We destroyed the chosen people, truly chosen, because they produced great and wonderful people who changed the world.
The contribution of this people is felt in all areas of life: science, art, international trade, and above all, as the conscience of the world. These are the people we burned.
And under the pretense of tolerance, and because we wanted to prove to ourselves that we were cured of the disease of racism, we opened our gates to 20 million Muslims, who brought us stupidity and ignorance; religious extremism and lack of tolerance; crime and poverty due to an unwillingness to work and support their families with pride.
They have blown up our trains and turned our beautiful Spanish cities into the third world, drowning in filth and crime. Shut up in the apartments they receive free from the government, they plan the murder and destruction of their naive hosts.
And thus, in our misery, we have exchanged culture for fanatical hatred, creative skill for destructive skill, intelligence for backwardness and superstition.
We have exchanged the pursuit of peace of the Jews of Europe and their talent for a better future for their children, their determined clinging to life because life is holy, for those who pursue death, for people consumed by the desire for death for themselves and others, for our children and theirs.
What a terrible mistake was made by miserable Europe.
by Sebastian Villar Rodriguez
I walked down the street in Barcelona, and suddenly discovered a terrible truth - Europe died in Auschwitz. We killed six million Jews and replaced them with 20 million Muslims. In Auschwitz, we burned a culture, thought, creativity, talent. We destroyed the chosen people, truly chosen, because they produced great and wonderful people who changed the world.
The contribution of this people is felt in all areas of life: science, art, international trade, and above all, as the conscience of the world. These are the people we burned.
And under the pretense of tolerance, and because we wanted to prove to ourselves that we were cured of the disease of racism, we opened our gates to 20 million Muslims, who brought us stupidity and ignorance; religious extremism and lack of tolerance; crime and poverty due to an unwillingness to work and support their families with pride.
They have blown up our trains and turned our beautiful Spanish cities into the third world, drowning in filth and crime. Shut up in the apartments they receive free from the government, they plan the murder and destruction of their naive hosts.
And thus, in our misery, we have exchanged culture for fanatical hatred, creative skill for destructive skill, intelligence for backwardness and superstition.
We have exchanged the pursuit of peace of the Jews of Europe and their talent for a better future for their children, their determined clinging to life because life is holy, for those who pursue death, for people consumed by the desire for death for themselves and others, for our children and theirs.
What a terrible mistake was made by miserable Europe.
by Sebastian Villar Rodriguez
An Extraordinarily Slender Galaxy
The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has imaged a striking galaxy called NGC 4452, which appears to lie exactly edge-on as seen from Earth. The result is an extraordinary picture of billions of stars observed from an unusual angle. The bright nucleus can be seen at the centre, along with the very thin disc that looks like a straight line from our unusual viewing position. To complete the picture, a hazy halo of stars on the periphery of the galaxy makes it seem to glow.
NGC 4452 was first seen by William Herschel in 1784 with his 47 cm telescope in England. He described the object as a bright nebula, small and very much elongated. The new Hubble image shows just how elongated this unusual object really is. –Read more at Hubble
Colonoscopy Journal
I called my friend Andy Sable, a gastroenterologist, to make an appointment for a colonoscopy.
A few days later, in his office, Andy showed me a color diagram of the colon, a lengthy organ that appears to go all over the place, at one point passing briefly through Minneapolis.
Then Andy explained the colonoscopy procedure to me in a thorough, reassuring and patient manner.
I left Andy's office with some written instructions, and a prescription for a product called 'MoviPrep,' which comes in a box large enough to hold a microwave oven. I will discuss MoviPrep in detail later; for now suffice it to say that we must never allow it to fall into the hands of America 's enemies..
I spent the next several days productively sitting around being nervous.
Then, on the day before my colonoscopy, I began my preparation. In accordance with my instructions, I didn't eat any solid food that day; all I had was chicken broth, which is basically water, only with less flavor.
Then, in the evening, I took the MoviPrep. You mix two packets of powder together in a one-liter plastic jug, then you fill it with lukewarm water. (For those unfamiliar with the metric system, a liter is about 32 gallons). Then you have to drink the whole jug. This takes about an hour, because MoviPrep tastes - and here I am being kind - like a mixture of goat spit and urinal cleanser with just a hint of lemon.
