"What do you like best about playing the piano? You don't have to tune it each time before you perform." -- interviewer and crossover pianist/violinist

"One of the many things no one tells you about aging is that it is such a nice change from being young." -- not attributed

"St. Peter-A-Go-Go: Okay, next. What about you? Yup, I'm saved. Right-O. The chariot'll be by to pick you up around quarter past three." -- unattributed joke circulating

"Ah, being young is beautiful, but being old is comfortable." -- anonymous

"In a single generation, the national debt has quintupled, to an expected $11.3 trillion. The recent runaway increase has mainly come at a time when the economy was strong, the sort of time when debt should be retired." -- Gregg Easterbrook in The Size of the Debt, Washington Monthly, August/September 2008

"Health insurance premiums have increased at an annual rate typically double or triple the rate of salary increases, yet have bought workers steadily less coverage as managed care plans have replaced virtually all traditional health insurance policies." -- Timothy Noah in How Our Health Care Stacks Up With Slovenia's, Washington Monthly, August/September 2008

"People in Japan are twice as likely as Americans to have broadband connections, and their pipes are ten times as past. Compared to France, U.S. Internet access is twice as expensive and one-fourth as quick. Since 2000, the United States has gone from fifth in the world to twenty-second in broadband penetration.... The problem is primarily the lack of competition among Internet providers. In most places, you have, at best, two choices -- the local cable company or the local phone company. And these behemoths know that they don't have to worry about new competitors.... now the country [France] mocked here for its thirty-five hour workweek is far more wired than the United States.... The country is now served almost entirely by three local phone, four cellular, and four cable companies.... freedom sometimes requires tough love from the feds [rather than] the chimera of naturally existing total freedom -- the freedom for [this] country to fall further and further behind as AT&T and the other telecome leviathans sit back, ignoring your customer service calls and just watching the $90 monthly checks roll in...." -- Nicholas Thompson, Senior Editor at Wired and Fellow at the New America Foundation, in How Fast You Dan Read This Essay Online, Washington Monthly, August/September 2008

"Don't forget to vote also with your wallet and your feet!" -- not attributed

"First you forget names, and then you forget faces. Then you forget to pull up your zipper. It's worse when you forget to pull it down." -- not attributed

"Warshing Clothes: Build fire in backyard to heat kettle of rain water. Set tubs so smoke wont blow in eyes if wind is pert. Shave one hole cake of lie soap in boilin water. Sort things, make 3 piles. 1 pile white, 1 pile colored, 1 pile work britches and rags. To make starch, stir flour in cool water to smooth, then thin down with boiling water. Take white things, rub dirty spots on board, scrub hard, and boil, then rub colored don't boil just wrench and starch. Take things out of kettle with broom stick handle, then wrench, and starch. Hang old rags on fence. Spread tea towels on grass. Pore wrench water in flower bed. Scrub porch with hot soapy water. Turn tubs upside down. Go put on clean dress, smooth hair with hair combs.. Brew cup of tea, sit and rock a spell and count your blessings." -- unidentified Alabama grandmother for a new bride, exact copy as written and found in an old scrapbook, from freely distributed e-mail circulating

"I shall need too, the favor of that being in whose hands we are, who led our fathers, as Israel of old from their native land." -- Thomas Jefferson

"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge." -- Proverbs 1:7

"We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ." -- 2 Corinthians 10:5

"You couldn't even waterboard me into being President of the United States." -- caller-in to WETS talk show

"Kindness is a language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see." -- Mark Twain

"The miracle is this -- the more we share, the more we have." -- Leonard Nimoy

"Although Pat Buchanan never served in our military, or that of any other country, many members of various minorities and women have. From former slave and Bunker Hill hero Peter Salem (Revolutionary War) through the Buffalo Soldiers and Tuskegee Airmen, African-Americans have joined others like Cherokee Medal of Honor recipient Mitchel Red Cloud Jr. (Korea) and the all-Japanese-American 442nd Regimental Combat Team (WWII) -- in addition to women like Massachusetts "cross-dressers" Deborah Samson/Robert Shirtliffe (Revolutionary War) and Sarah Emma Edmonds/Franklin Thompsonin (Civil War Union) -- in establishment, support and defense of 'liberty and justice for all' in this nation and elsewhere." -- Wikipedia and Teacher Oz's Kingdom of History

