A Few of FR's Finest....Every Day....10-28-03...God Bless the USA ~ Lift Every Voice

Billie | various

[Billie]

A Few of FR's Finest....Every Day

Free Republic made its debut in September, 1996, and the forum was added in early 1997.   Over 100,000 people have registered for posting privileges on Free Republic, and the forum is read daily by tens of thousands of concerned citizens and patriots from all around the country and the world.

A Few of FR's Finest....Every Day was introduced on June 24, 2002. It's only a small room in JimRob's house where we can get to know one another a little better; salute and support our military and our leaders; pray for those in need; and congratulate those deserving. We strive to keep our threads entertaining, fun, and pleasing to look at, and often have guest writers contribute an essay, or a profile of another FReeper.

On Mondays please visit us to see photos of A FEW OF FR'S VETERANS AND ACTIVE MILITARY

If you have a suggestion, or an idea, or if there's a FReeper you would like to see featured, please drop one of us a note in FR mail.

We're having fun and hope you are!
~ Billie, Mama_Bear, dansangel, dutchess, Aquamarine ~

Lee Greenwood wrote those words in a song in 1983 to bring people together. In the introduction of his booklet entitled "God Bless the USA", which includes a CD of that song, he also wrote:

"I'm sometimes overwhelmed by this vast nation and wish I could see how America will change in the next one hundred years. As long as we continue to dream, create inventions, and solve the challenges of an ever-expanding population, we will have the power to create a better society. But it is inevitable that the freedom, liberty, and can-do attitude that characterize us will be challenged, sometimes in ways that leave us no choice but to defend ourselves and the land we love. It happened in 1941 at Pearl Harbor and again in 2001 at the World Trade Center and the Pentagon."

Through the years countless songs have been written and words spoken that celebrate the breadth of the American experience. Recalling a few, who can dispute the simplicity and beauty of such words as these:

~ from "America", by Samuel Francis Smith ~

"My country, 'tis of thee,
Sweet land of liberty,
Of thee I sing:
Land where my fathers died,
Land of the pilgrims' pride,
From every mountainside
Let freedom ring."





~ from "America the Beautiful"
words by Katherine Lee Bates Martin
music by Samuel Ward ~

America! America!
God mend thine ev'ry flaw,
Confirm thy soul in self-control
Thy liberty in law."




~ Martin Luther King's American Dream ~

"I have a dream that one day...the sons of
former slaves and the sons of former slave
owners will be able to sit down together
at the table of brotherhood...I have a dream
that my four little children will one day
live in a nation where they will not be
judged by the color of their skin but by
the content of their character."




~ from Alistair Cooke ~

"It has always been cited as an irrepressible
symptom of America's vitality that her people,
in fair times and foul, believe in themselves
and their institutions."





~ from "The People, Yes", by Carl Sandburg ~

"The free man is willing to pay and struggle and die
for the freedom for himself and others
Knowing how far to subject himself to discipline
and obedience for the sake of an ordered society....
This free man is a rare bird and when you meet
him take a good look at him and try to figure him
out because some day when the United States of
this earth gets going and runs smooth and pretty
there will be more of him than we have now."

THIS WEEK'S THREADS 10-27-03 Military Monday

Opinions by our own 'King of Ping' The guy's good, folks!

Thanks, Mixer!

1) Click on the graphic to open the Calendar.
2) Once there you can click on any month and even click to the right to go into next year. Once you are in the month that you joined FR you will need to click on the number in the calendar and then an add item screen will come up.
3) In the next box enter your name in the "Calendar Text" field and then click on submit.
4) If any of the screens fail to load simply click on refresh in your browser and that will usually fix it.
5) If all else fails or simply if you want me to do this for you send me a FReepmail and I will gladly do it for you. ~Mixer

Click on the photo to view the album. To
submit your photo, please contact dansangel or .45Man
at
danbh59@yahoo.com
and include Freeper Photo Album in subject line.

[Aquamarine]

I remembered one of your favorites several months ago shut down, but then they were back again (Delta something, wasn't it?) - was this one of them again?

Think the DeltaDawn site has gone down for good this time. :(

[Donaeus]

Hello dutchess. :) I'm just getting settled in today as the last few days have been very busy. It is a blessing that I've found ya'll.

Billie you have done a wonderful job on putting this together. Thanks to all the other great contributors for the moving thoughts and images. Hope I didn't forget anyone up top, I'm still learning names. :)

Lord willing, Jim is half way through surgery as I type this. As long as there are no complications he should be on his way to recovery shortly. Your thoughts and prayers mean so much, thank you!

