This Blog -
Moved To:
http://professor-howdy.blogspot.com/

ey Howdy,

Thanks for your humorous, and thought-provoking newsletters.
How refreshing it is to hear from a conservative source after all
we're bombarded with from the liberals 24/7! I appreciate the
unashamed way you speak the truth, and speak God's Word.
AND the unashamed way you give the left wing a hard time.
We get PLENTY, so they can take a little, too!

As for improvements to your e-newspaper, I would personally
enjoy it more if they were kept shorter in length, and more concise.
Fewer letters, and maybe even less articles and jokes would
definitely make it more readable for me!

Keep up the good work!
Micale in Minnesota

+++

Dear Howdy,

I really enjoy the e-mails, and share the jokes with lots of my friends.
They are enjoying them also.

I also appreciate the thought-provoking articles that you include.

Keep up the good work,

Melodee T.
Cuyamaca College Library

+++

Howdy,

I think you are doing a wonderful job! I am finishing up my 4th year here
at George Mason University in Fairfax VA, and have been reading Howdy
for about a year now. I have no idea how i got on the list but i love it! I will
soon be moving to Australia (to study abroad) for 6 months so i'll be sure
to spread it around down there. Keep up the good work!

Suggestions:
* Maybe make it a tad bit shorter -- i rarely get around to reading the
whole thing.
* maybe take out half the "filler stuff"... you know the same things you see
in every issue.. all the disclaimers and stuff. That would cut down on
length and allow people to access the content they want to read better.

-Josh

***

Howdy,
My only suggestion right now is to stop using web dings or wing dings
for text in the full version. Some of the other fonts are hard to read
too, but the only way to read the ones mentioned is to cut and paste
them into a word document and change the format to Times new Roman or
something readable. Otherwise, I love everything about the letter.
Rob

*

Hey Rob, There are no "web dings or wing dings"
when the weekly issue is sent out except as section
dividers. I'll bet your computer or ISP may have settings
that facilitates this change. I do like to use the hard to
read "Ransom" text under the dancing alligator for
SPECIAL EFFECTS!!!
Happy Thanksgiving,
Howdy
P.S. He usually says stuff to stupid to be read:o)

***

Howdy,

People need to be confronted with the truth, but not from a polemical
perspective. This can be done in love, as is typically demonstrated in
Colson's approach in Breakpoint, (which you often quote). I sometimes
think a little less editorializing would be appropriate.

Change your quotes a bit more often. I find myself skipping over large
sections due to the expectation that there will be nothing new in them.
The dancing figures take up a lot of bites and don't really add much.
I appreciate the challenging devotions.

How about putting the "letters to the editor" at the end where it's easier
to skip over (read: avoid) them if I chose to.

Why make the riddle answers so hard to get to? It's one of my favorite
parts, along with the vocabulary, the UNC jokes, the devotionals.
Thanks for the web site tips sprinkled throughout.
Tomm

***

Howdy,

Your 'Thought and Humor" have been a great help with the students that
I work with and I would think there are several of them that are now
getting your 'Thoughts and Humor'.

Thank you for making my days better and the students that I work with.
Richard Miller
Gov. Docs and Maps
University of Alaska Fairbanks

***

Howdy,

Suggestions for improving?! NO WAY! I love T&H and I love forwarding it
to people! On weeks when I'm not too busy, I really enjoy reading as much
of it as possible. And those times when I'm bogged down in work, the lighter
side of T&H is a perfect pick-me-up. You're doing a great work for God's
Commission, Howdy. Thank you!

Blessings,
Ellen
Duquesne University, Pittsburgh

***

Hi Howdy!
I loved the message about the "Terrifying Flight"!
I sent it to many people.
I thought Uncle John would get
upset with me because I sent it to him
but he said that it was food for thought!
But my friend Jeanne DID NOT LIKE IT!
Oh boy, I'm in hot water again!
Keep sharing messages that we can share with our
friends and relatives so that they can find Christ!
looking for His Higher Ground!
jill (Board Member)

***

Hi Howdy :)
I like your messages just the way they are.
What else can I say ;) They're fine as far as I think.
Keep it up Howdy,
JJ :)

***

Dear Howdy,
I enjoy T&H but it is so long! It takes up quite a bit of space. Also,
why is it so hard to unsubscribe? I know people complain, and I was
just wondering because I was going to unsubscribe to the newsletter
and just go online to read when I had time (this way it doesn't fill up
my inbox). Is that possible? Do you have a website that has the
newsletter posted? I like your ministry, but I don't think making
people upset is the way to their hearts. Otherwise I think you are
doing a great job. I enjoy all the side stories and links to outside news.
A.I.