The instructions for MoviPrep, clearly written by somebody with a great sense of humor, state that after you drink it, 'a loose, watery bowel movement may result.'
This is kind of like saying that after you jump off your roof, you may experience contact with the ground.
MoviPrep is a nuclear laxative. I don't want to be too graphic, here, but, have you ever seen a space-shuttle launch? This is pretty much the MoviPrep experience, with you as the shuttle. There are times when you wish the commode had a seat belt. You spend several hours pretty much confined to the bathroom, spurting violently. You eliminate everything. And then, when you figure you must be totally empty, you have to drink another liter of MoviPrep, at which point, as far as I can tell, your bowels travel into the future and start eliminating food that you have not even eaten yet.
After an action-packed evening, I finally got to sleep.
A few days later, in his office, Andy showed me a color diagram of the colon, a lengthy organ that appears to go all over the place, at one point passing briefly through Minneapolis.
Then Andy explained the colonoscopy procedure to me in a thorough, reassuring and patient manner.
I left Andy's office with some written instructions, and a prescription for a product called 'MoviPrep,' which comes in a box large enough to hold a microwave oven. I will discuss MoviPrep in detail later; for now suffice it to say that we must never allow it to fall into the hands of America 's enemies..
I spent the next several days productively sitting around being nervous.
Then, on the day before my colonoscopy, I began my preparation. In accordance with my instructions, I didn't eat any solid food that day; all I had was chicken broth, which is basically water, only with less flavor.
Then, in the evening, I took the MoviPrep. You mix two packets of powder together in a one-liter plastic jug, then you fill it with lukewarm water. (For those unfamiliar with the metric system, a liter is about 32 gallons). Then you have to drink the whole jug. This takes about an hour, because MoviPrep tastes - and here I am being kind - like a mixture of goat spit and urinal cleanser with just a hint of lemon.
The instructions for MoviPrep, clearly written by somebody with a great sense of humor, state that after you drink it, 'a loose, watery bowel movement may result.'
This is kind of like saying that after you jump off your roof, you may experience contact with the ground.
MoviPrep is a nuclear laxative. I don't want to be too graphic, here, but, have you ever seen a space-shuttle launch? This is pretty much the MoviPrep experience, with you as the shuttle. There are times when you wish the commode had a seat belt. You spend several hours pretty much confined to the bathroom, spurting violently. You eliminate everything. And then, when you figure you must be totally empty, you have to drink another liter of MoviPrep, at which point, as far as I can tell, your bowels travel into the future and start eliminating food that you have not even eaten yet.
After an action-packed evening, I finally got to sleep.
The next morning my wife drove me to the clinic. I was very nervous. Not only was I worried about the procedure, but I had been experiencing occasional return bouts of MoviPrep spurtage. I was thinking, 'What if I spurt on Andy?' How do you apologize to a friend for something like that? Flowers would not be enough.
At the clinic I had to sign many forms acknowledging that I understood and totally agreed with whatever the heck the forms said. Then they led me to a room full of other colonoscopy people, where I went inside a little curtained space and took off my clothes and put on one of those hospital garments designed by sadist perverts, the kind that, when you put it on, makes you feel even more naked than when you are actually naked..
Then a nurse named Eddie put a little needle in a vein in my left hand. Ordinarily I would have fainted, but Eddie was very good, and I was already lying down. Eddie also told me that some people put vodka in their MoviPrep..
At first I was ticked off that I hadn't thought of this, but then I pondered what would happen if you got yourself too tipsy to make it to the bathroom, so you were staggering around in full Fire Hose Mode. You would have no choice but to burn your house.
When everything was ready, Eddie wheeled me into the procedure room, where Andy was waiting with a nurse and an anesthesiologist. I did not see the 17,000-foot tube, but I knew Andy had it hidden around there somewhere. I was seriously nervous at this point.
Andy had me roll over on my left side, and the anesthesiologist began hooking something up to the needle in my hand.
There was music playing in the room, and I realized that the song was 'Dancing Queen' by ABBA. I remarked to Andy that, of all the songs that could be playing during this particular procedure, 'Dancing Queen' had to be the least appropriate.
'You want me to turn it up?' said Andy, from somewhere behind me.
'Ha ha,' I said. And then it was time, the moment I had been dreading for more than a decade. If you are squeamish, prepare yourself, because I am going to tell you, in explicit detail, exactly what it was like.