"What three little words have never been heard publically from an American police officer? 'I was wrong,' or 'I am sorry,' or 'Please forgive me.' Any of those responses is correct." -- anonymous

"Will all the women in the audience who find white male supremecists sexy and appealing, please stand up now.... Okay, Sarah.... You can sit down again." -- unattributed

"Centers for Disease Control and Prevention records [compiled] by Mike Stobbe of the Associated Press [reveal that] a full 55.4 percent of gun deaths are suicides; 40.2 percent are homicides, 2.6 percent are unintentional, and only 1.1 percent are clearly the result of legal actions like self-protection." -- Charles Peters in And .7 percent are case of moose shooting back, Washington Monthly, August/September 2008

"How did you end up in this dive? I followed an idiot to Virginia from Tennessee." -- Andrea

"Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, in order to assure the survival and the success of liberty." - President John F. Kennedy Jr., 1961 inaugural address

"Happiness is when what you think, what you say and what you do are in harmony." -- Gandhi

"Why did the turkey cross the road? It was the chicken's day off."

"Why did the cookie visit the doctor? Because it felt a little crummy."

"Student: I have a question about the Gettysburg Address. Professor: Okay, shoot. Student: What were the aggrieved, beset and put-upon Confederate Generals and a few tens of thousands of their closest friends doing in the Union territory of Pennsylvania anyway? Why didn't they just stay home? Professor, pausing: I don't know. Maybe they were lost." -- unattributed

"Any simple theory will be worded in the most complicated way."

"How do you make a bandstand? Take away their chairs."

"No matter how much Jell-O you put in a swimming pool, you still can't walk on water."

"When your only tool is a hammer, all problems start looking like nails."

"They act like the Bible and Constitution are rest rooms marked 'Whites Only.'" -- unattributed

"A six-year-old can start a fire with flint rock even though a 36 year-old man says they can only do it in the movies."

"U.S. President William Howard Taft (1909-13) is said to be the heaviest (300+ pounds) president who found himself stuck in the White House bathtub. He the only man in U.S. history, also, to have served as both President and Chief Justice."

(Conversation Overheard in The Dum Glum Lounge) Bartender to customer slouched into his chair: Whatsa mattah, buddy?! Bubby, sobbing into his beer: Everything's wrong! Only the white man matters. The God of Israel, the Son of David, and my preacher told me so. The laws of Moses are just about stuff done against us."

"Logic is a systematic method of coming to the wrong conclusion with confidence." -- Anonymous

"'God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not die but have eternal life.' -- John 3:16 (TEV) Many read this verse and interpret it to mean 'God so loved us' -- people. However, the Greek word translated here as 'world' means 'cosmos.' In other words, God loved all creation -- including this planet and the entire universe -- not just people. There is much about this planet to love. I look forward to taking walks in our local park. Since each season has its own beauty, I walk year round -- looking around me and thanking God for what I see, whether the trees are barren or full. Sometimes I wonder if this same beauty will be available for my grandchildren and great-grandchildren to enjoy. As a person of faith, I am concerned about God's creation and what we are doing to it. We don't have to agree about the issue of global warming to know that we all need and want clean air, clean water, and unpolluted soil in which to grow our food. We want our grandchildren and great-grandchildren to experience the same beautiful planet we have enjoyed. Each of us can find ways to love and care for this world that God loves so much. Prayer: Creator of the universe, help us to live in harmony with you. Help us individually to do all we can to solve environmental problems. Amen." -- Barbara A. Chaplin, Kansas, in God Loves the World, Kingsport Daily News 5/1-3/09

"Cross-country skiing is great if you live in a small country.' -- Author Unknown

"Back-To-The-Future-Please: A three-watt nightlight has been burning continuously for 107 years, providing illumination over the fire trucks in the Livermore, California Fire Department's Station No. 6. It is the oldest still-burning bulb in the world. The handblown bulb has a carbon filament made by Shelby Electric Co. The bulb has long since outlived the company that manufactured it. It was purchased by General Electric in 1914. The bulb has been recognized by bothe guinness Book of World Records and Ripley's Believe It or Not. 'Engineers from General Electric have inspected the bulb and declared it representative of the time it was made,' says Tom Bramell, deputy fire chief."

