As I'm holding this book in the palm of my hand,
I'm holding the answer to the problems of man.

God created the world, and it's good I'll confess.
But, we, the people are making a mess.

We're polluting the air. We're poisoning the ground.
A pure drop of water can scarcely be found.

We're burning our forests. Marijuana grows high.
And many, from AIDS, are destined to die.

Our good moral standards are almost extinct,
Our nation is crumbling, we're close to the brink.

Men gather round tables to figure and plan;
How to stop all these vices thought up by man.

They talk and they quibble without much success,
And some may be trying to do what is best.

But it saddens the hearts of Christians to see,
How many ignore the best remedy.

Too many people are trying alone,
to solve all these problems, abroad and at home.

Forgetting how Jesus who died for the lost;
Our eyes are on pleasures, instead of the cross.

If we study God's word and abide by his laws,
We will find the ONE REMEDY without any flaws.

So! It's time we pick up this book in my hand,
And search it, and study; then we'll understand.

That GOD is the answer to the problems of man,
revealed in the BIBLE, this BOOK in my hand.

Opening weekend of turkey season, I was helping friends with an Eagle Scout project at a local elementary school. I had promised I would months before, then I was hit with the date. Oh well.

Anyway, it was a stormy weekend and we noticed the flags flying in the rain, no light and not all weather flags. The U.S. flag was faded almost completely grey and tattered. The state flag didn't look much better.

The longer I was there, the more it got to me. So, I took the flags down and the next morning carried them to the superintendant's office and explained to them what was going on. Last week, when I drove by that very same Elementary School, and those old, faded, tattered flags were right back up the pole.

I bet they flew through the storms the other night. I don't know what to think when a country such as ours has so little respect for the symbol of our freedom!

-Chad Mathis

Moby:
I couldn't agree with you more, Chad. Does public education still teach our children the value of Old Glory? Do they still give lessons regarding the price freely paid for our liberty? Are these administratiors oblivious to the fact that they lead by example.

If this banner isn't important to them, it won't be important to the children we've entrusted to their care and education. These children are our future. They must know where we've been, or how can be expect them to know where they're going?

-Moby

Marine Lance Cpl. William Kyle Carpenter, his face missing an eye and crisscrossed with deep scars, stood on the floor of the S.C. Senate on Wednesday to receive the thanks of his state. Carpenter, 21, lost the eye, most of his teeth and use of his right arm from a grenade blast Nov. 21 near Marjah, Helmand Province, Afghanistan .

Friends and family say he threw himself in front of the grenade to protect his best friend in Afghanistan , Cpl. Nick Eufrazio. Carpenter just remembers seeing the grenade. Then a white flash. Then a fellow Marine telling him he would be fine. Then, four weeks later, he woke up in a hospital in Germany. “The second I woke up, I saw my family by my bedside,” he said. The Senate resolution noted Carpenter “suffered catastrophic wounds in the cause of freedom” and “has shown himself worthy of the name ‘Marine.’” He said his experience was nothing unusual in war. People back home, worried about the economy and gas prices, he said, should remember Marines and soldiers are still being maimed and killed.

“The light is on me right now,” he said. “But I’m hoping what happened to me will help remind people that things like this happen every day and people don’t see it. I’m proud of what my fellow Marines have done there and are doing there now. Helmand Province is one of the most dangerous places in the world.”

Carpenter and a 12-man squad from his 9th Regiment, 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force, were on patrol outside Marjah. They were in the fifth month of a seven-month deployment. They were in a village they called Shadier, between two other villages they named Shady and Shadiest. They had been in hard combat, he said, as the Marines were pushing out farther from their base, expanding the territory they controlled.

“For two days we had been hit pretty hard,” he said. “We moved into (enemy) territory, and they didn’t like it.” He was fighting on a rooftop when the grenade hit. “I took 99 percent of the blast,” he said. “But one little piece of shrapnel got by me and went into his (Eufrazio’s) brain.”

According to Sen. Jake Knotts, who sponsored and read the proclamation, Eufrazio suffered a serious brain injury and is recovering in Bethesda Naval Hospital in Maryland . He is now speaking and talking.

“Carpenter also spent most of his recovery time, which so far has included 25 surgeries and more than 100 hours of physical therapy.” at Bethesda .

There, he said, he was inspired by the other patients, many of whom had no legs or no eyes or no arms. I’m lucky.” he said. Knotts said that Carpenter has been nominated for the Medal of Honor, adding, “And I think this kid deserves it.” But Carpenter said that “… people saying they are proud of me is enough.”
That doesn’t surprise his 20-year-old fiancee, Jordan Gleaton.

“I haven’t heard him complain one time.” Gleaton said. “I would be a mess. It’s been a tough three months, she added. I don’t feel like I’m 20 anymore.”

Carpenter’s parents, Robert and Robin Carpenter of Gilbert, say they are proud of the way their son has handled his horrific injuries. They call him “our miracle.”

This is a far cry from the way you Viet Nam vets were received. Thanks for your service.

David R. Ray GySgt USMC(RET.)

AFTER A FEW OF THE USUAL SUNDAY EVENING HYMNS, THE CHURCH'S PASTOR SLOWLY STOOD UP, WALKED OVER TO THE PULPIT AND, BEFORE HE GAVE HIS SERMON FOR THE EVENING, HE BRIEFLY INTRODUCED A GUEST MINISTER WHO WAS IN THE SERVICE THAT EVENING.

IN THE INTRODUCTION, THE PASTOR TOLD THE CONGREGATION THAT THE GUEST MINISTER WAS ONE OF HIS DEAREST CHILDHOOD FRIENDS AND THAT HE WANTED HIM TO HAVE A FEW MOMENTS TO GREET THE CHURCH AND SHARE WHATEVER HE FELT WOULD BE APPROPRIATE FOR THE SERVICE....

WITH THAT, AN ELDERLY MAN STEPPED UP TO THE PULPIT AND BEGAN TO SPEAK.
'A FATHER, HIS SON, AND A FRIEND OF HIS SON WERE SAILING OFF THE PACIFIC COAST ,' HE BEGAN. 'WHEN A FAST APPROACHING STORM BLOCKED ANY ATTEMPT TO GET BACK TO THE SHORE. THE WAVES WERE SO HIGH, THAT EVEN THOUGH THE FATHER WAS AN EXPERIENCED SAILOR, HE COULD NOT

KEEP THE BOAT UPRIGHT AND THE THREE WERE SWEPT INTO THE OCEAN AS THE BOAT CAPSIZED.'
THE OLD MAN HESITATED FOR A MOMENT, MAKING EYE CONTACT WITH TWO TEENAGERS WHO WERE, FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE THE SERVICE BEGAN,
LOOKING SOMEWHAT INTERESTED IN HIS STORY..

THE AGED MINISTER CONTINUED WITH HIS STORY, 'GRABBING A RESCUE LINE, THE FATHER HAD TO MAKE THE MOST EXCRUCIATING DECISION OF HIS LIFE: TO WHICH BOY WOULD HE THROW THE OTHER END OF THE LIFE LINE. HE ONLY HAD SECONDS TO MAKE THE DECISION. THE FATHER KNEW THAT HIS SON WAS A CHRISTIAN AND HE, ALSO, KNEW THAT HIS SON'S FRIEND WAS NOT..

THE AGONY OF HIS DECISION COULD NOT BE MATCHED BY THE TORRENT OF WAVES.
AS THE FATHER YELLED OUT, 'I LOVE YOU, SON!' HE THREW OUT THE LIFE LINE TO HIS SON'S FRIEND. BY THE TIME THE FATHER HAD PULLED THE FRIEND BACK TO THE CAPSIZED BOAT, HIS SON HAD DISAPPEARED BENEATH THE RAGING SWELLS INTO THE BLACK OF NIGHT. HIS BODY WAS NEVER RECOVERED.

BY THIS TIME, THE TWO TEENAGERS WERE SITTING UP STRAIGHT IN THE PEW, ANXIOUSLY WAITING FOR THE NEXT WORDS TO COME OUT OF THE OLD MINISTER'S MOUTH.
'THE FATHER,' HE CONTINUED, 'KNEW HIS SON WOULD STEP INTO ETERNITY WITH JESUS AND HE COULD NOT BEAR THE THOUGHT OF HIS SON'S FRIEND STEPPING INTO AN ETERNITY WITHOUT JESUS.. THEREFORE, HE SACRIFICED HIS SON TO SAVE THE SON'S FRIEND. '

HOW GREAT IS THE LOVE OF GOD THAT HE SHOULD DO THE SAME FOR US. OUR HEAVENLY FATHER SACRIFICED HIS ONLY BEGOTTEN SON THAT WE COULD BE SAVED. I URGE YOU TO ACCEPT HIS OFFER TO RESCUE YOU AND TAKE A HOLD OF THE LIFE LINE HE IS THROWING OUT TO YOU IN THIS SERVICE.'

WITH THAT, THE OLD MAN TURNED AND SAT BACK DOWN IN HIS CHAIR AS SILENCE FILLED THE ROOM.
THE PASTOR AGAIN WALKED SLOWLY TO THE PULPIT AND DELIVERED A BRIEF SERMON WITH AN INVITATION AT THE END. HOWEVER, NO ONE RESPONDED TO THE APPEAL.
WITHIN MINUTES AFTER THE SERVICE ENDED, THE TWO TEENAGERS WERE AT THE OLD MAN'S SIDE.

'THAT WAS A NICE STORY,' POLITELY STATED ONE OF THEM,'BUT I DON'T THINK IT WAS VERY REALISTIC FOR A FATHER TO GIVE UP HIS ONLY SON'S LIFE IN HOPES THAT THE OTHER BOY WOULD BECOME A CHRISTIAN.'
'WELL, YOU'VE GOT A POINT THERE,' THE OLD MAN REPLIED, GLANCING DOWN AT HIS WORN BIBLE. A BIG SMILE BROADENED HIS NARROW FACE. HE ONCE AGAIN LOOKED UP AT THE BOYS AND SAID, 'IT SURE ISN'T VERY REALISTIC, IS IT? BUT, I'M STANDING HERE TODAY TO TELL YOU THAT STOR Y GIVES ME A GLIMPSE OF WHAT IT MUST HAVE BEEN LIKE FOR GOD TO GIVE UP HIS SON FOR ME.
YOU SEE...

I WAS THAT FATHER AND YOUR PASTOR IS MY SON'S FRIEND.'

As we raised our right hand and took the oath to serve this country, we did it so you don’t have too- When we had to say goodbye to our family and friends some times more than once, to go to the foreign land to defend, we didn’t know when we were coming back, or if we would. We did it; so you don’t have too- As we stood in battle and bullets were exchanged, you were on our mind and that gave us our reason why we were there. We went; so you don’t have too- We made friends with one another, no matter where we came from or what color we are. We had each other’s back, and there are the ones who never make it back, but we still hear their laugh, voice and stories of home. We developed a strong bond that only happens there. We will always have them; so you don’t have too- To those who didn’t make it back, for they paid the great sacrifice. We miss you and salute you mighty warrior.

For us who make it back we live with the ongoing battle in us, in our mind and our bodies, and from the struggles from the place we wish to forget. When the doctors can’t tell us what’s wrong and the government denies any wrong, but yet our symptoms tell us different. Our scars inside and out, our missing parts we once had, our memories that once before were of all good, but now those have changed. Some of us didn’t die in that foreign land, but die here at home because of that foreign land. See we feel all this; so you don’t have too-

When you lay your head down at night and dream sweet dreams of tomorrow and your future, we dream things that Hollywood could never make reality. Our dreams we never want you to see. But we dream them. You complain about not having this or that; but yet you’re able to sit down to a good hot dinner. Remember this, we went without and ate our dinner out of a brown plastic bag and then seen people that didn’t have any. We went without; so you don’t have too- To the families of those who served and are serving, they deal with loneliness, they deal with the love one not coming home at all, and they deal with the veteran who has illness and other issues that come with serving. They are strong and they are dedicated to their service member, my hats off to you.

Remember this: they deal with this; so you don’t have too- You say, “Why do they send them?” and even some of you hate the ones that are sent because they went. We have been spit on and called many names because of our service; but remember this, we will take it because we believe in the true honor of America and will continue to fight, we’ll continue to hold our head up we’ll continue to shed our blood and give our all to Old Glory even when you don’t understand.

So next time you travel to the store without an escort or travel across country in peace, or you hear a siren go off, and it’s only a weather alert and not a bomb dropping on you, just remember this: “we fought for your peace and security,” so you don’t have too- This is freedom, we volunteered, we answered the call and we love our country just like you. We don’t look down on you because you haven’t served, so please don’t look down on us because we have. We will go again if called. So, if you see a veteran and if you find it in your heart just shake their hand and say thanks, it will make their day just to know you care, but remember this, you don’t have too- We will still fight for you anyway.

May God Bless America!!

Raymond S. Stevens

U.S. Army veteran

There is a new Scarlet Letter in this country.

