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By
ANNA La FLEUR Production
Manager I was personally disappointed by the news that
some of our courts are trying to do away with the National Day of Prayer. US District Court Judge Barbara Crabb ruled last week
that the observance is unconstitutional and Franklin Graham, son of famed
evangelist Billy Graham, was “uninvited” to speak at the Pentagon’s
observance of the day. The National
Day of Prayer was established as an annual event in 1952 by a joint resolution
of the United States Congress and signed into law by President Harry S
Truman. The observance
is founded on the First Amendment Rights of freedom of speech and freedom of
religion and can be celebrated by all Americans. OPINION “Fasting and prayer are religious
exercises, the enjoining them an act of discipline,” Thomas Jefferson said in
1808. “Every religious society has a right to determine for itself the time
for these exercises and the objects proper for them according to their own
particular tenets and right can never be safer than in their hands, where the
Constitution has deposited it.” The National Day of Prayer’s official
website notes this observance is a vital part of our heritage. Since the first call to prayer in 1775, when
the Continental Congress asked the colonies to pray for wisdom in forming a
nation, the call to prayer has continued through our history, including President
Lincoln’s proclamation of a day of “humiliation, fasting and prayer” in 1863.
In 1952, a joint resolution by
Congress, signed by President Truman, declared an annual national day of
prayer. In 1988, the law was amended and signed
by President Reagan, permanently setting the day as the first Thursday of
every May. Each year, the President signs a
proclamation encouraging all Americans to pray on this day. Last year, all 50
state governors plus the governors of several US territories signed similar
proclamations. Last year, local, state
and federal observances were held from sunrise in Maine to sunset in Hawaii,
uniting Americans from all socio-economic, political and ethnic backgrounds
in prayer for our nation, the website says. Nobody should get offended by anyone
praying. This day was not set aside just for Christians. It includes Jewish, Muslim, Hebrew, Buddhist
or just quiet meditation for those who follow no religious path. This country is not filled with just
one faith. It is a melting pot of all religions and races, all with minds and
thoughts of their own. This day belongs to all Americans and
should never be taken from us because someone misconstrued the First Amendment
and wanted to steal from all of us what should be considered a blessing in
this day and age. Prayer was taken out of schools and out
of many things in this country because people just don’t understand the plain
wording of the Amendment. There have been 135 national calls to
prayer, fasting and thanksgiving by Presidents of the United States from 1789
to 2009. There have been 57 Presidential
Proclamations for a “National Day of Prayer” from 1952 to 2009 and 33 of the
44 US Presidents have signed proclamations for National Prayer. Four who did
not died while serving in office. Judge Crabb ruled that the statute
serves no secular purpose, but rather calls the nation to engage in a
religious exercise. I agree with the NDP website that this
is an attack on our religious freedoms. It is a sad day in America when an
atheist in Wisconsin can undermine this tradition for millions of others who simply
wish to join their fellow citizens in praying for their country. The National Day of
Prayer provides an opportunity for all Americans to pray voluntarily according
to their own faith. It does not violate
the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment which includes wording that
says Congress cannot make laws “prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” In his proclamation,
President Obama said he calls on citizens to pray in accordance with their
own faiths and asks for God’s “continued guidance, grace and protection as we
meet the challenges before us.” I hope this clears up
who the culprit of the horrible idea was and lays to rest fears for all so
that this country and all who live, work, raise families here and call it
home can continue celebrating the National Day of Prayer. This was the 59th
observance of National Day of Prayer. Hopefully it will not
be the last. Support
education incentive By
BROOKE DOLLENS TERRY Texas
Public Policy Foundation Many parents
