Q2otD: "Read, every day, something no one else is reading. Think, every day, something no one else is thinking. Do, every day, something no one else would be silly enough to do. It is bad for the mind to continually be part of unanimity." - Christopher Morley

QotD: "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 to assure the survival and the success of liberty." - John Fitzgerald Kennedy

A touching story about a baby, an old man, and a Chrismas present.

http://www.dickstaub.com/links_view.php?record_id=3745

A wise old owl
Lived in an oak;
The more he saw
The les he spoke.
The less he spoke,
The more he heard.
Why can't we all be
Like that bird?

An old nursery rhyme quoted in a Guide to Prayer, p 26.

The final installment on Christian writing by Dick Staub. Very interesting.

Dick Staub

Another really interesting article by Dick Staub.

Dick Staub

One would hope that the NY Supremem court would have more important things to deal with than the length of a Cocker's tail!

Yahoo! News - Dog Fight in Court Over Length of Spaniel's Tail

Iinteresting article by Dick Staub about writing.

Dick Staub

Another sign that the apocalypse is upon us! The holy ghost shuffle.

The Holy Ghost Shuffle, Pastor Vince Schott's All Nations Christian Center is downtown Seattle's newest house of God. Praise the Lord and pass the money up to the stage., by Sean Nelson (09/11/03)

1. Verbs HAS to agree with their subjects.
2. Prepositions are not words to end sentences with.
3. And don't start a sentence with a conjunction.
4. It is wrong to ever split an infinitive.
5. Avoid cliches like the plague. (They're old hat)
6. Also, always avoid annoying alliteration.
7. Be more or less specific.
8. Parenthetical remarks (however relevant) are (usually) unnecessary.
9. Also too, never, ever use repetitive redundancies.
10. No sentence fragments.
11. Contractions aren't necessary and shouldn't be used.
12. Foreign words and phrases are not apropos.
13. Do not be redundant; do not use more words than necessary; it's highly superfluous.
14. One should NEVER generalize.
15. Comparisons are as bad as cliches.
16. Don't use no double negatives.
17. Eschew ampersands & abbreviations, etc.
18. One-word sentences? Eliminate.
19. Analogies in writing are like feathers on a snake.
20. The passive voice is to be ignored.
21. Eliminate commas, that are, not necessary. Parenthetical words however should be enclosed in commas.
22. Never use a big word when a diminutive one would suffice.
23. Kill all exclamation points!!!
24. Use words correctly, irregardless of how others use them.
25. Understatement is always the absolute best way to put forth earth shaking ideas.
26. Use the apostrophe in it's proper place and omit it when its not needed.
27. Eliminate quotations. As Ralph Waldo Emerson said, "I hate quotations. Tell me what you know."
28. If you've heard it once, you've heard it a thousand times: Resist hyperbole; not one writer in a million can use it correctly.
29. Puns are for children, not groan readers.
30. Go around the barn at high noon to avoid colloquialisms.
31. Even IF a mixed metaphor sings, it should be derailed.
32. Who needs rhetorical questions?
33. Exaggeration is a billion times worse than understatement.

And finally...

34. Proofread carefully to see if you any words out.

QotD: "A theological system is supposed to satisfy two basic needs: the
statement of the truth of the Christian message and the interpretation of this truth for every new generation. Theology moves back and forth between two poles, the eternal truth of its foundation and the temporal situation in which the eternal truth must be received. Not many theological systems have been able to balance these two demands perfectly. Most of them either sacrifice elements of the truth or are not able to speak to the situation. Some of them combine both shortcomings." --- Paul Tillich, _Systematic Theology_

Great resource for RAND Reports. Thanks to Tom Stagliano for pointing me to it.

RAND: Science and Technology: Publications Available Online (1997 to Present)

QotD: "Principles are what people have instead of God." Frederick Buechner in Listening to Your Life, July 2

QotD: "People are like stained glass windows: they sparkle and shine when the sun's out, but when the darkness sets in, their true beauty is revealed only if there is light within." - Elisabeth Kubler-Ross

Mike Yaconelli died yesterday. He was a voice in the church that I listened to and appreciated. Check our Dick Staub's interview with him.

Dick Staub