Rocky

Absolutely NOT! Indeed, the Founding Fathers believed in GOD. However, knowing the evils of religious persecution, they specifically established a SECULAR nation. And when the need for a Bill of Rights was recognized and acted upon, what is the FIRST thing that Bill of Rights declared? Does ANYone really believe the First Amendment allows for religious persecution to be condoned? http://www.firstamendmentcenter.org/about....=about_firstamd Further, does anyone have any difficulty recognizing the bias inherent in the writings of bereanpublishers.com ? The "underpinning" or conceptual (philosophical) foundation of America lies in the writings of John Locke and Jean Jacques Rousseau. In terms of HISTORY, the new nation borrowed from the Greek republic/democracy. Had they been thinking in terms of a Christian nation, we'd have seen far more intense and far earlier religious persecution than the right-wing Christian fundementalists are responsible for today. OTOH, my hunch is that there's been plenty of religious persecution in the USA from the beginning. But what is done in contemporary America would be far more brazen and unapologetic than it already is. Point of interest -- the uproar caused by a Congressman, newly elected last month, wanting to take the oath of office with a copy of the quran, INSTEAD of the bible. That Congressman has already faced tremendous amounts of hate for that single declaration.

Actually, from SimonZ's house, Piestewa Peak is closer and a more direct line of sight. Piestewa Peak was formerly named Squaw Peak. Camelback Mountain would be viewable from Simon's house except for lots of houses and trees in between.

Thankfully, I've not had any friends or relatives die recently (I'm in my early 50s). However, back about 14 years ago, the first time in my life I had lost anyone close, there were six or so in less than a year. The closest was my brother, in his mid-30s, died suddenly due to heart disease. His may have been hastened by tobacco and drug abuse. He had been a smoker for more than 20 years by then. I've lost other family members, not as close as my brother, due to cancer, various types... prostate, breast, thyroid, maybe others. My dad made it to 66, but his heart gave out. My mother's too ornery to die... even though she's had significant health issues all of her adult life. She has not dealt with cancer however.... anyway. I'm working on health issues and hope to make it to the same age as the guy that did a lot of research on vitamin C... he was 93 when he died due to prostate cancer.

Chestnuts must be roasting on an open fire in a lot of places this week... I hope ever one's all warm and toasty in the company of those you love! :)

With all this money being tossed about so "freely" it makes one wonder what tickets are going to cost in the near future... and whether the "small market" teams will have a snowball's chance in Phoenix in July...

WHAT A HOOT! That video is hilarious!!!! Thanks Dave

Well, Eagle, at least Amazon.com has it in stock!

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0942833 Deadpan comedian Steven Wright was born this day (Dec 6) in 1955. Many of you may know of him... among his trademark style jokes... "I had some eyeglasses. I was walking down the street when suddenly the prescription ran out." "A lot of people are afraid of heights. I'm afraid of widths." I looked him up on IMDB.com after hearing someone on TV mention that today was his b'day. On IMDB.com's bio page for him, I read several of his jokes... many of which I had heard before... I haven't laughed so hard in eons.... ALSO... A dear friend of mine from about 26 years ago, another former wayfer, former waycorpse member (don't remember which number, but it was sometime after the 9th) I believe had a birthday today... http://www.danstevens.net He's now a blues musician touring regularly in the NE USA...

And I found out a couple of weeks ago that one of my doctors at the VA in Phoenix grew up near Grand Lake St. Mary's... which is not far from New Knoxville... she's younger than I am... but she's familiar with twi, but just barely. She also went to medical school in Toledo. I think she mentioned having seen billboard(s) on Hwy 29.

Hey hey happy happy dear Ex10! Sounds like you're loved at home as well as here at the ol' GSC! Glad it's a good one for you and yurs...

I'm good...(or should I say, I'm doing well?) mornings are pretty cold (high 30s F ;) ), but no wind today and mid 70s this afternoon... going to the gym shortly, spent the morning with my kids... life's good. :)

I gotta admit that I more or less agree with Mr. stRange on that on a practical level. However, from a more romantic (not sexual romantic, but romantic world view) view, it's inevitable for mankind to be exploring the world(s) beyond. Think about how much society and technology have changed since we were born; since we were young kids; since we were in high school; since we've been out of the cult... and even in the last couple of years... I obviously don't care about whether any particular family makes it out of the "comfort" of mother earth into the wild black yonder of outer space to explore, colonize and cause the human species to survive and (hopefully) thrive elsewhere in our unimaginably vast universe. It's just probably not feasible to expect public opinion to change to the degree necessary to halt such exploration.

