Faith

An atheist professor of Philosophy was speaking to his class on the problem Science has with GOD. He asked one of his new Christian Students to stand and . . .

Professor : You are a Christian, aren't you, son ?

Student : Yes, sir.

Professor: So, you believe in GOD ?

Student : Absolutely, sir.

Professor : Is GOD good ?

Student : Sure.

professor: Is GOD all powerful ?

Student : Yes.

Professor: My brother died of cancer even though he prayed to GOD to heal him. Most of us would attempt to help others who are ill. But GOD didn't. How is this GOD good then? Hmm?

(Student was silent.)

Professor: You can't answer, can you ? Let's start again, young fella. Is GOD good?

Student : Yes.

Professor: Is satan good ?

Student : No.

Professor: Where does satan come from ?

Student : From . . . GOD . . .

Professor: That's right. Tell me son, is there evil in this world?

Student : Yes.

Professor: Evil is everywhere, isn't it ? And GOD did make everything. Correct?

Student : Yes.

Professor: So who created evil ?

(Student did not answer.)

Professor: Is there sickness? Immorality? Hatred? Ugliness? All these terrible things exist in the world, don't they?

Student : Yes, sir.

Professor: So, who created them ?

(Student had no answer.)

Professor: Science says you have 5 Senses you use to identify and observe the world around you. Tell me, son, have you ever seen GOD?

Student : No, sir.

Professor: Tell us if you have ever heard your GOD?

Student : No , sir.

Professor: Have you ever felt your GOD, tasted your GOD, smelt your GOD? Have you ever had any sensory perception of GOD for that matter?

Student : No, sir. I'm afraid I haven't.

Professor: Yet you still believe in Him?

Student : Yes.

Professor : According to Empirical, Testable, Demonstrable Protocol, Science says your GOD doesn't exist. What do you say to that, son?

Student : Nothing. I only have my faith.

Professor: Yes, faith. And that is the problem Science has.

Student : Professor, is there such a thing as heat?

Professor: Yes.

Student : And is there such a thing as cold?

Professor: Yes.

Student : No, sir. There isn't.

(The lecture theatre became very quiet with this turn of events.)

Student : Sir, you can have lots of heat, even more heat, superheat, mega heat, white heat, a little heat or no heat. But we don't have anything called cold. We can hit 458 degrees below zero which is no heat, but we can't go any further after that. There is no such thing as cold. Cold is only a word we use to describe the absence of heat. We cannot measure cold. Heat is energy. Cold is not the opposite of heat, sir, just the absence of it.

(There was pin-drop silence in the lecture theater.)

Student : What about darkness, Professor? Is there such a thing as darkness?

Professor: Yes. What is night if there isn't darkness?

Student : You're wrong again, sir. Darkness is the absence of something. You can have low light, normal light, bright light, flashing light. But if you have no light constantly, you have nothing and its called darkness, isn't it? In reality, darkness isn't. If it is, were you would be able to make darkness darker, wouldn't you?

Professor: So what is the point you are making, young man ?

Student : Sir, my point is your philosophical premise is flawed.

Professor: Flawed ? Can you explain how?

Student : Sir, you are working on the premise of duality. You argue there is life and then there is death, a good GOD and a bad GOD. You are viewing the concept of GOD as something finite, something we can measure. Sir, Science can't even explain a thought. It uses electricity and magnetism, but has never seen, much less fully understood either one. To view death as the opposite of life is to be ignorant of the fact that death cannot exist as a substantive thing.

Death is not the opposite of life: just the absence of it. Now tell me, Professor, do you teach your students that they evolved from a monkey?

Professor: If you are referring to the natural evolutionary process, yes, of course, I do.

Student : Have you ever observed evolution with your own eyes, sir?

(The Professor shook his head with a smile, beginning to realize where the argument was going.)

Student : Since no one has ever observed the process of evolution at work and cannot even prove that this process is an on-going endeavor. Are you not teaching your opinion, sir? Are you not a scientist but a preacher?

(The class was in uproar.)

Student : Is there anyone in the class who has ever seen the Professor's brain?

(The class broke out into laughter. )

Student : Is there anyone here who has ever heard the Professor's brain, felt it, touched or smelt it? No one appears to have done so. So, according to the established Rules of Empirical, Stable, Demonstrable Protocol, Science says that you have no brain, sir. With all due respect, sir, how do we then trust your lectures, sir?

(The room was silent. The Professor stared at the student, his face unfathomable.)

Professor: I guess you'll have to take them on faith, son.