wish they could send their children to a different school – public or private
– but are stuck because they can’t afford the additional expense. A state
education tax credit could solve this problem and Texas should join the
growing number of states with such a program. OPINION An education
tax credit allows individuals or corporations to subtract education-related
purchases or donations to scholarship programs from their taxes. These come in
two forms, personal-use tax credits, which reimburse parents for educational
expenses spent on their children, and donation tax credits, which give a tax
credit to individuals or corporations who donate to an education scholarship
fund. Ten states —
Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Louisiana, Minnesota,
Pennsylvania and Rhode Island — have a total of 14 education tax credit or
deduction programs. These programs
provided about 115,000 students with an education scholarship and helped more
than 600,000 others by reducing their educational costs last year, according
to the Foundation for Educational Choice and the Alliance for School Choice. Minnesota
created the first education tax deduction program in 1955 and Iowa began the
first education tax credit program in 1987. Texas should
adopt an education tax credit so that parents are empowered to send their children
to the school of their choice – whether public, private or home school. Tax credits
save the state and taxpayers money, have a broad base of support and have survived
multiple court challenges at both the state and federal levels. States like Florida
that have already enacted tax credit legislation have experienced considerable
educational savings at the state and local levels. The Collins
Center for Public Policy found that Florida has saved $139.8 million since
2002 with the corporate income tax credit scholarship program. The state
saves “the difference between the value of the $3,500 scholarship and the
value of the K-12 per pupil state and local revenue,” the center said. The Alliance
for School Choice reports that Florida’s program expansion should save the
state an additional $5.7 million per year. A Baylor
University economist examined the Arizona tax credit program and estimated
that “at least 11,697 students attended private school solely because of the
tax-credit scholarships,” saving the state as much as $186 million in 2008. A Cato Institute study concluded that a Texas
education tax credit program could save taxpayers as much as $508 million
after the first year and up to $15.9 billion in 10 years if the program were
phased in over four years. States realize savings because scholarships to
attend private schools are typically half or less of the cost to educate a
student in the public school system. Therefore, every time a child leaves the public
school system to attend a private school through a tax-credit supported
scholarship, the state experiences substantial savings because it no longer
has to support that student in a public school. Furthermore, more money is made available for each
child who remains in the public school system. Tax credit
programs have withstood numerous court challenges in states such as Arizona,
Minnesota and Illinois and have never been declared unconstitutional by any
state or federal court. We recommend Texas create a tax credit scholarship
program for public school students funded with donations from businesses that
could make donations directly to any non-profit scholarship granting organizations
they choose and receive a tax credit against the franchise tax. The scholarship granting organizations would, in
turn, provide scholarships to public school students to help them afford
tuition at a private school, pay for transportation costs to attend a
different public school or pay for home school curriculum. Texas school
children, parents, taxpayers and employers all win when Texas joins the
growing movement for education tax credit scholarships. Brooke
Dollens Terry
is a senior education policy analyst at the Texas Public Policy Foundation, a non-profit, free-market research institute based in Austin. The
Texas cowboy reunion In 1929, some
businessmen in Stamford wanted to get their town out of the depression doldrums
and were trying to find something to do to pick up the spirits of the people
who lived there. They decided
on a rodeo. Ninety-eight cowboys participated in that first rodeo. They competed
in four events, calf roping, wild cow milking, steer riding and bronc riding.
