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Daytona Beach Shores, Florida, United States

Wednesday, August 06, 2008

Paris for President?

Paris for President? 

Well, if character doesn't matter and you want real, real change, I think she might be a viable option.  For those of you familiar with my new political party the Eyecandy Party . . . this could be the answer.

And let us not forget, she was not thrust into the political landscape by John McCain, nor did he make the first comparison of her and Senator Obama. 
As quoted in Time magazine in 2005 . . .


Senator Obama himself made that first comparison.

Unfortunately, her video contains one use of profanity (it rhymes with witches), so view at your own risk.

I would bet that as President, she could get meetings with the vast majority of world leaders.  I am not so sure those who are what we might call the more radical fundamentalist followers of Islam would meet with her,or maybe one of them would marry her thereby forging a lasting peace like it used to happen when the Prince of a country married a Princess from another. 

Well, what do you think? Hot or Not?

All opinions are valid, but must be expressed in civil language with no personal, racial, gender, or sexual attacks. If you can't think of an appropriate word, use a dictionary or thesaurus. Inappropriate comments will not be posted.

 

Tuesday, July 01, 2008

Courage Is . . .

Once again, I find myself searching for meaning in suffering, nearly blinding myself trying to see the face of the Invisible God.  Once again, He reaches out and touches me with a song. 

What is courage?  Here are some great quotes trying to define it:


  • Courage is the price that Life exacts for granting peace.
    Amelia Earhart (1897 - 1937), Courage, 1927

  • Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage.
    Anais Nin (1903 - 1977), The Diary of Anais Nin, volume 3, 1939-1944

  • Live as brave men; and if fortune is adverse, front its blows with brave hearts. Cicero (106 BC - 43 BC)

  • Courage is the ladder on which all the other virtues mount. Clare Booth Luce (1903 - 1987), in Reader's Digest, 1979

  • The bravest thing you can do when you are not brave is to profess courage and act accordingly. Corra Harris

  • Courage is fear that has said its prayers. Dorothy Bernard

  • Courage is doing what you're afraid to do. There can be no courage unless you're scared. Eddie Rickenbacker (1890 - 1973)

  • Courage is the art of being the only one who knows you're scared to death. Harold Wilson (1916 - 1995)

  • I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand. It's when you know you're licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what. Harper Lee (1926 - ), To Kill a Mockingbird, 1960

  • Courage is being scared to death - but saddling up anyway.John Wayne (1907 - 1979)

  • Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear - not absence of fear. Mark Twain (1835 - 1910)

  • It is curious that physical courage should be so common in the world and moral courage so rare. Mark Twain (1835 - 1910)

  • The only courage that matters is the kind that gets you from one moment to the next. Mignon McLaughlin, The Second Neurotic's Notebook, 1966

  • When you meet your antagonist, do everything in a mild and agreeable manner. Let your courage be as keen, but at the same time as polished, as your sword. Richard Brinsley Sheridan (1751 - 1816)

  • Keep your fears to yourself, but share your courage with others.Robert Louis Stevenson (1850 - 1894)


I think courage is something you can only know when you see it practiced or feel it lift you above the fray and embolden you to go tenaciously forward, eyes on the prize, unsurrendered to the circumstances.

I, personally, find my strength and courage in God.  That peace that
passes all understanding is only understood when you are on your face before God in the eye of the hurricane wondering where the wind went and knowing it is all around and will soon try to scoop you up and away in a very un-Super way.  I will never understand all of the whys of this life, but I know that He does, and I am convinced I can trust Him with my life and circumstances.

I am surrounded and encouraged by others who also find courage in their faith.    I find comfort for my own struggles in praying for theirs.  My boss and friend Wendy and her family, my sisters and brother, Andy, my niece Adrienne, my husband Jerry, the Gunderson family and so many others who choose to look forward as best as they can, by the grace and mercy of God.  Thank you my friends and family for the encouragement you are to me and many others.

Please enjoy this song, pray for me and my friends and family as we walk through the valley. 

And now . . .  drumroll please . . . the aforementioned song.

