a day of appropriate activities!

Today our Great Leader has issued a proclamation! He has said:

NOW, THEREFORE, I, GEORGE W. BUSH, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim July 30, 2006, as the 50th Anniversary of our National Motto, "In God We Trust." I call upon the people of the United States to observe this day with appropriate programs, ceremonies, and activities.

The full proclamation can be read here.

I say that we do as he has asked! First of all, send a letter to our noble leader at comments@whitehouse.gov telling him that he should leave religion out of his politics. ( Here's mine! )

Then, I advise you to read this article from the New York Times about Rev. Gregory Boyd. Here's a quote from the article:

After refusing each time, Mr. Boyd finally became fed up, he said. Before the last presidential election, he preached six sermons called “The Cross and the Sword” in which he said the church should steer clear of politics, give up moralizing on sexual issues, stop claiming the United States as a “Christian nation” and stop glorifying American military campaigns.

Cool guy, eh? ( Write him a supportive letter! )

I think those are appropriate activities with which to celebrate the 50th anniversary of our national motto, don't you? Many thanks to a517dogg for pointing me to both links.

herbs

I just got a cilantro plant at the store, b/c it seems lately that a good many recipes call for a little bit of cilantro. I've had herb plants before, but they all kicked the bucket. Any advice for this one? In particular, how do I cut off leaves when I want to use some? Do I cut off a whole stalk? Or just nip off the leaves? Or cut off the leafy tip of the stalk, but leave the leaves down below? What will insure a healthy bushy long-lived plant? (Whatever I did with my basil last time was apparently the wrong choice.)