Attention STAR WARS Fans

August 4th and 5th, the Rogers Public Library will be doing a marathon showing of the first three original Star Wars movies, as they were released: Episodes IV, V, VI. Saturday will be IV andV at 12:00 and 2:45. Sunday afternoon at 2:00 will be VI. Free entertainment, free popcorn and drinks, great movies and cool air conditioning. Come beat the heat with us! A great date or family event and doesn't even cost you a dime!!! How's that for enteretainment!

Couldn't have said it better!!

"The folks who are getting the free stuff don't like the folks who are paying for the free stuff, because the folks who are paying for the free stuff can no longer afford to pay for both the free stuff and their own stuff.

And, the folks who are paying for the free stuff want the free stuff to stop.

And the folks who are getting the free stuff want even more free stuff on top of the free stuff they are already getting!

Now... the people who are forcing the people who pay for the free stuff have told the people who are RECEIVING the free stuff that the people who are PAYING for the free stuff are being mean, prejudiced, and racist.

So... the people who are GETTING the free stuff have been convinced they need to hate the people who are paying for the free stuff by the people who are forcing some people to pay for their free stuff and giving them the free stuff in the first place.

We have let the free stuff giving go on for so long that there are now more people getting free stuff than paying for the free stuff.

Now understand this. All great democracies have committed financial suicide somewhere between 200 and 250 years after being founded. The reason? The voters figured out they could vote themselves money from the treasury by electing people who promised to give them money from the treasury in exchange for electing them.

The United States officially became a Republic in 1776, 231 (sic) years ago. The number of people now getting free stuff outnumbers the people paying for the free stuff.. We have one chance to change that in 2012.. Failure to change that spells the end of the United States as we know it."
...from an email "forward" - couldn't have said it better.

I recently saw this e-card, ...couldn't have said it better, either -

"Stupid Me! So that's why I work so many hours, so you can collect welfare, wear pajamas in public and have a(n) (free) iphone."

New Genealogy Websites

My great-grandfather fought in the Civil War. The long marches and extreme temperatures took their tool on his health. He apparently kept a journal, I would assume all or most of his life. I am in possession of three of them. 1881, 1883,1884. I am going to start posting his entries from 1881, here. I hope you enjoy these. I am getting quit an education. What I can't figure out or read, I put in a blank or three dots..., editorial comments are in [ ]'s.

                                                     Henry Wells Spear Journal 1881

Sat. January 1st 1881

Spring Mills, NY

 

Still but cold. wind west

Put out thermon'r [thermometer?] and it run down to -20° coming up to +15° by 2 pm.

            Could do but very little in the Mill, yet about three times as much as yesterday.

            Had no new years; dick's folks did not come down and every thing was dull all day. I did not realize it until it was too late to remedy it.

            Everybody so out of the village tonight - off to some family or other doings.

            Succeeded in collating my fragments for 1st S.S. ... and then made a revised copy to cool.

            We enter the new year with unbroken links of home --

                        The prospect for '81 are not favorable from a business stand point, but God knows all about it. --

            May this be a better and happier year.

Our Current Political Scene

Have you noticed how our current president was quick to criticize his predecessor for things he now takes credit for?

Have you noticed how he blamed the previous administration for bad unemployment, yet more are unemployed now then before?

Have you noticed how he criticize the man that left office when he went in for the huge debt we had, yet we are now further in debt today then ever before?

Have you noticed how he cuts down his opponents for being rich, yet a former (democrat) candidate (John Kerry) was wealthier than our current republic candidate?

Have you noticed how he wants you to spend, spend, spend, not save, save, save – because the more you spend – the more income tax the government gets from the people that receives your spending, and nothing when you save? YOU get the interest.

Have you noticed how little you earn in interest for your savings, discouraging you from bothering?

Have you thought about the fact that the less we save the smaller of a base we will have in order to enlarge our economy and therefore provide jobs?

Have you noticed how he plays on your sympathy for those who are disadvantaged? The government wants those people to become dependant on the government instead of teaching them how to stand on their own two feet.

The Democratic Party is a “party of parasites” – their opponents are producers, - investors of our future.

