truly Happy Person is one who can enjoy the scenery on a detour. And, one who can enjoy browsing old cemeteries ... some fascinating things on old tombstones!
Harry Edsel Smith of Albany , New York : Born 1903--Died 1942F Looked up the elevator shaft to see if the car was on the way down. It was.
=============================
In a Thurmont, Maryland, cemetery: Here lies an Atheist, all dressed up and no place to go.
=============================
On the grave of Ezekial Aikle in East Dalhousie Cemetery, Nova Scotia: Here lies Ezekial Aikle, Age 102. Only The Good Die Young.
=============================
In a London, England cemetery: Here lies Ann Mann, Who lived an old maid but died an old Mann. Dec. 8, 1767
=============================
In a Ribbesford, England, cemetery: Anna Wallace The children of Israel wanted bread, And the Lord sent them manna. Clark Wallace wanted a wife, And the Devil sent him Anna .
===============================
In a Ruidoso, New Mexico, cemetery: Here lies Johnny Yeast... Pardon me for not rising.
===============================
In a Uniontown, Pennsylvania, cemetery: Here lies the body of Jonathan Blake. Stepped on the gas instead of the brake.
==============================
In a Silver City, Nevada, cemetery: Here lays The Kid. We planted him raw. He was quick on the trigger But slow on the draw.
==============================
A lawyer's epitaph in England : Sir John Strange. Here lies an honest lawyer, and that is Strange.
==============================
John Penny's epitaph in the Wimborne, England, cemetery: Reader, if cash thou art in want of any, Dig 6 feet deep and thou wilt find a Penny.
============================== ====
In a cemetery in Hartscombe, England : On the 22nd of June, Jonathan Fiddle went out of tune.
============================== ====
Anna Hopewell's grave in Enosburg Falls, Vermont : Here lies the body of our Anna, Done to death by a banana. It wasn't the fruit that laid her low, But the skin of the thing that made her go.
============================== ====
On a grave from the 1880s in Nantucket, Massachusetts: Under the sod and under the trees, Lies the body of Jonathan Pease. He is not here, there's only the pod. Pease shelled out and went to God.
============================== ====
In a cemetery in England: Remember man, as you walk by, As you are now, so once was I As I am now, so shall you be. Remember this and follow me. To which someone replied by writing on the tombstone: To follow you I'll not consent ... Until I know which way you went.
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Monday, July 21, 2008
The Pickle Jar
The pickle jar as far back as I can remember sat on the floor beside the dresser in my parents' bedroom.
When he got ready for bed, Dad would empty his pockets and toss his coins into the jar.
As a small boy I was always fascinated at the sounds the coins made as they were dropped into the jar .
They landed with a merry jingle when the jar was almost empty.
Then the tones gradually muted to a dull thud as the jar was filled.
I used to squat on the floor in front of the jar and admire the copper and silver circles that glinted like a pirate's treasure when the sun poured through the bedroom window.
When the jar was filled, Dad would sit at the kitchen table and roll the coins before taking them to the bank.
Taking the coins to the bank was always a big production.
Stacked neatly in a small cardboard box, the coins were placed between Dad and me on the seat of his old truck.
Each and every time, as we drove to the bank, Dad would look at me hopefully.
'Those coins are going to keep you out of the textile mill, son.
You're going to do better than me. This old mill town's not going to hold you back.'
Also, each and every time, as he slid the box of rolled coins across the counter at the bank toward the cashier, he would grin proudly 'These are for my son's college fund. He'll never work at the mill all his life like me.'
We would always celebrate each deposit by stopping for an ice cream cone.
I always got chocolate. Dad always got vanilla. When the clerk at the ice cream parlor handed Dad his change, he would show me the few coins nestled in his palm. 'When we get home, we'll start filling the jar again.'
He always let me drop the first coins into the empty jar.
As they rattled around with a brief, happy jingle, we grinned at each other. 'You'll get to college on pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters,' he said. 'But you'll get there.
I'll see to that'
The years passed, and I finished college and took a job in another town.
