"Granted, some sincerely wish for more power in order to do good, but only a few individuals are good enough to be powerful."
-Neal A. Maxwell
Sunday, December 7, 2008
Saturday, December 6, 2008
How to fufill God's commandments; part 3, Russia
From free appliances to summer camps that encourage procreation, the Russian government is pulling out all the stops to get its citizens pregnant.
The final week of November was a bad week to find yourself accidentally pregnant in Novorossiysk. From the 24th to the 28th, the Russian port city on the Black Sea held an official “Week Without Abortions.” During those days, doctors in Novorossiysk were not allowed to terminate pregnancies except in “the most extreme cases.” City universities screened films showing the detrimental effects of abortions. Psychologists and gynecologists prepared pregnant women for motherhood. “Doctors will do everything they can to stop women from doing the irreparable,” a city administration representative told RussiaToday.com.
It was the latest effort in a series of initiatives to stop the freefall of Russia’s population. With a density of nine persons per 22 square miles, it’s the most sparsely populated country in the world. Demographers believe Russia’s population of 144 million will decline to 115 million by 2050, and one expert said it could fall as low as 77 million. Part of the problem is low life expectancy—most Russian men won’t live to see 60, due mainly to factors like alcohol, drugs, suicide and a reluctance to buckle up. But the other half of the equation is Russia’s plummeting birth rate, which in the past two decades has fallen from an average of two children per woman to barely more than one.
“We must, at least, stimulate the birth of a second child,” former President Vladimir Putin said two years ago in a national address. They weren’t idle words—in recent years, Russia has embarked on a multi-pronged campaign to get its citizens to start procreating.
In addition to initiatives like the one in Novorossiysk, Putin offered 250,000 rubles, or about $9,200, to women who have a second child.
And Camp Nashi, a youth movement run by the Kremlin, encourages young people to pair up in red heart-shaped tents for two weeks along the Seliger River, 200 miles outside of Moscow. At the conclusion of the two-week session, mass wedding ceremonies are held. “Most people who married at Seliger were very young,” says Maria Drokova, the leader of Camp Nashi since its formation in 2005. In the last three years couples have averaged 20, 22 and 24 years old.
“Two years ago, a couple got married, and last year they came with their new baby boy named after Vasile Sturza, a former leader of the Nashi movement appointed by Putin,” Drokova said. Upon the couple’s return, the camp held a celebration of the birth.
Camp Nashi is free, subsidized by the government, and provides the campers with all they need for their two week stay—though not condoms, according to camper Irina Maziezi.
Maziezi, 21, has attended Camp Nashi three years in a row, and says the mass marriages that take place at the camp are beautiful and legally binding. “Girls are in white dresses, music plays, they dance the waltz,” she says.
Other incentives to procreate include an official Day of Conception declared by Ulyanovsk Governor Sergei Morozov on September 12, 2007. Couples were given time off from work for the day to have sex, and mothers who gave birth exactly nine months later on June 12, 2008, Russia’s National Day, were awarded cars, cash, kitchen appliances and other prizes.
Putin also announced an increase in childcare to support young mothers, part of his ten-year national program designed to encourage women to have more children. And 2008 was declared the “Year of Family” by the government, accompanied by new restrictions on advertisements for abortion clinics in the media.
Is it working?
Last year, Mikhail Zurabov, the Russian Minister for Health and Social Security, had good news at the opening of the World Social Security Forum in Moscow: the population of Russia, he said, had increased by 6% since 1996. Most of the increase was due to a recent rise in life expectancy, but UN statistics show that Russian birth rates have been inching upward as well since their historic low in 1996, from about eight births per 1,000 people to just over ten.
But it’s been pointed out that this uptick is probably only an echo of a small baby boom in the 1980s, and may not sustain itself.
“To increase the production of children, we would need to be assured that Russia is on the right track to prosperity,” wrote Russian author Viktor Erofeyev in a New York Times op-ed last year. “Do what you will, you can't order people to make babies.”
