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Health/wellness expert Amy Hendel available for interviewsHoping to keep the flu at bay? A strong immune system helps. Enjoying the bounty of colorful fruits and vegetables available right now can be an important step toward supporting your family's immune system this cold/flu season. In addition to vitamins, minerals and fiber, fruits and vegetables contain phytonutrients, believed to come from the com-pounds that give these foods their vibrant colors. These phytonutrients provide a wide range of health benefits, includ-ing supporting a healthy immune system. A new study, America's Phytonutrient Report, found eight in 10 Americans are missing out on the health...

The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Friday shows that 30% of the nation's voters Strongly Approve of the way that Barack Obama is performing his role as President. Thirty-nine percent (39%) Strongly Disapprove giving Obama a Presidential Approval Index rating of -9 (see trends). Fifteen percent (15%) say that Congress is doing a good or an excellent job while 53% rate Congressional performance as poor. Sixty-two percent (62%) believe that Congress pays more attention to the media than to voters.

The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Thursday shows that 26% of the nation's voters Strongly Approve of the way that Barack Obama is performing his role as President. That’s the lowest level of Strong Approval yet measured for this President. Thirty-nine percent (39%) Strongly Disapprove giving Obama a Presidential Approval Index rating of -13

The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Sunday shows that 31% of the nation's voters Strongly Approve of the way that Barack Obama is performing his role as President. Forty percent (40%) Strongly Disapprove giving Obama a Presidential Approval Index rating of -9

A Swedish newspaper provoked outrage in Israel and drew condemnation from Sweden's ambassador on Wednesday after it ran a story on transplant organ theft, a report an Israeli official branded anti-Semitic "hate porn". The editor of Aftonbladet, Sweden's largest daily newspaper, hit back hard, at both Israel and at the Swedish envoy for attacking his paper's coverage.

The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Tuesday shows that 31% of the nation's voters Strongly Approve of the way that Barack Obama is performing his role as President. Forty percent (40%) Strongly Disapprove giving Obama a Presidential Approval Index rating of -9 (see trends). Just 6% of voters now expect a tax cut during the Obama years. Forty-two percent (42%) expect their taxes to go up. A Rasmussen video report notes that the Country Financial Security Index slipped to a record low last month. The Presidential Approval Index is calculated by subtracting the number who Strongly Disapprove from...

Goldman Sachs traders in London and New York made a daily profit of more than $100 million (£58.8 million) on an astonishing 46 days during the past quarter. The record figure revealed by the bank this afternoon meant it broke the $100 million-a-day barrier on three out of every four working days. As market conditions improved during the quarter, it easily beat its 34-day record for making that figure in January, February and March. Goldman lost money on trading activities on only two days in April, May and June, compared with eight days in the preceding three months. Its record profits and...

The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Friday shows that 28% of the nation's voters Strongly Approve of the way that Barack Obama is performing his role as President. Thirty-nine percent (39%) Strongly Disapprove giving Obama a Presidential Approval Index rating of -11 (see trends). Yesterday, the President hosted Cambridge police Sgt. James Crowley and Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr., for a beer on the White House lawn. Thirty percent (30%) of voters nationwide give the President good or excellent marks for his handling of the situation. A Rasmussen video report notes that 62% of Americans believe race...

The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Wednesday shows that 29% of the nation's voters now Strongly Approve of the way that Barack Obama is performing his role as President. Thirty-nine percent (39%) Strongly Disapprove giving Obama a Presidential Approval Index rating of -10. The President’s Approval Index rating is down four points over the past week and 11 points over the past month (see trends).

The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Sunday shows that 29% of the nation's voters now Strongly Approve of the way that Barack Obama is performing his role as President. Forty percent (40%) Strongly Disapprove giving Obama a Presidential Approval Index rating of -11. That’s the first time his ratings have reached double digits in negative territory. ... Overall, 49% of voters say they at least somewhat approve of the President's performance. Fifty percent (50%) disapprove.