***

Hi Howdy,
It usually takes up 41% of my space and then, I can never view it
all...I am told, "This is too long to view completely". I'm sure it's
because I only have webtv and not a computer. I cut and paste
some of the jokes, and other items.
Keep up the good work!!
Sincerely,
Jeanine C. from Deltona FL

+++

Dear Howdy,

Please forgive me but I cannot think of any way for you to improve on your
newsletters. They are so creative, fun and thought provoking, I envy you
your dedication and expertise. I guess my biggest problem is I don't want
to lose any of them. Consequently my e-mail filled up so I printed them.
I am running out of filing cabinets to keep them in. I am also saving them
on floppies, only about 2 will fit on each disk. I started that in the spring.
So you can imagine how many disks I have. I have forwarded them to
friends and family. So, to make a long story short, too late, just keep 'em
coming and let me know if there is an archive I can access so I won't
have to worry about keeping them all myself.
God Bless You,
Patti

+++

Dear Howdy,

I like T&H just fine the way it is. I really enjoy the jokes and the
word match. About the only thing I could suggest is that you include
more of your cartoons and keep up the good work!!!

Sincerely,
Phillip (UMR)

+++

Dear Howdy,

Simple...or maybe not so simple. Make it shorter. #1-it is a big file & eats
up space on my system (when multiplied). #2-It is so long, & I am so busy,
I often must just delete it because I just don't have the time to read it all
(& so I don't read it at all). Priorities, you know. But hey, college kids
have more free time than me, so if it does them good, don't change a thing!

Jim

***

Dear Howdy,

I think 'Thought & Humor' is fine the way it is.
I don't always have time to read it, but I always save it for later.
Thanks for asking.

Linda (California)

***

Dear Howdy,

My Mission:
"To look for the need and meet it before I am asked to."

Carol Geer (MSU)

***

Dear Howdy,

For me PLEASE!!!! stop all the graphics. It takes forever to down load to
my e-mail. The info is ok except for the repeat info each issue. I read it
once, I don't have time to filter thru all the same articles each week.

David (UCNSB)

***

Dear Howdy,

The newspaper is great in content, however it is too long to be useful to
people who have very tight time lines throughout the day. You may consider
breaking it up into smaller chunks and send it twice a week, or even
smaller and send it daily. Just a thought. Thanks for asking.

Bob (East Carolina University)

***

Hi Howdy,
Your news letter is really too long. I also can never find the answers
to the riddles so make that easier. The jokes are great. Your Christian
writings and comments are great as well. hope this helps.
Dave U.

***

Howdy,

What is the purpose of your publication? Is it to:
1) Evangelize/Disciple?
2) Educate?
3) Entertain?
4) All three?

If #4, you're right on the mark. Some of the comments you provided
from readers below are, in my opinion, accurate and some are not.

In your weekly publication, letters are important when they:
1) cause the reader to think about an issue;
2) entertain the reader; or
3) cause the reader to pray for an individual.

Letters are not, in my opinion, important when they:
1) display hostility without resolve (i.e., "Don't send me another
*bleeping* issue..."); or
2) state opinion without meat (i.e., "I just LOVE receiving HOWDY
and can't go a week without it.") It doesn't seem to produce fruit or
pertain to one of the three goals I listed above.

Offering a text-only or fuller, color version of HOWDY is, in my opinion,
the best way to appease those whose computers cannot manage large
files and those who appreciate graphics.

