Your weekly collection of positive tips, hints, and advice offered with humor, inspiration, and other goodies for anyone and everyone who is inclined to read. Guidance, mentoring, inspiration, English lessons, editing, proofreading services for entrepreneurs and online marketers.
Publisher: Mary Wilkey
Volume 6 - Issue 39 - October 17, 2006
Published every Tuesday
Welcome, all! Right off the bat, I wish to make this perfectly clear. Yours truly (although over sixty) definitely does not adhere to the tenets of "Fogeyism" described in guest writer Barbara Morris' article today.
This day started off with a bang (or, should I say, the screeching sound of all the smoke alarms in the building going off at six o'clock this morning). It was a false alarm, but most annoying, to say the least.
Then I had a 10:15 am appointment who didn't show until 10:45; but that turned out to be a disguised blessing, because I was able to get a head start on this issue.
Then in the middle of my fixing brunch, a chatty tenant came by unexpectedly, and he was still chatting away as I bid him adieu before my potatoes burned.
Then I had to call the police to file a possible missing person report on one of our tenants who has mysteriously disappeared, and whose vehicle remains parked, unlocked, out front. Still no word on him as I write this.
Meanwhile, I'm still trying to chase down a bailiff to assist with a physical eviction.
Is Fogeyism about to wrap its clutches around yours truly? I think not! :-)
--------------------------
In
Remembrance of
September 11, 2001
------------------------------------
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All the ways of a man are clean in his own eyes;
but the Lord weighs the spirits.
—Proverbs 16:2
Contents:
Sponsor Ad
Ad Contest
A Healthier You
Feature Article
Test Your Bible Knowledge
Classifieds
Today’s Chuckle
Today's English Lesson
Internet Tips & Hints
Guest Article
Inspiration
Etcetera
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In the 35 years that elapsed since getting a patent on Dubble Bubble, the true creator of the formula, Gilbert Mustin, Sr., had died. Realizing that the publicity opportunity was too valuable to decline, the Fleer Corp. decided to cast Walter Diemer (Gilbert Mustin's accountant, who knew nothing about chemistry at the time of bubble gum's invention) as the charmingly haphazard inventor of bubble gum. See Peg Bastin's ad above.
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Thank God every day when you get up that you have
something to do that day which must be done,
whether you like it or not. Being forced to work
and forced to do your best will breed in you
temperance and self-control, diligence and
strength of will, cheerfulness and content, and a
hundred virtues which the idle will never know.
—Basil Carpenter
A Healthier You
Friendly Bacteria—What are They and What do They do?
The average healthy adult's gastrointestinal tract hosts more than 400 species of bacteria weighing about 3.5 pounds! There are two types of bacteria—friendly and unfriendly.
The major role of friendly bacteria is in balancing and counteracting the unfriendly. When you do not have enough friendly bacteria in your system, it allows the unfriendly stuff to dominate, and health problems can creep up, the most common of which is probably Candida. But others can be intestinal toxicity, constipation, and difficulty in absorbing nutrients.
Friendly bacteria also provide these benefits:
Help in the manufacture of vitamins B1, B2, B3, B5, B6, B12, A, K, and essential fatty acids
Clean the intestinal tract, purify the colon, and promote bowel movements
Produce antibiotics and antifungals that prevent growth of harmful bacteria and fungi
Help destroy molds, viruses, and parasites
Increase the number of immune system cells
Create lactic acid, which balances intestinal pH
Break down and rebuild hormones.
If you have ever taken antibiotics, you most probably need to take some probiotics to restore the health of your system.
You gave your life to become the person you are right now. Was it worth it?
—Richard Bach from the book, "One"
Feature Article
Profiling? Piffle! So What?
Just received the following email from a friend, which addresses some pretty volatile issues, from a pilot's point of view . . .
My friend states: "This is the most profound, most insightful message to Muslims I've seen. I think it should be read on Fox, sent to the President, and forwarded to any other form of media to express what so many of us feel toward the Muslims!
"The paper stated today that some Muslim doctor is saying we are profiling him, because he has been checked three times while getting on an airplane.