I have no idea. Really. I slept through it. One moment, ABBA was yelling 'Dancing Queen, feel the beat of the tambourine,' and the next moment, I was back in the other room, waking up in a very mellow mood.
Andy was looking down at me and asking me how I felt. I felt excellent. I felt even more excellent when Andy told me that It was all over, and that my colon had passed with flying colors. I have never been prouder of an internal organ.
On the subject of Colonoscopies..
At the clinic I had to sign many forms acknowledging that I understood and totally agreed with whatever the heck the forms said. Then they led me to a room full of other colonoscopy people, where I went inside a little curtained space and took off my clothes and put on one of those hospital garments designed by sadist perverts, the kind that, when you put it on, makes you feel even more naked than when you are actually naked..
Then a nurse named Eddie put a little needle in a vein in my left hand. Ordinarily I would have fainted, but Eddie was very good, and I was already lying down. Eddie also told me that some people put vodka in their MoviPrep..
At first I was ticked off that I hadn't thought of this, but then I pondered what would happen if you got yourself too tipsy to make it to the bathroom, so you were staggering around in full Fire Hose Mode. You would have no choice but to burn your house.
When everything was ready, Eddie wheeled me into the procedure room, where Andy was waiting with a nurse and an anesthesiologist. I did not see the 17,000-foot tube, but I knew Andy had it hidden around there somewhere. I was seriously nervous at this point.
Andy had me roll over on my left side, and the anesthesiologist began hooking something up to the needle in my hand.
There was music playing in the room, and I realized that the song was 'Dancing Queen' by ABBA. I remarked to Andy that, of all the songs that could be playing during this particular procedure, 'Dancing Queen' had to be the least appropriate.
'You want me to turn it up?' said Andy, from somewhere behind me.
'Ha ha,' I said. And then it was time, the moment I had been dreading for more than a decade. If you are squeamish, prepare yourself, because I am going to tell you, in explicit detail, exactly what it was like.
I have no idea. Really. I slept through it. One moment, ABBA was yelling 'Dancing Queen, feel the beat of the tambourine,' and the next moment, I was back in the other room, waking up in a very mellow mood.
Andy was looking down at me and asking me how I felt. I felt excellent. I felt even more excellent when Andy told me that It was all over, and that my colon had passed with flying colors. I have never been prouder of an internal organ.
On the subject of Colonoscopies..
Colonoscopies are no joke, but these comments during the exam were quite humorous … A physician claimed that the following are actual comments made by his patients (predominately male) while he was performing their colonoscopies:
1. Take it easy Doc. You’re boldly going where no man has gone before.
2. 'Find Amelia Earhart yet?'
3. 'Can you hear me NOW?'
4. 'Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet?'
5. 'You know, in Arkansas , we're now legally married.'
6. 'Any sign of the trapped miners, Chief?'
7. 'You put your left hand in, you take your left hand out...'
8. 'Hey! Now I know how a Muppet feels!'
9. 'If your hand doesn't fit, you must quit!'
10.. 'Hey Doc, let me know if you find my dignity.'
11.. 'You used to be an executive at Enron, didn't you?'
12.. 'God, now I know why I am not gay.'
And the best one of all:
13. 'Could you write a note for my wife saying that my head is not up there?'
About the writer: Dave Barry is a Pulitzer Prize-winning humor columnist for The Miami Herald.
1. Take it easy Doc. You’re boldly going where no man has gone before.
2. 'Find Amelia Earhart yet?'
3. 'Can you hear me NOW?'
4. 'Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet?'
5. 'You know, in Arkansas , we're now legally married.'
6. 'Any sign of the trapped miners, Chief?'
7. 'You put your left hand in, you take your left hand out...'
8. 'Hey! Now I know how a Muppet feels!'
9. 'If your hand doesn't fit, you must quit!'
10.. 'Hey Doc, let me know if you find my dignity.'
11.. 'You used to be an executive at Enron, didn't you?'
12.. 'God, now I know why I am not gay.'
And the best one of all:
13. 'Could you write a note for my wife saying that my head is not up there?'
About the writer: Dave Barry is a Pulitzer Prize-winning humor columnist for The Miami Herald.
