T-Bone

I think you're right DrtDzn on the no-guarantees-thing. I like Cman's reference from Job. And that made me think of something in Psalms. I think this passage like so many others that speak of the complex web of life – say something of the power of our Creator in weaving together all the life and eco systems, Psalm 104: 10-28 10 He makes springs pour water into the ravines; it flows between the mountains. 11 They give water to all the beasts of the field; the wild donkeys quench their thirst. 12 The birds of the air nest by the waters; they sing among the branches. 13 He waters the mountains from his upper chambers; the earth is satisfied by the fruit of his work. 14 He makes grass grow for the cattle, and plants for man to cultivate— bringing forth food from the earth: 15 wine that gladdens the heart of man, oil to make his face shine, and bread that sustains his heart. 16 The trees of the LORD are well watered, the cedars of Lebanon that he planted. 17 There the birds make their nests; the stork has its home in the pine trees. 18 The high mountains belong to the wild goats; the crags are a refuge for the coneys. [b] 19 The moon marks off the seasons, and the sun knows when to go down. 20 You bring darkness, it becomes night, and all the beasts of the forest prowl. 21 The lions roar for their prey and seek their food from God. 22 The sun rises, and they steal away; they return and lie down in their dens. 23 Then man goes out to his work, to his labor until evening. 24 How many are your works, O LORD! In wisdom you made them all; the earth is full of your creatures. 25 There is the sea, vast and spacious, teeming with creatures beyond number— living things both large and small. 26 There the ships go to and fro, and the leviathan, which you formed to frolic there. 27 These all look to you to give them their food at the proper time. 28 When you give it to them, they gather it up; when you open your hand, they are satisfied with good things. Note especially verse 21 - it says the lions roar for their prey and seek their food from God. From my Christian perspective – I see not only a complex system of life-sustaining interrelating details but also that God has built into His creations some level of ability to fend for themselves. Which makes me think of another passage, Deuteronomy 8: 17, 18 17 You may say to yourself, "My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me." 18 But remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your forefathers, as it is today. There's verses in Proverbs that contrast the poverty of lazy people with the wealth of those who are industrious. I think passages like these are a far cry from suggesting any get-rich-quick thing like the law-of-believing hog wash. Looking again at your reference at the beginning of this thread – I see it very similar to the Psalm 104:21 reference to lions seeking their food from God. The birds DO HAVE TO go out and look for their food. There is some work involved on their part. Using their natural abilities [flying, seeing, etc.] to locate it. Perhaps that is some of the point in the passage: we use our natural abilities – like working for a living – and not worrying about the basic provisions of life, remembering that it's God who has given us the ability to produce wealth. Matthew 6:25-34 25"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? 26Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? 28"And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' 32For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Wishing you a strange and wonderful birthday that is commensurate with your strangeness, love Tonto & T-Bone

Best wishes to yah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh – was that one of his botched attempts to cover up his sources? Man, that's a whole lotta Stiles, Bullinger, and Leonard stuff he took to the dump!

Good points, Raf - understood - and thank you for the clarification.

Intentional [from Webster's New World College Dictionary 4th Edition]: having to do with intention or purpose. Done purposely. Unintentional [from above Webster's]: not done on purpose. Alright – if you want to cut him some slack – I guess I'd call him the Accidental Plagiarist…Although we're getting into that same dumb argument of trying to figure out what were his intentions. If you must avoid the "P" word perhaps another word might do: Negligence [from above Webster's]: habitual failure to do the required thing. Carelessness or indifference. Law - failure to use a reasonable amount of care when such failure results in injury or damage to another.

Great thread, WordWolf – thanks for putting this stuff together. Great posts by other folks too! But I have to comment about OldiesMan saying in post # 3, I think YOUR confusion may come from ignoring ethical standards of honesty for the sake of believing a thief and a liar. I really don't trust anything the man said or wrote after finding out he lied about taking everything he could from the Moody Correspondence School – I posted a letter about that little FACT on WordWolf's thread The Way: Living in Wonderland, post # 500 http://www.greasespotcafe.com/ipb/index.ph...st&p=213920 …Also, I wanted to add something that I found while reading this thread. The following excerpts are from an article What is Plagiarism? by the History News Network Staff http://hnn.us/articles/514.html "…The word plagiarism derives from Latin roots: plagiarius, an abductor, and plagiare, to steal. The expropriation of another author's text, and the presentation of it as one's own, constitutes plagiarism and is a serious violation of the ethics of scholarship. It undermines the credibility of historical inquiry… …Plagiarism, then, takes many forms. The clearest abuse is the use of another's language without quotation marks and citation. More subtle abuses include the appropriation of concepts, data, or notes all disguised in newly crafted sentences, or reference to a borrowed work in an early note and then extensive further use without attribution. All such tactics reflect an unworthy disregard for the contributions of others…"

I heard Pat uses several Magic 8 Balls so if he gets an answer like this one he’ll just refer to another:

Socks, I really liked your tune!!!!!!!! It reminded me of Wes Montgomery. An excellent soundtrack for Chatty and Ala to move by.

