February 12th Mixed bag

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MR. PRESIDENT

Abraham Lincoln, the 16^th President of the United States, was born in a log cabin near Hodgenville, Kentucky, on February 12^th, 1809. The celebration of the Bicentennial of his birth has begun and will continue through 2009.

"There is no grievance that is a fit object of redress by mob law." The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln edited by Roy P. Basler, Volume I, "Address Before the Young Men's Lyceum,of Springfield, Illinois (January 27, 1838), p. 113.

"Those who deny freedom to others, deserve it not for themselves; and, under a just God, can not long retain it." The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln edited by Roy P. Basler, Volume III, "Letter To Henry L. Pierce and Others" (April 6, 1859), p. 376.

“What is conservatism? Is it not adherence to the old and tried, against the new and untried?" Lincoln's Cooper Institute Address, February 27, 1860.

“In your hands, my dissatisfied fellow-countrymen, and not in mine, is the momentous issue of civil war. The Government will not assail you. You can have no conflict without being yourselves the aggressors. You have no oath registered in heaven to destroy the Government, while I shall have the most solemn one to 'preserve, protect, and defend it'." Lincoln's First Inaugural Address, March 4, 1861.

"My paramount object in this struggle is to save the Union, and is not either to save or to destroy slavery. If I could save the Union without freeing any slave I would do it, and if I could save it by freeing all the slaves I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing some and leaving others alone I would also do that. What I do about slavery, and the colored race, I do because I believe it helps to save the Union; and what I forbear, I forbear because I do not believe it would help to save the Union. I shall do less whenever I shall believe what I am doing hurts the cause, and I shall do more whenever I shall believe doing more will help the cause." The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln edited by Roy P. Basler, Volume V, "Letter to Horace Greeley" (August 22, 1862), p. 388.

“If I were to try to read, much less answer, all the attacks made on me, this shop might as well be closed for any other business. I do the very best I know how - the very best I can; and I mean to keep doing so until the end. If the end brings me out all right, what's said against me won't amount to anything. If the end brings me out wrong, ten angels swearing I was right would make no difference." The Inner Life of Abraham Lincoln: Six Months at the White House by Francis B. Carpenter (Lincoln, Nebraska, University of Nebraska Press, 1995), pp. 258-259.

Yes, I was a Valentine gift to my parents, born February 14^th, 1946.

I was tagged the other day for a meme
by Rhapsody @ bleu clair rhapsody et la symphonie de [crickets]


Here are the rules, (You can ignore them if you wish).

The rules for this meme are:

(1) Link to the person that tagged you.
(2) Post the rules on your blog.
(3) Share six non-important things/habits/quirks about yourself.
(4) Tag six random people at the end of your post by linking to their blogs.
(5) Let each random person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their website.

I...

(1) ... went to college planning to be an attorney.
(2) ... have had, besides dogs and a cat, birds, fish, a rabbit and a turtle as pets.
(3) ...have never been to a Disney theme park.
(3) ... have not shaved the beard from my face in 36 years.
(4) ... studied Arabic my Freshman year in college—and passed the course!
(5) ... taught history and civics at the high school level.
(6) ... am going to return to spraying Alex with water if he doesn’t stop attacking my nose-hose and clawing my balls!

& I am not tagging anyone. If you want to play, please do.

I do not remember who emailed me the short video below, but it is certainly worth watching.