Today is Thanksgiving day.  This is a day that was set aside by the earliest settlers here to give thanks to God.  It was later proclaimed by President Washington to be a national day to give thanks to God on 10/03/1789.  President Lincoln proclaimed it a national holiday on the last Thursday of November.  I am including the text of Washington’s proclamation, but I would recommend you study the holiday for yourself in-depth and teach your children and any other children about it.  You had better study as many of the documents of our founding fathers as you can since, as I was starting to type this, a report came over Sean Hannity’s radio show that a teacher in Los Angeles has been ordered by his principal that he cannot distribute materials that refer to God or Christianity.  It does not matter that the document in question is THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE!  That is right, folks.  Fifth-Graders are not supposed to read it, according to this principle.  I found a link to a Reuters Story http://www.reuters.com/printerFriendlyPopup.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=6911883 on http://www.drudgereport.com/ and the actual legal document on www.thesmokinggun.com the link to the story and document is http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/1124041declar1.html

Hmmm, I wonder which side the ACLU will take?  Anyway, I will tell you all about the feast our family will have in a couple of days, after I get done digesting.

George Washington’s 1789 Thanksgiving Proclamation

Whereas it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favor; and Whereas both Houses of Congress have, by their  joint committee, requested me "to recommend to the people of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer, to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness:"

Now, therefore, I do recommend and assign Thursday, the 26th day of November next, to be devoted by the people of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being who is the beneficent author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be; that we may then all unite in rendering unto Him our sincere and humble thanks for His kind care and protection of the people of this country previous to their becoming a nation; for the signal and manifold mercies and the favorable interpositions of His providence in the course and conclusion of the late war; for the great degree of tranquility, union, and plenty which we have since enjoyed; for the peaceable and rational manner in which we have been enable to establish constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national one now lately instituted' for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed, and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge; and, in general, for all the great and various favors which He has been pleased to confer upon us.

And also that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations and beseech Him to pardon our national and other transgressions; to enable us all, whether in public or private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and punctually; to render our National Government a blessing to all the people by constantly being a Government of wise, just, and constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed; to protect and guide all sovereigns and nations (especially such as have show kindness to us), and to bless them with good governments, peace, and concord; to promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the increase of science among them and us; and, generally to grant unto all mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as He alone knows to be best.

Given under my hand, at the city of New York, the 3d dy of October, A.D. 1789.

(signed) G. Washington

The pics are here at Herb's Galleries

We have several get-togethers each year now that we have a fellowship hall.  It used to be our old sanctuary, which we have outgrown.  Our beautiful new building will seat a thousand people and is built adjacent to the old one.  It still seems weird to eat food in it, but let me tell you, we eat food in it!  Sometimes the ladies will have a fund-raiser and sell hot dogs or sloppy joes, but my all-time favorite is the good old American Potluck dinner.

What happens is each family brings a main dish and a side or salad and a dessert, making at least as much as would normally feed your own family.  Then it is all put out on a long table full of food and with 500+ people there you can always find a great variety.  Especially our church because we have people from all backgrounds and walks of life and from all different regions of the country and from some other countries as well.  With a church as big as ours, you cannot always do the polite thing and try some of everyone’s, but I sure do try!  I take 2 big plates with me, a little plate, a bowl and get started.

To answer what my favorite is is kind of impossible.  I like the fried chicken, the casseroles are good, the beans, the enchiladas, the unidentifiable somethings or others (one time there were pierogies!), the salads, hmmm...okay, my favorite part is the desserts.  One of the big plates is just for desserts.  Homemade layer cakes, pies, cobblers, unidentifiable somethings or others...  There used to be a show called Hee-Haw where they did a skit that had Grampa Jones come out and all the people in the audience would say, "Hey Grampaw!  What’s for supper?"  He would break into a poem listing off all of these different southern dishes and at the end, everyone would say real loud, "YUMM-YUMMM!"  That’s how you feel.  I wanted to write one of those poems, but was afraid that i wouldn’t get this entry even started, so maybe you will hear it a different time.