"I'm calling for all Crips, Bloods, Nation of Isman, De Mau Mau, Mexican Mafia, and MS 13 to attend these [disrupted health care discussion] town halls effective immediately. Just show up, you don't have to do anything. And watch the narrative change overnight." -- Souljah Boy comment on Huffington Post message board

"Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace; the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God." -- Saint Paul (Romans 8:5-8)

"Size does matter here." -- sign leading into town where rule is determined by who wins physical fights and jousting rather than any codified law

"In years past, it was estimated that 60 percent of clients were American, whereas now one house estimated that number had been split in half, reinforcing the importance of new international courture clients." -- Derek Blasberg in Vive La Couture!, Harper's Bazaar, 4/09

"It's a credit, not a creative, crisis." -- fashion designer John Galliano

"If you read the Financial Times and the International Herald Tribune, you would think the whole world is ending." -- Daphne Guinness

"... couture really is the apex of design hierarchy. It's a guiding light in fashion and the idea of fashion as ethereal art." -- Andrew Bolton, Curator Metropolitan Costume Institute

"I'm the Secretary of State. I'm not here to channel my husband." -- Hillary Clinton when asked what the former President's opinion on a current issue is by an attendee of a public forum in Africa

"The older we get, the fewer things seem worth waiting in line for." -- anonymous

"All inquiries carry with them some element of risk. There is no guarantee that the universe will conform to our predispositions. But I do not see how we caqn deal with the universe -- both the outside and the inside universe -- without studying it.... if science is a topic of general interest and concern, if both its delights and its social consequences are discussed regularly and competently in the schools, the press, and at the dinner table -- we have greatly improved our prospects for learning how the world really is and for improving both it and us.... Einstein explored the proposition -- an idea still astonishing in its simplicity, beauty and power -- that the gravitational attraction between two masses comes about by those masses distorting or bending ordinary Euclidean space nearby." -- Carl Sagan in Broca's Brain

"Out of clutter, find simplicity. From discord, find harmony. In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity." -- Albert Einstein

"Never go to war against a poet." -- Anonymous

"God does nothing but in answer to prayer." -- John Wesley

"A careful study by [Gordon and Horowitz] Orthodox Jews also shows that how a child is educated clearly trumps all other factors when it comes to the issue of whether a children retains his faith into adulthood." -- Mark Koscak, Director of Development for Providence Academy in Prayer as Part of the Fabric

"Every man is an exception." -- Sam Kierkegaard

"The tragedies of Cambodia and Viet Nam -- the shock, embarassment and shame of Watergate -- the doubts and confusion surrounding the economic woes of our nation have created unprecedented doubt and soul-searching among our people.... Within our free society each of us has an opportunity to develop a wide range of abilities, characteristics, responsibilities and interests.... We Americans are proud of such individuality and diversity.... [Our shared dreams] include the beliefs that all Americans should stand equal before the law, that our country should, among the community of nations, set an example of courage, compassion, honor and dedication to basic human rights and freedoms, and that government should be controlled by our citizens and not the other way around.... We must remember that our nation still retains its own inherent greatness.... Their people [those of our founding fathers'] were also discouraged, disillusioned, and confused. But those early leaders acted with purpose and conviction.... We Americans today are equally capable of correcting our faults, overcoming difficulties, managing our own affairs, and facing the future with justifiable confidence.... Our government can express the highest common ideals of human beings...." -- President Jimmy Carter in Why Not The Best?, 1975

"Attitude is everything, shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you'll be among the stars." -- Author Unknown

"We must assume our existence as broadly as we in any way can; everything, even the unheard-of, must be possible in it. This is at bottom the only courage that is demanded of us: to have courage for the most strange, the most inexplicable." -- Rainer Maria Rilke

"It takes years to build up trust, and it only takes suspicion -- not proof -- to destroy it." -- Anonymous

"... For more than four years many of us have been isolated in a small cell, less that 10ft by 6ft, with the intense neon lights on 24 hours a day.... The Prophet Jonah lived inside a whale and Moses lived inside a coffin, so the Guantanamo cells are only for those who are strong and those who have a will to adopt the path of the prophets...." -- reporter Sami al-Haj, detained at Guantanamo Bay (GITMO) Naval Installation beginning 6/7/02

