The following prayer is attributed to a 17th century nun who's name
 is unknown.  How wise she must have been!  Can I live up to some
of her ideals? Time will tell, I guess.

 "Lord, you know better than I know myself that I am
getting older and will someday be old.
 Keep me from the fatal habit of thinking I must say
something on every subject and on every occasion.
 Release me from craving to straighten out everybody's affairs.
 Make me thoughtful but not moody, helpful but not bossy.
 With my vast store of wisdom it seems a pity not to
use it all, but you know, Lord, that I want a few friends at the end.
 Keep my mind from the recital of endless details--give me
the wings to come to the point.
 Seal my lips on my aches and pains.  They are increasing,
and my love of rehearsing them is becoming sweeter.
 I dare not ask for grace enough to enjoy the tales of others'
pains, but help me to endure them with patience.
 I dare not ask for improved memory, but for a growing
humility and a lessening cocksureness when my memory
seems to clash with the memories of others.
 Teach me the glorious lesson that occasionally I may be mistaken. 
 Keep me reasonably sweet.
 I do not want to be a saint--some of them are so hard to live with
--but a sour old woman is one of the crowning works of the devil.
Give me the ability to see good things in unexpected places,
and the talents in unexpected people...and give me the grace
to tell them so."

        Martin Mowyer of www.christianaction.org reported that the paramilitary training camps, which are not illegal in America (protected by the Constitution) are run by a man from Pakistan, Sheik Jilani.  My take is he lives in Pakistan but directs from there.  His voice is in the beginning of the video on "Jamaat ul-Fuqra" (Muslims of America).  Since we have freedom of religion and right to bear arms, what he is doing is legal and protected in America.  Unless they are caught committing crimes on American soil, they are legal. Americans who are Muslim/Islamic, interested in this type of  guerilla training are getting it at camps in GA, SC, CA and other US states.  (There are also paramilitary training camps of non-Muslim Americans in the USA, like the Michigan Militia.)  Countries at war hire these trained soldiers as mercenaries to fight their battles and the pay is high. The statement about Al-Qaeda wishing to have control over these groups is because as far as we know, Al-Qaeda is not in charge of them but would probably like to be;  "Muslims of the Americas" is in charge of this training in the USA.  The soldiers consider the sheik to be a descendant of Mohammad and a prophet and they call themselves "soldiers of Allah". 

http://shock.military.com/Shock/videos.do?displayContent=185279&page=1  (As seen on Hannity)
 
http://www.christianaction.org/jamaat-ul-fuqra-crimes/crime-page-1.aspx

(Check out some of the crimes attributed to individuals in the group, "Muslims of America")

http://www.adl.org/extremism/moa/default.asp
 
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Muslims of the Americas (MOA) is a virulently anti-Semitic, Islamic extremist group with ties to Al-Fuqra, a terrorist organization that has carried out firebombings and murders in the United States. MOA claims to have offices in six U.S. cities and Toronto and maintains secluded residential communities in New York, Virginia and California. The group's Web site and e-mails have featured writings by notorious anti-Semites and Holocaust deniers, including Michael Hoffman and former Klansman David Duke.

MOA was founded and is led by the radical Pakistani cleric El Sheikh Sayyid Mubarik Ali Jilani (commonly known as Sheikh Jilani or Sheikh Gilani). Based in Lahore, Pakistan, Jilani established MOA in 1980, after arriving in the United States for the first time. In the 1980s, Jilani, who claims to be a direct descendant of the Prophet Muhammad, actively recruited American Muslims to fight against the Soviet Union in Afghanistan. MOA claims to have offices in six U.S. cities and Toronto, and it maintains secluded residential communities in New York, Virginia, California, and possibly other states. The group also runs a Web site and an e-mail mailing list.

The available evidence strongly suggests that MOA has served as a corporate front for another group founded by Sheik Jilani, the terrorist organization Al-Fuqra, which has committed firebombings and murders on U.S. soil. Both Sheikh Jilani and MOA officials deny that Al-Fuqra even exists, and MOA claims to be a "peaceful" group. Though relatively few members of MOA have been arrested for criminal activity, two residents of the MOA community in Virginia were recently arrested for firearms violations, and a resident of the MOA community in California was recently arrested for the murder of a Sheriff's Deputy.