Changes
Whether changes are good or bad depend, in part, upon how we adapt to them. But ready or not, changes are coming! Below are some upcoming changes:
1. The Post Office. Get ready to imagine a world without the Post Office. The US Postal Service is so deep in financial trouble that there is probably no way to sustain it long term. Email, FedEx, and UPS have just about wiped out the revenue needed to keep the US Postal Service alive. Most of today's mail one gets are junk mail and bills.
2. The Check. Britain has already laid the groundwork to do away with checks by 2018. It costs the financial system billions of dollars a year to process checks. Plastic cards and online transactions will lead to the eventual demise of the check.
This plays right into the death of the Post Office. If people no longer receive or pay bills by mail, there goes another Post Office revenue source.
This plays right into the death of the Post Office. If people no longer receive or pay bills by mail, there goes another Post Office revenue source.
3. The Newspaper. Most, if not all, of today's younger generation neither read nor subscribe to the newspaper. So, the newspaper may soon go the way of the milkman as well. As for reading the paper online, get ready to pay for it. The rise in mobile Internet devices and e-readers has caused all the newspaper and magazine publishers to form an alliance. They have met with Apple, Amazon, and the major cell phone companies to develop a model for paid on-line subscription services.
4. The Book. While many say that they will never give up the physical book that they hold in their hand, the same thing has been said about downloading music via iTunes. People wanted a hard copy CD but that has quickly changed when many found that they could get albums for half the price without ever leaving home to get the latest music. The same thing will happen with books. One can browse for books online and even read a preview chapter before buying. And the price is less than half that of a real hard copy book. And think of the convenience! Once you start flipping pages on the screen instead of the book, you find that you are lost in the story, can't wait to see what happens next, and you forget that you're holding an electronic gadget instead of a book.
5. The Land Line Telephone. Unless you have a large family and make a lot of local calls, you don't really need a land line anymore. Most people keep it simply because they've always had it. But one is paying for an unused extra service. Practically all cell phone companies now allow you to call customers using the same cell provider for no charge against your minutes.
6. Music. This is one of the saddest parts of the upcoming changes. The music industry is dying a slow death not just because of illegal downloading but also because of the lack of innovative new music being given a chance to get to the people who would like to hear it. Greed and corruption is the problem. The record labels and the radio conglomerates are headed for self-destruction. Over 40% of the music purchased today are "catalog items" --- i.e., traditional music and older established artists that the public is familiar with. This is also true of the live concert circuit. To explore this fascinating and disturbing topic further, check out Steve Knopper's book, "Appetite for Self-Destruction" and the video documentary, "Before the Music Dies".
7. Television. Revenues to the networks are down dramatically not only because of the economy, but also because many people are now watching programs and movies streamed into their computers, and are playing games and doing all sorts of other things that take up the time that used to be spent on watching TV. Prime time show viewing has decreased. And if cable rates continue to skyrocket and commercials continue to run about every 4 minutes and 30 seconds, soon the cable companies will also be extinct. People now prefer to watch what they want without commercial interruption on line or through Netflix.
8. The "[Entertainment] Things". Many of the very "entertainment things" that we now own we may not [actually need to] own in the future. They may simply reside in "the cloud". Today, your computer has a hard drive and you store your pictures, music, movies, and documents, and are backed up on a CD or DVD, which you can always "reinstall", if need be. But all of that is changing. Apple, Microsoft, and Google are all putting the "finishing touches" to their latest "cloud services." That means that when you turn on your computer, the Internet is automatically built in and will be part of the operating system --- Windows, Google, and Mac OS will be tied directly to the Internet. So, by simply clicking on an icon, it will open something in "the Internet cloud", and if you choose to save something, it will be saved to "the cloud". But you may eventually pay a monthly subscription fee to "the cloud" provider.
In this virtual world, you can access your music, books, or whatever "entertainment" accessories and toys from any laptop or hand-held device. That's the good news. But, will you actually own any of this "stuff" or will it all disappear at any moment in a big "poof"? Will most of the things in our lives be disposable and whimsical? What if you want to run to the closet and pull out that photo album, grab a book from the shelf, or open up a CD case and pull out the insert?
In this virtual world, you can access your music, books, or whatever "entertainment" accessories and toys from any laptop or hand-held device. That's the good news. But, will you actually own any of this "stuff" or will it all disappear at any moment in a big "poof"? Will most of the things in our lives be disposable and whimsical? What if you want to run to the closet and pull out that photo album, grab a book from the shelf, or open up a CD case and pull out the insert?