Once, while visiting my parents, I used the phone in their bedroom, and noticed that the pickle jar was gone.
It had served its purpose and had been removed.
A lump rose in my throat as I stared at the spot beside the dresser where the jar had always stood.
My dad was a man of few words, and never lectured me on the values of determination, perseverance, and faith.
The pickle jar had taught me all these virtues far more eloquently than the most flowery of words could have done.
When I married, I told my wife Susan about the significant part the lowly pickle jar had played in my life as a boy.
In my mind, it defined, more than anything else, how much my dad had loved me.
No matter how rough things got at home, Dad continued to doggedly drop his coins into the jar.
Even the summer when Dad got laid off from the mill, and Mama had to serve dried beans several times a week, not a single dime was taken from the jar.
To the contrary, as Dad looked across the table at me, pouring catsup over my beans to make them more palatable, he became more determined than ever to make a way out for me. 'When you finish college, Son,' he told me, his eyes glistening, 'You'll never have to eat beans again - unless you want to.'
The first Christmas after our daughter Jessica was born, we spent the holiday with my parents.
After dinner, Mom and Dad sat next to each other on the sofa, taking turns cuddling their first grandchild.
Jessica began to whimper softly, and Susan took her from Dad's arms. 'She probably needs to be changed,' she said, carrying the baby into my parents' bedroom to diaper her.
When Susan came back into the living room, there was a strange mist in her eyes.
She handed Jessica back to Dad before taking my hand and leading me into the room.
'Look,' she said softly, her eyes directing me to a spot on the floor beside the dresser.
To my amazement, there, as if it had never been removed, stood the old pickle jar, the bottom already covered with coins.
I walked over to the pickle jar, dug down into my pocket, and pulled out a fistful of coins.
With a gamut of emotions choking me, I dropped the coins into the jar.
I looked up and saw that Dad, carrying Jessica, had slipped quietly into the room.
Our eyes locked, and I knew he was feeling the same emotions I felt.
Neither one of us could speak.
This truly touched my heart. I know it has yours as well..
Sometimes we are so busy adding up our troubles that we forget to count our blessings.
Never underestimate the power of your actions.
With one small gesture you can change a person's life, for better or for worse.
God puts us all in each other's lives to impact one another in some way.
Look for Good in others.
The best and most beautiful things cannot be seen or touched they must be felt with the heart ~ Helen Keller
- Happy moments, praise God. - Difficult moments, seek God. - Quiet moments, worship God. - Painful moments, trust God. - Every moment, thank God.
When he got ready for bed, Dad would empty his pockets and toss his coins into the jar.
As a small boy I was always fascinated at the sounds the coins made as they were dropped into the jar .
They landed with a merry jingle when the jar was almost empty.
Then the tones gradually muted to a dull thud as the jar was filled.
I used to squat on the floor in front of the jar and admire the copper and silver circles that glinted like a pirate's treasure when the sun poured through the bedroom window.
When the jar was filled, Dad would sit at the kitchen table and roll the coins before taking them to the bank.
Taking the coins to the bank was always a big production.
Stacked neatly in a small cardboard box, the coins were placed between Dad and me on the seat of his old truck.
Each and every time, as we drove to the bank, Dad would look at me hopefully.
'Those coins are going to keep you out of the textile mill, son.
You're going to do better than me. This old mill town's not going to hold you back.'
Also, each and every time, as he slid the box of rolled coins across the counter at the bank toward the cashier, he would grin proudly 'These are for my son's college fund. He'll never work at the mill all his life like me.'
We would always celebrate each deposit by stopping for an ice cream cone.
I always got chocolate. Dad always got vanilla. When the clerk at the ice cream parlor handed Dad his change, he would show me the few coins nestled in his palm. 'When we get home, we'll start filling the jar again.'
He always let me drop the first coins into the empty jar.
As they rattled around with a brief, happy jingle, we grinned at each other. 'You'll get to college on pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters,' he said. 'But you'll get there.