After that we have some skits.  One of them was where a trio of men are trying to learn to sing amazing grace and one of the guys messes it up real bad and the other two take him around "backstage" and bang on some pots and pans as though they were beating him up.  It happens a second time with a different guy.  Finally they decide it is the music director who is the problem.  Our music director is a small-framed young lady that is in charge of the music for our whole church and just loves to have a good time.  Her husband is good, solid Wisconsin stock who looks like a Sackett when he walks into a room.  Anyway, they all three take her back there, and there is a wild ruckus and when it is all done, this petite girl comes skipping out with her hands clasped in victory.

Then there was the incredible amazing enlarging machine.  I played my character, Professor Fritz Von Googleheimer.  He has a white lab coat, a goofy tie that has its own story, a Pendleton wool Tam O’Shanter, a cane and glasses.  He has this thick, obviously fake German accent and glasses.  The glasses are the important part of the costume because they are those reading glasses you buy at the grocery store and are a 3.50 magnification.  I can’t see anything through them unless I squint and get right up next to something, so it makes me have to walk funny and look at people all strange.
Since I am going to try to use the photo gallery for the first time, i don’t know how this will all turn out.

In the first picture, you see my colleague, played by Sis. Pittenger, whose character’s name I don’t have.  Professor Von Googleheimer is a character I use in Sunday School, so I know him.  He "uses ze zientifical messod of zienterrifical observationizating" in a variety of ways.

Next we have the introduction of the Enlarging Machine.  The pictures were taken by Abigail, who usually does a good job, but she couldn’t get through the crowd too easily.  But we don’t have pictures of every scene.

All the little kids were seated up front.  The first time we tried the machine, I put in a giant Hershey’s kiss and (Brother Andrew was behind the machine, throwing things out) it spewed out a bunch of little kisses into the crowd.

In the next picture, we see a little bouncy ball go in and in the next, the ball that came out.

Then we put in a mustard seed and out came a bottle of French’s.  Sister pittenger wanted spicy, so I threw back the mustard and out came the spicy.

Not shown in the pictures, the other professor pretends to spit into the machine and I am doused with water thrown out of the machine with relish!  Then we put in a baby doll and a little girl pops out.

Then we put in a stuffed monkey.  I pretended to hesitate to push the button but (the whole skit was hammed up all the way along of course "Mit der prrrofeshor dishcushing und ekshplaining sings") was persuaded to finally do it by the screaming kids, who are in a frenzy by now.

I push the button!  It makes its noise and suddenly out jumps Andrew in a gorilla costume with a half-eaten banana in his hand.  The crowd goes wild, and he runs over to his wife and pretends to try to kiss her.  This is the end and he takes off his head because he is burning up inside there and everyone applauds.

The last picture is a close-up of the professor.  He has to squint because of the strength of the glasses.

After the eating and entertaining, Brother Johnny Burgess spoke for a short while about the scriptural idea of common feasts and told several humorous anecdotes and we were done.  One of the stories he told is on the humor blog ( http://herbshumor.blogdrive.com/ ) as the entry for 11/24/2004.  If you weren’t able to be there, you missed a great time!

Remember, The Good Book says, "Enjoy life while you’re alive because when you’re dead, you won’t be able to."

Sorry gang, our phone line was acting up yesterday.  Oh, yes, I still have a dialup connection.  Isn’t that so last century.  *laughs*

Anyway, I was planning to tell you all about the great Harvest Feast we had and show you pictures of the inimitable Professor Fritz Von Googleheimer and the amazing enlargement machine.  I probably still will but 1 day’s worth of e-mail bogged me down.  That and I try to read everyone’s blogs as well.  Sometimes that takes a while.  It took some extra time to do because I had a couple more to read!

I had started reading Sam’s at http://samsam.blogdrive.com/ a couple of days ago.  He’s the fellow from Singapore that wrote me a note to say he reads my blog and he had an interesting letter from his friend who is an exchange student here in the States.  That was interesting to me because it was a different perspective, but it was 3 parts.

