Cookie, Cookie, Cookie!

This has so many recipes you can't count them all!

http://cookie-recipes.net/cookie-index.htm

Catholic Math

Little Tommy was doing very badly in math.  His parents had tried tutors, flash cards, special learning centers, in short, everything  that they could think of.  Finally, in a last-ditch effort, they took Tommy down and enrolled him in the local Catholic school. After the first day, little Tommy comes home with a very serious look on his face.  He doesn't kiss his mother hello.  Instead, he goes straight to his room and starts studying.  Books and paper are spread out all over the room and little Tommy is hard at work.  His mother is amazed.  She calls him down to dinner and to her shock, the minute he is done he marches back to his room without a word.  In no time he is back hitting the books as hard as before.  This goes on for some time, day after day, while the mother tries to understand what made all the difference. Finally, Little Tommy brings home his report card.  He quietly lays it on the table and goes up to his room and hits the books. With great trepidation, his mom looks at it, and to her surprise, little Tommy got an "A" in Math. She can no longer hold her curiosity.  She goes to his room and says, "Son, what was it?  Was it the nuns?"  Little Tommy looks at her and shakes his head.  "Well then," she asks, "was it the books, the discipline, the structure, the uniforms, WHAT was it??" Little Tommy looks at her and says, "Well, on the first day of school, when I saw that guy nailed to the plus sign, I knew they weren't fooling around."

Calvin & Hobbes - Tuesday

http://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes/2007/10/30/

Confessions Of Sodom

One Sunday, a priest asked one of the church janitor if he would cover his Confession shift for him -- he said it was easy, since he had a sin list inside the booth which listed both sins and penance. The janitor agreed and took the booth early on Sunday morning. Soon people showed up.

"Forgive me Father, for I have sinned. I have committed adultery."

"Adultery, eh?" the janitor said. "You sly devil. That'll be three Hail Mary's, plus five bucks."

"Thank you, Father." Another person came into the booth.

"Forgive me Father, for I have sinned. I have embezzled money from work."
"Embezzlement, eh? Naughty, naughty. That'll be 5 Hail Mary's, plus fourteen bucks."

"Thank you, Father." This was easy, the janitor thought. Another person came into the booth.
"Forgive me Father, for I have sinned. I have committed the sin of oral sex."
"Oral sex, huh?" He looked at the list, but didn't see oral sex there. So, he excused himelf to look for help. He found an alter boy hanging out on the steps of the church.
"Excuse me," the janitor said. "What does Father Matthew give for oral sex?"
"Well," said the boy, "usually just milk and cookies, but sometimes a Snickers."

Happy Halloween

Cartoon by Bob Englehart, The Hartford Courant

Between the Seconds Photography....

Jim Kuntsler Opinion Piece, Oct 29th

http://www.kunstler.com/mags_diary22.html October 29, 2007, Assumptions        When historians glance back at 2007 through the haze of their coal-fired stoves, they will mark this year as the onset of the Long Emergency – or whatever they choose to call the unraveling of industrial economies and the complex systems that constituted them. And if they retain any sense of humor – which is very likely since, as wise Sam Beckett once averred, nothing is funnier than unhappiness – they will chuckle at the assumptions that drove the doings and mental operations of those in charge back then (i.e. now).      The price of oil is up 53 percent over a year ago, creeping up now toward the mid-$90-range.  The news media is still AWOL on the subject. (The New York Times has nothing about it on today's front page.) The dollar is losing a penny a week against the Euro.  In essence, the American standard of living is dropping like a sash weight.  So far, a stunned public is stumbling into impoverishment drunk on Britney Spears video clips.  If they ever do sober up, and get to a "…hey, wait a minute…" moment when they recognize the gulf between reality and the story told by leaders in government, business, education, and the media, it is liable to be a very ugly moment in US history.       One of the stupidest assumptions made by the educated salient of adults these days is that we are guaranteed a smooth transition between the cancerous hypertrophy of our current economic environment and the harsher conditions that we are barreling toward. The university profs and the tech sector worker bees are still absolutely confident that some hypothetical "they" will "come up with" magical rescue remedies for running the Happy Motoring system without gasoline.  My main message to lecture audiences these days is "…quit putting all your mental energy into propping up car dependency and turn your attention to other tasks such as walkable communities and reviving passenger rail…."  Inevitably, someone will then get up and propose that the transition to all-electric cars is nearly upon us, and we should stop worrying.  As I said, these are the educated denizens of the colleges. Imagine what the nascar morons believe – that the ghost of Davey Crockett will leave a jug of liquefied "dark matter" under everyone's Christmas tree this year or next, guaranteed to keep the engines ringing until Elvis ushers in the Rapture.       The educated folks – that is, the ones subject to the grandiose story-lines of techno-triumphalism taught in the universities – are sure that we'll either invent or organize our way out of the current predicament. A society that put men on the moon in 1969, the story goes, will ramp up another "Apollo Project" to keep things going here.  One wonders, of course, what they mean by keeping things going.  Even if it were hypothetically possible to keep all the cars running forever, would it be good thing to make suburban-sprawl-building the basis of our economy – because that's the direct consequence of perpetually cheap energy. Has anyone noticed that the housing bubble and subsequent implosion is following the peak oil line exactly?      It's a bit harder to discern what the assumptions really are among leaders in the finance sector, since so much of their activity the past ten years has veered into sheer fraud.  The story line that everyone is putting out – from the Fed chairman Bernanke to the CEOs of the Big Fundz – is that American finance is a python that has swallowed a few too many pigs, but if we jigger around interest rates a little bit more, and allow some more money to be lent out cheaply, the python will eventually digest the pigs and go slithering happily on its way along the jungle trail with a burp and a fart.  From this vantage, one sees a rather different story: more like a gang of human grifters sweating through their Prada suits as it becomes increasingly impossible to conceal massive losses incurred through overt reckless misbehavior.  My own guess is that a lot of these boyz will be in line for criminal prosecution before too long.      The political assumptions one hears are the most astoundingly naïve and ridiculous, especially the ones that involve other countries and our relations with them.  NY Times followers no doubt believe, along with Tom Friedman, that the global economy is now a permanent fixture of the human condition, and that soon it will transform itself into a colossal engine of "green" (i.e. benign) commerce.  Friedman and his followers tend to forget the second law of thermodynamics when spinning their fantasies of a world that can harmlessly manufacture and market an endless number of plastic salad shooters from one side of the planet to the other without incurring any losses to the health of said planet.      My own assumptions are somewhat different. I think we're likely to see a lot of nations scrambling for survival, initially manifesting in a contest for the world's dwindling supply of oil (and oil-like substances).  For instance, when viewing the globe, few people consider that Japan currently imports 95 percent of its fossil fuel.  Japan has been a "good boy" among nations since its episode of "acting out" in the mid-20th century and has enjoyed a long industrial prosperity since then.  But what happens when there is not enough oil in the world to be allocated rationally by markets among the powerful nations?  Will Japan just roll over and die?  Will they shutter the Toyota factories and happily turn to placid tea ceremonies. I think Japan will freak out, and it's hard to predict exactly who will feel its wrath and how.       Similarly, Europe.  Americans view Europe as a kind of theme park full of elderly café layabouts swaddled in cashmere as they enjoy demitasse cups in the outdoor cafes of their comfortable art-filled cities (some of them not long ago rebuilt from rubble). Europe has let America do its dirty work for it in the Middle East for the past decade while enjoying tanker-loads of oil coming up through the Suez Canal.  Europe has only had to make a few lame gestures in defense of its oil supplies.  But the North Sea oil fields, which for twenty years have hedged the leverage of OPEC, are crapping out at a very steep rate.  Sooner or later Europe will freak out over oil, and geo-political flat-earthers will be shocked to see that all the nations of café layabouts can mobilize potent military forces. God knows whose side who will be on, exactly, when that happens, and where America will stand – if its own military is not so exhausted that it can even stand up.      Personally, I think the world will be growing a lot larger again, and less flat, and that eventually America will find itself isolated once again between two oceans – though incursions by desperate foreign armies in one way or another, is not out of the question as the great struggle for resource survival gets underway.  In time, however, I think the current Great Nations of the world will lose their ability to project power in the ways we've been conditioned to think about it.      In the meantime, our own nation has become a society incapable of thinking, and the failure at all levels of rank, education, and privilege is impressive.  If you listen to the people running for president – many of them overt clowns – you'd think that that all the comfortable furnishings of everyday life can continue with a few tweaks of the dials.  They are cowards and it is possible that they perfectly represent a whole nation of cowards who deserve cowardly leadership.  The danger, of course, is that when a non-cowardly leader finally does step forward in a desperate America, he will not shrink from pushing around a feckless people, or doing their thinking for them.