Michelle Vyadro
The final week of November was a bad week to find yourself accidentally pregnant in Novorossiysk. From the 24th to the 28th, the Russian port city on the Black Sea held an official “Week Without Abortions.” During those days, doctors in Novorossiysk were not allowed to terminate pregnancies except in “the most extreme cases.” City universities screened films showing the detrimental effects of abortions. Psychologists and gynecologists prepared pregnant women for motherhood. “Doctors will do everything they can to stop women from doing the irreparable,” a city administration representative told RussiaToday.com.
It was the latest effort in a series of initiatives to stop the freefall of Russia’s population. With a density of nine persons per 22 square miles, it’s the most sparsely populated country in the world. Demographers believe Russia’s population of 144 million will decline to 115 million by 2050, and one expert said it could fall as low as 77 million. Part of the problem is low life expectancy—most Russian men won’t live to see 60, due mainly to factors like alcohol, drugs, suicide and a reluctance to buckle up. But the other half of the equation is Russia’s plummeting birth rate, which in the past two decades has fallen from an average of two children per woman to barely more than one.
“We must, at least, stimulate the birth of a second child,” former President Vladimir Putin said two years ago in a national address. They weren’t idle words—in recent years, Russia has embarked on a multi-pronged campaign to get its citizens to start procreating.
In addition to initiatives like the one in Novorossiysk, Putin offered 250,000 rubles, or about $9,200, to women who have a second child.
And Camp Nashi, a youth movement run by the Kremlin, encourages young people to pair up in red heart-shaped tents for two weeks along the Seliger River, 200 miles outside of Moscow. At the conclusion of the two-week session, mass wedding ceremonies are held. “Most people who married at Seliger were very young,” says Maria Drokova, the leader of Camp Nashi since its formation in 2005. In the last three years couples have averaged 20, 22 and 24 years old.
“Two years ago, a couple got married, and last year they came with their new baby boy named after Vasile Sturza, a former leader of the Nashi movement appointed by Putin,” Drokova said. Upon the couple’s return, the camp held a celebration of the birth.
Camp Nashi is free, subsidized by the government, and provides the campers with all they need for their two week stay—though not condoms, according to camper Irina Maziezi.
Maziezi, 21, has attended Camp Nashi three years in a row, and says the mass marriages that take place at the camp are beautiful and legally binding. “Girls are in white dresses, music plays, they dance the waltz,” she says.
Other incentives to procreate include an official Day of Conception declared by Ulyanovsk Governor Sergei Morozov on September 12, 2007. Couples were given time off from work for the day to have sex, and mothers who gave birth exactly nine months later on June 12, 2008, Russia’s National Day, were awarded cars, cash, kitchen appliances and other prizes.
Putin also announced an increase in childcare to support young mothers, part of his ten-year national program designed to encourage women to have more children. And 2008 was declared the “Year of Family” by the government, accompanied by new restrictions on advertisements for abortion clinics in the media.
Is it working?
Last year, Mikhail Zurabov, the Russian Minister for Health and Social Security, had good news at the opening of the World Social Security Forum in Moscow: the population of Russia, he said, had increased by 6% since 1996. Most of the increase was due to a recent rise in life expectancy, but UN statistics show that Russian birth rates have been inching upward as well since their historic low in 1996, from about eight births per 1,000 people to just over ten.
But it’s been pointed out that this uptick is probably only an echo of a small baby boom in the 1980s, and may not sustain itself.
“To increase the production of children, we would need to be assured that Russia is on the right track to prosperity,” wrote Russian author Viktor Erofeyev in a New York Times op-ed last year. “Do what you will, you can't order people to make babies.”
Michelle Vyadro
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
"Chris Buttars Saves Christmas" Coming soon to theaters
Sen. Chris Buttars wants Utah's Legislature to declare its opposition to the "war on Christmas."
The West Jordan Republican is sponsoring a resolution encouraging retailers to embrace Christmas in their promotions rather than the generic "holidays."