".... a Sudanese citizen who had been working for the Qatar-based Al Jazeera network ... US authorities have never formally charged [cameraman and journalist Sami al-] Haj...." -- The Independent World 6/9/07

"If you're in the top percentile in terms of measured IQ, that means that at any given moment an average of 99% of the people around you have absolutely no idea what you're talking about." -- freely distributed and unattributed e-mail

"The best way to have a good idea is to have lots of ideas." -- Linus Pauling

"All who would win joy, must share it; happiness was born a twin." -- Lord Byron

"To endure is greater than to dare./ To tire out hostile fortune,/ To be daunted by no difficulty,/ To keep heart when all have lost it;/ Who can say this is not greatness?" -- William Thackeray

"The trouble with being punctual is that nobody's there to appreciate it."

"Children are unpredictable. You never know what inconsistency they're going to catch you in next."

"A day without prayer is a boast against God." -- Owen Carr

"The probability of meeting someone you know increases when you are with someone you don't want to be seen with." -- Author Unknown

"... Social Security tax receipts are down less than a percentage point from last year, but in May the government had been projecting a slight increase. At the time, the government's best estimate was that Social Security would start to pay out more money than it receives in taxes in 2016, and that the fund would be depleted in 2037 unless changes are enacted." -- Stephen Ohlemacher in Biggest Revenue Drop Since 1932, Associated Press, 8/3/09

"I feel kind of like a go-go dancer thrown naked into the crowd, don't you?" -- journalist James Brooks concluding a Johnson City [TN] Press column lamenting recent financial meltdown and rising gas prices

"Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results." -- Anonymous

"An old friend of mine who now lives in Pennsylvania sent this to me. He is still married to his first wife of around 40 years. She is a very attractive war bride from England.... We always hear 'the rules' from the female side. Now here are the rules from the male side. Men... these are our rules! Please note.... These are all numbered '1' on purpose!

• 1. Men are not mind readers.
• 1. Learn to work the toilet seat. You're a big girl. If it's up, put it down. We need it up, you need it down. You don't hear us complaining about you leaving it down.
• 1. Sunday sports, it's like the full moon or the changing of the tides. Let it be.
• 1. Crying is blackmail.
• 1. Ask for what you want. Let us be clear on this one: Subtle hints do not work! Strong hints do not work! Obvious hints do not work! Just say it!
• 1. Yes and no are perfectly acceptable answers to almost every question....
• 1. Anything we said six months ago is inadmissible in an argument. In fact, all comments become null and void after seven days....
• 1. If something we said can be interpreted two ways and one of the ways makes you sad and angry, we meant the other one.
• 1. You can either ask us to do something or tell us how you want it done. Not both. If you already know best how to do it, just do it yourself....
• 1. All men see in only 16 colors, like windows default settings. Peach, for example, is a fruit, not a color. Pumpkin is also a fruit. We have no idea what mauve is....
• 1. If we ask what is wrong and you say 'nothing,' we will act like nothing's wrong. We know you are lying, but it is just not worth the hassle....
• 1. When we have to go somewhere, absolutely anything you wear is fine.... really.
• 1. Don't ask us what we're thinking about unless you are prepared to discuss such topics as football or motor sports.
• 1. You have enough clothes.
• 1. You have too many shoes....
• 1. Thank you for reading this. Yes, I know. I have to sleep on the couch tonight. But did you know men really don't mind that? It's like camping."

"Over the past 25 years, archaeologists from the University of Tennessee have expanded our knowledge of an extensive and beautiful prehistoric cave art tradition buried in the caves of the Appalachian Plateau in Southeastern North America.... one with local origins and development and intrinsically linked to the evolution of prehistoric Southeastern religion and iconography.... we now know of 51 decorated caves... from Alabama to West Virginia.... The great majority ... are located in Tennessee .... all but four of 32 images [in Dunbar Cave] are of single circles, concentric circles, arcs or partial circles or abstract designs that incorporate circles in some way.... A human profile is next to these abstract shapes... [which are] almost always present in Tennessee cave sites.... There are cross-in-circle images.... In the left image, the outside rayed circle and the straight cross in the middle are obvious. The right-hand image differs from its companion in having a "tail" on the outer rayed circle and a treacle or revolving cross in the center...." -- Jan F. Simek, Joseph C. Douglas, and Amy Wallace in Ancient Cave Art for Tennessee Conservationist, 9-10/07

Man watching woman throwing up: What's wrong with her? Companion: I think she had one too many egotists last night.

