GINA COBB

Quote of the Day: "Everyone Wants Respect, But Hardly Anyone Is Willing to Pay for It"

"Upon taking office, Obama said that he wanted to listen to the world, promising respect instead of arrogance. But Obama's currency isn't as strong as he had believed. Everyone wants respect, but hardly anyone is willing to pay for it. Interests, not emotions, dominate the world of realpolitik.  The Asia trip revealed the limits of Washington's new foreign policy . . . .  (Gabor Steingart, Spiegel, Obama's Nice Guy Act Gets Him Nowhere on the World Stage)

A Little Reminder

"We first make our habits, and then our habits make us."  (John Dryden)

Life 101

 "Many persons have a wrong idea about what constitutes true happiness.  It is not attained through self-gratification, but through fidelity to a worthy purpose."  (Helen Keller)

Gina's addendum:  A way of life that does not help you be happy both in good times and in times of trouble is not worth much, because life will bring you plenty of both.

Quote of the Day

"Those who do not get what Palin means by "higher calling" are never going to have one."  (Lucianne.com)

Loud and Clear: National Right to Life Condemns Killing of Dr. George Tiller

Loud and clear:  The National Right to Life Committee (NRLC), the nation’s largest pro-life group, today condemned the killing of Dr. George Tiller. 

National Right to Life extends its sympathies to Dr. Tiller’s family over this loss of life.

Further, the National Right to Life Committee unequivocally condemns any such acts of violence regardless of motivation.  The pro-life movement works to protect the right to life and increase respect for human life.  The unlawful use of violence is directly contrary to that goal.

The National Right to Life Committee has always been involved in peaceful, legal activities to protect human lives threatened by abortion, infanticide and euthanasia.  We always have and will continue to oppose any form of violence to fight the violence of abortion.  NRLC has had a policy of forbidding violence or illegal activity by its staff, directors, officers, affiliated state organizations and chapters.  NRLC’s sole purpose is to protect innocent human life.

NRLC will continue to work through educational and legislative activities to ensure the right to life for unborn children, people with disabilities and older people.  NRLC will continue to work for peaceful solutions to aid pregnant women and their unborn children. These solutions involve helping women and their children and do not involve violence against anyone. 

Your Motivational Thought for The Day: Total Effort

"Always make a total effort, even when the odds are against you."  (Arnold Palmer)

Of course, in everyday life, as opposed to a game of golf, it's a good idea to pick your battles and focus your energy where the odds of success are good and the effort required of you is proportionate to the reward.

But once you're in a competition you've chosen or you're pursuing a worthy goal, never, never give up! 

Let people or time or circumstances slam the door in your face if they must, but never, never close the door on yourself. 

How many times have you felt like giving up, only to press on and win?  It's the best feeling in the world!

A Word About Adoption and a Big "Thank You"

Andrew Breitbart caught my attention today with this simple headline:  Adopt! -- and with this video:

Andrew Breibart writes:

Life: Imagine the Potential is the second release of CatholicVote.org’s national new media campaign, “Life: Imagine the Potential.” I’ll excuse them for forgetting me, another adoption success story.

If anyone ever wanted to deconstruct my politics, he or she need look no further than my idyllic upbringing and the choice that one someone made back in the late 1960s.

And happy anniversary to my parents Arlene and Gerry Breitbart who on May 19th celebrated their 44th wedding anniversary.

Thank you for everything.

Thank you for writing about adoption, Andrew.

While we're saying thank you, I'd like to say "thank you" to the birth mother who gave life to my six-year-old son.

Is there any greater joy in life than being a parent?  I am blessed with two kids, my daughter by birth and my son by adoption.  I am the luckiest person on earth!

The video above is posted by CatholicVote.org, which is obviously a pro-life group. 

For all the criticism and abuse thrown at the Catholic church today and through the history of the church, it deserves huge credit for having take a principled moral stand in favor of life long ago, and for having stood by it all these years. 