"It would encourage the use of 'Merry Christmas,'" Buttars said of the non-binding statement that is still being drafted. "I'm sick of the Christmas wars -- we're a Christian nation and ought to use the word."
Several fellow lawmakers he wouldn't yet name support his effort, added Buttars, who has a long history of championing the socially conservative agenda of the Utah Eagle Forum.
In 2005, right-wing pundit Bill O'Reilly took on the same fight, characterizing the so-called war on Christmas as part of a secular progressive agenda that would open the door to legalized drugs, abortion-on-demand and same-sex marriage.
One advertising executive thinks the Buttars message crosses the line.
"I'm kind of flabbergasted that there is even such a proposal," said Dave Newbold, president of Salt Lake City-based Richter7 Advertising and Public Relations.
"We may be primarily Christian but that doesn't mean that you force your language or beliefs on anybody," Newbold added. "We live in a multicultural area and it's right and proper to be sensitive to the various cultures."
Implementing such a resolution would be challenging, said Jim Olsen, president of the 350-member Utah Retail Merchants Association.
"A number of our members are national in nature and their ads, signage and promotions are done at a national level," Olsen said. "Any time we have states encouraging us to deviate from those national programs, it begins to cause problems."
Lawmakers were hesitant to weigh in on a measure they had not seen.
"I think Christmas is a wonderful holiday," said Sen. Curt Bramble, R-Provo. "Am I supporting the legislative action? I'll have to read it first."
While Bramble believes that America is grounded in Judeo-Christian beliefs, part of that thinking involves tolerance of other faiths, he said.
"I don't find it offensive when someone says 'Happy Holidays,' " Bramble added. "What is offensive is if we're embarrassed to say 'Merry Christmas.' "
Rep. David Litvack, a Jewish Democrat who represents part of Salt Lake City, said he's fine with people wishing him a Merry Christmas. However, he wonders if constituents really want their representatives spending time on such matters.
"There are many more pressing issues that we've been elected to address," Litvack said. "We're a nation of many faiths and we as leaders should be finding ways to build common ground and respect, not entrenching one side over another."
The resolution could violate First Amendment rights depending on the motivation behind it, said Salt Lake City civil rights attorney Brian Barnard.
"What he's doing is kind of silly but it doesn't ring a bell as a violation of separation of church and state," Barnard said.
However, if Buttars bases the resolution on America being a Christian nation, that moves the measure over the line, Barnard said.
"Our country was not founded by a bunch of Christians," Barnard said. "They were people concerned about religious freedoms."
"If [Buttars] wants people to say 'Merry Christmas' because it's the Christian thing to do," Barnard added, "then it becomes a violation of First Amendment rights."
cmckitrick@sltrib.com
The West Jordan Republican is sponsoring a resolution encouraging retailers to embrace Christmas in their promotions rather than the generic "holidays."
"It would encourage the use of 'Merry Christmas,'" Buttars said of the non-binding statement that is still being drafted. "I'm sick of the Christmas wars -- we're a Christian nation and ought to use the word."
Several fellow lawmakers he wouldn't yet name support his effort, added Buttars, who has a long history of championing the socially conservative agenda of the Utah Eagle Forum.
In 2005, right-wing pundit Bill O'Reilly took on the same fight, characterizing the so-called war on Christmas as part of a secular progressive agenda that would open the door to legalized drugs, abortion-on-demand and same-sex marriage.
One advertising executive thinks the Buttars message crosses the line.
"I'm kind of flabbergasted that there is even such a proposal," said Dave Newbold, president of Salt Lake City-based Richter7 Advertising and Public Relations.
"We may be primarily Christian but that doesn't mean that you force your language or beliefs on anybody," Newbold added. "We live in a multicultural area and it's right and proper to be sensitive to the various cultures."
Implementing such a resolution would be challenging, said Jim Olsen, president of the 350-member Utah Retail Merchants Association.