There are very few cases that I know of where repetition does not dilute.
However, this has to be balanced out with the fact that new readers join
the fray all the time. In my opinion, the "quotes of the qualified famous"
are a great way to close the e-newsletter weekly and are easy to skip
by the weekly reader. There are some articles and letters which may
not need to be repeated, however. The problem with repeating is that:
1) The editor ends up with quite a cache of read-worthy items which can
clog up a newly-released e-newsletter; and
2) Fickle followers may perceive the newsletter as no longer fresh and,
even worse, diluted because of repeats.

Therefore, in my opinion, perhaps a listing at the end along the lines of,
"If You Want More on X --- Then See Y" and a website location, may be the
best way to go about including important topics/letters in a weekly format
repeatedly.

One other suggestion (albeit selfish) is that you include riddle answers and
word knowledge answers directly below their respective categories.

Please let me know your reaction to my opinions. Thanks again (I know it's
repetetive but sincere) for all your work. May the Lord continue to bless
you.

Lisa :) Tennessee (Board Member)

***

Howdy;

"How can we improve 'Thought & Humor' and make it more
useful/enjoyable for you?"

Tough question. I personally enjoy it greatly, and forward each
issue to a group of close friends. Unfortunately, some of them are either
not as enlightened as I, or are not as tolerant of differences of opinion as
I, and so get highly worked up over some of the opinion pieces by Colson
and others. So I frequently edit the mail to avoid the blatant advertising
and more sensitive topics.

Probably the worst of it is the great length of the e-publication.
Smaller bites might make it more amenable to read.

Dave Stark

***

Howdy,

I have received your "Thought & Humor" for over two years and have
enjoyed it very much.

Sad to say I have been unable to receive it since July of this year. Since
it was placed in the "Zip" drive, I have not had access. The I tried to
open this, but found I had to open many files and save each one separately.
I could not put them all together into one file as in the past and have
since given up.

I would like to receive "Thought & Humor" again and hope this will help.

Thanks,
Bill Christian

***

Hi,
Your e-mail is very long, if you could shorten it that would be great.
If you had more diversity geared toward Latino's and other cultures.
That would be wonderful. Culturally relevant issues and even jokes
would be great. most Americans don't know any thing about other
clutters. For instance at Calvin seminary when I was a student their.
called and asked me to bring my green card. I ask what green card
thinking it was some I breaker game. She stated don't you need a green
card if you are from Puerto Rico? I said Puerto Ricans are U'S citizens
by Brith. That should have been a clue to not go their. Things like that.

Maybe you can send out a poll with stories like that but in a funny
way.

Thanks,
John Matias
Counselor
Union High School

***

Dearest Howdy,
To make this newsletter nore useful to me, do not keep printing the same
information in the newsletter several weeks in a row. This is especially
annoying in the letters section. I sometimes have to scroll for a long time
to get past letters that have been printed 4 or 5 times.
Beverly Williams

***

Dear Howdy,
Make the answer(s) to the riddle(s) easier and earlier to find.
Dr. T. G. Towns

***

Hey, Howdy. Your best friend here. What would make life so much easier
with you would be for you to put your answers right under your riddles. I
love getting email from you, but I don't have a lot of time to go searching
for the answers. I would rather spend that time looking at all the other
wonderful stuff you send. Keep up the good work and KEEP SENDING
the good stuff.

Love,
Brenda
Project Manager
U of H

***

Howdy,
I love reading your little tidbits during work. However, there's a lot of
filtering through the religious quotes and stories to get to the goods. How
about leaving T&H with only thought and humor, instead of thought and
humor and worship?
H.S. (ASU)

***

Hi Howdy,

Since it is "your" undertaking to do this newsletter, I don't think you have
to defend yourself. And more so, if the Lord gave you this job to do. And
if He did, you will always have flack from someone.

If people don't want it, as you said "unsubscribe". If they do want it,
read what they want and pass over the rest.

With that said, if you feel you owe that much of an explanation go for it.
I wouldn't though. Perhaps at the beginning of each newsletter you can
make a statement (short) that you can copy from one newsletter to the next.
Perhaps those die hards will eventually get it.....