Courage Is . . . by the Strange Familiar  (lyrics below)




"Courage Is"

 Take all my vicious words

And turn them into something good

Take all my preconceptions

And let the truth be understood

Take all my prized possessions

Leave only what I need

Take all my pieces of doubt

And let me be what's underneath

 

Courage is when you're afraid,

But you keep on moving anyway

Courage is when you're in pain,

But you keep on living anyway

 

We all have excuses why

Living in fear something in us dies

Like a bird with broken wings

It's not how high he flies,

But the song he sings

 

Courage is when you're afraid,

But you keep on moving anyway

Courage is when you're in pain,

But you keep on living anyway

 

It's not how many times you've been knocked down

It's how many times you get back up

 

Courage is when you've lost your way,

But you find your strength anyway

Courage is when you're afraid

Courage is when it all seems grey

Courage is when you make a change,

And you keep on living anyway

 

You keep on moving anyway

You keep on giving anyway

You keep on loving anyway

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

Take courage my friends.  He knows your needs. 
He cares for you.  His love for you is limitless.  If you still haven't found what you're looking for, look up to your Creator.

If you have a prayer request, feel free to post it in the comments or for more privacy, e-mail it to me.  I have much time to pray now, sequestered in my room with two air filters, battling the collective smoke of over a 1,400 fires.

Pray for Jerry and I, that we would know God's will and how to accomplish it. 
Pray for your friends and relatives.  Pray for our nation, our current President, Congress and Senate, and those elected this Fall. 



For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart."Jer 29:11-14  NIV

 

Wednesday, April 16, 2008

China - Pollution - Environment - Economy - Choking on Growth Part I - The New York Times

Our drive to purchase more things at lower and lower prices has its cost well beyond our own house. I had pretty much decided to stop buying things made in China. Now I am committed to that policy. China is quickly becoming a vast toxic land. This can only lead to trouble for the world. They have several options, the two most likely to me are that they will either change and clean up their environment as many other nations are doing, or they will need to get more land.


Much of the money China has earned in the world market have gone to purchase large enough amounts of US T bills that they could pretty much ruin the value of our dollar, however, not without great financial losses on their part at this time.

From China Daily  

China faces severe ocean pollution


"Over the past five years, China has seen increased contamination of the ocean. The total amount of waste water flowing into the ocean was over 31 billion tons,"  This was the 2005 figure and it has become worse.



Choking on Growth A series of articles and multimedia examining the impact of China’s epic pollution crisis.


Below is a photo "recycling" in China and another NY Times story based on a study



Discarded circuit boards in the town of Guiyu, China, where scientists found
environmental contamination from crude recycling practices.


Full story here: 
Recycling That Harms the Environment and People - New York Times


Here is the abstract from the study


Environ. Sci. Technol., 42 (7),
26742680, 2008.

10.1021/es071873x

Web Release Date: March 4, 2008

Copyright © 2008 American Chemical Society


Heavy Metals Concentrations of Surface Dust from e-Waste Recycling and Its Human Health Implications in Southeast China


Anna O. W. Leung, Nurdan S. Duzgoren-Aydin,‡§
K. C. Cheung, and
Ming H. Wong*†

Croucher Institute for Environmental Sciences,
and Department of Biology, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong, PR China,
and Department of Earth Sciences, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, PR China

Received for review July 27, 2007


Revised manuscript received December 27, 2007


Accepted January 5, 2008


Abstract:


The recycling of printed circuit boards in Guiyu, China, a village intensely involved in e-waste processing, may present a significant environmental and human health risk. To evaluate the extent of heavy metals (Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb, Zn) contamination from printed circuit board recycling, surface dust samples were collected from recycling workshops, adjacent roads, a schoolyard, and an outdoor food market. ICP-OES analyses revealed elevated mean concentrations in workshop dust (Pb 110 000, Cu 8360, Zn 4420, and Ni 1500 mg/kg) and in dust of adjacent roads (Pb 22 600, Cu 6170, Zn 2370, and Ni 304 mg/kg). Lead and Cu in road dust were 330 and 106, and 371 and 155 times higher, respectively, than non e-waste sites located 8 and 30 km away. Levels at the schoolyard and food market showed that public places were adversely impacted. Risk assessment predicted that Pb and Cu originating from circuit board recycling have the potential to pose serious health risks to workers and local residents of Guiyu, especially children, and warrants an urgent investigation into heavy metal related health impacts. The potential environmental and human health consequences due to uncontrolled e-waste recycling in Guiyu serves as a case study for other countries involved in similar crude recycling activities.


Don't get me wrong here, I'm not saying all is rosy in US Industrial practices, we need to watch our sources and hold them responsible for their environmental practices here and all over the world by purchasing less and items that have a smaller impact on the environment..