October 31, 2013

Mel Brooks Presents: Young Frankenstein




I'm enjoying movie FRIGHT night on this Hallow's Eve! It's time for me to get the popcorn ready, order my pizza and turn off the lights. I always have to set the stage for a goosebump, hair-raising, spine-tingling night of HORROR movies! Bwahahahaha... Ahem. Nevertheless, this Mel Brooks classic has always been a permanent fixture on my Halloween movie list. I always have to throw in a little bit of humor. See you later, alligators! :D ♥
 
Bwahahahahahaha...
laugh photo: kitty evil laugh kittyevillaugh.gif

A Little Halloween History

[source: wikipedia]

Halloween or Hallowe’en (a contraction of All Hallows’ Evening) is an annual holiday observed around the world on October 31, the night preceding All Hallows Day. Much like Day of the Dead celebrations, the holiday has ancient origins tied to seasonal change, harvest time, and festivals honoring the dead. Typical Halloween activities include trick-or-treating (also known as "guising"), attending costume parties, carving jack-o'-lanterns, lighting bonfires, apple bobbing, visiting haunted attractions, playing pranks, telling scary stories, and watching horror films.

Pre-Christian influences

Historian Nicholas Rogers, exploring the origins of Halloween, notes that while "some folklorists have detected its origins in the Roman feast of Pomona, the goddess of fruits and seeds, or in the festival of the dead called Parentalia, it is more typically linked to the Celtic festival of Samhain (pronounced sow-an or sow-in)", derived from the Old Irish Samuin meaning "summer's end". Samhain was the first and by far the most important of the four quarter days in the medieval Irish and Scottish calendar and, falling on the last day of Autumn, it was a time for stock-taking and preparation for the cold winter months ahead. There was also a sense that this was the time of year when the physical and supernatural worlds were closest and magical things could happen. To ward off these spirits, the Gaels built huge, symbolically regenerative bonfires and invoked the help of the gods through animal and perhaps even human sacrifice.

Christian influences

Halloween is also thought to have been heavily influenced by the Christian holy days of All Saints' Day (also known as Hallowmas, All Hallows, and Hallowtide) and All Souls' Day. Falling on November 1st and 2nd respectively, collectively they were a time for honoring the Saints and praying for the recently departed who had yet to reach heaven. By the end of the 12th century they had become days of holy obligation across Europe and involved such traditions as ringing bells for the souls in purgatory and "souling", the custom of baking bread or soul cakes for "all crysten [christened] souls". It was traditionally believed that the souls of the departed wandered the earth until All Saints Day, and All Hallow's Eve provided one last chance for the dead to gain vengeance on their enemies before moving onto the next world. To avoid being recognised by a soul, Christians would wear masques and costumes to disguise themselves, following the lighted candles set by others to guide their travel for worship the next day. Today, this practice has been perpetuated through trick-or-treating.

In Britain the rituals of Hallowtide and Halloween came under attack during the Reformation as Protestants denounced purgatory as a "popish" doctrine incompatible with the notion of predestination. In addition the increasing popularity of Guy Fawkes Night from 1605 on saw Halloween become eclipsed in Britain with the notable exception of Scotland. There and in Ireland, they had been celebrating Samhain and Halloween since the early Middle Ages, and it is believed the Kirk took a more pragmatic approach towards Halloween, viewing it as important to the life cycle and rites of passage of local communities and thus ensuring its survival in the country.

North American almanacs of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century give no indication that Halloween was recognized as a holiday. The Puritans of New England, for example, maintained strong opposition to the holiday and it was not until the mass Irish and Scottish immigration during the 19th century that the holiday was introduced to the continent in earnest. Initially confined to the immigrant communities during the mid-nineteenth century, it was gradually assimilated into mainstream society and by the first decade of the twentieth century it was being celebrated coast to coast by people of all social, racial and religious backgrounds.

Etymology

The word Halloween is first attested in the 16th century and represents a Scottish variant of the fuller All-Hallows-Even ("evening"), that is, the night before All Hallows Day. Although the phrase All Hallows is found in Old English (ealra hฤlgena mรฆssedรฆg, mass-day of all saints), All-Hallows-Even is itself not attested until 1556.

The Hellbound Train

The Hellbound Train
poem written by Anonymous

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 broad cloth, beggars in rags,
Handsome young ladies, and withered old hags,
Yellow and black men, red, brown, and white,
All chained together-O God, what a sight!

While the train rushed on at an awful pace-
The sulphurous 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 the door;
You've laid up gold where the 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 have 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 safe 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 that 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.

Do Not Whisper To The Wind ~ by Rayne Avalotus

A poem/song often told to small children by the superstitous. Though this piece is often heard most often in human Santharian villages, it is believed to have originated from stories of the Forbidden Zone in Northern Sarvonia and dark places like the Water Marshes.

Do Not Whisper To The Wind
by Rayne Avalotus

Do not whisper to the wind,
For wind winds far and deep,
Deep down into the shadow land
Where evil creatures sleep.
The echo of thy uttered word
Can wake them, make them creep!

Do not whisper to the wind,
For seething monsters hear;
The winds will carry monologues
To meet their careful ears,
And they will rise up from their tombs
To plague the world with fear.

Do not whisper to the wind
For demons know, they say,
Where rests thy sleepy, pretty head
When darkness swallows day,
And in the night they’ll come on thee
And steal thy soul away!

Do not whisper to the wind,
For evil’s waiting there
With anxious claws and open ears
Just listening to the air.
And waiting for a foolish child
To whisper unaware.