It’s not a sin to be rich. It’s the American Dream. Lets not penalize the rich, let’s help others to become rich as well. Then we can spread the wealth.

Let’s empower the people to care for their own, not turn to the government to do what the family should be doing. The government has proven to be poor business people.

When you vote this fall, stop and think about what the future will be like if you vote for the current 'status quo'. Is that what you want in your future?

Fix me Jesus

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A few weeks ago my daughter and I went to see "Joyful Noise." It is an awesome story! In it was one character, a young teenager, who was autistic but high functioning. He was mad at God for the way He made him. His mama sat down beside him and told him 'we all have something wrong with us. It's this ole' world we live in. It's not God's fault.'

She then sat down at a piano and sang an old spiritual, "Fix me, Jesus." The words were similar to this:

Fix me Jesus, fix me.
Ooh fix me Jesus,
ooh fix me Jesus,
ooh fix me Lord,
fix me Jesus fix me.

Fix me for my long white robes.
Fix me Jesus, Fix me.
Fix me for my sorry soul.
fix me Jesus, Fix me.

Ooh fix me Jesus,
ooh fix me Jesus,
ooh fix me Lord,
fix me Jesus fix me.

Fix me for my dyeing breath.
Fix me Jesus, fix me.
Fix me for my daily love.
Fix me Jesus, fix me.

Ooh fix me Jesus,
ooh fix me Jesus,
ooh fix me Lord,
fix me Jesus fix me.

---What awesome words!

What's your hobby?

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Hobbies are a wonderful thing. They can actually be good 'mental therapy'! I have several, and one of them is scapbooking. Although I don't think it is as hot as it once was, it still is embedded into lots of folk's lives. Scrapbooking in some form goes back generations. I have a travel scrapbook that my grandmother kept.

President's Day weekend I return to Kansas City, MO for my annual play-date, get-together with girlfriends. We all used to work together and we all scrapbook. Ever since my family moved to Arkansas in 2008, we have done this every President's Day weekend. So - we again did so this year. This is a wonderful way to keep in touch, and get caught up with family news. This year one of our group had been sick and was unable to scrap with us, although she did come for lunch.

We have a couple of little dogs that became parents in December. This is the first time we have raised a litter from beginning to "end". So this is what I decided to scrapbook. I printed off over 300 pictures. And that was probably about half of what I took. Obviously this will take me awhile to finish! I was hoping to find scrap paper with a dog theme, and had 4 sheets on hand. Of course that wasn't going to be enough, but I had to go with what I had. After the weekend was over, don't you know, I found some - a whole package of "dog" paper. Now - to find the time at home to work on it. I ended up spending most of my time sorting out my pictures as the store had printed duplicates even tho't I didn't order any or pay for them! (Need some puppy pictures?)

Besides my puppies, JM worked on their 50th Wedding Anniversary Open House. MJS worked on an album of her daughter's first places she has lived. SH, who couldn't scrap with us this year, did tell us she's been working on her granddaughter's album.

I guess it must be known where I work that I love and do scrapbooking! I work at a library and the director sent me an email asking me if I would like to do a workshop on scrapbooking this summer for the adult summer reading program. WOW! I have never done that before, and I am not a good pre-planner, so this will be interesting. I wish I could do a dry run before I actually do it. There is SO much involved. I did find on the internet, however, ideas for teaching the hobby:
1. Choosing a theme
2. Picking out the background paper, album
3. Presentation of the picture, (matted, behind or in front with a peek-a-boo opening, special presentation like a window, booklet, etc.)
4. Decorations and embellishments
5. Journaling of the picture(s)

There's so much that goes into doing this. Guess I better get crackin'!

Shoe Bomber Sentence

Remember the guy who got on a plane with a bomb built into his shoe and tried to light it?

Did you know his trial is over?
Did you know he was sentenced?
Did you see/hear any of the judge's comments on TV or Radio?
Didn't think so!!!

Everyone should hear what the judge had to say.

Ruling by Judge William Young, US District Court.

Prior to sentencing, the Judge asked the defendant if he had anything to say His response: After admitting his guilt to the court for the record, Reid also admitted his 'allegiance to Osama bin Laden, to Islam, and to the religion of Allah,' defiantly stating, 'I think I will not apologize for my actions,' and told the court 'I am at war with your country.'

