So who would know?

On this day, July 8, in 1896 William Jennings Bryan delivered his "Cross of Gold" speech. At the time he was running to become the President of the United States. Although he lost, he was such a good speaker that he was known as the golden-tongued orator. William Bryan went on to run for President two more times, briefly served as the Secretary of State and was a lawyer in the Scopes trial. But he is known in our house for an event that happened much earlier in his life. He was in college and had been courting a young lady and had decided to ask her father if he could marry her. The following is an excerpt from the book "William Jennings Bryan" from the Sowers series, by Robert Allen.

When the big day arrived Bryan faced his future father-in-law in the parlor, armed with that which he knew best, the Proverbs.
"I have been reading," he told Mr. Baird, "where Solomon said in the book of Proverbs that 'whoso findeth a wife, findeth a good thing and obtaineth favor of the Lord.' "
Mr. Baird who had suspected he would be approached for some time and shared his daughter's sense of humor, decided to reply in kind from the Scripture. "Yes, I believe Solomon did say that," he said , trying to look solemn. "But Paul suggests that while he that marrieth doeth well, he that marrieth not doeth better."
William hadn't seen Mr. Baird very often, and wasn't sure of what to think. He trid to come up with another Proverb that would answer Paul but instead remembered a bit of Bible history he thougth he could use to advantage. "Don't you think Solomon would be the better authority on the subject of marriage," he asked Mary's father. "After all Paul was never married, but Solomon had seven hundred wives."
Mr. Baird laughed heartily. "You have me there. If he could have seven hundred wives and still recommend the married state, he must have been the best authority. You have my permission and Mrs. Baird's as well. God bless you, my son."

Marianas Turkey Shoot

Over the years the U.S.A. has won or been one of the winners of nearly every war she was in. Not only that she has often showed great superiority over her enemies. This was also displayed in the second world war when America and her allies completely conquered Germany and Japan. One of the greatest examples of American superiority in World War 2 was the Battle of the Philippine Sea, also known as the "Marianas Turkey Shoot". This took place on June 18-20, 1944 making today the 65th anniversary of this battle. In a nutshell the battle went like this. The American forces kept taking island after island so the Japanese high command decided to counter-attack. The American high command had cracked the Japanese code so they knew the Japanese plans and lined up their carriers and battleships for the defense. The Japanese launched planes off of their carriers and nearby Guam to attack the American fleet. The Americans launched their fighters and shot down most of the attacking Japanese planes and then began to attack in return. By the end of the battle around 600 Japanese planes had been shot down and five ships had been sunk while only 120 American planes were shot down, most of who's crews were saved. This amazing victory was mostly because the American aircrews and naval crews were far more trained than the Japanese crews. The American planes were also of much better quality than the Japanese planes. The Grumman F6 was particularly good.
Ok now for some pictures.


The American fleet.















Fighter contrails.





















The Grumman F6, the plane that helped the Americans win the battle.





















An F6 landing on the USS Lexington.



































A Douglas SBD Dauntless dive bomber.






















Anti-aircraft fire covers the sky as a Japanese plane goes down in flames.

D-day

Today is June 6. That makes today the 65th anniversary of D-day. On June 6, 1944, 156,000 men from the United States, Britain, Canada, France and Poland landed on the Normandy beaches, on the northern coast of Nazi-occupied France. Over 4,400 men died. But this was the beginning of the end for Hitler. From Normandy the Allies pushed through France, Beligum, Holland and eventually into the heart of Germany itself, which forced their surrender. Here are some pictures.

These are Canadian troops coming ashore on Juno Beach.















Sorry I was going to put more pictures on but the computer won't let me. Maybe I'll try again later.

His Masterpiece

I got this poem from a friend of mind and I thought I would share it with you.

My life is but a weaving, between my God and me,
I do not choose the colours, He worketh steadily,
Of times He weaveth sorrow, and I in foolish pride,
Forget He sees the upper, and I the underside.
Not till the loom is silent, and shuttles cease to fly,
Will God unroll the canvas and explain the reason why.
The dark threads are as needful in the skillful Weaver's hand,
As the threads of gold and silver in the pattern He has planned.

(Anonymous)

Sunsets

This is collection of pictures of sunsets from the past couple years. They're in no particular order.
Enjoy!

Ottawa!

Hey guys, sorry I haven't posted in a while. I was planning to post before I went to Ottawa but I never got around to it. This post should make up for it though. The trip to Ottawa was awesome! On Monday we drove there and had supper with the Ottawa Valley homeschooling group. On Tuesday we went to the Royal Canadian Mint, the War Museum and in the afternoon we toured the Parliament buildings with Joe Preston's staff. He is our MP. On Wednesday we went to the National House of Prayer,the Supreme Court and the Nature Museum. On Thursday we went to the RCMP Musical Ride stables and the Museum of Civilization. On Friday we went to the museum of Science and technology and then we drove home. Ok now for the pictures.

The Canadain Shield, mainly trees interspersed with rocks and swamps.

































I was very impressed by the architecture, especially of the Parliament buildings and the supreme court but also by the other buildings down town.

















The Royal Canadian Mint, we weren't allowed to take pictures inside.

















The top of the entrance to the Mint.

















The War Museum


















































There was some interesting models there.
































The Parliament buildings, I took first one and Karen took the second one. The first one is more blurry because of the weather and because I took it out of the van.


































The Supreme Court. This building is huge! Its true size is hard to capture on camera but hopefully the people give it some scale. That is me on the top of the front steps. Karen took the picture.

















I have to go now but I'll post more pictures later.

Future Weapons

Lately on youtube I've been watching a show called Future Weapons. It is narrated by Richard Machowicz, known as Mack, he is a former Navy Seal and martial arts instructor. He shows different weapons or weapons systems that have recently been invented or upgraded. Sniper rifles and assault rifles are usually featured but he also sometimes has planes and vehicles. Some of the guns that have been featured are the Barret M82 sniper, AA12 shotgun and the XM307 grenade launcher. Here are some pictures.











Mack:
















MQ9 Predator UAV

















XM307 Grenade launcher


















F-22 Raptor





























M107

















Apache Longbow