It is not the letter “A” of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel, sewn onto the clothing of protagonist Hester Prynne for her adulterous behavior in Puritan society. Rather, it is the letter “B.” It stands for Believer: in God and the Bible; in the U.S. Constitution; in the Conservative principles and values which flow naturally from those sources.

There is nothing the Left would love to do more than sew a bright red “B” onto the clothing of every Believer. Collectively, the Left is today’s Puritans, who see everyone’s flaws but their own. Like the Puritans, they see themselves as guardians of society, whose beliefs are absolute and which others must adhere to, even if they do not share them.

Unlike the Puritans of history, however, these self-righteous folks do not believe in God, but in the omnipotence, omniscience and omnipresence of the state, because they believe it knows better than we how we should live. They do not believe in the Bible or the Judeo-Christian ethic, but in the scribbling of self-proclaimed intellectuals, those of “enlightened” thought who insist we were not created but are nothing more than a chance collection of atoms or an evolved something that crawled out of the primordial ooze. They do not believe in the freedom given to humans by God as Creator and embodied in our Constitution, or in the political power “We the People” derive from that document, but in the authority of a self-anointed “elite” political class to control our lives. They do not believe in the personal responsibility that is at the heart of the Judeo-Christian ethic. They do believe we cling to our Bibles, our Constitution and our guns.

And so we do, not because we are “bitter” as they have charged, but because unlike the Left, we believe in things greater than ourselves: God, family, country, human freedom. Of course, believers in God and the Bible are not perfect. We have the same human flaws as everyone else. The Constitution is not perfect, although it is the most perfect ruling document ever devised by man. Conservatism is not perfect, although it does encourage human achievement as opposed to the left. Our friends on the Left insist that with the guidance of the state – but stripped of any ability to make personal decisions – man can perfect himself and find heaven on earth. We have studied the Bible and human nature, not to mention history.

We understand human attempts to form a utopian society would create boredom at best and slavery at worst. The Christian writer C. S. Lewis once said, “Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive.” That is the tyranny we currently face: the tyranny of the Nanny State, of those who want tell us – for our own good, of course – what to think, how to speak, what to eat, which car to drive, which school to attend, which doctor to see, or whether we can see a doctor at all.

Believers must reject that tyranny completely. We who believe in God, the Bible, the Constitution and Conservative principles and values must effectively sew a scarlet “B” onto our own clothing and wear it proudly. And like the One we profess, we must declare our beliefs and demand of our Leftist opponents: “Get thee behind me!”

Two men, both seriously ill, occupied the same hospital room.
One man was allowed to sit up in his bed for an hour each afternoon to help drain the fluid from his lungs.

His bed was next to the room's only window. The other man had to spend all his time flat on his back. The men talked for hours on end. They spoke of their wives and families, their homes, their jobs, their involvement in the military service, where they had been on vacation..

Every afternoon, when the man in the bed by the window could sit up, he would pass the time by describing to his roommate all the things he could see outside the window.

The man in the other bed began to live for those one hour periods where his world would be broadened and enlivened by all the activity and color of the world outside. The window overlooked a park with a lovely lake. Ducks and swans played on the water while children sailed their model boats. Young lovers walked arm in arm amidst flowers of every color and a fine view of the city skyline could be seen in the distance.

As the man by the window described all this in exquisite details, the man on the other side of the room would close his eyes and imagine this picturesque scene. One warm afternoon, the man by the window described a parade passing by. Although the other man could not hear the band - he could see it in his mind's eye as the gentleman by the window portrayed it with descriptive words. Weeks passed.

One morning, the day nurse arrived to bring water for their baths only to find the lifeless body of the man by the window, who had died peacefully in his sleep.

She was saddened and called the hospital attendants to take the body away.

As soon as it seemed appropriate, the other man asked if he could be moved next to the window. The nurse was happy to make the switch, and after making sure he was comfortable, she left him alone.
Slowly, painfully, he propped himself up on one elbow to take his first look at the real world outside.

He strained to slowly turn to look out the window besides the bed.

It faced a blank wall...

The man asked the nurse what could have compelled his deceased roommate who had described such wonderful things outside this window. The nurse responded that the man was blind and could not even see the wall. She said, 'Perhaps he just wanted to encourage you.'

Epilogue:

There is tremendous happiness in making others happy, despite our own situations.
Shared grief is half the sorrow, but happiness when shared, is doubled. If you want to feel rich, just count all the things you have that money can't buy.

To those of us who have children in our lives, whether they are our own, grandchildren, nieces, nephews, or students... Whenever your children are out of control, you can take comfort from the thought that even God's omnipotence did not extend to His own children.

After creating heaven and earth, God created Adam and Eve.

And the first thing he said was " DON'T !"

"Don 't what ? " Adam replied.

"Don't eat the forbidden fruit." God said.

"Forbidden fruit ? We have forbidden fruit ? Hey Eve..we have forbidden fruit ! "

" No Way ! "

"Yes way ! "

"Do NOT eat the fruit ! " said God..

"Why ? "

"Because I am your Father and I said so ! " God replied, wondering why He hadn't stopped creation after making the elephants

A few minutes later, God saw His children having an apple break and He was ticked !

"Didn't I tell you not to eat the fruit ? " God asked.

"Uh huh," Adam replied.

"Then why did you ? " said the Father.

"I don't know," said Eve.

"She started it! " Adam said.

"Did not ! "

"Did too ! "

"DID NOT ! "

Having had it with the two of them, God's punishment was that Adam and Eve should have children of their own.

Thus the pattern was set and it has never changed.

Dear Moby,

I am writing this letter in absolutely disgust and horror. As you know, I am the Commander at our V.F.W. One of my members is a great guy, his name is Adam Carney.

Adam is a Veteran of the U.S. Navy, where he served with distinction for 10 years. He served onboard the U.S.S. Shiloh and was apart of the U.S.S. Cole attack and rescue, and continued to serve with the Navy's Special Boat Unit #12 where he worked as direct combat support to West Coast SEAL TEAMS.
After his service to our Nation, he then chose to serve his community as a City of Atlanta Police Officer, at the APD Adam was a Motorcycle Patrol Officer, and a leading Weapon's Instructor, and Shooting Coach.

Due to Adams back ground and unique skills, Adam was recruited by Dyna Corp. to train Afghan Soldiers and Police, to be able to defend their own country so our Boys and Girls in uniform could come home, a Mission he gladly accepted, and has been performing for well over a year.
On the 28th of March, as evening approached Adam who had been complaining of indigestion and heart burn, stepped out of the tent and collapsed.

At the young age of 34 Adam Carney had died, from what has been reported to be a massive heart attack.

Adam Leaves Behind his Loving parents, siblings, a lovely young Fiance' and TWO BEAUTIFUL CHILDREN ages 4 and 6. 

I WISH THIS WAS THE WORST OF IT!

Again, it was march 28th when Adam left us, today is April 5th (8 days later) and we still have no idea when Adams body will be sent home. Dyna Corp., who holds Adams State Dept. Mission, has previously stated it was not their responsibility to fly his body home. Adam has been lying in this state with a flag draped over his body for 8 days now. It has been Dyna Corp's story that the body must be either autopsied, or a waiver signed to release the body, THIS WAS DONE 7 DAYS AGO!

Dyna Corp. has also refused to release the facts of his insurance benefits, as to cover his final expenses. My VFW here locally will be hosting multiple fund raisers to make this happen.

What your listeners can do: PLEASE contact your local Senate office AND your Congressman. Tell them to "BRING ADAM CARNEY HOME NOW!"

YOUR LISTENERS CAN CONTACT ME AT 678-522-7461 OR AT [email protected]

THANK YOU MOBY!

WILLIAM J. MITIU
U.S. ARMY RETIRED
VFW COMMANDING

Walking can add minutes to your life. This enables you at 85 years old to spend an additional 5 months in a nursing home at $7000 per month.

My grandpa started walking five miles a day when he was 60. Now he's 97 years old and we don't know where he is.

I like long walks, especially when they are taken by people who annoy me.

The only reason I would take up walking is so that I could hear heavy breathing again.

I have to walk early in the morning, before my brain figures out what I'm doing..

I joined a health club last year, spent about 400 bucks. Haven't lost a pound. Apparently you have to go there.

Every time I hear the dirty word 'exercise', I wash my mouth out with chocolate.

The advantage of exercising every day is so when you die, they'll say, 'Well, she looks good doesn't she.'

If you are going to try cross-country skiing, start with a small country.

I know I got a lot of exercise the last few years,...... just getting over the hill.

We all get heavier as we get older, because there's a lot more information in our heads. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Every time I start thinking too much about how I look, I just find a Happy Hour and by the time I leave, I look just fine.

I don't think our kids know what an apron is.

The principal use of Grandma's apron was to protect the dress underneath because she only had a few. It was also because it was easier to wash aprons than dresses and aprons used less material. But along with that, it served as a potholder for removing hot pans from the oven.

It was wonderful for drying children's tears, and on occasion was even used for cleaning out dirty ears. From the chicken coop, the apron was used for carrying eggs, fussy chicks, and sometimes half-hatched eggs to be finished in the warming oven. When company came, those aprons were ideal hiding places for shy kids..

And when the weather was cold Grandma wrapped it around her arms. Those big old aprons wiped many a perspiring brow, bent over the hot wood stove. Chips and kindling wood were brought into the kitchen in that apron.

From the garden, it carried all sorts of vegetables. After the peas had been shelled, it carried out the hulls. In the fall, the apron was used to bring in apples that had fallen from the trees.

When unexpected company drove up the road, it was surprising how much furniture that old apron could dust in a matter of seconds.

When dinner was ready, Grandma walked out onto the porch, waved her apron, and the men folk knew it was time to come in from the fields to dinner. It will be a long time before someone invents something that will replace that 'old-time apron' that served so many purposes.

REMEMBER:
Grandma used to set her hot baked apple pies on the window sill to cool. Her granddaughters set theirs on the window sill to thaw.

They would go crazy now trying to figure out how many germs were on that apron. I don't think I ever caught anything from an apron - but love...

The world's largest army... America 's hunters! I had never thought about this....

A blogger added up the deer license sales in just a handful of states and arrived at a striking conclusion:

There were over 600,000 hunters this season in the state of Wisconsin.

Allow me to restate that number. Over the last several months, Wisconsin 's hunters became the eighth largest army in the world.

More men under arms than in Iran.

More than in France and Germany combined.

These men deployed to the woods of a single American state to hunt with firearms, and no one was killed. That number pales in comparison to the 750,000 who hunted the woods of Pennsylvania and Michigan 's 700,000 hunters, all of whom have now returned home.

Toss in a quarter million hunters in West Virginia and it literally establishes the fact that the hunters of those four states alone would comprise the largest army in the world. The point?

America will forever be safe from foreign invasion with that kind of home-grown firepower.

Hunting -- it's not just a way to fill the freezer. It's a matter of national security.

*************************************************
That's why all enemies, foreign and domestic, want to see us disarmed.
Food for thought when next we consider gun control.

A little girl had been shopping with her Mom in Wal Mart. She must have been 6 years old, this beautiful red haired, freckle faced image of innocence. It was pouring outside. The kind of rain that gushes over the top of rain gutters, so much in a hurry to hit the earth it has no time to flow down the spout. We all stood there, under the awning, just inside the door of the Wal Mart.

We waited, some patiently, others irritated because nature messed up their hurried day.
I am always mesmerized by rainfall. I got lost in the sound and sight of the heavens washing away the dirt and dust of the world. Memories of running, splashing so carefree as a child came pouring in as a welcome reprieve from the worries of my day. Her little voice was so sweet as it broke the hypnotic trance we were all caught in,

'Mom let's run through the rain,' she said.

'What?' Mom asked.

'Let's run through the rain!' She repeated.

'No, honey. We'll wait until it slows down a bit,' Mom replied.

This young child waited a minute and repeated: 'Mom, let's run through the rain..'

'We'll get soaked if we do,' Mom said.

'No, we won't, Mom. That's not what you said this morning,' the young girl said as she tugged at her Mom's arm.

'This morning? When did I say we could run through the rain and not get wet?'

'Don't you remember? When you were talking to Daddy about his cancer, you said, 'If God can get us through this, He can get us through anything! '

The entire crowd stopped dead silent.. I swear you couldn't hear anything but the rain.. We all stood silently. No one left. Mom paused and thought for a moment about what she would say. Now some would laugh it off and scold her for being silly. Some might even ignore what was said. But this was a moment of affirmation in a young child's life. A time when innocent trust can be nurtured so that it will bloom into faith.

'Honey, you are absolutely right. Let's run through the rain. If GOD let's us get wet, well maybe we just need washing,' Mom said.

Then off they ran. We all stood watching, smiling and laughing as they darted past the cars and yes, through the puddles. They got soaked. They were followed by a few who screamed and laughed like children all the way to their cars. And yes, I did.

I ran. I got wet. I needed washing.