Do you set aside time every day to plan your day (or end of day to plan next day)? A Daily Poll.

Sunday Poll: When do you have your "daily devotions?" A Daily Poll.

"Does Israel have the right to destroy Iran's nuclear capabilities?" is the daily poll question. "Is America a good country?" is the weekly poll question at A Weekly Poll.

By faith Abel offered God a better sacrifice than Cain did. By faith he was commended as a righteous man, when God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith he still speaks, even though he is dead. Hebrews 11:4 Genesis 4. Cain and Abel. Cain brought "the fruit of the land" as an offering and Abel brought the firstborn from the flock of his sheep. Both were probably taught about offerings and the need to bring first fruits or the firstborn. The passage is clear that Abel brought the firstborn while Cain gave some of his fruits and vegetables....

Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for. Hebrews 11:1-2 In the next few weeks I will be going through the Hall of Faith in Hebrews 11. I will spend at least one day on each of those mentioned in this chapter. Entire libraries have been written about faith. We have a sure hope in Jesus although we do not see Him. A number of years ago, Larry King asked Billy Graham, “do you have any doubt about your eternal destiny?” Absolutely...

A poor man's field may produce abundant food, but injustice sweeps it away. Proverbs 13:23 If you do a quick search throughout the Scriptures, you'll see that God has a special place in his heart for the poor and needy and those who cannot defend themselves. The poor rarely have an honest voice (when they have a voice at all) in government. In many lands, what they do have is ripped away by greedy bureaucrats and power-hungry officials. Stop today to consider the plight of the poor and the needy. Many, through no fault of their own, are in desperate...

I saw the tents of Cushan in distress, the dwellings of Midian in anguish. Were you angry with the rivers, O LORD ? Was your wrath against the streams? Did you rage against the sea when you rode with your horses and your victorious chariots? You uncovered your bow, you called for many arrows. Selah You split the earth with rivers; the mountains saw you and writhed. Torrents of water swept by; the deep roared and lifted its waves on high. Sun and moon stood still in the heavens at the glint of your flying arrows, at the lightning of...

God came from Teman, the Holy One from Mount Paran. Selah. His glory covered the heavens and his praise filled the earth. His splendor was like the sunrise; rays flashed from his hand, where his power was hidden. Plague went before him; pestilence followed his steps. He stood, and shook the earth; he looked, and made the nations tremble. The ancient mountains crumbled and the age-old hills collapsed. His ways are eternal. Habakkuk 3:3-5 (FYI: According to the Jewish Encyclopedia, Teman was originally the name of a tribe and then of a district of the Edomites. The Temanites were famed...

LORD, I have heard of your fame; I stand in awe of your deeds, O LORD. Renew them in our day, in our time make them known; in wrath remember mercy. Habakkuk 3:2b This is an interesting and overlook-able four words right in the midst of Habakkuk's prayer to God. First he praises God for his awesome deeds, asks Him to make those deeds known, then he takes a twist and asks God to have mercy when He's doling out His wrath. It's almost as if Habakkuk's saying, "go easy on those who can't really see your awesome deeds!" Contrast...

You will be filled with shame instead of glory. Now it is your turn! Drink and be exposed! The cup from the LORD's right hand is coming around to you, and disgrace will cover your glory. The violence you have done to Lebanon will overwhelm you, and your destruction of animals will terrify you. For you have shed man's blood; you have destroyed lands and cities and everyone in them. "Of what value is an idol, since a man has carved it? Or an image that teaches lies? For he who makes it trusts in his own creation; he makes...

"Woe to him who builds his realm by unjust gain to set his nest on high, to escape the clutches of ruin! You have plotted the ruin of many peoples, shaming your own house and forfeiting your life. The stones of the wall will cry out, and the beams of the woodwork will echo it. "Woe to him who builds a city with bloodshed and establishes a town by crime! Has not the LORD Almighty determined that the people's labor is only fuel for the fire, that the nations exhaust themselves for nothing? For the earth will be filled with...