Do not whisper to the wind,
For beasts come leather skinned
With eyes aglow in sickly hue
And figures tall and thinned.
Thou may not, shall not, cannot
Ever whisper to the wind!

Classic Cartoon The Groovie Goolies Show! This Is One Of My All-Time Favorite Childhood Cartoons Enjoy! HAPPY HALLOWEEN HAVE FUN, BE SAFE!



"T'WAS HALLOWEEN NIGHT "

"T'WAS HALLOWEEN NIGHT "
Written by Dolores Faye Thorn

T'was Halloween night and all through the house
Creatures were stirring, bugs, cats, and a mouse
The pumpkins were carved into faces with care
In hopes that a candle would soon be placed there
With ma in her apron fixing platters of sweets
We'd settled our brains for a long night of treats
When out on the lawn there arose such a roar
I sprang to my feet and ran to the door
And what to my wandering eyes should appear
But a red deviled monster with a big yellow spear
Like a bat from a cave I ran - still he came
I thought I'd escaped but he called out my name
Mr. Thorn - Mr. Thorn - please don't be afraid
It's me, little Jimmy in this masquerade
The moon on the lawn glowed a bright orange cast
And I thought I saw witches on brooms flying past
White sheet like things floated, they looked just like ghosts
But the skeleton with bones clacking, it scared me the most
Someone looked like a vampire his face a ghastly pale hue
I finally realized it was Harry all covered with glue
That kid like a spider so lively and quick
I knew in a moment it was my neighbor's son Nick
One sweet little princess, so lovely was she -
Whatever was she doing in this strange company?
When all of the goblins pulled mask from there head
I knew that this night there was nothing to dread
Then this strange purple monster greeted me
and I said, "Who are you?"
He gave me no answer just hollered Boooooooooo….
And putting a finger aside one large eye
He got in his space ship and flew to the sky
I knew I had never seen anything like that before
I watched him in wonder quickly shutting my door
But I heard him exclaim ere he flew out of sight
Happy Halloween to all - and have a real spooky night!

Cute Halloween Jokes ;)

Ghost Ghosts Haunted House smiley smilie smileys smilies icon icons emoticon emoticons animated animation animations gif gifs Happy Halloween Pictures, Images and Photos

Q. What do you call a witch who lives at the beach?
A. A sand-witch.

Q. Where does a ghost go on Saturday night?
A. Anywhere where he can boo-gie.

Q. What did the skeleton say to the vampire?
A. You suck.

Q. Why did the ghost go into the bar?
A. For the Boos.

Q. What happens when a ghost gets lost in the fog?
A. He is mist.

Q. Why did the Vampire read the Wall Street Journal?
A. He heard it had great circulation.

Q. What are ghosts' favorite kind of streets?
A. Dead ends.

Q. What kind of makeup do ghosts wear?
A. Mas-scare-a.

Q. What happens when two vampires meet?
A. It was love at first bite!

Q. Why did the skeleton go disco dancing?
A. To see the boogy man.

Q: Why didn't the skeleton cross the road?
A: He had no guts.

Q. How did the ghost say goodbye to the vampire?
A. So long sucker!

Q. Where do vampires keep their money?
A: The blood bank!!!

Q. Why does a cemetery have to keep a fence around it?
A. Because people are dying to get in.

Happy Halloween Everyone! I Hope You Have A SPOOKTACULAR Fun Halloween Night And Please Be Safe... What's Really Scary Is These Cartoons I've Used For The Past 4 Years, Still Apply TODAY!

NEW ONES ADDED BELOW

October 27, 2013

Everybody's FREE To Feel Good... ♥


To all of my wonderful readers, BALANCE is essential. I use music, cartoons, comedy, jokes, and feel good movies to stay centered. :) and yes I meditate too. Oh and sometimes when the world news gets too crazy out there, I'll take a brisk walk to get the yuckiness of this world out of my system. Garbage in and garbage out. You need to find your outlet to cleanse you and/or an outlet to release it. To give you a visual, it's kind of like walking in the eye of the storm. I use those outlets when I feel like I'm getting pulled into the chaos (storm) of this world. In this way, I can remain the observer and able to participate without it penetrating my spirit. I don't lose any sleep over this world's constant madness and neither should you. The chaos will continue to go on with or without our attention. It exist. But it's not healthy for humanity as a whole to pretend the madness and chaos doesn't exist. I keep people informed of it and I shine the light on it spiritually. Remember everyday is a brand NEW day, a fresh start to makes things right in our life and for this world. Darkness cannot exist where there is LIGHT! Let's keep shining together. LOVE YOU! ♥
Everybody's FREE ~ by Rozalla

Everybody's FREE to feel good
Everybody's FREE to feel good
Everybody's FREE

Brother and sister
Together we'll make it through
Some day a spirit will lift you and take you there
I know you've been hurting but I'll be there waiting to be there for you
And I'll be there just helping you out
Whenever I can

Cause...
Everybody's FREE to feel good
Everybody's FREE to feel good

We all are a family that should stand together as one
Helping each other instead of just wasting time
Now is the moment to reach out to someone
It's all up to you
When everyone's sharing their hope
That LOVE will break through

Everybody's FREE to feel good
Everybody's FREE to feel good
Everybody's FREE to feel good
Everybody's FREE to feel good

God Justifies The Ungodly... ♥ Great Message!

Today's Devotional, January 30
written by Pastor Joseph Prince
But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness, Romans 4:5
Boldness is what God wants you to have when you come to Him. He does not want you to be afraid to come to Him, feeling unworthy because of your sins. He wants you to come boldly to Him, knowing that the death, burial and resurrection of His Son Jesus Christ has justified you and qualified you to boldly receive from Him.

