america

In the western part of the United States the paper money is Federal Reserve Notes issued by the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco. The bills have an identifying L on them. One day a husband had a paper dollar in his hand and said to his wife: "This is a new one. It hasn't an L on it. It has an H. Where's it from?" "I don't know," replied his wife. "I don't read money. I only spend it." Money is money and is meant to be used. But we wonder how many apply that money attitude to life itself. How many just spend life; spend it without pausing occasionally to read its meaning?

It is undoubtedly true that all citizens capable of bearing arms constitute the reserved military force or reserve militia of the United States as well as the States. . . .

Thousands and thousands of acres in the United States are being sprayed annually with nearly 50 million pounds of Roundup, a broad-spectrum herbicide designed to kill any plant it hits, unless the plant has been genetically altered to tolerate the chemical. Roundup has accounted for half of Monsanto's corporate profits in recent years.

It has been said: as family goes, so goes America.

America is still the land of opportunity.

America's strength is not basically political; nor is it industrial nor military. The foundation of this land is spiritual. When that foundation is weakened, democracy itself is threatened. We cannot allow that to happen.

America is a land of divine destiny. The almighty has every intention of keeping it so. But human blindness, human wickedness, human rebellion against God, can seriously interfere even with God's plan.

In his later reminiscences, Ulysses S. Grant roundly condemned the Mexican War in which he had served, and even saw the Civil War as a sort of karmic retribution for America's sins against its southern neighbor: "Generally the officers of the army were indifferent whether the annexation [of Texas] was consummated or not; but not so all of them. For myself, I was bitterly opposed to the measure, and to this day regard the war, which resulted, as one of the most unjust ever waged by a stronger against a weaker nation. It was an instance of a republic following the bad example of European monarchies, in not considering justice in their desire to acquire additional territory."

Back [in pre-Revolutionary America] "cruel and unusual punishment" meant the rack and burning at the stake . . . in more recent rulings [it has] been taken to mean the absence of cable television and denial of sex-change operations, or just overcrowding in the prisons.

A child born to a Black mother in a state like Mississippi . . . has exactly the same rights as a white baby born to the wealthiest person in the United States. It's not true, but I challenge anyone to say it is not a goal worth working for.