Indeed, wine betrays him; he is arrogant and never at rest. Because he is as greedy as the grave and like death is never satisfied, he gathers to himself all the nations and takes captive all the peoples. "Will not all of them taunt him with ridicule and scorn, saying, 'Woe to him who piles up stolen goods and makes himself wealthy by extortion! How long must this go on?' Will not your debtors suddenly arise? Will they not wake up and make you tremble? Then you will become their victim. Because you have plundered many nations, the peoples who...

Then the LORD replied: "Write down the revelation and make it plain on tablets so that a herald may run with it. For the revelation awaits an appointed time; it speaks of the end and will not prove false. Though it linger, wait for it; it will certainly come and will not delay. "See, he is puffed up; his desires are not right-but the righteous will live by his faith. Habakkuk 2:2-4 Perhaps the toughest job of a prophet was to foretell of future events without being able to witness them. Already in the first Chapter God foretold of Babylonia's...

I will stand at my watch and station myself on the ramparts; I will look to see what he will say to me, and what answer I am to give to this complaint. Habakkuk 2:1 Have you ever had burning questions that you needed God to answer: who will I marry? What will my career be like 10 years from now? Should I join the military? Which college should I go to? Those answers are rarely cut and dried for us. Unfortunately, we don't hear a voice from heaven saying "do this!" I’m not even sure we’d want that deep...

You have made men like fish in the sea, like sea creatures that have no ruler. The wicked foe pulls all of them up with hooks, he catches them in his net, he gathers them up in his dragnet; and so he rejoices and is glad. Therefore he sacrifices to his net and burns incense to his dragnet, for by his net he lives in luxury and enjoys the choicest food. Is he to keep on emptying his net, destroying nations without mercy? Habakkuk 1:14-17 Habakkuk speaks truth when he states that men (and women) often have a "we want...

O LORD, are you not from everlasting? My God, my Holy One, we will not die. O LORD, you have appointed them to execute judgment; O Rock, you have ordained them to punish. Your eyes are too pure to look on evil; you cannot tolerate wrong. Why then do you tolerate the treacherous? Why are you silent while the wicked swallow up those more righteous than themselves? Habakkuk 1:12-13 God's seen and heard it all. That's perhaps the understatement of the year. He was from the Beginning and He'll be in the End. Infinite. Everlasting. Unending. Without respect for days...

They [Babylonians] are a feared and dreaded people; they are a law to themselves and promote their own honor. Their horses are swifter than leopards, fiercer than wolves at dusk. Their cavalry gallops headlong; their horsemen come from afar. They fly like a vulture swooping to devour; they all come bent on violence. Their hordes advance like a desert wind and gather prisoners like sand. They deride kings and scoff at rulers. They laugh at all fortified cities; they build earthen ramps and capture them. Then they sweep past like the wind and go on—guilty men, whose own strength is...

The oracle that Habakkuk the prophet received: How long, O Lord, must I call for help, but you do not listen? Or cry out to you, "Violence!" but you do not save? Why do you make me look at injustice? Why do you tolerate wrong? Destruction and violence are before me; there is strife, and conflict abounds. Therefore, the law is paralyzed, and justice never prevails. The wicked hem in the righteous, so that justice is perverted. Habakkuk 1:1-4 How many times this year have you felt this way?? This opening passage could have easily been written last week. Habakkuk...

The wicked man will see and be vexed, he will gnash his teeth and waste away; the longings of the wicked will come to nothing. Psalm 112:10 Have you ever had a non-believer look at you in disbelief at something you did or couldn't do because of your beliefs? I've had that happen on a number of occasions. They simply cannot figure out what's making you tick at the moment. When I lived in Mongolia, drinking three shots of vodka "to the bottom" was standard fare during dinner socials. Early in our stay there we had decided that drinking in...

Surely he will never be shaken; a righteous man will be remembered forever. Psalm 112:6 O that there were an army of equipped and passionate Believers marching across the land in defense of Godly causes and the Gospel. How would our world be different if we had unshakable faith and an unquenchable thirst for righteousness? What would that look like in our day and age? And yet, there are many, even those reading this, whose faith is solid and strong, who cares not what the world says or thinks, but does he or she knows to be right. You don't...