This was the kind of boldness that the woman with the issue of blood had when she touched Jesus. (Mark 5:25–34) Now, by touching Jesus, she knew that she was breaking a Levitical law which states that anyone with a bodily discharge is unclean, and should not appear in public, let alone touch another person. (Leviticus 15)

But she refused to feel condemned by the law. She believed what she had heard about Jesus, and was confident that there would only be love and compassion, not condemnation, from Him. She believed that Jesus would justify her and qualify her to receive the miracle she needed. That was why she boldly pressed her way into the crowd to touch Jesus, who indeed said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well.” (Mark 5:34)

What was it about her faith that made her well? Romans 4:5 talks about faith that believes God justifies the ungodly. When you believe that God justifies the ungodly, it will give you boldness to come to God, even when you feel unclean because you have just blown it.

When you fail, don’t run away from God. Run boldly to Him, knowing that you are justified by the blood of Christ and not by your good behavior.

The devil may say to you, “How can you do that? Who do you think you are?” Don’t listen to him. Pick yourself up and thank God for the blood and the gift of no condemnation. (Romans 8:1) If God justifies the ungodly, how much more you, His beloved child!

Thought For The Day:

You are justified by the blood of Christ and not by your good behavior.

God's Everlasting Mercy... ♥

God's Everlasting Mercy
written by by Henry Morris III

God's mercy is a monumental theme in Scripture, the English word appearing some 341 times in the Bible. The four Hebrew and three Greek words associated with this term appear a total of 454 times and are also translated as "kindness," "lovingkindness," "goodness," "favor," "compassion," and "pity." Of the sixty-six books of the Bible, only sixteen do not use one of these words for mercy. Even though "mercy" is an important concept, it is somewhat difficult to prescribe a definition, especially since "grace" is occasionally closely coupled with it.

However similar they may appear to be, these words are not synonyms. "Grace" is most often associated with the sovereign dispensing of totally undeserved favor, and is specifically connected to salvation. "Mercy" is more often connected to the withholding of judgment: "For he shall have judgment without mercy, that hath showed no mercy; and mercy rejoiceth against judgment" (James 2:13).

Psalm 136 repeats the theme "for His mercy endureth forever," each of the 26 verses listing incomparable aspects of God's kindness to us. As all of us begin the season of thanksgiving and celebration of God's bounty and provision (both physical and spiritual), join with me in refreshing our knowledge of His mercy.

God is good!

"It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness" (Lamentations 3:22-23).

"The Lord is good to all: and his tender mercies are over all his works" (Psalm 145:9).

"Delight thyself also in the Lord; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart" (Psalm 37:4).

God is above all and sovereign!

"Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity...because he delighteth in mercy.... He will have compassion upon us; he will subdue our iniquities; and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea" (Micah 7:18-19).

"The mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him, and his righteousness unto children's children" (Psalm 103:17).

Because He is the "King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God" (1 Timothy 1:17) and He is "the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords" (1 Timothy 6:15), we should therefore "give thanks to the Lord of lords: for his mercy endureth for ever" (Psalm 136:3).

God does great wonders!

The creation of the universe stands out among all of the religions of the world as unique to the God of the Bible. It distinguishes all of the principalities and powers of this universe from the One who created the heavens and the earth (1 Corinthians 8:5-6). We cannot even understand the triune nature of God apart from what He has revealed of Himself in the creation (Romans 1:20). The very gospel of God has its everlasting foundation in the creation (Revelation 14:6-7). God's "signature" is written throughout the universe, so much so that He used the evidence of His design and authority integrated into the ecosystems of the earth to prove His deity to His servant Job (Job 39-40). We do well to honor "him who alone doeth great wonders: for his mercy endureth for ever" (Psalm 136:4).

God is a great deliverer!

The exodus of the nation of Israel from Egypt still stands as one of the most intriguing and awe-inspiring events of history. Nothing in the annals of human events comes close to the intervention of the "I AM THAT I AM" in the affairs of nations. God came "down to deliver" (Exodus 3:8) and to display His "signs and wonders" (Exodus 7:3) "against all the gods of Egypt" (Exodus 12:12). Never before or since has God taken "him a nation from the midst of another nation, by temptations, by signs, and by wonders, and by war, and by a mighty hand, and by a stretched out arm, and by great terrors" (Deuteronomy 4:34).

In the context of New Testament Christianity, our God has delivered us from "the power of Satan" (Acts 26:18) and "darkness" (Colossians 1:13) into "his marvelous light" (1 Peter 2:9). We have been set free from "the law of sin" (Romans 8:2) and from "this present evil world" (Galatians 1:4) to the "glorious liberty of the children of God" (Romans 8:21). The same God who "overthrew Pharaoh" is the Savior who will "deliver the godly out of temptations" (2 Peter 2:9) and "from every evil work" (2 Timothy 4:18) and has "given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust" (2 Peter 1:4).

God is a great provider!

There are three specific examples given in Psalm 136 of God's sovereign provision. He protects and shelters during the "wilderness." He makes possible victories over great "enemies." And He gives "food to all flesh" The details of God's provision and the many examples in the Scripture are inexhaustible. Yet in these three areas, we find hope for any situation "in time of need" (Hebrews 4:16).

Were it not for the promises of deliverance from our enemies so replete throughout the Scriptures, were it not for the hope that we would see deliverance "in the land of the living" (Psalm 27:13), and were it not for the confident knowledge that "evildoers shall be cut off" (Psalm 37:9), we could be in constant fear and torment. God does promise to bring us victory! We are told that He will fight for us! We are not left to our own devices! Jesus said, "All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.... and lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world" (Matthew 28:18-20).