Woo-Hoo!  Please allow me to introduce 2 new bloggers!  Yes, our little drive to get Carter to start blogging has paid off, folks.  Carter’s blog is at http://carterking.blogspot.com/  and is called Carter’s Rants.  To see every entry I had to click on the link marked "November Archives" then I saw 2 entries.  To leave a comment I had to sign up with them like I did with Xanga.com, though.  I just set up the blog and put a link to this blog.  I don’t want to have to post to all of them and I think it would just be confusing to people.

The 2’nd one is Nicole’s!  Yeah, she finally started one also.  Because of the limited time she has she will only do it once in a while, but i think it will turn out nice as long as she is herself.  Hers is http://nicoler.blogdrive.com/

Links to all will be forthcoming.  I guess i can take my survey down, now.  I’ll have another one in a few days.

Remember, the Good Book says, "Opportunity only knocks once, but Temptation stands on the doorbell."

I just came in from shoveling snow.  I hate shoveling snow here in Colorado Springs.  People hear about Colorado getting 18 inches of snow in one day and they freak out.  Truth is, that is up in the mountains.  The city of Colorado Springs is situated at the base of Pikes Peak and surrounded by hills and mountain passes so our weather is uniquely mild, even when the whole rest of the state is going crazy.

One of the most frustrating things about shoveling here is the fact that even though we might have 3 or 4 inches of snow on the ground and the temperature is 10 above, in 2 days it will be 60 or 70!  That, plus being a military town, you have drivers of every skill and experience level on the road at the same time.  Drivers from southern places where snow is a mythological legend to Drivers from the Great White North all live here and gather on the roads at the same time.  If it gets really bad they will delay the base opening a couple of hours for non-mission-essential personnel, but then everything else does the same thing, so you still have all the same drivers, you can just see them better.

Many of these people have 4-wheel ice skating equipment on their vehicles.  Okay, I might allow that you can get going faster, but you cannot stop any better, so when you are going down the Interstate at 75 MPH and hit a patch of ice, stopping becomes a problem.  Add to that the fact that you are from somewhere that thinks winter is when it gets down to 50 and you have to wear a sweater, well, you probably don’t belong on the road.

Then there are those of us who grew up around winter.  Winter means the time when the lakes and rivers get 5 to 10 feet of ice on them and people pull their ice-fishing sheds out onto the lake with their pickup trucks and then practice driving on ice and snow.  There, snow removal is done by plowing the snow to the middle of the street in banks that are 10 feet high and following them with a snow blower looking vehicle that shoots it all into the back of a dump truck that will haul it out into a woods somewhere.  They used to haul it to the river, but that could cause pollution, but you’ve gotta put it somewhere.

In Wisconsin the challenge was always to try to time your shoveling in such a way that you would beat the plow at its own game.  See, while the main streets were plowed with the method described above, the side streets and residential areas were plowed to the side of the road, which meant you had snow banks in front of your house.  It also meant a snow bank in front of your driveway.  The trick was to try to time your shoveling so that you only had to shovel the end of the driveway once.  You would do the walk, You could not leave the walk for a couple of days and wait for it to melt or you were fined, you would do the porch, the top end of the driveway, anything to avoid having to do the driveway twice.  Time would pass, your car would be warmed up (even if you had an engine heater you might still go out a couple of times in the night to start it in -50 weather so you could keep it going) from sitting running and you would think, “I guess he must be having a hard time getting through.  I’ll do the end real quick once and get out and go to the store to see how bad it is out there, hey.”  So you shovel the end of the driveway anyway, realizing the plow is not coming for a while, you start to back out and just as you get near the end, the plow comes and makes an impassible bank and you have to stop and get out and shovel twice anyway.  Then you see the guy coming back on the other side and when he smiles and waves at you it sure looks like he’s laughing.

However, you knew that if you didn’t shovel you could not get out.  It wasn’t going to hit 60 in the same day it snowed and all melt.  You HAVE to shovel in Wisconsin as a matter of survival.  Now, I am going to have a cup of coffee, read my e-mail and comments on my blog and get ready for Sunday School.

Remember, as the Good Book says, “If you curse the snowplow driver he will leave your street until last.”