Judge Young then delivered the statement quoted below:

Judge Young: 'Mr. Richard C. Reid, hearken now to the sentence the Court imposes upon you.

On counts 1, 5 and 6 the Court sentences you to life in prison in the custody of the United States Attorney General. On counts 2, 3, 4 and 7, the Court sentences you to 20 years in prison on each count, the sentence on each count to run consecutively. (That's 80 years.)

On count 8 the Court sentences you to the mandatory 30 years again, to be served consecutively to the 80 years just imposed. The Court imposes upon you for each of the eight counts a fine of $250,000 that's an aggregate fine of $2 million. The Court accepts the government's recommendation with respect to restitution and orders restitution in the amount of $298.17 to Andre Bousquet and $5,784 to American Airlines.

The Court imposes upon you an $800 special assessment. The Court imposes upon you five years supervised release simply because the law requires it. But the life sentences are real life sentences so I need go no further.

This is the sentence that is provided for by our statutes. It is a fair and just sentence. It is a righteous sentence.

Now, let me explain this to you. We are not afraid of you or any of your terrorist co-conspirators, Mr. Reid. We are Americans. We have been through the fire before. There is too much war talk here and I say that to everyone with the utmost respect. Here in this court, we deal with individuals as individuals and care for individuals as individuals. As human beings, we reach out for justice.

You are not an enemy combatant. You are a terrorist. You are not a soldier in any war. You are a terrorist. To give you that reference, to call you a soldier, gives you far too much stature. Whether the officers of government do it or your attorney does it, or if you think you are a soldier, you are not-----, you are a terrorist. And we do not negotiate with terrorists. We do not meet with terrorists. We do not sign documents with terrorists. We hunt them down one by one and bring them to justice.

So war talk is way out of line in this court You are a big fellow. But you are not that big. You're no warrior. I've known warriors. You are a terrorist. A species of criminal that is guilty of multiple attempted murders. In a very real sense, State Trooper Santiago had it right when you first were taken off that plane and into custody and you wondered where the press and the TV crews were, and he said: 'You're no big deal.'

You are no big deal.

What your able counsel and what the equally able United States attorneys have grappled with and what I have as honestly as I know how tried to grapple with, is why you did something so horrific. What was it that led you here to this courtroom today?

I have listened respectfully to what you have to say. And I ask you to search your heart and ask yourself what sort of unfathomable hate led you to do what you are guilty and admit you are guilty of doing? And, I have an answer for you. It may not satisfy you, but as I search this entire record, it comes as close to understanding as I know.

It seems to me you hate the one thing that to us is most precious. You hate our freedom. Our individual freedom. Our individual freedom to live as we choose, to come and go as we choose, to believe or not believe as we individually choose. Here, in this society, the very wind carries freedom. It carries it everywhere from sea to shining sea. It is because we prize individual freedom so much that you are here in this beautiful courtroom, so that everyone can see, truly see, that justice is administered fairly, individually, and discretely. It is for freedom's sake that your lawyers are striving so vigorously on your behalf, have filed appeals, will go on in their representation of you before other judges.

We Americans are all about freedom. Because we all know that the way we treat you, Mr. Reid, is the measure of our own liberties. Make no mistake though. It is yet true that we will bear any burden; pay any price, to preserve our freedoms. Look around this courtroom. Mark it well. The world is not going to long remember what you or I say here. The day after tomorrow, it will be forgotten, but this, however, will long endure.

Here in this courtroom and courtrooms all across America, the American people will gather to see that justice, individual justice, justice, not war, individual justice is in fact being done. The very President of the United States through his officers will have to come into courtrooms and lay out evidence on which specific matters can be judged and juries of citizens will gather to sit and judge that evidence democratically, to mold and shape and refine our sense of justice.

See that flag, Mr. Reid? That's the flag of the United States of America. That flag will fly there long after this is all forgotten. That flag stands for freedom. And it always will.

Mr. Custody Officer. Stand him down.

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

So, how much of this Judge's comments did we hear on our TV sets? We need more judges like Judge Young. Pass this around. Everyone should and needs to hear what this fine judge had to say. Powerful words that strike home.