Finally, while we are never to take God's provision for granted--"give us this day our daily bread" (Matthew 6:11)--we need to be reminded that the mercy of God extends far beyond the care of His own. "He maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust" (Matthew 5:45). God is "the God of the whole earth" (Isaiah 54:5). We often get caught up in trying to make provisions for a "rainy day" in a future that is unknowable and unsecured, but God knows that we "have need of all these things" (Matthew 6:32). Whatever our circumstances may be, God knows, understands, and will make sure that "his mercy endureth for ever"

Heavenly Father, we would give Thee thanks and praise for Thy great mercies to us this day. We acknowledge that our words are not sufficient to honor Thy majesty or our minds capable of understanding how to express our thanks. Yet we would offer them to Thee as all that our heart, our soul, and our mind can speak. Please accept them as offerings of a sweet smell before Thy throne.

Daily Mantra: I Am A Child Of The Most High God. No Weapon Formed Against Me Shall Prosper! ♥

And know with confidence, what the devil (dark forces) meant for evil in your life, God will turn the situation around for your good. ♥ The dark forces will do everything in their power to try to steal your joy. You have to absolutely refuse to let the enemy steal your joy and put your trust in God. Surrender the situation over to God literally, visually hand it over to Him and let God handle your enemies. Meanwhile, you stay in good cheer knowing God is in control.
 
Daily Mantra until it seeps into your spirit, your consciousness:
 
I am a child of the most High God.
I am God's perfect creation.
No weapon formed against me shall prosper.
I am protected by the shed blood of Jesus Christ, my Lord and Savior.
What the devil meant for evil in my life, I know that God is going to turn the situation around for my good.
God said that I am the head and not the tail.
God said I am above and not beneath.
God said I am a victor and not a victim.
I can do ALL things through Jesus Christ who strengthens me.
He that is within me, is greater than he that is in the world.
I am more than a conqueror through Jesus Christ, my Lord and Savior.

The Next Time You Feel Like GOD Can't Use YOU, Just Remember... Now This Is A GREAT Message!!! LOVE IT! ♥

The next time you feel like GOD can't use YOU, just remember....
written by Elder S.D. Ashe

* Noah was a drunk * Abraham was too old * Isaac was a daydreamer * Jacob was a liar * Leah was ugly * Joseph was abused * Moses had a stuttering problem * Gideon was afraid * Sampson had long hair and was a womanizer * Rahab was a prostitute * Jeremiah and Timothy were too young * David had an affair and was a murderer * Elijah was suicidal * Isaiah preached naked * Jonah ran from God * Naomi was a widow * Job went bankrupt * John the Baptist ate bugs * Peter denied Christ * The Disciples fell asleep while praying * Martha worried about everything * The Samaritan woman was divorced, more than once * Zaccheus was too small * Paul was too religious * Timothy had an ulcer * Lazarus was dead!

Jesus does not pick the qualified;
He qualifies those He picks.

********************************************************

I'd like to share an exchange I had with a friend after I posted this message on Facebook. Perhaps some of you may be asking the same question.

Thomas: @Josette, I guess Noah had a platypus on the boat. So, why is that they are only in one area of the world?

Josette (Me): @Thomas, I don't know. Why don't you ask God and then let me know what you find out. ;)

Thomas: @Josette, Same thing with the whales and the dolphins? I just asking you Jo? Apparently you may have some inside information that I don't.

Josette: @Thomas, why would you say that "I may have some inside information that you don't?" I wasn't there. But like I said since it's important for you to have this question answered just ask God yourself.

Josette: @Thomas, while I was writing my last comment it came to me... Noah built the Ark because God warned of an imminent flood that would engulf the whole earth right? Well I guess it would be safe to say that ALL water creatures were SAFE and didn't need to be kept in Noah's Ark.

Thomas: @Josette, thank God you know that stuff!

We Can Learn A Thing Or Two From Noah's Ark!

Noah's Ark

1. Plan ahead. It wasn't raining when Noah built the ark.
2. Stay fit. When you're 600 years old, someone might ask you to do something REALLY big.
3. Don't listen to critics -- do what has to be done.
4. Build on high ground.
5. For safety's sake, travel in pairs.
6. Two heads are better than one.
7. Speed isn't always an advantage. The cheetahs were on board, but so were the snails.
8. If you can't fight or flee -- float!
9. Don't forget that we're all in the same boat.
10. Remember that the ark was built by amateurs and the Titanic was built by professionals.
11. Remember that the woodpeckers INSIDE are often a bigger threat than the storm outside.
12. Don't miss the boat.
13. No matter how bleak it looks, if God is with you, there's always a rainbow on the other side.

Humor: Noah In Modern Times :)

Noah In Modern Times

And the Lord spoke to Noah & said: "In six months I'm going to make it rain until the whole earth is covered with water & all the evil people are destroyed. But I want to save a few good people, and two of every kind of living thing on the planet. I am ordering you to build Me an Ark."

And in a flash of lightning he delivered the specifications for the Ark.

"OK," said Noah, trembling in fear and fumbling with the blueprints.

"Six months, and it starts to rain, "thundered the Lord. "You'd better have my Ark completed, or learn how to swim for a very long time."

And six months passed. The skies began to cloud up and rain began to fall. The Lord saw that Noah was sitting in his front yard, weeping. And there was no Ark.

"Noah," shouted the Lord, "where is my Ark?" A lighting bolt crashed to the ground next to Noah.