Circumstances or people can take away your material possessions, they can take away your money, and they can take away your health. But no one can ever take away your precious memories...So, don't forget to make time and take the opportunities to make memories everyday.

I HOPE YOU STILL TAKE THE TIME TO RUN THROUGH THE RAIN.

Two recent events have given the Left an excuse to launch a new broadside of “hate” charges against Conservatives. One is the order from the White House to the Department of Justice to no longer defend the Defense of Marriage Act. Another is the repeal by the recently-replaced lame-duck 111th Congress of the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy for homosexuals. A number of Conservative organizations already are working to reverse both.

If Conservatives had to face nothing more than name-calling, it would not be so troubling. But the Left has a powerful ally, an ally which has all but turned standing up for traditional Judeo-Christian beliefs into a criminal activity: hate crime laws.

The stated purpose of such laws is to punish those who commit crimes against others because those others are different. Their actual effect is to criminalize thought and speech. In doing so, they undermine the rule of law and violate the most basic spirit of the U.S. Constitution.

It is the rule of law which separates this nation from those which persecute, prosecute and often execute any who challenge the whims or beliefs of the person or group in power. It is the rule of law which prevents the whims or beliefs of those in power in the U.S. from being imposed as “law.” It is the rule of law which focuses punishment on the actions of the accused, not on what they think or say, however vile those thoughts or words might be. And it is the Constitution upon which the rule of law is based.

In reality, hate crime laws punish only those whose thoughts and speech do not conform to the predominant culture, even if they deem that culture immoral or illegal. The true intent of those who propose and support such laws is to force their opponents to conform to a particular view of the world. No doubt you have heard of a number of closely-related political systems which use thought and speech control as basic tenets: Marxism, Nazism, fascism, socialism and communism.
Supporters of hate crime laws cloak themselves in the self-righteous claim of protecting those who have been wronged unjustly. All victims of crime have been wronged unjustly.

Of course attacking someone simply because they are of a different race or religion or are homosexual is a heinous act. But is anyone who has been robbed, maimed, raped or murdered during an assault any less a victim? Do they deserve less protection under the law? Do they deserve less justice?
It is very easy to accuse those who oppose hate crime laws of being bigoted, racist or homophobic. But that is the tactic used, rather than take on the impossible task of explaining why those crimes cannot be prosecuted under the same laws which protect everyone else.
By giving special protections to specific groups of people, hate crime laws effectively penalize all others, violate the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment – not to mention 1st Amendment rights of free speech and religion – weaken the rule of law and the Constitution and wrong us all.

As many are aware, Athens Police Officer Buddy Christian was killed in the line of duty this past Tuesday. He leaves behind a wife (Melissa), a daughter (Callie), a son (Wyatt), a brother (Jason), parents (Bud and Carolyn).

I spoke with his wife, Melissa, last Friday and she had a request for the Soap Box, and for the song after it that Buddy, God rest his soul, loved. So, that will be the Soap Box this morning on both occasions, and the song following will be the same, just because it was Buddy’s favorite. (The Dash & Chicken Fried)

-------------------------------------------------------

I read of a reverend who stood to speak at the funeral of a friend.

He referred to the dates on the tombstone from the beginning...to the end.

He noted that first came the date of his birth and spoke of the following date with tears,
he said what mattered most of all was the dash between those years. For that dash represents all the time that he spent alive on earth and now only those who loved him know what that little line is worth.

For it matters not, how much we own, the cars…the house…the cash. What matters is how we live and love and how we spend our dash. So think about this long and hard, are there things you’d like to change? For you never know how much time is left that can still be rearranged. If we could just slow down enough to consider what’s true and real and always try to understand the way other people feel. And be less quick to anger and show appreciation more and love the people in our lives like we’ve never loved before. If we treat each other with respect and more often wear a smile remembering that this special dash might only last a little while.

So when your eulogy is being read with your life’s actions to rehash,
would you be proud of the things they say about how you spent your dash?

The policeman stood and faced his God, Which must always come to pass. He hoped his shoes were shining. Just as brightly as his brass. "Step forward now, policeman. How shall I deal with you? Have you always turned the other cheek? To My church have you been true?"

The policeman squared his shoulders and said, "No, Lord, I guess I ain't, Because those of us who carry badges can't always be a saint. I've had to work most Sundays, and at times my talk was rough, And sometimes I've been violent, Because the streets are awfully tough. But I never took a penny, That wasn't mine to keep.... But I worked a lot of overtime When the bills got just too steep.

And I never passed a cry for help, Though at times I shook with fear. And sometimes, God forgive me, I've wept unmanly tears. I know I don't deserve a place Among the people here. They never wanted me around Except to calm their fear. If you've a place for me here, Lord, It needn't be so grand. I never expected or had too much, So, if you don't.....I'll understand. There was silence all around the throne Where the saints had often trod. As the policeman waited quietly, For the judgment of his God.

"Step forward now, policeman, You've borne your burdens well. Come walk a beat on Heaven's streets, You've done your time in hell."

Conservative vs. Liberal

A young woman was about to finish her first year of college. Like so many others her age, she considered herself to be a very Liberal Democrat, and among other liberal ideals, was very much in favor of higher taxes to support more government programs, in other words redistribution of wealth.
She was deeply ashamed that her father was a rather staunch Republican, a feeling she openly expressed. Based on the lectures that she had participated in, and the occasional chat with a professor, she felt that her father had for years harbored an evil, selfish desire to keep what he thought should be his.

One day she was challenging her father on his opposition to Higher taxes on the rich and the need for more government programs. The self-professed objectivity proclaimed by her professors had to be the truth and she indicated so to her father. He responded by asking how she was doing in school.
Taken aback, she answered rather haughtily that she had a 4.0 GPA, and let him know that it was tough to maintain, insisting that she was taking a very difficult course load and was constantly studying, which left her no time to go out and party like other people she knew. She didn't even have time for a boyfriend, and didn't really have many college friends, because she spent all her time studying.

Her father listened and then asked , 'How is your friend Audrey doing?' she replied, 'Audrey is barely getting by. All she takes are easy classes, she never studies, and she barely has a 2.0 GPA. She is so popular on campus; college for her is a blast. She's always invited to all the parties and lots of times she doesn't even show up for classes because she's too hung over.'
Her wise father asked his daughter, 'Why don't you go to the dean's office and ask him to deduct 1.0 off your GPA and give it to your friend who only has a 2.0. That way you will both have a 3.0 GPA, and certainly that would be a fair and equal distribution of GPA.'
The daughter, visibly shocked by her father's suggestion, angrily fired back
'That's a crazy idea, how would that be fair! I've worked really hard for my grades! I've invested a lot of time, and a lot of hard work! Audrey has done next to nothing toward her degree. She played while I worked my tail off!'
The father slowly smiled, winked and said gently, 'Welcome to the Republican party.'

If anyone has a better explanation of the difference between Republican and Democrat I'm all ears. If you ever wondered what side of the fence you sit on, this is a great test!

Just when you think that our government can't get any sillier, along comes something like the Military Leadership Diversity Commission -- and let's face it, up to now you didn't even realize such a thing existed -- to crush your hopes that any sensible people are left in Washington, DC.

The diversity commission last week issued its completely unawaited report to call for, you guessed it, more diversity among military leadership. Not great fighting effectiveness, which should always be job No. 1. Not smarter leadership. Not braver fighting generals and fewer rear-echelon paper-pushers. No, what this country really needs from the Pentagon is better diversity management, including a chief diversity officer reporting directly to the defense secretary. It seems the problem is -- wait for it -- that the officer corps has too many white males. This, of course, will come as a shock to George Washington, U.S. Grant, Black Jack Pershing, George Patton and Dwight D. Eisenhower, who somehow managed to struggle through to victory without the accumulated wisdom of the Military Leadership Diversity Commission, created by the Pelosi-Reid Congress in 2009. "The commission believes that the diversity of our service members is the unique strength of our military," writes the chairman, Lester Lyles, to President Obama, in a cover letter for the report. "Current and future challenges can be better met by broadening our understanding of diversity."

Hold it right there. "The unique strength of our military"? Only in the wonderful world of government PC-speak and corporate sensitivity training is this fantasy not laughed out of the regiment. Our all-volunteer military has many strengths -- superior weaponry, better tactics, more education and, since 2001, matchless battlefield and combat experience -- but "diversity" shouldn't rank high among them. Instead, it's a welcome by-product of recruitment, talent, brains, courage and drive -- the things that make American forces the best in the world. In fact, unless the goal of your outfit is nose counting, "diversity" is basically meaningless. The overriding measure for any organization ought to be its effectiveness at getting the job done -- and that goes double for an institution designed first and foremost to kill people and blow things up in the defense of freedom, liberty and the USA.

In any case, since President Harry Truman integrated the armed forces in 1948 with Executive Order 9981, the US military has been a leader, not a follower when it comes to "inclusion." In no other area of American life have first the races (and now the sexes) been treated so fairly or performed together more effectively -- something that even the diversity commission has to admit: "The commission acknowledges that the services have been leaders in providing opportunities for all service members, regardless of their racial/ethnic background or gender."

But of course that's not good enough for the nose-counters -- not when 77 percent of active-duty senior officers are white, 8 percent black, 5 percent Hispanic and 16 percent are women. "The Armed Forces have not yet succeeded in developing a continuing stream of leaders who are as demographically diverse as the nation they serve." Yet, according to the 2010 census, whites account for nearly 75 percent of the population, and blacks 12.4 percent, while Latinos can fall into either category. The "problem" seems minor. Among other things, the commission recommends that since combat is often a ticket to promotion, we need women in combat units, where they can have the same opportunity as a man either to be promoted -- or be killed.

But combat effectiveness is not what this report is all about. Instead, it gives the game away right at the beginning: Its first injunction is that we must "Define Diversity for a New Era." Everything that comes after is seen through this myopic, PC prism. Fortunately, at least one man in Washington knows how to spell bunkum: Lt. Col. Allen West, now a congressman from Florida, who called the report a "slap in the face" to those minorities who have forged successful careers in the services without the help of diversity commissions. The outspoken colonel, whose political career is poised for takeoff, is absolutely right.

The president and the Pentagon should thank the commission for its work, put the report in the trash and get on with the dirty business of fighting -- and winning -- the nation's diverse wars.

The soapbox on March 15th really hit home. People do not realize many times until it is too late to slow down and enjoy the simple things in life. Last 5/4 my 3 year old son, John Michael, accidentally drown in his grandparents pool. I look back and see how he found beauty in the simplest things in life, a single flower (actually a weed), a delicious piece of Christmas pie, his twin sister's smile. I had often taken just the simple things for granted expecting them to always be there, but tragedy took it away. Through his short life and tragic death, a miracle has happened. I have learned to slow down and find the beauty in life. I have learned that the simple things we take for grantid often have the greatest effect on our lives. My last memory of my son was a simple, "Mommy I love you. I missed you!" when I came home from work. Please remind your listeners to slow down and enjoy the simple things in life. Don't wait until tragedy strikes to realize money and time schedules isn't what brings us happiness in life, it's the simple things in life that actually bring us the most joy. Have no regrets about the things you should've noticed in life. Take time to smell the flowers, enjoy the hug and smile from your children, take a peaceful stroll hand in hand with someone you love. God bless! Stephanie McConnell

Washington, DC Metro Station on a cold January morning in 2007.

The man with a violin played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time approx. 2 thousand people went through the station, most of them on their way to work. After 3 minutes a middle aged man noticed there was a musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds and then hurried to meet his schedule.

4 minutes later: The violinist received his first dollar: a woman threw the money in the hat and, without stopping, continued to walk.

6 minutes: A young man leaned against the wall to listen to him, then looked at his watch and started to walk again.

10 minutes: A 3-year old boy stopped but his mother tugged him along hurriedly. The kid stopped to look at the violinist again, but the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk, turning his head all the time. This action was repeated by several other children. Every parent, without exception, forced their children to move on quickly.

45 minutes: The musician played continuously. Only 6 people stopped and listened for a short while. About 20 gave money but continued to walk at their normal pace. The man collected a total of $32.

1 hour: He finished playing and silence took over. No one noticed. No one applauded, nor was there any recognition..

No one knew this, but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the greatest musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written, with a violin worth $3.5 million dollars. Two days before Joshua Bell sold out a theater in Boston where the seats averaged $100.

This is a true story. Joshua Bell playing incognito in the metro station was organized by the Washington Post as part of a social experiment about perception, taste and people's priorities.
The questions raised:

*In a common place environment at an inappropriate hour, do we perceive beauty?
*Do we stop to appreciate it?
*Do we recognize talent in an unexpected context?

One possible conclusion reached from this experiment could be this simple question:
If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world, playing some of the finest music ever written, with one of the most beautiful instruments ever made.
Question: How many other things are we missing?
Answer: Probably too many things

Just up the road from my home is a field, with two horses in it. From a distance, each horse looks like any other horse. But if you stop your car, or are walking by, you will notice something quite amazing....