Good will come to him who is generous and lends freely, who conducts his affairs with justice. Psalm 112:5 How would our lives change if we sought to practice generosity and justice in everything we did? I believe the results would be astounding. Being generous is fairly easy to accomplish, and it goes beyond "not being stingy." Generosity is ungrudgingly giving something that you have to others so that they are more comfortable. It can be deal with money, food, service, time, and material goods. Of course you can even expand it to being generous with your knowledge and wisdom....

Even in darkness light dawns for the upright, for the gracious and compassionate and righteous man. Psalm 112:4 When I was in high school, I played the character of grumpy General Bullmoose in the play "Lil' Abner." I told my secretary, "I'm not taking my Peale pills. They make me think...too positive." The reference is to Norman Vincent Peale, the famed optimist. The optimist referred to in this verse is not merely optimistic for the sake of being up, but he's displaying the quality of his moral character. I'll admit it, life can get you down, especially in the times...

Wealth and riches are in his house; and his righteousness endures forever. Psalm 112:3 This is a verse that refers back to the previous two verses. Because a man fears the Lord, he has great wealth and riches, and it may very well be that his children are the source of those "riches." Let me put it another way. Have you ever known a person with many children to be unhappy about it? I've personally known two families with 10 and 12 children each, and the parents couldn't be more pleased with their decision to have that many children. Sure,...

His [man who fears the Lord] children will be mighty in the land; each generation of the upright will be blessed. Psalm 112:2 This is a continuation of the previous verse. Each verse following will note that when a man fears the Lord, this will happen. Many years ago, there was a commercial on television that ended with a father walking through the forest with his young son. The two sit down and rest against a tree. The father takes out a cigarette, lights it, and puts the pack on the ground. The young boy picks up the cigarette pack...

Praise the Lord. Blessed is the man who fears the Lord, who finds great delight in his commands. Psalm 112:1 Have you ever been in the presence of someone truly great? The greatness I'm talking about is not someone who’s powerful or influential or famous or rich. I'm talking about someone who you admire so much that you hang on his/her every word. You write down what he/she says. Sometimes you understand everything she/he says and there are times what he/she says is a complete mystery to you. You inquire more about the person. You ask others what they know...

The Lord is exalted over all the nations, his glory above the heavens. Psalm 113:4 I love putting things into perspective especially after I've had a frantic day at work. We all have those days; some obviously more often than others. Then I get home and read about the news in the world; it's enough to make me want to close myself from the world and hope they cancel tomorrow (or next month) completely. Perspective. You see, God is in control. I say it often enough in this space, probably more to remind me than to remind you. When you...

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9 Arthur Fonzarelli, affectionately known as The Fonz on the 70s TV show "Happy Days," would never admit that he was wrong. According to The Fonz, he was never wrong. One episode shows him practicing in a mirror trying to say the word "Wrong" but he just can't do it. To my knowledge he never did admit he was wrong. We're like that. Confession is good for the soul, but boy is it difficult to do...

If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 1 John 1:8 Very few people in life claim to be perfect. We may joke about it being "hard to be humble when you're perfect in every way," but we know ourselves. We know our faults better than anybody. But often, we hide our sin. God sees it all but we tend to hide it from others. Nobody wants to air our own personal dirty laundry! We think that if others see what we're really like, they won't accept us. The truth is,...

But if we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. 1 John 1:7 The blood of Jesus purifies us from all sin. That's essentially the Gospel message in a concise sentence. Men, women, and children all over the world have died horrible deaths because of that one sentence. They have risked everything to proclaim that simple message. The upside to that is that many lives have been radically changed because of the words in that solitary sentence. Marriages have...

