Computer training today.  I'll have to post an entry later.  Have a good Saturday all. 

What is a conservative to you?  Are you a conservative?

Born in London in 1910, Alfred Ayer became one of the 20th century's most influential philosophers. His first book, Language, Truth and Logic, catapulted him to attention in 1936 with its focus on "logical positivism." He argued, in short, that nothing can be proven without scientific observation. This became a textbook used throughout the world.

Yet, several years later, Ayer announced he no longer agreed with his book, admitting that "it is full of mistakes." He confessed spending fifty years "trying to correct" his errors.

The world is filled with people who have strong ideas about philosophy and science, culture and creation, business and religion. Many are intellectually brilliant, seeming to grasp deep things. But we must remember the strong warning God gave us: "Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart departs from the LORD."

How much do you depend upon the Bible for guidance?   

Atlantis launch is set for Feb. 7

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (UPI) -- The U.S. space agency set next Thursday as the target date for the launch of space shuttle Atlantis's mission to the International Space Station.

National Aeronautics and Space Administration senior managers at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida completed a readiness review Wednesday and said, pending resolution of an issue with a shuttle radiator hose, the space shuttle would lift off at 2:45 p.m. EST, Feb. 7.

During an inspection of Atlantis this week, one of four hoses that carry Freon to radiators in the shuttle's payload bay was found not properly retracted in its storage box. NASA said repairs were initiated and managers were to review the problem Saturday.

During the 11-day mission to the ISS, Commander Steve Frick and his six crewmates are to conduct three spacewalks to install the European Space Agency's Columbus laboratory that will provide scientists around the world with the ability to conduct space-based life, physical and materials science experiments.

The current mission, designated STS-122, was delayed in December after failures occurred in a fuel sensor system while Atlantis' external fuel tank was being filled. NASA said that problem has been resolved.

ATLANTIS BLASTED OFF - What a site!!!!!

You Are Not Normal

You scored 25% normal on this quiz You may seem difficult to figure out, but it's really quite simple. Just think about how a normal person acts in every way... and you're the exact opposite. Why You Aren't Normal: You prefer your family to your friends You prefer a good nap to a good meal You eat the cupcake first You don't keep up with your horoscope You prefer non fiction to fiction Take this Test

Laus Deo

One detail that is never mentioned is that in Washington, D.C. there can never be a building of greater height than the Washington Monument.

    On the aluminum cap, atop the Washington Monument in Washington, D.C., are displayed two words: Laus Deo.

  No one can see these words.  In fact, most visitors to the monument are totally unaware they are even there.

Laus Deo's history-  These words have been there for many years; they are 555 feet, 5.125 inches high, perched atop the monument, facing skyward to the Father of our nation, overlooking the 69 square miles which comprise the District of Columbia, capital of the United States of America.

  Laus Deo!  Two seemingly insignificant, unnoticed words. Out of sight and, one might think, out of mind, but very meaningfully placed at the highest point over what is the most powerful city in the most successful nation in the world.

  So, what do those two words, in Latin, composed of just four syllables and only seven letters, possibly mean?  Very simply, they say " Praise be to God!"

  Though construction of this giant obelisk began in 1848, when James Polk was President of the United States, it was not until 1888 that the monument was inaugurated and opened to the public.  It took twenty-five years to finally cap the memorial with a tribute to the Father of our nation,

Laus Deo . "Praise be to God!"

  From atop this magnificent granite and marble structure, visitors may take in the beautiful panoramic view of the city with its division into four major segments.  From that vantage point, one can also easily see the original plan of the designer, Pierre Charles L'Enfant...a perfect cross imposed upon the landscape, with the White House to the north.  The Jefferson Memorial is to the south, the Capitol to the east and the Lincoln Memorial to the west. 
 
  Praise be to God!  Within the monument itself are 898 steps and 50 landings.  As one climbs the steps and pauses at the landings the memorial stones share a message.

• On the 12th Landing is a prayer offered by the City of Baltimore;
• on the 20th is a memorial presented by some Chinese Christians;
• On the 24th a presentation made by Sunday School children from New York and Philadelphia quoting Proverbs 10:7, Luke 18:16 and Proverbs 22:6. Praise be to God!
•  When the cornerstone of the Washington Monument was laid on July 4th, 1848 deposited within it were many items including the Holy Bible presented by the Bible Society. Praise be to God!  Such was the discipline, the moral direction, and the spiritual mood given by the founder and first President of our unique democracy "One Nation, Under God."
•  I am awed by Washington's prayer for America   Have you ever read it? Well, now is your unique opportunity, so read on!
• "Almighty God; We make our earnest prayer that Thou wilt keep the United States in Thy holy protection; that Thou wilt incline the hearts of the citizens to cultivate a spirit of subordination and obedience to government; and entertain a brotherly affection and love for one another and for their fellow citizens of the United States at large. And finally that Thou wilt most graciously be pleased to dispose us all to do justice, to love mercy, and to demean ourselves with that charity, humility, and pacific temper of mind which were the characteristics of the Divine Author of our blessed religion, and without a humble imitation of whose example in these things we can never hope to be a happy nation.  Grant our supplication, we beseech Thee, through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen."
•  Laus Deo!

When one stops to observe the inscriptions found in public places all over our nation's capitol, he or she will easily find the signature of God, as it is unmistakably inscribed everywhere you look. You may forget the width and height of "Laus Deo ", its location, or the architects but no one who reads this will be able to forget its meaning, or these words: "Unless the Lord builds the house its builders labor in vain.  Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchmen stand guard in vain."  (Psalm 127: 1)

Beatles song directed into deep space

HOUSTON (UPI) -- U.S. space officials said The Beatles song "Across the Universe" will be blasted directly into deep space next week.

The tune will be beamed over NASA's Deep Space Network at 7 p.m. EST on Feb. 4. to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the day The Beatles recorded the song, as well as the 50th anniversary of the founding of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the agency said in a release.

The transmission is being aimed at the North Star, Polaris, 431 light years away from Earth. The song will travel across the universe at a speed of 186,000 miles per second.

"Amazing! Well done, NASA!" former Beatle Paul McCartney said in a message to the space agency. "Send my love to the aliens. All the best, Paul."

John Lennon's widow, Yoko Ono, said she sees the song's transmission as a significant event. "I see that this is the beginning of the new age in which we will communicate with billions of planets across the universe," Ono said in a statement.

What's the weirdest thing that has happened to you lately?

 
A goldfish has a memory span of three seconds.
So, when a fish gets to the end of the fish bowl, he thinks he has a new home. 

We're off to butcher a beef today.  My kids are excited it. 

I took Alisha to the eye doctor yesterday.  He told her that she'll probaly have to have a cornea transplant in a few years.  (Before we adopted her, she got glass in her eye and her birth mom tried to get it out instead of going to the hospital right away.  Alisha describes it as her birth mom cutting her with a knife.)

I watched a disturbing video yesterday.  It was an A & E show called "Intervention".  The reason it was disturbing was because it was about a person I watched grow up in the church.  At the age of 30, Tressa was a meth addict.  Several years ago she was on the way to the olympics when she testing positive for drugs and was disqualified.  That was the beginning of her downward addiction.  As I watched the show, I saw the Tressa I knew so many years ago to the Tressa that has been destroyed by meth.  She is now in a recovery facility in California.

"If you would not be forgotten, as soon as you are dead and rotten, either write
things worth reading, or do things worth the writing."

— Benjamin Franklin, 1738