Month: November 2013

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Our Daily Thread 11-30-13

Good Morning!

On this day in 1782 the United States and Britain signed preliminary peace articles in Paris, ending the Revolutionary War. 

In 1897 Thomas Edison’s own motion picture projector had its first commercial exhibition.

In 1940 Lucille Ball and Cuban musician Desi Arnaz were married. 

In 1986 “Time” magazine published an interview with President Reagan. In the article, Reagan described fired national security staffer Oliver North as a “national hero.”

And it’s the day my lovely wife Cheryl was born. 🙂

Happy Birthday Honey! 🙂

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Quotes of the Day

“All the great things are simple, and many can be expressed in a single word: freedom, justice, honor, duty, mercy, hope.”

Winston Churchill

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“Anger is an acid that can do more harm to the vessel in which it is stored than to anything on which it is poured.”

Mark Twain
(Samuel Langhorne Clemens)

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Since Thanksgiving is over, the Christmas music can now begin. My wife picked this one. 🙂

Today is also Bryon Goggin’s of Smalltown Poets birthday.

And it’s Roger Glover’s too.

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Anyone have a QoD?

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Prayer Requests 11-30-13

Who has a request or praise to share today?

Psalm 104:15-35

16 The trees of the Lord are full of sap; the cedars of Lebanon, which he hath planted;

17 Where the birds make their nests: as for the stork, the fir trees are her house.

18 The high hills are a refuge for the wild goats; and the rocks for the conies.

19 He appointed the moon for seasons: the sun knoweth his going down.

20 Thou makest darkness, and it is night: wherein all the beasts of the forest do creep forth.

21 The young lions roar after their prey, and seek their meat from God.

22 The sun ariseth, they gather themselves together, and lay them down in their dens.

23 Man goeth forth unto his work and to his labour until the evening.

24 O Lord, how manifold are thy works! in wisdom hast thou made them all: the earth is full of thy riches.

25 So is this great and wide sea, wherein are things creeping innumerable, both small and great beasts.

26 There go the ships: there is that leviathan, whom thou hast made to play therein.

27 These wait all upon thee; that thou mayest give them their meat in due season.

28 That thou givest them they gather: thou openest thine hand, they are filled with good.

29 Thou hidest thy face, they are troubled: thou takest away their breath, they die, and return to their dust.

30 Thou sendest forth thy spirit, they are created: and thou renewest the face of the earth.

31 The glory of the Lord shall endure for ever: the Lord shall rejoice in his works.

32 He looketh on the earth, and it trembleth: he toucheth the hills, and they smoke.

33 I will sing unto the Lord as long as I live: I will sing praise to my God while I have my being.

34 My meditation of him shall be sweet: I will be glad in the Lord.

35 Let the sinners be consumed out of the earth, and let the wicked be no more. Bless thou the Lord, O my soul. Praise ye the Lord.

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News/Politics 11-30-13

What’s interesting in the news today?

Open Thread, so feel free to share. 🙂

Here’s a few to start off with.

1. Does prayer help boost emotional stability and self-control?

From TheDailyMail  “Does prayer help us resist temptation? Talking to God boosts self-control and emotional stability, claims study

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2. Of course he did. 🙄

From CNN  “President Obama paid a visit Friday to a group of activists who have been fasting for weeks in the hopes of pressuring Congress to pass new immigration laws.

The President and his wife, First Lady Michelle Obama, visited the group on the National Mall to lend support for the cause. The “Fast for Families” protesters have given up all sustenance except water during their protest, which they hope will force lawmakers to take up immigration reform measures pending on Capitol Hill.”

“The President has pushed for an overhaul to the nation’s immigration system, most recently during a speech in San Francisco on Monday. He praised the fasting protesters during those remarks, saying the group was “sacrificing themselves in an effort to get Congress to act.”

“I want them to know we hear you.  We’re with you. The whole country hears you,” Obama said during his remarks in California.”

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3. Faith-based negotiations.

