Michigan Tea Party

What: Michigan Tea Party

When: Friday, February 27th, high noon

Where: Michigan State Capitol

Bring Your Tea Bags, Protest Signs and American Flags!

Questions or to confirm attendance: apackof2@gmail.com

Scott Hagerstrom

State DirectorAmericans for Prosperity

http://michiganteaparty.blogspot.com/

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The Stethoscope

D. Stabmenow Must Really Go!

It's all over, now. The beans are out of the bag. D. Stabmenow believes that the fairness doctrine should return. Her arguments reveal a clear conflict of interest and shows her true beliefs.

What is she calling for is nothing more than an early page out of a fascist handbook. Our founding fathers were concerned about the likes of D. Stabmenow. Right in the First Amendment: D. Stabmenow, keep your fingers off the free speech. And like everything else, the left's mentality is to try to figure out a way to wiggle liberty away from the citizens; to get around the Constitution. They cannot control the content of political speech. Let's see why does it matter who is her husband:

http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080403/METRO/804030355/1409/METRO

Athans, 46, was executive vice president of Air America, which filed for
bankruptcy in 2006. In early 2006, Athans left Air America Radio, which
emerged from bankruptcy in 2007. Athans now heads TalkUSA Radio, based in
Washington,
D.C

Why is this relevant? He is the co-founder and former CEO of the liberal-progressive Democracy Radio, , the group that owned Air America. Her husband was working for conservative radio hosts' competitors. Her husband was a failure with liberal-progressive "democracy radio". They cannot compete in the free market, no matter how many millionaires subsidize them!! They're a joke! And her husband was knee-deep in all of it. She wants now to use her position as a U.S. Senator to destroy conservative talk radio, in order to help these people who failed on their own, including her husband.

How does a senator get away with that? How is this not unethical? How is this not conflict of interest? Her husband was receiving a paycheck as the VP of Air America, which failed as a commercial enterprise and now they want the government to punish these enterprises that work, including conservative talk radio. They want to use the power of government to undermine the 1st Amendment and to punish success, legitimate, law biding enterprises.

It is unbelievable that in this century they try to take control of the airways. In the name of the people, of course. They try to shut down everybody who stands up to them when it comes to these massive spending bills that is going to bankrupt this country and destroy generations to come. That's why they want to quiet the conservative radio. Not because of the Republican Party or anything else, but because conservatives stay in their way. This is about raw power, this is about a rogue regime, trying to exercises authority that the founders never conferred to any politician. The new way of Obama isn't really a new way for most who understands history. This is not socialism, this is fascism. This is totalitarianism. This is Hugo Chavez. This is Fidel Castro. This is Hamas. This is Hezbollah, getting the hold of radio stations and the TV stations, to promote their propaganda, by force, by rule of law.


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The Crisis of Higher Education

Many of our politicians have it backwards these days. It's not a shame to lose an election. But it is a shame to serve a wrong idea.

Conservatives, when argue for school choice, like to say that elementary and secondary schools should be financed on the same principles as colleges, where student aid follows the student to whichever school he pleases. This is true enough, but it is not the aid alone that follows the student. Title IV of the current Higher Education Act regulates colleges that accept federal financial aid. Title IV includes now more than 300 pages of regulations, and the failure of a senior college official to comply in a material respect can lead to heavy fines and imprisonment.

Since September 11, 2001, defense spending has risen 133%. There are major increases in most higher education programs, especially those regarding need-based aid. Both the amounts available, and the upward limits of the income groups to whom they are available, have risen sharply.

A great concern animating federal education policy is the miserable failures in basic skills, especially math and science but also literacy, of America's high school and college graduates. The national Commission's Draft Report offers an impressive number of ideas for dealing with this crisis. But they are all built on the same notion: that once upon a time, in the 1950s, the Soviet Union fired a rocket into space before the U.S. did, and so the federal government began funding higher education, and because of that we had a great coordinated national effort and became the leaders in science and technology. This story is told often. It is the same story that was told back at the time of Sputnik, and it was used effectively to justify passage of the original Higher Education Act.