Geez Tom... I've never heard you so cynical before!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/6158855.stm Move to new planet, says Hawking Prof Hawking is in "no hurry to die" The human race must move to a planet beyond our Solar System to protect the future of the species, physicist Professor Stephen Hawking has warned. He told the BBC that life could be wiped out by a nuclear disaster or an asteroid hitting the planet. But the Cambridge academic added: "Once we spread out into space and establish colonies, our future should be safe." Prof Hawking, 64, was speaking before receiving the UK's top science award, the Royal Society's Copley Medal. My next goal is to go into space; maybe Richard Branson will help me Professor Stephen Hawking He said there were no similar planets to Earth in our Solar System so humans would "have to go to another star". Professor Hawking said that current chemical and nuclear rockets were not adequate for taking colonists into space as they would mean a journey of 50,000 years. He also discounted using warp drive to travel at the speed of light for taking people to a new outpost. Instead, he favoured "matter/anti-matter annihilation" as a means of propulsion. A collision with fragments from space could end life on earth He explained: "When matter and anti-matter meet up, they disappear in a burst of radiation. If this was beamed out of the back of a spaceship, it could drive it forward." Travelling at just below the speed of light, it would mean a journey of about six years to reach a new star. "It would take a lot of energy to accelerate to near the speed of light," he told BBC Radio 4's Today. Professor Hawking became famous with the publication of his book A Brief History of Time in the late 1980s. 'Goal is space' The physicist was not given many years to live when he was diagnosed with motor neurone disease in the 1960s, aged 22. He said since then he had "learned not to look too far ahead, but to concentrate on the present". "I am not afraid of death but in no hurry to die," he said. "My next goal is to go into space; maybe Richard Branson will help me." Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Group has contracted a firm to design and build a passenger spaceship. Offshoot Virgin Galactic will own and operate at least five spaceships and two mother ships, and will charge £100,000 ($190,000) to carry passengers to an altitude of about 140km on a sub-orbital space flight.

Yes, I think you pretty much nailed it ChasUFarley! Of course, most of us old farts that endured a dozen or so years in a certain religious cult in our early adulthood won't likely see any such space travel, except on TV. But by 2020 (when I'll turn 67), most (if not all) of us will have HDTV sets... so it could easily LOOK to us like we're on the journey with these future astronauts. :blink:

Well... that hydrogen fuel cell IS an idea whose time has (should have) come. Let's hope it gets done soon. However, last week, Stephen Hawking declared that we earthlings need to colonize other planets in order to ensure survival of OUR species...

NASA Plans Lunar Outpost Permanent Base at Moon's South Pole Envisioned by 2024 By Marc Kaufman Washington Post Staff Writer Tuesday, December 5, 2006; A01 NASA unveiled plans yesterday to set up a small and ultimately self-sustaining settlement of astronauts at the south pole of the moon sometime around 2020 -- the first step in an ambitious plan to resume manned exploration of the solar system. continued at: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...0400837_pf.html See you on the moon in 2020 or so...

Hmmmm.....? What if I were satisfied with only PART eternity? Is that like part PATernity? Or maybe it's like JUMBO shrimp?

I can say 'AMEN' to that brother Simon!

Last time I lived where it snows was 81-82 as a WoW in Fremont OH... it was a dark and stormy... winter. Lot's of snow. I do NOT miss it. I was born where there's usually an abundance of snow in winter (Roch NY), left there for the desert when I was 13 (with family)... when I was younger, I thought about missing the snow... but that winter in OH cured me of that forever! Who says WoW years weren't healing... ;)

Well, we had a freeze... but you got SNOW?! Holy Frozen Water, Batman! enjoy the kiddos!

Ok, now that it's over for another year... my humblest thanks to all of you (especially for the humble and gracious greeting given by our dear friend DMiller from the North shore of Lake Superior).

Hey kids... for all you George Hendley fans (especially fans of his motivational speaker business)... Nov 30 is HIS birthday... In case you wonder how I know this... Memory key -- association. George's b'day is the day AFTER mine... I forget, however, how old he is now. And if you think that's bizarre (that I remember something so inconsequential), I even remember the birthday of a "kid" I went to high school with... because his birthday is on the same day of the month as mine, but his is in September... and I haven't seen this guy in, oh, about 34 years... but I found him to be a dentist in Anchorage, AK... and even more bizarre... this DENTIST'S name is Dr. DeKay! oh, that's all the useless information I have for you at this time. Over and out (for now). Health to all 9th and fans of the 9th!

I hope Simon didn't get blown off a roof today... coldest day in the Phoenix area since last March... and VERY windy (like some of us). And niKa... glad to hear about your good news... you're still in my thoughts and prayers...

Well, I've been thankful for a very long time that my birthday isn't a month later! ;) And I count many of you among my wisest (and wisest arst) friends! Thanks Ron and Mark and Jardi...