"Lord, please forgive me!" begged Noah. "I did my best. But there were big problems.

First I had to get a building permit for the Ark construction project, and your plans didn't meet code. So I had to hire an engineer to redraw the plans.

Then I got into a big fight over whether or not the Ark needed a fire sprinkler system.

My neighbors objected, claiming I was violating zoning by building the Ark in my front yard, so I had to get a variance from the city planning commission.

Then I had a big problem getting enough wood for the Ark because there was a ban on cutting trees to save the Spotted Owl. I had to convince U.S.Fish and Wildlife that I needed wood to save the owls. But they wouldn't let me catch any owls. So no owls.

Then the carpenters formed a union and went out on strike. I had to negotiate a settlement with the National Labor Relations Board before anyone would pick up a saw or hammer. Now we have 16 carpenters going on the boat and still no owls.

Then I started gathering up animals, and got sued by animal rights group. They objected to me taking only two of each kind.

Just when I got the suit dismissed, EPA notified me that I couldn't complete the Ark without filing an environmental impact statement on your proposed flood. They didn't take kindly to the idea that they had no jurisdiction over the conduct of a Supreme Being.

Then the Army Corps of Engineers wanted a map of the proposed new flood plain. I sent them a globe.

Right now I'm still trying to resolve a complaint from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission over how many Croatians I'm supposed to hire, the IRS has seized all my assets claiming I'm trying to avoid paying taxes by leaving the country, and I just got a notice from the state about owing some kind of use tax.

I really don't think I can finish your Ark for at least another five years," Noah wailed.

The sky began to clear. The sun began to shine. A rainbow arched across the sky.

Noah looked up and smiled. "You mean you're not going to destroy the earth?" Noah asked, hopefully.

"No," said the Lord sadly, "Government already has"

Freedom and Responsibility Philosophy

Freedom and Responsibility Philosophy

Philosophy

Human beings prosper through cooperation. Compulsion is not cooperation. People must be free to cooperate.

With freedom comes responsibility – to accept the consequences of our choices, and to respect and protect each others' freedom. Not everyone will respect that responsibility voluntarily. Freedom without mutual responsibility is the law of the jungle. The role of government is (with the minimum of coercion, intrusion and cost) to define and enforce the rules and responsibilities that maximize freedom and cooperation.
 
Much follows from this. It is just the start and basis of the philosophy. But already we have introduced some terms, like freedom, that mean different things to different people. We will expand on the philosophy through examination of the meanings of certain key terms.

Freedom

We believe that the freedom that the state should protect is the freedom from coercion by others, including the minimum of coercion by the state.

The coercive acts which it is appropriate for the state to carry out are those that are necessary in order to prevent the infringement of one person's freedom by another. This includes the raising of funds needed for the state to carry out its limited roles.

Freedom from obstacles and disadvantage

The limited role of the state in the promotion of freedom does not include trying to give people the means to do what they want. We must try to achieve our desires through our own efforts, and not through government redistribution. The government may provide a social safety net as a democratically-mandated means of providing the mutual, compassionate care for those in difficulty, which reflects our humanity, strengthens our society, and frees people to take the risks that are necessary for our economy to advance. But it must be a safety-net, not a ladder. For government to involve itself in moving some people up the ladder of prosperity is to reduce our individual responsibility and incentives for self-improvement.

Freedom from distress

The freedom which the state protects also does not include freedom from outrage, disgust or any other psychological response provoked by other peoples' acts. The state should be concerned only with infringement of our material freedom. The state cannot regulate our attitudes to other peoples' preferences and lifestyles. It is the responsibility of the individual to get along with other individuals, and accept their differences, so long as those differences do not result in material intrusion.

Freedom to create and compete

The freedom from coercion by others includes the freedom of individuals and organizations to compete freely in any market they choose to enter - the vital component of innovation and prosperity. That freedom requires strong protection of competitive markets, both from intrusion by the state (which always enjoys a dominant position by its very nature) and from abuse by dominant players of their monopolistic or oligopolistic positions. That protection should consist only of avoiding the creation of competitive privilege through government intervention, and preventing the attainment of dominant positions, or dismantling the dominant position if it is not prevented. It should not include regulating businesses' performance or trying to correct for natural competitive advantage or disadvantage.

Property

Property rights are key to freedom and responsibility. They define those things that individuals should be free to use as they see fit (barring infringements of other peoples' freedoms and property rights). They define those things whose use the owner must be responsible for. Property in this sense includes goods, services, money, land and labour - any entity that is owned. Property rights include full title and partial rights of use.

The uses to which individuals should be free to put their property include non-use and exchange.

Protection of property rights – the first duty of the state

The main responsibilities of a free state are to protect person, property and nation from coercion and involuntary appropriation by others. Other responsibilities, such as the protection of competition and provision of a social safety net flow from these basic responsibilities.

Taxation is appropriation of property

Protection of individual property rights includes minimizing the appropriations that the state must make to fund the services that it provides. It is no good knowing that the state has provided such good security that no one could steal your property, if the state deprives you of the use of that property through such heavy taxation that you must dispose of your property in order to pay the tax. All taxation is appropriation of property through coercion by the state, and should be kept to a minimum. The objective of government policy and fiscal management should be, in the long-term, to minimize the amount of tax needed and taken, not to maintain the tax-take at the maximum level at which economic growth can be maintained. People's property is not a cow to be milked by the state.

Nation

Nations are the divisions of human population into groupings with a broadly-shared cultural, historical, constitutional, and linguistic (but not political) background.

