Debate quotes worth mentioning

Negative
The law is reason, free from passion.
-Aristotle
Concentrated power has always been the enemy of liberty.
-Ronald Reagan
Facts are stubborn things.
-Ronald Reagan
Government's first duty is to protect the people, not run their lives.
-Ronald Reagan
They say the world has become too complex for simple answers. They are wrong.
-Ronald Reagan
This way of life is worth defending.
-G.W. Bush
You can’t put democracy and freedom back into a box.
-G.W. Bush
An investment in knowledge pays the best interest.
-Benjamin Franklin
Applause waits on success.
-Benjamin Franklin
Beware of little expenses. A small leak will sink a great ship.
-Benjamin Franklin
The virtue of justice consists in moderation, as regulated by wisdom.
-Aristotle
Certainty? In this world nothing is certain but death and taxes.
-Benjamin Franklin
Genius without education is like silver in the mine.
-Benjamin Franklin
He that waits upon fortune is never sure of a dinner.
-Benjamin Franklin
He that won't be counseled can't be helped.
-Benjamin Franklin
Laws too gentle are seldom obeyed; too severe, seldom executed.
-Benjamin Franklin

Affirmative
A people free to choose will always choose peace.
-Ronald Reagan
Peace is not absence of conflict; it is the ability to handle conflict by peaceful means.
-Ronald Reagan
Status quo, you know, that is Latin for "the mess we're in."
-Ronald Reagan
Trust, but verify.
-Ronald Reagan
All mankind is divided into three classes: those that are immovable, those that are movable, and those that move.
-Benjamin Franklin
Do not squander time for that is the stuff life is made of.
-Benjamin Franklin

picture transfer

transferring this pic from our game PC to our main PC. Cool pic, huh? Don't know where it came from...but it sure would be fun to draw! Which is what I plan to do.

To Kill an American

For all my American friends who enjoy reading my blog...and for all those across the world who believe in liberty, justice, equality and the freedom to pursue your own happiness.

This is a note forwarded to our family this summer.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You probably missed it in the rush of news last week, but there was actually a report that someone in Pakistan had published in a newspaper an offer of a reward to anyone who killed an American, any American. So an Australian dentist wrote the following to let everyone know what an American is... so they would know when they found one. (Good on ya, mate!!!!)
An American is English, or French, or Italian, Irish, German, Spanish, Polish, Russian or Greek.

An American may also be Canadian, Mexican, African, Indian, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Australian, Iranian, Asian, or Arab, or Pakistani, or Afghan.

An American may also be a Cherokee, Osage, Blackfoot, Navaho, Apache, Seminole or one of the many other tribes known as native Americans.

An American is Christian, or he could be Jewish, or Buddhist, or Muslim. In fact, there are more Muslims in America than in Afghanistan. The only difference is that in America they are free to worship as each of them chooses.

An American is also free to believe in no religion.

For that he will answer only to God, not to the government, or to armed thugs claiming to speak for the government and for God.

An American lives in the most prosperous land in the history of the world. The root of that prosperity can be found in the Declaration of Independence, which recognizes the God given right of each person to the pursuit of happiness.

An American is generous. Americans have helped out just about every other nation in the world in their time of need. When the Soviet army overran Afghanistan 20 years ago, Americans came with arms and supplies to enable the people to win back their country! As of the morning of September 11, Americans had given more than any other nation to the poor in Afghanistan.

Americans welcome the best, the best products, the best books, the best music, the best food, the best athletes. But they also welcome the least! The national symbol of America, The Statue of Liberty, welcomes your tired and your poor, the wretched refuse of your teeming shores, the homeless, tempest tossed. These in fact are the people who built America. Some of them were working in the Twin Towers the morning of September 11, 2001 earning a better life for their families.

I've been told that the World Trade Center victims were from at least 30 other countries, cultures, and first languages, including those that aided and abetted the terrorists.

So you can try to kill an American if you must. Hitler did. So did General Tojo, and Stalin, and Mao Tse-Tung, and every bloodthirsty tyrant in the history of the world.