"Well, hear this letter from an American Airlines pilot. This well spoken man says what is in his heart beautifully . . .
read and absorb . . . it's time to get answers from those who claim their terrorist members do not represent them . . . why are their leaders not loudly and fiercely and continuously condemning their visible murderous brethren?"
You Worry Me!
by American Airlines Pilot, Captain John Maniscalco
"I've been trying to say this since 9-11, but you worry me. I wish you didn't. I wish when I walked down the streets of this country that I love, that your color and culture still blended with the beautiful human landscape we enjoy in this country.
"But you don't blend in anymore. I notice you, and it worries me. I notice you, because I can't help it anymore. People from your homelands, professing to be Muslims, have been attacking and killing my fellow citizens and our friends for more than 20 years now. I don't fully understand their grievances and hate, but I know that nothing can justify the inhumanity of their attacks.
"On September 11, nineteen Arab-Muslims hijacked four jetliners in my country. They cut the throats of women in front of children and brutally stabbed to death others. They took control of those planes and crashed them into buildings, killing thousands of proud fathers, loving sons, wise grandparents, elegant daughters, best friends, favorite coaches, fearless public servants, and children's mothers.
The Palestinians celebrated, the Iraqis were overjoyed, as was most of the Arab world.
So I notice you now. I don't want to be worried. I don't want to be consumed by the same rage and hate and prejudice that has destroyed the souls of these terrorists. But I need your help. As a rational American trying to protect my country and family in an irrational and unsafe world, I must know how to tell the difference between you and the Arab/Muslim terrorist.
How do I differentiate between the true Arab/Muslim-Americans and the Arab/Muslims in our communities who are attending our schools, enjoying our parks, and living in our communities under the protection of our Constitution, while they plot the next attack that will slaughter these same good neighbors and children?
The events of September 11th changed the answer. It is not my responsibility to determine which of you embraces our great country, with all of its religions, with all of its different citizens, with all of its faults. It is time for every Arab/Muslim in this country to determine it for me.
I want to know, I demand to know, and I have a right to know whether or not you love America.
Do you pledge allegiance to its flag? Do you proudly display it in front of your house, or on your car?
Do you pray in your many daily prayers that Allah will bless this nation, that He will protect and prosper it? Or do you pray that Allah with destroy it in one of your "Jihads"?
Are you thankful for the freedom that only this nation affords? A freedom that was paid for by the blood of hundreds of thousands of patriots who gave their lives for this country? Are you willing to preserve this freedom by paying the ultimate sacrifice? Do you love America ? If this is your commitment, then I need you to start letting me know about it.
Your Muslim leaders in this nation should be flooding the media at this time with hard facts on your faith, and what hard actions you are taking as a community and as a religion to protect the United States of America. Please, no more benign overtures of regret for the death of the innocent, because I worry about who you regard as innocent. No more benign overtures of condemnation for the unprovoked attacks, because I worry about what is unprovoked to you. I am not interested in any more sympathy . . . I am interested only in action.
What will you do for America—our great country—at this time of crisis, at this time of war?
I want to see Arab-Muslims waving the American flag in the streets. I want to hear you chanting "Allah Bless America." I want to see young Arab/Muslim men enlisting in the military. I want to see a commitment of money, time, and emotion to the victims of this butchering and to this nation as a whole.
The FBI has a list of over 400 people they want to talk to regarding the WTC attack. Many of these people live and socialize in Muslim communities. You know them. You know where they are. Hand them over to us, now!
But I have seen little even approaching this sort of action. Instead, I have seen an already closed and secretive community close even tighter. You have disappeared from the streets. You have posted armed security guards at your facilities. You have threatened lawsuits. You have screamed for protection from reprisals.
The very few Arab/Muslim representatives that have appeared in the media were defensive and equivocating. They seemed more concerned with making sure that the United States proves who was responsible before taking action. They seemed more concerned with protecting their fellow Muslims from violence directed towards them in the United States and abroad than they did with supporting our country and denouncing "leaders" like Khadafi, Hussein, Farrakhan, and Arafat.