Looking into the eyes of one horse will disclose that he is blind. His owner has chosen not to have him put down, but has made a good home for him. This alone is amazing. If you stand nearby and listen, you will hear the sound of a bell. Looking around for the source of the sound, you will see that it comes from the smaller horse in the field.

Attached to the horse's halter is a small bell.

It lets the blind friend know where the other horse is, so he can follow.

As you stand and watch these two friends, You'll see that the horse with the bell is always checking on the blind horse, and that the blind horse will listen for the bell and then slowly walk to where the other horse is, trusting that he will not be led astray.

When the horse with the bell returns To the shelter of the barn each evening, It stops occasionally and looks back, Making sure that the blind friend isn't too far behind to hear the bell.

Like the owners of these two horses, God does not throw us away just because we are not perfect Or because we have problems or challenges.

He watches over us and even brings others into our lives to help us when we are in need..
Sometimes we are the blind horse being guided by the little ringing bell of those who God places in our lives. Other times we are the guide horse, helping others to find their way.... Good friends are like that... You may not always see them, but you know they are always there..

Please listen for my bell and I'll listen for yours. And remember...

Be kinder than necessary- Everyone you meet is fighting
Some kind of battle. Live simply, Love generously,Care deeply,Speak kindly.......
And leave the rest to God!

FOR WE WALK BY FAITH AND NOT BY SIGHT!

Moby...

Unfortunately, I have to write to take the unpopular view that the 8-1 Supreme Court decision in the Westboro case was correct. Don't misunderstand me...... I think these loons are just that....LOONS ---and what they do is totally abhorrent. Although I'm not a veteran, if there was a local funeral and these idiots tried to protest it, I'd be among the first to be there to keep a barrier between them and the grieving family.

BUT -

The First Amendment is meant for JUST this sort of speech. If we said that speech we disliked, or found abhorrent was able to be silenced -- then those people who picket abortion mills would be just as guilty. After all, there ARE those people who feel trying to save the unborn by praying aloud, or showing what a fetus REALLY is, is just as abhorrent as what the Westboro people do. I would MUCH rather have sensible caring people stand up to the Westboro crowd (of 10 !) to show them how stupid they are ----- and show the family of the buried serviceman or woman how loved THEY are --- than have ALL speech that someone might feel is "wrong" silenced.

Muslims riot, burn and kill when some people upset them ----- I much prefer our system. As much as I disagree with people like Westboro "Baptist", rather than try to shut them up, I think it better to show them how small they are -- in numbers AND in true Godly love.

Just MY view...
Greg Phillips

Greg,
Thank you for giving this some thought, and fror taking the time to pass your thoughts along.
Soap boxes are simply tirades if the other side is never heard.
So again, I thank you and say God bless you & your family.
MOBY

 I have been an avid Mobidiot since your arrival in Atlanta.
I have laughed , cried, gotten angry with you and 90% agreed with you over the years. this is such a GREAT country to allow us this RIGHT to express our opinions in public, without being persecuted for that opinion.

I am appalled about this church that is protesting at military funerals.
These Military men and women are protecting the same rights that this church is abusing.
I am also proud of the veterans that are blocking the church members at their rallies.
Although the church may not be breaking any laws, per se, there should be a limit to BAD TASTE! Who has the right to say GOD hates soldiers? My GOD hates no one, loves all reguardless of race, or religion. HE even loves atheist..

These families have just lost a son/brother/father/ husband/wife .
Please allow them the honor and dignity to bury their loved one in peace.
Unfortunately in the last month I have been involved in the funerals of two loved ones, my Grandmother of 97, and my Mother in Law.

In both cases people were trying to pass the funeral procession. This just Galls me that there are so many of our morals , and our respect has gone down hill. Oh, I did get my car to straddle both lanes , holding the offender to the rear of the procession , then let all the family members into the cemetery before I let the passer by. This made me feel good!
This was on my mind and I wanted to share with you.
GOD BLESS AMERICA AND HER SERVICEMEN,
The Good LORD has a reason for everything.
YEAH BABY!

Ralph Brown

Dear Moby ,
This morning after hearing the Small Town Soap Box , I wondered if it was true. I have heard it before but this morning I thought about how even the smallest acts of kindness can seem like a big deal to the person on the receiving end. With that being said I want to tell you about my 10 year old nephew Trevor and his big heart.

Two weeks ago after eating Sunday lunch at my mom's , Trevor made himself a plate of food to take home and eat later. Before heading home Trevor's mom (my sister) stopped by the car wash to vacuum and wash her car . At the car wash there was a man going through the trash cans. Trevor kept watching as the man went from trash can to trash can picking up discarded fast food bags and sometimes taking pieces of food and putting it in a bag that hung from his side. After watching the man for several minutes Trevor asked his mom what he was doing. She told him that he was looking for food.

Trevor ... being the kind hearted person that he is , asked her if he could give the man his plate of food so that he wouldn't have to eat from the trash can. She didn't want to offend the man so she first went over to him with an unopened bottle of water that she had in the car and asked him if he wanted it. As he kept looking at the ground he told her yes he did want the water and thanked her. She then asked him if he was looking for food ...still looking at the ground he told her yes he was. She told him that they had a fresh plate of home cooked food in the car if he wanted it . Again he told her yes and thanked them.

As they got back in their car Trevor said ..at least he will eat good tonight.

I am proud of my young nephew and his selfless act of kindness . He is a little boy with a big kind and caring heart, and the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. 

Come with me to a third grade classroom......

There is a nine-year-old kid sitting at his desk and all of a sudden, there is a puddle between his feet and the front of his pants are wet. He thinks his heart is going to stop because he cannot possibly imagine how this has happened. It's never happened before, and he knows that when the boys find out he will never hear the end of it.

When the girls find out, they'll never speak to him again as long as he lives. The boy believes his heart is going to stop; he puts his head down and prays this prayer, 'Dear God, this is an emergency! I need help now! Five minutes from now I'm dead meat.'

He looks up from his prayer and here comes the teacher with a look in her eyes that says he has been discovered.

As the teacher is walking toward him, a class mate named Susie is carrying a goldfish bowl that is filled with water. Susie trips in front of the teacher and inexplicably dumps the bowl of water in the boy's lap. The boy pretends to be angry, but all the while is saying to himself, 'Thank you, Lord! Thank you, Lord!'

Now all of a sudden, instead of being the object of ridicule, the boy is the object of sympathy. The teacher rushes him downstairs and gives him gym shorts to put on while his pants dry out. All the other children are on their hands and knees cleaning up around his desk. The sympathy is wonderful.

But as life would have it, the ridicule that should have been his has been transferred to someone else - Susie. She tries to help, but they tell her to get out. You've done enough, you klutz!'

Finally, at the end of the day, as they are waiting for the bus, the boy walks over to Susie and whispers, 'You did that on purpose, didn't you?'

Susie whispers back, 'I wet my pants once too.'

May God help us see the opportunities that are always around us to do good..
Remember.....Just going to church doesn't make you a Christian any more than standing in your garage makes you a car.

In the line at the store, the cashier told the older woman that plastic bags weren’t good for the environment. The woman apologized to her and explained, “We didn’t have the green thing back in my day.”

That’s right, they didn’t have the green thing in her day. Back then, they returned their milk bottles, Coke bottles and beer bottles to the store. The store sent them back to the plant to be washed and sterilized and refilled, using the same bottles over and over. So they really were recycled. But they didn’t have the green thing back her day.

In her day, they walked up stairs, because they didn’t have an escalator in every store and office building. They walked to the grocery store and didn’t climb into a 300-horsepower machine every time they had to go two blocks. But she’s right. They didn’t have the green thing in her day.
Back then, they washed the baby’s diapers because they didn’t have the throw-away kind. They dried clothes on a line, not in an energy gobbling machine burning up 220 volts – wind and solar power really did dry the clothes. Kids got hand-me-down clothes from their brothers or sisters, not always brand-new clothing. But that old lady is right, they didn’t have the green thing back in her day.

 
Back then, they had one TV, or radio, in the house – not a TV in every room. And the TV had a small screen the size of a pizza dish, not a screen the size of the state of Montana. In the kitchen, they blended and stirred by hand because they didn’t have electric machines to do everything for you. When they packaged a fragile item to send in the mail, they used wadded up newspaper to cushion it, not styrofoam or plastic bubble wrap.
Back then, they didn’t fire up an engine and burn gasoline just to cut the lawn. They used a push mower that ran on human power. They exercised by working so they didn’t need to go to a health club to run on treadmills that operate on electricity. But she’s right, they didn’t have the green thing back then.

They drank from a fountain when they were thirsty, instead of using a cup or a plastic bottle every time they had a drink of water. They refilled pens with ink, instead of buying a new pen, and they replaced the razor blades in a razor instead of throwing away the whole razor just because the blade got dull. But they didn’t have the green thing back then.

Back then, people took the streetcar and kids rode their bikes to school or rode the school bus, instead of turning their moms into a 24-hour taxi service. They had one electrical outlet in a room, not an entire bank of sockets to power a dozen appliances. And they didn’t need a computerized gadget to receive a signal beamed from satellites 2,000 miles out in space in order to find the nearest pizza joint.

But that old lady is right. They didn’t have the green thing back in her day.

Imagine that you had won the following prize in a contest:
Each morning your bank would deposit $86,400.00 in your private account for your use.
However, this prize has rules, just as any game has certain rules.

The first set of rules would be:
Everything that you didn't spend during each day would be taken away from you.
You may not simply transfer money into some other account. You may only spend it.
Each morning upon awakening, the bank opens your account with another $86,400.00 for that day.

The second set of rules:
The bank can end the game without warning; at any time it can say, It’s over, the game is over! It can close the account and you will not receive a new one.

What would you personally do?

You would buy anything and everything you wanted right?
Not only for yourself, but for all people you love, right?
Even for people you don't know, because you couldn't possibly spend it all on yourself, right?
You would try to spend every cent, and use it all, right?

ACTUALLY This GAME is REALITY!
Each of us is in possession of such a magical bank. We just can't seem to see it.
The MAGICAL BANK is TIME!

Each morning we awaken to receive 86,400 seconds as a gift of life, and when we go to sleep at night, any remaining time is NOT credited to us.
What we haven't lived up that day is forever lost.
Yesterday is forever gone.

Each morning the account is refilled, but the bank can dissolve your account at any time....WITHOUT WARNING.

SO, what will YOU do with your 86,400 seconds?

Those seconds are worth so much more than the same amount in dollars.

Think about that, and always think of this:
Enjoy every second of your life, because time races by so much quicker than you think.

Start spending!!

Snakes also known as Garter Snakes can be dangerous. Yes, grass snakes , not rattlesnakes. Here's why. A couple in Sweetwater , Texas , had a lot of potted plants . During a recent cold spell, the wife was bringing a lot of them indoors to protect them from a possible freeze. It turned out that a little green garden grass snake was hidden in one of the plants.
When it had warmed up, it slithered out and the wife saw it go under the sofa.
She let out a very loud scream.

The husband (who was taking a shower) ran out into the living room naked to see what the problem was. She told him there was a snake under the sofa.
He got down on the floor on his hands and knees to look for it. About that time the family dog came and cold-nosed him on the butt. He thought the snake had bitten him,
so he screamed and fell over on the floor.
His wife thought he had a heart attack , so she covered him up, told him to lie still and called an ambulance.
The attendants rushed in, would not listen to his protests, loaded him on the stretcher, and started carrying him out.
About that time, the snake came out from under the sofa and the Emergency Medical Technician saw it and dropped his end of the stretcher. That's when the man broke his leg and why he is still in the hospital.
The wife still had the problem of the snake in the house, so she called on a neighbor who volunteered to capture the snake. He armed himself with a rolled-up newspaper and began poking under the couch.. Soon he decided it was gone and told the woman, who sat down on the sofa in relief.
But while relaxing, her hand dangled in between the cushions, where she felt the snake wriggling around.

She screamed and fainted, the snake rushed back under the sofa. The neighbor man, seeing her lying there passed out, tried to use CPR to revive her.
The neighbor's wife, who had just returned from shopping at the grocery store, saw her husband's mouth on the woman's mouth and slammed her husband in the back of the head with a bag of canned goods, knocking him out and cutting his scalp to a point where it needed stitches.
The noise woke the woman from her dead faint and she saw her neighbor lying on the floor with his wife bending over him, so she assumed that the snake had bitten him. She went to the kitchen and got a small bottle of whiskey, and began pouring it down the man's throat.
By now, the police had arrived. Breathe here... They saw the unconscious man, smelled the whiskey, and assumed that a drunken fight had occurred.
They were about to arrest them all, when the women tried to explain how it all happened over a little garden snake!
The police called an ambulance, which took away the neighbor and his sobbing wife.