"A number of our members are national in nature and their ads, signage and promotions are done at a national level," Olsen said. "Any time we have states encouraging us to deviate from those national programs, it begins to cause problems."
Lawmakers were hesitant to weigh in on a measure they had not seen.
"I think Christmas is a wonderful holiday," said Sen. Curt Bramble, R-Provo. "Am I supporting the legislative action? I'll have to read it first."
While Bramble believes that America is grounded in Judeo-Christian beliefs, part of that thinking involves tolerance of other faiths, he said.
"I don't find it offensive when someone says 'Happy Holidays,' " Bramble added. "What is offensive is if we're embarrassed to say 'Merry Christmas.' "
Rep. David Litvack, a Jewish Democrat who represents part of Salt Lake City, said he's fine with people wishing him a Merry Christmas. However, he wonders if constituents really want their representatives spending time on such matters.
"There are many more pressing issues that we've been elected to address," Litvack said. "We're a nation of many faiths and we as leaders should be finding ways to build common ground and respect, not entrenching one side over another."
The resolution could violate First Amendment rights depending on the motivation behind it, said Salt Lake City civil rights attorney Brian Barnard.
"What he's doing is kind of silly but it doesn't ring a bell as a violation of separation of church and state," Barnard said.
However, if Buttars bases the resolution on America being a Christian nation, that moves the measure over the line, Barnard said.
"Our country was not founded by a bunch of Christians," Barnard said. "They were people concerned about religious freedoms."
"If [Buttars] wants people to say 'Merry Christmas' because it's the Christian thing to do," Barnard added, "then it becomes a violation of First Amendment rights."
cmckitrick@sltrib.com
Monday, December 1, 2008
Quote for the day
“Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind.”
-Dr. Seuss
-Dr. Seuss
Saturday, November 22, 2008
Quote for the day
“To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give your heart to no one, not even to an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements; lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket- safe, dark, motionless, airless--it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable.”
- C.S. Lewis
- C.S. Lewis
Thursday, November 13, 2008
10 easy steps to create an enemy and start a war:
Listen closely because we will all see this weapon used in our lives.
It can be used on a society of the most ignorant to the most highly educated.
We need to see their tactics as a weapon against humanity and not as truth.
First step: create the enemy. Sometimes this will be done for you.
Second step: be sure the enemy you have chosen is nothing like you.
Find obvious differences like race, language, religion, dietary habits
fashion. Emphasize that their soldiers are not doing a job,
they are heartless murderers who enjoy killing!
Third step: Once these differences are established continue to reinforce them
with all disseminated information.
Fourth step: Have the media broadcast only the ruling party's information
this can be done through state run media.
Remember, in times of conflict all for-profit media repeats the ruling party's information.
Therefore all for-profit media becomes state-run.
Fifth step: show this enemy in actions that seem strange, militant, or different.
Always portray the enemy as non-human, evil, a killing machine.
[Chorus:]
THIS IS HOW TO CREATE AN ENEMY. THIS IS HOW TO START A WAR.
THIS IS HOW TO CREATE AN ENEMY.
Sixth step: Eliminate opposition to the ruling party.
Create an "Us versus Them" mentality. Leave no room for opinions in between.
One that does not support all actions of the ruling party should be considered a traitor.
Seventh step: Use nationalistic and/or religious symbols and rhetoric to define all actions.
This can be achieved by slogans such as "freedom loving people versus those who hate freedom."
This can also be achieved by the use of flags.
Eighth step: Align all actions with the dominant deity.
It is very effective to use terms like, "It is god's will" or "god bless our nation."
Ninth step: Design propaganda to show that your soldiers
have feelings, hopes, families, and loved ones.
Make it clear that your soldiers are doing a duty; they do not want or like to kill.
Tenth step: Create and atmosphere of fear, and instability
and then offer the ruling party as the only solutions to comfort the public's fears.
Remembering the fear of the unknown is always the strongest fear.