I'll see to that'
The years passed, and I finished college and took a job in another town.
Once, while visiting my parents, I used the phone in their bedroom, and noticed that the pickle jar was gone.
It had served its purpose and had been removed.
A lump rose in my throat as I stared at the spot beside the dresser where the jar had always stood.
My dad was a man of few words, and never lectured me on the values of determination, perseverance, and faith.
The pickle jar had taught me all these virtues far more eloquently than the most flowery of words could have done.
When I married, I told my wife Susan about the significant part the lowly pickle jar had played in my life as a boy.
In my mind, it defined, more than anything else, how much my dad had loved me.
No matter how rough things got at home, Dad continued to doggedly drop his coins into the jar.
Even the summer when Dad got laid off from the mill, and Mama had to serve dried beans several times a week, not a single dime was taken from the jar.
To the contrary, as Dad looked across the table at me, pouring catsup over my beans to make them more palatable, he became more determined than ever to make a way out for me. 'When you finish college, Son,' he told me, his eyes glistening, 'You'll never have to eat beans again - unless you want to.'
The first Christmas after our daughter Jessica was born, we spent the holiday with my parents.
After dinner, Mom and Dad sat next to each other on the sofa, taking turns cuddling their first grandchild.
Jessica began to whimper softly, and Susan took her from Dad's arms. 'She probably needs to be changed,' she said, carrying the baby into my parents' bedroom to diaper her.
When Susan came back into the living room, there was a strange mist in her eyes.
She handed Jessica back to Dad before taking my hand and leading me into the room.
'Look,' she said softly, her eyes directing me to a spot on the floor beside the dresser.
To my amazement, there, as if it had never been removed, stood the old pickle jar, the bottom already covered with coins.
I walked over to the pickle jar, dug down into my pocket, and pulled out a fistful of coins.
With a gamut of emotions choking me, I dropped the coins into the jar.
I looked up and saw that Dad, carrying Jessica, had slipped quietly into the room.
Our eyes locked, and I knew he was feeling the same emotions I felt.
Neither one of us could speak.
This truly touched my heart. I know it has yours as well..
Sometimes we are so busy adding up our troubles that we forget to count our blessings.
Never underestimate the power of your actions.
With one small gesture you can change a person's life, for better or for worse.
God puts us all in each other's lives to impact one another in some way.
Look for Good in others.
The best and most beautiful things cannot be seen or touched they must be felt with the heart ~ Helen Keller
- Happy moments, praise God. - Difficult moments, seek God. - Quiet moments, worship God. - Painful moments, trust God. - Every moment, thank God.
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Romney on Obama
Romney: Obama Shows 'Frightening Naiveté'
Monday, June 30, 2008 9:29 AM
By: Ronald Kessler
Barack Obama’s approach to the war on terror shows “frightening naiveté,” Mitt Romney tells Newsmax.
“Even the peaceniks of the last decade have recognized that the pre-911 thinking of the early 1990s was wrong,” Romney says. “The great majority of those who opposed the conflict in Iraq nevertheless recognize that it is a war against a radical, violent Islam. But Barack is one of the few who has still refused to speak out against radical violent Islam and jihadism.”
To suggest, as Obama has, that the way to deal with terrorists is to prosecute them “bespeaks a remarkable lack of understanding of the threat which we face,” Romney says.
Obama has said the government can crack down on terrorists “within the constraints of the Constitution.” He has said, “What we know is that, in previous terrorist attacks — for example, the first attack against the World Trade Center — we were able to arrest those responsible, put them on trial. They are currently in U.S. prisons, incapacitated.”
In the 1993 World Trade bombing, while some perpetrators were prosecuted, others, like Osama bin Laden, were not, Romney points out. Moreover, Romney says, since the 9/11 hijackers did not care if they were killed or sent to jail, and all died in the attack, it is foolhardy to suggest that the threat of prosecutions would be a deterrent.
