Last Monday, I rehearsed Candlelight with the awesome Disneyland Employee Choir from the Burbank area.  I was surprised that I knew the majority of the arrangements by heart and only circled a few places where I missed a rest or a note.

I was seated in the 2nd Tenor section so I had to double check the music several times to make sure that I was on pitch when the 1st and 2nd Tenors split and I was reading 1st.

I know I was on pitch but I seemed to confuse one of the rookie 2nds who was in the process of learning the music until I told him I was singing 1st.  I need to learn the second part since those notes a much easier to hit without squeaking them out.

They went over with the Choir what you can and can’t wear.  Turn of your cell phone. What day to sign up.  Can you sing two at two performances?  (We have to sing at both.) Etc.

One  hundred sixty singers make up the “Christmas Tree” and you have to be under 5′ (or was it over?) if you want to be the star at the top of the tree.

The intermission between performances is usually in the Mr. Lincoln attraction, but it is moved this year to “Honey I shrunk the Kid,” or “It’s a Bug Life.”  This is good since the Mr. Lincoln attraction is somewhat cramped for 500 Choir members.

Disneyland is not offering the Candlelight Dinner Package though their Hotel Restaurants this year to get the reserved seating, but you can get reserved seats if you’re a D23 member.

Jon Voight is the Candlelight Narrator this year.

Next Monday, I’ll get to practice with the entire 250 Employee Choir combined from both Orange, LA and other surrounding counties.  The whole room will be filled but not segregated into SATB sections as in normal rehearsals.  It should be as close to real thing without the orchastra.

God’s Hands- Make No Mistake!

Elohim – The Creator

November 9, 2009

Inspired by Kay Arthur’s book: “Lord I Want to Know You”  Chp. 2

My son is about to receive his third kidney transplant, and thankfully, I will be the donor this time.  This has caused me to go back to studying the Names of God again, which has strengthened my faith and solidified my hope.  The first five paragraphs are from Kay’s book.  They set up the foundation from God’s Word as to why I believe God’s hands formed my child and there was no mistake.

Colossians 1:16 In Jesus Christ, the Son of God, “all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth.”

Psalm 139:13-14 “He didst form my inward parts.  He didst weave me in my mother’s womb…I am fearfully and wonderfully made.”

Kay makes reference to Moses saying to the LORD: “Please Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither recently nor in time past, nor since Thou hast spoken to Thy servant; for I am slow of speech and slow of tongue.”  Exodus 4:10

And the LORD replied:  “Who has made man’s mouth?    Or, who makes him dumb or deaf, or seeing or blind?  Is it not I, the LORD?”  Exodus 4:11

“But why would God create people who are different from His normal pattern of creation?   Why would He ever permit a sperm to penetrate an egg when it would produce what seems to be a genetic disaster?”

The disciples asked Jesus about the blind man from birth:  “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he should be born blind?”  John 9:2.  Jesus replied:  “It was neither that this man sinned, nor his parents; but it was in order that the works of God might be displayed in him.”  John 9:3

Kay writes:  “Oh, Beloved, if you are unhappy with yourself, with your child, or with a loved one, run into the strong tower of the name of your Elohim (Proverbs 18:10).   You may not understand how your situation could ever bring Him glory, but you can trust in the name of your Lord.”

Now this brings me to the reason I feel led to share from our own situation.   When my son Kevin was born, his beautifully shaped little body took my breath away.  Nothing could take away the power of God’s Presence and Love in that moment.   Psalm 25:10  “All the ways of the Lord are loving.”  What I did not know in that moment was that this love would require Kevin to face many surgeries in his life. Could this be God’s loving ways?

As the years went by and the number of surgeries climbed, He led me to His Word in Jeremiah 29:11.   I had never read that verse before, so these came to me as though they were meant specifically for our family.  “His plans are for good and not for calamity, to give you a future and a hope.”

One special day, a Healer/Evangelist traveling through our city at the time felt led to come and pray for our son.   Laying his hands upon his little head, this minister paused, then said:  “There is nothing of this child that is not of God.   This is God’s hand upon him, the way He created and formed him.   There is no darkness, no warfare, this is God.”  He then began a beautiful prayer of blessing- asking God to provide the grace for all his days and to fulfill the purposes of God in his life.