9. Privacy. If there ever was a concept that we can look back on nostalgically, it would be privacy. That is just about gone. There are cameras on the street, in most of the buildings, and even built into your computer and cell phone. You can be sure that 24/7, you can be monitored. "The monitor" will who you are, what you are doing, and where you are via GPS coordinates and Google street view. Each time you buy something, your spending habits and other personal information are put into a zillion profiles, and ads you receive will reflect those habits. And "they" will try to get you to buy various goods and services again and again.
The only personal possession which can not be changed or monitored would be one's memories, assuming that Alzheimer's disease or senility does not destroy one's mind and memory bank totally.
Author Unknown
Nov 8, 2010
Nov 7, 2010
Daddy's Girl
Her hair was up in a pony tail,
Her favorite dress tied with a bow.
Today was Daddy's Day at school,
And she couldn't wait to go.
But her mommy tried to tell her,
That she probably should stay home
'Cause the kids might not understand,
If she went to school alone.
But she was not afraid;
She knew just what to say.
What to tell her classmates
Of why he wasn't there today.
But still her mother worried,
For her to face this day alone.
And that was why once again,
She tried to keep her daughter home.
But the little girl went to school
Eager to tell them all
About a dad she never sees,
A dad who never calls.
There were daddies along the wall
In back for everyone to meet.
Children squirming impatiently,
Anxious in their seats.
One by one the teacher called
A student from the class
To introduce his/her daddy,
As seconds slowly passed.
At last the teacher called her name,
Every child turned to stare.
Each of them was searching
For a man who wasn't there.
"Where's her daddy at?"
She heard a boy call out.
"She probably doesn't have one,"
Another student dared to shout.
And from somewhere near the back,
She heard a daddy say,
"Looks like another deadbeat dad,
Too busy to waste his day."
The words did not offend her,
As she smiled up at her Mom.
And looked back at her teacher,
Who told her to go on.
And with hands behind her back,
Slowly she began to speak.
And out from the mouth of a child,
Came words incredibly unique.
"My Daddy couldn't be here,
Because he lives so far away.
But I know he wishes he could be,
Since this is such a special day.
And though you cannot meet him,
I wanted you to know.
All about my daddy,
And how much he loves me so.
He loved to tell me stories
He taught me to ride my bike.
He surprised me with pink roses,
And taught me to fly a kite.
We used to share fudge sundaes,
And ice cream in a cone.
And though you cannot see him
I'm not standing here alone.
'Cause my daddy's always with me,
Even though we are apart
I know because he told me,
He'll forever be in my heart.
With that, her little hand reached up,
And lay across her chest
Feeling her own heartbeat
Beneath her favorite dress.
And from somewhere there in the crowd
Of dads, her mother stood in tears.
Proudly watching her daughter,
Who was wise beyond her years.
For she stood up for the love
Of a man not in her life.
Doing what was best for her,
Doing what was a-right.
And when she dropped her hand back
Down, staring straight into the crowd
She finished with a voice so soft,
But its message clear and loud.
"I love my daddy very much,
He's my shining star.
And if he could, he'd be here,
But heaven's just too far.
You see he is an American soldier
And died just this past year
When a roadside bomb hit his convoy
And taught Americans to fear.
But sometimes when I close my eyes,
It's like he never went away.
And then she closed her eyes,
And saw him there that day.
And to her mother's amazement,
She witnessed with surprise.
A room full of daddies and children,
All starting to close their eyes.
Who knows what they saw before them,
Who knows what they felt inside.
Perhaps for merely a second,
They saw him at her side.
"I know you're with me Daddy,"
To the silence she called out.
And what happened next made believers,
Of those once filled with doubt.
Not one in that room could explain it,
For each of their eyes had been closed.
But there on the desk beside her,
Was a fragrant long-stemmed rose.
And a child was blessed, if only for a moment
By the love of her shining star
And given the gift of believing,
That heaven is never too far.
Author Unknown
Her favorite dress tied with a bow.
Today was Daddy's Day at school,
And she couldn't wait to go.
But her mommy tried to tell her,
That she probably should stay home
'Cause the kids might not understand,
If she went to school alone.
But she was not afraid;
She knew just what to say.
What to tell her classmates
Of why he wasn't there today.