"Some marriages are made in heaven. Of course, so are thunder and lightning." -- Anonymous

"For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that it would also be set free from slavery to decay in order to share the glorious freedom that the children of God will have." -- Saint Paul (Romans 8:20-21)

"According to Eric Lipton of the New York Times, 'the Department of Defense has agreed so far this fiscal year to sell or transfer more than $32 billion in weapons and other military equipment to foreign governments, compared with $12 billion in 2005." -- C. P. in We're fresh out of butter.... care for more guns?, Washington Monthly, August/September 2008

"Jump, M.F.!" -- placard sign held by one of demonstrators outside Wall Street financial buildings during a protest of practices there and consequences from them

"Galileo's ultimate blasphemy was to support the theory of Copernicus that the Earth orbited the Sun. For debunking 1,000 years of an Earth-centered Universe, Galileo spent the last 17 years of his life under house arrest." -- Mark Marquette in Stargazer, The Loafer 6/2/09

"The last time I saw a face like yours it had a hook in it." -- Anonymous

"Life is simply a form of energy... to be guided and directed in a person's body by his or her intelligence." -- Myrtle Fillmore, Unity

"Big news in Alaska. Sarah Palin will formally step down as governor on Sunday, leaving us completely unprotected from the Russians." -- Jimmy Kimmel

"Love is a kind of bravery." -- Anonymous

"We stay together for the sake of the cat." -- country home decoration sign

"Paul Broca was a surgeon, a neurologist and an anthropologist, a major figure in the development of both medicine and anthropology int he mid-nineteenth century.... Broca was a brilliant and compassionate man. He was concered with medical care for the poor.... He was the founder of modern brain surgery. He studied infant mortality. Toward the end of his career he was created a senator. He loved... mainly serenity and tolerance. In 1848 he founded a society of 'freethinkers.'... he was publicly denounced for 'materialism' and, like Socrates, for corrupting the young. Not only the police but also the clergy opposed the development of anthropology in France.... Broca is today perhaps best known for his discovery of a small region in the third convolution of the left frontal lob of the cerebral cortex, a region now known as Broca's area. Articulate speech ... is to an important extent localized in and controlled by Broca's area...." -- Carl Sagan in Broca's Brain: Reflections on the Romance of Science

"... the average total federal compensation, counting generous health and retirement benefits, is $116,450, compared to $56,615 for the private employee. Even if the benefits are not considered, the average fed gets $77,143 compared to $48,035 for the average nongovernment worker." -- C.P in The Pay Gap Hustle, Washington Monthly, August/September 2008

"Treat death as life." -- ancient Chinese proverb

"... Over the past several decades, [the national debt] has climbed sharply -- except for a respite from 1998 to 2000, when there were annual budget surpluses, reflecting in large part what turned out to be an overheated economy.... The odometer-style 'debt clock' near Times Square -- put in place in 1989 when the debt was a meter $2.7 trillion -- ran out of numbers and had to be shut down when the debt surged past $10 trillion in 2008.... The debt gap is 'something that keeps me awake at night,' [President] Obama says.... According to the Treasury Department, which updates the number 'to the penny' every few days, the national debt was $11,518,472,742,288 on Wednesday {7/2/09]. The overall debt is now slightly over 80 percent of the annual output of the entire U.S. economy, as measured by the gross domestic product.... the United States is not the only nation struggling under a huge national debt. Among major countries, Japan, Italy, India, France, Germany and Canade have comparable debts as percentages of their GDPs. The debt is largely financed by the sale of Treasury bonds and bills.... Treasury securities are suitable for individual investors and popular with other countries, especially China, Japan and the Persian Gulf oil exporters, the three top foreign holders of U.S. debt.... The Peter G. Peterson Foundation, established by a former commerce secretary and investment banker, argues that the $11.4 trillion debt figure does not take into account roughly $45 trillion in unlisted liabilities and unfunded retirement and health care commitments. That would put the nation's full obligations at $56 trillion, or roughly $184,000 per American, according to this calculation." -- AP, Johnson City Press, 7/5/09

"It's been a good day -- yesterday's work is done."

