bachanon

bono of U2 said it best in a recent interview. he was asked if he was christian, he said he didn't have a problem with jesus, just the people proclaiming to be his people. ditto that.

i hear you. in my experience, the gay community has come to expect rejection. expecting rejection creates distance between communities. i'm confident in my assumption that most christians have homosexuals in their lives or families and most homosexuals are christian and/or have christians in their lives or families. the media portrays the fringe elements in both communities. those of us in the middle suffer as a result.

no, i missed that.

fearful americans. would've been an oxymoron one generation back. i've quoted it before............."Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety." - benjamin franklin. ouch! looks like we've strayed from the bravery and confidence of our forefathers. edit: just found out that ben franklin pubished a book with the quote above. he may have not written it. for what it's worth, to those who care....... This statement was used as a motto on the title page of An Historical Review of the Constitution and Government of Pennsylvania. (1759) which was attributed to Franklin in the edition of 1812, but in a letter of September 27, 1760 to David Hume, he states that he published this book and denies that he wrote it, other than a few remarks that were credited to the Pennsylvania Assembly, in which he served. The phrase itself was first used in a letter from that Assembly dated November 11, 1755 to the Governor of Pennsylvania. An article on the origins of this statement here includes a scan that indicates the original typography of the 1759 document, which uses an archaic form of "s": "Thoſe who would give up Essential Liberty to purchaſe a little Temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety." Researchers now believe that a fellow diplomat by the name of Richard Jackson is the primary author of the book. With the information thus far available the issue of authorship of the statement is not yet definitely resolved, but the evidence indicates it was very likely Franklin, who in the Poor Richard's Almanack of 1738 is known to have written a similar proverb: "Sell not virtue to purchase wealth, nor Liberty to purchase power."

i think it has a lot to do with wealth and the media. it seems the more money we have, the more we feel the need to protect our little place in the world. we've become very materialistic and self serving. we have to make ourselves relevant when life is so easy. the media, also attempting to stay relevant, focus on murder, rape, molestation and so on. the media feeds the fears we have protecting our family, our stuff, our place in the world. i read a study several years ago which found that although violent crimes had gone down during a decade or so, reporting of violent crime had increased many times over. people felt that crime was happening all around them, yet it was decreasing. are we not more suspicious of teachers after all the reports of kids having sex with teachers? you'd think teachers were teachers just to have access to the kids. (btw, if you haven't taught your kid some kinds of self discipline and self worth by the time they are teenagers, don't be surprised if they end up in the back seat of a car with a moderately hot teacher). i do not think the top story should ever be a crime, especially a crime committed across the country. why should our local stations open a newscast on anna nicole, a pedophile or a mom who's killed her kids. these things are tragic, yes. relevant to our daily lives, no. 01% or less of the viewers are immediately affected by these stories. it's hoopla, plain and simple. our "fear of the world" can also be summed up in one word........"fallible". we are all fallible and cannot control the world around us. with all of our wealth, we like to think we control our own personal universe. we do not. we cannot. bad things happen to good people. that's life. fearing the bad stuff is no way to live. if, when you say "the world", did you mean fearing non-christian culture? that's another subject.

i had hoped for more avid readers on haif. i appreciate the input, so far, but i thought for sure someone would have some classics to suggest. christian school didn't expose us to many of the classics because they were more "humanistic". anyone love classic literature? in my mind, i think the classics are dante, homer, not necessarily the romantics. i guess many of these will be fiction, but they shed light on the human condition. thanks, in advance.

me too. hate that. i was going to post several asinine, short posts but the editor, in all his wisdom, or the software itself, just adds my next post to the most recent one. bravo. certainly helps eliminate short asinine posts.

unfortunately, for these parents who "guard" their kids from seeing things they deem "unnatural" or immoral, are usually way behind the curve when their kids are actually exposed to, and have questions about, these things. what i'm seeing occur with my friends' children is that they learn the least responsible information from other kids, tv and movies and never want to talk to mom or dad because it's been hush, hush (pretending it isn't there). i think that if you want to truly educate your kids and allow them to make responsible choices, you cannot hide the world from them, nor do you shove it in their faces. kids on the playground, at church, in school will expose your kids to every diabolical thing imaginable. if your kids think mom and dad are against something, they will fear rejection by bringing it up or using key words. the apostle paul said it best: "all things are lawful for me, but not all things are profitable." this idea is based in the christian tenet of god's forgiveness. god will forgive me of anything/i can do anything i want, yet i will not profit from certain activities. this is a very human condition and not specifically owned by the christian faith. kids make really good choices when given the chance. i do not think that kids seeing homosexual couples at disney land or anywhere else will make them gay or make them less christ like. it will make them more tolerant adults, even if they have a personal conviction about homosexual behavior. i think that the jimmy swaggarts and jim bakers of the world were created by this "sin conscious" ideology that many christians were brought up with. they spend so much time worrying about other people's behavior and what is sin, that they never learn to discipline their own urges. of course, no one is ever perfect. the idea, being a christian, is to live christ-like. people notice love when they see it. people can't see your love when you live in fear of the world around you, hide from reality and point fingers. if my kid were gay, i'd like to know before the rest of the world. i wouldn't want him/her to think that i loved them less because of my negligence communicating the subject responsibly. i wouldn't want them to consider suicide because they felt they had no way out.......no way out of a box i helped build around them. am i off topic again? i think the easter weekend is reminding me of why i'm a christian. some posts i've read today on this thread remind me of the fear that many christians live with. note: faith in god and believing in love DOES NOT equal fear.

any luck finding plans, parrothead?