[Chorus (repeat)]
We are not countries. We are not nations. We are not religions.
We are not gods. We are not weapons. We are not ammunition. We are not killers.
We will NOT be tools.
............
I will not die
I will not kill
I will not be your slave
I will not fight your battle
I will not die on your battlefield
I will not fight for your wealth
I am not a fighter
I am a human being!!!
-Anti-Flag Anatomy of your enemy(slightly edited)
Listen closely because we will all see this weapon used in our lives.
It can be used on a society of the most ignorant to the most highly educated.
We need to see their tactics as a weapon against humanity and not as truth.
First step: create the enemy. Sometimes this will be done for you.
Second step: be sure the enemy you have chosen is nothing like you.
Find obvious differences like race, language, religion, dietary habits
fashion. Emphasize that their soldiers are not doing a job,
they are heartless murderers who enjoy killing!
Third step: Once these differences are established continue to reinforce them
with all disseminated information.
Fourth step: Have the media broadcast only the ruling party's information
this can be done through state run media.
Remember, in times of conflict all for-profit media repeats the ruling party's information.
Therefore all for-profit media becomes state-run.
Fifth step: show this enemy in actions that seem strange, militant, or different.
Always portray the enemy as non-human, evil, a killing machine.
[Chorus:]
THIS IS HOW TO CREATE AN ENEMY. THIS IS HOW TO START A WAR.
THIS IS HOW TO CREATE AN ENEMY.
Sixth step: Eliminate opposition to the ruling party.
Create an "Us versus Them" mentality. Leave no room for opinions in between.
One that does not support all actions of the ruling party should be considered a traitor.
Seventh step: Use nationalistic and/or religious symbols and rhetoric to define all actions.
This can be achieved by slogans such as "freedom loving people versus those who hate freedom."
This can also be achieved by the use of flags.
Eighth step: Align all actions with the dominant deity.
It is very effective to use terms like, "It is god's will" or "god bless our nation."
Ninth step: Design propaganda to show that your soldiers
have feelings, hopes, families, and loved ones.
Make it clear that your soldiers are doing a duty; they do not want or like to kill.
Tenth step: Create and atmosphere of fear, and instability
and then offer the ruling party as the only solutions to comfort the public's fears.
Remembering the fear of the unknown is always the strongest fear.
[Chorus (repeat)]
We are not countries. We are not nations. We are not religions.
We are not gods. We are not weapons. We are not ammunition. We are not killers.
We will NOT be tools.
............
I will not die
I will not kill
I will not be your slave
I will not fight your battle
I will not die on your battlefield
I will not fight for your wealth
I am not a fighter
I am a human being!!!
-Anti-Flag Anatomy of your enemy(slightly edited)
Saturday, November 8, 2008
Friday, November 7, 2008
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Sunday, November 2, 2008
Chosen silence
Henry David Thoreau once said, which I have always loved,: "The mass of men live lives of quiet desperation." Signifying mankinds dead faith due to their fears. They want better, they dream of better, and yet they don't do better. They fear the better because it is new. Change, in reality, is what they fear. They get comfortable in their current life and circumstances. It has become easy for them. Almost no work is required for them. A step forward would be a step towards change. Circumstances with change, new challenges would arise, unseen consequences would present themselves. "Why deal with such things, when I am so comfortable now?," says they. Who said that comfort was the object of life? And how long will that comfort last when the only consistent thing in this life is change? Those who delay change place themselves behind the rest of the world on the chain of life. And when some small thing happens to our world, it is those who are at the end who receive the hardest shock. Those who quietly and consistently move forward, in the correct direction, are like those in the front of the chain. The whip does not hurt them, they are used to change. They have been working to get to that point, that is where they wanted to be. And thus, living lives of "quiet desperation" is harder than living a hard, challenging life. The only thing harder than quietly living, is when we are called on to be desperate. All with sufficient faith desire to move forward and diligently do. They desperately try to work for and desire the things that the Lord wants for them. They seek after his will and desire to do it. God wants no man to live in fear of the future or that from his past. God wants no man to stop in his progression towards worthy and holy goals. That path, however, is unknown to most of us. Rarely are we given the path to take as much as we