Prepared for Survival?

It has been reported that Kim Jong-Un has the capability to explode a nuclear device in the atmosphere high above the United States which would knock out our power grid.

I can't imagine what life would be like without electricity. The grocery store shelves will empty over night and hoodlums will overrun the cities and start pouring into the surrounding country side. There will be huge traffic jams with people trying to flee the cities. Road rage will run rampant with people fighting on the freeways. I could go on and on, but you get the picture.

Living in the country I can feed my family with garden vegetables, fish, birds, rabbits and squirrels. But who wants to live that way. Hunting and foraging with no air conditioning, heat, TV, computers or phones.

In spite of the threat China is making about stopping the US from making a preemptive strike, I say the U.S. should take this crazy dictator out before he can take us out. China doesn't want a nuclear war anymore than we do.

Black Cohosh

This plant is found all across the Eastern United States. Native Americans used it to relieve painful or delayed menstruation and difficult child birth - the latter because of the herb's ability to relax the muscles of the uterine walls. Black Cohosh wasn't used only by women, however. Native Americans believed it could also help relieve arthritis pain and the discomfort of illnesses such as scarlet fever and smallpox, as well as a veriety of respiratory problems, including whooping cough.

Women, take note: If herb's could be accused of sexual bias, black cohosh would be guilty as charged. Dubbed the "female" fortifier. it has been shown to reduce hot flashes, sweating, headaches, vertigo, heart palpitations, and tinnitus, or ringing in the ears - all common symptoms of menopause. The herb has been so effective in relieving menopausal problems, that some doctors believe it may be an acceptable alternative to conventional hormone replacement therapy.

"Healing Secrets of the Native Americans"  pp. 51 - 52  Porter Shimer

Poem I Saved Over the Years

 To Celia


 Drink to me only with thine eyes, And I will pledge with mine; Or leave a kiss but in the cup.
And I'll not ask for wine. The thirst that from the soul doth rise, Doth ask a drink divine;
But might I of love's nectar sup, I would not change for thine.

I sent thee late a rosy wreath, not so much honoring thee as giving it a hope that there it could not
withered be. But thou thereon didst only breathe,and sent'st it back to me. Since when it grows,
and smells, I swear not of itself but thee.

Ben Johnson (1573 - 1637)

17th Century French Mathematician and Philosopher

The seventeenth-century French mathematician and philosopher Blaise Pascal argued that deciding whether or not to believe in God is essentially engaging in a wager. If we choose to behave as if there is a God and we get to the end and it turns out there isn't, it's not such a big deal. Well, maybe we've lost the ability to thoroughly enjoy the Seven Deadly Sins, but that's small potatoes compared to the alternative. If we bet there isn't a God, and get to the end only to find out there is a God, we've lost the Big Enchilada, eternal bliss. Therefore, according to Pascal, it is better strategy to live as if there is a God. This is known to academics as "Pascal's wager." To the rest of us , it's known as hedging your bets.

It ought not to be taught in School

One morning I woke up and something had happened in the night, and it struck me that I had been working on this stuff (evolution ) for twenty years and there was not one thing I knew about it. That's quite a shock to learn that one can be so misled so long... so for the last few weeks I've tried putting a simple question to various people and groups of people. Question is: Can you tell me anything you know about evolution, any one thing that is true? I tried that question on the geology staff at the Field Museum of Natural History and the only answer I got was silence. I tried it on the members of the Evolutionary Morphology Seminar in the University of Chicago, a very prestigious body of evolutionists, and all I got there was silence for a long time and eventually one person said, "I do know one thing - it ought not to be taught in high school." ( Dr Colin Patterson, Senior Paleontologist, British Museum of Natural History, London, 5 November, 1981 )

The Prince

Niccolo Machiavelli, author of The Prince, is known as the father of modern statecraft because he advised sixteenth-century princes to disregard accepted standards of virtue and "enter into evil when necessary." He recognized no higher authority than the state. He believed that virtue was whatever allowed the prince to survive politically. While it is better for the prince to be feared than loved, he should avoid being hated, as that could jeopardize his power. Best of all is to ruthlessly pursue power while appearing upright.The prince is a plan for seizing and holding power. Even today it is a realistic plan to become president of the United States of America.. Machiavelli set down a plan on leadership that was practical, not idealistic.This book is must reading for every politician on power politics.