__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around
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Calvin & Hobbes - Monday

http://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes/2007/10/29/

"Answering the Top 10 Lies About Church and State"

http://www.bjconline.org/resources/articles/2005/050907_walker_top10.htm

Calvin & Hobbes - Sunday

http://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes/2007/10/28/

Will the real Panthers please stand up?

I went to the Plano East-Wylie football game last night for homecoming with my daughters. This was one of the most disappointing games of my football-watching life. The Panthers lost, 39-36, on a td pass with 28 seconds left. The defense stinks. After starting 6-0 and looking like a state title contender, the offense and quarterback play is inconsistent, the defense can't stop anyone (except poor hapless Richardson), and the season is in a shambles. We may have to beat either Plano or Allen (both excellent teams) just to make the playoffs. Talk about your crash and burn? What's up?

Johnny Ringo (coach), can we please have some defensive coaching? Or do I need to be on the sidelines to tell the coaches what's really happening on the field?

PS Our record is now 6-2 with 2 games left, and Plano High and their fans are licking their chops over the game next Friday at Clark Stadium.

Maxine's Back

http://paulw.gray.googlepages.com/maxine%27sback

Calvin & Hobbes - Friday

http://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes/2007/10/26/

NOW Newsletter - 10.26.07: God and Global Warming

   NOW Newsletter: Friday, October 26, 2007 (Check local listings)

This Week on NOW: God and Global Warming

In August, NOW traveled with an unlikely alliance of Evangelical Christians and leading scientists to witness the breathtaking effects of global warming on Alaska's rapidly changing environment. Though many in the evangelical community feel recognition of global warming is in opposition to their mission, the week-long trip inspired new thinking on the relationship between science and religion, and on our moral responsibility to protect the planet. Travel with NOW and the expeditionary group on a surprising journey to find common ground between earth and sky.

Web Extras:

* Dr. Eric Chivian and Rev. Richard Cizik reflect on their eye-opening journey to Alaska.

* Watch a photo essay of the Alaska scenery witnessed by the scientists and Evangelicals on their journey.


» About the Show

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Project Enterprise Contest

One week left! Vote for the social innovator you most want to see covered by Enterprising Ideas Online.

» Vote Now

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California Fires: Will Homeowners Get Burned Again?

The wildfires in Southern California scorched over 462,000 acres of land since Sunday, destroying about 1,600 homes. On Wednesday, President Bush signed a federal major disaster declaration for Southern California, and promised more federal help for fire victims. But some homeowners may be in for a second shock when they talk to their insurance companies. A 2003 fire that hit the same area left many surprised and angry at what they consider deceptive tactics by some in the insurance industry.

Learn about homeowners' struggles with insurance companies after natural disasters strike.

» Watch NOW: Home Insurance 9-1-1

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Your Turn

Online Poll: Will global warming be a crucial issue for voters in the 2008 presidential election? Vote

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Next Week on NOW

The struggle to get tobacco farmers to change crops and their way of life.

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Cagle: Trick or Treat!

Did someone forward this e-mail to you? Click here and you can subscribe to our cartoon newsletter too! Would you like to reprint our cartoons on your site or in your publication? It's easy! Visit us here. Cartoon by Brian Fairrington, Cagle Cartoons

Two Pigs

By VERLYN KLINKENBORG

The questions people ask make it sound as though I should be morally outraged at myself, as if it’s impossible to scratch the pigs behind the ears and still intend to kill them.

http://www.nytimes.com/mem/emailthis.html

The Funeral

Two deer hunters were standing on a ridge near a highway in rural Texas on the opening day of deer season.

They both spotted a large trophy class buck meandering towards them.