Muslims of the Americas: In Their Own Words

Here are examples of anti-Semitic, anti-Christian,anti-American, and homophobic statements made by MOA, as well as comments that promote violence:

On Jews:
"Jews are an example of human Satans. This is why Jews are the founders of Satan worship and Masonic lodges, and are now trying to take over the entire globe in which the global religion is to be Satanism….In the US there are now thousands of temples where Satan is worshipped. This Satanism has now become the ultimate tool in the hands of Zionists. "

On Satanism:
"The enemies of Islam all over the world under the leadership of the Zionist New World Order are poised to eliminate the Ummah [the worldwide Muslim community] or so is their conspiracy….We thus find today that all Muslim countries are ruled by kufirized [infidel] locals operating under the guise of Islam. All of these rulers are thoroughly under the Zionist New World order in every sphere of their mental outlook and conception. They today rule the World of Islam on behalf of their masters who dictate all the terms….Without Islam there is no Ummah, and no force to contest the Kufr Zionist New World Order….As we all know the Yahood (Jews), are master conspirators. They plot and plan for a century ahead. Since they are deprived of true belief in spite of their overt profession of faith and religion, they labor under the misconception that their plans will always remain on course….The setbacks which the enemies of Allah, are experiencing and which are impeding the full achievement of their satanic goals, all of which is part of the Divine Scheme of Allah...to save the Ummah from annihilation."

-- MOA E-mail message, January 3, 2002
"Every God-fearing individual, whether in America or abroad, must become informed of the heinous, barbaric, and purely sub-human nature of Zionism and all of its offshoots. It is the duty of every individual to become familiar with the nature and ways of Zionism and become educated to the whims and craftiness of these devils…"

On Christians:
"If you ask any Christian 'What is meant by belief in God Almighty?' he will not be able to give you any rational explanation. On the contrary, he will confuse you, and damage you psychologically…Christians would rather submit to the theory that they have killed their god and now believe in the supremacy and power of Satan. Try to imagine the type of mentality that is build upon such a belief: Masochism, suicide, Satanism…they confuse the matter still more by introducing the fable of the Risen Christ, but have never produced a solitary witness to testify that he or she actually saw Christ ascending…One certain factor in the propagation of this nonsense is that the priests want poor, simple folk to believe in Jesus as the Son of God, whereas Jesus himself never proclaimed to be such… The vicars of Christ, after having completely confused western man in the matter of belief, use this method to manipulate the people in such a way that the priests are accepted as gods who have the power to send people to Heaven, Hell, or atone their sins… By having put their god on a crucifix as opposed to executing Satan, they not only have blasphemed against the Wisdom and Judgment of God Almighty, but reduced Him to a role of subservience to Satan. Similarly, by attributing the words of the Bible to God, they also attribute all their fallacies, inaccuracies, irrationalities, lies, and contradictions to Him!"

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Visit the websites for more information.

My youngest (grown) child and only daughter just gave birth yesterday to a lovely baby girl, their 3rd child,  who weighed in at 9lbs.3oz.  This gives me eight grandchildren who age from seventeen years to newborn.  I love them all with all my heart and only regret that I live far away from them.  I'm making a change in 2009, to be closer to at least six of these special little people and hopefully make a positive difference in their lives.....to provide some great memories for them, as my grandparents did for me.  I found the "Happy Grandmothers" food for thought while searching online for some good ideas on modern grandmothering.  http://www.grandmotherconnections.com/

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 Happy Grandmothers
Jean Giles-Sims, Ph.D. and Marty Norman, M. Ed.
 
H Help when asked but keep your own life in balance. 
A Accept that your children parent differently from you. 
P Praise each grandchild for his/her own unique gifts 
P Pare down the presents and give them your time and attention. 
Y Yield to the parents in areas of disagreement. 
 
G Give your grandchildren love and model successful living. 
R Respect diversity. 
A Answer questions with kindness and trust. 
N Never say "Never." 
D Demonstrate good manners and good relationships 
M Minimize conflict. 
O Organize the family history to share with grandkids. 
T Thank the parents for giving you the opportunity to share the grandchildren 
H Heartily laugh and enjoy each grandchild. 
E Establish cooperative boundaries. 
R Retreat and rest when you are tired. 
S Smile, sing and have spirited fun. 
 

  To All My Friends, this is every important, please take the time to read it.

I won't promise to post items to my journal often, but today was special and I just wanted to share a few pictures of an important project in the works here on O'ahu with the Republican Club.  We celebrated Statehood Day, August 15, with a work party at a local children's park behind the intermediate school.  This blighted area has been sadly neglected for years but we have started the wheels turning to make much needed improvements including having the site bull dozed to cover the broken glass and rubble.  The residents nearby came out to thank us and even pitched in and helped.  The children who helped worked very hard for 4 hours in the hot sun.  They want a cleaner, safer place to walk and play.  We were told that the US Navy will dredge the polluted stream in the future.  Please click on the link to view a few pictures I placed on Picasa. 

http://picasaweb.google.com/ckmiller66/StatehoodDayCleanUp