Back to Kay’s book:  “Why were we created?  Why were we born?”  Isaiah 43:1, 3-4, 7 sums it up best:  “Thus says the LORD, your Creator, O Jacob and He who formed you, O Israel….I am the LORD your God (Elohim) …you are precious in My sight…everyone who is called by My name, and whom I have created for My glory, whom I have formed, even whom I have made.”  Man was created for God’s glory.

“Can you see how awesome it is to know that you have been created for God’s glory?   That you are to live in such a way as to give all of creation a correct opinion or estimate of who God is?

Your life is to be lived in such a way as to reflect Him, to show the world the character of God – His love, His peace, His mercy ,His gentleness.  You are to live for Him, to accomplish His will.   To miss this purpose is to miss fulfillment. “

And so, the journey continues that leads to a path of life.  We face all things with Christ who strengthens us.   We thank Him for His ways and the faith and grace He’s blessed us with to give glory to His Name.

Psalm 139:13-4  “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.  I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.”

O recém-lançado modelo hatchback Agile, da marca Chevrolet,
da General Motors, foi o grande vencedor da principal categoria
da eleição Carro do Ano 2010, da Revista Autoesporte.
O Agile venceu os concorrentes Citroën C4 hatchback, Fiat 500,
Ford Fusion e Honda City.

LEIA MAIS NOS SITES
:: SORTIMENTOS.COM >> http://www.sortimentos.net/?4467
:: GEBBEG >> http://gebbeg.com.br/?7350

.

Psalm 100 A psalm. For giving thanks. Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth. Worship the LORD with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. Know that the LORD is God. It is he, who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. For the LORD is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations

This is a very busy time of year and sometimes it is hard to remember to take time to give thanks. Psalms 100 is a very good prayer to memorize, read, or sing. Read it over in quiet and really consider what it says we are to do and how we are to do it. I have found nothing to energize me as much as actually singing or calling out words of thanksgiving and praise to my Lord. It melts the problems and burdens I have forgotten to pass on to Him, relaxes my nerves and muscles, and replaces gladness for tiredness. Give it a try today.

The 10 Most Common Reasons Men Cheat 

1)      Because the opportunity arouse.  If a woman offers sex, he might take the opportunity because it is an ego boost.  Men don’t get offered sex as often as women.  If he is offered a “no strings attached” romp between the sheets, many men will take it.

2)      They aren’t feeling attractive.  Men sometimes cheat because they want to assure themselves that they are still attractive to other women.

3)      You have grown apart and he begins an emotional affair with a woman with whom he has a lot in common.  She seems to understand him.  This is a slippery slope and often cumulates into a sexual affair.

4)      Your relationship has slipped into a cycle of endless arguing and criticism.  He doesn’t have the desire to have sex with you, but he still has the desire to have sex. 

5)      Your relationship has become too comfortable, like a roommate arrangement. Having sex with you is like having sex with his sister.  He will want to seek out some excitement and often it is through an affair.

6)      Your sex life is boring.  You can predict what you will do and for how long.  Routine sex lives breed extreme boredom.  If there is no excitement, he may have an affair just to break the boredom. 

7)      A man may have an affair as revenge for his wife/girlfriends infidelity.  He can’t get beyond his hurt feelings, so he wants you to feel as badly as he does.

8)      He doesn’t think he will get caught.  He is so smart that he can pull the wool over your eyes.  The thrill is in the deceit.

9)      If they had a previous affair and you let them get away with it, he might just cheat again.  Cheating is horrible, but it can also be a wake up call for your relationship and an opportunity to build true emotional intimacy while you work through it.  If you brush the affair under the carpet, you’ve missed an opportunity to improve your relationship.  Cheating will probably occur again.

10)  Sex becomes a race.  She wants it over quickly because she is tired, preoccupied or just not in the mood.  She wants him to cross the finish line quickly.  Cheating allows him to explore a partner who will take the time to have sex and enjoy the process.

