Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is not omnipotent. Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent. Is he both able and willing? Then whence cometh evil? Is he neither able nor willing? Then why call him God? - Epicurus

I had an entire discussion going about this quote called, "Why a God." If you want to comment, please read that one and comment there too. Thank you.

I agree with papa peg, if parents teach their own children to respect elders, they will do so. But I also believe most children do respect their elders, but unfortunately, the children most of us see are either television shows that depict children who have smart mouths, or are the trouble makers we read about in newspapers. As a teacher, I see the good ones and the bad ones, but the good ones far outnumber the bad. Take heart America. You are not doing a bad job raising your children, but you are being convince otherwise by boob tube shows and horrible movies that do their best to depict our young as horrible beings. If you want to see the truth, go to any boys and girls club and volunteer. Or go to schools and volunteers as hall monitors and lunch room monitors. Go to your favorite religious place of worship and get involved with the youngsters. There are all kinds of ways to see our youth. 4-H anyone? How about being a Big Brother or Big Sister? As I said, the young people today are wonderful. Just don't look for the rotten apples because they will sour your pallet for the really good ones.

In Illinois, whomever files the police report first, wins the case. So if someone hits you, take out your cell phone and file a police report and take a picture of your bloody nose for the police. Once the woman is taken off in hand cuffs, enjoy the peace and quiet and have a beer and watch the game and call it a night. Then first thing in the morning, go clean out the joint accounts, put the cash in a safe place and get a divorce lawyer. That way when she gets out of jail, you have all your ducks in a row and you will end up with everything including the alimony.

Sydney Poitier. To Sir With Love, Guess Who's Coming to Dinner? Two of my favorite movies of all time. They don't make'm like that any more; both movies that make social commentary taking a stand on the questions of race, education, and modern social reforms, done with class and critical thought. In the case of To Sir With Love, it is about a black teacher who must figure out how to teach a bunch of brats about the lessons of life, racism, history, and adulthood. In Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, a white girl brings home her black man to meet her white parents, played by Spencer Tracy and Katherine Hepburn, who come to grips with the fact that they taught their daughter very well, very well indeed. Don't get me wrong, Mr. Poitier has done a lot of movies that I liked, and none that I can think of that I did not. But even so, these two movies stand out in my mind as his best, and I am using them as examples to show why he is my favorite black actor of all time.

Many people believer their is only one real answer for every question - theirs! I look at it this way, if I knew it all, I would be the God people are worshipping too. Once in a while, someone writes something I can get my teeth into and really appreciate. It is those answers that I look for. So while many of the questions are interesting, the way people answer, argue, and discuss the issues are even more interesting to me, the most interesting answers are which I had not seen coming, but that really makes a statement that makes a difference in how I look at either lots of things, or a specific question.

I don't think there is a higher percentage rate of divorces today than in the 19th century, when divorce was considered an epidemic. For example, in 1876, after the Supreme Court decided the famous polygamy case against the Mormon church, the Utah Territory had the highest divorce rate in the nation. Whether that had something to do with polygamy or that women had suffrage in Utah Territory, is debatable. But what is certain is that Utah Territory had a very permissive divorce law in 1876, and that encouraged many non-Mormons to hop on the Transcontinental Railroad to get divorced there. That artificially raised the divorce rate in the territory to alarming rates, from the view of anti-polygamists and anti-suffrage people in the rest of the country. If you look closely at the real statistics of the time periods of the 19 century, and compare them to today, I am certain the rates will be similar.

Just ask her directly. Do you want me as a bridesmaid? And then add, if not, that is okay.

To participate in -- Bowling, to watch -- American Football and Baseball.

Rhapsody in Blue by Gershwin because it has everything except a voices mucking everything up.

Interestingly enough, that old saying only is relevant where there are prevailing Westerlies. Where there are prevailing winds out of the East, that saying no longer works, no matter what you are snorting or doing.