Now, the little snake again crawled out from under the sofa and one of the policemen drew his gun and fired at it.
He missed the snake and hit the leg of the end table. The table fell over, the lamp on it shattered and, as the bulb broke, it started a fire in the drapes.
The other policeman tried to beat out the flames, and fell through the window into the yard on top of the family dog who, startled, jumped out and raced into the street, where an oncoming car swerved to avoid it and smashed into the parked police car.
Meanwhile, neighbors saw the burning drapes and called in the fire department. The firemen had started raising the fire ladder when they were halfway down the street. The rising ladder tore out the overhead wires, put out the power, and disconnected the telephones in a ten-square city block area (but they did get the house fire out).

Time passed! Both men were discharged from the hospital, the house was repaired, the dog came home, the police acquired a new car and all was right with their world.
A while later they were watching TV and the weatherman announced a cold snap for that night.
The wife asked her husband if he thought they should bring in their plants for the night.
Her hospital stay is not expected to last over 10 days!!

Watch for those little Green Snakes

Shifty volunteered for the airborne in WWII and served with Easy Company of the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, part of the 101st Airborne Infantry. If you've seen Band of Brothers on HBO or the History Channel, you know Shifty. His character appears in all 10 episodes, and Shifty himself is interviewed in several of them.

I met Shifty in the Philadelphia airport several years ago. I didn't know who he was at the time. I just saw an elderly gentleman having
trouble reading his ticket. I offered to help, assured him that he was
at the right gate, and noticed the "Screaming Eagle," the symbol of the 101st Airborne, on his hat.

Making conversation, I asked him if he’d been in the 101st Airborne
or if his son was serving. He said quietly that he had been in the 101st. I thanked him for his service, and then asked him when he served, and how many jumps he made.
Quietly and humbly, he said "Well, I guess I signed up in 1941 or so,
and was in until sometime in 1945 ... " at which point my heart skipped.
At that point, again, very humbly, he said "I made the 5 training jumps at Toccoa, and then jumped into Normandy . . . do you know where Normandy is?" At this point my heart stopped.
I told him "yes, I know exactly where Normandy is, and I know what D-Day was." At that point he said "I also made a second jump into Holland , into Arnhem ." I was standing with a genuine war hero ...and then I realized that it was June, just after the anniversary of D-Day.
I asked Shifty if he was on his way back from France, and he said "Yes... And it's real sad because, these days, so few of the guys are left, and those that are, lots of them can't make the trip." My heart was in my throat and I didn't know what to say.

I helped Shifty get onto the plane and then realized he was back in Coach while I was in First Class. I sent the flight attendant back to get him and said that I wanted to switch seats. When Shifty came forward, I got up out of the seat and told him I wanted him to have
it, that I'd take his in coach.
He said "No, son, you enjoy that seat. Just knowing that there are still some who remember what we did and who still care is enough to make an old man very happy." His eyes were filling up as he said it.
And mine are brimming up now as I write this. Shifty died on Jan. l7 after fighting cancer. There was no parade. No big event in Staples Center. No wall to wall back to back 24x7 news coverage.
No weeping fans on television. And that's not right!!

Let's give Shifty his own Memorial Service, in our own quiet way.
Rest in peace, Shifty.
Chuck Yeager, Maj Gen. [ret.]

You're Hired: Detroit business owner Darryl Gaddis is pushing small business owners to back Donald Trump for President.

He says, “If we don’t get Donald Trump in office, we’ll all be standing in a soup line, right along with our employees and customers. The “new government” is following a recipe for failure and disaster. Business owners/ job creators understand that you can’t spend and borrow your way out of debt.

Whether you like Donald or not- he will get the job done. The politicians have gotten us to where we are today! We have 46 States Collapsing, 26%-30% Interest Rates, No Loans, High Unemployment, Job Loss, Banks and the Government ROBBING people of their homes, Unemployment Benefits for three years (turning the country into a welfare state). Food and Gas prices rising to the moon and Insane Stimulus Plans! We need Donald Trump NOW!” said Gaddis. “ Donald Trump is America’s Last Hope and Stand against The Destroyers of HUMAN CIVILIZATION!!

It doesn’t matter if you are a Republican or a Democrat, IF YOU ARE PRO-BUSINESS -VOTE DONALD TRUMP FOR PRESIDENT 2012!!”

In Phoenix , Arizona , a 26 year-old mother stared down at her 6 year-old son, who was dying of terminal leukemia..
Although her heart was filled with sadness, She also had a strong feeling of determination. Like any parent, she wanted her son to grow up & Fulfill all his dreams. Now, that was no longer possible.. The leukemia would see to that. But she still wanted her son's dream to come true.. She took her son' s hand and asked, 'Billy, did you ever think about what you wanted to be once you grew up? Did you ever dream and wish what you would do with your life?'
Mommy, 'I always wanted to be a fireman when I grew up.'
Mom smiled back and said, 'Let's see if we can make your wish come true.'

Later that day she went to her local fire Department in Phoenix , Arizona , where she met Fireman Bob, who had a heart as big as Phoenix !
She explained her son's final wish and asked if it might be possible to give her 6 year-old son a ride around the block on a fire engine.
Fireman Bob said, 'Look, we can do better than that. If you'll have your son ready at seven o'clock Wednesday morning, we'll make him an honorary Fireman for the whole day. He can come down to the fire station, eat with us, go out on all the fire calls, the whole nine yards!
And if you'll give us his sizes, we'll get a real fire uniform for him, with a real fire hat - not a toy -- one-with the emblem of the Phoenix Fire Department on it, a yellow slicker like we wear and rubber boots.' 'They're all manufactured right here in Phoenix , so we can get them fast.' Three days later Fireman Bob picked up Billy, dressed him in his uniform and escorted him from his hospital bed to the waiting hook and ladder truck.

Billy got to sit on the back of the truck and help steer it back to the fire station. He was in heaven.
There were three fire calls in Phoenix that day and Billy got to go out on all three calls.
He rode in the different fire engines, the Paramedic's' van,
And even the fire chief's car. He was also videotaped for the Local news program.

Having his dream come true, With all the love and attention that was lavished upon him, so deeply touched Billy, that he lived three months longer than any doctor thought possible. One night all of his vital signs began to drop dramatically and the head nurse, who believed in the hospice concept - that no one should die alone - began to call the family members to the hospital.
Then she remembered the day Billy had spent as a Fireman, so she called the Fire Chief and
Asked if it would be possible to send a fireman in uniform to the hospital to be with Billy as he made his transition. The chief replied, 'We can do better than that. We'll be there in five minutes. Will you please do me a favor? When you hear the sirens screaming and see the lights flashing, will you announce over the PA system that there is not a fire?' 'It's the department coming to see one of its finest members one more time. And will you open the window to his room?'

About five minutes later a hook and ladder truck arrived at the hospital and extended its ladder up to Billy's third floor open window, 16 fire-fighters climbed up the ladder into Billy's room. With his mother's permission, they hugged him and held him and told him how much they LOVED him. With his dying breath, Billy looked up at the fire chief and said,
'Chief, am I really a fireman now?'
'Billy, you are, and the Head Chief, is holding your hand,' the chief said. With those words, Billy smiled, 'I know, He's been holding my hand all day, and The angels have been singing.'

(Not actually today's Soapbox, but Soapbox-esque and we've had requests for it to be posted on the website.)

My daughter just walked into the living room and said, "Dad, cancel my allowance, rent my room out, throw all my clothes out of the window, take my TV, stereo, iPhone, and jewelry to the charity shop. Sell my car, take my front door key, and throw me out of the house."

... Well, she didn't exactly say that. She said, "Dad, this is my new boyfriend, Mohammed Abdul Assami."

I just got her a passport.

Dan was a single guy living at home with his father and working in the family business. When he found out he was going to inherit a fortune when his sickly father died, he decided he needed a wife with whom to share his fortune.

One evening at an investment seminar, he spotted the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. Her natural beauty took his breath away. "I may look like just an ordinary man," he said to her,"but in just a few years, my father will die and I'll inherit $200 million."

Impressed, the woman obtained his business card .
...And three days later, she became his stepmother.

Women are so much better at financial planning than men!

Dear Ma and Pa,

I am well. Hope you are. Tell Brother Walt and Brother Elmer the Marine Corps beats working for old man Minch by a mile. Tell them to join quick before all of the places are filled up.
I was restless at first because you get to stay in bed till nearly 6 a.m. But I am getting so I like to sleep late. Tell Walt and Elmer all you do before breakfast is smooth your cot, and shine some things. No hogs to slop, feed to pitch, mash to mix, wood to split, fire to lay. Practically nothing.
Breakfast is strong on trimmings like fruit juice, cereal, eggs, bacon, etc., but kind of weak on chops, potatoes, ham, steak, pie and other regular food, but tell Walt and Elmer you can always sit by the two city boys that live on coffee. Their food, plus yours, holds you until noon when you get fed again. It's no wonder these city boys can't walk much.

We go on 'route marches,' which the platoon sergeant says are long walks to harden us. If he thinks so, it's not my place to tell him different. A 'route march' is about as far as to our mailbox and back at home. Then the city guys get sore feet and we all ride back in trucks.
The sergeant is like a school teacher. He nags a lot. The Captain is like the school board. Majors and colonels just ride around and frown. They don't bother you none.
This next will kill Walt and Elmer with laughing.. I keep getting medals for shooting. I don't know why. The bulls-eye is near as big as a chipmunk head and it don't move, and it ain't shooting back at you like the Higgett boys at home. All you got to do is lie there all comfortable and hit it. You don't even load your own cartridges They come in boxes.

Then we have what they call hand-to-hand combat training. You get to wrestle with the city boys. I have to be real careful though, they break real easy. It ain't like fighting with some ole bull. I'm about the best they got except for that Tug Jordan from over in Silver Lake . I only beat him once.. He joined up the same time as me, but I'm only 5'6', 130 and he's 6'8' and near 300 pounds dry.

Be sure to tell Walt and Elmer to hurry and join before other fellers get onto this setup and come stampeding in.

Your loving daughter,
Alice

Brenda was almost halfway to the top of the tremendous granit cliff. She was standing on a ledge where she was taking a breather during this, her first rock climb. As she rested there, the safety rope snapped against her eye and knocked out her contact lens.

"Great," she thought. "Here I am on a rock ledge, hundreds of feet from the bottom and hundreds of feet to the top of this clif, and now my sight is blurry."

She looked and looked, but it just wasn't there. She felt the panic rising in her, so she began praying. She prayed for calm, and she prayed that she may find her contact lens. When she got to the top, a friend examined her and her clothing for the lens, but it was not to be found. Although she was calm now that she was at the top, she was saddened because she could not clearly see across the range of mountains. She thought of the bible verse, "The eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole Earth."

"Lord," she thought. "You know every stone and leaf, and you know exactly where my contact lens is. Please help me."

Later, when they had hiked down the trail to the bottom of the cliff, they met another party of climbers just starting up the face of the cliff. One of them shouted out, "Hey, you guys! Anybody lose a contact lens?" Well, that would be startling enough, but you know why the climber saw it? An ant was moving slowly across a twig on the face of the rock, carrying it!

The story doesn't end there. Brenda's father is a cartoonist. When she told him the incredible story of the ant, the prayer, and the contact lens, he drew a cartoon of an ant lugging hat contact lens with the caption: 'Lord, I don't know why you want me to carry this thing. I can't eat it, and it's awfully heavy. But, if tthis is what you want me to do, I'll carry it for you."

I think it would do all of us some good to say, 'God, I don't knwo why you want me to carry this load. I can see no good in it, and it's awfully heavy. But, if you want me to carry it, I will."

God doesn't call the qualified. He qualifies the called.

Listener:
On Tuesday (Feb.1st) morning show, you had a lady call in about the dogs of Michael Vick and you of all people didn't even let her get her opinion stated before you cut her off and said that the lord was on your side and hoped that he goes on to the super bowl.
I dare you to say such, using the name of the lord as backing.
We don't pay on a monthly basis of our wrongs in life, we continue to pay a price no matter which sort.
You evidently don't know how this has hurt the people who believe in animal rights. Not to say he hasn't paid a price but he needs to continue to make a difference in THAT world.
You were not the victim that was mangled and abused so here you were wrong to cut her off as she was saying that she knew the continuing effects of Abuse..
G______ M______
R______t, GA

Moby:
In my heart I believe that the lady you’re referring to hung up happy with me, and I felt like we’d had a good exchange.
I’m sorry that’s not the impression you were left with.
It was one of the longest calls of the morning. She certainly let her opinion be known, & God bless her it was indeed different from my own.
Michael Vick has paid the total price for his crime. Now our obligation is to embrace forgiveness.
He was neither charged nor convicted of hurting “people who believe in animal rights”.
He was charged, convicted, & sentenced for a crime. Now, in this free society, it cannot be our role to punish him further.
On these issues I stand firm in my belief that the good Lord IS on my side.
I also would love to see him be MVP of a Superbowl, just to show our youth that it’s never OK to give up.
Take your punishment, suck it up, and come back as strong as ever.
That’s a wonderful & fair part of our system, that the government hasn’t tried to take from us yet.
I sincerely thank you for listening, and hope I can still enjoy the loan of your ears.
God bless you & yours,
MOBY

A little boy wanted to meet God. He knew it was a long trip to where God lived, so he packed his suitcase with Twinkies and a six-pack of Root Beer and he started his journey. When he had gone about three blocks, he met an elderly man. The man was sitting in the park just feeding some pigeons. The boy sat down next to him and opened his suitcase. He was about to take a drink from his root beer when he noticed that the man looked hungry, so he offered him a Twinkie. The man gratefully accepted it and smiled at boy. His smile was so pleasant that the boy wanted to see it again, so he offered him a root beer. Again, the man smiled at him. The boy was delighted! They sat there all afternoon eating and smiling, but they never said a word. As it grew dark, the boy realized how tired he was and he got up to leave, but before he had gone more than a few steps, he turned around, ran back to the man, and gave him a hug. The man gave him his biggest smile ever.