From TheWeeklyStandard  “Here is perhaps the biggest contradiction of the nuclear talks: The Obama administration wants to believe that the supreme leader just might forsake his historic mission—the quest for nuclear weapons begun under Khomeini and carried forth at great cost by Khamenei and every single Iranian president—because the United States, “the epicenter of evil,” has rallied the West against the Islamic Republic. The reasons administration officials give for why this extraordinary tergiversation will take place vary, but most spin around the idea that the supreme leader and his Revolutionary Guards—who oversee the nuclear program, terrorist operations, and domestic riot-control—really aren’t sufficiently committed to developing a nuclear weapon that the forces of moderation can’t seduce them from this dangerous course. The alleged forces of moderation are, in order of importance, newly elected president Hassan Rouhani, foreign minister Mohammad Zarif, and the Iranian people, at least those who voted for Rouhani. “

“Those who make these arguments, inside the U.S. government and out, rarely cite any primary material. Yet there is much to ponder in the lengthy speeches of Khamenei and senior guard commanders who scorch America and the West with nearly every breath; in the nuclear memoirs of Rouhani, which reveals a proud revolutionary determined to keep and advance the nuclear program despite European pressure (and, a decade ago, a widespread fear of George W. Bush); and in the recently published memoirs of Zarif, which limn a deeply conservative man wedded to the Islamic Revolution. In an odd twist on Iran’s controlled democracy, administration officials can tell you that since Rouhani received a mandate for change, and since he has promised to get rid of the hated sanctions, then ipso facto he must be prepared to do the thing necessary to achieve that end: Rouhani, they conclude, intends to roll back Iran’s nuclear aspirations. “

“Rouhani, they believe, must be more or less a moderate—a talented, politically savvy insider, not an egghead reformer like the former president Mohammad Khatami, whom Khamenei and his minions sliced and diced. He is, after all, not Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the uncouth, pietistic populist. He has a Ph.D. from a Scottish university (think Duns Scotus, David Hume, Adam Smith, Robert Burns, and Gordon Brown). 

This is such a nonsensical take on Iran’s deeply religious and ruthless power politics, and Rouhani’s personal voyage through the Islamic Revolution, that it’s hard to know where to start deconstructing the fiction and illogic. Suffice it to say that Khamenei has spent considerable energy the last four years destroying the threat of democracy inside his country. He has so elevated the Revolutionary Guards that their power rivals his own. He has given no indication that he now quakes before the very people he’s squashed. Neither, by the way, does Rouhani, who raised not a finger in protest when Khamenei gutted the pro-democracy Green Movement in 2009 and playfully eviscerated Ali Akbar Hashemi-Rafsanjani, the former clerical powerhouse, the true father of the regime’s nuclear-weapons program, and Rouhani’s primary mentor. “

I have no faith in either party.

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Our Daily Thread 11-29-13

Good Morning!

It’s finally Friday! 🙂

It’s the black one too.

On this day in 1864 The Sand Creek Massacre occurred in Colorado when a militia led by Colonel John Chivington, killed at least 400 peaceful Cheyenne and Arapaho Indians who had surrendered and had been given permission to camp.

In 1890 Navy defeated Army by a score of 24-0 in the first Army-Navy football game. The game was played at West Point, NY.  They got lucky. 🙂

In 1929 the first airplane flight over the South Pole was made by U.S. Navy Lt. Comdr. Richard E. Byrd.

In 1947 the U.N. General Assembly passed a resolution that called for the division of Palestine between Arabs and Jews. 

And in 1963 President Johnson named a commission headed by Earl Warren to investigate the assassination of President Kennedy.

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Quotes of the Day

“I gave in, and admitted that God was God.”

“Has this world been so kind to you that you should leave with regret? There are better things ahead than any we leave behind.”

C. S. Lewis

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Today is Holly Starr’s birthday.

It’s also Merle Travis’. From BransonMusicFactory

And it’s Barry Goudreau’s as well.

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QoD?

Are you venturing out today to shop? Or are you already back? 🙂

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Prayer Requests 11-29-13

Who has a request or praise they’d like to share?

Psalm 104:1-15

¹Bless the Lord, O my soul. O Lord my God, thou art very great; thou art clothed with honour and majesty.

2 Who coverest thyself with light as with a garment: who stretchest out the heavens like a curtain:

3 Who layeth the beams of his chambers in the waters: who maketh the clouds his chariot: who walketh upon the wings of the wind:

4 Who maketh his angels spirits; his ministers a flaming fire:

5 Who laid the foundations of the earth, that it should not be removed for ever.

6 Thou coveredst it with the deep as with a garment: the waters stood above the mountains.

7 At thy rebuke they fled; at the voice of thy thunder they hasted away.

8 They go up by the mountains; they go down by the valleys unto the place which thou hast founded for them.

9 Thou hast set a bound that they may not pass over; that they turn not again to cover the earth.

10 He sendeth the springs into the valleys, which run among the hills.

11 They give drink to every beast of the field: the wild asses quench their thirst.

12 By them shall the fowls of the heaven have their habitation, which sing among the branches.

13 He watereth the hills from his chambers: the earth is satisfied with the fruit of thy works.

14 He causeth the grass to grow for the cattle, and herb for the service of man: that he may bring forth food out of the earth;

15 And wine that maketh glad the heart of man, and oil to make his face to shine, and bread which strengtheneth man’s heart.