Student : That is it sir . . . Exactly ! The link between man & GOD is FAITH. That is all that keeps things alive and moving.

P.S.

I believe you have enjoyed the conversation. And if so, you'll probably want your friends / colleagues to enjoy the same, won't you?

Forward this to increase their knowledge . . . or FAITH.

By the way, that student was Einstein.!

My Name is METH

My Name is Meth I destroy homes. I tear families apart.
I take your children and that's just the start.
I'm more valued than diamonds. More precious than gold.
 The sorrow I bring is a sight to behold.

If you need me, remember; I'm easily found.
I live all around you. In school and in town.
I live with the rich. I live with the poor.
I live just down the road. And maybe next door.

I'm made in a lab, but not in one like you think.
I can be made under your kitchen sink.
Or in your child's closet and even out in the woods.
If this scares you to death,  It certainly should.

I have many names, but there's one you'll know best.
I'm sure you've heard of me. My name's Crystal Meth.
My power is awesome. Try me you'll see.
But if you do, You may never break free.

Just try me once and I might let you go.
But if you try me twice, then I own your soul.

When I posses you, You'll steal and you'll lie.
You'll do what you have to Just to get high.
The crimes you'll commit, For my narcotic charms
Will be worth the pleasure, You'll feel in my arms.

You'll lie to your mother. You'll steal from your dad.
When you see their tears you must not feel sad.
Just forget your morals and how you were raised.
I'll be your conscious. I'll teach you my ways.

I take kids from their parents. I take parents from kids.
I turn people from God. I separate friends.
I'll take everything from you;  your good looks and your pride.
I'll be with you always. Right here by your side.

You'll give up everything; Your family, your home
Your money, your friends, You'll be all alone.
I'll take and I'll take 'Til you've no more to give.
When I'm finished with you, you'll be lucky to live.

If you try me be warned: THIS IS NOT A GAME.
If I'm given the chance, I'll drive you insane.
I'll ravage your body. I'll control your mind.
I'll own you completely. Your soul will be mine.

The nightmares I'll give you when your lying in bed....
And the voices you'll hear from inside your head....
The sweats, the shakes, and the visions you'll see....
I want you to know: These are your gifts from me.

By then it's to late and you'll know in your heart
That you are now mine, And we shall not part.
You'll regret that you tried me. (They always do.)
Remember, you came to me. Not I, to you.

You knew this would happen. How many times were you told?
But you challenged my power. You chose to be bold.
You could have said "No" and then walked away.
If you could live that day over now, what would you say?

My power is awesome as I told you before.
I can take your mother and turn her into a whore.
Go ahead and curse me with every breath.
Just make your choice: Will it be life or meth?

You will take unknown paths on your journey through life.
Some will bring happiness. Some will bring strife.
But, my path is one you must not ever cross.
Although it's well trodden countless lives have been lost.

Now that you've met me, what will you do?
Will you try me or not? It's all up to you.
I can show you more misery than words can tell.
Come, take my hand. Let me lead you to Hell.

Just try me once and I might let you go.
But if you try me twice, then I own your soul. 

Railroad History

A little known bit of railroad history!


Even if you didn't work for the railroad this story has an interest for all.


Train Station Watches Were Just the Beginning


If you were in the market for a watch in 1880, would you know where to get one? You would go to a store, right? Well, of course you could do that, but if you wanted one that was cheaper and a bit better than most of the store watches, you went to the train station! Sound a bit funny? Well, for about 500 towns across the northern United States, that's where the best watches were found.


Why were the best watches found at the train station? The railroad company wasn't selling the watches, not at all. The telegraph operator was. Most of the time the telegraph operator was located in the railroad station because the telegraph lines followed the railroad tracks from town to town. It was usually the shortest distance and the right-of-ways had already been secured for the rail line.


Most of the station agents were also skilled telegraph operators and that was the primary way that they communicated with the railroad. They would know when trains left the previous station and when they were due at their next station. And it was the telegraph operator who had the watches. As a matter of fact they sold more of them than almost all the stores combined for a period of about 9 years.


This was all arranged by "Richard", who was a telegraph operator himself. He was on duty in the North Redwood, Minnesota train station one day when a load of watches arrived from the east. It was a huge crate of pocket watches. No one ever came to claim them.


So Richard sent a telegram to the manufacturer and asked them what they wanted to do with the watches. The manufacturer didn't want to pay the freight back, so they wired Richard to see if he could sell them. So Richard did. He sent a wire to every agent in the system asking them if they wanted a cheap, but good, pocket watch. He sold the entire case in less than two days and at a handsome profit.