When the boy opened the door to his own house a short time later, his mother was surprised by the look of joy on his face. She asked him, "What did you do today that made you so happy? "He replied, "I had lunch with God." But before his mother could respond, he added, "You know what? God's got the most beautiful smile I've ever seen!"

Meanwhile, the elderly man, also radiant with joy, returned to his home. His son was stunned by the look of peace on his face and he asked," Dad, what did you do today that made you so happy?" He replied, "I ate Twinkies in the park with God." However, before his son responded, he added," You know, he's much younger than I expected."

Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around. People come into our lives for a reason, a season, or a lifetime. Embrace all equally!

Luke:
I understand that those words are not directly recited in the first amendment; however if Christian Americans persecute those of non Christian religions or non religious citizens, we are first not acting as good Christians ourselves, but also we are creating the same situation faced by many of the pilgrims and immigrants that broke away from Great Britain, their mother country, and formed this very nation. To stop history from repeating itself, the “government should not establish, support, or otherwise involve itself in any religion” as you have stated since religion is the most important attribute to millions of Americans, including myself.

President Obama’s refraining from embracing National Day of Prayer festivities is a way in which he is not involving himself in any religion. If he were to lead a prayer publicly or even join in a Christian prayer group, he should be expected by the growing number of Muslim citizens to bow down and pray to Allah five times one day, or wear a yarmulke for a day for Jewish citizens, or publicly meditate to the devotions of Buddha, or worship deities and work magic for our fellow Wiccan citizens. All of these examples are principally the same, and as the president of all of these kinds of people President Obama should not publicly associate himself with any one branch of religion as he is one of the main symbols of our government. Also even though a president’s involvement with a religion would not officially make an established national religion, it would appear so in practice which violates the founders’ true efforts in this first amendment of our constitution.

Moby:
I’m not for a moment suggesting we all act as Christians. I’m suggesting that we continue to act as Patriotic Americans, and honor the traditions that brought us here, Luke.
Can you imagine a Muslim nation that allows the practice of the Christian faith? How many have been murdered in the attempt. America allows the practice of all religions. Yes, every one you mentioned, are freely allowed in our free nation.
All Congressional gatherings used to begin with a prayer. I’m not sure if they still do or not, but I’m deeply saddened, and actually frightened if they indeed do not.
I’ve never even once heard Obama say the term “Holy Bible”, but have lost count of the times I’ve heard him say “Holy Koran”.
I honestly don’t care to debate this with you further.
Thank you for listening, and for enjoying the portions of my show you freely choose to enjoy.
To your credit, you’ve provided not one but two Soap Boxes, and for that I am grateful.

To my way of thinking, this young man, and those of his mindset are part of the problem. Right or wrong, I’m still a free-thinking American, and that’s my opinion.

Seems a guy cruises thru a stop sign, or whatever, and gets pulled over by a local police officer. The gentleman hands the officer his driver's license, insurance verification, plus his concealed carry permit.

"Okay, Mr. Smith," the cop says, "I see your CCW permit. Are you carrying today?"
"Yes, I am."
"Well then, better tell me what you got."
Mr. Smith says, "Well, I got a .357 revolver in my inside coat pocket.
There's a 9mm semi-auto in the glove box. And, I've got a .22 magnum derringer in my right boot."
"Okay," the officer says. "Anything else?"
"Yeah sir. Back in the trunk, there's an AR15 and a shotgun. That's about it."
"Mr. Smith, are you on your way to or from a gun range...?"
"Nope"
"Well then, what are you afraid of...?"
"Not a darn thing..."

You know, time has a way of moving quickly and catching you unaware of the passing years.
It seems just yesterday that I was young, just married and embarking on my new life with my mate. And yet in a way, it seems like eons ago, and I wonder where all the years went. I know that I lived them all...And I have glimpses of how it was back then and of all my hopes and dreams... But, here it is..the winter of my life and it catches me by surprise... How did I get here so fast? Where did the years go and where did my babies go? And where did my youth go?

I remember well.. Seeing older people through the years and thinking that those older people were years away from me and that winter was so far off that I could not fathom it or imagine fully what it would be like... But, here it is...my friends are retired and really getting gray...they move slower and I see an older person now. Lots are in better shape than me... But, I see the great change... Not like the ones that I remember who were young and vibrant... But, like me, their age is beginning to show and we are now those older folks that we used to see and never thought we'd be.

Each day now, I find that just getting a shower is a real target for the day! And taking a nap is not a treat anymore...it's mandatory! Cause if I don't on my own free will...I just fall asleep where I sit!
And so, now I enter into this new season of my life unprepared for all the aches and pains and the loss of strength and ability to go and do things that I wish I had done but never did!!
But, at least I know, that though the winter has come, and I'm not sure how long it will last...this I know, that when it's over...its over....Yes , I have regrets. There are things I wish I hadn't done ,,,,,things I should have done, but indeed, there are many things I'm happy to have done. It's all in a lifetime....

So, if you're not in your winter yet...let me remind you, that it will be here faster than you think. So, whatever you would like to accomplish in your life please do it quickly! Don't put things off too long!!
Life goes by quickly. So, do what you can today, as you can never be sure whether this is your winter or not!

You have no promise that you will see all the seasons of your life...so, live for good today and say all the things that you want your loved ones to remember...and hope that they appreciate and love you for all the things that you have done for them in all the years past!!

"Life is a gift to you. The way you live your life is your gift to those who come after. Make it a fantastic one."LIVE IT WELL!!----ENJOY TODAY!!!!-----DO SOMETHING FUN!!!----BE HAPPY!!!----BE THANKFUL!!!!!

There once was a man named George Thomas, pastor in a small New England town. One Easter Sunday morning he came to the Church carrying a rusty, bent, old bird cage, and set it by the pulpit. Eyebrows were raised and, as if in response, Pastor Thomas began to speak....
"I was walking through town yesterday when I saw a young boy coming toward me swinging this bird cage. On the bottom of the cage were three little wild birds, shivering with cold and fright.
I stopped the lad and asked, "What do you have there, son?"
"Just some old birds," came the reply.
"What are you going to do with them?" I asked.
"Take 'em home and have fun with 'em," he answered. "I'm gonna tease 'em and pull out their feathers to make 'em fight. I'm gonna have a real good time."
"But you'll get tired of those birds sooner or later. What will you do then?"
"Oh, I got some cats," said the little boy. "They like birds. I'll give ‘em to my cat."
The pastor was silent for a moment. "How much do you want for those birds, son?"
"Huh?? !!! Why, you don't want them birds, mister. They're just plain old field birds. They don't sing. They ain't even pretty!"
"How much?" the pastor asked again.
The boy sized up the pastor as if he were crazy and said, "$10?"
The pastor reached in his pocket and took out a ten dollar bill. He placed it in the boy's hand. In a flash, the boy was gone. The pastor picked up the cage and gently carried it to the end of the alley where
there was a tree and a grassy spot. Setting the cage down, he opened the door, and by softly tapping the bars persuaded the birds out, setting them free.

Well, that explained the empty bird cage on the pulpit, and then the pastor began to tell this story:
One day Satan and Jesus were having a conversation. Satan had just come from the Garden of Eden, and he was gloating and boasting. "Yes, sir, I just caught a world full of people down there. Set me a trap, used bait I knew they couldn't resist. Got 'em all!"
"What are you going to do with them?" Jesus asked.
Satan replied, "Oh, I'm gonna have fun! I'm gonna teach them how to marry and divorce each other, how to hate and abuse each other, how to drink and smoke and curse. I'm gonna teach them how to invent guns and bombs and kill each other. I'm really gonna have fun!"
"And what will you do when you are done with them?" Jesus asked. "Oh, I'll kill 'em," Satan glared proudly.
"How much do you want for them?" Jesus asked.
"Oh, you don't want those people. They ain't no good. Why, you'll take them and they'll just hate you. They'll spit on you, curse you and kill you. You don't want those people!!"
"How much? He asked again.
Satan looked at Jesus and sneered, "All your blood, tears and your life."
Jesus said, "DONE!" Then He paid the price.

The pastor picked up the cage and walked from the pulpit.

If you're spiritually alive, you're going to love this!
If you're spiritually dead, you won't want to hear it.
If you're spiritually curious, there is still hope.

A Church goer wrote a letter to the editor of a newspaper and complained that it made no sense to go to church every Sunday. "I've gone for 30 years now," he wrote, "and in that time I have heard something like 3,000 sermons. But for the life of me, I can't remember a single one of them.. So, I think I'm wasting my time and the pastors are wasting theirs by giving sermons at all."

This started a real controversy in the "Letters to the Editor" column, much to the delight of the editor. It went on for weeks until someone wrote this clincher:

"I've been married for 30 years now. In that time my wife has cooked some 32,000 meals. But, for the life of me, I cannot recall the entire menu for a single one of those meals. But I do know this. They all nourished me and gave me the strength I needed to do my work. If my wife had not given me these meals, I would be physically dead today. Likewise, if I had not gone to church for nourishment, I would be spiritually dead today!"

When you are DOWN to nothing..... God is UP to something! Faith sees the invisible, believes the incredible and receives the impossible! Thank God for our physical AND our spiritual nourishment!

I think everyone should hear this!

"When Satan is knocking at your door, simply say, "Jesus, could you get that for me?"

(Warning: The Veracity Of This "Soap Box" is unsubstantiated.)

Here is another point of view other than the wonderful American press. This guy should be a writer for FOX.

From: A Recon Marine in Afghanistan

From the Sand Pit it's freezing here. I'm sitting on hard, cold dirt between rocks and shrubs at the base of the Hindu Kush Mountains, along the Dar 'yoi Pomir River, watching a hole that leads to a tunnel that leads to a cave.

Stake out, my friend, and no pizza delivery for thousands of miles.

I also glance at the area behind me every ten to fifteen seconds to avoid another scorpion sting.

I've actually given up battling the chiggers and sand fleas, but the scorpions give a jolt like a cattle prod. Hurts like you wouldn’t believe...

The antidote tastes like transmission fluid, but God bless the Marine Corps for the five vials of it in my pack.

The one truth the Taliban cannot escape is that, believe it or not, they are human beings, which means they have to eat food and drink water.

That requires couriers and that's where an old bounty hunter like me comes in handy.

I track the couriers, locate the tunnel entrances and storage facilities, type the info into the handheld, and shoot the coordinates up to the satellite link that tells the air commanders where to drop the hardware.

We bash some heads for a while, and then I track and record the new movement.

It's all about intelligence. We haven't even brought in the snipers yet. These scurrying rats have no idea what they're in for. We are but days away from cutting off supply lines and allowing the eradication to begin.

I dream of bin Laden waking up to find me standing over him with my boot on his throat as I spit into his face and plunge my nickel-plated Bowie knife through his frontal lobe.

But you know me, I'm a romantic. I've said it before and I'll say it again: This country blows, man. It's not even a country. There are no roads, there's no infrastructure, there's no government.

This is an inhospitable, rock pit ruled by eleventh century warring tribes. There are no jobs here like we know jobs.

Afghanistan offers two ways for a man to support his family: join the opium trade or join the army. That's it. Those are your options.

Oh, I forgot, you can also live in a refugee camp and eat plum-sweetened, crushed beetle paste and squirt mud like a goose with stomach flu, if that's your idea of a party.

But the smell alone of those 'tent cities of the walking dead' is enough to hurl you into the poppy fields to cheerfully scrape bulbs for eighteen hours a day.

I've been living with these Tajiks and Uzbeks, and Turkmen and even a couple of Pushtuns, for over a month-and-a-half now, and this much I can say for sure:

These guys, all of 'em, are Huns... Actual, living Huns... They LIVE to fight. It's what they do. It's ALL they do...

They have no respect for anything, not for their families, nor for each other, nor for themselves. They claw at one another as a way of life.

They play polo with dead calves and force their five-year-old sons into human cockfights to defend the family honor.

Huns - roaming packs of savage, heartless beasts who feed on each other's barbarism. Cavemen with AK-47's. Then again, maybe I'm just cranky.

I'm freezing my rear off on this stupid hill because my lap warmer is running out of juice, and I can't recharge it until the sun comes up in a few hours.