Raf, I agree with you on no chemistry in Superman Returns between Lois and Superman, and I think the only time I bought Routh’s portrayal of Superman or Clark was when he seemed to remind me of Reeve – in looks or mannerisms. And I missed the sass and quirkiness of Kidder’s Lois…Overall, I did like the movie though – almost as much as I and II – I guess for storyline and special effects…I recently watched it a second time and found myself playing Armchair Superman. When Superman swoops in to save the Space Shuttle attached to the Airliner – I wondered if he could have just used his super-breath to blow out the Space Shuttle’s Rocket Engines [like he did later on to blow out the ignited gas leak at Metropolis] and then gently carry them to the earth. However, I did appreciate that whole scene – spectacular special effects – especially landing the Airliner in the middle of a ball game!

Wow! Great relevant stuff here for a self-awareness thread – thanks Bagpipes and Washington! I thought of Psalm 4:4 "…commune with your own heart upon your bed, and be still…" and II Corinthians 13:5 "Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves…" ...Anyway, Bagpipes - I think the exercises you've mentioned would really help someone practice this reflective thinking mentioned in the Scriptures! In my opinion TWI had me preoccupied with fitting into their cookie-cutter mold of what a believer should be. That was the opposite of self-absorption – I dunno – maybe I'd call that self-annihilation. Amazing how our true selves virtually disappeared – lacking the intellectual means to identify, articulate, or process what we really felt about something. Like you were saying Washington – if someone labeled certain ideas, concepts, etc. as bad or off-limits – we simply did not see the need to address those issues - they did not register on our radar screen. How convenient – for them.

Say...is that the bass player in Stone Temple Pilots? Socks - Happy Birthday to you - if that's your real birthday - and if Socks is your real name...well..whether or not...that's okay...even if it's all virtual - you're very real in my book - love yah and God bless yah!!!!!

Happy Birthday, Eagle. I was Googling for a spiffy eagle image for yah – but then I came across a chart showing Eagle USA Airfreight is the hottest thing in domestic forwarding…and so…[you know some how my convoluted processor will tie anything together] my birthday wish for you is that you have a prosperous year!

I'm catching up on threads…thanks for sharing your Christmas goodies…As for me - wow wee – got LOTS of music for Christmas!!!!!!!!!! Blind Faith: London Hyde Park 1969 DVD – hadn't watched it yet…Fathers and Sons after Waysider's recommendation – I love it! Tonto likes it too – she's got a thing for those old blues singers [this CD has Muddy Waters]…John Mayer's Heavier Things – I put it on my wish list after Ala Ala[/b]] posted the words to Daughters – the whole CD is great! The London Howlin' Wolf Sessions with Eric Clapton, Steve Winwood, Bill Wyman and Charlie Watts. I used to have this on vinyl – I've been savoring this moment of audible impact for sometime now. All great tunes – I especially like I ain't superstitious, Sittin' on top of the world, Built for comfort, Wang Dang Doodle – uh er – guess I like the whole thing…Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon – lost a couple of their albums to a basement flood – thought this would be a good one to have on CD. Besides several lumps of coal, my music gifts continues: Corrine Bailey Rae [untitled CD] – I caught her on Saturday Night Live and had to get her CD! Sweet voice…Diana Krall's From this moment on – I think this is my fifth CD of her stuff plus I have her concert at the Montreal Jazz Festival on DVD. Man, there's a lot of talent jammed packed into that cute little lady! Larry Coryell's Spaces – with John McLaughlin, Chick Corea, Miroslav Vitous and Billy Cobham. The CD has Rene's Theme a killer tune I had on an old LP of Coryell's – quoting from the liner notes of the CD: "…Coryell generally delivers more rapid-fire strings of notes, while McLaughlin leaves more spaces and is perhaps more into texture, but each player jumps into the other's most characteristic territory on numerous occasions. Rene's Theme is the album high point, a gut-string duet that finds the two guitarists in a Django Reinhardt bag…" Tony Bennett's Duets: An American Classic – I caught him doing some tunes on TV with some of the folks on this CD and had to get it! And to round things off – U2's The Best of 1990-2000 and ColdPlay's X&Y. And – I've been saving the best for last…trumpets and drum roll please…I finally get to one-up Ala on the concert going circuit! Yup – Tonto and I came out of semi-retirement – for just one night anyway…went to a concert: Delbert McClinton and Al Green. Etta James was supposed to be on the bill too but was sick. Delbert was phenomenal – Tonto has three of his CD's – which I'll have to borrow! What energy! Sometimes the band's sound reminded me of Tower of Power and sometimes a throw back to that old honky tonk sound. Al Green was good – I think some of his stuff was filler to make up for Etta James being out sick. I wish everybody a Happy New Year – and I'll see you at the Spot [er…uhmm…Grease Spot that is – I was trying to craft an inspirational phrase like Zig Zigglar…anyway…I promise to be funnier next year].