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News/Politics 11-29-13

What’s interesting in the news today?

1. What a desperate bunch. Nothing like a Wednesday before Thanksgiving and the long holiday weekend news dump huh? And notice the delay is until after the elections. Can’t have millions more being cut by employers right before now can we? Weasels.

From Politico  “The Obama administration today announced a one year delay of online enrollment for small  businesses looking to purchase health coverage through federal Obamacare  exchanges, another high-profile setback for HealthCare.gov.

It’s the second delay for online small business enrollment, which the administration had said would begin this month.”

“The delay of the small business exchanges comes as little surprise, as the  administration had said earlier this week it would offer alternative ways for  small businesses to enroll. Still, it undercuts the White House message that  it’s beginning to turn around the disastrous rollout of the health care law.”

“The announcement just before Thanksgiving is the latest in a series of delays  and miscalculations for the president’s signature domestic legislation. On July  2 — also just before a holiday —it delayed the employer mandate for a year.  Small businesses with fewer than 50 workers are exempt from the requirement to  cover them, and the exchanges are supposed to give more options to those that  choose to offer coverage.”

It’s all so cowardly.

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2. Wow, that’s pricey. 😯

Pretty cool though too. I’d go to see it.

From CNN  “The world’s most valuable book sold Tuesday for $14.16 million at Sotheby’s in New York, according to the auction house.

The rare Bay Psalm Book is the first book ever written and printed in what is now the United States. Its sale set a record for a book sold at auction, Sotheby’s said.

Philanthropist David Rubenstein purchased one of 11 surviving copies.

He “plans to share it with the American public by loaning it to libraries across the country, before putting it on long-term loan at one of them,” according to Sotheby’s.”

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3. Normally I stay away from stories like this, but I’m making an exception. The reason being that it exposes the lie about not “recruiting.” Let’s face it, these minors were preyed upon at what was supposed to be a safe place for them. The fact that the President has honored one of these individuals also makes it newsworthy.

And yes, a big ol’ Content Warning!!!

From LifeSiteNews  “An openly homosexual teenager, who was given a position as an “adviser” to Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton and honored by President Barack Obama at a White House “gay pride” dinner, has been indicted on more than a dozen counts of sexual misconduct with a minor under the age of 15.

Caleb Laieski, now 18, was 17 at the time of the alleged abuse. His alleged victim, a close friend he met on TrevorSpace (a social media site for children and young adults aged 13-24 who have an interest in homosexuality), was only 14 at the time. The younger boy said the sex was consensual, but that he felt “pressured” to participate. However, Arizona law says no one younger than 15 is capable of giving consent.”

“In an unusual twist, Laieski is also considered a victim in the case, since at least some of the charges stem from a three-way sexual encounter the boys had with 43-year-old Chris Wilson, an openly homosexual Phoenix police officer who was arrested more than a year ago and is now in jail awaiting trial for his role in the abuse of both children. Although Laieski was a minor at the time, his participation in sex acts with the younger boy violate state law, which says it is a crime for older minors to have sexual contact with children under the age of 15.”

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4. The hits just keep comin’ for Common Core.

From EAGNews  ” On the heels of a controversial children’s book about Barack Obama – which stated “white voters would never vote for a black president” and that “Barack’s former pastor” said “God would damn the United States for mistreating its black citizens” – comes a new lesson that casts America’s 44th president in a messianic light. Literally. And – surprise – it’s Common Core-aligned.

The lesson plan and accompanying visual presentation were authored by Sherece Bennett, and is for sale on TeachersPayTeachers.com. It’s all based on a book titled, “Barack Obama: Son of Promise, Child of Hope,” by Nikki Grimes.”

“Another excerpt from the book reads: “Before dawn each morning, Barry rose – his mother’s voice driving him from dream land. ‘Time for learning English grammar and the Golden Rule. Be honest, be kind, be fair,’ she taught him.”

The story continues: “One morning, he slipped on the name he’d been born with. The name of his father, Barack. For the first time in his life, he wore it proudly – like a coat of many colors.”