But, in doing so you would just be killing yourself.

Because Americans are not a particular people from a particular place. They are the embodiment of the human spirit of freedom. Everyone who holds to that spirit, everywhere, is an American.

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe overview/review

SEE THIS MOVIE!!

Well, that's just how I feel about it. However, if you ask anyone who went with me to see it on opening day, they would probably say the same thing.

I know some reviews called this movie "less than magical" and not as special effects-happy as Lord of the Rings or Harry Potter. That may or may not be true. I, for one, do not watch a movie only for the special effects. I watch a movie for the content, the cast & acting, and last of all, the effects. Special effects are a nice touch and can be helpful to the viewer as far as creating a realistic setting, but they aren't everything. I found that out when I went to see this. I was sitting there thinking "Oh, great. I'm going to be comparing this to the Lord of the Rings Trilogy!" (I haven't seen the Harry Potter movies yet.) and I was afraid that I would be comparing the two movies all the way through. Those fears were dispelled right after it officially started, though.

It started with a view into the cockpit of a German plane. But you don't realize it's a German plane until you see a family rushing into their bomb shelter, and they're speaking English. It was one of the bombings of England during WWII. Enter the Pevensie family. Mr. Pevensie is fighting for the Allied Forces and is away from his family of his wife, Helen, his sons Peter and Edmund and his daughters Susan and Lucy.

Soon the Pevensie children are on a train headed for the countryside-you get the feeling their mother thinks it's too dangerous for them in London. Which might have been true. Anyhow, they arrive at a country train station with just one suitcase apiece and themselves. They are met by Mrs. McCready, the professor's housekeeper. She does not make a favorable impression on the children. She, in her brisk accent, informs them that they must not run, play or touch the "'istorical hartifacts" under any cirumstances. And most important, she commands, "There's to be no disturbin' of the professor!" An auspicious start for the four English children in a strange house, far away from their parents and their home. But they can still have fun, as Peter, the oldest, asserts. This while rain sloshes down the windowpanes. Lucy, the youngest, requests a game of hide and go seek and Peter and the others comply. Lucy is followed by an annoying Edmund who claims "I was here first!" when Lucy finds a good hiding spot. She searches desperately and finally enters a room containing nothing but a bluebottle buzzing in the window (from the book) and a cloth-covered object. She pulls the cloth away and discovers (drumroll here) The Wardrobe. She goes in, and, reaching for the back of the wardrobe, steps backward expectantly. However, she is confronted by pine needles and snow. Enter Narnia.

And thus begins a fascinating series of adventures Lucy has by herself. She meets a faun, has tea with him, discovers his true intentions, and makes it safely home. She tells her brothers and sisters about the land at the back of the wardrobe, but to no avail. They assume she is lying or "quite batty" as Edmund says. They don't believe her and assume she is having innocent fun and making stories up. Plus there's the little time issue-Lucy is gone for what seems to her to be hours, but when she emerges from the wardrobe "hours" later, Peter is still counting to 100 for their hide and go seek game.

And that's part one. Sorry. This is taking a while to write and I want to get this out as soon as possible. Anyhow, I will continue this overview/review of this movie in the next post. But I'm not promising anything. Either way, support this movie! No actor contreversy here.....

Matthew 27:51-53

51At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook and the rocks split. 52The tombs broke open and the bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. 53They came out of the tombs, and after Jesus' resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many people.

Why isn’t this more important in the Christian faith? I mean, the people who study the Crucifixion know that the curtain that divided the tabernacle from the normal people was ripped, symbolizing the common man’s access to God through Jesus’ atonement. But who knew that the holy people who had died were raised from the dead and after Jesus was raised first went into the city and appeared to people and then were (I suppose-this is totally extra biblical) taken into heaven with Christ when He ascended? Does this symbolize our new life in Christ and death’s powerlessness over us? Could it? I have a lot of questions about this passage. Tell me what you think!