What is up with the people that send you chain e-mails?  Sometimes it is an actually beautiful poem or sentiment or encouragement, then at the end it’s, "Send this to 10 people in 10 minutes or your computer will turn upside-down and become infested with packrats but if you send this to 10 people within 5 minutes money will fall from the sky."  Can’t you just send the sentiment and say, "Wasn’t this nice" or "I was thinking you might enjoy this piece" or "I was thinking about you today and wanted to send you something nice?"  You know, you could get in big trouble if you did that with the mail.  If you must forward stuff at least try to match it the person that is getting it.

Since I have gotten on this e-mail tangent, let me say something else.  Why can’t people be bothered to check even the simplest facts, or apply common sense to the most absurd statements.  Some of the e-mails people send around can give the Weekly World News, that bastion of journalism, a run for its money.  Well, okay, sorry.  I guess it could happen that Kentucky Fried Chicken was really growing genetically altered, four-legged headless chickens and that the FDA made them change their name to KFC since their product wasn’t really a chicken.  Yep.  Could have happened that way.  Like Bill Gates and AOL teaming up and tracking a particular e-mail which, if forwarded, will cause Mr. Gates to send you to Disneyland?

I think people who claim to be Christians should be particularly careful about the e-mails they send out.  After all, we are not supposed to spread rumors or tell lies or threaten people with curses, are we?  Made-up stories, unless people know you are a fiction author are lies, as are half-truths.  Many of the e-mails, especially one with a picture of John Kerry with Hanoi Jane, which was obviously doctored up by Photoshop, that went around before the election make us look like we have to stoop to their level.  Our man won on his integrity, not by lying about his opponent like others did.

When you get an e-mail that sounds too good to be true, or is some sort of breaking news that the mainstream media hasn’t reported, like a giant killer white shark in the San Francisco Bay that leaps out of the water and attacks helicopters flying over, think about it.  Well, I am sure, as the Weekly World News reported a few years back, that space aliens did meet with Rush Limbaugh and begged him to run for president.  There was a picture on the front page.  And what about the Yeti hooker that Bill Clinton and Ted Kennedy spent time with.  There are photos!

Why in the world would you not think the same thing about e-mail as you do the checkout-line tabloids?  What possesses a person to think, "Oh, it’s in an e-mail, it must be true?"  That’s like saying, "They couldn’t publish it in print on the newsstand if it weren’t true."  We already know there is a bias in much of the mainstream media that takes every word that some dumb idol from Hollyweird says as the gospel truth but never investigates the truth.  Some of us even know there are outlets for a right-wing bias also.  Talk Radio is still entertainment, boys and girls and just like every other news story or ideology you should get as much information for yourself before believing it either.

As some of you have already learned, I have a method for dealing with Urban Legends that are sent to me in the e-mail.  I have a couple of websites that I use to determine the veracity of your story.  They are http://urbanlegends.about.com/ and http://truthorfiction.com/, which deal with urban legends.  These folks deserve for you to bookmark them.  The one on the About network is a little more cynical and politically left, in my opinion, but he tells the truth!  The second one is by a Christian who believes it is wrong for Christians to spread lies as though they were true.  I encourage everyone to check them out, not only for reference but also because they are entertaining.  You will find yourself going, "Oh brother.  Who would believe that?"  Anyway, when I have found out your story is wrong, I do a "Reply All", then go into the body of the e-mail, and get every other address that I can find and send it back with a scathing note and links to the truth.

Take a few minutes to bookmark a couple of reliable sites that will tell you whether this is the truth or not.  http://urbanlegends.about.com/ or http://truthorfiction.com/ are only two of a multitude of sites you can find.

In the meantime, on the humor blog, http://herbshumor.blogdrive.com/ I have posted an e-mail I received in 1999 that is called, "The Last E-Mail You Will Ever Need."

Take a moment to think before you hit that "send" button and remember, as the Good Book says, "All liars can go to hell."

Some of the new things I can do with a paid subscription here is put up a photo gallery, a hit counter and create polls.  This is going to be fun.  I think the first question I will do is whether Carter ought to have a ‘blog or not.