As the one hunter raised his gun to shoot, a funeral procession came slowly by. The hunter lowered his gun, took off his hat and stood with his head bowed until the procession was past. Of course by then, the deer was gone.

The other hunter exclaimed "Wow! That was the most sportsmanlike act I've ever seen! You allowed this trophy buck to escape while showing such compassion and kindness toward someone's dearly departed. You are a great humanitarian and a shining example to sportsmen throughout the world!"

The first hunter nodded and said, "Well, we were married for 42 years."

Calvin & Hobbes - Thursday

http://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes/2007/10/25/

Mainstream Baptist : Regarding Your Bill for Bush's Wars

Post: Regarding Your Bill for Bush's Wars
Link: http://mainstreambaptist.blogspot.com/2007/10/regarding-your-bill-for-bushs-wars.html

White House Seeks to Reduce Program Providing Energy Assistance to the Poor

http://www.ethicsdaily.com/article_detail.cfm?AID=9620

Calvin & Hobbes - Wednesday

http://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes/2007/10/24/

Hegi Family Tree

Here's a link to the file I got from Greg Bledsoe. It goes back to the 1600's.

http://paulw.gray.googlepages.com/JHDesc-HegiAncestory.txt

Can you forget the Clinton years?

Funny video.

Link opens Windows Audio file - wmv.

http://paulw.gray.googlepages.com/tryphorgetin.wmv

Click link to give free food at the Hunger Site

http://www.thehungersite.com/clickToGive/home.faces?siteId=1

Campaign for Pilot Point Opera House

Benefit concert and car show in Pilot Point square on October 28th.
http://www.ppcoh.com/Car_Show___Live_Music.html


Main Site
http://www.ppcoh.com/

Steaming Coffee Video

Click on the link page to open the Steaming Coffee Video wmv file (uses Windows Audio software).

http://paulw.gray.googlepages.com/steaming-coffee.wmv

Marriage Boot Camp TLC - TV Series

----- Forwarded Message ----
From: "david@champ.net" <david@champ.net>
To: pw_gray@yahoo.com
Sent: Tuesday, October 23, 2007 4:18:09 PM
Subject: Marriage Boot Camp TLC - TV Series

Dear Paul Gray,

This is just a friendly reminder that the Marriage Boot Camp & Life
Enrichment Boot Camp series will air on the TLC channel tomorrow night at
7:00 P.M. "Eastern" Time, 6:00 P.M. Central Time. The show will re-air the
same night at 2:00 A.M. Eastern Time.  We'll also be airing on the
Discovery Health Channel starting November 15th at 7:00 P.M. Central Time.

We need your help to make this show successful.  Please help us spread the
word about the "Marriage Camp" series to your friends, co-workers and
family.  Please record/Tivo the show if you can not watch it.

Have you sponsored someone that didn't attend?  Now they can watch the
Boot Camp on TV to see what they missed!  Tell them after watching the
show that you'll be glad to sponsor them again if they are interested.

Please take time to view our updated website with video testimonies and
our funny YouTube commercials at www.marriagebootcamp.com

Thank you,

David Bishop
Director
Marriage Boot Camp
www.marriagebootcamp.com
Life Enrichment Boot Camp
www.lifeenrichmentbootcamps.com
Office: 214-736-9991
Fax:    972-636-1947

__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around
http://mail.yahoo.com

The world's top 10 most liveable cities

http://www.iht.com/slideshows/2007/06/18/travel/web-0621Toptencities.php?WT.mc_id=glob_mrktg_lead

How to forward e-mail appropriately

HOW TO FORWARD E-MAIL APPROPRIATELY

A friend who is a computer expert received the following directly from a

system administrator for a corporate system. It is an excellent message

that

ABSOLUTELY applies to ALL of us who send e-mails. Please read the short

letter below, even if you're sure you already follow proper procedures..

 

Do you really know how to forward e-mails 50% of us do; 50% DO NOT.

 

Do you wonder why you get viruses or junk mail Do you hate it

 

Every time you forward an e-mail there is information left over from the

people who got the message before you, namely their e-mail addresses &

names.  As the messages get forwarded along, the list of addresses builds,

and builds, and builds, and all it takes is for some poor sap to get a

virus, and his or her computer can send that virus to every e-mail address

that has come across his computer. Or, someone can take all of those

addresses and sell them or send junk mail to them in the hopes that you

will go to the site and he will make five cents for each hit. That's right, all

of that inconvenience over a nickel!

 

How do you stop it Well, there are several easy steps:

 

(1) When you forward an e-mail, DELETE all of the other addresses that

appear in the body of the message (at the top). That's right, DELETE them.

Highlight them and delete them, backspace them, cut them, whatever it is

You know how to do. It only takes a second You MUST click the 'Forward' button

first and then you will have full editing capabilitiesagainst the body and

headers of the message. If you don't click on 'Forward' first, you won't be

able to edit the message at all.

 

(2) Whenever you send an e-mail to more than one person, do NOT use the To:

or Cc: fields for adding e-mail addresses. Always use the BCC: (blind

carbon copy) field for listing the e-mail addresses. This is the way the people

you send to will only see their own e-mail address. If you don't see your BCC:

option click on where it says To: and your address list will appear.

Highlight the address and choose BCC: and that's it, it's that easy. When

you send to BCC: your message will automatically say 'Undisclosed

Recipients' in the 'TO:' field of the people who receive it.

 

(3) Remove any 'FW :' in the subject line. You can re-name the subject if

you wish or even fix spelling.

 

(4) ALWAYS hit your Forward button from the actual e-mail you are reading.

Ever get those e-mails that you have to open 10 pages to read the one page

with the information on it By Forwarding from the actual page you wish

someone to view, you stop them from having to open many e-mails just to see

what you sent.

 

(5) Have you ever gotten an email that is a petition It states a position

and asks you to add your name and address and to forward it to 10 or 15

people or your entire address book. The email can be forwarded on and on

and can collect thousands of names and email addresses. A FACT: The completed

petition is actually worth a couple of bucks to a professional spammer

because of the wealth of valid names and email addresses contained therein.

If you want to support the petition, send it as your own personal letter to

the intended recipient. Your position may carry more weight as a personal

letter than a laundry list of names and email address on a petition.

(Actually, if you think about it, who's supposed to send the petition in to

whatever cause it supports And don 't believe the ones that say that the

email is being traced, it just aint so!)