This story is nice, but it cannot be true. Sputnik went up in 1957, after Americans had invented the telephone, the laser, the transistor, done half the work to discover DNA, settled a continent, covered it with railways, roads, airports and communications. We managed to do all of this without the Department of Education.




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Hypocrite

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090122/ap_on_go_pr_wh/obama_suspected_terrorists

Obama signs order to close Guantanamo in a year.

President Obama ran his campaign demonizing Bush for the way he handled Guantanamo, water boarding and other interrogation methods. Now he is doing the same thing:

_

Required all U.S. personnel to follow the U.S. Army Field Manual while
interrogating detainees. The manual explicitly prohibits threats, coercion,
physical abuse and waterboarding, a technique that creates the sensation of
drowning and has been termed a form of torture by critics. However, a Capitol
Hill aide says that the administration also is planning a study of more
aggressive interrogation methods that could be added to the Army manual — which
would create a significant loophole to Obama's action Thursday.

He is planning to study more aggressive interrogation methods. Will Obama be demonized by the media and his democrats if it will be uncovered what kind of techniques he's going to approve to get informations from the terrorists?

We'll live and see. But I think it's funny how Obama is going to do almost the same thing Bush did, but one was sent to the drains and the other is raised to a messiah level. Shame!

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The Bad News

I keep seeing these kinds of headlines:

Dec. job toll: 524,000
Worst year of losses since 1940s puts unemployment rate at 7.2%

That's in bold type. Then, underneath, in tiny letters:

U.S. economy loses more than a half-million jobs in December and 1.5 million in fourth quarter. Jobless rate hits highest level since 1993.

Now that's more accurate. If you were to read the first headline you would think, "Holy crap! Our unemployment is the same as the end of the Great Depression!" If you read the tiny type you get a more accurate picture: there is a recession happening much like what happened in 1993. It still may get worse but that's where we are right now.

Further, the fail to tell you other facts:
- the jobless rate is at 7.2% which is obviously more than 5% but it's been fairly consistently under 5% for a good while. 5% used (back in the 1980s) to be consider the 'realistic absolute low point' for the unemployment rate. It was thought you couldn't go under 5% realistically so if you were close to 5% you were basically at 'full employment' for the population.
- 524,000 jobs is a lot of jobs but we also have a lot more total people working than we did back during the depression or before it. There are just more people working. A population of 100,000,000 working people losing 500,000 jobs is a lot different than a working population of 10,000,000 losing 500,000 jobs (I don't know what the figures were for working people in the 1920s and 1930s but our country has grown quite a lot since then so we obviously have a lot more people working).
- The Great Depression's unemployment rate topped out at around 25%. We're a long way from that. We've just gotten to the point where we were in 1993 which was a fairly minor bump. Even so, if you think about the way they portray the Great Depression it sounded like everyone was out of work. 1 in 4 was out of work. 75% still had jobs. I'm not saying it's good or that it didn't suck but it's just the way it's all spun that gets me.
- Government spending will get us out of this - What they fail to tell you is that 8 years into FDR's presidency he was pretty annoyed that the unemployment rate was the same as what it was when he took office.

There are some things that are good about recessions:
- if the government stays out of the way (which it won't but if it did) then labor prices will eventually get to the point where business people think, "hey, labor is cheap. I'll hire on a couple of extra guys and try to expand." You really can't do this like you used to because of various regulations like minimum wage. With minimum wage in place it makes it tougher to undercut the next guy in selling your product (you).
- It does give government a huge pool of people to pull from to build government work projects (like highways, bridges, military bases) at reasonable prices (again, if they got out of the way of themselves, in that example).

I don't even watch/listen to the news any longer because it's all the same, "Great Depression," crap which, at this point, really has no basis in reality. We're not even close yet. We just got to the moderately sucky times of 1993. We haven't even hit the suck-times of the 1970s yet, and we very well may not - no way to tell, with double-digit inflation and double-digit unemployment.

The biggest thing we have working against us right now is the lack of education in our own people. The current generation has been brought up to respond to any problem with, "There ought to be a law so the government can fix it." It doesn't even occur to them, "What can I do?"

I don't know how you fix that, either.