Carter and I have been friends for longer than many of my readers have been alive, 26+ long, grueling, tedious, er, um, ah, joyous, wonderful, years.  If he blogs it would definitely be interesting.  You could learn a lot about the Second Amendment, Military History and Tactics, his wife and kids and of course flatulence and hardened, dried, nasal mucous.  Oh, come on now.  Don’t get your nose out of joint.  It’s not like that is all he has to talk about.  He is also very knowledgeable about stinky feet and is possibly the world’s foremost expert on beer and ketchup.  Well, not together.  At least I don’t think so.  He might also introduce you to Gronk.  (Carter, Gronk could actually have his own blog that you could link to from yours if you use these guys.  I would also try to make it appealing to the widest audience possible so Christians will want to read it and not be afraid, but that’s only a suggestion.)

Anyway, I will be experimenting with some of these new toys.

Thanks Margaret.

Remember, the Good Book says, "Whiskey is about the only enemy man has succeeded in loving."

I cannot believe that the ACLU has nothing better to do than to pick on the Boy Scouts.  They are quick to sue not only the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) but any person that wants to remind us the principles that our God-fearing founders espoused.  Revisionists are trying to belittle and outright belie our heritage, but that does not bother the lawyers for an organization that claims to espouse freedom for everyone, the ACLU.  Why do they not fight for the rights of the Boy Scouts?  Oh, no!  To think that someone would support such a vile, evil, reprehensible group as the BSA is unbelievable.  And what sort of evil doctrines do the Boy Scouts teach?  I will expose this evil here and now!

I have a reprinted copy of the original "Boy Scouts of America Handbook for Boys" from 1910 and decided to compare it with a modern version of the same book.  There is a lot less need for harnessing horses properly nowadays but there are some things that these villains taught way back then that they are still teaching to boys nowadays.  They apparently are one of those organizations that think they are right and will not change.  They hand these teachings down from generation to generation, unchanged for ninety-four years.  Much of what I am going to tell you is directly from their books and teachings and, well, I must confess to you.  I was a Boy Scout leader and was trained to teach these things to children.

They have a motto, BE PREPARED.  The boy is expected to learn all he can and keep himself healthy and strong.  Oh, horrors!

Then, they also have a slogan to live by, DO A GOOD TURN DAILY.  They expect boys to do a helpful act of kindness every single day without pay or even boasting.

They also have a set of laws they are expected to live by.  They expect boys to be:

TRUSTWORTHY - They are expected to tell the truth and keep his promises.  (The original book says that if a boy lies he can have his Scout Badge taken away!)

LOYAL - True to family, friends, leaders, etc.

HELPFUL - Willingly volunteering to help others without expecting payment or reward.

FRIENDLY - He respects those with ideas and customs that are different from his own and seeks to understand others.

COURTEOUS - Polite to everyone regardless of age or position knowing that good manners help people get along.

KIND - He treats others as he would want to be treated and is not cruel.

OBEDIENT - They are taught to follow rules and obey laws and if they think the rules or laws are unfair they try to change them in an orderly fashion.

CHEERFUL - Cheerfully doing tasks that he is assigned and trying to make others happy.

THRIFTY - They are expected to work to pay their way and help others.

BRAVE - He faces danger even if he is afraid and has the courage to stand up for what he thinks is right even if he is laughed at or threatened.

CLEAN - He keeps his body and mind clean.

REVERENT - we will get to this, the crux of this evil, in a moment, but he is supposed to be reverent to God, faithful in his religious duties and respect the beliefs of others.

And how do they enforce this law?  They expect that they will do their best to keep it on their honor and integrity.  They make a promise and are expected to keep it.  Their promise involves all of their heinous, criminal ideologies and says:

On my honor I will do my best
To do my duty to God and my country
and to obey the Scout Law;
To help other people at all times;
To keep myself physically strong,
mentally awake, and morally straight.

