As another year draws to a close

I hope this posting finds it's readers all in good health and a happy state of mind. I have been somewhat absent over the last few months finding so many other things to occupy my time that when a thought or item came to me that I wanted to "blog" about I never seemed to find one of those "tuit" devices. Better management of my time is something that I will probably make a "New Years resolution yet again.

As of now however, I'm on vacation and have been for several days, and am just now getting around to putting words on the electronic paper before me. First let me say that I hope you all have had as wonderful a Christmas holiday as I did. There was an impending project at work that looked like it would have me there through the holidays but at the last minuet it was rescheduled for after the first of the year. This gave me some time off to unwind and I have done just that. We are currently a one car family having loaned our second vehicle to our youngest offspring who had his car totaled in a collision a while back and is not yet in a position yet to buy a replacement. So Linda trundles off to work each day and I'm "stuck" at home listening to some great music, watching Book TV, reading books and tinkering with computers.

The very best part of Christmas though was being able to spend time with family and attend church to celebrate the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ. It has become almost a clich'e to say "remember the true meaning of Christmas" these days but I truly hope that this year you have found the real reason that we celebrate and depth of the gift that we were given so long ago.

So far I have managed to digest two of the books in my "to be read" pile that seems to grow every day. I'll have another posting a little latter about what I have been reading for those that are interested. What a great joy books can bring to a person life! I only hope that I can instill that love of reading in my grand children as they grow.

So as I remember old friends that I have lost this past year and new ones made I look forward to an even better 2008. I wish all of you the same.

Words of wit and wisdom

Thanks to my friend Reed for these.

AGELESS WIT AND OBSERVATIONS

"If you don't read the newspaper you are uninformed,

if you do read the newspaper you are misinformed."

-Mark Twain

Suppose you were an idiot.
And suppose you were a member of Congress....
But then I repeat myself.
-Mark Twain

I contend that for a nation to try to tax itself into

prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket and trying

to lift himself up by the handle.

-Winston Churchill

A government which robs Peter to pay Paul

can always depend on the support of Paul.
- George Bernard Shaw

A liberal is someone who feels a great debt to his fellow man,

which debt he proposes to pay off with your money.

-G Gordon Liddy

Democracy must be something more than two wolves and

a sheep voting on what to have for dinner.

-James Bovard, Civil Libertarian (1994)

Foreign aid might be defined as a transfer of money from poor

people in rich countries to rich people in poor countries.

-Douglas Casey, Classmate of Bill Clinton at Georgetown University

Giving money and power to government is like giving

whiskey and car keys to teenage boys.

-P.J. O'Rourke, Civil Libertarian

Government is the great fiction, through which everybody

endeavors to live at the expense of everybody else.

-Frederic Bastiat, French Economist (1801-1850)

Government's view of the economy could be summed

up in a few short phrases:

If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it.

And if it stops moving, subsidize it.

-Ronald Reagan (1986)

I don't make jokes I just watch the government and report the facts.

-Will Rogers

If you think health care is expensive now, wait

until you see what it costs when it's free!
-P.J. O'Rourke

In general, the art of government consists of taking as much money

as possible from one party of the citizens to give to the other.

-Voltaire (1764)

Just because you do not take an interest in politics

doesn't mean politics won't take an interest in you!

-Pericles (430 B.C.)

No man's life, liberty, or property is safe while the legislature is in session.

-Mark Twain (1866 )

Talk is cheap...except when Congress does it.

-Unknown

The government is like a baby's alimentary canal, with a happy

appetite at one end and no responsibility at the other.

-Ronald Reagan

The inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal sharing of the blessings.

The inherent blessing of socialism is the equal sharing of misery.

-Winston Churchill

The only difference between a tax man and a taxidermist

is that the taxidermist leaves the skin.

-Mark Twain

The ultimate result of shielding men from the effects

of folly is to fill the world with fools.

-Herbert Spencer, English Philosopher (1820-1903)

There is no distinctly Native American criminal class...save Congress.

-Mark Twain

What this country needs are more unemployed politicians.

-Edward Langley, Artist (1928 - 1995)

A government big enough to give you everything you want,

is strong enough to take everything you have.

-Thomas Jefferson-