If the true teachings of Islam proclaim tolerance and peace and love for all people, then I want chapter and verse from the Koran and statements from popular Muslim leaders to back it up. What good is it if the teachings in the Koran are good and pure and true when your "leaders" are teaching fanatical interpretations, terrorism, and intolerance?
It matters little how good Islam should be if large numbers of the world's Muslims interpret the teachings of Mohammed incorrectly and adhere to a degenerative form of the religion.
—a form that has been demonstrated to us over and over again.
—a form whose structure is built upon a foundation of violence, death, and suicide.
—a form whose members are recruited from the prisons around the world.
—a form whose members (some as young as five years old) are seen day after day, week in and week out, year after year, marching in the streets around the world, burning effigies of our presidents, burning the American flag, shooting weapons into the air.
—a form whose members convert from a peaceful religion, only to take up arms against the great United States of America, the country of their birth.
—a form whose rules are so twisted, that their traveling members refuse to show their faces at airport security checkpoints, in the name of Islam.
Do you and your fellow Muslims hate us because our women proudly show their faces in public, rather than cover up like shameful whores? Do you and your fellow Muslims hate us because we drink wine with dinner or celebrate Christmas? Do you and you fellow Muslims hate us because we have befriended Israel, the only friendly civilized society in the Muslim/Arab area that thinks and acts like most Americans.
And if you and your fellow Muslims hate us, then why in the world are you even here? Are you here to take our money? Are you here to undermine our peace and stability? Are you here to destroy us?
If so, I want you to leave. I want you to go back to your desert sandpit where women are treated like rats and dogs. I want you to take your religion, your friends, and your family back to your Islamic extremists, and stay there! We will never give in to your influence, your retarded mentality, your twisted, violent, intolerant religion.
We will never allow the attacks of September 11, or any others for that matter, to take away that which is so precious to us—our rights under the greatest constitution in the world.
I want to know where every Arab/Muslim in this country stands, and I think it is my right and the right of every true citizen of this country to demand it—a right paid for by the blood of thousands of my brothers and sisters who died protecting the very constitution that is protecting you and your family.
I am pleading with you to let me know. I want you here as my brother, my neighbor, my friend, as a fellow American. But there can be no gray areas or ambivalence regarding your allegiance, and it is up to you, to show me, where you stand."
"Until then . . . you worry me."
Publisher's commentary — If the United States could round up all the Japanese from all around this country during World War II and incarcerate them in concentration camps "just to be safe," why can (or should) we not do the same with these terror mongers?
The Japanese were all guilty until proven otherwise; why should this ethnicity be treated any differently? Profiling? You bet! If it looks like a rat, smells like a rat, and acts like a rat, just to be on the safe side . . .
Or are we just going to sit complacently and wait until they have completely and fully infiltrated us and then try to retaliate? It will be rather futile when the Arab/Muslim next door detonates his suitcase bomb as soon as the signal is given.
Other wars that we have lost, e.g., Korea, Vietnam, etc. did not affect our way of life in these United States. Be assured, however, that, were the U.S. to lose this war, life would never be the same again, and our country no longer would be free or great or beautiful.
And make no mistake, neither are Russia nor China our friends. Some of us still remember the arrogant Khruschev many years ago banging his shoe on the desk in our Capitol Building, flagrantly declaring, "We will bury you without firing a shot!"
So guess who is funding and arming these radical terrorists to the teeth?!
Question — How many times does the word "Immanuel" occur in the Bible?
Answer — Three times—at Isaiah 7:14 and 8:18 and again at Matthew 1:23.
Science without religion is lame; religion without science is blind.
—Albert Einstein
Classifieds
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Formerly, when religion was strong and science weak,
men mistook magic for medicine; now, when science is strong and religion weak,
men mistake medicine for magic.
—Thomas Szasz, M.D.
Today's Chuckle
George Carlin's Views on Aging
Do you realize that the only time in our lives when we like to get old is when we're kids? If you're less than ten years old, you're so excited about aging that you think in fractions.
"How old are you?" "I'm four and a half!" You're never thirty-six and a half. You're four and a half, going on five! That's the key.
You get into your teens; now they can't hold you back. You jump to the next number, or even a few ahead.