are given the assurance to take the next step forward. But when a change comes along in that path, more often than we would probably like, we are called on to stop. We are called on to willingly stop ourselves in our progression. The reason is rarely given. This creates a sense of desperation from our lifeless progression that we once had. It causes us to ask questions. The type of questions we ask determine our character. Those who lack sufficient faith in their God, murmur, and murmur as to why God would take them out of their comfortableness. As Neal A. Maxwell once said, "Like goldfish in a bowl, some are mindless of who changes the water and puts in the pellets, or, like a kindergarten child whose retrieving parent seems a little late, concluding, 'Man is alone in the universe.'" Those of us who weren't that comfortable anyways, welcome the change and understand our feelings of desperation. But, in response, we choose to quietly serve our time in desperation. We do so with the understanding that God loves us and wants us to learn and grow. More often than not, we are stopped because a new path must present itself. We don't choose which path is presented to us, we only choose if we will walk that path or to walk another and think silently back to what "might have been." Often, time is required for the path to be prepared. Sometimes, we might come to find that the new path is the same path as before, that it is not the path that has changed, it is us. We may be more appreciative of the path, or grown in some other way in our silent, but educating down time. Desperation is not an ungodly quality. Think of how many people there are in this world who care not to speak to their loving Heavenly Father, or to do the things that will make them happy. How desperate do you think God is to get His children to walk forward on the paths that he spent so much time preparing for them? How desperate do you think He is to get His children to walk away from their comfort and use the talents that He gave them? How Desperate do you think He is for you to reach that point were he can present change in your life, so that the unavoidable change doesn't give you whiplash at the bottom of the chain. It is not bad to feel desperate, only when it comes in response to the question of "what might have been?" And when we are called upon to be desperate, it is those that are quiet that I admire. They reflect to me better faith and better understanding than anyone who finds there way out of any desperate situation into situations of comfortableness. Henry David Thoreau spent much time out of his comfort zone and what he called an "experiment." He spoke of working towards our dreams. I will add an opinion of what he meant by "dreams." God wants you to be successful, God wants you to make a difference in this world. You were not born to be mediocre. Light does not shine at the bottom of the chain, it shines at the top. Those who make the most difference in this world are those who are the most uncomfortable, and quietly await with the excitement, or perhaps desperation, for their next uncomfortable adventure.
"I learned this, at least, by my experiment; that if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours. He will put some things behind, will pass an invisible boundary; new, universal, and more liberal laws will begin to establish themselves around and within him; or the old laws be expanded, and interpreted in his favor in a more liberal sense, and he will live with the license of a higher order of beings. In proportion as he simplifies his life, the laws of the universe will appear less complex, and solitude will not be solitude, nor poverty poverty, nor weakness weakness.
If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them."
-Henry David Thoreau "Walden" chapter 18
"The mass of men live lives of quiet desperation." And of later he said, "and go to the grave with the song still in them."
If we pursue the Lord's will with patience, although there may be times when we were both quiet and desperate, and will probably still go to the grave with a song still in us, we will go having sung many songs in this world. And been desperately trying to perfect this new one.
"I learned this, at least, by my experiment; that if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours. He will put some things behind, will pass an invisible boundary; new, universal, and more liberal laws will begin to establish themselves around and within him; or the old laws be expanded, and interpreted in his favor in a more liberal sense, and he will live with the license of a higher order of beings. In proportion as he simplifies his life, the laws of the universe will appear less complex, and solitude will not be solitude, nor poverty poverty, nor weakness weakness.
If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them."
-Henry David Thoreau "Walden" chapter 18
"The mass of men live lives of quiet desperation." And of later he said, "and go to the grave with the song still in them."
