The Alphabet

Everyone learns their alphabet when they are young but most people don’t think about what the alphabet really is. The definition for the word ‘Alphabet’ is “a standardized system of writing, developed in the ancient Near East and transmitted from the northwest Semites to the Greeks, in which each symbol ideally represents one sound unit in the spoken language, and from which most alphabetical scripts are derived”. Most people don’t realize how important the alphabet is and how lost we would be without it. Almost all modern Alphabets were descended from an alphabet 4000 years ago. The idea of the first alphabet was from the Egyptians who used simple pictures to represent sounds and words.
The word "alphabet" came from the Latin word Alphabetum which is originated in the Ancient Greek Αλφάβητος, which translates as Alphabetos, from alpha and beta, the first two letters of the Greek alphabet. Alpha and beta in turn came from the first two letters of the Phoenician alphabet, A came from the picture of an Ox, since it sort of looked like a house, and B came from the picture of a House.
The Phoenicians and others of the region simplified the pictures further and often rotated them, but if you use your imagination, you can still make out where most of the 22 letters (consonants) came from. If you turn the A with the point down, for example, you can see a representation of an ox head. All the letters were for consonants, which make since for languages like Phoenician, Hebrew, Arabic, and even Egyptian. But Greek, and other languages, like English, need vowels, so thee Greeks took a few of the consonants they didn't need, and turned them into vowels and then added some of their own.
During the Middle Ages lower case letters evolved from their regular our upper case letters from the cursive versions of the capital letters.
The Phoenicians wrote from right to left, same as the Hebrews and Arabs do today. The Greeks started writing right to left but changed the system. They then started changing direction every line, and finally became to the present system of left to right which has passed down to all the modern European alphabets and writing systems.

Key West, Florida

So this summer my grandmother took me to Key West, Florida. If you haven't been there I highly recommend you go there. Its a gorgeous set of Islands filled with history, beauty, some kitties and a lively day and night scene. Key West is closer to Havana, Cuba than Miami, Florida. Key West is the southern most city in the U.S.
I was able to go this summer to a beautiful island called Dry Tortugas (served after the Civil War as the prison for Dr. Samuel A. Mudd, convicted of conspiracy for setting the broken leg of John Wilkes Booth, the assassin of President Abraham Lincoln) It is 70 miles from Key West and 70 miles from Cuba. While I was there I was told that there was a refugee boat from Cuba on the way to the U.S. which I was able to see get picked up by the U.S. coast guard. Apparently when they get to U.S. soil they can stay, so they try to get to Dry Tortugas or another of the Islands out there.
Also on the Island of Key West is the Winter White House of Harry Truman. Ernest Hemingway also had a house there.
One of the more than 50 polydactyl cats that live at the Hemingway house. This particular cat has seven (two extra) toes on each paw. These cats were all over the city, there were also chickens pecking around which I thought was odd.
The Sunset Celebration at Mallory Square is a spectacular natural show, of the most beautiful sunset. There are jugglers, acrobats, and other such street entertainers. Boat excursions and tours provide a great way to view Key West from the water with snorkeling and scuba diving in abundance. I was able to go snorkeling at Dry Tortugas and saw gorgeous fish, coral, and other underwater treasures.
Key West has done a lot for me, my grandparents met there. My grandfather worked on his dad's shrimp boats there one summer and my grandmother was done there for the summer, they met and the rest is history.
There are so much more to tell about Key West but I don't want to spoil it for you. So go figure it out yourself.

A hard choice.

I was thinking over how I am against abortion, but I have never had to make the choice. It is hard what if it was rape, an unwanted and not a free choice. There are so many 'what if's' but I believe that it is still a child, even if its unwanted, and that abortion should be illegal, just as murder is illegal. I don't blame anyone who has had an abortion as it must be an awful choice. I just think people need to face the facts and understand what they are actually doing.