 

(6) One of the main ones I hate is the ones that say that something like,

'Send this email to 10 people and you'll see something great run across

Your screen.' Or, sometimes they'll just tease you by saying something really

cute will happen IT AINT GONNA HAPPEN!!!!! (Trust me, I'm still seeing some

of the same ones that I waited on 10 years ago!) I don't let the bad luck

ones scare me either, they get trashed. (Could be why I haven't won the

lottery)

 

(7) Before you forward an Amber Alert, or a Virus Alert, or some of the

other ones floating around nowadays, check them out before you forward

them. Most of them are junk mail that's been circling the net for YEARS! Just

about everything you receive in an email that is in question can be checked

out at Snopes. Just go to  < http://www.snopes.com/ http://www.snopes.com/

 

Its really easy to find out if it's real or not. If it's not, please don't

pass it on.

 

So please, in the future, let's stop the junk mail and the viruses.

 

Finally, here's an idea!!! Let's send this to everyone we know (but strip

My address off first, please). This is something that SHOULD be forwarded.

Taxpayers for Common Sense and Money for Nothing

Wastebasket Vol. XII No. 30: Money for Nothing

	about : contact : TCS home MONEY FOR NOTHING Volume XII No. 30 - October 19, 2007 It is no secret that Lawmakers like to spend money on their favorite companies and interests. But, rather than having to justify spending taxpayer money, government-backed private loan guarantees are becoming a favorite tool to spread the wealth in the cash-strapped Congress. While some say loan guarantees are fiscally harmless, what they don't say is that they mask the true size and cost of certain programs and ignore the long-term impact on the federal budget deficit when these loans default.   One recent example of this lawmaker love affair with loan guarantees was the creation of a Department of Energy (DOE) program to support "innovative technologies" in the 2005 energy bill.  The idea was that Wall Street would be reluctant to invest in new innovative energy technologies because of the difficulty inherent in measuring the financial risks. So Uncle Sam steps in to back the loans to get these new technologies off the ground.  One of the first players to belly up to the loan guarantee bar is the already heavily subsidized nuclear power industry. The nuclear industry is now seeking a whopping $50 billion in new loans over the next two years claiming that loan guarantees carry no risk. However, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) puts the default rate for these loans at more than 50%, which would put the federal taxpayer on the hook for at least $25 billion.  This so called "money for nothing" could put taxpayers in dire straits.  And let's be clear, nuclear power is a mature industry that has been getting huge government subsidies for more than 50 years.  Wall Street won't invest in nuclear power not because it can't measure the risks but because it knows the financial pitfalls and just isn't willing to take them.   Nuclear power isn't the only industry that will benefit from this new program.  The coal-to-liquid (CTL) industry is seeking billions in guarantees for their own new facilities.  Coal-to-liquid technologies have already proven a market failure in the 1980s, and Standard & Poor's (subscription required) reports that without constant, long-term taxpayer support, CTL projects "are likely to be untenable." Even before you get to coal-to-liquids (or any other energy technology that is, in fact, new), the nuclear industry's $50B requests are significantly higher than the $7B or $9B limits on loan authority indicated by the House and the Administration for the entire program.  Enter Senator Pete Domenici (R-NM) who inserted language into the energy bill proposal that passed the Senate in July, cutting Congress out of the process and handing the DOE a blank check for loan guarantees.  If enacted, the Senate bill will exempt the loan guarantee program from current law – removing the few minimal existing financial safeguards. Currently, the Secretary of Energy must only decide if there is a "reasonable prospect" that the loan will be repaid before issuing the guarantee. Already, the DOE Inspector General has said that the loan guarantee program creates "significant risk to the Government and, therefore, the American taxpayer."   For decades taxpayers have handed out billions to the nuclear industry, and now they are coming to the table for more – and admitting that as an industry they are unwilling to bear the risk of investment.  For example, Steve Winn of NRG Energy, Inc. has indicated that, without obtaining significant comfort that a loan guarantee will be available for its project, the company would abandon its construction plans.  Putting taxpayers at "significant risk" for billions in loan guarantees is not the path the federal government should take.  Wall Street has made it clear they won't invest in risky new power plants. So why should American taxpayers? Going on at Taxpayer.net This Week Check out TCS's Complete Coverage of FY08 Spending Bills TCS Applauds Hinchey Amendment Securing Royalty Reforms in Mining Legislation TCS in the News House panel approves hard-rock mine royalties (Jackson Hole Star-Tribune) GOP Moves to Halt Money for Woodstock (Associated Press) Congress Loves to Bring Home the Bacon (Seattle Post-Intelligencer) Rooting out 'wasteful' government spending (St. Petersburg Times) Mack letter supported Coconut Road (The Hill) Ethics Law Still a Work in Progress in the Senate (Congressional Quarterly) Coburn's crusade: Bending ears against 'earmarking' (USA Today)		We Need Your Support! TCS needs you to help us fight government waste Click here to Join Today! Current Action Items Support Full Disclosure Tell Your Representative You Want to See All Earmark Requests GO » End Mining Giveaways Support H.R. 2262 GO » Stop Coal-to-Liquids Subsidies GO » Notable Quote "The purpose is to awaken the American people to the stupidity of what we do out here." --Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) on why he is challenging earmarks in spending bills. Got a quote or article about pork-barrel spending you think should be featured in the wastebasket? Send us your ideas and comments.

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Funny Videos

Bush Zombies
http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/1ed3ecbc3c

Thanks to Bill for this one.
Civics Teacher Explains Congress
http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/26b0d09397

Calvin & Hobbes - Tuesday

http://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes/2007/10/23/

The Origin of Pets

Where do pets come from?

It is reported that the following edition of the Book of Genesis was discovered in the Dead Seal Scrolls. If authentic, it would shed light on the question, "Where do pets come from?"

And Adam said, "Lord, when I was in the garden, you walked with me everyday. Now I do not see you anymore. I am lonesome here and it is difficult for me to remember how much you love me."

And God said, "No problem! I will create a companion for you that will bewith you forever and who will be a reflection of my love for you, so that you will know I love you, even when you cannot see me. Regardless of how selfish and childish and unlovable you may be, this new companion will accept you as you are and will love you as I do, in spite of yourself."