Democratic units

They provide a vital function in maximising the chance that a democratically-elected government will implement policies that will have the broad support (or at least acquiescence) of the population. Consequently, it is a mistake to try to subsume nations within supra-national organizations, where the commonality between the peoples represented is diminished, and any interventions by the organization must therefore represent an unsatisfactory compromise between the various cultures.

Differentiation and homogenization

Nations can learn most effectively from each other by pursuing the policies that reflect the preferences of the majority of their populace, and comparing the outcomes with the different policies and preferences of other nations. If they move towards a common view through this process of experimentation and education, then they may gradually cooperate more closely on a voluntary basis, perhaps eventually to the extent of uniting under one government. But the process must be voluntary and progressive. It must not be forced.

Wealth

Wealth is accumulated property. Individual net wealth is the property that an individual owns minus any debts that they owe. National wealth is the sum of the net wealth of all citizens and organizations.

Creating wealth is about finding ways to do more with less.

"Make-work" jobs destroy wealth

Creating inefficiencies to “create jobs” destroys wealth and ultimately destroys jobs.

You can create jobs by paying people to dig holes and fill them back in again, but when you finish digging the holes, you have nothing to show for the effort (no job and no asset), and a whole lot of wealth has been consumed in the meantime.

The only jobs that create wealth are the ones that satisfy a demand. The objective of employment is not to provide work but to provide products or services that people want and can afford.

Money supply and wealth

Money is not wealth. Money is a medium of exchange and a yardstick for valuation.

Monetary expansion (inflation) does not increase wealth. In the short term, it transfers wealth from most people and organizations to the beneficiaries of monetary expansion (government, big corporations, and their clients). In the long-term, it destroys wealth, through its inhibition and distortion of the market.

Mercantilism and protectionism

If money is not wealth, neither does it make us richer to try to bring as much money into the country and prevent as much of it from leaving. We all benefit from each country's comparative advantages through trade. We must buy other countries' products in order for them to have the money to buy our products, and vice versa. Barriers to trade impoverish us all.

Persistent trade imbalances are evidence of government intervention to prevent trade from achieving the natural, beneficial balance that must inevitably be restored. Such intervention is both harmful and pointless in the long-run.

Human wealth

There are many things in human experience that contribute to the quality of our existence, beyond those things that can be bought and sold. Like all experience and human valuation, they are psychological, subjective, mutable. Policy has no place in the purely personal.

The personal only becomes social when the individual experience involves others. Parties to an experience may agree voluntarily on their contributions, formally through markets or informally through friendship. Government has neither the right, nor better information, to justify intervention in voluntary cooperation, to try to improve the arrangements to increase the satisfaction of the participants.

Thus, despite the wide range of human wealth beyond economic wealth, human wealth is irrelevant to policy (other than as something that should not be diminished through intervention). Policy should only concern itself with that narrow band of human experience in which one person's act affects another materially and involuntarily.

Natural wealth

Something similar can be said for natural wealth. There is a difference between a natural resource in the ground, and a natural resource within someone's property, for which there is a demand that can be met economically. Only the latter can be considered as part of our wealth, and only where intervention is required to ensure that the extraction of this resource respects our property rights is this a matter for policy. This subset of natural wealth is also a subset of property, and needs no separate consideration from the broader consideration of property rights.

Creating the conditions for the creation of wealth

Our institutional framework for the protection of property rights is vital to the creation and preservation of wealth, but is not a part of wealth. We cannot regard the rule of law as the property of anyone or anything, and yet it is vital to our prosperity. The value of the important things provided by government cannot be measured by cost-benefit analysis. Governments should concern themselves not with the direct creation of wealth, but with the indirect creation of the conditions that enable people to create wealth. Wealth is created, not by someone at the top of the hierarchy deciding what is best for everyone below them, but by freeing everyone to pursue their own objectives within the constraint of respect for others.

Wealth as factor of wealth-creation

Individual and national wealth are important factors in the creation of more wealth. Wealth provides the security that allows people to take the risks necessary for innovation and economic progress. Wealth provides the resources (capital) to invest in new processes that create more wealth.

It is true that it is easier to create wealth if you have wealth. But it does not follow from this, as the Marxist fallacy would have it, that inevitably the rich get richer and the poor are left behind. Many a spoilt, rich kid has demonstrated that a fool can lose their wealth to others as easily as a wise man can increase his wealth. And without the wealth of others, from where would the impoverished entrepreneur borrow the money that enabled him to satisfy his customer's wants, and increase his personal and the national wealth?

Appropriation and redistribution of wealth is the surest way to destroy wealth. It is as much in the interests of the poor as the rich to protect wealth, to provide the conditions for the further creation of wealth.

Wealth as incentive

One of the most powerful motivating forces is the human desire to improve the quality of life and security of oneself and one's loved ones. If the proceeds of one's efforts and skills could not be translated into wealth held securely without fear of appropriation, one of the main motivating forces to the expenditure of that effort and skill would be lost. It may seem unfair that people can enjoy an advantage in life, unrelated to their abilities, through inheritance or bequest, but the consequence of trying to eliminate this advantage is to eliminate one of the main motivating factors for our wealth-creators. Not only their beneficiaries, but everyone would suffer from the dilution of the incentive to create and preserve wealth.

Capital

Capital is that part of our wealth that is employed in the production of goods. The definition of certain types of wealth, measured in monetary terms, as capital is merely an accounting convention, for the purposes of economic calculation.

Capital has no inate properties. It is not a different type of thing to other types of good or wealth. Something is capital simply by virtue of being defined as capital.