"School sign: Caution -- Dears Crossing"

"Use seat belts -- your spouse may be out driving, too!"

"Ancient Egyptian men cared about their looks so much that they took cosmetics to the afterlife with them. In King Tutankhamen's tomb, archaeologists discovered skin cream, lip color and cheek rouge."

"If conservatives get to call universal healthcare 'socialized medicine,' I get to call private, for-profit healthcare 'soulless, vampire bastards making money off human pain.'" -- Bill Maher

"If a man never trimmed his beard, it could grow to nearly 30 feet long in his lifetime."

"When the doctor first saw you, he slapped your mama." -- not attributed

"Change a light and you help change the world. Replace the conventional bulbs in your five most frequently used light fixtures with bulbs that have the ENERGY STAR and you will help the environment while saving money on energy bills. If every household in the U.S. took this one simple action, we would prevent greenhouse gases equivalent to the emissions from nearly 10 million cars." -- Environmental Protection Agency

"Police Officer Crowley said Henry Louis Gates was threatening. By threatening, he meant he's an educated black man." -- Bill Maher

"The issue landscape today is littered with similar opportunities: ... Fiscal policies that put us half a trillion dollars in hock to China. Technology policies that leave Americans with broadband one-fourth as quick as that of the French." -- Paul Glastris in Got Issues?, Washington Monthly, August/September 2008

"... in 2005, Condoleezza Rice told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that the U. S. military strategy in Iraq was to 'clear, hold, and build: to clear areas from insurgent control, to hold them securely, and then build durable Iraqi institutions.'... General George Casey ... called his superior ..., General John D. Abizaid asking: 'What the hell is that?' [and Abizaid replied] 'No, I didn't agree to that.'" -- S.P. in An army of 'Huh?', Washington Monthly, August/September 2008

"Birthers believe that the President was secretly born in Kenya. I thought he was born in a manger in Jerusalem." -- Jimmy Kimmel

"... Now that I am the mother of a teenager and a nine-year-old, I realize that the society in which they are growing up is a far less peaceful place than the one I knew at their age.... I believed then [prior to the last Presidential election], as I do now, that if there is to be any positive change in the direction of our society, it will come only as Christians begin to pray for our country, live according to God's biblical standards, and influence others to do the same. Those others include our children. Parenting my children in modern-day America is perhaps the most difficult challenge I will ever face.... Reminding him that I don't make the rules we expect him to follow -- God does -- I will stand firm in my parental convictions rather than let things slide.... As my son and I sat on the bluffs overlooking the Mississippi River, lamenting the problems in our society from his teenage perspective, I suggested to him that rather than talk about these issues, he should take action by writing letters to those in decision-making positions or to the editor of our local newspaper. My children have seen the letters I have written, and they have witnessed my participation in causes that promote positive change in our community. Hopefully they are learning that passive Christianity has no place in our world.... Peace must first begin in the personal lives of believers who are committed to following their Lord, obeying His Word, and living lives of influence among those who are walking beside us. To do this requires a lot of effort and a power that comes only from God. Once we find our peace in Christ, we can then share that peace with our world." -- Dee Dee Wike in Let It Begin With Me

"When we truly know Christ, we will welcome His return instead of fearing it." -- Rev. Billy Graham

"Your eyes are too pure to look on evil; you cannot tolerate wrong." -- Habakkuk 1:13

"Fox News commentator Glenn Beck said that he believes President Obama's a racist. To be fair, every time you watch Glenn Beck, it does get a little easier to hate white people." -- Conan O'Brien

"To all who received him, to those who believed in his name, we gave the right to become children of God." -- John 1:12

"God is calling His people to move up to a higher plane of thinking, and get out of the mindset of the world. The world says we can't ... God says we can. The world say things are hopeless... God says put you hope in Him and you won't be disappointed. The world says government has all the answers and will fix everything... God says trust in Him and He will guide you in the way you should go.... It's time that we as Christians go fro our weak, feeble-minded attempts at living a Christ-centered life, to having the Mind of Christ, and changing our nation and our world in a way that government cannot." -- Garry Lovette, Senior Editor, in For Your Consideration, Common Ground Christian News, May 2009 "Be doers of the word and not hearers only." -- James 1:22