[Aquamarine]

Hi (((Dutchess))), see we're here at the same time.

Be sure to tune in tomorrow, I'll be posting something special. ;)

[dutchess]

Hi Lady and Amy. Good to see you. Hope things are safe in your part of California. Although I often have "not so nice" thoughts of the liberals on the "left coast" I would not wish this devastation on anyone. Maybe this will be a wakeup call for those pandering to the ecko wackos....

[dutchess]

Enjoyed your picture of Toronto. We did the theater thing there several winters ago.... It was amazing how much snow was piled up on the curbs and it was quite cold...but found the city to be absolute charming. Would love to go back!

[dutchess]

High, Bill-e. Nhysss prezentayshun! Ewe dun grayt.

OLL ...out loud laughing!

[JustAmy]

We are safe here in Central California. Thanks for thinking about us.

The enviromentalists are slowing destroying California. It seems they have no concept of balance. To them, it is okay to destroy a family in order to save one weed or insect. They destroyed the mining industry, then the logging industry now they are working on the farming industry.

[dutchess]

I LOVE that who would the terrorist vote for bumper sticker meekie!!! Can I borrow it???

[dutchess]

Free...your posts are way to neat today.... You have those tables down! want to teach me and give Billie a break?????

[dutchess]

(((((Aqua)))))))

Oh...I'm looking forward to see what you have in store for us tomorrow!

[dutchess]

Thank the Lord we have a President willing to fight for our dream of Freedom....willing to stand up and protect our Lady Liberty.

Amen. You say so well what we all here feel....

[Billie]

Until 9/11, I wasn't quite as passionate about flying our flag every day, but that did something to me as it did to countless other Americans. I think that, and having a Commander in Chief that we can respect and who shows how much 'he' loves our country, sincerely and honestly, has probably made a difference in many of our lives.

I think that I might be inclined to stick a small flag in a flower pot outside if I couldn't mount it on the wall! :)

[Billie]

Today's thread was especially beautiful and touching...Billie has great talent and has taught the rest of us "hostesses" and finest regulars so much.

I think we all learn from each other, but that is the greatest of compliments, and thank you ((((((Dutchess))))))

[Billie]

Good afternoon, Billie Red White and Blue...a beautiful thread you stitched together for us today....

Just call me BetsyBlue. :)

Thank you, JohnnyMac, for always giving us something to look forward to in your first post. You spoil us, and we love it! :)

[Billie]

Think the DeltaDawn site has gone down for good this time. :(

Well, phooey! It seems so hard to find a good site for wave files.

[Aeronaut]

How very cool!

Why thank you ma'am.

[Billie]

Billie you have done a wonderful job on putting this together. Thanks to all the other great contributors for the moving thoughts and images. Hope I didn't forget anyone up top, I'm still learning names. :)

Thanks again, Donaeus - really glad you've had more time to spend here today. As you are here longer, and as some of our regulars 'return', you'll pick up on other names that you haven't seen on the threads you've visited. If you ever have time and want to browse some of the older threads, we have a Hall of Fame Update about every 3 months, and one can find every thread we've posted since we began. Our latest one was:

09-30-03 .................................. HALL OF FAME #5

Lord willing, Jim is half way through surgery as I type this. As long as there are no complications he should be on his way to recovery shortly. Your thoughts and prayers mean so much, thank you!

We'll look forward to the good news he's in recovery and everything went well!

[Billie]

You have those tables down! want to teach me and give Billie a break?????

LOL! Like you don't know how!

[Billie]

I've seen it - it's GREAT! And if you'd hurry up and get your Photo thingie, you could be doing what she's doing, too!

[Billie]

I've been waiting to hear from wolfie, knowing he went to see the 'bone' doctor today, and here's the update:

"Well, I got home in one piece. Had three shots in the knee, 5 xrays and had fluid drained. The doctor couldn't believe he extracted a piece of cartilage during the drainage. It was about a half inch long, said he'd never had that happen before. Anyway, I also have several bone spurs and a bit of arthritis. : ( I have to do a lot of leg stretching in the coming weeks. I feel a bit better already, not up to par but better. I'd have written sooner but when I got home I was so tired I headed for my recliner and took a nice snooze. I got home about one o'clock. Having my leg pushed and shoved on was excruciating but.....I only howled once. : )"