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5. While they may place him high on a pedestal, some see him in a different light. 🙂

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Our Daily Thread 11-28-13

Good Morning!

turkey2

Quotes of the Day

“Thanksgiving is a time when the world gets to see just how blessed and how workable the Christian system is. The emphasis is not on giving or buying, but on being thankful and expressing that appreciation to God and to one another.”

“Christians were instructed to serve others, and the thanksgiving was for the grace of God and the fact that God offered a way for man to return to a positive relationship with Him.”

John Clayton

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First up today, Matt Redman, from MattRedmanVevo.

I love Thanksgiving, since it’s the official start of my favorite time of year. 🙂  

And this one is for tradition’s sake. 🙂

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QoD?

What’s on the menu today?

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Prayer Requests 11-28-13

Even though it’s a holiday, I thought I would post this anyway. If you have a request or praise you’d like to share, please do.

Psalm 103

¹Bless the Lord, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name.

2 Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits:

3 Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases;

4 Who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies;

5 Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

6 The Lord executeth righteousness and judgment for all that are oppressed.

7 He made known his ways unto Moses, his acts unto the children of Israel.

8 The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy.

9 He will not always chide: neither will he keep his anger for ever.

10 He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.

11 For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him.

12 As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.

13 Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him.

14 For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust.

15 As for man, his days are as grass: as a flower of the field, so he flourisheth.

16 For the wind passeth over it, and it is gone; and the place thereof shall know it no more.

17 But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him, and his righteousness unto children’s children;

18 To such as keep his covenant, and to those that remember his commandments to do them.

19 The Lord hath prepared his throne in the heavens; and his kingdom ruleth over all.

20 Bless the Lord, ye his angels, that excel in strength, that do his commandments, hearkening unto the voice of his word.

21 Bless ye the Lord, all ye his hosts; ye ministers of his, that do his pleasure.

22 Bless the Lord, all his works in all places of his dominion: bless the Lord, O my soul.

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Peter’s Pack of Pickled Pigskin Picks- Week 13

Here ye, here ye!

’Tis Rivalry Week in the realm of the college gridiron. All over the nation, football fans will don the colors of their chosen team, and trash talk anyone in the opposing team’s gear. Orange and Blue Tigers will face a Crimson challenge. Other Tigers will face Raiders and Roosters. Trojans host Bruins; Wolverines take on some Nuts from Ohio. Sun Devils try to burn Wildcats that took down not-so-mighty Ducks. Hawkeyes face Cornhuskers. Boilermakers visit Hoosiers.  Rebels take on Bulldogs. And the Gators will try to make something out of a dismal season while hosting the #2 Seminoles. Most of these are in the same state. Most don’t care what happens during the rest of the season, as long as they win this game.

And you get to guess the winners in the ten rivalry games below. Trash talk all you want, but remember, this is a family-friendly blog.

 1. #1 Alabama @ #4 Auburn – This is the Civil War of the South. They even sabotage trees in this one.

  2. #2 Florida State @ Florida – Normally, this is a big game. For Florida it is. For FSU, a loss would take them out of the national championship. Yeah, I guess it is a bog game.

  3. #3 Ohio State @ Michigan – How do you take a team named for a nut seriously? Michigan does.

  4. #21 Texas A&M @ #5 Missouri – Not a major rivalry, but the two teams that went from Big 12 to SEC play an important game for both of them.

  5. #6 Clemson @ #10 South Carolina – Chas has been mentioning this one all year. Now it’s here.

  6. #22 UCLA @ #23 USC – The I-10, PAC-12 game of the week. Hey, in what other game does the “visiting” team get penalized for wearing their home jersey?

  7. Iowa @ Nebraska – What is a Hawkeye? I lived and Iowa and can’t answer that. But Iowa grows a lot of corn. Will they get husked in Lincoln?

  8. Ole Miss @ Mississippi State – Why is the University of Mississippi called “Ole” Miss? They don’t act like elderly spinsters on the field.

  9. Purdue @ Indiana – A dismal year for Purdue. I’m not calling this a pillow fight, but how often is Purdue worse than its cross state rival?

 10. Tie Breaker: Arizona @ #12 Arizona State – Pick winner and score. After last Saturday, anything could happen in this one. And it often doesn’t matter what either team’s record is, they both want this one big. But ASU has more to lose by losing.

Play on, fans. Just get your picks in by Thursday 7:30 PM EST, when the two Misses play. Don’t “Miss” out.