WATCHING THE TREES GROW

It is 7:08 a.m. and 56.0 degrees out and dark. Patrick is sitting behind me waiting for a dog cookie that is not coming. OK , now he is digging a nest on his afghan.

THREE DAYS TO LEXINGTON!!

FROM THE INBOX:

(Remember the Ben Stine Show with Jimmie Kimmel? I liked that show...)

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The following was written by Ben Stein and recited by him on CBS Sunday Morning Commentary.

My confession:

I am a Jew, and every single one of my ancestors was Jewish. And it does not bother me even a little bit when people call those beautiful lit up, bejeweled trees Christmas trees. I don't feel threatened. I don't feel discriminated against. That's what they are: Christmas trees.

It doesn't bother me a bit when people say, "Merry Christmas" to me. I don't think they are slighting me or getting ready to put me in a ghetto. In fact, I kind of like it. It shows that we are all brothers and sisters celebrating this happy time of year. It doesn't bother me at all that there is a manger scene on display at a key intersection near my beach house in Malibu . If people want a crche, it's just as fine with me as is the Menorah a few hundred yards away .

I don't like getting pushed around for being a Jew, and I don't think Christians like getting pushed around for being Christians. I think people who believe in God are sick and tired of getting pushed around, period. I have no idea where the concept came from that America is an explicitly atheist country. I can't find it in the Constitution and I don't like it being shoved down my throat.

Or maybe I can put it another way: where did the idea come from that we should worship Nick and Jessica and we aren't allowed to worship God as we understand Him? I guess that's a sign that I'm getting old, too. But there are a lot of us who are wondering where Nick and Jessica came from and where the America we knew went to.

In light of the many jokes we send to one another for a laugh, this is a little different: This is not intended to be a joke; it's not funny, it's intended to get you thinking.

Billy Graham's daughter was interviewed on the Early Show and Jane Clayson asked her "How could God let something like this happen?" (regarding Katrina) Anne Graham gave an extremely profound and insightful response.
She said, "I believe God is deeply saddened by this, just as we are, but for years we've been telling God to get out of our schools, to get out of our government and to get out of our lives. And being the gentleman He is, I believe He has calmly backed out. How can we expect God to give us His blessing and His protection if we demand He leave us alone?"

In light of recent events...terrorists attack, school shootings, etc. I think it started when Madeleine Murray O'Hare (she was murdered, her body found recently) complained she didn't want prayer in our schools, and we said OK.
Then someone said you better not read the Bible in school. The Bible says thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not steal, and love your neighbor as yourself. And we said OK.

Then Dr. Benjamin Spock said we shouldn't spank our children when they misbehave because their little personalities would be warped and we might damage t heir self-esteem (Dr. Spock's son committed suicide). We said an expert should know what he's talking about. And we said OK.

Now we're asking ourselves why our children have no conscience, why they don't know right from wrong, and why it doesn't bother them to kill strangers, their classmates, and themselves.

Probably, if we think about it long and hard enough, we can figure it out. I think it has a great deal to do with "WE REAP WHAT WE SOW."

Funny how simple it is for people to trash God and then wonder why the world's going to hell. Funny how we believe what the newspapers say, but question what the Bible says .. Funny how you can send 'jokes' through e-mail and they spread like wildfire but when you start sending messages regarding the Lord, people think twice about sharing. Funny how lewd, crude, vulgar and obscene articles pass freely through cyberspa ce, but public discussion of God is suppressed in the school and workplace.

Are you laughing?

Funny how when you forward this message, you will not send it to many on your address list because you're not sure what they believe, or what they will think of you for sending it.

Funny how we can be more worried about what other people think of us than what God thinks of us.

Pass it on if you think it has merit. If not then just discard it... no one will know you did. But, if you discard this thought process, don't sit back and complain about what bad shape the world is in. My Best Regards.
Honestly and respectfully,

Ben Stein

GO GATORS!!

GO BULLS!!

wOULDN'T IT BE A HOOT IF THE sOUTH fLORIDA bULLS WON THE MYTHICAL ncAA dIVISION 1 nATIONAL cHAMPIONSHIP!!!

Re Ellen's breakdown on TV because a dog adoption agency took a dog back that she had given to her hairdresser--We are 100% behind the Agency on this one.

First of all Ellen doesn't have a legal leg to stand on. She signed adoption papers that stated she must give the dog back to the Agency if it doesn't work out.

Now, we know that a lot of these Rescue Groups are anal (to the DETRIMENT, not benefit, of the animal) about who they will let adopt their animals. You have to be that Saint with the pigeons on his shoulders in many cases. We've been on that end of the deal and been denied before.

Having said that, we have rescued and placed a number of dogs ourselves, including a German Shepherd and an Australian Shepherd among others. In one case, the lady we gave a dog to gave it to someone else, and we were not pleased, but hey, it's none of our business at that point. The dog was better off than being killed by a kill-"shelter".

Ellen should have played by the rules. The shelter probably should not have gone to the hairdesser's house and taken the dog from the little girls. Lots of blame to spread around here.

But Ellen's people should not have threatened the Rescue Group, and Ellen should have refrained from having a fit on her TV show. People like Ellen, who have media power, must be careful how they use or abuse it.

It will be a real tragedy if Ellen's actions cause this rescue group to fold up their tents. They already have received thousands of negative emails. Then again, who knows? Maybe they should not be in this business, if they can go to a home and grab the puppy from little girls. Maybe they are just too full of their own importance to see the larger picture...

Nobody's a winner here, But it is all Ellen's fault. And Ellen , if you think we believe you legitimately gave $3,000 to a guy to train your dog to like cats, I've got some bridges here to sell you.

-TR-