And God created a new animal to be a companion for Adam. And it was a good animal. And God was pleased.

And the new animal was pleased to be with Adam and he wagged his tail. And Adam said, "But Lord, I have already named all the animals in the Kingdom and all the good names are taken and I cannot think of a name for this new animal."

And God said, "No problem! Because I have created this new animal to be a reflection of my love for you, his name will be a reflection of my own name, and you will call him DOG."

And Dog lived with Adam and was a companion to him and loved him. And Adam was comforted. And God was pleased. And Dog was content and wagged his tail.

After a while, it came to pass that Adam's guardian angel came to the Lord and said, "Lord, Adam has become filled with pride. He struts and preens like a peacock and he believes he is worthy of adoration. Dog has indeed taught him that he is loved, but no one has taught him humility."

And the Lord said, "No problem! I will create for him a companion who will be with him forever and who will see him as he is. The companion will remind him of his limitations, so he will know that he is not worthy of adoration."

And God created CAT to be a companion to Adam. And Cat would not obey Adam.

And when Adam gazed into Cat's eyes, he was reminded that he was not the supreme being. And Adam learned humility.

And God was pleased. And Adam was greatly improved. And Dog wagged his tail.

And Cat did not care one way or the other.

Calvin & Hobbes, Saturday

http://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes/2007/10/20/

Check Out 2008

Click here: 2008

Dog's Prayer

'Dear Lord: Thank you for bringing  me to Timmy's house and not to Michael Vick's --  AMEN!'

Buttermilk pie: Good Southern home-cooking

For pie lovers, this is one smooth Southern treat

11:25 AM CDT on Monday, October 15, 2007

By LAURA H. EHRET / Special Contributor to The Dallas Morning News Utter the words buttermilk pie, and the reaction is likely one of two extremes: wild appreciation of its silky sweetness or complete disgust.

I don't blame those in the latter camp; they can't help their palates. Besides, as my family is fond of saying, more pie for me.
 
EVANS CAGLAGE / DMN
Buttermilk pie is believed to have originated in England and spread to the South and New England along with New World settlers.

I understand how anyone who has never eaten a slice would find it unappetizing. It's difficult to get past the image of sour milk poured into a pie shell.

Imagine if you had never had excellent deep-fried chicken -- crispy crust and tender meat -- and someone showed you a chicken scratching in the dirt, claiming you were looking at the best meat you would ever eat. It's hard to make the leap.

Buttermilk pie is good Southern home-cooking, a smooth, sweet golden custard pie, tempered with a bit of tang. Some people also call it chess pie -- the origins of that name are up for debate -- but technically a chess pie doesn't have any buttermilk, according to The New Food Lover's Companion.

And though buttermilk pie is often associated with the South, the late American food authority James Beard said that chess pie has its origins in England. It became popular in the South and New England as the country was settled.

While it bakes, the buttermilk pie here (my family's recipe) forms a lacy brown topping that some people find unattractive. But I find it appealing. I couldn't imagine buttermilk pie without it, any more than I could picture Cindy Crawford without her mole.

So the next time you find yourself with a spare splash of buttermilk after a batch of corn bread or maybe even some buttermilk biscuits, you've got the makings for an easy pie, if you start with a purchased pie crust.

And, just for grins, offer it to someone who doesn't know what he is eating. You might just make a convert. Or maybe just more pie for you.

Laura H. Ehret is a Lewisville freelance writer.
BUTTERMILK PIE
3 eggs, beaten well
1 2/3 cups sugar
1 ½ sticks melted butter
4 tablespoons flour
½ cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon lemon extract
1 unbaked pie shell

Preheat oven to 350 F. Mix eggs, sugar, butter, flour, buttermilk and vanilla and lemon extracts well. Pour into unbaked pie shell. Bake for 55 minutes. Let cool before cutting. Makes 6 to 8 servings! .

PER SERVING: Calories 443 (49% fat) Fat 24 g (13 g sat) Chol 116 mg Sodium 266 mg Carb 53 g Protein 4 g
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Tracy's SCHIP Testimonial

Excellent read.

Post: Tracy's SCHIP Testimonial
Link: http://mainstreambaptist.blogspot.com/2007/10/tracys-schip-testimonial.html

Calvin & Hobbes - Friday

http://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes/2007/10/19/

It's the Republicans' turn in Iowa...

If you are unable to view the message below, please go to http://interactive.kera.org/MessageViewer/.