"Read what you want and pass over the rest,
But I'll keep writing how I feel is best,
I can't please you all so I won't even try
I'll write as commissioned from the Master on high!"

That is my version of a short statement.......

Shirl (Board Member)

***

Howdy,
1) Incorrect on endtimes, surely. :) (OK, OK ! this was not mentioned
below but I could not resist)
2) Egotistical, not possible. It is not in you.
3) If there is anything you need to change, you will know. Since when
did you think you were in control of your newsletters? I have sensed the
Spirit's guiding from the first letter years ago.
4) Since I have never shown any tack or subtlety, do you think I would have
held back if I thought something needed changing? I did not see any need for
change ergo; I did not suggest changes.
5) A person that is confident in their position does not fear those who
disagree, let them say so and others will know you are truely open to
discussion and it gives people without tack a chance to be tackless. I
usually do not write unless there is some disagreeable, misinformed,
obviously mistaken, oops, probably should stop here....
6) As for showing us your reasonableness, see #2.

David (Board Member)

***

Howdy,
I get my e-mail at the library, so saving it for a rainy day, or snowy,
is not practical. You fill up my mail box unless I read and delete.
I cannot be the only on with this problem. Short is good, too.

Thanks and God Bless,
AC

*

Dear AC,
May I suggest a free yahoo account that you store
'T&H' in for later use???
Howdy

***

Howdy,
Don't use whit or yellow when printing ANYTHING. They just do not have
clear images. Otherwise, you do a very good job with the humor and
inspirational texts. I enjoy both. Please keep it going, I would miss
the fun and thought if you stopped.
DD from CT

***

hi
meditation will improve thought and humour
try it

Reader from India

*

Depends on what I meditate upon - How about our
Creator's Handbook for Living - The Bible???
Your Devoted Friend,
Howdy

+++

Hello Howdy,

CONTENTS:
just great !!!!

PRESENTATION:
may be improved ...
(even using standard html code utilities)

FIGURES, ANIMATED GIFs, STRIPES ETC.
I want to have them back !!!!
(you may think at LINKING them, so as to improve download rate)

HOLD ON!
Roberto (Italy)

*

Dear Great Friends,

I am very thankful for your suggestions and deeply indebted
for each response. Here's my reaction below & feel free at
all times to disagree, make suggestions, & inform me when
you are at loggerheads with me:o)

1) The ultimate purpose of 'Thought & Humor' is to obey
The Great Commission - I'm sure you know what this
is but write if perhaps you've never heard of this mandate.

2) The second objective is to promote the forgotten art
of THINKING. Most Americans are either to busy or
preoccupied with less weightier matters (TV, sports,
social events, shopping, getting their hair done, etc.) -
things that aren't necessarily wrong - just not as important.

3) The third disposition is to entertain you with humor,
farcical images, etc. A merry heart maketh great medicine
so if you hear of a good joke (that's family friendly) send it
to me pronto.

The main reason for the POLL was to obtain useful information.
Much of the appearance of 'Thought & Humor' was originally
suggested by others - color, animations, etc. A secondary reason
was to offer the less that 1% who wish to unsubscribe the opportunity
to do such w/o reading through the great volume of a regular issue.
Interestingly, those who wish to unsubscribe normally fall into two
camps. The first camp is offended that I exist and dared approach
their being. The other group of unsubscribers are the ones that are
TOO BUSY in the upcoming week! They cancel because they believe
that I require them to memorize every word of every issue. Our
Unsubscribe Manager (who graduated from UNC) wonders if
they cancel Time Magazine, newspapers, cable service and
phone hook up for the same reasons:o)

I must point our that in addition to the three purposes above,
'Thought & Humor' is simply a compilation of the things that
interest me. If the humor makes me laugh, then I share it, - if
a web site interest me, then I mete it out. I must warn you that
politics interest me also and some will write and say that I thought
this was a Christian publication, why are you dealing with the political?
'T&H' is not a typical Christian publication but a panorama of
different motifs/gists/piths -that interest/entertain me and hopefully you.