“The thought that this is a criminal matter restricted to a few handfuls of individuals is completely out of touch with the reality of radical jihadism,” Romney says. “From the Phillippines to Malaysia to, of course, the Middle East to Pakistan to Nigeria — it’s a global effort, and it requires a response far different than calling up the local police department and asking the DA to prosecute them.”
Obama doesn’t get that we are in a new age, where “military might is essential,” Romney says.
“What we’re facing right now in al-Qaida and global violent jihadism is an enemy which has relatively crude weapons but highly motivated warriors,” he says. “Over the next decade or two, they will surely obtain highly sophisticated weapons with massive casualty potential. Now is the time to stop this enemy, because the consequences of ignoring them until they have massive casualty capability are almost unthinkable.”
Striking Differences Between Obama, McCain
In many respects, Romney says, Obama is the exact opposite of John McCain — not just on issues but with regard to straight talk.
“Barack Obama is appealing to the audience he thinks he needs to win,” Romney says. “Particularly during the primary, he appealed to the far left of his party, and with time you will watch him slowly but surely change his stripes and try and appeal more to the center and pretend he’s something he’s not.”
Already, Obama is re-branding himself, Romney notes.
“He said for instance he would vote against the proposed revision of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, particularly if it included forgiveness for the telephone companies,” Romney says. “But now he says he’ll vote for FISA, even though it includes the telephone company issue.”
Obama said he would have personal meetings with the world’s “worst dictators without precondition,” Romney says. “Now he’s trying to change the language and suggest some kind of prior deliberation would take place.”
Obama said during the primary that the D.C. handgun law was constitutional. He wanted to make handguns illegal, Romney says.
“Now he exresses approval of the Supreme Court’s decision,” Romney says.
The biggest flip has been on campaign financing.
“He was very much in favor of public financing of campaigns and said he would take public financing. Now he’s moved very much off of that commitment,” Romney observes.
“These were not changes of perception by virtue of changed circumstances over years,” Romney says. “It is instead a change in a matter of weeks.”
Obama — Media Darling
Despite the flip-flops, the media have largely given Obama a pass.
“It is a remarkable feature of the mainstream media, to watch for instance how they magnified every aspect of Hillary Clinton’s weaknesses during the primary, and how soft was the touch on Barack Obama,” Romney says. “I think there’s a desire on the part of many in the mainstream media to recreate the Camelot years of John F. Kennedy. And there’s a hope that Barack Obama, Michelle Obama, and their young children can be like the Kennedys of old. And so we will have the rose-colored glasses probably throughout the campaign.”
To get a fix on who Obama is, one needs to look at Obama’s longtime association with the Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr., Romney says.
“I think we know the real Barack Obama by virtue of what he’s done over the last 20 years,” Romney says. “He says he doesn’t agree with the most extreme things said by Reverend Wright. I’ll take him at his word. But I still wonder why he selected that minister as his religious mentor. His positions on Iraq and the comments he’s made during the primary campaign — for instance, his statement that he’ll visit the world’s worst dictators without condition in his first year — these tell you about who the real Barack Obama is.”
Obama is a “handsome, well-spoken individual, and he certainly whips up a crowd,” Romney says. “But he has so far in his life not achieved any of the measures of leadership. He has not led a private enterprise, nor has he led in the governmental setting. He is not the author or leader of any major legislative achievement. And that’s something, at age 40, something, that he has not yet demonstrated the qualities of leadership.”
In contrast, whether you love or hate him, “You have to conclude John McCain has been a remarkable leader, from his military service to his leadership in the Senate,” Romney says.
As the campaign proceeds, “Conservatives who take issue with some of McCain’s positions will recognize that the consequences of a Barack Obama presidency would be severe for the principles conservatives hold dear,” he predicts.
Romney notes that the U.S. Supreme Court decision on the Second Amendment “would have been a different decision if Barack Obama had the chance to have appointed a justice or two.”
Likewise, he says, the decision to provide some Constitutional rights to terrorists at Guantanamo “would have been decided differently if John McCain could appoint a justice or two.”
Over time, “Appointment of justices and the implications of the decisions of the court will loom very large in the minds of conservatives.”