The announcer used a megaphone. The town’s
rodeo caught the fancy of the entire southwest and, by 1937, up to 70,000
people were attending. Soon it carried the title of the world’s largest
amateur rodeo. In the early
days and even up into the 1960s and early 70s, there were so many contestants,
competition was around the clock. Officials slept on cots on the rodeo
grounds. Years ago,
area ranches brought in their chuck wagons and stayed through the entire run
of the rodeo. “The cooks
would pour a box of Post Toasties and a half gallon of milk in a washtub,
beat on the side of it and kids would come with spoons like rugrats to eat
breakfast out of that washtub,” said Dub Harrison who has worked with the
rodeo for 40 years. “It was just a fun place to be.” Some years,
the rodeo is a sellout. “Quite often
you’ll look up and see from three to six thousand people sitting in the
stands,” Dub said. “That’s larger than the entire population of Stamford.” Some of
today’s rodeo events had their beginnings at the Stamford rodeo, including
wild cow milking, the cutting horse event and women’s barrel racing. Dub Harrison
thinks the double mugging event also started at Stamford. “That’s where
a cowboy ropes a yearling weighing 500 or 600 pounds and he and his partner
flank it down and tie three legs down,” he said. “That event has caught on
here lately. That and wild cow milking were standard events at rodeos until
the fifties.” Dub’s
grandmother entered one of the early barrel racing events at Stamford. “They were
judged on their appearance and posture and their horses’ appearance,” Dub
said. “They walked around the cloverleaf barrel pattern and prizes were
awarded to the prettiest girl and the girl with the best looking outfit. “Fern Sawyer
won the first barrel race here and she’s the first cowgirl in the hall of
fame,” he said. Other events
during the rodeo include dances featuring popular western musicians and an
art show that attracts prominent western artists. An old timers
reunion offers the chance for pioneers in the Texas cattle industry to swap
stories. “In Stamford,
you’re kind of born into working with the Texas Cowboy Reunion,” Dub said. “A
lot of folks work hard to make sure everything goes right.” The rodeo
takes place the first four days in July. Members of the Professional Rodeo Cowboys
Association can compete at Stamford. “At one time
you couldn’t but we opened it up to the world and now anybody can come enter,”
he said. “It still means a whole lot to most cowboys to win something at
Stamford. It’s just a badge of honor.” The event is
on 55 acres of land just west of Stamford. How
goes the home? It has changed
so much in my lifetime from where daddy was the breadwinner and mommy took
care of the home. Today, many
dads have two or three jobs and work long hours like 9 to 5. They do not go
to work at 9. That is when they get home at night and they leave for work at
5 in the morning. It is unusual
to find a stay-at-home mom. You see so many young mothers frantically running
around to take their children to this or that event. Then comes the
problem of single-parent families. It is such a heartbreak. Also, there is
the growing epidemic of latchkey children who come home after school and they
are alone till mommy or daddy arrives. “The habits of
the home in one generation become the morals of society in the next,” the Washington Times wrote on May, 10,
1996. “The hand that
rocks the cradle is the hand that rules the world,” US Poet William Ross
Wallace wrote. Mothers set
the tone for the home or have a great influence on it. Not only do
mothers bear the children but they comfort them when they are sick (1 Thessalonians
2:7, Isaiah 66:13, 2 Kings 4:19 and 20.) Mothers can
also have a great influence on their children’s spiritual life and they can
help them to know Jesus Christ (Proverbs 6:20, 1 Timothy 1:5.) See you in
Church next Sunday. Brother J Milky
Way missing If you go
outside soon after dark and look up, you might notice the Milky Way seems to
be missing. Fortunately,
there's no cause for alarm. The month of May is the one time of year when the
densest part of our galaxy, that breathtaking band of concentrated starlight
stretching from horizon to horizon, isn't visible in the early evenings. Of course, if
you live in an urban area like most of humanity, light pollution made the
Milky Way disappear from your night sky long ago. We'll talk
more about light pollution in a future column. But even from
the darkest sky, you won't now see the Milky Way unless you stay out a few
hours. Our galaxy, a
huge swarm of 100 billion or more stars, is shaped like a pancake with a
bulge in the center. Since we're
inside the pancake, all we see with our naked eyes, even under the darkest
sky, are stars and other objects within our home galaxy. A couple of
faint galaxies can barely be seen with naked eyes but most require binoculars
or telescopes. So to be
precise, virtually everything we see every night is in our Milky Way galaxy.
However when we speak of "seeing the Milky Way," we're referring to
the most densely concentrated band of stars along the plane of the pancake. The part of
the Milky Way we see in the summer, specifically in the direction of
Sagittarius and Scorpius, is toward the galaxy's center, making the summer
Milky Way the richest of the year. During the
other seasons, when we're looking in other directions along the galaxy's
plane, the view isn't as dramatic. So, why can't
we see the Milky Way in the early evenings of May? It's the only
time of the year when the galaxy is laying around the horizon, on the same
plane with what appears to be the "flat" Earth around us. If you have
clear views of the horizon in all directions, you might barely see it
hovering just above the horizon but, for all practical purposes, it seems to
have temporarily disappeared. But not to
worry – it won't stay hidden long. As the Earth rotates on its axis, in a few
hours the Milky Way will gradually reappear as it rises above the eastern
horizon – and the part that rises first is the magnificent
Scorpius-Sagittarius central region. So be prepared
to be dazzled.