Polar Bear, I liked Phillips' book Body for Life…uhmmm…I do need to get back into weight training – besides being good for muscle strengthening it's good for maintaining bone density too…Awhile back I injured my rotator cuff doing pull ups – okay - I had gotten kind of over zealous for my age. I've got You the Owners Manual – like to skim through it for what looks interesting at the time…Great idea for a thread, Polar Bear – thanks! George, I loved Diamond's Guns, Germs, and Steel – did you ever catch his 3 part series on TV – very good adaptation – wished it was longer? His ideas make a lot of sense – like the expansion of civilization being faster as people migrated along their original latitude – more energy could be devoted to expansion than needing to adapt to a foreign climate, alternate resources,etc. …I've got 4 books on my nightstand: Beyond Fear: Thinking Sensibly about Security in an Uncertain World by Bruce Schneier. I like his common sense approach to security issues…Molecules of Emotion by Candace Pert – I became interested after Belle and Bagpipes mentioned it. Fascinating book – our brains being more like combination of an electrical system and a pharmacy…The Cry of the Soul: How our Emotions reveal our deepest Questions about God by Dan Allender and Tremper Longman – I read enough of Bagpipes' posts about it to get interested. The book gets me thinking – quoting from page 21, "Perhaps a better explanation for why it's so difficult to feel our feelings is that all emotion, positive or negative, opens the door to the nature of reality. All of us prefer to avoid pain – but even more, we want to escape reality."…Write Tight: How to keep Your Prose Sharp, Focused and Concise by William - Brohaugh. This was a gift from my wife Tonto who is tired of reading my long posts .

I don’t think anything gets done properly at GSC – and that’s just the way I like it! And seeing how you’ve got 450 pounds of bulging, scintillating muscle and seething rage…you can call me whatever the hell you want.

I’m impressed! I submitted my real name – Thelonious Hyphen Bone and it came back with The Grand Clown…Oh and I like your new avatar, Mr. Hammeroni.

Don’t know if they’re the greatest – but I guess with the name being copyrighted – that ought to make them the only Sucrets in the world today…

Thanks, OldiesMan – and the same to you and everyone else at Grease Spot Café!

…Nobody puts Babylon in a corner…

Thanks for the link, Dot…and not a moment too soon…I’ll stop payment on the check I sent that group – although I thought it wasn’t a bad deal – getting the T-Shirt “cult member” and a revolver with the serial number filed off…uhmmmm…hope they’ll return my firstborn male child…

The greatest secret in the world today has been symbiotically encrypted within the human known as Sushi.

I don’t blame yah – with someone going around defecating in everyone’s camp.

Sorry, Raf – I’ve been thrown off by your cute avatar. Your old one gave you that serious/journalistic/authoritative look. Now I just want to hug yah – you’re so dang cute! :wub: ...uuhmmmm…oh yeah – I have been listening to what you said – but I tend to lean towards Potato’s scientific method of study. I don’t like to see anything go to waste – not even waste.

Potato, I think just about everyone at GSC finds his posts confusing. You know it’s extremely difficult to understand the gibberish that comes out of a child’s mouth when they’re throwing a temper tantrum. Personally, I just try to decipher it the best I can and then run with it. I really don’t take any of his posts that seriously…I think you pointed it out earlier – how they lack any substance… …And speaking of lacking substance - I take his lack of response to issues addressed to him as a silent agreement on his part. For instance, I know he read my post # 244 – because he selectively quoted from it in his “reply” of post # 248 by saying who he directed his comment towards. The fact that he did not refute any of the points I laid out is kind of a dumb thing to do on an open forum. Especially since the sum of my post said that he replaced Jesus Christ with VPW as the one he worships and obeys…And so what I am left to conclude is that when he refers to anyone failing god or forsaking the “truth” – it is the truth that VPW is his lord and savior. I thought he would at least say something like “I’ll get back to you on this one” – which he did say on his Whatever happened to the word??, the Bible thread. I asked him for Scripture reference on his assertion that all inventions and technological advancements came by revelation…Well…come to think of it - he hasn’t gotten back to me on that one yet.