Still, the point being: We're not in a Great Depression yet - even will all the talk of it. I think it is possible that we could talk ourselves into one, though. Basically make everyone so fearful of spending any money at all that no one can sell anything and the economy, effectively, stops.

Good news, though: People are paying down their debts and putting money into savings. That's just a healthy thing to do.


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Back to the Roots!

What is most impressive in the McGuffey readers is the morality. From the First
reader through the Sixth, the morality is pervasive and insistent, there is
rarely a page but addresses itself to some moral problem, points up some moral
lesson - industry, sobriety, thrift, propriety, modesty, punctuality - these
were essential virtues and those who practiced them were sure of success...the
world of the McGuffeys was a world where no one questioned the
truths of the Bible, or their relevance to everyday conduct.

This evaluation of the McGuffey readers by Henry Steele Commanger, a Columbia University and Harvard historian, educator and scholar, confirms that America and its schools once had a Biblical foundation which shaped the nation's culture and way of life. The books and the schools promoted character, responsibility and achievement. We can agree that that it will be hard to find men with the wisdom, courage, ethics and selflessness of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin or Abraham Lincoln among the political leaders of today.

America was once a society which had its roots in the Bible. The founding fathers were the product of western civilization. That civilization developed over several centuries after Gutenberg invented the printing press and published the Bible. In a Bible-based society, America grew great on a foundation of basic concepts. They were proclaimed in the nation's churches and taught in the nation's homes and schools.

For more than half the century, textbooks and other curriculum materials produced under humanist control have attacked and undermined the foundational concepts. We want our country back!

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AHA..

As soon as the second person appeared on earth, the rights of the first were cut in half. Now divide your rights by the total population, and that explains everything.


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Constitution for the New Deal

by H. L. Mencken

THIS SATIRICAL PIECE FIRST APPEARED IN The American Mercury,, 41 (June 1937), 129-36, and was reprinted in condensed form by The Reader's Digest, 31 (July 1937), 27-29.

In order to indicate what reached the widest audience, the condensed version appears here.
The principal cause of the uproar in Washington is a conflict between the swift- moving idealism of the New Deal and the unyielding hunkerousness of the Constitution of 1788. What is needed, obviously, is a wholly new Constitution, drawn up with enough boldness and imagination to cover the whole program of the More Abundant Life, now and hereafter.
That is what I presume to offer here. The Constitution that follows is not my invention, and in more than. one detail I have unhappy doubts of its wisdom. But I believe that it sets forth with reasonable accuracy the plan of government that the More Abundant Life wizards have sought to substitute for the plan of the Fathers. They have themselves argued at one time or another, by word or deed, for everything contained herein:

PREAMBLE

We, the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish social justice, draw the fangs of privilege, effect the redistribution of property, remove the burden of liberty from ourselves and our posterity, and insure the continuance of the New Deal, do ordain and establish this Constitution.

ARTICLE I

The Executive

All governmental power of whatever sort shall be vested in a President of the United States. He shall hold office during a series of terms of four years each, and shall take the following oath: "I do solemnly swear that I will (in so far as I deem it feasible and convenient) faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will (to the best of my recollection and in the light of experiment and second thought) carry out the pledges made by me during my campaign for election (or such of them as I may select)."
The President shall be commander-in-chief of the Army and Navy, and of the militia, Boy Scouts, C.I.O., People's Front, and other armed forces of the nation.
The President shall have the power: To lay and collect taxes, and to expend the income of the United States in such manner as he may deem to be to their or his advantage;
To borrow money on the credit of the United States, and to provide for its repayment on such terms as he may fix;
To regulate all commerce with foreign nations, and among the several states, and within them; to license all persons engaged or proposing to engage in business; to regulate their affairs; to limit their profits by proclamation from time to time; and to fix wages, prices and hours of work;
To coin money, regulate the content and value thereof, and of foreign coin, and to amend or repudiate any contract requiring the payment by the United States, or by any private person, of coin of a given weight or fineness;
To repeal or amend, in his discretion, any so-called natural law, including Gresham's law, the law of diminishing returns, and the law of gravitation.
The President shall be assisted by a Cabinet of eight or more persons, whose duties shall be to make speeches whenever so instructed and to expend the public funds in such manner as to guarantee the President's continuance in office.
The President may establish such executive agencies as he deems necessary, and clothe them with such powers as he sees fit. No person shall be a member to any such bureau who has had any practical experience of the matters he is appointed to deal with.
One of the members of the Cabinet shall be an Attorney General. It shall be his duty to provide legal opinions certifying to the constitutionality of all measures undertaken by the President, and to gather evidence of the senility of judges.