But still her mother worried,
For her to face this day alone.
And that was why once again,
She tried to keep her daughter home.
But the little girl went to school
Eager to tell them all
About a dad she never sees,
A dad who never calls.
There were daddies along the wall
In back for everyone to meet.
Children squirming impatiently,
Anxious in their seats.
One by one the teacher called
A student from the class
To introduce his/her daddy,
As seconds slowly passed.
At last the teacher called her name,
Every child turned to stare.
Each of them was searching
For a man who wasn't there.
"Where's her daddy at?"
She heard a boy call out.
"She probably doesn't have one,"
Another student dared to shout.
And from somewhere near the back,
She heard a daddy say,
"Looks like another deadbeat dad,
Too busy to waste his day."
The words did not offend her,
As she smiled up at her Mom.
And looked back at her teacher,
Who told her to go on.
And with hands behind her back,
Slowly she began to speak.
And out from the mouth of a child,
Came words incredibly unique.
"My Daddy couldn't be here,
Because he lives so far away.
But I know he wishes he could be,
Since this is such a special day.
And though you cannot meet him,
I wanted you to know.
All about my daddy,
And how much he loves me so.
He loved to tell me stories
He taught me to ride my bike.
He surprised me with pink roses,
And taught me to fly a kite.
We used to share fudge sundaes,
And ice cream in a cone.
And though you cannot see him
I'm not standing here alone.
'Cause my daddy's always with me,
Even though we are apart
I know because he told me,
He'll forever be in my heart.
With that, her little hand reached up,
And lay across her chest
Feeling her own heartbeat
Beneath her favorite dress.
And from somewhere there in the crowd
Of dads, her mother stood in tears.
Proudly watching her daughter,
Who was wise beyond her years.
For she stood up for the love
Of a man not in her life.
Doing what was best for her,
Doing what was a-right.
And when she dropped her hand back
Down, staring straight into the crowd
She finished with a voice so soft,
But its message clear and loud.
"I love my daddy very much,
He's my shining star.
And if he could, he'd be here,
But heaven's just too far.
You see he is an American soldier
And died just this past year
When a roadside bomb hit his convoy
And taught Americans to fear.
But sometimes when I close my eyes,
It's like he never went away.
And then she closed her eyes,
And saw him there that day.
And to her mother's amazement,
She witnessed with surprise.
A room full of daddies and children,
All starting to close their eyes.
Who knows what they saw before them,
Who knows what they felt inside.
Perhaps for merely a second,
They saw him at her side.
"I know you're with me Daddy,"
To the silence she called out.
And what happened next made believers,
Of those once filled with doubt.
Not one in that room could explain it,
For each of their eyes had been closed.
But there on the desk beside her,
Was a fragrant long-stemmed rose.
And a child was blessed, if only for a moment
By the love of her shining star
And given the gift of believing,
That heaven is never too far.
Author Unknown
It's been said that, it takes a minute to find … an hour to appreciate … a day to love ... but an entire lifetime to remember a very special person.
No One Excluded From Jesus' Mercy, Teaches Benedict XVI
God "sees a soul to save" in everyone, the Pope said before praying the Angelus on Sunday. The Lord's mercy, he taught, takes nothing away from the gravity of sins, but always seeks to save the sinner.
Pilgrims enjoyed a break from a morning of rain in Rome as they joined the Pope for the Angelus.
Referring to the Gospel reading from Luke that recounts the story of the chief tax collector Zacchaeus, he reflected on his conversion after contact with Jesus.
Jesus' encounter with Zacchaeus is one of several episodes where St. Luke talks about the merciful love of God and of Christ, said the Pope. In this case, Jesus directs his attention to Zacchaeus, considered a "public sinner" for his position.
The Lord "knew very well what he was doing" when he asked the publicly disliked man to host him in his home, and his "gamble" was rewarded with the man's conversion, Benedict XVI pointed out.
Citing Jesus' words from the Gospel, the Pope said, "today, salvation has come to this house" and "the Son of man has come to seek and to save what had been lost."
"God," the Holy Father said, "does not exclude anyone, rich or poor." Neither is He "conditioned by our human prejudices, but He sees in everyone as a soul to save and is attracted especially by those who are judged lost and who consider themselves to be such."
