Month: May 2011

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The U.S. Postal Service Nears Collapse – BusinessWeek

RJ Walters

Source: The U.S. Postal Service Nears Collapse – BusinessWeek. Too bad the person who wrote this article didn’t snail mail it to everyone. It is seven pages long so it would have brought in big bucks to the USPS. :) Seriously though (at least as serious as I get on this blog) the postal service is in pretty deep trouble and it is not going to go away. I am usually pretty tolerant of government agencies but this one needs to reign back its scale and look to other ways to provide its services. There are just too many post offices … Continue reading The U.S. Postal Service Nears Collapse – BusinessWeek

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Big Red…

RJ Walters

Before our New Jersey years we lived in a house on the north side of Indianapolis. While we were there we “adopted” two of the neighborhood cats that came to our door about to have kittens. Big Red, as we named him also came to our door for his regular dinner. He was a scraggly cat and looking at his ears and belly it was obvious that he got into a fight now and again. When we moved to NJ the new owners promised to continue to feed him. Here is to you Big Red. I hope you had a … Continue reading Big Red…

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Memorial Day….

RJ Walters

Being Memorial Day it is a time to mourn all the people who have lost their lives in the world’s many wars. If only we would learn the lessons of Jesus they could all have been prevented. God grieves with every death, especially when we futilely take up weapons against each other. Jesus said two thing encompass all God’s laws: To love God with all our hearts To love each other If only we could learn to obey them…… Continue reading Memorial Day….

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An Act of God???

RJ Walters

Given the large loss of life due to the Goplin Missouri tornadoes recently I got to thinking about why we call tornadoes and other such events an act of God? Isn’t it really just an occurrence in nature? Did God really conger up these weather events to kill so many people in that city?  Many search throughout the Bible for the answers to these types of questions and they seem to come up with an amazing variety of answers depending on which segments of the Bible they choose to use. I tend to believe that events in nature are just that; events in nature. … Continue reading An Act of God???

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Mom and Dad Are Getting a Divorce?????

RJ Walters

The title to this post seems to be more frequent the last few years. When the kids are grown and out of the house (sometimes those are two totally separate events :) ) then Mom and Dad make the announcement that they will no longer be living together. This often comes as a shock to the kids but maybe it shouldn’t. When Mom and Dad got married twenty-five or more years ago they were at one state of their lives. They had fallen in love and that alone is an overwhelming experience. But as the years progressed Dad took an … Continue reading Mom and Dad Are Getting a Divorce?????

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If It's So Great Then…..

RJ Walters

A couple of posts ago was about the so-called Republican plan to change Social Security. It is championed by Congressman Ryan.  As I mentioned in that previous post this new social security is supposed to empower seniors to get the best plan available but they limit the choices to private insurance companies. I personally have had enough dealings with those for-profit insurance guys to know that profit, not the customers, is their far and away number one priority for them. If as Congressman Ryan suggests that his new plan is an improvement that “empowers” us then why don’t they “empower” … Continue reading If It's So Great Then…..

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I Kind of Figured….

RJ Walters

The above cartoon kind of mirrors what I think of the Obama administration to date. I actively supported his candidacy for president based on his rhetoric during the campaign. He said he was for change and I think the country can use an awful lot of that right now. I had very high hopes for the first African-American president. And then came the compromises. They all seemed to be pretty one-sided to me. Yes, he did get Obamacare passed but it had morphed into an insurance company windfall by the time it became law. He started out with great plans for … Continue reading I Kind of Figured….

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Another Sad Attempt….

RJ Walters

So here it is Monday and I am right where I was last week. What happened to the predicted rapture?  Of course this prediction that failed to happen is among a long line of similar predictions. Every time someone insists that they know the heart of God in minute details they tarnish Christ a little more. He seems to be very tarnished  lately. The only thing this latest rapture prediction has done is to bring out thousands of jokes about those “Christian wackos drinking their cool-aid”. Cool-Aid refers to one of the most gruesome Christian events where Jim Jones and hundreds of … Continue reading Another Sad Attempt….

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What Does “I am a Christian” Really Mean??