Jim believes the worst is yet to come and paints a very frightening picture, like nothing most of us have ever seen. – Ilene

FOR WHAT IT’S WORTH 

Courtesy of Jim Quinn at The Burning Platform

Stephen Stills wrote the song For What It’s Worth in 1967. It was composed three years into the Second Turning, the Consciousness Revolution. The song has come to symbolize the turbulence, mistrust, rage, paranoia, anti-war spirit, and the anti-establishment mood of the 1960’s. An Awakening era has many parallels to a Crisis era at the outset. A traumatic event or events triggers the mood alteration in the country which sets the next twenty years in motion. In 1929 the stock market crash triggered a 17 year Crisis. In 1963, the assassination of John F. Kennedy triggered a 20 year Awakening. In 2005, the housing collapse has triggered the next American Crisis which we are living through today.

 

There is something happening here, and what it is ain’t exactly clear. The series of continuous crises caused by government actions has allowed the political class in conjunction with an oligopoly of bankers and mega-corporations to hijack the American Republic. The American public has allowed this to happen by being distracted by the imaginary differences between the Democratic and Republican parties. There is virtually no difference between these parties. Both parties have taken away American freedoms and liberties. The government has waged undeclared wars since the 1950’s, they have restricted freedom of speech, freedom to own a gun, freedom to healthcare, freedom to protest, and freedom to live our lives the way we choose.

Government used the 9/11 attack to create a new bureaucracy that can monitor citizens on an colossal and treacherous scale. The government used the financial crisis, which was caused by government policies, to strengthen their power over the financial industry, in order to advance their agenda of debt financed expansion of the corporate fascist state. This crisis will destroy 1,000 small banks and shift more authority to the ten mega-banks that control 75% of the U.S. market. Rather than letting two horribly run U.S. automakers (GM & Chrysler) go bankrupt, the U.S. government took them over, passed wasteful programs (Cash for Clunkers) to prop them up with taxpayer funds, and forced GMAC to continue to make bad auto loans with taxpayer funds. After decades of government manipulation and abuse of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, these two behemoths have lost $200 billion of taxpayer funds by backing loans to people who should not own homes. The takeover of the entire U.S. economy by the Federal government will be complete with the passage of the Democratic healthcare bill.

 

While Americans have been kept busy and amused by their accumulation of worldly possessions using their 15 credit cards and loans from the 10 mega-banks that control the country, the two party system has stolen their freedom and liberty. Representative from Texas Ron Paul described the charade in September 2008, just before the latest presidential election fraud. 

Pretending that a true difference exists between the two major candidates is a charade of great proportion. Many who help to perpetuate this myth are frequently unaware of what they are doing and believe that significant differences actually do exist. Indeed, on small points there is the appearance of a difference. The real issues, however, are buried in a barrage of miscellaneous nonsense and endless pontifications by robotic pundits hired to perpetuate the myth of a campaign of substance.

The truth is that our two-party system offers no real choice. The real goal of the campaign is to distract people from considering the real issues.

Influential forces, the media, the government, the privileged corporations and moneyed interests see to it that both party’s candidates are acceptable, regardless of the outcome, since they will still be in charge. It’s been that way for a long time. George Wallace was not the first to recognize that there’s “not a dime’s worth of difference” between the two parties.

 

Battle lines are being drawn. Since there are very few Americans left who experienced the last American Crisis from 1929 to 1946, the majority of Americans are being blindsided today. The housing collapse which began in 2005 was the spark that has ignited a Crisis that will conclude in glory or collapse. The non-thinking gullible masses believe the lies they are being fed by politicians, bankers and mainstream media. When the majority of Americans think the Gettysburg Address has something to do with the Post Office and don’t know the old dudes on the Nickel and Dime, you cannot expect them to recognize what awaits them based on history. The initial spark has triggered a chain reaction which has resulted in government actions which will create further emergencies. The known problems of unsustainable debt, civic rot, and global chaos have been festering for decades. They will now coalesce into a violent denouement. Strauss and Howe wrote their book, The Fourth Turning, in 1997. These are their chilling words describing the onset of the next Crisis:

It is unlikely that the catalyst will worsen into a full-fledged catastrophe, since the nation will probably find a way to avert the initial danger and stabilize the situation for awhile. The new mood and its jarring new problems will provide a natural end point for the Unraveling-era decline in civic confidence. As the Crisis catalyzes, these fears will rush to the surface, jagged and exposed. Distrustful of some things, individuals will feel that their survival requires them to distrust more things. This behavior could cascade into a sudden downward spiral, an implosion of societal trust.