Saying he won’t speculate on McCain’s choice of a running mate, Romney says, “He has a lot of good people to choose from. He’ll have to decide which of those will convince the American people that they could be president if necessary, and of course which one helps him in his campaign.”
Romney has been speaking on McCain’s behalf and has formed the Free & Strong America PAC that will further Romney’s future political ambitions. Besides acting as McCain’s surrogate and raising money for him, Romney has lent McCain his fundraising list of 130,000 names with mailing addresses.
Romney recently paid $12 million to buy a home on the ocean in La Jolla, Calif., near San Diego. His son Matt lives in the same area.
The former Massachusetts governor, whose main residence is in Belmont, Mass., says he has no plans to become a California resident, and the purchase has nothing to do with a possible future presidential run.
“I’ve always wanted to have a place on the beach where you could hear the crashing waves,” Romney says. “And you know, I’m 61; I’m not going to live forever. I said, ‘Ann, I want to get a place on the beach. I don’t care what size it is, but I want a place on the beach.’ And this spot, it’s not a huge home, it’s 3,000 square feet, but it is right on the beach, and you open the windows and hear the waves crash. It’s heavenly.”
Ronald Kessler is chief Washington correspondent of Newsmax.com. View his previous reports and get his dispatches sent to you free via e-mail. Go here now.
Monday, June 30, 2008 9:29 AM
By: Ronald Kessler
Barack Obama’s approach to the war on terror shows “frightening naiveté,” Mitt Romney tells Newsmax.
“Even the peaceniks of the last decade have recognized that the pre-911 thinking of the early 1990s was wrong,” Romney says. “The great majority of those who opposed the conflict in Iraq nevertheless recognize that it is a war against a radical, violent Islam. But Barack is one of the few who has still refused to speak out against radical violent Islam and jihadism.”
To suggest, as Obama has, that the way to deal with terrorists is to prosecute them “bespeaks a remarkable lack of understanding of the threat which we face,” Romney says.
Obama has said the government can crack down on terrorists “within the constraints of the Constitution.” He has said, “What we know is that, in previous terrorist attacks — for example, the first attack against the World Trade Center — we were able to arrest those responsible, put them on trial. They are currently in U.S. prisons, incapacitated.”
In the 1993 World Trade bombing, while some perpetrators were prosecuted, others, like Osama bin Laden, were not, Romney points out. Moreover, Romney says, since the 9/11 hijackers did not care if they were killed or sent to jail, and all died in the attack, it is foolhardy to suggest that the threat of prosecutions would be a deterrent.
“The thought that this is a criminal matter restricted to a few handfuls of individuals is completely out of touch with the reality of radical jihadism,” Romney says. “From the Phillippines to Malaysia to, of course, the Middle East to Pakistan to Nigeria — it’s a global effort, and it requires a response far different than calling up the local police department and asking the DA to prosecute them.”
Obama doesn’t get that we are in a new age, where “military might is essential,” Romney says.
“What we’re facing right now in al-Qaida and global violent jihadism is an enemy which has relatively crude weapons but highly motivated warriors,” he says. “Over the next decade or two, they will surely obtain highly sophisticated weapons with massive casualty potential. Now is the time to stop this enemy, because the consequences of ignoring them until they have massive casualty capability are almost unthinkable.”
Striking Differences Between Obama, McCain
In many respects, Romney says, Obama is the exact opposite of John McCain — not just on issues but with regard to straight talk.
“Barack Obama is appealing to the audience he thinks he needs to win,” Romney says. “Particularly during the primary, he appealed to the far left of his party, and with time you will watch him slowly but surely change his stripes and try and appeal more to the center and pretend he’s something he’s not.”
Already, Obama is re-branding himself, Romney notes.
“He said for instance he would vote against the proposed revision of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, particularly if it included forgiveness for the telephone companies,” Romney says. “But now he says he’ll vote for FISA, even though it includes the telephone company issue.”