God is light; in Him there is no darkness at all. 1 John 1:5 God is light but He is much more than that. In fact if you were to combine all of the attributes that we equate God (love, omnipotent, omniscient, wise, etc), He would still be more than all of that. But light is one of those characteristics that helps to reveal who we are as his Creation. When you shine pure light anywhere, there is no place to hide. The bigger and brighter the light source, the fewer places there are to shield ourselves. And yet, that's...

A man lacking in judgment strikes hands in pledge and puts up security for his neighbor. Proverbs 17:18 I miss the day when I could shake somebody's hand, and the handshake alone bound the person to whatever was agreed upon. Sadly, trusting your fellow man to do the right thing is a thing of the past. Now we must draw up 50 page contracts promising that we'll have the garbage ready for the garbage man at precisely 8:00 a.m., or the trash won't be picked up that week. Samuel Goldwyn summarized our new attitude the best: A verbal contract isn't...

Reckless words pierce like a sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing. Proverbs 12:18 A woman called her husband and told him she was in an auto accident. "What’s the damage to the car?" the husband asked. "I don’t know. They towed it away." "So where are you calling from?" he asked. "The hospital." Oops! Have you ever wanted to take back something you said immediately after it came out of your mouth? We have all done it. Careless words. Unkind words. Thoughtless words. If we catch ourselves, we try to salvage the situation. Most of the time,...

He who testifies to these things says, "Yes, I am coming soon." Amen. Come. Lord Jesus. The grace of the Lord Jesus be with God's people. Amen. Revelation 22:20-21 In 1983 Anne Murray’s song “Little Good News” was #1 on the country chart. There's a local paper rolled up in a rubber band One more sad story's one more than I can stand Just once how I'd like to see the headline say "Not much to print today, can't find nothin' bad to say", because Nobody robbed a liquor store on the lower part of town Nobody OD'ed, nobody burned...

Romans were upper crust on daily bread May 21 2008 by Tony Henderson, The Journal WHEN it came to their daily bread, troops at a Northumberland Roman fort took no chances. Excavations at Vindolanda are revealing two massive granaries whose quality even outshone the nearby commanding officer’s quarters. The dig is also uncovering a magnificent flagged roadway next to the granaries. “The masonry of these granaries is far superior to that of the nearby commanding officer’s residence, and although some of the walls have suffered from stone robbing, others are standing to a height of around 5ft,” said director of...

This animated video is of a morning dove and it’s coo also of a Rhode Island Red rooster and it’s crowing, hen and it’s cackling and then concludes with a red shoulder hawk and its song.

As the news of Barack Obama’s pastor and his racist, America-hating comments slowly spreads (despite media’s best effort to ignore it), you just knew the Kos Kidz would be spinning like Iranian centrifuges, didn’t you? There are several Daily Kos diaries on the issue, but my favorite for sheer knuckleheaded idiocy is this one: Daily Kos: An Open Letter to White People.

This is an animated rare parakeet named Perija and with a greeting and a bow quote the scripture, from the New Testament, Philippians 4:8.

Big boy rooster greets the hen with a whistle and the hen speaks her mind. A little funny.

Daily Exercise Dramatically Lowers Men's Death Rates ScienceDaily (Jan. 23, 2008) — Increased exercise capacity reduces the risk of death in African-American and Caucasian men, researchers reported in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association. The government-supported Veterans Affairs study included 15,660 participants and is the largest known to assess the link between fitness and mortality. "It is important to emphasize that it takes relatively moderate levels of physical activity -- like brisk walking -- to attain the associated health benefits. Certainly, one does not need to be a marathon runner. This is the message that we need to convey...

America's most influential blog is the Daily Kos. Democratic members of Congress post on the blog, Democratic presidential contenders cater to them, and Daily Kos founder Markos Moulitsas is considered to be a mainstream figure amongst Democrats. Keep all of that in mind as you read these excerpts and quotes, all of which come from the Daily Kos writers, not from commenters on the blog: 10) "I wrote a diary a short time ago about how the Bush administration helped ruin my marriage. It wasn't because my husband was a Bush supporter or anything...it was because of all the stresses...