If so, the implosion will strike the financial markets – and, with that, the economy. Aggressive individualism, institutional decay, and long-term pessimism can proceed only so far before a society loses the level of dependability needed to sustain the division of labor and long-term promises on which a market economy must rest. Through the Unraveling, people will have preferred the exciting if bewildering trend toward social complexity. But as the Crisis mood congeals, people will come to the jarring realization that they have grown helplessly dependent on a teetering edifice of anonymous transactions and paper guarantees. Many Americans won’t know where their savings are, who their employer is, what their pension is, or how their government works. The era will have left the financial world arbitraged and tentacled; Debtors won’t know who holds their notes, homeowners who owns their mortgages, and shareholders who runs their equities – and vice versa.

• As visionary Prophets replace Artists in elder-hood during a Crisis, they push to resolve ever-deepening moral choices, setting the stage for the secular goals of the young.
• As pragmatic Nomads replace Prophets in midlife during a Crisis, they apply toughness and resolution to defend society while safeguarding the interests of the young.
• As team working Heroes replace Nomads in young adulthood during a Crisis, they challenge the political failure of elder-led crusades, fueling a society-wide secular crisis.
• As Artists replace Heroes in childhood during a Crisis, they are overprotected at a time of political convulsion and adult self-sacrifice.

This generational transition is the reason for the mood shift that is occurring today. Those in power are getting nervous. The population didn’t act this way during the 1990’s. Town hall meetings were barely attended. No one called Congressmen’s offices or flooded their mailboxes with emails and faxes. Something is in the air, and those in power ignore it at their own risk. This country is about to explode and the intellectuals in the positions of authority and thought control are trying to apply reason and the usual mainstream media PR spin. They sit in their extravagant offices at polished mahogany desks on the 45th floor of their glittering office towers, eating gourmet meals in executive dining rooms, writing the pabulum that passes for journalism today and descending from upon high on the Sunday morning talk shows to grace us with their wisdom. The American people have had enough of their lies.

Simon Johnson in his article The Quiet Coup describes the raping of America by the ruling elitist bankers who now call the shots in Washington DC:

Elite business interests—financiers, in the case of the U.S.—played a central role in creating the crisis, making ever-larger gambles, with the implicit backing of the government, until the inevitable collapse. More alarming, they are now using their influence to prevent precisely the sorts of reforms that are needed, and fast, to pull the economy out of its nosedive. The government seems helpless, or unwilling, to act against them. Policy changes that might have forestalled the crisis but would have limited the financial sector’s profits—such as Brooksley Born’s now-famous attempts to regulate credit-default swaps at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, in 1998—were ignored or swept aside.

The American financial industry gained political power by amassing a kind of cultural capital—a belief system. Over the past decade, the attitude took hold that what was good for Wall Street was good for the country. The banking-and-securities industry has become one of the top contributors to political campaigns, but at the peak of its influence, it did not have to buy favors the way, for example, the tobacco companies or military contractors might have to. Instead, it benefited from the fact that Washington insiders already believed that large financial institutions and free-flowing capital markets were crucial to America’s position in the world.

By now, the princes of the financial world have of course been stripped naked as leaders and strategists—at least in the eyes of most Americans. But as the months have rolled by, financial elites have continued to assume that their position as the economy’s favored children is safe, despite the wreckage they have caused.
 

 

The government response to the financial crisis guarantees that part two will be far worse than part one. The propping up of bankrupt banks, Keynesian stimulus measures, toothless regulatory legislation, new massive healthcare plans, and unprecedented levels of government debt will not solve a problem caused by excessive leverage in 10 Too Big To Fail financial firms and thirty years of debt financed spending splurge by mindless consumers. Simon Johnson clearly lays out how these actions will play a large role in this Crisis:

Our future could be one in which continued tumult feeds the looting of the financial system, and we talk more and more about exactly how our oligarchs became bandits and how the economy just can’t seem to get into gear.