"How old are you?" "I'm gonna be sixteen!" You could be thirteen, but hey, you're gonna be sixteen! And then the greatest day of your life . . . you become twenty-one. Even the words sound like a ceremony . . . you become twenty-one. Yes!
But then you turn thirty. Oooohh, what happened there? Makes you sound like bad milk! He turned; we had to throw him out. There's no fun now, you're just a sour-dumpling. What's wrong? What's changed?
You become 21, you turn thirty, then you're pushing 40. Whoa! Put on the brakes, it's all slipping away. Before you know it, you reach fifty, and your dreams are gone.
But wait! You make it to 60. You didn't think you would!
So you become 21, you turn thirty, push forty, reach fifty and make it to sixty.
You've built up so much speed that you hit seventy! After that it's a day-by-day thing; you hit Wednesday!
You get into your eighties, and every day is a complete cycle; you hit lunch; you turn 4:30; you reach bedtime. And it doesn't end there. Into the 90s, you start going backwards: "I was just ninety-two."
Then a strange thing happens. If you make it to a hundred, you become a little kid again. "I'm a hundred and a half!"
May you all make it to a healthy hundred and a half!
When our eyes see our hands doing the work of our
hearts, the circle of Creation is completed inside
us, the doors of our souls fly open and love steps
forth to heal everything in sight.
—Michael Bridge
Today's English Lesson
Seeing the same elementary mistakes over and over again has prompted this publisher to write an English lesson each issue. Look for some of these lessons to be repeated, because the mistakes are!
Let's learn the difference, once and for all, between "led" and "lead" (and "misled" and "mislead").
I believe the confusion stems from the fact that "lead" can be pronounced to rhyme with "deed" or "dead."
If you take the "lead" in something, you also can "mislead."
And, if you have "led" a group in the past, you may have "misled" them.
"Led" is the past tense of "lead," (as in "deed") not "lead" (as in "dead")! ["Lead" ("dead") does not have a past tense! It is a noun and refers to a metallic element.]
Same applies to "misled." "Mislead" does not rhyme with "dead" and is not the past tense of "lead" (as in "deed").
Reminder: We offer a reasonably priced editing/proofreading service for articles or even entire ezines. Just email: service@elfexpressionsezine.com
Don't pray to escape trouble. Don't pray to be
comfortable in your emotions. Pray to do the will
of God in every situation. Nothing else is worth
praying for.
—Samuel M. Shoemaker
Internet Hints & Tips
Here's Why Affiliate Marketing Is So Lucrative by Jason Gazaway
There are people who think of the world as a dreary place, simply because they do not find their existence charming enough to render them contented. There are those who wish that they have more than what they possess.
There are those who are sick and tired of working hard yet end up having nothing better. There are those who curse the humdrum existence of having 9-5 jobs that do not give them personal and professional growth. Still there are others who want to earn money without sweating it too much.
Depend on it. God's work, done in God's way, will never lack God's supply. He is too wise a God to frustrate His purposes for lack of funds, and He can just as easily supply them ahead of time as afterwards, and He much prefers doing so.
—J. Hudson Taylor (China Inland Mission)
Guest Article
Is This Your Religion? by Barbara Morris
Many years ago, a case known as Torcaso v. Watkins
established that belief in God was not necessary for a
belief system to qualify as a religion.
I never forgot about the case, and over time it became
clear that, in addition to established mainstream religions,
there were a whole bunch of belief systems, complete with
non-theistic "articles of faith" that could easily qualify
as religions as established by Torcaso v. Watkins.
For example, one of our most entrenched non-theistic belief
systems relates to accepted practices and thinking for
those "of a certain age." It's what I call the religion of
Fogeyism. Don't laugh. It is so insidious that many, if not
most, people at midlife or beyond are practitioners to some
degree without realizing it.
Let's take a look at some of the "thou shalls" and thou
shall nots" of Fogeyism, along with my anti-Fogeyism
commentary:
• Thou shall take pride in referring to thyself as an "old
broad" or "old geezer" and associate only with other old
geezers or old broads for thee has found pleasure in the
adage that misery loves company. In response to "how are
you?" always reply, "Oh, I'm okay for an old geezer/broad."