Jesus, he explained, demonstrates this immense mercy, "not taking anything away from the gravity of the sin, but looking always to save sinners, to offer them the possibility of rescue, starting over from the beginning, repenting."
Focusing on Zaccheus, Pope Benedict noted that he "accepted Jesus and was converted because Jesus accepted him first! He did not condemn him, but met his desire for salvation."
The Holy Father concluded his catechesis before the Angelus by praying for the intercession of Mary so that all people "might experience the joy of being visited by the Son of God, of being renewed by his love, and transmitting his mercy to others."
Following the noon-time prayer, he greeted the variety of pilgrims in their different languages. He made a special mention of Blessed Szilard Bogdanffy, a Romanian bishop who was martyred under communist rule in the country in 1953.
Jailed less than two months after his consecration as a bishop, he is remembered for his ability to continue loving despite torture and trial.
Thanking God for this "heroic Pastor of the Church," the Pope prayed that his testimony would be a comfort to all of those persecuted for the faith today. –CAN
Pilgrims enjoyed a break from a morning of rain in Rome as they joined the Pope for the Angelus.
Referring to the Gospel reading from Luke that recounts the story of the chief tax collector Zacchaeus, he reflected on his conversion after contact with Jesus.
Jesus' encounter with Zacchaeus is one of several episodes where St. Luke talks about the merciful love of God and of Christ, said the Pope. In this case, Jesus directs his attention to Zacchaeus, considered a "public sinner" for his position.
The Lord "knew very well what he was doing" when he asked the publicly disliked man to host him in his home, and his "gamble" was rewarded with the man's conversion, Benedict XVI pointed out.
Citing Jesus' words from the Gospel, the Pope said, "today, salvation has come to this house" and "the Son of man has come to seek and to save what had been lost."
"God," the Holy Father said, "does not exclude anyone, rich or poor." Neither is He "conditioned by our human prejudices, but He sees in everyone as a soul to save and is attracted especially by those who are judged lost and who consider themselves to be such."
Jesus, he explained, demonstrates this immense mercy, "not taking anything away from the gravity of the sin, but looking always to save sinners, to offer them the possibility of rescue, starting over from the beginning, repenting."
Focusing on Zaccheus, Pope Benedict noted that he "accepted Jesus and was converted because Jesus accepted him first! He did not condemn him, but met his desire for salvation."
The Holy Father concluded his catechesis before the Angelus by praying for the intercession of Mary so that all people "might experience the joy of being visited by the Son of God, of being renewed by his love, and transmitting his mercy to others."
Following the noon-time prayer, he greeted the variety of pilgrims in their different languages. He made a special mention of Blessed Szilard Bogdanffy, a Romanian bishop who was martyred under communist rule in the country in 1953.
Jailed less than two months after his consecration as a bishop, he is remembered for his ability to continue loving despite torture and trial.
Thanking God for this "heroic Pastor of the Church," the Pope prayed that his testimony would be a comfort to all of those persecuted for the faith today. –CAN
'Islamization' Of Paris A Warning To The West
Friday in Paris. A hidden camera shows streets blocked by huge crowds of Muslim worshippers and enforced by a private security force.
This is all illegal in France: the public worship, the blocked streets, and the private security. But the police have been ordered not to intervene.
It shows that even though some in the French government want to get tough with Muslims and ban the burqa, other parts of the French government continue to give Islam a privileged status.
An ordinary French citizen who has been watching the Islamization of Paris decided that the world needed to see what was happening to his city. He used a hidden camera to start posting videos on YouTube. His life has been threatened and so he uses the alias of "Maxime Lepante. "
Lepante's View
His camera shows that Muslims "are blocking the streets with barriers. They are praying on the ground. And the inhabitants of this district cannot leave their homes, nor go into their homes during those prayers."
"The Muslims taking over those streets do not have any authorization. They do not go to the police headquarters, so it's completely illegal," he says.
The Muslims in the street have been granted unofficial rights that no Christian group is likely to get under France's Laicite', or secularism law.
"It says people have the right to share any belief they want, any religion," Lepante explained. "But they have to practice at home or in the mosque, synagogues, churches and so on."
Some say Muslims must pray in the street because they need a larger mosque. But Lepante has observed cars coming from other parts of Paris, and he believes it is a weekly display of growing Muslim power.