That started it all. He ordered more watches from the watch company and encouraged the telegraph operators to set up a display case in the station offering high quality watches for a cheap price to all the travelers. It worked! It didn't take long for the word to spread and, before long, people other than travelers came to the train station to buy watches.


Richard became so busy that he had to hire a professional watch maker to help him with the orders. That was Alvah. And the rest, as they say, is history. The business took off and soon expanded to many other lines of dry goods.


Richard and Alvah left the train station and moved their company to Chicago -- and it's still there.


IT'S A LITTLE KNOWN FACT that for a while in the 1880's, the biggest watch retailer in the country was at the train station.


It all started with a telegraph operator: Richard Sears and his partner Alvah Roebuck!
(for you youngsters, the Sears store was called "Sears and Roebuck" when I was young)

VETERAN'S DAY **11-11-11**

Veterans Day 11-11-11 

Thank you ALL for your service and sacrifice!!!

Interesting Veteran’s Statistics off the Vietnam Memorial Wall

SOMETHING to think about ---

*Most of the surviving Parents are now Deceased.

*There are 58,267 names now listed on that polished black wall, including those added in 2010.

*The names are arranged in the order in which they were taken from us by date and within each date the names are alphabetized. It is hard to believe it is 36 years since the last casualties.

*Beginning at the apex on panel 1E and going out to the end of the East wall, appearing to recede into the earth (numbered 70E - May 25, 1968), then resuming at the end of the West wall, as the wall emerges from the earth (numbered 70W - continuing May 25, 1968) and ending with a date in 1975. Thus the war's beginning and end meet. The war is complete, coming full circle, yet broken by the earth that bounds the angle's open side and contained within the earth itself.

*The first known casualty was Richard B. Fitzgibbon, of North Weymouth, Mass. Listed by the U.S. Department of Defense as having been killed on June 8, 1956. His name is listed on the Wall with that of his son, Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Richard B. Fitzgibbon III, who was killed on Sept. 7, 1965.

*There are three sets of fathers and sons on the Wall.
 
 *39,996 on the Wall were just 22 or younger.

*8,283 were just 19 years old.

*The largest age group, 33,103 were 18 years old.

*12 soldiers on the Wall were 17 years old.

*5 soldiers on the Wall were 16 years old.

*One soldier, PFC Dan Bullock was 15 years old.

*997 soldiers were killed on their first day in Vietnam. ?

*1,448 soldiers were killed on their last day in Vietnam. ?

*31 sets of brothers are on the Wall.

*Thirty one sets of parents lost two of their sons.

*54 soldiers on the Wall attended Thomas Edison High School in Philadelphia. I wonder why so many from one school.

*8 Women are on the Wall. Nursing the wounded.

*244 soldiers were awarded the Medal of Honor during the Vietnam War; 153 of them re on the Wall.

 *Beallsville, Ohio with a population of 475 lost 6 of her sons.

*West Virginia had the highest casualty rate per capita in the nation. There are 711 West Virginians on the Wall.


*The Marines of Morenci - They led some of the scrappiest high school football and basketball teams that the little Arizona Copper Town of Morenci (pop. 5,058) had ever known and cheered. They enjoyed roaring beer busts. In quieter moments, they rode horses along the Coronado Trail, stalked deer in the Apache National Forest. And in the patriotic camaraderie typical of Morenci's mining families, the nine graduates of Morenci High enlisted as a group in the Marine Corps. Their service began on Independence Day, 1966. Only 3 returned home..


*The Buddies of Midvale - LeRoy Tafoya, Jimmy Martinez, Tom Gonzales were all boyhood friends and lived on three consecutive streets in Midvale, Utah on Fifth, Sixth and Seventh avenues. They lived only a few yards apart. They played ball at the adjacent sandlot ball field. And they all went to Vietnam . In a span of 16 dark days in late 1967, all three would be killed. LeRoy was killed on Wednesday, Nov. 22, the fourth anniversary of John F. Kennedy's assassination. Jimmy died less than 24 hours later on Thanksgiving Day. Tom was shot dead assaulting the enemy on Dec. 7, Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day.


*The most casualty deaths for a single day was on January 31, 1968 ~ 245 deaths.
 
*The most casualty deaths for a single month was May 1968 - 2,415 casualties were incurred.

For most Americans who read this they will only see the numbers that the Vietnam War created. To those of us who survived the war, and to the families of those who did not, we see the faces, we feel the pain that these numbers created. We are, until we too pass away, haunted with these numbers, because they were our friends, fathers, husbands, wives, sons and daughters. There are no noble wars, just noble warriors.