Ben Stein's Interview on CBS

A friend forwarded this to me via email. I don't care much for the forwarding of most emails. But since the Expelled movie by Ben Stein came out, he has earned my respect.

CBS Sunday Morning Show
Sunday, August 17, 2008, 11:55 AM
Remarks from CBS Sunday Morning (everyone should read!)

I can only hope we find God again before it is too late!!

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 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 another way: where did the idea come from that we should worship celebrities 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 these celebrities 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 a few years ago) 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 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 cyberspace, but public discussion of God is suppressed in the school and workplace.

Are you laughing yet?

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

Subscribe to Blogs via Email!

So, how do you subscribe to a blog?
I have tried and tried to figure this one out trying different options. I tried the google reader and the rss feature.

Neither one I liked. I had to go sign in to google to read these, yet I wasn't notified when people posted something new to their blog. So I wasted time checking the reader etc and got frustrated.

I follow a couple of blogs...
A friend of mine & her family is spending a year in Norway. She blogs a lot. I tend to get behind on her posts. I really wanted to find a way to keep up. I decided that being notified of blog posts via email would really help! But how? I didn't know so I did some digging.

Another friend has a blog where they update their friends when they have new news on their upcoming adoption of 3 children from Ghana. She doesn't blog often, but I don't like checking the reader & there being nothing new.

Is there another option? YES. Yay! I found out that there is!
You can subscribe to blogs via email!

First, create a FREE account at feedblitz.com.
In the top bar, click on Subscriptions.
Then click on "New".
Then you'll need to type or copy/paste the url of the blog you would like to subscribe to in the blank box.
Last, click on the feed that you want feedblitz to use. Click on the rss link made available. If there is more than one listed, click on whichever.

My only caution, is that there are lots and lots of features and options in feedblitz. Go in and subscribe. If you want to change options (how often they check for posts etc., I wouldn't recommend doing it all at once!)

Once your email etc. is confirmed, in a day or so, you will begin to get the email version of their actual blog post (you do not have to visit their blog!). I check email often anyway, this seems like the most logical and easiest way to keep up with friends and their blogs! I don't need to be concerned about whether or not I missed a post/entry, because they are all in my inbox and I can read them, at MY Leisure!

You can subscribe to my blog, by finding the widget box at the top left of my blog and putting in your email address.... Thanks Feedblitz!

Getting Started with DigiScrapping: Organization Basics

Download Shabby Fall Kit by ShabbyPrincess.com

There are many of us who can navigative the in's and out's of our computer. Hopefully you are one of those. If not, that's what the instructions here are for!

This section is on Getting Started with Digiscrapping: Organization Basics. This is the info you'll need the very first time that you decide you are going to go ahead and take the plunge and download digital scrapbooking supplies.

When you download your scrapbook supplies..
1. Create a new folder for your digital scrapbook supplies, mine is called "DIGI". I would suggest that you put this in a location that is easy for you to navigate to. I wouldn't recommend putting the folder on your desktop, because then your computer has to keep a little bit of it's memory available open for those files... and if you have lots of shortcuts on your desktop, it can be somewhat of a memory hog.
Mine is directly off of the main "C" drive. C > DIGI

2. Create a folder within that folder for where you downloaded your supplies from. Shabby Princess supplies go into the shabby princess folder. You'll want to create other folders for other scrap authors as you download them.
Folder location: C > DIGI > Shabby Princess

3. All digital scrapbooking supplies comes zipped.
You'll need a program to unzip them (info below). Unzip your supplies into the same folder as the original download. That way everything is organized, together!
As far as zip/unzip programs go, I prefer Winzip. It's a paid program, but there are others that are freeware.
LINK to the trial version of WINZIP.
LINK to another freeware zip program.

4. Make sure you know where they are located on your computer! Most everything that you download goes into Desktop > YourName > Downloads folder on your computer. I challenge you to create the digital supplies folder I explained above. It's okay if you want to put your folder somewhere besides your "downloads" folder. Just remember, Remember where you put it!!

One to Believe Nativity Set

Almost every Christian family puts out their nativity set in light of Christmas. We do. Yet something that has frustrated me year after year, with our four young children around, is that we don't ever let them actually touch the Nativity.

Instead of letting our kids get some hands on play time recreating the events around the birth of Jesus, we put it up on a shelf, where it is seen and not touched. The kids probably can't even see it for themselves without standing on a chair!

Why? Well, because it is breakable. Someday, I'll want to pass the Nativity set on down to one of my children. How can I do that if it's broken? You may not be in the same exact circumstances. Maybe you don't let your kids play with yours because you don't want to loose all of the pieces....

Anyway, I've often wished that I could find a Nativity set, that I wouldn't worry about getting broken. Don't want it to be broken, don't want to be upset with little Suzie for breaking it either!

With all this being said, a Biblically based toy company, One 2 Believe has come out with toys geared towards Christian families. One of their figurine sets is The Nativity: The Birth of The King.


A nativity set that has 17 cute little cartoon-like nativity characters that is also child friendly. It's made out of plastic, making it durable. It comes with a mini multilingual book telling the story of the birth of Jesus. This is one that I have no problems letting my kids play with! Retails $24.99

Their website is full of other bible based toys, figurines and dolls. There is also a kid section with biblical stories, coloring pages and wallpapers for your computer. Click HERE to visit One2Believe.com and see the Nativity set for yourself!

How to Start Digital Scrapbooking

You don't need to be a digital genius to figure out digital scrapbooking. I wish I would have know that ions ago! I tried the trial versions of photoshop and didn't have the fainted idea where to start. Finally, I've gotten through the figuring it out & i'd like to share what i've learned. One person needs to figure it out, teach, and then be there for the newbies. That way only the first person has to figure it all out.. be the guinea pig of sorts. That was me! And if you are interested in learning how to digiscrap, i'd love to help walk you through it!

Personally, I use photoshop CS3. You can definately use photoshop elements (that's what I used before CS3). I use different fonts to create the lettering. My favorite scrapbook teacher has a website www.jessicasprague.com. I've taken a few of her classes.
There's a bit of a learning curve, but it's a ton of fun. I've found it's much cheaper than regular scrapbooking... I pay $3.00 at costco for (1) 12x12 and (2) 6x6's together!

If I were going to start Digital Scrapbooking, I would:

*get a trial version of photoshop elements through www.adobe.com
*download some free scrapbook papers/elements.
One of my favorite places to get free scrapbook stuff is:
www.shabbyprincess.com/downloads.asp
*find some pictures you'd like to scrap (easiest with digital pix)
*ask Zindra for help :!

Free Font Sites:
www.dafont.com
www.kevinandamanda.com
www.twopeasinabucket.com/freefonts.asp

Free Digital Scrapbook supplies:
www.shabbyprincess.com/downloads.asp
www.twopeasinabucket.com/shop/list/?f=c_336&c=24
www.digitalscrapbookingfreebies.com