Sunday
morning, May 9, the crescent Moon is above Jupiter low in the east before
dawn. Thursday, May
13, the Moon is new. Saturday
evening, May 15, the crescent Moon is below Venus low in the west and then above
the brilliant planet the next night. Wednesday
evening, May 19 the Moon is below Mars. Thursday, May
20, the Moon is at first quarter.
The Sun, Moon
and planets rise in the east and set in the west due to Earth's west-to-east
rotation on its axis. Evenings,
Venus is low in the west, Mars is high in the west and Saturn is high in the
southeast. Mornings,
Jupiter rises two hours before sunrise. Stargazer appears every other week, space
permitting. Paul Derrick is an amateur astronomer who lives in Waco. Contact
him at 918 N. 30th, Waco, 76707, (254) 753-6920 or paulderrickwaco@aol.com. See the Stargazer Web site at stargazerpaul.com. ‘Clash of the Titans’ Hades has an agenda of his own, go become leader of all the gods and reign hell on man. To the rescue comes Perseus, played by Sam Worthington, the heroic Jake Sully from “Avatar.” Perseus is the unknowing illegitimate son of Zeus. The action begins when
Perseus begins his quest to defeat the Kraken
and send Hades back to the depths of darkness. There are great action scenes that will have you white knuckling the
armrest of your theater seat. Sam Worthington as Perseus gives a visual feast of action scenes throughout the movie. Medusa, played
by an unknown, Natalie Vadianova, will strongly
repulse and captivate simultaneously with her head of undulating snakes. The computer graphics are superb and border on the quality we saw in
Avatar. A PG-13 with no nudity and no vulgar language, the plot may have
been weak but, then again, this is a mythological story. So far,
grossing in at $125-plus million, I'm sure we'll see more
mythology movies. Who knows what Zeus, Apollo, Poseidon or Aphrodite will be up to
next? If you like action movies, go ahead, see or rent this one. You won't
be disappointed. Ed's rating is three and a half stars. «««1/2 ‘Date
Night’ funny “Date Night”
is a very funny, if not hilarious, movie. Rated PG 13, I was a little
uncomfortable with the numerous sexual innuendos and double-entendres. There was no
nudity and negligible foul language, which, I'm supposing makes the sexual
dialog more acceptable. I can only say
I wouldn't take my 13-year-old daughter to this movie. I felt it should
be PG-17. Having said
that, as an adult, I enjoyed the movie. Phil and
Claire played by Steve Carell (The Office, The Forty Year Old Virgin) and
Tina Fey (Saturday Night Live, Sarah Palin impersonator) depict an ordinary
couple from the New Jersey "burbs" who become involved in a case of
mistaken identity. The premise is
formulaic but this movie makes it work. The mistaken identity results
from them stealing a restaurant reservation. The adventure
begins while they're enjoying their dinner, thinking they've been busted when
two thugs approach them and ask them to step outside. Well, that’s
not quite what happens. They end up being chased by mob thugs and corrupt
police. The ensuing
chase and evasion scenes become the hilarious mainstay of the movie. You will laugh
at the mishaps and turn-arounds that occur. There is an
obligatory car chase that has a new twist and will leave you holding your
stomach in uncontrollable, raucous laughter. The Hollywood
staple, Mark Walberg (Four Brothers), makes a surprise appearance as a by-
chance person who reluctantly assists them out of their potentially fatal
situation. I enjoyed the
Phil and Claire characters. Steve Carell and Tina Fey work well together and
played out the mayhem superbly. I'm
recommending this movie as a PG-17. I give it three and a half stars
out of four. Enjoy. «««1/2 |
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