I suspect that the stand in favor of life taken by the Catholic church for so long is at least partly responsible for the fact that my son is here today.

In fact, millions of men, women and children are alive today because of the Catholic church and other churches and individuals who have courageously stood up for life.

But it doesn't just take a moral stand for life to prevail.  Moral stands are the easy part; putting them into practice is hard.  For life to prevail, women who find themselves unexpectedly pregnant must care about the unborn child they are carrying and must also overcome practical obstacles and their own fears (sometimes well-founded) as well as embarrassment. 

Birthparents who are unable to care for a child and who give their kids up for adoption deserve huge credit for putting the well-being of an unborn child first and for everything they go through to give life a chance. 

It's a gift of life we can't even begin to repay.  We can only say "thank you."

How to Make Today Count, in One Easy Lesson

"Every day should be distinguished by at least one particular act of love."

(Johann Kaspar Lavater)

Photo: Macaque monkey rests its head on a pigeon

Make today count!

Father and Son - One of the Most Inspiring Videos on the Internet

Maybe you've seen this before, and maybe you haven't, but either way, it's worth your time.

If you need an explanation, here it is. 

But what's most important can't really be explained.  Or, as Antoine de Saint-Exupery put it, "it is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye."

"Culture of Death Loses a Skirmish"

Much as the world needs an iPhone application that features shaking a baby to death -- nope, it's not going to happen.  Apple has pulled the application.

Shockingly, a New York Times writer is "troubled" by Apple's decency.  From Moonbattery:

The New York Times is appalled: after only two days, Apple's App Store acknowledged public outrage by removing an iPhone application called "Baby Shaker," which entails shaking an image of a baby until it dies. Screeches the Gray Lady's Saul Hansell:

I'm troubled by the way Apple caved into pressure here. … The last thing we need is for the new digital world to replicate the mushy homogeneity of network television in the 1950s.

In the liberal media, mere mention of the nightmare era of the 1950s — when Americans believed in themselves and could distinguish right from wrong — is enough to scare the herd into agreement.

Hansell should have mentioned that "Baby Shaker" has a redeeming social value: it instills liberal principles by reminding people that a baby's life is worthless, and the only thing that matters is your own cheap and fleeting gratification.

I should rush to the defense of at least a portion of the left.  There are certainly some on the left who raise their children well. 

There are also far too many who don't give a flying leap about what happens to children.  When the best interests of children interfere with adult fun, they will sacrifice the best interests of children every time. 

Ann Coulter and Her No. 1 Fan

"Since I was a little girl, friends, relatives and neighbors would bring their problems to Mother. She had a rare combination of being completely moral and completely nonjudgmental at the same time -- the exact opposite of liberals who have absolutely no morals and yet are ferociously judgmental.

You could tell Mother anything, get good counsel and not end up feeling worse about yourself."

From Ann Coulter's eulogy to her mother. 

Did You Dream a Dream?

If you don't know about Susan Boyle by now -- the never-married, 47-year-old woman who surprised everyone on Britain's Got Talent -- take a look and listen.  It will take seven minutes of your busy day, but there's more here than meets the eye.

Update: Here's the video

Susan Boyle on Britain's Got Talent

I dreamed a dream in time gone by
When hope was high
And life worth living
I dreamed that love would never die
I dreamed that God would be forgiving
Then I was young and unafraid
And dreams were made and used and wasted
There was no ransom to be paid
No song unsung, no wine untasted

But the tigers come at night
With their voices soft as thunder
As they tear your hope apart
And they turn your dream to shame

A writer at The Herald weighs in with "The beauty that matters is always on the inside."  Read it all too.  I promise, it's worth the reading.

Watch and read both, and something just might touch your heart. 

It's not just about Susan Boyle (though I'm one of millions cheering for her now). 

It's about you, too.  It' s about the human condition.  It's about dreaming dreams.  It's about reaching inside for the divine spark tucked away in every human soul.  It's about dreams forever lost, and dreams that will still, against all odds, come true.