Domestic Violence Ad

Domestic Violence Ad, originally uploaded by Stefan M Nilsson.

Amnesty International makes an ad here with punch... so to speak. They need to do something like this about torture.

Moments in Time

I am currently scanning some negatives

from my grandfather that are almost 100 years old.

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Kay Bonner & Carol Urban in front of my great grandfather
Rev. C.E.W Smith's Parsonage in Bullard, TX

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Rev. & Mrs. C.E.W. Smith

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I was scratching around on Google just now and found this:

PHILLIPS -- On the 16th day of October, 1880, Grace
May PHILLIPS, daughter of A.J. and Louella M. PHILLIPS.

Little Gracie was born March 19, 1879. She has gone to join her little brother Charlie, whose obituary stands next above, and who just before he died, said "look papa, look," pointing around as if seeing a vision in which he thought he recognized his little sister, "there's Gracie May." Gracie died after 4 days' illness, or congestion of the lungs. We deeply sympathize with the bereaved parents, in the loss of both of their dear children. They have none left to cheer their home. We knew them and loved them. But who loves like a father
or mother? May they go to Him whose mission is to bind up the
broken heart and healthe wounded spirit. --C.E.W. SMITH

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Gripping scene from the movie "God on Trial".

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The usual answer to these questions is that "We are incapable of understanding God's wisdom." Or, "Our suffering here on Earth will be rewarded in Heaven." But I take the prosecutor's stance on what Moses should have done when Yahweh commanded blood sacrifice of his son.

Dear Christian (or anyone else for that matter)

Things are so much simpler when you look at life from a natural

point of view instead of a spiritual one. Here is my world view:

• There are no supernatural beings – not Gods, not angels, not demons
  
• There are no miracles, no mystical elements, no revelations
  
• Natural phenomena is… natural, things happen because they do
  
• Humanity is beautiful - there is more good in the world than bad
  
• We live, we die, we create our own meaning in life
  

Try walking around one day with that view of life and see what happens.

Yelling fire in a crowded theater? What did she expect?

Do you think the recent massacre of men, women and a child in Arizona is going to be an isolated incident?

Shortly after Obama was elected by a landslide victory, I was the local pool hall we frequent listening to some very disappointed East Texans expressing their disdain. Then one guy (I forget who) asked me if I wanted to get into the assassination pool. "A what?" I asked. He replied, "Well, we're betting on how long Obama will last before he gets a cap in his nigger ass." I of course declined.

Am I surprised Congresswoman got one through her brain? The dangerous rhetoric spewing out of Palin's mouth pours gasoline on the smoldering anger, fear and hate that is bred into these people. Believe me, there's a LOT of them in this neck of the woods. These racist, bigoted bastards may be stoopid, but they're excellent marksmen. The Secret Service can do only so much. It's only a matter of time.

Do You Get Discouraged?

It seems quite evident that this nation, The United States, has never quite lived up to it's reputation. In fact in numerous cases we have failed miserably to be the place where one would find "...liberty and justice for all." Not only do we fail to deliver to our own but we tend to promote pain suffering death and misery to many other places around the world.

As a nation, we seem offended by any criticism. We don't want to hear it from other nations and we damned sure don't want to hear it form our own people. If an American criticizes American, that person is considered a traitor!

Our flaws and failures are so numerous that to someone who cares it seems overwhelming. It creates a sense of disillusionment. We seem to constantly tout and sing our good points only to realize that we are fooling ourselves. Most others see us for what we are...arrogant, self centered, and greedy.

The majority of foreigners seem to admire many elements of American society and culture but still hold a sense of dismay that we do certain things around the world that we do. They wonder how we could be so callused and self serving...so willing to exploit anyone anywhere to get our way. We seem so willing to dictate to everyone how they should conduct their matters of policy,

yet are unwilling to live by the same policies we demand of others.

Should a nation base its policies on mere self-interest? Should a moral standard be an essential element of a nations policies both at home and abroad?

We have so many good laws on our books and in our history...but we do not enforce them. We virtually ignore white collar crime. We visit war crimes on innocent civilians around the world and no one is held accountable. We created a climate of human torture from the highest levels of government, yet no official has been held accountable, or placed on trial. Its as if the catch phrase "National Security" is the excuse for doing any thing we want whether its legal or not. Our government violates our bill of rights every single day and no one seems able to stop it. We have traded off the most precious founding ideas of the nation. ...and for what? To make money? Our nation is a great whore...not out of desperation but out of greed.

Many Americans would love to see a drastic change in all this! Many work to that end...but it seems we make little progress. What's wrong? People do have a sense of morality. Why cannot that sense of right be applied to our government?

Do you get discouraged with this endless battle.........because it seems that we are loosing it?

We should never give up making our world a better place. We should demand morality from our government not the promotion of our "national interests".

Big Hotel

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From the page: "Big Hotel is a 4 piece band that plays the "Rock That You Forgot".

The band's main focus is music from the 80's. We try to avoid the usual top 40 or classic rock cover band material; but our sets also include the best of the 60's and 70's as well."

Big Hotel is a must see if you are in the Tyler area. The band members include:

Diane Gatewood - Vocals
Mark Lumpkin - Bass Guitar & Vocals
Bruce Adams - Guitars & Vocals
Hank Gatewood - Drums

Every member brings an incredible energy to the performance. Diane, Mark, Bruce and Hank play with years of professional experience and it shows.