"They are coming there to show that they can take over some French streets to show that they can conquer a part of the French territory," he said.
France's Islamic Future?
If France faces an Islamic future, a Russian author has already written about it. The novel is called "The Mosque of Notre Dame, 2048," a bestseller in Russia, not in France.
French publisher Jean Robin said the French media ignored the book because it was politically incorrect.
"Islam is seen as the religion of the poor people, so you can't say to the poor people, 'You're wrong,' otherwise, you're a fascist," Robin explained.
The book lays out a dark future when France has become a Muslim nation, and the famous cathedral has been turned into a mosque.
Whether that plot is farfetched depends on whom you ask. Muslims are said to be no more than 10 percent of the French population, although no one knows for sure because French law prohibits population counts by religion.
But the Muslim birthrate is significantly higher than for the native French. Some Muslim men practice polygamy, with each extra wife having children and collecting a welfare check.
"The problem of Islam is more than a problem of numbers," said French philosopher Radu Stoenescu, an Islamic expert who debates Muslim leaders on French TV. "The problem is one of principles. It's an open question. Is Islam an ideology or just a creed?"
"It doesn't matter how many there are," he aded. "The problem is the people who follow Islam; they're somehow in a political party, which has a political agenda, which means basically implementing Sharia and building an Islamic state."
In Denial or Fed Up
From the 1980s until recently, criticizing or opposing Islam was considered a social taboo, and so the government and media effectively helped Islam spread throughout France.
"We were expecting Islam to adapt to France and it is France adapting to Islam," Robin said.
About the burqa controversy, one French Muslim man told a reporter that Europeans should respect Muslim dress. One Parisian woman wearing a headscarf said "the veil is in the Koran" and "we only submit to God and nobody else."
But even if many government elites are in France are in denial over Islam, the people in the streets increasingly are not. Some have become fed up with what they see as the growing Islamization of France.
They've started staging pork and wine "aperitifs," or cocktail parties in the street. They're patriotic demonstrations meant to strike back against Islam. Another national demonstration is planned for Saturday, Sept. 4.
A Warning to the West
The French parliament is expected to debate the burqa law in September. Jean-Francois Cope, president of the Union for a Popular Movement political party, has a warning for the West and for America.
"We cannot accept the development of such practice because it's not compatible with the life in a modern society, you see," he said. "And this question is not only a French question. You will all have to face this challenge. " -CBN New
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A Woman’s Dilemma
A woman went to her obstetrician saying: "Doctor, I have a serious problem and desperately need your help! I'm pregnant again. As you know, I just had a baby less than a year ago. I don't want kids so close together."
The doctor asked: "So, what do you want me to do?"
She said: "I want an abortion."
After a few moments of silence, the doctor said: "I think I have a better solution, and it's less dangerous for you, too."
Eagerly, she asked: "So, what is that solution?"
He said: "Why not kill the baby that you now hold in your arms? This way, you could have several months' rest before the other one is born, and it would definitely be less taxing on you physically. Also, you can save money by your doing the killing of the child yourself---you don't have to pay for my professional fee for the abortion."
Horrified, the woman exclaimed: "That's terrible! That is insane! It would be a crime to kill my child!"
The doctor replied: "I agree. But what makes you think that it is OK to kill your unborn child? Do you think that there is really any difference between killing your child that had already been born and killing the unborn one? It involves taking an innocent life in either case---so, abortion is just another form of murder. Both abortion and murder are wrong and are both criminal acts!"
Author Unknown
The doctor asked: "So, what do you want me to do?"
She said: "I want an abortion."
After a few moments of silence, the doctor said: "I think I have a better solution, and it's less dangerous for you, too."
Eagerly, she asked: "So, what is that solution?"
He said: "Why not kill the baby that you now hold in your arms? This way, you could have several months' rest before the other one is born, and it would definitely be less taxing on you physically. Also, you can save money by your doing the killing of the child yourself---you don't have to pay for my professional fee for the abortion."
Horrified, the woman exclaimed: "That's terrible! That is insane! It would be a crime to kill my child!"
The doctor replied: "I agree. But what makes you think that it is OK to kill your unborn child? Do you think that there is really any difference between killing your child that had already been born and killing the unborn one? It involves taking an innocent life in either case---so, abortion is just another form of murder. Both abortion and murder are wrong and are both criminal acts!"
Author Unknown
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