The Clinton's have not only read the Prince but have memorized it, as they are about to become the leaders of the most powerful country in the world for a second time by using these principles. Pick up a copy of The Prince at your local library and you will see the tactics used by the Clinton's all through the book.

C.S. Lewis: Thoughts on Jesus of Nazareth.

"I am trying to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: I'm ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don't accept His claim to be God. That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic--on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg--or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronising nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to."

This quote was taken from his book, "Mere Christianity". C.S.Lewis is one of the great thinkers of out time. He was an atheist who set out to prove the claims of Jesus to be Gods Son false and instead became a Christian apologist. I challenge you to pick up a copy of "Mere Christianity" at your local library. It is a fascinating read.

It Is Finished...

Many people are confused by Matthew 5:17 when Jesus said,"Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets: I have come not to abolish them but to fulfill them..." (the Law and the Prophets being the Old Testament). We must also read Colossians 2: 13-15. Paul told us that when we were dead in our sins and in the uncircumcision of our sinful nature, God forgave us all our sins having cancelled the written code, with its regulations ( The Old Testament ) by nailing it to the cross. So with this passage we realize that Jesus was telling us that by dying on the cross, he fulfilled the law. (The Old Testament). As you probably know, we were given the Law so that we would realize how impossible it is to work our way to heaven and our only hope is the grace of Jesus. No matter how hard we try we can't even live up to the ten commandments.The Old Testament is the Jewish bible and the New Testament is the Christian bible.

Submission to Governing Authorities

Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God. Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation. KJV Romans Chapter 13: 1-2.

Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgement on themselves. NIV Romans Chapter 13: 1-2.

The above Bible verse seems plain to me. Christians are to accept our new President whoever he/she may be. If it turns out to be a person we weren't supporting then we were wrong and not God. I personally believe that if Hillary is chosen as our next President God is bringing judgement on America for taking him out of the schools and public places and allowing the Muslim faith in his place.

I believe the above verse does not preclude our working to abolish abortion, placing God and the Ten commandments, that have served us so well in the past, back in our schools. And above all else Christians should be earnestly praying: Thy Kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven.That particular part of the Lords model prayer is asking Jesus to return soon and put an end to all this madness on earth.

TELEOLOGY

Does the universe have a purpose?

According to Aristotle, everything has a telos, which is an inner goal it is "meant to be.". An acorn has a telos, which is an oak tree. It's what an acorn is "meant to be." Birds have one, bees have one.

Does human life have a telos? Aristotle thought so. He thought the telos of human life is happiness. St. Augustine, seven centuries later, thought the telos of life is to love God. Martin Heidegger a twentieth-century existentialist thought man's telos is to live without denial of the true human condition, particularly death.

I personally go along with St. Augustine and believe that we were designed to love and worship God. The human condition is hopeless without Jesus Christ in our lives.

MY MADONNA

I haled me a woman from the street,
  shameless, but, oh, so fair!
I bade her sit in the model's seat
  And I painted her sitting there.

I hid all trace of her heart unclean;
  I painted a babe at her breast;
I painted her as she might have been
  If the Worst had been the Best.

She laughed at my picture and went away.
  then came, with a knowing nod,
A connoisseur, and I heard him say;
  "Tis Mary, the Mother of God."

So I painted a halo round her hair,
  And I sold her and took my fee,
And she hangs in the church of Saint Hillaire,
  where you and all may see.

Robert Service

That Damned Confederate Flag

Thank God that damned confederate Flag is finally being removed from the South Carolina capitol and elsewhere. It's comforting to know that racism will finally be ended by pulling down this flag and blacks will now be free to live the American dream; free to keep their families together, free to value education; free to support their own children, free to stop murdering each other, free to graduate from high school, free to get married before having babies, free to stop crime in their neighborhoods. Now we can all rest easier knowing that those problems caused by that flag have ceased to exist.

Capacity to Believe

This capacity to believe is the most significant and fundamental human faculty, and the most important thing about a man is what he believes in the depth of his being. This is the thing that makes him what he is; the thing that organizes him, and feeds him, the thing that keeps him going in the face of untoward circumstances; the thing that gives him resistance and drive. Let neutrality, confusion, indifference, or skepticism enter this inner place, and the very springs of life will cease to flow.