ARTICLE II

The Legislature

The legislature of the United States shall consist of a Senate and a House of Representatives. Every bill shall be prepared under the direction of the President, and transmitted to the two Houses at his order by their presiding officers. No member shall propose any amendment to a bill without permission in writing from the President or one of his authorized agents. In case any member shall doubt the wisdom of a bill he may apply to the President for light upon it, and thereafter he shall be counted as voting aye. In all cases a majority of members shall be counted as voting aye.
Both Houses may appoint special committees to investigate the business practices, political views, and private lives of any persons known to be inimical to the President; and such committees shall publish at public cost any evidence discovered that appears to be damaging to the persons investigated.
Members of both Houses shall be agents of the President in the distribution of public offices, federal appropriations, and other gratuities in their several states, and shall be rewarded in ratio to their fidelity to his ideals and commands.

ARTICLE III

The Judiciary

The judges of the Supreme Court and of all inferior courts shall be appointed by the President, and shall hold their offices until he determines by proclamation that they have become senile. The number of judges appointed to the Supreme Court shall be prescribed by the President, and may be changed at his discretion. All decisions of the Supreme Court shall be unanimous.
The jurisdiction and powers of all courts shall he determined by the President. No act that he has approved shall be declared unconstitutional by any court.

ARTICLE IV

Bill of Rights

There shall be complete freedom of speech and of the press – subject to such regulations as the President or his agents may from time to time promulgate.
The freedom of communication by radio shall not be abridged; but the President and such persons as he may designate shall have the first call on the time of all stations.
In disputes between capital and labor, all the arbitrators shall be representatives of labor.
Every person whose annual income fans below a minimum to be fixed by the President shall receive from the public funds an amount sufficient to bring it up to that minimum.
No labor union shall be incorporated and no officer or member thereof shall be accountable for loss of life or damage to person or property during a strike.
All powers not delegated herein to the President are reserved to him, to be used at his discretion.


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The grasshopper and the Ant

Two Different Versions! Two Different Morals!

OLD VERSION: The ant works hard in the withering heat all summer long, building his house and laying up supplies for the winter.
The grasshopper thinks the ant is a fool and laughs and dances and plays the summer away. Come winter, the ant is warm and well fed.
The grasshopper has no food or shelter, so he dies out in the cold.

MORAL OF THE STORY : Be responsible for yourself!

MODERN VERSION: The ant works hard in the withering heat all summer long, building his house and laying up supplies for the winter.

The grasshopper thinks the ant is a fool and laughs and dances and plays the summer away. Come winter, the shivering grasshopper calls a press conference and demands to know why the ant should be allowed to be warm and well fed while others are cold and starving.

CBS, NBC, PBS, CNN, and ABC show up to provide pictures of the shivering grasshopper next to a video of the ant in his comfortable home with a table filled with food. America is stunned by the sharp contrast.

How can this be, that in a country of such wealth, this poor grasshopper is allowed to suffer so?

Kermit the Frog appears on Oprah with the grasshopper, and everybody cries when they sing, 'It's Not Easy Being Green.'

Jesse Jackson stages a demonstration in front of the ant's house where the news stations film the group singing, 'We shall overcome.' Jesse then has the group kneel down to pray to God for the grasshopper's sake.

Nancy Pelosi & John Kerry exclaim in an interview with Larry King that the ant has gotten rich off the back of the grasshopper, and both call for an immediate tax hike on the ant to make him pay his fair share. Finally, the EEOC drafts the Economic Equity & Anti-Grasshopper Act retroactive to the beginning of the summer.