The second scenario begins more bleakly, and might end that way too. But it does provide at least some hope that we’ll be shaken out of our torpor. It goes like this: the global economy continues to deteriorate, the banking system in east-central Europe collapses, and—because eastern Europe’s banks are mostly owned by western European banks—justifiable fears of government insolvency spread throughout the Continent. Creditors take further hits and confidence falls further. The Asian economies that export manufactured goods are devastated, and the commodity producers in Latin America and Africa are not much better off. A dramatic worsening of the global environment forces the U.S. economy, already staggering, down onto both knees. The baseline growth rates used in the administration’s current budget are increasingly seen as unrealistic, and the rosy “stress scenario” that the U.S. Treasury is currently using to evaluate banks’ balance sheets becomes a source of great embarrassment.

Under this kind of pressure, and faced with the prospect of a national and global collapse, minds may become more concentrated.

The conventional wisdom among the elite is still that the current slump “cannot be as bad as the Great Depression.” This view is wrong. What we face now could, in fact, be worse than the Great Depression—because the world is now so much more interconnected and because the banking sector is now so big. We face a synchronized downturn in almost all countries, a weakening of confidence among individuals and firms, and major problems for government finances.

 

In a year of job losses, foreclosures and bag lunches, Americans have spent record-breaking amounts of money on guns and ammunition. The most obvious sign of their demand: empty ammunition shelves. At points during the past year, bullets have been selling faster than factories could make them. Gun owners have bought about 12 billion rounds of ammunition in the past year, industry officials estimate. That’s up from 7 billion to 10 billion in a normal year. In the 12 months since last October, gun shops sold enough bullets to give every American 38 of them.

"I think it’s Katrina. I think it’s terrorism. I think it’s crime. And I also think that it’s people worrying about [whether] they’ll be attacked by politicians," said Wayne LaPierre, executive vice president of the National Rifle Association. "They’re suspicious, and justifiably so." But the most recent FBI crime statistics, from 2008, showed that rates of violent crime were the lowest since 1989.

“I’ve often wondered what would have happened in Germany after Kristallnacht if every Jew had been armed. None were, of course, because strict gun control had been imposed shortly after Hitler came to power, and like good little lambs, the population complied with the law. Bills are being discussed about things like a national firearms registry, reinstituting the so-called “assault weapons” ban, requiring secure locks on all weapons, prohibiting the import of ammunition, and levying a substantial tax on ammunition, among other things. No outright prohibition, because they know that would catalyze gun owners. But they keep dialing up the pressure, moving toward a de facto ban.

I’ll guess there are at least two to three million Americans who adhere to a couple of succinct mottos: 1. You can have my gun when you pry it from my cold, dead fingers, and 2. It’s better to be tried by twelve than carried by six. This is a group that could catch fire at some point.”

Wars start for all kinds of reasons. But tough economic times probably rank number one as a cause. The 1930s were a natural overture for the ‘40s. Politicians like to find a foreign enemy to blame problems on. Theft of foreign resources can seem like a good idea. And part of the economic mythology fabricated by the malevolent and repeated by the ignorant is that WWII cured the last depression. Will there be another 9/11? It’s a good bet, but there’s no way it will involve airplanes; the 50,000 zombies employed by TSA serve absolutely no purpose except to accustom Americans to being treated like prisoners. One possibility is the surreptitious placement of one or more nuclear devices in U.S. cities. As Pakistan disintegrates, their nuclear arsenal may fall into quite irresponsible hands. Or, perhaps, devices could be procured in a number of ways from Russia, India, Israel, or North Korea. Another, much more likely scenario is a repetition of what happened in Mumbai recently. A small force of dedicated and well-armed operatives could create unbelievable havoc in a U.S. city or in several at once. And probably will. Americans just don’t appreciate how little people in the Islamic world like having aggressive, blue-eyed teenagers kick their doors down in the middle of the night, among other pranks.