It's the Republicans' turn in Iowa The Candidates 2008 Thursday, Oct. 25, 7 p.m. on KERA 13  Judy Woodruff moderates the second of two live debates among the major parties' presidential candidates. This debate, featuring Republican presidential candidates, will be presented live from the Orpheum Theater in Sioux City, Iowa. Blockbuster's leader next on CEO CEO, Friday, Oct. 26, 7:30 p.m. on KERA 13 Don't miss this month's installment of KERA's inside look at the world of area business leaders. Host Lee Cullum will interview Blockbuster CEO Jim Keyes.   TV Specials  Masterpiece Theatre The Amazing Mrs. Pritchard Sunday, Oct. 21, 8 p.m. on KERA 13 Just in time for the political season! Jane Horrocks stars as Ros Pritchard, a perky supermarket manager from West Yorkshire who finds herself at the head of a political movement that sweeps her into office as Britain's new prime minister. Andre Rieu: Radio City Music Hall - Live in New York Saturday, Oct. 27, 7 p.m. on KERA 13 Tune in for tickets! André Rieu brings an outstanding group of guest stars and musical themes together for this special at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. The special features five-year-old violinist Akim Camara, the Harlem Gospel Choir, the Johann Strauss Orchestra and Rieu's vocal choir. American Masters: Good Ol' Charles Schultz Monday, Oct. 29, 8 p.m. on KERA 13 This is a quintessentially Midwestern story of an unassuming, self-doubting man who, through expressing his unique view of the world, redefined the comic art form with "Peanuts." Charles Schultz's genius lay in depicting the daily collisions of insiders and outsiders, of mundane cruelties and transcendent hopes - seeing the extraordinary in the ordinary. A Cemetery Special Sunday, Oct. 28, 8 p.m. on KERA 13 Producer and narrator Rick Seabak takes at look at some of the country's old and interesting burial places. Included are some historic sites, cemeteries with interesting landscaping and the final resting places of notables.     View KERA's full TV schedule.    Radio  KERA Special Series - Cheese Heroin: A Deadly Addiction KERA reporter Sujata Dand examines the cheese heroin crisis in North Texas. Read and listen to her ongoing reports. StoryCorps in North Texas Through Oct. 20 Everyone has stories to tell. KERA is proud to sponsor the North Texas visit of StoryCorps, a national initiative that inspires Americans to record their stories and share them through NPR. Learn more Intelligence Squared Sunday, Nov. 4, 2 p.m. on KERA FM Intelligence Squared US hits the airwaves again in North Texas! Listen as moderator Jeffrey Toobin plays host to a panel debating the idea "Freedom of expression must include the license to offend."   View our full KERA 90.1 radio schedule.     On The Web Math Can Take You Places Do The Math contest for students and teachers Is it possible to create a cool math word problem that even your friends will want to solve? Give it your best shot by creating the funniest, most original math problem using situations from your real life. Enter as many different problems as you'd like!   Ken Burns' The War "The War," a new seven-part documentary series directed and produced by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick, explores the history and horror of the Second World War from an American perspective. Check out episode guides, online interviews and more on the offical Web site. Hear stories from North Texas veterans Word Girl Fridays at 7 a.m. and Saturdays at 8 a.m. on KERA 13 Word Girl is a new addition to KERA's Kids lineup. Check out her Web site to learn more about her mission to enlarge vocabularies and thwart the bad guys. Highlights include videos, games and of course, a dictionary of words used in the program. KERA's Member Movie Screening Join us at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 1 at the Angelika Film Center in Mockingbird Station for a screening of the film "O Jerusalem," featuring Ian Holm, JJ Field, Maria Papas, Patrick Bruel and Said Taghamaoui. "O Jerusalem" meticulously re-creates the historic struggle surrounding the creation of the State of Israel in 1948. At the center of these events are two young, American friends - one Jewish, the other Arab. The film is told from the alternating viewpoints of the Jews, Arabs and Brits, all of whom collide in their fight for the control of Jerusalem. The screening is free for KERA members and a guest. Members must present their Member Rewards Card upon admission. Seating is first come, first served. See upcoming KERA Member Events Tom Thumb shoppers can help support KERA Tom Thumb grocery stores' "Good Neighbor" program can benefit KERA! Just give the cashier at checkout KERA's Good Neighbor number 2643. Tom Thumb will then donate a percentage of your purchase to KERA. It's that easy and another terrific way to support KERA. Make the most of your membership  Your KERA Member Rewards card earns you discounts at these featured Member Rewards partners: Voces Intimae Dallas (214) 335-3666 KERA members will receive a 25% discount on regular admission price. Watel's Allen St. Cottage Dallas (214) 720-0323 20% discount on food (Sun - Fri dinner only). Not valid with other offers or for special events. Up to 6 people. Irving Chorale Irving (972) 252-2787 Two-for-one tickets for all concerts. Discounts available for season package purchases, including tickets to annual gala. See a full list of our Member Rewards partners What's on your mind?  E-mail your questions or comments to our Audience and Member Services staff. Like what you see?  If you enjoy the KERA Connects newsletter, pass it on. Our Forward to a Friend feature is a breeze to use and only takes a minute. OR  Unsubscribe or change your e-mail preferences.

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Calvin & Hobbes - Monday

http://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes/2007/10/15/

NYTimes.com: Ex-Commander Says Iraq Effort Is 'a Nightmare'

WASHINGTON   | October 13, 2007
Ex-Commander Says Iraq Effort Is 'a Nightmare'
By DAVID S. CLOUD Lt. Gen. Ricardo S. Sanchez is the most senior war commander of a string of retired officers who have harshly criticized the conduct of the Iraq war.

Calvin & Hobbes, Saturday

http://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes/2007/10/13/

A Surge, and Then a Stab

September 14, 2007
Op-Ed Columnist
A Surge, and Then a Stab
By PAUL KRUGMAN
http://topics.nytimes.com/top/opinion/editorialsandoped/oped/columnists/pau lkrugman/index.html?inline=nyt-per
To understand what's really happening in Iraq, follow the oil money, which
already knows that the surge has failed.
Back in January, announcing his plan to send more troops to Iraq, President
Bush declared that "America will hold the Iraqi government to the benchmarks
it has announced."
Near the top of his list was the promise that "to give every Iraqi citizen a
stake in the country's economy, Iraq will pass legislation to share oil
revenues among all Iraqis."
There was a reason he placed such importance on oil: oil is pretty much the
only thing Iraq has going for it. Two-thirds of Iraq's G.D.P. and almost all
its government revenue come from the oil sector. Without an agreed system
for sharing oil revenues, there is no Iraq, just a collection of armed gangs
fighting for control of resources.
Well, the legislation Mr. Bush promised never materialized, and on Wednesday
attempts to arrive at a compromise oil law collapsed.
What's particularly revealing is the cause of the breakdown. Last month the
provincial government in Kurdistan, defying the central government, passed
its own oil law; last week a Kurdish Web site announced that the provincial
government had signed a production-sharing deal with the Hunt Oil Company of
Dallas, and that seems to have been the last straw.
Now here's the thing: Ray L. Hunt, the chief executive and president of Hunt
Oil, is a close political ally of Mr. Bush. More than that, Mr. Hunt is a
member of the President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board, a key
oversight body.
Some commentators have expressed surprise at the fact that a businessman
with very close ties to the White House is undermining U.S. policy. But that
isn't all that surprising, given this administration's history. Remember,
Halliburton was still signing business deals with Iran years after Mr. Bush
declared Iran a member of the "axis of evil."
No, what's interesting about this deal is the fact that Mr. Hunt, thanks to
his policy position, is presumably as well-informed about the actual state
of affairs in Iraq as anyone in the business world can be. By putting his
money into a deal with the Kurds, despite Baghdad's disapproval, he's
essentially betting that the Iraqi government - which hasn't met a single
one of the major benchmarks Mr. Bush laid out in January - won't get its act
together. Indeed, he's effectively betting against the survival of Iraq as a
nation in any meaningful sense of the term.
The smart money, then, knows that the surge has failed, that the war is
lost, and that Iraq is going the way of Yugoslavia. And I suspect that most
people in the Bush administration - maybe even Mr. Bush himself - know this,
too.
After all, if the administration had any real hope of retrieving the
situation in Iraq, officials would be making an all-out effort to get the
government of Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki to start delivering on
some of those benchmarks, perhaps using the threat that Congress would cut
off funds otherwise. Instead, the Bushies are making excuses, minimizing
Iraqi failures, moving goal posts and, in general, giving the Maliki
government no incentive to do anything differently.
And for that matter, if the administration had any real intention of turning
public opinion around, as opposed to merely shoring up the base enough to
keep Republican members of Congress on board, it would have sent Gen. David
Petraeus, the top military commander in Iraq, to as many news media outlets
as possible - not granted an exclusive appearance to Fox News on Monday
night.
All in all, Mr. Bush's actions have not been those of a leader seriously
trying to win a war. They have, however, been what you'd expect from a man
whose plan is to keep up appearances for the next 16 months, never mind the
cost in lives and money, then shift the blame for failure onto his
successor.
In fact, that's my interpretation of something that startled many people:
Mr. Bush's decision last month, after spending years denying that the Iraq
war had anything in common with Vietnam, to suddenly embrace the parallel.
Here's how I see it: At this point, Mr. Bush is looking forward to replaying
the political aftermath of Vietnam, in which the right wing eventually
achieved a rewriting of history that would have made George Orwell proud,
convincing millions of Americans that our soldiers had victory in their
grasp but were stabbed in the back by the peaceniks back home.
What all this means is that the next president, even as he or she tries to
extricate us from Iraq - and prevent the country's breakup from turning into
a regional war - will have to deal with constant sniping from the people who
lied us into an unnecessary war, then lost the war they started, but will
never, ever, take responsibility for their failures.