If we pursue the Lord's will with patience, although there may be times when we were both quiet and desperate, and will probably still go to the grave with a song still in us, we will go having sung many songs in this world. And been desperately trying to perfect this new one.
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Doty the Fox
Here I shall make a list of all of the reasons why I should be "Doty the Fox" and not "Doty Bear"
1. Look at me
2. I'm not big enough to be a bear
3. I can't cuddle, no one has ever cuddled with me
4. I'm sly like a fox
5. I hate the cold, bears are always up in the mountains with the cold
6. I could never sleep as long as bears do.
7. Foxes are carnivores, I am a carnivore
8. Bears play in the river and eat fish, I can't stand the smell of fish
9. Are you calling me fat?
10. The Modern English "fox" is derived from Old English fox. The Old English word itself comes from the Proto-Germanic word fukh – compare German Fuchs, Gothic fauho, Old Norse foa and Dutch vos. It corresponds to the Proto-Indo-European word puk- meaning "tail" (compare Sanskrit puccha, also "tail"). The bushy tail is also the source of the word for fox in Welsh: llwynog, from llwyn, "bush, grove" therefore often assumed that it means 'fox', although this meaning was known to be the compiler of the Peniarth Glosses Lithuanian: uodegis, from uodega, "tail", and Portuguese: raposa, from rabo, "tail"
so there!
Now you got me wasting time as well
1. Look at me
2. I'm not big enough to be a bear
3. I can't cuddle, no one has ever cuddled with me
4. I'm sly like a fox
5. I hate the cold, bears are always up in the mountains with the cold
6. I could never sleep as long as bears do.
7. Foxes are carnivores, I am a carnivore
8. Bears play in the river and eat fish, I can't stand the smell of fish
9. Are you calling me fat?
10. The Modern English "fox" is derived from Old English fox. The Old English word itself comes from the Proto-Germanic word fukh – compare German Fuchs, Gothic fauho, Old Norse foa and Dutch vos. It corresponds to the Proto-Indo-European word puk- meaning "tail" (compare Sanskrit puccha, also "tail"). The bushy tail is also the source of the word for fox in Welsh: llwynog, from llwyn, "bush, grove" therefore often assumed that it means 'fox', although this meaning was known to be the compiler of the Peniarth Glosses Lithuanian: uodegis, from uodega, "tail", and Portuguese: raposa, from rabo, "tail"
so there!
Now you got me wasting time as well
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
The Hellbound Train
A Texas cowboy lay down on a barroom floor, having drunk so much he could drink no more
So he fell asleep with a troubled brain, to dream that he rode on a hell-bound train.
The engine with murderous blood was damp, and was brilliantly lit with a brimstone lamp;
An imp, for fuel, was shoveling bones, while the furnace rang with a thousand groans.
The boiler was filled with lager beer, and the devil himself was the engineer;
The passengers were a most motley crew -- Church member, atheist, Gentile and Jew,
Rich men in broadcloth, beggars in rags, handsome young ladies, and withered old bags,
Yellow and black men, red, brown and white, all chained together -- Oh God, what a sight!
While the train rushed on at an awful pace -- the sulfurous fumes scorched their hands and face;
Wider and wider the country grew, as faster and faster the engine flew.
Louder and louder the thunder crashed and brighter and brighter the lightning flashed;
Hotter and hotter the air became, till the clothes were burned from each quivering frame.
And out of the distance there arose a yell, "Ha, ha," said the devil, "we're nearing hell!"
Then oh, how the passengers all shrieked with pain, and begged the devil to stop the train.
But he capered about and danced for glee, and laughed and joked at their misery.
"My faithful friends, you have done the work, and the devil never can a payday shirk.
"You've bullied the weak, you've robbed the poor, the starving brother you've turned from thedoor;
You've laid up gold where canker rust, and have given free vent to your beastly lust.
"You've justice scorned, and corruption sown, and trampled the laws of nature down.
You have drunk, rioted, cheated, plundered, and lied, and mocked at God in your hell-born pride.