This establishes thy commitment to Fogeyism.
You are what you say you are. I am so bummed out by the
old broad and old geezer stuff that I promise to report to
Judge Judy (when she is at her crankiest and spewing fire
and brimstone) anyone who calls himself or herself an old
broad or old geezer. She may sentence you to associate only
with certified old geezers and old broads, and I promise
you will regret your decision to adopt this article of
faith of Fogeyism.)
• Thou shall wear a T-shirt emblazoned with large, bold
print that announces, "I'm retired and doin' nothin.'" It's
the official sign that thou art a proud practitioner of
Fogeyism. (Better to wear a T-shirt that says, ""Yeah, I'm retired, but I'm working to make the world a better place.")
• Thou shall proselytize for of the religion of Fogeyism.
That means thou shall lead others to join the fold. Thou
shall do so by reminding friends and relatives of "a
certain age" that they are getting old and senile.
To
reinforce thy efforts, thou shall send negative birthday
cards to assure them they are indeed losing it. Also, thou
shall send gifts of Ex-lax and Milk of Magnesia or Geritol
to reinforce the intent of thy message. The point is to get
as many believers as possible to join thee, because there is
strength in numbers and remember—misery loves company.
Please—no more demeaning greeting cards or "gifts" that
remind of advancing age. Instead, send a greeting that
tells the recipient how wonderful they are, and do not
refer to age. After all, age is just a number! You will
feel wonderful, and so will the recipient.
• Thou shall engage in negative self-talk that hastens
decline and limits thy potential, with comments such as
"I'm too old to do that," or "I'm too old to learn anything
new."
Again, you are what you say you are, so be careful how you
talk about yourself. If you don't say positive things about
yourself, who will?
• Thou shall not (if thou art a mature woman) have a
relationship with a male significantly younger than thou
art. If thou choose to do so, thou will be marked as a
cradle robber, and thy hapless significant other will become
the object of derision and said to be in need of a mother.
However, if thou art a male and find a decades younger
woman dumb enough to endure thy Fogeyism, thou art (wink
wink) a lucky duck.
When will we figure it out? Women live longer than men.
Women should marry younger men. I've seen lonely, older
widowed women go to ridiculous lengths to get the attention
of the most eligible (and that ain't saying much) widower
at the senior center.
Let's face it, an older woman is a
great catch for reasons too numerous to mention (and you do
know what the reasons are, don't you?). Old guys generally
are not a great catch (and you do know why they are not,
don't you?) It's as simple as that. Feel free to disagree.
Okay, Fogeyism may not be a religion—even a half baked
one—but you will have to agree, we live in a society that
tolerates, promotes, and even celebrates Fogeyism. It's
difficult to avoid the "articles of faith," but you can
when you recognize they exist to make you part of the
Fogeyism flock. Shun the articles of faith of Fogeyism as
you would the devil! Amen, brothers and sisters?
You need only reflect that one of the best ways to get yourself
a reputation as a dangerous citizen these days is to go about
repeating the very phrases which our founding fathers
used in the struggle for independence.
—Charles A. Beard
Inspiration
Different Perspectives
A holy man was having a conversation with the Lord one day and
said, "Lord, I would like to know what Heaven and Hell are like."
The Lord led the holy man to two doors. He opened one of the
doors, and the holy man looked in. In the middle of the room was a large round table. In the middle of the table was a large pot of stew which smelled delicious and made the holy man's mouth water.
The people sitting around the table were thin and sickly.
They appeared to be famished. They were holding spoons with
very long handles that were strapped to their arms, and each
found it possible to reach into the pot of stew and take a spoonful, but because the handle was longer than their arms, they could not get the spoons back into their mouths.
The holy man shuddered at the sight of their misery and suffering.
The Lord said, "You have seen Hell."
They went to the next room and
opened the door. It was exactly the same as the first one. There was the large round table with the large pot of stew which made the holy man's mouth water. The people were equipped with the same long-handled spoons, but here the people were well nourished and plump, laughing and
talking.
The holy man said, "I don't understand."
"It is simple," said
the Lord, "it requires but one skill. You see, they have learned to feed each other, while the greedy think only of themselves."
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