Red Envelopes

Here's what to do with the Red Envelopes

Before March 31st, 2009 (thats the day you mail it)
Get a red envelope.
You can buy them at Kinkos, or at party supply stores.
On the front, address it to
President Barack Obama
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW Washington , D.C. 20500

On the back, write the following message. This envelope represents one child who died because of an abortion. It is empty because the life that was taken is now unable to be a part of our world. We will mail the envelopes out March 31st, 2009. Put it in the mail, and send it. Then forward this event to every one of your friends who you think would send one too. I wish we could send 50 million red envelopes, one for every child who died [in the U.S.] before having a chance to live. It may seem that those who believe abortion is wrong are in a minority. It may seem like we have no voice and it's shameful to even bring it up. Let us show our President and the world that the voices of those of us who do not believe abortion is acceptable are not silent and must be heard. Together we can change the heart of The President and save the lives of millions of children.

Abortion and Face the Facts

FACE THE FACTS --

"Face the Facts is a campaign to spread the truth regarding the overriding social justice issue of our day. Slavery still exists. Poverty exists. We have not won against AIDS. All of these things destroy the body, stealing life and freedom, and are seen for what they are. But one issue is not. There is one thing that destroys millions of human beings, stealing life and freedom from human souls, that is still seen as okay -- justifiable. If you don't believe me when I say this is abortion, maybe it's not your fault. Maybe you haven't heard the truth -- maybe you've even been lied to. Maybe the facts have been hidden. Well, I say it's time we prove them, and face them. It's time we educate ourselves, and our world. When people heard about the extermination camps the Nazis instigated during World War II, most didn't believe. 'Why would one group of people kill another group of people?' 'That just doesn't happen these days.' ' Things like that don't happen in a civilized society.'Research history -- those are the kind of thoughts that went through people's heads. Yet, horribly, they learned the truth -- near the end of the war they found out it was all true.You may argue that abortion is not murder. But let me just ask you,What if it is? If there is even the slightest possibility, wouldn't you want to know -- before it's too late? If I am wrong, I am a lunatic. But if I am right, consider the possibility, the magnitude of this crime, and don't allow history to repeat itself any longer --don't let a holocaust continue while you turn your head."

The facts:

If you're a teenager, you should take abortion seriously. For every two of you, there's one person missing.

Statistics show that a soldier's chances of survival in the front lines of combat are greater than an unborn child's avoiding abortion.

Emotional, mental and psychological disorders are 63% more likely after abortion than delivery.

Abortion has affected the Black community more than slavery itself. If the current trend continues, by 2038 the Black vote will be insignificant.

More than 50 million unborn children have died in legalized abortions-- over thirty fold the number of Americans lost in all our nation's wars.

Over 1 million children are killed by abortion in this country every year. Over 3,700 each day, 12 every 5 minutes, 1 every 25 seconds.

Planned Parenthood receives more than $330,000,000 in taxpayer money each year. They kill more human fetuses than anyone in America.

A Black baby is almost as likely to be aborted as he is to be born. Heis 4.8 times more likely to be aborted than a White baby.

It's impossible for you not to know a woman who has had an abortion,because nearly one in four women have had one.

Women who abort are 6 times more likely to commit suicide than women who carry their baby to term.

At 10 weeks from conception, a baby can smile, frown, wince or pout.While still in the womb a baby will learn to recognize his mother's voice.

Every year, more innocent children are killed by abortion in the US than the combined total of Americans who have died in all wars in our history.

Between 1882 and 1962, 3,446 Blacks were lynched. That number surpassed in less than three days by abortion.

What should be the safest place to live in America -- a mother's womb-- is now the most dangerous place.

A woman who has had an abortion is at least 50% more likely to contract breast cancer by age 45. 182,000 American women develop it each year.

40% of minors having an abortion report that neither of their parents knew about the abortion.

Scans reveal that babies have REM sleep. This could be a sign that the fetus, not yet born, is already dreaming.

A baby can survive birth at 6 months. A baby can see, hear, and taste at 7 months. Abortion is legal in the US throughout all 9 months of pregnancy.