"You've paid full fare, so I'll carry you through, for it's only right you should have your due.
Why, the laborer always expects his hire, so I'll land you save in the lake of fire,
"Where your flesh will waste in the flames that roar, and my imps torment you forevermore."
Then the cowboy awoke with an anguished cry, his clothes wet with sweat and his hair standing high.
Then he prayed as he never had prayed till hour, to be saved from his sin and the demon's power;
and his prayers and his vows were not in vain, for he never rode the hell-bound train.
-unsure
So he fell asleep with a troubled brain, to dream that he rode on a hell-bound train.
The engine with murderous blood was damp, and was brilliantly lit with a brimstone lamp;
An imp, for fuel, was shoveling bones, while the furnace rang with a thousand groans.
The boiler was filled with lager beer, and the devil himself was the engineer;
The passengers were a most motley crew -- Church member, atheist, Gentile and Jew,
Rich men in broadcloth, beggars in rags, handsome young ladies, and withered old bags,
Yellow and black men, red, brown and white, all chained together -- Oh God, what a sight!
While the train rushed on at an awful pace -- the sulfurous fumes scorched their hands and face;
Wider and wider the country grew, as faster and faster the engine flew.
Louder and louder the thunder crashed and brighter and brighter the lightning flashed;
Hotter and hotter the air became, till the clothes were burned from each quivering frame.
And out of the distance there arose a yell, "Ha, ha," said the devil, "we're nearing hell!"
Then oh, how the passengers all shrieked with pain, and begged the devil to stop the train.
But he capered about and danced for glee, and laughed and joked at their misery.
"My faithful friends, you have done the work, and the devil never can a payday shirk.
"You've bullied the weak, you've robbed the poor, the starving brother you've turned from thedoor;
You've laid up gold where canker rust, and have given free vent to your beastly lust.
"You've justice scorned, and corruption sown, and trampled the laws of nature down.
You have drunk, rioted, cheated, plundered, and lied, and mocked at God in your hell-born pride.
"You've paid full fare, so I'll carry you through, for it's only right you should have your due.
Why, the laborer always expects his hire, so I'll land you save in the lake of fire,
"Where your flesh will waste in the flames that roar, and my imps torment you forevermore."
Then the cowboy awoke with an anguished cry, his clothes wet with sweat and his hair standing high.
Then he prayed as he never had prayed till hour, to be saved from his sin and the demon's power;
and his prayers and his vows were not in vain, for he never rode the hell-bound train.
-unsure
Monday, October 27, 2008
Surely what a man does when he is taken off his guard is the best evidence for what sort of a man he is? Surely what pops out before the man has time to put on a disguise is the truth? If there are rats in a cellar you are most likely to see them if you go in very suddenly. But the suddenness does not create the rats: it only prevents them from hiding. In the same way the suddenness of the provocation does not make me an ill-tempered man; it only shows me what an ill-tempered man I am. The rats are always there in the cellar, but if you go in shouting and noisily they will have taken cover before you switch on the light.
-C.S. Lewis
-C.S. Lewis
Monday, October 20, 2008
Quote for the day
Everyone is a prisoner of his own experiences. No one can eliminate prejudices - just recognize them
-Edward R. Murrow
-Edward R. Murrow
Friday, October 17, 2008
Quote for the day
"So if various trials are allotted to you, partake of life's bitter cups, but without becoming bitter."
- Elder Neal A. Maxwell
of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
- Elder Neal A. Maxwell
of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
Thursday, October 9, 2008
Monday, October 6, 2008
"It is in the light of these overwhelming possibilities, it is with awe and the circumspection proper to them, that we should conduct all our dealings with one another, all friendships, all loves, all play, all politics.
There are no ordinary people.
You have never talked to a mere mortal. Nations, cultures, arts, civilizations- these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat. But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub, and exploit."
- C. S. Lewis
........It is a profound thought....
What to you cleave to?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