Oh yeah! You like to write letters, right? Do me a favor, Bizarre. Write a letter to CNN and tell Wolf and Anderson and that awful, sneering, pompous Aaron Brown to stop calling the Taliban 'smart.' They are not smart.

I suggest CNN invest in a dictionary because the word they are looking for is 'cunning.' The Taliban are cunning, like jackals and hyenas and wolverines.

They are sneaky and ruthless, and when confronted, cowardly. They are hateful, malevolent parasites who create nothing and destroy everything else.

Smart. Pfft. Yeah, they're real smart. They've spent their entire lives reading only one book (and not a very good one, as books go) and consider hygiene and indoor plumbing to be products of the devil.

They're still figuring out how to work a Bic lighter. Talking to a Taliban warrior about improving his quality of life is like trying to teach an ape how to hold a pen; eventually he just gets frustrated and sticks you in the eye with it.

OK, enough. Snuffle will be up soon, so I have to get back to my hole. Covering my tracks in the snow takes a lot of practice, but I'm good at it.

Please, I tell you and my fellow Americans to turn off the TV sets and move on with your lives.

The story line you are getting from CNN and other news agencies is utter garbage and designed not to deliver truth but rather to keep you glued to the screen through the commercials.

We've got this one under control. The worst thing you guys can do right now is sit around analyzing what we're doing over here, because you have no idea what we're doing, and really, you don't want to know.

We are your military, and we are doing what you sent us here to do.

Saucy Jack
Recon Marine in Afghanistan
Semper Fi

"Freedom is not free...but the U.S. Marine Corps will pay most of your share".

Send this to ALL OF YOUR FRIENDS so that people here will really know what is going on over there.-

A veteran is someone who, at one point in his life, wrote a blank check made payable to 'The United States of America ' for an amount of 'up to and including my life.' That is Honor, and there are way too many people in this country who no longer understand it.'

After 20 years of marriage, a couple was lying in bed one evening, when the wife felt her husband begin to touch her in ways he hadn't in quite some time.

it almost tickled as his fingers started at her neck, and then began moving down past the small of her back.

He then caressed her shoulder and neck, slowly moving down, stopping just over her lower stomach.

Proceeding to place his hand on her left inner arm, he caressed down her side, down her leg, and to her calf. He proceeded up her inner thigh, stopping just at the uppoermost portion of her leg. He continued in the same manner on her right side, then suddenly stopped, rolled over and started to watch the TV. 

As she had become quite interested by this caressing, she asked in a loving voice: "That was wonderful. Why did you stop?"

He replied: "I found the remote."

This particular story just made me laugh. Every time I think about it, the vision of that poor cat just amuses me to no end. Hope the story leaves a bright spot in your day. Whoever said the Creator doesn't have a sense of humor?

Dwight Nelson recently told a true story about the pastor of his church. He had a kitten that climbed up a tree in his backyard and then was afraid to come down. The pastor coaxed, offered warm milk, etc.
The kitty would not come down. The tree was not sturdy enough to climb, so the pastor decided that if he tied a rope to his car and pulled it until the tree bent down, he could then reach up and get the kitten.
That's what he did, all the while checking his progress in the car. He then figured if he went just a little bit further, the tree would be bent enough for him to reach the kitten. But as he moved the car a little further forward, the rope broke.

The tree went 'boing!' and the kitten instantly sailed through the air - out of sight.
The pastor felt terrible. He walked all over the neighborhood asking people if they'd seen a little kitten. No. Nobody had seen a stray kitten. So he prayed, 'Lord, I just commit this kitten to your keeping,' and went on about his business.

A few days later he was at the grocery store, and met one of his church members. He happened to look into her shopping cart and was amazed to see cat food. This woman was a cat hater and everyone knew it, so he asked her, 'Why are you buying cat food when you hate cats so much?'
She replied, 'You won't believe this,' and then told him how her little girl had been begging her for a cat, but she kept refusing. Then a few days before, the child had begged again, so the Mom finally told her little girl, 'Well, if God gives you a cat, I'll let you keep it.' She told the pastor, 'I watched my child go out in the yard, get on her knees, and ask God for a cat. And, Pastor, you won't believe this, but I saw it with my own eyes. A kitten came flying out of the blue sky, with its paws outspread, and landed right in front of her.'

Never underestimate the Power of God and His unique sense of humor. Anyone can count the seeds in an apple; but only God can count the apples in a seed.

I made a big mistake on Facebook.
I got a Facebook message from a lady that had been very successful on Ultra 90, and I wanted to have a word with her, and maybe make an Ultra 90 commercial out of her story. So, in thinking I was just responding to that one lady, I asked for her phone number. Apparently, if you don’t do that just right, your request can go out to the entire planet.
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I got one phone number from an old friend/HS football hero/Univ of Tenn Football Hero/Blue Angel pilot that’s in Japan now.
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Then Mary Beth wanted to know why all these women were either asking why I wanted their number, or sending their number to me.
Sharon Johnson- Parham:
"Wonders whom you want to have a word with when My mom use to say that it meant I must've been into some trouble."
Lorraine Lassiter: "Moby you are a married man, I'm not giving you my nuimber. Your wife would kick my butt! And my husband would kick yours!"
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Tiffany Ponder Brown: "This is crazy!! Anyone that would even thing about giving their number to anyone is stupid. Love ya Moby but you could be a Killer!" ===========================================================
Then, my nephew in Phoenix chimed in: "Hey Tiffany Ponder Brown...My Uncle Moby is the most level headed, giving, most loving, family oriented - wouldn't hurt a fly person you could ever get to know. He wouldn't hurt anyone and I'd bet every penny I'd make for the rest of my life on that. YEA BABY !!!!! JAMES ( TIGER )"
Linda Yawn Foskey: "Who Me??"
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Cindi Tribur Brown "Ok Moby...I'll bite. What's the word? I like that word. Here's my number 404-XXX-XXXX. Since I've met you in person at the Cumming Coountry Fair and, I figure you aren't some maniac. But I figure you did this just to see how many would send you their number. lol.
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Tammy Howell "Hi Moby not sure who you were talking to but I would love to get a call from you.. 757-XXX-XXXX.. Yeah Baby :)"
Rochelle sent you a message.
"Ok, so is FB how you typically troll for women's phone numbers?"
"706-XXX-XXXX my name is Paul"
Diane Burkhalter Conway: "I give up...who do you want to talk to?"
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Then Linda Yawn Foskey broke the code: "He means JODIE PINION BARNES you goof balls. Go to his Wall page and you can see."

So, to those that kindly, and without suspicion sent their phone number, Thank you, but I probably won’t be calling today.
To those that were just confused by me asking, I’m sorry.
To those that thought I might be a stalker, or an axe murderer, you never know.
To those husbands that thought I might be hittin’ on their wives, As long as you make that woman know you love her, and make her feel like a queen, that could never be a factor, now could it.
So, trust me when I tell you, this wasn’t what I’d planned for today, but I felt like it just made sense to make it today’s Small Town Soap Box.

Yesterday my husband Bob came home from work early. Our yard backs up to a small creek, and since torrential rains have dumped a foot of water in our neighborhood in the past few days, he wanted to get home to check on things. He noticed that water was puddling in the front yard of two of our neighbors, and went to check on them after he'd found nothing amiss at our home. One set of neighbors wasn't home, but the other neighbor was, and he was getting a little bit of water under a sliding glass door. The two men came back to our house to get the big shop vac and by the time they got back, the little trickle of water had become a stream. Bob went to another neighbor's house to borrow another shop vac and in the space of about three or four minutes returned to find that the water had risen to knee-high and our neighbor was trapped inside.

With both of them working on it, they finally got a door open. As the water rose rapidly, Larry and Bob dashed up the driveway to higher ground. If things floated close enough, they would snag what they could: a pair of golf sandals, a plastic case containing barbecue tools, a partial case of bottled water. Other things floated out of reach: the extra leaf from the kitchen table, a separated pair of golf shoes, a cushion off of a chair. The water looked like Yoo Hoo and churned around and through both houses, carrying with it whatever it could.

In our neighborhood, it didn't sweep away any people. In other areas around Atlanta, it did. This morning's news reports that six are dead and many more are missing.
Larry has a lot of friends, and many, like Bob, showed up to see what could be done. One donned some improvised waders made of two plastic garbage bags and a pair of LL Bean muck boots and waded back into his house to get his medications, which had been left behind in his haste to escape the rapidly rising water. One gave him a place to stay for as long as he needs it, another offered his car, since Larry's was in the shop and the rental car was submerged in the garage. A case of Miller Lite was found floating, and that was snagged for Larry, too - his beverage of choice was rescued, at least, which made him laugh out loud when he saw it. To be able to laugh at a time like this is so valuable, so whether the beer is drunk or not, it's rescue served a noble cause.

In the midst of this, the other pair of neighbors returned home and were shocked to see that the tidy house they left yesterday morning was filled with two and a half feet of. The friends and neighbors again started helping: the improvised waders were transferred to the wife and guys started going in to help the couple see what they could salvage, as well as get their needed items out of the house.
Community means a lot on a good day. On a really bad day, you discover what your community - your friends and neighbors - are made of. From what I witnessed yesterday afternoon, Bob and I are blessed with very caring friends. I wish the same for you, and hope your friendships aren't tested in such a drastic way.

Dear Moby, I just want to share a little story with you. I made a mistake in my life and ended up in prison. Well, eventually I was able to go to work on a road crew outside the prison and every morning I made my boss and crew listen to your show and I want to thank you for all your kind Christian comments and soap boxes with out those sometimes I would have been lost, & without God I would have been lost. So, thank you.
People don’t know or understand how some prisoners or criminals do change their lives, and society don't always give them a 2nd chance. I am having a hard time finding work now. I just thank God that he works in there as well as out here. Thank you Moby for being a blessing to me and for sharing Christ’s love on the radio like you do.

"Treasures in Prison Cells"

It was late and I was tired, wanting to go to sleep, but God wanted to talk. It was about midnight, but it dawned on me
that God does not sleep. His question made me restless, "where on earth does man keep his most priceless treasures and valuables?"
I said, "Lord, usually treasures like gold, silver, diamonds, and precious jewels are kept locked up somewhere out of sight, usually with guards to keep them under lock and key.
"God spoke," Like these some of my most valuables treasures here on earth are also locked up." I saw Jesus standing in front of thousands of prisons. The Lord said, "These souls have the greatest potential to be used and to bring forth glory to my name. Tell my People that I am going forth this hour to the prisons to activate the gifts and callings that lie dormant in these lives. Tell my people that great treasures are behind these walls, in forgotten vessels. THEY MUST BE RESTORED!!!

I HOPE YOU LIKE THIS AND CAN USE IT. LIKE I SAID THERE ARE GOOD PEOPLE IN PRISON THEY JUST MADE A MISTAKE AND SOCIETY NEEDS TO GIVE THEM A CHANCE WHEN THEY GET OUT.

JOSHUA A SHINGLETON

When is the spending going to stop? I recently found out about another incentive program that our president has introduced. I'm sure he had good intentions but I would like to share my 2 cents about this free spending of our money. The incentive that I'm referring to is the reimbursement plan for science teachers who have student loans. Mr Obama is paying back loans up to 17,500.00. Nothing against the teachers receiving this money, but if we have that extra money laying around perhaps it should go towards someone a little more needy. How about the farmers who are losing money every year. Especially the dairy farmers who are selling milk at lower prices than recorded in the 70's. I recently spoke with a local dairy farmer who barely made enough money to replant his corn. At this rate, our farms will no longer be in existence. Don't forget where our food comes from. The largest problem I have about repaying student loans, is the lack of monitoring where this money from the loans was spent. College students can qualify for student loans even when not being used for their education. Some students use these to go on spring break. I cannot see using American tax dollars to reimburse these trips. I for one made it through college while working two jobs to pay for my education, no loans. I am proud to say that I have worked for everything I have. As American citizens, I feel it is our responsibility to say stop the spending. This all falls back to "Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what can you do for your country"

Ray Freeman Buckhannon
Upshur High School Agriculture Teacher/ FFA Advisor


Thank you, Ray. I hope you don't mind if this becomes one of my Soap Boxes. Good guys, support good guys. I support you, sir. Yeah baby, MOBY

I wouldn't mind at all if you use this as one of your Soap Boxes. Again, I'm not saying that our president is bad himself, just not agreeing with his policies at this moment.