"A new science is arising, a science of the human mind much broader than psychology has been to date. We have called it 'noetic' science, after the Greek word for intuitive knowing. Perhaps it is somewhat inaccurate to speak of it as though it were totally new; it might be better to refer to a noetic emphasis in the human sciences. But the radical nature of the developments should not be underestimated. It is the second stage of a two-stage process.
"The first stage, the rise of modern materialistic science, is one of the most important evolutionary leaps in human history. Its essence embodies a remarkable proposition, namely that knowledge of the objective sense-perceived world should not be based on religious or traditional authority, nor the guarded property of an elite priesthood, but should be empirically based and publicly verifiable, open and free to all. Thus there is not Russian chemistry and American chemistry, or Hindu physics and Christian physics. There is only science — the best framework of empirical relationships and conceptual models currently available, continuously tested in public by agreed-upon procedures.
"The goal of the second stage, just begun, is creation of a similar body of knowledge, empirically based and publicly validated, about the realm of subjective experience. For the first time in history we are beginning to create a growing, progressively funded body of established experience about humanity's inner life — and particularly about the perennial wisdom of the great religious traditions and gnostic groups. For the first time there is hope that this knowledge can become — not a secret repeatedly lost in dogmatization and institutionalization, or degenerating into manifold varieties of cultism and occultism — but rather the living heritage of all humankind." -- Willis Harman, prior Stanford CA professor of Engineering-Economic Systems, President of IONS, and author, in What Are Noetic [Gr. nous: ways of knowing] Sciences?

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Publisher's Note: There appears to be a seldom-noted and little-reported underground rebel revolt by banjo pickers who've "had it" with jokes about their choice of musical instrument and playing, so that nearly all I've seen perform recently had adopted fiddle, lead guitar, trumpet, bass, trombone, rhythm guitar and/or mandolin also and switch off during sets one to another in undeniable demonstratation of their mastery and proficiency in demanding genre from classic to rock to Irish jig. We were wrong. We admit it. (But we had a lotta fun while it lasted.) And you heard it here first.
To prod your favorite banjo player into more proficient dexterity of musical expression, there are quite a few reference resources such as Banjo Jokes, The Canonical List of Banjo Jokes and Darrell The Banjo Picker's Canonical List of Banjo Jokes.

Homemade object d'art and possible use for a banjo

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"Sha-Ken-O-Hey is derived from the Cherokee name for the Smoky Mountains meaning 'land of blue smoke'.... Proceeds from first-year sales of the [Dolly Parton] CD benefit Friends of the Smokies, a non-profit organization devoted to preserving and protecting Great Smoky Mountains National Park by raising funds and public awareness." -- Jason Worley, The Loafer, 6/2/09

"When fish are in schools they sometimes take debate." -- Author Unknown

"And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God’s will." -- Saint Paul (Romans 8:27)

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"What do you get when you throw a banjo and an accordion off the Empire State Building? Applause."

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"If the queen's captured (killed), the game's basically over for everyone, although the battles may rage and wage on for awhile."

"Never interrupt your opponent while s/he's making a mistake."

"There's a part of every competitor that wants to see his or her opponent's body lifeless and demoralized on the wrong side of the road. And then there's the much darker side."

"It's a place that won against itself thoroughly and went down in astoundingly loud and self-congratulatory defeat."

"Too tough to die." -- imprinted on front of black lace-trimmed muscle shirt for little Tennessee girl

"I don't know if this is a case of racism. Police in Cambridge say it had nothing to do with Gates being black. They said they would've given the same treatment to any minority." -- Bill Maher

"Trust me. I really am a doctor" -- inscription on front of Tennessee woman's t-shirt

Amendment I -- Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

Amendment II -- A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.

Amendment III -- No soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.

Amendment IV -- The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

Amendment V -- No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia, when in actual service in time of war or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.

Amendment VI -- In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the state and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the assistance of counsel for his defense.

Amendment VII -- In suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise reexamined in any court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law.

Amendment VIII -- Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.

Amendment IX -- The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.

Amendment X -- The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people.