Two Choices

Thanks to Akhil for this post.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

What would you do? You make the choice. Don't look for a punch line, there isn't one. Read it anyway. My question is: Would you have made the same choice?

At a fund raising dinner for a school that serves learning-disabled children, the father of one of the students delivered a speech that would never be forgotten by all who attended. After extolling the school and its dedicated staff, he offered a question: "When not interfered with by outside influences, everything nature does is done with perfection. Yet my son, Shay, cannot learn things as other children do. He cannot understand things as other children do. Where is the natural order of things in my son?"

The audience was stilled by the query.

The father continued. "I believe that when a child like Shay, physically and mentally handicapped comes in to the world, an opportunity to realize true human nature presents itself, and it comes in the way other people treat that child."

Then he told the following story:

Shay and his father had walked past a park where some boys Shay knew were playing baseball. Shay asked, "Do you think they'll let me play?" Shay's father knew that most of the boys would not want someone like Shay on their team, but the father also understood that if his son were allowed to play, it would give him a much-needed sense of belonging and some confidence to be accepted by others in spite of his handicaps.

Shay's father approached one of the boys on the field and asked (not expecting much) if Shay could play. The boy looked around for guidance and said, "We're losing by six runs and the game is in the eighth inning. I guess he can be on our team and we'll try to put him in to bat in the ninth inning."

Shay struggled over to the team's bench and, with a broad smile, put on a team shirt. His Father watched with a small tear in his eye and warmth in his heart. The boys saw the father's joy at his son being accepted. In the bottom of the eighth inning, Shay's team scored a few runs but was still behind by three. In the top of the ninth inning, Shay put on a glove and played in the right field. Even though no hits came his way, he was obviously ecstatic just to be in the game and on the field, grinning from ear to ear as his father waved to him from the stands. In the bottom of the ninth inning, Shay's team scored again. Now, with two outs and the bases loaded, the potential winning run was on base and Shay was scheduled to be next at bat.

At this juncture, do they let Shay bat and give away their chance to win the game? Surprisingly, Shay was given the bat.   Everyone knew that a hit was all but impossible because Shay didn't even know how to hold the bat properly, much less connect with the ball.

However, as Shay stepped up to the plate, the pitcher, recognizing that the other team was putting winning aside for this moment in Shay's life, moved in a few steps to lob the ball in softly so Shay could at least make contact. The first pitch came and Shay swung clumsily and missed. The pitcher again took a few steps forward to toss the ball softly towards Shay. As the pitch came in, Shay swung at the ball and hit a slow ground ball right back to the pitcher.

The game would now be over. The pitcher picked up the soft grounder and could have easily thrown the ball to the first baseman. Shay would have been out and that would have been the end of the game.

Instead, the pitcher threw the ball right over the first baseman's head, out of reach of all team mates. Everyone from the stands and both teams started yelling, "Shay, run to first!  Run to first!" Never in his life had Shay ever run that far, but he made it to first base. He scampered down the baseline, wide-eyed and startled.

Everyone yelled, "Run to second, run to second!" Catching his breath, Shay awkwardly ran towards second, gleaming and struggling to make it to the base. By the time Shay rounded towards second base, the right fielder had the ball ... the smallest guy on their team who now had his first chance to be the hero for his team. He could have thrown the ball to the second-baseman for the tag, but he understood the pitcher's intentions so he too, intentionally threw the ball high and far over the third-baseman's head. Shay ran toward third base deliriously as the runners ahead of him circled the bases toward home.

All were screaming, "Shay, Shay, Shay, all the way, Shay!"

Shay reached third base because the opposing shortstop ran to help him by turning him in the direction of third base, and shouted, "Run to third! Shay, run to third!"

As Shay rounded third, the boys from both teams, and the spectators, were on their feet screaming, "Shay, run home! Run home!" Shay ran to home, stepped on the plate, and was cheered as the hero who hit the grand slam and won the game for his team.

"That day", said the father softly with tears now rolling down his face, "the boys from both teams helped bring a piece of true love and humanity into this world".

Shay didn't make it to another summer. He died that winter, having never forgotten being the hero and making his father so happy, and coming home and seeing his Mother tearfully embrace her little hero of the day!

AND NOW A LITTLE FOOTNOTE TO THIS STORY:

We all send thousands of jokes through the e-mail without a second thought, but when it comes to sending messages about life choices, people hesitate. The crude, vulgar, and often obscene pass freely through cyberspace, but public discussion about decency is too often suppressed in our schools and workplaces.

