NUMBER THREE

JUST SO WE DON'T FORGET WHAT SHE LOOKS LIKE...

It is 7:38 a.m. and 67 degrees. Patrick is outside, Junior and boarder in their respective rooms.

Junior and I went to the Huntington Car Show last night. About 150 cars and thousands of people--biggest show yet. Saw lots of people we haven't seen in a while. Whole town was either there or at the beer tent.

FROM THE INBOX:

If they know of him at all, many folks think Ben Stein is just a
>>> quirky
>>> actor/comedian who talks in a monotone. He's also a very intelligent
>>> attorney who knows how to put ideas and words together in such a way
>>> as
>>>to
>& gt;> sway juries and make people think clearly.
>>>
>>> The following was written by Ben Stein and recited by him on CBS
>>> Sunday
>>> Morning Commentary.
>>> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>>> 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 creche, 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 anothe r way: wher e 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
>>> b elieve 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?' (She said
>>>the
>>> same thing when interviewed after 9-11)
>>>
>>>
>>> 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 their 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 conscien ce, why
>>>they
>>> don't know right from wrong, and why it doesn't bother them to kill
& gt;>> 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
>>> cyberspace, 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!