RJ Walters

Has the phrase “I am a Christian” lost its meaning in today’s world? A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament. That is one definition out of many. Here are some of the words in Wikipedia describing a “Christian”: The term “Christian” is also used adjectivally to describe anything associated with Christianity, or in a proverbial sense “all that is noble, and good, and Christ-like. It is also used as a label to identify people who associate with the cultural aspects of Christianity, … Continue reading What Does “I am a Christian” Really Mean??

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The Grand Ole Opry…

RJ Walters

I must admit up front that I have never been much of a country music fan. The folk music of  Dylan, Simon & Garfunkel, Peter, Paul & Mary consumed my music tastes during my earlier hearing years. But I did occasionally watch for a few minutes of the Grand Ole Opry when it was on TV in the 1960s. Some of those characters were quite entertaining! So while we were in Nashville we visited the Ryman Auditorium that hosted the Grand Ole Opry for its first thirty some years. It was interesting to see all this history of the place. The stage … Continue reading The Grand Ole Opry…

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Paying Taxes….

RJ Walters

This post is going to start a new category for me entitled “My Conservative Friend”. It will be about some conversations I have had with some of my conservative friends. It will also be about some of the conversation I have yet to have with them. Yes, even though they deem me a liberal I still have some conservative friends; in fact some of them are very conservative. So the posts in the category will be put all of them into the persona of “My Conservative Friend”. Their real identities will remain anonymous to protect the guilty (ha). One thing that … Continue reading Paying Taxes….

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About the Bible

RJ Walters

Source: http://cosmiclog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/05/19/6677671-is-the-bible-full-of-forgeries Just a short note to refer you to the article above. It is about the Bible and how it was written. For those who think the Bible is 100% from God this article will probably be somewhat disturbing. The article reports that through the ages many believe that most of the books of the Bible were probably not actually written by those whose names are attached to them. By providing you with this source article it is not my intent to get into a theological debate about the subject. My purpose for mentioning this subject goes to the … Continue reading About the Bible

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Christian Spending on Massive Churches???

RJ Walters

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42769004/ns/travel-destination_travel/ The above article is about the ten most beautiful churches in the world. Since I take my life lessons from Jesus I went to his words to find his opinion about building monoliths to God. I did not see anything that remotely suggested that God wants us to spend massive amounts of our resources in monuments to Him. Quite the opposite appears to be true. Building massive churches is probably in reality much more of a human power type thing. The Popes, various affluent Christian, and even very popular Evangelists in todays word,  wanted to leave a legacy of … Continue reading Christian Spending on Massive Churches???

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Merciless Meat Cleaver vs. Compassionate Scalpel..

RJ Walters

I see where Indiana’s Governor just signed a law to take another layer of healthcare away from those who cannot afford to pay on their own.  He is de-funding Planned Parenthood because up to 3% of what they do is abortions. The other 97% are for completely other things. This brings up the title for this post.  It seems the Republicans insist on yielding a merciless meat cleaver where a compassionate scalpel would have done the job.  I know Republicans are seen to be against abortion (I have doubts about their real sincerity on that topic) but to take away all the services of that agency is merciless … Continue reading Merciless Meat Cleaver vs. Compassionate Scalpel..

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America's Number One Export? – Part 4

RJ Walters

This is the final post on looking for the U.S. number one export.  Maybe I am just an idealistic dreamer but I am hoping that this one is our actual number one export. Is there a commodity that the U.S. exports much more of than any other country? Could our number one export be Compassion? We are by far the most affluent nation on earth. Maybe a big part of that is our borrowing power but that is another post. I don’t know exactly where we stand as far as our supporting emergency relief efforts around the world but I … Continue reading America's Number One Export? – Part 4

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Museum of the Cherokee Indian

RJ Walters

Here is one of the final destinations on our trip in April of this year. Since my great-grandmother was a Shawnee squaw I have a definite interest in native american culture and history. In some ways I value that part of my heritage more than the European parts. The Museum of the Cherokee Indian is in Cherokee, NC. Of course one of the most remembered events about the Cherokees was their “Trail of Tears” forced on them by Andrew Jackson when he was president. This was when they were basically rounded up with nothing but what was on their backs … Continue reading Museum of the Cherokee Indian