Hugh Stevenson Tigner

I enjoy reading  Socrates, Plato, Aristotle,  Voltaire, Paine, Jefferson, Franklin, Washington,  Einstein, Twain; the list goes on and on of great thinkers and I have learned a great deal from each and every one of them. But when it comes to the depth of my being; I believe with all my heart in the message of the New Testament ( the Christian Bible) with no neutrality, confusion, indifference, or skepticism.

Advice from Socrates and Jesus of Nazareth

"The secrete of happiness is not found in seeking more, but in developing the capacity to enjoy less. He is richest who is content with the least, for content is the wealth of nature." 
 Socrates

"You cannot serve two masters: God and money. For you will hate one and love the other, or else the other way around. So my counsel is: don't worry about things - food, drink, and clothes. For you already have life and a body and they are far more important than what to eat and wear. Look at the birds! They don't worry about what to eat  they don't need to sow or reap or store up food - for your heavenly Father feeds them. And you are far more valuable to him than they are. Will all your worries add a single moment to your life?" 
 Jesus of Nazareth,  (Matthew 6:24 - 27).

The Greatest Battle

Chess has been represented, or should I say misrepresented as a game - that is, a thing which could not well serve a serious purpose, solely created for the enjoyment of an empty hour.  If it were a game only, chess would never have survived the serious trials to which it has, during the long time of its existence, been often subjected. By some ardent enthusiasts chess has been elevated into a science or an art. It is neither, but its principal characteristic seems to be - what human nature mostly delights in - a fight. Not a fight, indeed such as would tickle the nerves of coarser natures, where blood flows and the blows delivered leave their visible traces on the bodies of the combatants, but a fight in which the scientific, the artistic, the purely intellectual element holds undivided sway.

Emanuel Lasker, World Chess Champion (1894 - 1921)

Mental Elbow Grease

"As the Swede fellow says, the saws and  chisels in your tool chest Von't yump up into your hand. And books on your shelves aren't going to crawl down and get inside your brain. It isn't the number of books that counts in your mental development, but how you read and re-read them. Books don't give their inner secrets to the man who snubs them and isn't friendly with them and doesn't try to coax out their confidence. The proverbial old-time country doctor's library, just Shakespeare and the Bible and Gray's Anatomy, contained plenty for the man who dug out every word as though it were a golden nuget."

Sinclair Lewis, from his novel, "Gideon Planish". Copyright 1943.

I HAVE SOME FRIENDS

I have some friends,some worthy friends,
and worthy friends are rare:
These carpet slippers on my feet,
That padded leather chair;
This old and shabby dressing-gown,
So well the worse of wear.

I have some friends,some honest friends,
And honest friends are few;
My pipe of briar, my open fire,
A book that's not too new;
My bed so warm, the nights of storm
I love to listen to.

I have some friends, some good, good friends
Who faithful are to me:
My wrestling partner when I rise,
The big and burly sea;
My little boat that's riding there
So saucy and so free.

I have some friends, some golden friends,
Whose worth will not decline;
A tawny Irsh terrier, a purple shading pine,
A little red-roofed cottage that
So proudly I call mine.

All other friends may come and go,
All other friendships fail;
But these, the friends I've worked to win,
Oh they will never stale;
And comfort me till Time shall write
The finish to my tale.

ROBERT SERVICE

Ten Must See Movies

My Top Ten Best Movies

(1)  High Noon - Gary Cooper

(2)  To Kill A Mockingbird - Gregory Peck

(3)  Casablanka - Humphrey Bogart

(4)  Dr. Strangelove - Peter Sellers

(5)  The Quiet Man - John Wayne

(6)  O Brother Where Art Thou - George Clooney

(7)  The Pink Panther - Peter Sellers

(8)  Every Which Way But Loose - Clint Eastwood

(9)  Instinct - Anthony Hopkins

(10)Rocky - Sylvester Stallone

You say Tanasi, I say Tennessee

Since the European explores and settlers spelled Cherokee words based on how they sounded when spoken, it was common to have multiple spellings for a single word. The word "Tennessee" is a variation of the spelling of the Cherokee word "Tanasi" (also spelled Tannassy, Tanassee, Tenase), the name of a famous Cherokee village located on the banks of the Little Tennessee River near present- day Vonore,Tennessee.

A Mystery to Me

AMENDMENT 2 "A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed." AMENDMENT 10 "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the States respectively,or to the people." Why is it so hard for liberals to understand these two admendments?