Obama said he would have personal meetings with the world’s “worst dictators without precondition,” Romney says. “Now he’s trying to change the language and suggest some kind of prior deliberation would take place.”
Obama said during the primary that the D.C. handgun law was constitutional. He wanted to make handguns illegal, Romney says.
“Now he exresses approval of the Supreme Court’s decision,” Romney says.
The biggest flip has been on campaign financing.
“He was very much in favor of public financing of campaigns and said he would take public financing. Now he’s moved very much off of that commitment,” Romney observes.
“These were not changes of perception by virtue of changed circumstances over years,” Romney says. “It is instead a change in a matter of weeks.”
Obama — Media Darling
Despite the flip-flops, the media have largely given Obama a pass.
“It is a remarkable feature of the mainstream media, to watch for instance how they magnified every aspect of Hillary Clinton’s weaknesses during the primary, and how soft was the touch on Barack Obama,” Romney says. “I think there’s a desire on the part of many in the mainstream media to recreate the Camelot years of John F. Kennedy. And there’s a hope that Barack Obama, Michelle Obama, and their young children can be like the Kennedys of old. And so we will have the rose-colored glasses probably throughout the campaign.”
To get a fix on who Obama is, one needs to look at Obama’s longtime association with the Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr., Romney says.
“I think we know the real Barack Obama by virtue of what he’s done over the last 20 years,” Romney says. “He says he doesn’t agree with the most extreme things said by Reverend Wright. I’ll take him at his word. But I still wonder why he selected that minister as his religious mentor. His positions on Iraq and the comments he’s made during the primary campaign — for instance, his statement that he’ll visit the world’s worst dictators without condition in his first year — these tell you about who the real Barack Obama is.”
Obama is a “handsome, well-spoken individual, and he certainly whips up a crowd,” Romney says. “But he has so far in his life not achieved any of the measures of leadership. He has not led a private enterprise, nor has he led in the governmental setting. He is not the author or leader of any major legislative achievement. And that’s something, at age 40, something, that he has not yet demonstrated the qualities of leadership.”
In contrast, whether you love or hate him, “You have to conclude John McCain has been a remarkable leader, from his military service to his leadership in the Senate,” Romney says.
As the campaign proceeds, “Conservatives who take issue with some of McCain’s positions will recognize that the consequences of a Barack Obama presidency would be severe for the principles conservatives hold dear,” he predicts.
Romney notes that the U.S. Supreme Court decision on the Second Amendment “would have been a different decision if Barack Obama had the chance to have appointed a justice or two.”
Likewise, he says, the decision to provide some Constitutional rights to terrorists at Guantanamo “would have been decided differently if John McCain could appoint a justice or two.”
Over time, “Appointment of justices and the implications of the decisions of the court will loom very large in the minds of conservatives.”
Saying he won’t speculate on McCain’s choice of a running mate, Romney says, “He has a lot of good people to choose from. He’ll have to decide which of those will convince the American people that they could be president if necessary, and of course which one helps him in his campaign.”
Romney has been speaking on McCain’s behalf and has formed the Free & Strong America PAC that will further Romney’s future political ambitions. Besides acting as McCain’s surrogate and raising money for him, Romney has lent McCain his fundraising list of 130,000 names with mailing addresses.
Romney recently paid $12 million to buy a home on the ocean in La Jolla, Calif., near San Diego. His son Matt lives in the same area.
The former Massachusetts governor, whose main residence is in Belmont, Mass., says he has no plans to become a California resident, and the purchase has nothing to do with a possible future presidential run.
“I’ve always wanted to have a place on the beach where you could hear the crashing waves,” Romney says. “And you know, I’m 61; I’m not going to live forever. I said, ‘Ann, I want to get a place on the beach. I don’t care what size it is, but I want a place on the beach.’ And this spot, it’s not a huge home, it’s 3,000 square feet, but it is right on the beach, and you open the windows and hear the waves crash. It’s heavenly.”
Ronald Kessler is chief Washington correspondent of Newsmax.com. View his previous reports and get his dispatches sent to you free via e-mail. Go here now.
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