Finally to the few who wish for a shorter perhaps daily issue,
you don't know what you're asking & whom you're asking.
About 5 years back I did this daily, 5 - 6 times per week and
drove some berserk. It seems that I have so much to share with
you my good friends that I was sending out 5 - 6 weekly issues
that were just as capacious as current issues. I'm sparing you:o) -
a weekly issue limits me - BELIEVE ME!!!

This is not to say that I haven't changed & you haven't influenced
me - just go to this site and have a look at some old issues and
decide for yourself:
  .comment-link {margin-left:.6em;}

To find out how you can begin a personal relationship
with Jesus Christ, please call:

1-888-NEED HIM.



===============


TRUE INTELLIGENCE:
IQ OR NOBILITY OF CHARACTER


Too many people presume a natural connection between intelligence and
goodness, and between intelligence and wisdom. So writes Joel Engel in a
brilliant article entitled “Too Smart to Be So Dumb,” printed in The Weekly
Standard. This faulty presumption, he says is “why so many academics and
pundits and other affiliates of the intelligentsia ridicule George W. Bush’s
purported lack of gray matter.” All that usually means, he adds, is that
Bush doesn’t share their perspective, so he must be stupid. And if you’re
stupid, the implication is that you can be neither “good nor wise” though
Bush’s policies suggest otherwise.[1]

Googling ‘Bush’ and ‘stupid’ on the computer yields about 90,000 hits,
including the usual jokes too often heard on late-night talk shows by people
one would never describe as wise or comments by actors and actresses whose
characters are hardly known to be moral let alone noble. “Not surprisingly,”
says Engel, “many of the same people who call Bush dumb consider Bill
Clinton the White House’s most brilliant occupant,[2] a man whose devious
sexual practices, inability to tell the truth, and scandal-ridden reign is
legendary. But, of course, he was intelligent.

In an outrageous move, the press reported that the Lovenstein
Institute of Scranton, Pennsylvania led by Dr. Werner R. Lovenstein and
Professor Patricia F. Dilliams, put out a study ranking the IQ’s of every
President over the last 50 years and found that first among them was Bill
Clinton, last was the current President. The results were so alarming that
they were forwarded by e-mail to millions of people. Here’s the outrageous
part. There is no Lovenstein Institute, no Dr. Lovenstein or Dr. Dilliams.
But the word spread because no one bothered to verify the facts, which,
of course, tells us a lot more about those who spread it than about President
Bush.

How do we define intelligence anyway? And what purpose does
it serve if it makes no difference in our moral choices and if it does not
produce integrity? Hitler, Marx, Lenin, and Stalin were intelligent. They
were also mass murderers whose influence is marked by unspeakable horror.
The truth is, as George Orwell so aptly pointed out, that exceptionally
bright people believe, as Engel notes, “truly stupid things.” In fact, it’s
beginning to look like some of those known as our prominent intellectual
elites are rude, ruthless, and narcissistic. One can be an intellectual
genius and a moral imbecile.

Intelligence should be redefined to include common sense, nobility of
character and common courtesy, otherwise known as civility. All of these
seem to be far more crucial to successful leadership than being a genius.
President Bush, whose IQ we do not know, is polite to his rudest enemies,
a man of unabashed spiritual consciousness, respectful of the average
American, and decisive about what he believes. No moral scandals have
marked his years in office, and he does not use his position to be the center
of constant attention.

We can all fall into the trap of admiring intelligence at the
expense of good thinking. Let’s watch whom we listen to and whom we make
our heroes and heroines. Rosalie de Rosset
  .comment-link {margin-left:.6em;}

Need a phone number or mailing address? If you have Internet access,
you really don't need to call 411 or pick up a phone book anymore.

Switchboard.com acts as a virtual operator. Enter a person's name and
find out their address and phone number. It's a great way to track down
old friends.

It also has a yellow pages section. Search by company name or
business type.

TO VISIT THIS SITE, GO HERE:
http://www.switchboard.com

{Double click on the web address above for additional information:}



===============

Howdy says: "FORWARD TO FRIENDS & YOUR MAMA!"
First Published In Last Century - July 26,1997
Thought For The OPEN Mind - Humor From American Culture
  .comment-link {margin-left:.6em;}