The ant is fined for failing to hire a proportionate number of green bugs and, having nothing left to pay his retroactive taxes, his home is confiscated by the government.

The story ends as we see the grasshopper finishing up the last bits of the ant's food while the government house he is in, which just happens to be the ant's old house, crumbles around him because he doesn't maintain it.

The ant has disappeared in the snow.

The grasshopper is found dead in a drug related incident and the house, now abandoned, is taken over by a gang of spiders who terrorize the once peaceful neighborhood.

MORAL OF THE STORY : Be careful how you vote.



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How the Welfare State Corrupted Sweden

Old people in Sweden say that to be Swedish means to supply for your own, to take care of your self, and never be a burden on anyone else's shoulders. Independence and hard work was the common perception of a decent life, and the common perception of morality. That was less than one hundred years ago.

more on here: http://www.mises.org/story/2190


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Understanding Iran

If you read the news carefully, you will find a notable story about Iran every morning. Nine times out of ten it is hilarious.

Not long ago, Iran released a photograph of a missile launch that initially caused great consternation in the West. It showed four missiles being launched, more or less simultaneously, with wonderful contrails behind them. Upon examination, that photograph turned out to be a double phony. First, there was only one missile, and the Iranians replicated it to make it seem as if there were four. Second, the missile was two years old and was not an intermediate range missile at all. This airplane turned out to be a plastic toy made by Mattel with Iranian markings on it.

So the first thing to understand about Iran is that it is a country where lies and deception are a way of life.

We are dealing with a regime that came to power in 1979 and Iran declared war against the United States, branding us "The great Satan". Prior to 9/11 the Iranian regime was directly or indirectly responsible for murder of more Americans than any country or organization in the world.

Khomeini installed a regime in Iran which is best described as Islamofascist. It has followed, in every major detail, the model laid down by Hitler and Mussolini. To the question "Why don't we just sit down and talk with the Iranians?" we can answer with a scene from the movie Goldfinger, when asked "What is this, Goldfinger? Do you expect me to talk?" Goldfinger replies, "No, Mr. Bond, I expect you to die." That is exactly the Iranian attitude.

In fact, we have been talking to the Iranians, almost non-stop, for 30 years. There isn't an American president from Jimmy Carter to the present who has not authorized negotiations with Iran. There is a striking tendency among people in modern Western governments not to recognize the existence of evil in the world.

If you want to know how a country will behave internationally, look at the way it treats its own people. The Iranian regime treats its people with total contempt. Consider its treatment of women. Although you will never hear the American women's rights movement complain about it, women in Iran are officially worth half a man.

The bottom line is that Iran is our principal enemy in the Middle East, and perhaps in the entire world. It is also a vulnerable regime, and it knows that - which is why it makes up stories about airplanes and missiles that it doesn't have. They want us dead or dominated. You can't make deals with a regime like that.


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Jesus is Better than Santa

Santa lives at the North Pole. JESUS is everywhere.
Santa rides in a sleigh, JESUS rides on the wind and walks on the water.
Santa comes but once a year, JESUS is an ever- present help.
Santa fills your stockings with goodies, JESUS supplies all your needs.
Santa comes down your chimney uninvited, JESUS stands at your door and knocks... and then enters your heart.
You have to stand in line to see Santa, JESUS is as close as the mention of His name.
Santa lets you sit on his lap, JESUS lets you rest in His arms.
Santa doesn't know your name, all he can say is "Hi little boy or girl, What's your name?" JESUS knew our name before we did. Not only does He know our name, He knows our address too . He knows our history and future and He even knows how many hairs are on our heads. JESUS has a heart full of love. JESUS offers health, help and hope.
Santa says "You better not cry", JESUS says "Cast all your cares on me for I care for you."
Santa's little helpers make toys, JESUS makes new life, mends wounded hearts, repairs broken homes and builds mansions.
Santa may make you chuckle but JESUS gives you joy that fills your soul & he is your strength.
While Santa puts gifts under your tree, JESUS became our gift and died on the tree.

It's obvious there is really no comparison. We need to remember WHO Christmas is all about. We need to put Christ back in Christmas.
Jesus is still the reason for the season.

