Archive for December, 2008

Sand and stone – NEW YEAR’S

There is a story about two merchants in ancient Persia, Mussah and Nagib.  They were traveling together in a caravan and one evening set up camp near a river’s edge.  Nagib accidentally fell into the river and Mussah, without hesitation, jumped in and saved his friend.  Nagib immediately had his servant carve on the face of a nearby stone, “Traveler, in this place did Mussah heroically save the life of his friend Nagib.” 

Finding your way home – CHRISTMAS

Several years ago, I wanted to find more trails for mountain biking near our cabin because they are scarce in Targhee National Forest.  I remembered seeing game trails while riding the few available trails and decided to ride game trails and also cross-country to connect trails, creating longer bike trails.  But doing this would require something I had not done before, riding cross-country from one trail to another. 

Is FDR’s New Deal the answer?

Did President Franklin Roosevelt and his “New Deal” shorten the recovery from the Great Depression?  Was government intervention in the economy helpful or hurtful or both?  Some economists suggest the government manipulated market forces too much and actually prolonged the recovery. 

What are blue laws?

The Founding Fathers built our nation with a religious foundation.  I believe they wanted religion in government; but did they want government in religion?   

God bless America

Is the day coming when we must say “In nothing we trust,” or “So help me nothing,” or “Nothing bless America?”  Educators in Woodbury, Vermont cowered to such demands and make students who want to recite the Pledge of Allegiance to do so away from the classroom, so no one can hear the word God.  In 2002, the ninth Circuit Court of Appeals declared the Pledge of Allegiance unconstitutional under the First Amendment, because it mentions God.  This was followed by a 2004 Supreme Court decision reversing the ninth Circuit Court, affirming that “teacher-led Pledge of Allegiance recitals in public schools are constitutional.”