The role of capital in the calculation of economic progress

Capital is depleted in production, whether as an input to the process, or through wear-and-tear. If the value of the production output is not sufficient to replace and repair the capital as it is used, we are consuming our capital and reducing our wealth. If the value of the production output is more than sufficient to replace and repair the capital as it is used, the excess income can be spent, saved or invested. Some of it will contribute to public expenditure through taxation. If the market is competitive, a sufficient excess will result in a reduction in costs to consumers. Whichever, we have increased our wealth.

Capital must have a monetary value

Capital that cannot, objectively and to a reasonable degree of accuracy, be quantified in monetary terms is meaningless. The point of capital is to assist in economic calculation.

Capital requires property rights

As the purpose of capital is for use in production of goods, the person employing the capital must have the right to use it - must have property rights in it. It is nonsensical to speak of investment in capital, if the investment does not give the investor the necessary property rights in that capital.

The Seven Heavenly Virtues! Re-post from 4/09/09

Wow, I was led to this pretty awesome informational website titled, DeadlySins! I have taken the following from their website to share with you. Please click HERE to visit their website.

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The Seven Deadly Sins are those transgressions which are fatal to spiritual progress. You probably commit some of them everyday without thinking about the rich tradition of eternal damnation in which you're participating. Welcome to your source for history and current information on the Seven Deadly Sins and the Seven Heavenly Virtues.

Contrary, Heavenly, and Cardinal Virtues

In this world of iniquity, there a few gleams of hope in the mire of our shameful indulgences. Various formulations of Virtue have been proposed over the ages.

The Cardinal Virtues:
prudence, temperance, courage, justice

Classical Greek philosophers considered the foremost virtues to be prudence, temperance, courage, and justice. Early Christian Church theologians adopted these virtues and considered them to be equally important to all people, whether they were Christian or not.

The Theological Virtues:
love, hope, faith

St. Paul defined the three chief virtues as love, which was the essential nature of God, hope, and faith. Christian Church authorities called them the three theological virtues because they believed the virtues were not natural to man in his fallen state, but were conferred at Baptism.

The Seven Contrary Virtues:
humility, kindness, abstinence, chastity, patience, liberality, diligence

The Contrary Virtues were derived from the Psychomachia ("Battle for the Soul"), an epic poem written by Prudentius (c. 410). Practicing these virtues is alledged to protect one against temptation toward the Seven Deadly Sins: humility against pride, kindness against envy, abstinence against gluttony, chastity against lust, patience against anger, liberality against greed, and diligence against sloth.

The Seven Heavenly Virtues:
faith, hope, charity, fortitude, justice, temperance, prudence

The Heavenly Virtues combine the four Cardinal Virtues: prudence, temperance, fortitude -- or courage, and justice, with a variation of the theological virtues: faith, hope, and charity. I'm still researching the origins and popular usage of this formulation.

The Seven Corporal Works of Mercy

Continuing the numerological mysticism of Seven, the Christian Church assembled a list of seven good works that was included in medieval catechisms. They are: feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, give shelter to strangers, clothe the naked, visit the sick, minister to prisoners, and bury the dead.

The Seven Deadly Sins! Re-post from 4/09/09

Wow, I was led to this pretty awesome informational website titled, DeadlySins! I have taken the following from their website to share with you. Please click HERE to visit their website.

*******************************************************

The Seven Deadly Sins are those transgressions which are fatal to spiritual progress. You probably commit some of them everyday without thinking about the rich tradition of eternal damnation in which you're participating. Welcome to your source for history and current information on the Seven Deadly Sins and the Seven Heavenly Virtues.

Click on the sin for a more in-depth review. Related topics are listed below.

Pride is excessive belief in one's own abilities, that interferes with the individual's recognition of the grace of God. It has been called the sin from which all others arise. Pride is also known as Vanity.

Envy is the desire for others' traits, status, abilities, or situation.

Gluttony is an inordinate desire to consume more than that which one requires.

Lust is an inordinate craving for the pleasures of the body.

Anger is manifested in the individual who spurns love and opts instead for fury. It is also known as Wrath.

Greed is the desire for material wealth or gain, ignoring the realm of the spiritual. It is also called Avarice or Covetousness.

Sloth is the avoidance of physical or spiritual work.

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According to Proverbs 6:16-19, there are Seven abominations unto the Lord:
  • a proud look
  • a lying tongue
  • hands that shed innocent blood
  • a heart that deviseth wicked imaginations
  • feet that be swift in running to mischief
  • a false witness that speaketh lies, and
  • he that soweth discord among brethren.

Gandhi's Seven Deadly Sins! Re-post from 4/09/09

T.E.A. Party Inspiration

“First they ignore you, then they laugh at you,
then they fight you, then you win.”
~ by Mahatma Gandhi

Wow, I was led to this pretty awesome informational website titled, DeadlySins! I have taken the following from their website to share with you. Please click HERE to visit their website.

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Mohandas Karamachand Gandhi, one of the most influential figures in modern social and political activism, considered these traits to be the most spiritually perilous to humanity.
  1. Wealth without Work
  2. Pleasure without Conscience
  3. Science without Humanity
  4. Knowledge without Character
  5. Politics without Principle
  6. Commerce without Morality
  7. Worship without Sacrifice

Footprints In The Sand... You Are NEVER Alone!

Footprints In The Sand

One night a man had a dream. He dreamed He was walking along the beach with the LORD. Across the sky flashed scenes from His life. For each scene He noticed two sets of footprints in the sand. One belonging to Him and the other to the LORD.

