Thursday, January 22, 2009

All of us are born Liberals. We come into the world wanting our Mothers to provide milk on demand. We expect to be provided warmth when we're cold, coolness when we're hot, clothes to wear and a roof over our head. We expect to poop anytime we want to and someone will clean up our mess. And then some of us grow up and become Republicans. PENNY LANE
Copyright by John T. Reed
Below is quote without comment by me (John T. Reed)

Editorial from the London Daily Mail
OBAMA'S VICTORY
A victory for the hysterical Oprah Winfrey, the mad racist preacher Jeremiah Wright, the mainstream media who abandoned any sense of objectivity long ago, Europeans who despise America largely because they depend on her, comics who claim to be dangerous and fearless but would not dare attack genuinely powerful special interest groups. A victory for Obama-worshippers everywhere. A victory for the cult of the cult. A man who has done little with his life but has written about his achievements as if he had found the cure for cancer in between winning a marathon and building a nuclear reactor with his teeth. Victory for style over substance, hyperbole over history, rabble-raising over reality. A victory for Hollywood, the most dysfunctional community in the world. Victory for Streisand, Spielberg, Soros and Sarandon. Victory for those who prefer welfare to will and interference to independence. For those who settle for group think and herd mentality rather than those who fight for individual initiative and the right to be out of step with meagre political fashion. Victory for a man who is no friend of freedom. He and his people have already stated that media has to be controlled so as to be balanced, without realizing the extraordinary irony within that statement. Like most liberal zealots, the Obama worshippers constantly speak of Fox and Limbaugh, when the vast bulk of television stations and newspapers are drastically liberal and anti-conservative. Senior Democrat Chuck Schumer said that just as pornography should be censored, so should talk radio. In other words, one of the few free and open means of popular expression may well be cornered and beaten by bullies who even in triumph cannot tolerate any criticism and opposition. A victory for those who believe the state is better qualified to raise children than the family, for those who prefer teachers' unions to teaching and for those who are naively convinced that if the West is sufficiently weak towards its enemies, war and terror will dissolve as quickly as the tears on the face of a leftist celebrity. A victory for social democracy even after most of Europe has come to the painful conclusion that social democracy leads to mediocrity, failure, unemployment, inflation, higher taxes and economic stagnation. A victory for intrusive lawyers, banal sentimentalists, social extremists and urban snobs.

Saturday, January 17, 2009

HALLELUJAH
I never watched American Idol because I am just not into reality television. However, I must confess I have recently gone to YOU-TUBE and have been quite enthralled with the young singer from the Dallas metroplex (Rockwall) named Jason Castro. His voice is classically pure and mellow, but capable of resonance when necessary. He is young, but with the right material, he will wildly succeed in the music world. I am equally impressed with his Christian testimony. Very rare for young people today. Go to the "I Am Second" website and be prepared to be awed..... by the music and his testimony.
Which brings me to the reason for this post. Jason sang a song on Idol called Hallelujah. The song was written by Leonard Cohen, but he is no singer as far as I'm concerned. Listen to the full version by the late Jeff Buckley (died in '97) and then listen to the shortened version by Jason Castro. I am looking forward to hearing him perform the full version.
(Jeff Buckley)
(Jason Castro)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z2nRxKC-OyAhave just discovered this fabulous song and wanted to share! It's rare today for me hear a "new" song that so totally moves me. Of all the things I can think of doing in this world, if I could do anything at all, it would be to write great songs......ones that people would remember all their lives. Hallelujah!
P.S. Just found my favorite version so far. Listen to this. Wow!

Monday, January 12, 2009

"You cannot legislate the poor into freedom by legislating the wealthy out of freedom. What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving. The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else. When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them, and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for, that my dear friend, is about the end of any nation. You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it."

~~~~~ The late Dr. Adrian Rogers, 1931 - 2005 ~~~~~

(three-time past president of the Southern Baptist Convention)

Sunday, January 11, 2009

WHAT WILL MATTER
by Michael Josephson


Ready or not, some day it will all come to an end. There will be no more sunrises, no minutes, hours or days. All the things you collected, whether treasured or forgotten will pass to someone else. Your wealth, fame and temporal power will shrivel to irrelevance. It will not matter what you owned or what you were owed. Your grudges, resentments, frustrations and jealousies will finally disappear. So too, your hopes, ambitions, plans and to-do lists will expire. The wins and losses that once seemed so important will fade away. It won't matter where you came from or what side of the tracks you lived on at the end. It won't matter whether you were beautiful or brilliant. Even your gender and skin color will be irrelevant.

So what will matter? How will the value of your days be measured?

What will matter is not what you bought but what you built, not what you got but what you gave.
What will matter is not your success but your significance.
What will matter is not what you learned but what you taught.
What will matter is every act of integrity, compassion, courage, or sacrifice that enriched, empowered or encouraged others to emulate your example.
What will matter is not your competence but your character.
What will matter is not how many people you knew, but how many will feel a lasting loss when your gone.
What will matter is not your memories but the memories that live in those who loved you.
What will matter is how long you will be remembered, by whom and for what.

Living a life that matters doesn't happen by accident.
It's not a matter of circumstance but of choice.
Choose to live a life that matters.