You can see it all right there.  Moreover, if the Department of Defense or other government agency gives any money at all to them or, according to a recent lawsuit, helps them or even lets them use government property, they are helping to establish a government religion because the Boy Scouts will not let just anybody join.  You cannot be an atheist and be in the Boy Scouts.  And what does the BSA teach about religion?  They teach and their leaders are trained that the best place to learn about religion is your family and your own church or religious organization.  They believe that if you are, for example, Catholic, the best place to learn about Catholicism is your priest and your family, not your scout leader, although all twelve points of their law support what Catholicism teaches.  The Boy Scouts are taught to respect God according to the way their family and church teaches and to respect the way others believe.  Boy Scouts can receive medals for the religious training they get.  These medals include, but are not limited to, Roman Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Islamic, Baptist, I think the Pentecostals have developed one, Unitarian Universalist, Buddhist, Latter Day Saints (who use the Boy Scout program as their youth program), Baha’i and a bunch of others I don’t have handy.

So there you have it, folks.  A bunch of hooligans running around do good deeds for people (the book from 1910 shows a Scout helping an old lady across the street) without remuneration and respecting God and other people.

Visit http://www.bsalegal.org to see what’s going on.

After reading Susan B’s blog entry at http://www.xanga.com/home.aspx?user=sbalak from November 1, 2004 (I think it’s on the second or third page by now), where she says, “…I do not tuck my tail and run at the first mention of an opposing thought or idea. Which brings me to a whole other subject and I'll elaborate in the next paragraph.

What is the deal with men who are intimidated by women capable of thinking for themselves? The fact that these women are capable does NOT mean that they are going to have an issue with submission. It does not mean that they are stubborn and pig-headed. It simply means that it will take a person whose ideas and critical thinking skills are a little 'above average' for the woman to WANT to follow him. I believe the innermost part of every woman has a yearning and desire to submit and to follow a male figure, but a woman MUST have confidence that the man they are following is bright enough to lead (and I am talking husbands here...not pastors, although that is something to think about also). No one, man or woman, wants to follow a leader who they feel are less equipped than they are to do the job.”  (reprinted by permission of the author)

I was inspired to write the following.

Men sometimes do not really understand what a wonderful creature a woman that knows her own mind is.  In this day and age when so many people appear to live by the old saw, “If it feels good, do it,” and have little or no conscience and what conscience they do have is skewed by Hollyweird and Mad avenue, you would think that a man would be happy to meet a woman who can think for herself.  Once she has made up her mind, unlike the majority of T.V., movie, music industry and fashion idols that so many Americans follow, she can stick to it and follow her own path.  While this can, in some instances and circumstances equate with stubbornness or bullheadedness, what it really means is that if this woman decides that she loves you, you do not have to worry that her mind will suddenly change with the latest opinion poll of her friends or for any other reason.  You can put confidence in her.

Where would the country be, especially the West, if there were not women who could fight Indians alongside their husbands, work hard at the tasks best suited to them and leaving their husbands to do the work they had to do?  Pioneer women were strong women with minds and opinions of their own who followed by choice their equally strong husbands into equal danger.  When you have had a chance to meet some of these 100+ year old women and talk to them, you learn that life was a partnership and though vilified by some for “only” making babies and keeping house, they were, please excuse the ungallant expression I use to make a point, some tough old gals.

And where are the men that have enough manliness that they can lead such a woman?  Where are the men full of strength that inspire confidence and security?  Where are the mighty manly men who have convictions and beliefs that will not be shaken with every wind that blows and can articulately defend them to even the most crass and vulgar?  The gentleman, who will open a door for a woman or suggest to his fellows that they relinquish the volleyball court in favor of the women, or offer his seat on the bus to a woman now seems passé.

I almost said lady there, but where are the ladies?  Women, whose conversation nowadays, in public no less, could embarrass even the saltiest of sailors, are not exhibiting behavior that says they want to be respected and honored.  The conversation and behavior of the opposite sex has gone from being respectable to something wholly other.  They are “the Weaker Sex” no more.  In some ways that is okay, but to me the term always meant that men should be protective and diligent and respectful in their behavior, not that they were literally physically weaker so much as they should be treated with the little every day niceties that used to be a trademark of American society.

This untoward behavior by some women does not mean that a man cannot be gentle and strong and behave thoughtfully, like a gentleman.  Gentlemanliness is always fashionable and honorable.  I realize it could be readily pointed out that when it comes to gentlemanly behavior I often fall dreadfully short, but I try.  I often slip up but that does not mean my point is wrong.