When the last scene of His life flashed before Him, He looked back at the footprints in the sand. He noticed that many times along the path of His life there was only one set of footprints. He also noticed that it happened at the very lowest and saddest times of His life.

This really bothered Him and He questioned the LORD about it. LORD you said that once I decided to follow you, you'd walk with me all the way. But I have noticed that during the most troublesome times in my life there is only one set of footprints. I don't understand why when I needed you most you would leave me.

The LORD replied, my precious, precious child, I Love you and I would never leave you! During your times of trial and suffering when you see only one set of footprints, it was then that I carried you.

by Carolyn Carty, 1963

REMEMBER: All of the good and the bad in your life up to this day has made you who you are today. You are still standing strong for a reason. God has a great plan for your life. Don't give up. ♥

Donkey In The Well... I Love This story! :) ♥

One day a farmer's donkey fell down into a well. The animal cried piteously for hours as the farmer tried to figure out what to do. Finally, he decided the animal was old, and the well needed to be covered up anyway; it just wasn't worth it to retrieve the donkey.

He invited all his neighbors to come over and help him. They all grabbed a shovel and began to shovel dirt into the well. At first, the donkey realized what was happening and cried horribly. Then, to everyone's amazement he quieted down.

A few shovel loads later, the farmer finally looked down the well. He was astonished at what he saw. With each shovel of dirt that hit his back, the donkey was doing something amazing. He would shake it off and take a step up.

As the farmer's neighbors continued to shovel dirt on top of the animal, he would shake it off and take a step up. Pretty soon, everyone was amazed as the donkey stepped up over the edge of the well and happily trotted off!

MORAL: Life is going to shovel dirt on you, all kinds of dirt. The trick to getting out of the well is to shake it off and take a step up. Each of our troubles is a steppingstone. We can get out of the deepest wells just by not stopping, never giving up! Shake it off and take a step up.

Remember the five simple rules to be happy:

1. Free your heart from hatred - Forgive.

2. Free your mind from worries - Most never happens.

3. Live simply and appreciate what you have.

4. Give more.

5. Expect less from people but more from God.

A Special Story About A Man And His Dog! A Person's True Character Is Revealed By How They Treat Animals... And Other People!

A Man and His Dog

A man and his dog were walking along a road. The man was enjoying the scenery, when it suddenly occurred to him that he was dead.

He remembered dying, and that the dog walking beside him had been dead for years.. He wondered where the road was leading them.

After a while, they came to a high, white stone wall along one side of the road. It looked like fine marble. At the top of a long hill, it was broken by a tall arch that glowed in the sunlight.

When he was standing before it he saw a magnificent gate in the arch that looked like mother-of-pearl, and the street that led to the gate looked like pure gold. He and the dog walked toward the gate, and as he got closer, he saw a man at a desk to one side.

When he was close enough, he called out, "Excuse me, where are we?"

"This is Heaven, sir," the man answered. "Wow! Would you happen to have some water?" the man asked.

"Of course, sir.. Come right in, and I'll have some ice water brought right up." The man gestured, and the gate began to open.

"Can my friend," gesturing toward his dog, "come in, too?" the traveler asked.

"I'm sorry, sir, but we don't accept pets."

The man thought a moment and then turned back toward the road and continued the way he had been going with his dog.

After another long walk, and at the top of another long hill, he came to a dirt road leading through a farm gate that looked as if it had never been closed. There was no fence.

As he approached the gate, he saw a man inside, leaning against a tree and reading a book.

"Excuse me!" he called to the man. "Do you have any water?"

"Yeah, sure, there's a pump over there, come on in."

"How about my friend here?" the traveler gestured to the dog.

"There should be a bowl by the pump."

They went through the gate, and sure enough, there was an old-fashioned hand pump with a bowl beside it.

The traveler filled the water bowl and took a long drink himself, then he gave some to the dog.

When they were full, he and the dog walked back toward the man who was standing by the tree.

"What do you call this place?" the traveler asked.

"This is Heaven," he answered.

"Well, that's confusing," the traveler said. "The man down the road said that was Heaven, too."

"Oh, you mean the place with the gold street and pearly gates? Nope. That's hell."

"Doesn't it make you mad for them to use your name like that?"

"No, we're just happy that they screen out the folks who would leave their best friends behind."

October 24, 2013

MYANMAR/BURMA: Myanmar Police Make Biggest Heroin Bust This Year; Seized 133 Kilos Of Heroin Worth $2 Million.

Mizzima news, Myanmar
Myanmar makes biggest heroin bust this year
written by AFP staff
Thursday October 24, 2013

Myanmar police said Thursday they had arrested a man with 133 kilos (293 pounds) of heroin worth $2 million at local prices -- the country's biggest seizure of the drug this year.

The drugs were found on Sunday in Tachileik near the border with Thailand -- a major destination for smuggled narcotics.

"One man was arrested and three others are still at large," a police official in the drugs control department told AFP.

"It's the biggest seizure of heroin this year," he said on condition of anonymity.

State media said the heroin was discovered in bags transported by motorcycle following a tip-off.

Myanmar, the world's second-largest opium producer, in May pushed back by five years its goal of eliminating drug production, to 2019.

That followed a rebound in poppy cultivation in the impoverished country, which is emerging from decades of military rule.

Experts say production of amphetamine-type stimulants is also surging in Myanmar.

Earlier this month seven tonnes of caffeine -- which is sometimes mixed with methamphetamine in pills -- were seized near Tachileik, the police official said.

The drugs trade is closely linked to Myanmar's long-running insurgencies in remote border areas, with ethnic minority rebels widely thought to use the profits to fund their operations.