LINCOLN'S ADVICE, LIFT FOR LIFE AND FREEDOM OF THE PRESS

A message for Ashcroft, Talent, Gore and others: "The path was worn and slippery. My foot slipped from under me, knocking the other out of the way," Abraham Lincoln said, after losing a Senate race. "But I recovered and said to myself, It's a slip and not a fall.'"

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Lift for Life is one of the St. Louis charter schools sponsored by Southeast Missouri State University. Rams running back Marshall Faulk is a big supporter of the Lift For Life program in downtown St. Louis. The not-for-profit youth agency includes the Lift For Life Gym (an after-school athletic program for inner-city children) and the Lift For Life Academy (a charter middle school for students at risk of dropping out of school). Faulk is participating in a "Carry the Ball" program.

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Thoughts on freedom of the press:

Why should freedom of speech and freedom of the press be allowed? Why should a government, which is doing what it believes to be right, allow itself to be criticized? It would not allow opposition to lethal weapons. Ideas are much more fatal things than guns. Why should any man be allowed to buy a printing press and disseminate pernicious opinion calculated to embarrass the government? -- Vladimir Lenin (1870-1924)

A free press can of course be good or bad, but most certainly without freedom it will never be anything but bad. ... Freedom is nothing else but a chance to be better, whereas enslavement is a certainty of the worse. -- Albert Camus (1913-1960)

A free press is the unsleeping guardian of every other right that free men prize. It is the most dangerous form of tyranny. -- Winston Churchill (1874-1965)

As long as a country has no civil liberty and freedom of information and no independent press, then there exists no effective body of public opinion to control the conduct of government. -- Audrey D. Sakharov (1921-1989)

We are not afraid to entrust the American people with unpleasant facts, foreign ideas, alien philosophies and competitive values. For a nation that is afraid to let its people judge the truth and falsehood in an open market is afraid of its people. -- John F. Kennedy (1917-1963)

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Six billion: Much ado was made recently about the world now having 6 billion human beings. There were the usual doomsday cries of those who are always eager to jump on the-end-of-the-world-as-we-know-it bandwagon. Those types really have been coming forth as the world prepares to enter a new millennium.

Yes, many of the 240,000 babies born each day face a future of poverty and illiteracy. But it should be noted that people live longer and healthier lives than any generation in history.

Yes, the world's population has doubled since 1960 and increased by 1 billion people in the past 12 years. But the rate is gradually slowing and food production is keeping pace with the additional billions. In several parts of the world, there are food surpluses.

There are famines in some parts of the world, but they're not from a lack of resources as much as they are the result of civil wars or political incompetence by undemocratic regimes that create social and economic injustices. On the other hand, good government can enable even the poorest countries to cope.

Although there are potential dangers, the biggest of which may be access to water, the world still has the capacity to increase food production.

So, what does reaching the 6 billion mark mean? Not much. Despite predictions during the past couple hundred years of ecological collapse, famine and nuclear war, none of that has happened and most of the world is better off today than at any time in history. That the world has 6 billion people is actually a testimony to advances made by science and medicine. Life expectancy has increased and the death rate has decreased.

The year 2000 will surely disappoint the doomsday crowd as they wake up and the world is still turning and we're still here. And yes, we'll still have to go to work and face the old problems we do today. There will be challenges and there will be opportunities, just like today. -- Arkansas Business Journal

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Positive thoughts: On a positive note I've learned that no matter what happens, or how bad it seems today, life does go on, and it will be better tomorrow.

I've learned that you can tell a lot about a person by the way he or she handles these three things: a rainy day, lost luggage and tangled Christmas tree lights.

I've learned that regardless of your relationship with your parents, you'll miss them when they're gone from your life.

I've learned that making a living is not the same thing as making a life.

I've learned that life sometimes gives you a second chance.

I've learned that you shouldn't go through life with a catcher's mitt on both hands. You need to be able to throw something back.

I've learned that if you pursue happiness, it will elude you. But if you focus on your family, your friends, the needs of others, your work and doing the very best you can, happiness will find you.

I've learned that whenever I decide something with an open heart, I usually make the right decision.

I've learned that even when I have pains, I don't have to be one.

I've learned that every day you should reach out and touch someone. People love that human touch: holding hands, a warm hug or just a friendly pat on the back.

I've learned that I still have a lot to learn.

I've learned that you should pass this on to someone you care about. I just did. Sometimes they just need a little something to make them smile.

Note: people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.

Keep smiling! -- Anonymous

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All I need to know I learned on Noah's Ark:

1. Plan ahead. It wasn't raining when Noah built the ark.

2. Stay fit. When you're 600 years old, someone might ask you to do something really big.

3. Don't listen to critics. Do what has to be done.

4. Build on high ground.

5. If mosquitos are important enough to be saved, you are too.

6. For safety's sake, travel in pairs.

7. Speed is not always an advantage. The cheetahs were on board, but so were the snails.

8. If you can't fight or flee, float.

9. Be trusting and patient. The high waters always subside.

10. Remember that the ark was built by amateurs. The Titanic was built by professionals.

11. Remember that the woodpeckers inside are often a bigger threat than the storm outside.

12. No matter how bleak the situation may appear, there's always a rainbow to follow.

~Gary Rust is president of Rust Communications.