May the Lord Bless and Watch over you and your loved ones this Christmas season 2008

And may He prosper and bless the work of your hands in the 2009 New Year.


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What's the grade?

In a world of plenty, a huge number go hungry. Hunger is more than just the result of food production and meeting demands. The causes of hunger are related to the causes of poverty. One of the major causes of hunger is poverty itself. There are various issues (war, famine, land rights and ownership, inefficient agricultural practices, poor crop yield) that people are unable to afford food and hence people go hungry.

At least 80% of humanity lives on less than $10 a day. Nearly a billion people entered the 21st century unable to read a book or sign their names. For the 1.9 billion children from the developing world there are 400 million with no access to safe water (1 in 5) and 121 million children without education.

Approximately 790 million people in the developing world are still chronically undernourished, almost two-thirds of whom reside in Asia and the Pacific.

With all this, Christians give to charities more than anyone else. People of faith give more than non-religious people and on average they volunteer more than others. Gifts to religious causes totaled $93.2 billion in 2005, almost 36 percent of all contributions.

The question is: Can Christians do more to help the poor? What grade would you give Christians for the work they do to help thee poor and why??

Is it a B-always room for improvement, C, D or F - not enough??


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Truths

Great truths about life that adults have learned:

- Raising teenagers is like nailing Jell-O to a tree.
- Wrinkles don't hurt.
- Families are like fudge...mostly sweet, with a few nuts.
- Today's mighty oak is just yesterday's nut that held its ground.
- Laughing is good exercise. It's like jogging on the inside.
- Middle age is when you choose your cereal for the fiber, not the toy.

Great truths about growing old:

- Growing old is mandatory; growing up is optional.
- Forget the health food. I need all the preservatives I can get.
- When you fall down, you wonder what else you can do while you're down there.
- You're getting old when you get the same sensation from a rocking chair that you once got from a roller coaster.
- It's frustrating when you know all the answers, but nobody bothers to asks you the questions.
- Time may be a great healer, but it's a lousy beautician.
- Wisdom comes with age, but sometimes age comes alone.



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Deck of Cards Bible

A young soldier was in his bunkhouse all alone one Sunday morning. It was quiet that day, the guns and the mortars, and land mines for some reason hadn't made a noise.

The young soldier knew it was Sunday. As he was sitting there, he got out an old deck of cards and laid them out across his bunk.

Just then an Army Sergeant came in and asked, "Why aren't you with the rest of the platoon?"
The soldier replied, "I thought I would stay behind and spend some time with the Lord."
The sergeant said, "Looks like you're going to play cards."

The soldier said, "No sir, I've decided to talk to the Lord by studying this deck of cards.

The Ace, it reminds me that there is only one God.
The Two represents the two parts of the Bible, Old and New Testament.
The Three represents the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
The Four stands for the Four Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.
The Five is for the virgins that were glorified by taking oil in their vessels with their lamps.
The Six is for the six days it took God to create the Heavens and the Earth.
The Seven is for the day God rested after working the six days.
The Eight is for the family of Noah and his wife, their three sons and their wives, in which God saved the eight people from the flood that destroyed the earth for the first time.
The Nine is for the lepers that Jesus cleansed of leprosy. He cleansed ten but nine never thanked Him.
The Ten represents the Ten Commandments that God handed down to Moses on tablets made of stone.
The Jack is a reminder of Satan. One of God's first angels, and he got kicked out of heaven for his sly and wicked ways and is now the Joker of eternal hell.
The Queen stands for the Virgin Mary.
The King stands for Jesus, for He is the King of all kings.
When I count the dots on all cards, I come up with 365 total, one for every day of the year.
There are a total of 52 cards in a deck, each is a week, 52 weeks in a year.
The four suits represents the four seasons: spring, summer, fall and winter.
So when I want to talk to God and thank Him, I just pull out this old deck of cards and they remind me of all that I have to be thankful for."

The sergeant just stood there and after a minute, with tears in his eyes, he said, "Soldier, can I borrow that deck of cards?"