If you're thinking about forwarding this message, chances are that you're probably sorting out the people in your address book who aren't the "appropriate" ones to receive this type of message. Well, the person who sent you this believes that we all can make a difference. We all have thousands of opportunities every single day to help realize the "natural order of things." So many seemingly trivial interactions between two people present us with a choice: Do we pass along a little spark of love and humanity or do we pass up those opportunities and leave the world a little bit colder in the process?

A wise man once said every society is judged by how it treats its least fortunate amongst them.

You now have two choices:
1. Delete
2. Forward

May your day, be a Shay Day.

Calvin & Hobbes - Tuesday

http://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes/2007/10/09/

Shrub Control - Judicial Branch

Story: Historians hopeful after ruling against Bush on records

Historians hopeful after ruling against Bush on records But scholars say judge didn't go far enough to guarantee access 10:40 AM CDT on Wednesday, October 3, 2007 By TODD J. GILLMAN / The Dallas Morning News WASHINGTON -- Encouraged by a court ruling that chipped away at President Bush's executive order that threatened access to White House records, historians and open records advocates said Tuesday that they see fresh hope for Congress to scrap the order entirely. Some of the nation's most eminent historians have urged Congress to overturn the order giving former presidents the right to seal their papers indefinitely, warning that insights into world events could be lost. A federal judge overturned that part of the order Monday. But she sidestepped challenges to other key elements, including assertions that former presidents and vice presidents may claim executive privilege and pass control of official papers to heirs. Legislation to invalidate the Bush order entirely passed the House in March by a veto-proof margin but stalled last week in the Senate. "There's a threat that we'll get a sanitized history. * It's undemocratic," said Robert Dallek, who recently published a book about Richard Nixon and Henry Kissinger using declassified documents from the Nixon library. He said Tuesday that he hopes Congress settles the matter. "The country is entitled to know its history." The Bush order delayed the release of thousands of documents from the Reagan administration. White House aides say the order is necessary because in the age of terrorism, presidents need more time to review documents for possible national security revelations. The White House threatened a veto in March and continues to review the matter, a spokeswoman said Tuesday. Meredith Fuchs, general counsel at the National Security Archive, said the legislation "is just as needed now as it was before" because the judge's ruling leaves untouched the "substantive parts of the executive order." "It might speed up the process but it doesn't eliminate the big loophole that allows for abuse," she said. Biographer Doris Kearns Goodwin lamented the Bush order. "If we're going to learn from history, we've got to know what that history is," said Ms. Goodwin, who won a Pulitzer Prize for a book on Franklin Roosevelt and whose best-sellers have covered Presidents Kennedy, Johnson, and, most recently, Lincoln. For much of the nation's history, presidents retained private control of their papers, generally donating them to universities or libraries. Congress standardized the rules in 1978, after Mr. Nixon tried to destroy some of his records. On Monday, U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly ruled that the Bush order -- issued two months after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks -- "effectively eliminates" the discretion the 1978 law gave to the National Archives. Her ruling leaves open the possibility of future lawsuits if papers are actually withheld under the surviving provisions of the Bush order. "It underscores the need for the legislation," said Scott Nelson, the attorney for Public Citizen who filed the case almost six years ago on behalf of his own organization and several historian groups. "Congress isn't limited in a way a court is on issues of 'ripeness.. "Congress can and should act to invalidate those provisions now without having to wait." Sen. Jim Bunning, R-Ky., blocked a Senate vote on the bill, whose co-sponsors include Texas Sen. John Cornyn, a fellow Republican. The National Coalition for History is mounting a campaign to pressure Mr. Bunning to drop his opposition. Sen. Joe Lieberman, the Connecticut independent who heads the committee that approved the bill, called on Mr. Bunning on Tuesday to drop his procedural block in light of the court ruling. Bunning aides offered no comment. "They can hide from us to what extent did Cheney have an influence on this administration," Mr. Dallek said. "To what extent was Bush really in charge of the decision-making? What are the inner workings of the Bush White House? Who has influence?" Mr. Dallek noted that researchers have dug out key insights into Lyndon Johnson's handling of Vietnam in recent years. His own John F. Kennedy biography broke ground with details of the president's Addison's disease culled from previously sealed medical files. "We have an astonishing body of information that was not available at first," Mr Dallek said. "We're entitled to know these things. These papers have all been generated by public moneys, and they're owned by the people." Ms. Goodwin said it's understandable for presidents, their aides and relatives to have an impulse to downplay embarrassing details. But she called that short-sighted. Letting analysts work with the complete record will let them assess decisions in light of political cross-currents, competing interests and limited information available at the time. For example, Dwight Eisenhower was ridiculed in his day for ceding too much authority to adviser Sherman Adams. A more flattering picture emerged once historians had the chance to pore through administration records. "It was obvious he was more in charge than we thought," Ms. Goodwin said. "*As a president you just have to hope that as the decades go by, people will come to see the context in which you were making these decisions."

Republican or Democrat

Here's an "equal time" post from my daughter. Anyone else out there who wants to share an opinion?
------------------------------------------------------------------
A young teenage girl was about to finish her first year of college. She considered herself to be a very liberal Democrat but her father was a rather staunch Republican.

One day she was challenging her father on his beliefs and his opposition to taxes and welfare programs. He stopped her and asked her how she was doing in school.

She answered that she had a 40 GPA but it was really tough. She had to study all the time, never had time to go out and party. She didn't have time for a boyfriend and didn't really have many college friends because of spending all her time studying.
Click Here

He asked, "How is your friend Mary." She replied that Mary was barely getting by. She had a 2.0 GPA, never studied, but was very popular on campus, went to all the parties all the time. Why she often didn't show up for classes because she was hung over.

Dad then asked his daughter why she didn't go to the Dean's office and ask why she couldn't take 1.0 off her 4.0 and give it to her friend who only had a 2.0. That way they would both have a 3.0 GPA.

The daughter angrily fired back, "That wouldn't be fair, I worked really hard for mine and Mary has done nothing".

The father slowly smiled and said, "Welcome to the Republican Party".

Calvin & Hobbes - Tuesday

http://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes/2007/10/02/