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yes, really good belgian beer.

the woodlands is a combination of several different stereotypes. there are people who've grown up in the area, have two incomes and a 300k house and act like they are the creme de la creme. there are people here who live in 100k homes they inherited from their parents and live like pigs. there is old money and new money (mostly the latter). many of the wealthiest people i've met are from other countries: spain, the middle east, great britain. there are people here who helped to establish the woodlands and people who've moved here because of its reputation. there are retirees, authors, movie makers, athletes (professional, olympic) musicians, rednecks, roughnecks.......the list goes on. there are the "blond trophy wives" and single moms. there are gay couples with kids (at least two that i know of). most of the people i've met here are positive thinking, active in the community, active physically, non-judgmental and, for the most part, nice. you know you live in the woodlands when: you forget which road you're on because the pine forest buffer looks the same everywhere you go. you realize, after years of living here, that there are office buildings everywhere. some of them you miss until you have occasion to visit a particular address. surreal moments occur: for instance, imagine a stressful doctor's appointment with a long wait. when you're finally taken to an examination room, after the nurse takes your vitals and you're left alone, you realize that beyond the enormous windows is a forest. you're peripheral vision catches movement that turns out to be a squirrel or a bird. you begin to notice the texture and depth of the world outside. you notice wildflowers. silence. it's startling when the doctor finally comes in. you've forgotten, for a moment, why you were stressed and impatient. every window you look out of at home or at the office is surrounded by trees. there is a childlike familiarity seeing trees, two or three stories up. there is a memory of being in a tree house, a world of my making. having moments like these immediately before or after a professional visit makes the mundane tolerable. whew.......where did i just go? that is definitely my LAST glass of la fin du monde.

are the units on the northwest corner going to have views of downtown and the medical center? that's choice.

welcome to the forum, wxman.

J. M. Barrie wrote Peter Pan. Disney made an animated flick based on the story. j.m.barrie bio My mom signed me up for some kind of Disney record club when I was young. I had Snow White, 101 Dalmations, The Aristocats, Lady and the Tramp, and many more on LP. I knew every word to every song and many of the lines. It was the entire movie on an album. This was before VCRs for you youngsters. You could see it at the movies, on Sunday nights (The Wonderful World of Disney - the number one reason I hated Sunday night church at six years old) or hear it on long play. here are a couple of positive messages: be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted and forgiving one another. even as god for christ's sake has forgiven you. do unto others as you would have them do unto you. love your neighbor as yourself. and, one of my favorites: 1 Corinthians 13 1. If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing. 4. Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 8. Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10. but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. 11. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. 12. Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. 13. And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. I digress. Disney is way cool.

thai sticks is great. we come to zimm's every now and then and on one occasion came next door to say hello to chavonne; ended up eating and it was delicious. can't wait to return.

yes, "learning challenged" people are members of society; however, i still do not want my cleaning supplies bagged with my produce (bagging 101), nor do i want my bread in the same plastic bag as a gallon of water. i bag my own whenever i get the chance.

running the grand parkway through the woodlands would require running it through the city of oak ridge north as well. you would have to condemn five and six story office buildings coming through town center and grogan's mill, there are neighborhoods within fifty feet on both sides of the parkway and loads of retail. you might as well run the grand parkway down 2920 or louetta. you would have just as much opposition. it has more to do with what is feasible than who has the political pull or money. the woodlands parkway has never been an option. to say that it isn't going where the woodlands doesn't want it is to assume that it was a possibility. it hasn't been and isn't a proposed corridor. please explain how it would be logical?

oh come on. if it is crowded when it is first built, it is because it was needed. try blocking off a blood vein that needs to expand and see what happens. it isn't as if the congestion happens because the road is built! that's absurd. if there is flooding in an area and someone builds a channel to relieve the flooding, is the relief channel to blame for the rush of water? i think not. you cannot ignore growth by not building roads and hope the demand will disappear.

i think that kuykendahl/gosling would be a necessary exit, although i've heard the exits are predetermined and rather distant from one another. who knows how it will benefit woodlands parkway traffic.

welcome to the forum.

i've noticed "now hiring" signs all over the woodlands (service industry mostly). there do not seem to be enough unskilled workers in the area. i've heard (not verified) that there are high school bus boys/girls and cashiers making $8/hr plus, before tips, in area restaurants. the only business failures i've been aware of were corporate closures (forth & towne, storehouse) or businesses who didn't keep their customers happy and, also, bad locations (beauty first, backyard burger). bad ideas too (gator grill). some of the new restaurants, like "buffalo southwest cafe", simply suck. bad service, mediocre menu, ignorant waitstaff (may have to do with lack of unskilled worker pool) and poor cooking. it seems that investors and franchisees think that anything you drop in the woodlands will succeed. not so.

there isn't enough right of way on woodlands parkway. there would have to be exits every couple of miles. condemning the greenspace (owned by the development company), homes and businesses along the woodlands parkway would be cost prohibitive. it is much easier to cut through a few neighborhoods and plenty of empty land south of the woodlands rather than open the pandora's box that would be attempting to run it through the densely populated woodlands. it does not take 25 minutes to get out of the woodlands if you live in grogan's mill, panther creek, harper's landing or college park. parts of cochran's crossing, indian springs, sterling ridge, carlton woods and alden bridge, on the other hand, can take more than 25 minutes. the idea of the grand parkway is not to move people in or through the woodlands but to move people from the north side to the northwest and west side. the grand parkway segment going in south of the woodlands will benefit some residents of the woodlands; however, it will not have exits convenient for the majority of residents who do commute.

mandarin oriental development webpage the dallas location at victory park looks similar to the rendering. i can't get excited about the rendering until an announcement is made. i would hate to have the same exact building as the dallas location.

LMAO thanks, i needed a good laugh this morning.