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Friend or Foe

Christmas is coming soon!! I will pay attention to what stores I'll go to do my shopping. The ones that recognize Christmas in their adds will get my business. Some of them are:

Amazon.com, Bass Pro Shops, Bath and Body Works, Bed, Bath, and Beyond, Best Buy, Big Lots, Home Depot, JC Penney, KB Toys, K-Mart, Kohl’s, L.L. Bean, Linens ‘N Things, Lord and Taylor, Lowe’s, M&M-Mars Candies, Macy’s, Sam’s Club, Sears, Target, T.J. Maxx, Walgreens, Wal-Mart, Williams-Sonoma.

These stores will NOT receive my business:

Banana Republic, Bloomingdale's, Circuit City, Costco, Comp USA, CVS, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Disney, Gap, Honey Baked Ham, J. Crew Outfitters, Lane Bryant, Nordstrom, Old Navy, Sprint.


For a complete list: http://www.onenewsnow.com/Culture/Default.aspx?id=323412


If they don't acknowledge Christmas, why should I acknowledge them??



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Best countries?

If you could choose any country in the world in which to raise your child, which would you choose?

According to the United Nations, the best places for you to raise your children are the countries in Northern Europe: Sweden, Belgium, Denmark, or the number one on the list: the Netherlands.

In 2007, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) released a study (http://www.unicef-irc.org/publications/pdf/rc7_eng.pdf)that evaluated the quality of life of children in more than twenty developed countries and Netherlands was at the top of their list.

Everything sounds fine, right? Unless you want to know what's behind this high quality of life of children. Dutch children are certainly happy, but they are also the center of their society. ( http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6360517.stm) Parents go out of their way to please them, and teachers expect less of them than some of their European counterparts. Children's wishes become so strong that parents have to work very hard to give them what they want.

When it comes to making personal decisions, children in Netherlands also enjoy an extraordinary amount of freedom. The Netherlands is famous for its tolerant attitudes toward activities like drinking, smoking, drugs and sex. Sex education begins at the age of 4 and the age of consent is set at 12.

Do you think that UNICEF is happy about the study? NO! It's still not enough! As a result, the Netherlands is ceding to its government even more authority to "look out" for children.

UNICEF may consider the children in the Netherlands to be the most fortunate in the world, but their happiness comes at a great – and often hidden – cost to their families. In a culture that revolves around its children and a government that affords them incredible freedom over their personal decisions, parents in the Netherlands are relegated to a position of mere caregivers: responsible to feed, clothe, and satisfy, but not to rear, guide, teach, and train. Of course, parents want their children to be happy . . . but at what cost?



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You don't say...

∙ No one is listening until you make a mistake.

∙ We have enough youth. How about a fountain of "Smart".

∙ Ninety-nine percent of lawyers give the rest a bad name.

∙ I didn't fight my way to the top of the food chain to be a vegetarian.

∙ Diplomacy is the art of letting someone else get your way.

∙ Energizer Bunny arrested; charged with battery.

∙ Evolution: True science fiction.

∙ IRS: We've got what it takes to take what you have got.



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And What Do You Do?

In searching for a better job title than "housewife", I was thinking that "housewife" might satisfy the IRS, explaining in one word my negative cash flow. But it doesn't describe what I do every day, seven days a week, with no sick days no holidays, and sometimes not even bathroom breaks.

"Full-time" mom doesn't begin to cover how much time I spend at my job. Most full-time workers put in 40 to 50 hours a week. I put that many by Wednesday. In my job, I'm on call around the clock. Add family vacations, where I take my "work" with me on a very, very long car ride, and "full-time" becomes "all-the-time".

"Homemaker" is a quaint title, but it's inappropriate. I haven't made any homes. I am not making a house so much as I'm trying to keep the kids from tearing ours down.

I wish I could think of a better title for the toughest job I've ever had. But no matter what I come up with, my accountant will probably just put "housewife" on my tax return anyway. And the Social Security Administration will keep sending me reports with zeros on them. Perhaps that's just how little society values what I do.

But the next time someone asks what I do, I'll say that I do what my mother did. I'll say it's such a hard job, my husband wouldn't want to do it, and my father wouldn't know how. I'll say my kids are very proud of what I do.And they should know, because they come to work with me every day.

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