"We do not want word to go out that we want to exterminate the Negro population" (Margaret Sanger, founder of Planned Parenthood).

It is illegal to execute a pregnant woman because the fetus living inside her is a distinct human being who can't be executed for another's crimes.

Between 1970 and 1981, the time period in which abortion was legalized, the frequency of ectopic pregnancies increased by 300%.

At 3 weeks from conception, a baby's heart begins to beat; at 6 weeks,brainwaves are measurable -- both before most of the earliest abortions.

More than 70% of abortions -- at least 800,000 each year -- take place after 6 weeks, bringing an end to the embryo's heartbeat and brainwaves.

The Jews, as well as "unfit" Germans, had a "choice" most Germans did not. This meant that the Nazis saw abortion as a very useful weapon.

There is a twofold to threefold increased risk of miscarriage for women with a history of two or more abortions.

Without abortion and the strategic placement of abortion clinics inminority areas the Black community in America would be 30% larger than it is.

If it's morally reprehensible to kill a developing human being afterbirth, why is it permissible to kill a developing human being before birth?

Every 2 1/2 weeks, year in and year out, there is an aborted child for each of the 58,132 names on the national Vietnam Memorial.

Each year in the US, the abortion industry brings in approximately$831,000,000 through their abortion services alone.

If the pro-life position is correct, abortions are human casualties and every day number nearly 1,000 more than all lives lost in the 9/11attacks.

If the 50 million legally aborted children and their children were alive to vote abortion would be illegalized by the popular vote.

Some web sights are:

Abort73.com

http://www.jonsplace.org/rel/abortionpics.htm -check out the abortion photos, they are disturbing so be careful.

Abortion is not the last result, adoption is great. I will talk more about adoption soon.

Abortion is a way to get rid of your problems, murder is a way to get rid of your problem, suicide is a way to get rid of all your problems. Abortion is murder, because someone made a mistake these innocent humans are murdered. Its your problem, deal with it.

"I love Jesus Christ."

"I love Jesus Christ."

And as I say it, I want to make clear what I mean:

~I admire Jesus Christ more than any other human or angelic being.
~I enjoy his ways and his words more than I enjoy the ways and words of anyone else.
~I want his approval more than I want the approval of anyone else.
~I want to be with him more than I want to be with anyone else.
~I feel more grateful to him for what he has done for me than I do to anyone else.
~I trust his words more fully than I trust what anyone else says.
~I am more glad in his exaltation than in the exaltation of anyone else, including me.

-John Piper

Small things which annoy me

There are two small things which annoy me the first being the waste of paper because the U.S. doesn't have an international language, and the second being more salt on the road than snow. These are two small things which I think can make a big difference if we change, which I will explain.
So I got a camera for Christmas, and there were 4 booklets explaining how to use it. Each booklet was about 30 pages, and all were the same, except they were all in different languages. There was a french booklet, Spanish booklet, Japanese booklet, and of course and English booklet. I don't know who would be stupid enough to need all 4 booklets to figure out how to turn on a camera. That is 120 pages of waste, people are like save the trees but then we are getting 90 extra pages of gibberish which goes right into the trash. I understand that someone might need one of those languages to figure out how to use their camera but couldn't they request it at the store counter or something. According to one paper manufacturer, however, a cord of wood measuring 4 feet by 4 feet by 8 feet—or 128 cubic feet—produces nearly 90,000 sheets of bond-quality paper or 2,700 copies of a 35-page newspaper. Okay so that doesn't sound like a lot but if every product we buy has at least 3 different language booklets that is a lot of paper in the drain.

So we live on a small street but still these huge dump trucks dump tons of this salt/sand mixture on the roads and there isn't even any snow sticking. They see one flurry and they dump tons of salt on the roads. The salt washes into the bay, ruins the roads, kills plants and animals, ruins the paint on cares and seems to be there forever. Just think how much tax money we could save but putting half as much salt/sand on the roads.

Well now you know how I feel, how do you feel about these topics???