Thanks for listening to my thoughts,
Yeah Baby. Ray Freeman

Dear Mr. Moby I am a 14 years old and I listen to your show everyday, when I am getting ready for school. I am a patriot just like you and I thank you for saluting our troops. Since I started listening to you, I have really started to appreciate the men and women in uniform. I have a cousin who is in the marines and I admire him for what he does. We don’t realize what our troops do for us when all we can do is fuss over what we want. I think it’s about time America stood up and think about what our troops do for us. Before I started listening to you I really didn’t think about our troops. Yet I as I grow, I learn to appreciate them more and more. I thank all American soldiers for what they do and maybe one day I will pick the uniform and do my duty too. Mr. Moby, thank you for everything. God Bless America --

Sincerely,
Allen Tanner
East Dublin
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Dear Allen, Just when I reach a point where I’m ready to shrug my shoulders, throw up my hands, and say I give up, along comes a proud and fine young patriot like you that speaks with the common patriotic sense of someone many years your senior.
Your email makes me realize that the duty of those that think like me is to hold on for reinforcements. They’re coming. They’re right-minded and they’re focused. They are the youth of this great nation depending on us to fight for the eternal flame of liberty that should be blazing in every American heart. Allen, they are you.
Tell your parents for me that your Uncle Moby thinks they’re doing a great job, but it’s you that will be handed the torch very soon, and it’s us that will watch in awe as you set the country on fire with liberty, independence, passion, and patriotism.
The aging and tired can not give up in the face of adversity, because the new generation deserves better, and are depending on us to stay the course.
My prayer is that there are multitudes of Allen Tanners prepared to stand strong when it comes their turn in the trenches to defend the sacred honor of being an American. I apologize to you, son, for ever thinking surrender could be an option. Thank you for the wake-up call. The old quote says, “Child becomes father to the man.”
God bless you and your family, fellow patriot. MOBY

Their marriage was good, their dreams focused. Their best friends lived barely a wave away.
I can see them now, Dad in trousers, tee shirt and a hat and Mom in a house dress; lawn mower in his hand, and dish-towel in hers. It was the time for fixing things. A curtain rod, the kitchen radio, screen door, the oven door, the hem in a dress. Things we keep.

It was a way of life, and sometimes it made me crazy. All that re-fixing, eating, renewing, I wanted just once to be wasteful. Waste meant affluence. Throwing things away meant you knew there'd always be more. But then my mother died, and on that clear summer's night, in the warmth of the hospital room, I was struck with the pain of learning that sometimes there isn't any more.

Sometimes, what we care about most gets all used up and goes away ... never to return. So .... While we have it .... it's best we love it ... And care for it .... And fix it when it's broken ... And heal it when it's sick.

This is true: For marriage .... Old cars ... Children with bad report cards ... Dogs and cats with bad hips ... Aging parents ... And grandparents. We keep them because they are worth it .... because we are worth it!
Some things we keep. Like a best friend that moved away or a classmate we grew up with.. There are just some things that make life important, like people we know who are special ... so, we keep them close!

The words have true meaning...not funny but ohhh so true.
Lynn Shelnutt

Beauty tips for all of us: “For attractive lips, speak words of kindness. For lovely eyes, seek out the good in people. For a slim figure, share your food with the hungry. For beautiful hair, let a child run his/her fingers through it once a day. For poise, walk with the knowledge that you never walk alone. People, even more than things, have to be restored, renewed, revived, reclaimed, and redeemed; never throw out anyone. Remember, if you ever need a helping hand, you will find one at the end of each of your arms. As you grow older, you will discover that you have two hands; one for helping yourself, and the other for helping others..."

Audrey Hepburn

Here are a few that I believe all Americans want.

• Limit Congress from serving more than two terms. That is all that presidents are allowed.
• Stop Congress from voting for their own raises. How did that ever get started?
• Stop paying for lawmakers' high-priced insurance premiums. After all, they are only part-time employees. They might pass some law changes on the insurance companies, if they had to find one.
• Stop paying lawmakers their full salary after serving just one term, or at retirement. We need to get rid of that pension plan; they've let other companies get rid of theirs. You were lucky to get 40 to 50 percent of your salary after working somewhere for 35 years, but they get 100 percent.
• Make Congress pay into the Social Security system. They make laws for it. If they spent some of their own money, they might be interested in making it solvent.
• Stop handing out aid to illegal aliens. If we did, then Medicaid and the food stamp program would have enough money to aid the aged and the poor.
• Secure our borders.
• Stop allowing babies born to illegal aliens in the United States automatic U.S. citizenship.
• Stop the abuse of our benevolent welfare system. We feed children free meals three times a day until they are 17. Churches give away good, clean clothes. Companies buy and donate school supplies. Emergency rooms provide health care at taxpayer expense and the food stamp program is buying food at home. What are parents doing for their children?
• Have a computer program that cross checks Social Security numbers with fingerprints to stop fraud on many fronts. Use it on voter registration, too.
• Stop bailing out mortgage companies and banks that give loans to people who cannot afford them.
• Stop companies from paying CEOs and other executives outrageous salaries and bonuses while doing away with workers' pensions.
• Stop all unnecessary spending so we will have the money for our nation's security, and to help needy  and elderly Americans.
• Stop permitting anyone to have a photo with their face covered on driver's licenses. Whoever wins the presidency will not be able to make these changes. Only members of Congress can do this, as they are the lawmakers. I don't believe Congress is interested in changing anything, do you?

Dear Mr. Moby and Ron,
I hear friendly voices in the morning saying that Michael Vick has paid his dues. He should be allowed to go forward. Well according to the legal system, I guess that is true.
However, if I ever have an opportunity to see Michael Vick play, I will boo him until I can breathe no more.
Michael Vick didn't make a mistake. He didn't "make a bad choice.” Over a period of five years he forced dogs into deadly fights, and he personally killed, or conspired to kill, thirteen dogs. He didn't pick a quick, painless method of killing, but instead chose a variety of means that qualify as torture. Pit Bulls are powerful dogs. Imagine how hard you would have to work to kill a Pit Bull by forcibly drowning him.
What got Vick into the most trouble was his lying. Vick denied and denied. But prosecutors said Vick, after taking a polygraph test in October, admitted to a more active role. Vick said he carried a dog to a tree, tied a rope around its neck, and dropped the dog.
He abused dogs to make them vicious. He starved animals to make them meaner. He put them into a ring with another dog, and made them fight to the death. The dog fight was a match to the death that usually ended with one dog ripping out the throat, literally, of the other. Michael Vick was instrumental in facilitating, putting together, organizing and funding this cruel and inhumane warfare.
If they did not perform to his satisfaction he would kill them. He killed thirteen dogs by various methods including wetting one dog down and electrocuting her, hanging, drowning and shooting others and, in at least one case, by slamming a dog’s body to the ground.
Twice Vick put family pets into the fighting ring with pit bulls because he “thought it was funny to watch the pit bulls. . . injure or kill the other dogs.” Mr. Moby, do you have a pet dog in your house. Can you imagine the animal that looks to you for its life being mauled by a vicious Pit Bull? Michael Vick would have laughed as your dog was in absolute fear and pain as it was mauled and killed by a wild dog owned by a wild man.
After he was arrested, 47 dogs that were taken from his property.
He admitted to “making mistakes” and “immature acts.” But deliberately and repeatedly planning dog fights and repeated premeditated violent killings of dogs are not “mistakes.” They are not the acts of someone who’s merely immature. They are the acts of a sociopath and a predator.
Here’s a little picture. Hope it makes your day. (picture is not included here)
You may think he has paid for his mistakes, but I say never.
God bless America
Pray for our troops
Tim

Dear Tim,
I sincerely think you should "rethink your position."
Other than your lack of forgiveness, I don't dispute a word you've written.
What he did was indescribably atrocious.
He was suspected, investigated, arrested, tried, convicted, sentenced, incarcerated, and then released with the record and shame of a convicted felon.
That's precisely how it's supposed to work.
Many people have made terrible mistakes in their lives, and have been treated in this same way. As law abiding citizens, our obligation is to allow the perpetrator to move on.
When it's over, it's over.
While I don't advocate "getting over it", I do advocate rehabilitation..
I wish him luck.
MOBY

It is difficult for me to admit that my liberal friends were right.

They told me if I voted for McCain, the nation's Hope would deteriorate, and sure enough there has been a 20 point drop in the Consumer Confidence Index since the election, reaching a lower point than any time during the Bush administration. They told me if I voted for McCain, the US would become more deeply embroiled in the Middle East, and sure enough, tens of thousands of additional troops are scheduled to be deployed into Afghanistan . They told me if I voted for McCain, that the economy would get worse, and sure enough unemployment is approaching 9.5% and the new stimulus packages recently sent the stock market lower than at any time since 9-11. They told me if I voted for McCain, we would see more "crooks" in high ranking positions in Federal government and sure enough, several recent cabinet nominees and Senate appointments revealed resumes of scandal, bribery and tax fraud. They told me if I voted for McCain, we would see more "Pork at the trough" in Federal government and sure enough, 17,500 "Pork Bills" showed up in Congress in just three weeks. They told me if I voted for McCain, we would see more deficit spending in D.C. and sure enough, Obama spent more in just 30 days than all other Presidents together in the history of the good 'ole USA. A 3.8 trillion dollar budget, with a 900 million dollar per day interest on this current debt. Well I ignored my liberal friends in November and voted for McCain.

… And they were right. I voted for John McCain, and all their predictions have come true.

One day, when a seamstress was sewing while sitting close to a river, her thimble fell into the river. When she cried out, the Lord appeared and asked, "My dear child, why are you crying?" The seamstress replied that her thimble had fallen into the water and that she needed it to help her husband in making a living for their family.The Lord dipped His hand into the water and pulled up a golden thimble set with sapphires.
"Is this your thimble?" the Lord asked.The seamstress replied, "No."
The Lord again dipped into the river. He held out a golden thimble studded with rubies.
"Is this your thimble?" the Lord asked. Again, the seamstress replied, "No."
The Lord reached down again and came up with a leather thimble.

"Is this your thimble?" the Lord asked. The seamstress replied, "Yes." The Lord was pleased with the woman's honesty and gave her all three thimbles to keep, and the seamstress went home happy.
Some years later, the seamstress was walking with her husband along the riverbank, and her husband fell into the river and disappeared under the water. When she cried out, the Lord again appeared and asked her, "Why are you crying?'' "Oh Lord, my husband has fallen into the river!"
The Lord went down into the water and came up with George Clooney. "Is this your husband? The Lord asked.

"Yes," cried the seamstress.The Lord was furious. "You lied! That is an untruth!" The seamstress replied, "Oh, forgive me, my Lord. It is a misunderstanding. You see, if I had said "no" to George Clooney, you would have come up with Brad Pitt.

Then if I said "no" to him, you would have come up with my husband. Had I then said "yes," you would have given me all three. Lord, I'm not in the best of health and would not be able to take care of all three husbands, so THAT'S why I said "yes" to George Clooney. And so the Lord let her keep him.
The moral of this story is:
Whenever a woman lies, it's for a good and honorable reason, and in the best interest of others. That's our story, and we're sticking to it. Signed, All Us Women

"A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones."
Proverbs 17:22 (NIV)

Laughter is like jogging on the inside. Exercise your 'innards' every day.

Moby,
Since I visited your studio a few months ago, I have become a fan of your morning show. I listen to you each morning on my way to work. I really enjoy your Small Town Soap Box stories...there are many times I shed a tear or two. This seems like an incredible story and I wanted to share it with you.
Thanks for being you! And for banking with Fidelity Bank! We love Mary Beth and Gracie too!
Patty Voelz Fidelity Bank
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Our 14 year old dog, Abbey, died last month. The day after she died, my 4 year old daughter Meredith was crying and talking about how much she missed Abbey.. She asked if we could write a letter to God so that when Abbey got to heaven, God would recognize her. I told her that I thought we could so she dictated these words:
Dear God,
Will you please take care of my dog? She died yesterday and is with you in heaven. I miss her very much. I am happy that you let me have her as my dog even though she got sick.
I hope you will play with her. She likes to play with balls and to swim. I am sending a picture of her so when you see her You will know that she is my dog. I really miss her. Love, Meredith
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We put the letter in an envelope with a picture of Abbey and Meredith and addressed it to God/Heaven We put our return address on it. Then Meredith pasted several stamps on the front of the envelope because she said it would take lots of stamps to get the letter all the way to heaven. That afternoon she dropped it into the letter box at the post office. A few days later, she asked if God had gotten the letter yet. I told her that I thought He had.
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Yesterday, there was a package wrapped in gold paper on our front porch addressed, 'To Meredith' in an unfamiliar hand. Meredith opened it. Inside was a book by Mr. Rogers called, 'When a Pet Dies..' Taped to the inside front cover was the letter we had written to God in its opened envelope. On the opposite page was the picture of Abbey &Meredith and this note:
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Dear Meredith,
Abbey arrived safely in heaven. Having the picture was a big help. I recognized Abbey right away.
Abbey isn't sick anymore. Her spirit is here with me just like it stays in your heart. Abbey loved being your dog. Since we don't need our bodies in heaven, I don't have any pockets to keep your picture in, so I am sending it back to you in this little book for you to keep and have something to remember Abbey by..
Thank you for the beautiful letter and thank your mother for helping you write it and sending it to me. What a wonderful mother you have. I picked her especially for you. I send my blessings every day and remember that I love you very much. By the way, I'm easy to find, I am wherever there is love. Love, God

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