Now, don’t misunderstand what I am saying.  There is a time and a place for almost everything, and men, when they get together as a group, must be able in some way to contribute to such a gathering.  Men in groups since the earliest days have always behaved in a predictable way.  All men have something to add to, say, a campfire for example.  Whether it be by the slaying of the vile Colorado Barking Tree Toad or killing a colony of Fire-Breathing Kentucky Barking Gorilla Ants, or by telling of or performing some manly exploit(s).  Or older gents telling how much better and more superior the campfires were years ago or how much mightier the football players of old were.  Remember the old saying men will be boys.  This is natural and should not be a place where women would even want to think about going.  Men resent the presence of women at such gatherings but must always take the most extreme caution to leave the caveman/hunter mentality in its rightful place.

When women are present, however, men must always try to be on their best behavior and not purposefully embarrass their wives or girlfriends and probably not their sisters either, depending on the situation.  Mixed company is the time to dust off the manners and treat all of the women present like ladies.  (Grammar Checker Note:  Our society’s use of polite terms such as gentleman or lady is frowned upon by Grammar Checker which suggests woman or person instead of lady.)

Now, in mixed company, a man and woman ought to be able to carry on a conversation without any trifling vulgarities.  If they talk enough they will at some point, disagree.  This is where life becomes interesting.  A strong woman with an intelligently articulated position can be interesting whereas anyone, woman or man, that argues just to hear themselves talk should be avoided.  An intelligent argument can be, in some cases, more interesting than wrestling a six foot two Army Sergeant with stinky feet.  A man should not fear an intelligent, articulate woman, but should try to show himself, if not able to be more articulate or intelligent, at least well-mannered and respectable.

Remember, the Good Book says, “If you find a wife it’s a good thing as long as she don’t smack you around too much.”

Thanks to Nicole for letting me say these things.

Nicole’s remarks in the little sidebar chat thingy on this blog, which may have disappeared by this time, where she says "The jokes are daddy’s, well I guess they are mine now." Got me to thinking about and remembering D.W. Hollingsworth.  He had a terrific sense of humor and published a daily joke e-mail called "Colorado Comments" that was full of old and new jokes that all had one thing in common; they were clean and they were funny.  Nicole has her dad’s quick wit and sense of humor among the many other things he put in her, and she is going to be sharing some of her favorite jokes and stories from "Colorado Comments" from time to time as she feels like it in my joke blog, http://herbshumor.blogdrive.com/.  In fact, it was his daily dose of humor that made me want to do it.

Not knowing who may read this entry I guess it is safe to say that you may not ever have heard of him, which is too bad for you because he was a really great guy.  He was always jovial and friendly, even after being diagnosed with terminal cancer.  He would be so weak and in so much pain toward the end, but he never quit putting out his newsletter and he never missed coming to church whenever the doors were open.  This was always his way, driving 35 - 40 miles in all manner of weather to make sure his family made it every service, even special revival services.  The times that they missed in the 16 years my family has gone to the First Pentecostal Church of Colorado Springs you could count on one hand.  In the end he could no longer drive and had to let his wife drive, but he loved God and he loved the Church so much that he had to go where he belonged.

Respected and liked by the other men in the church, toward the end they had to carry a recliner into the service since the regular pews were not made for the comfort of a cancer patient.  He could have stayed at home and listened to sermons on tape, of course, but it was important for him to be at church.  He could have possibly gone to church closer to home, but he was a loyal man.  Loyal to God and church and pastor.  When I was a scout leader one of the laws we tried to teach the boys was being loyal.  Here was a living, breathing example.  His body would be so exhausted and wracked with pain sometimes that he would occasionally doze off, but not too often because he didn’t want to miss anything.  Without disclosing his personal business I will tell you that he was a devoted family man and every thing he did, his reason for being, was his wife and kids.  He was quick to laugh, to smile, to forgive.