  

Americans’ ignorance of history, ignorance of finance, ignorance of the Constitution, and dependence upon false hope has set them up for a big fall. We have an infinite capacity to take things for granted. We assume that when we slide our card in the ATM, cash will come out. We assume that when we pull into a gas station, we can easily put 40 gallons into our Hummers. We assume the money in our bank accounts is safe. We assume that when we flip the switch, light will magically appear. We assume that the $700 billion we spend annually on the military, will keep us safe. We assume that our government tells us the truth. When these assumptions all prove false in the next 15 years, the anger and disillusionment of the American people will overwhelm the ruling elite. The few thousand elitists that control the levers of power have used each false flag crisis for the last century to accumulate more power. Their decade’s long reign of terror is nearing its end. The overreach of the criminal banking syndicate, corrupt politicians, and the military industrial complex have bankrupted the nation. The huge entitlement over commitments, lack of energy policy, enormous debts, and imperial foreign policy will coalesce into the perfect Crisis storm.

   

“Decisive events will occur – events so vast, powerful, and unique that they lie beyond today’s wildest hypotheses. People will discover a hitherto unimagined capacity to fight and die, and to let their children fight and die, for a communal cause. The prospect for great civic achievement – or disintegration – will be high. New secessionist movements could spring from nowhere and achieve their ends with surprising speed. Even if the nation stays together, its geography could be fundamentally changed, its party structure altered, its Constitution and Bill of Rights amended beyond recognition. History offers even more sobering warnings: Armed confrontation usually occurs around the climax of the Crisis. If there is confrontation, it is likely to lead to war. This could be any kind of war – class war, sectional war, war against global anarchists or terrorists, or superpower war. If there is a war, it is likely to culminate in total war, fought until the losing side has been rendered nil – its will broken, territory taken, and leaders captured. And if there is total war, it is likely that the most destructive weapons available will be deployed.”

With or without war, American society will be transformed into something different. The emergent society may be something better, a nation that sustains the Framer’s vision with a robust new pride. Or it may be something unspeakably worse. The Fourth Turning will be a time of glory or ruin.

In 2025 America could be better than it is today, or worse or non-existent. This is why proclaiming the truth about how the ruling elite have hijacked America is so important. When civil unrest overtakes the nation there will be many who urge the American people to rally around a dictator or stronger Central Government. The message of the U.S. Constitution, freedom, liberty, and individual rights will compete for the minds and hearts with a message of fascism, State control central planning, and safety at the expense of freedom. The groundwork for victory needs to be laid today. We are living in times of universal deceit. It is essential that we prepare for the coming trials by using truth to defeat those who want to retain their ill-gotten control of this country. This is a battle for the soul of America. If we lose it could be a very different Amerika. Like-minded individuals who believe in the Framer’s vision will need to band together and fight for the Constitution. Are you ready to fight?

Join me at www.TheBurningPlatform.com to confront universal deceit.

*****

As Laurence and I look at past bookings during the ski season months – January through April -, we noticed that we have had many families, couples and individuals book for several days over the season, sometimes several back to back long weekends or mid-week stays.

This winter (January 1st – April 30th 2010) we are offering our guests the opportunity to book a room(s) for an extended period- from a week to several weeks at a special rate. So you can leave your gear here and travel back and forth with less effort, and return to the Inn whenever you choose during your rental. Everything else will be the same. Great breakfast, snacks and beverages, comfortable beds, cable TV and WiFi.

The weekly rate for our larger rooms – Rooms #6 and #2- with queen beds and full private baths
will be $725 for 7 nights, a savings of $225.

Rooms #1, #3, and #4 and #7 with queen beds and showers in private baths will be $625 for 7 nights, a savings of $225.

Simply expressed, as you can see, that is a nightly room rate of approximately $100!

There is no better deal and no better value in Bethel. The only time this offer is not available is from Feburary 12th through February 22nd, 2010.

Let us know what you think. We hope you will be able to take advantage of this opportunity.

Dzisiaj dumny,że aż dech zapiera i do głębi wzruszony – spoglądam radośnie i ze łzami w oczach na ojczysty krajobraz!

Plecie jak wielu w sejmowym gronie – byle w gazetach na pierwszej stronie!

Es ist doch nicht alles Gold was glänzt

Znacząca w tym była rola  – kanclerza Helmuta Kohla!