A heroic man to the very end.  When you watch someone who is genuinely sick, not just a sniffly cold; when you see a man make church attendance mandatory for himself; when you see a man who will sacrifice his personal comfort for the betterment and future care of his family; you see a hero.  Such a man was Brother David Hollingsworth.  The Scripture talks about different kinds of men, righteous men and good men, here was both a righteous man and a good man.  A good man that loved God, Church, Family and Country.

I had considered trying to write about the question of why such a good man would be taken and many lesser men, starting at myself, would be left, but it is something I don’t understand.  The Bible book of Ecclesiastes has the answer, but you have to read the whole book through as a sermon.  It is not exactly like the Proverbs, where you can pick out a verse or two and get wisdom, but rather you have to read it as a complete book, a complete sermon from beginning to end to really "get" Ecclesiastes.  Anyway, the answer is in there and far more eloquent and articulately written than I could ever hope to be.  Read what the Good Book says for yourself.

I found this floating around a couple of places and do not know who the author is.  I wish I had written it, but I didn’t.  If it belongs to you, I will give you either credit or take it down, whichever you request.  I found it on a humor page initially, but I thought it was a little too much for http://herbshumor.blogdrive.com/

Remember, as the Good Book says, Anger is a weapon only to one's opponent and get in the first shot!  Or was that Ti Kwan Leep?  Anyway, give 'em a boot to the head.

Profiling
To insure we Americans never offend anyone, particularly fanatics intent on killing us, airport screeners will not be allowed to profile people. They will continue random searches of 80-year-old women, little kids, airline pilots with proper identification, Secret Service agents who are members of the President's security detail, 85-year old Congressmen with metal hips, and Medal of Honor winning former governors.

Let's pause a moment and take the following test.

In 1972 at the Munich Olympics, athletes were kidnapped and massacred by:

a. Olga Korbut
b. Sitting Bull
c. Arnold Schwartzenegger
d. Male Muslim extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40

In 1979, the U.S. embassy in Iran was taken over by:

a. Lost Norwegians
b. Elvis
c. A tour bus full of 80-year-old women
d. Male Muslim extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40

During the 1980's a number of Americans were kidnapped in Lebanon by:

a. John Dillinger
b. The King of Sweden
c. The Boy Scouts
d. Male Muslim extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40

In 1983, the U.S. Marine barracks in Beirut was blown up by:

a. A pizza delivery boy
b. Pee Wee Herman
c. Geraldo Rivera making up for a slow news day
d. Male Muslim extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40.

In 1985 the cruise ship Achille Lauro was hijacked and a 70 year old American passenger was murdered in his wheelchair and thrown overboard by:

a. The Smurfs
b. Davy Jones
c. The Little Mermaid
d. Male Muslim extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40

In 1985 TWA flight 847 was hijacked at Athens, and a U.S. Navy diver was murdered by:

a. Captain Kidd
b. Charles Lindberg
c. Mother Teresa
d. Male Muslim extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40

In 1988, Pan Am Flight 103 was bombed by:

a. Scooby Doo
b. The Tooth Fairy
c. Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid who had a few sticks of dynamite left over from the train job
d. Male Muslim extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40

In 1993 the World Trade Center was bombed the first time by:

a. Richard Simmons
b. Grandma Moses
c. Michael Jordan
d. Male Muslim extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40

In 1998, the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania were bombed by:

a. Mr. Rogers
b. AFOTEC action officers headed to a conference
c. The World Wrestling Federation to promote its next villain: "Mustapha the Merciless"
d. Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40

On 9/11/01, four airliners were hijacked and destroyed and thousands of people were murdered by:

a. Bugs Bunny, Wiley E. Coyote, Daffy Duck and Elmer Fudd
b. The Supreme Court of Florida
c. Mr. Bean
d. Male Muslim extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40

In 2002 the United States fought a war in Afghanistan against:

a. Enron
b. The Lutheran Church
c. The NFL
d. Male Muslim extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40

In 2002 reporter Daniel Pearl was kidnapped and murdered by:

a. Bonny and Clyde
b. Captain Kangaroo
c. Billy Graham
d. Male Muslim extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40

Nope, no patterns anywhere to justify profiling!