Like for the first two days of the GOP convention I was trying to find a fact check article that had some substance but was pretty much unsuccessful. Â It seems that Clint Eastwood’s rambling rants to an empty chair was the highlight of the night. Of course, Mr. Romney pulled out the “Obama Medicare $716 billion cut which has been already thoroughly discounted. Â The other … Continue reading I Wish He Had Succeeded……Huh???
Source: Â Catholic Leaders to Rep. Paul Ryan: Stop Distorting Church Teaching to Justify Immoral Budget | Faith in Public Life. âIf Rep. Ryan thinks a budget that takes food and healthcare away from millions of vulnerable people upholds Catholic values, then he also probably believes Jesus was a Tea Partier who lectured the poor to stop being so lazy and work harder,â said John Gehring, … Continue reading Catholic Leaders And The Ryan Budget….
Source:Â FACT CHECK: Ryan Takes Factual Shortcuts in Speech – ABC News. Laying out the first plans for his party’s presidential ticket, GOP vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan took some factual shortcuts Wednesday night when he attacked President Barack Obama’s policies on Medicare, the economic stimulus and the budget deficit. I must admit that Mr. Ryan really knows how to give a speech. He got the … Continue reading Ryan’s Factual Shortcuts…..
Source:Â Paul Ryan weighs in on Middle East policy – First Read. He continued: âIn the past day, Iranâs president called our ally Israel, quote, a cancerous tumor that must be excised. Let me be really clear. Under President Romney, our adversaries will think twice about challenging America and our allies because we believe in peace through strength. There will be no daylight between America and … Continue reading The Hawks….
Source: Â Fact check: Christie’s keynote address â USATODAY.com. Christie: Romney will tell us the hard truths we need to hear to end the debacle of putting the world’s greatest health care system in the hands of federal bureaucrats and putting those bureaucrats between an American citizen and her doctor. Fact Check comment: Â As we just said in our first item on the convention, the Affordable … Continue reading As Usual – Half Truths or Half-Lies….
Source:Â Ayn Rand Railed Against Government Benefits, But Grabbed Social Security and Medicare When She Needed Them | Alternet. Ayn Rand was not only a schlock novelist, she was also the progenitor of a sweeping âmoral philosophyâ that justifies the privilege of the wealthy and demonizes not only the slothful, undeserving poor but the lackluster middle-classes as well. Her books provided wide-ranging parables of “parasites,” “looters” … Continue reading Ayn Rand – Mr. Ryans Hero….
Source:Â Michael J. Fox’s new TV comedy is headed to NBC – The Clicker. NBC has ordered 22 episodes of the untitled single-camera comedy that will star Fox as a husband and father of three from New York City dealing with family, career and challenges — including Parkinson’s disease. Filming will begin this year for a fall 2013 premiere. I really enjoyed the Michael J. Fox … Continue reading Putting a Face On It…..
This is another aside post that is somewhat linked to the previous one. In that post I discussed how I replied to some fellow Christians Facebook comments about how it was not the government’s job to take care of the poor. These Christians admitted, but it seems not many of them do, that it is the church’s job to do that. I then went on … Continue reading Nudges….
Source:Â Paul Ryan’s Peculiar Definition of Bipartisanship – Businessweek. … Instead of getting rid of the fee-for-service modelâMedicare as we know it, in which the government pays providers directlyâand opening everything to the free market, Medicare would compete directly with private plans regulated by government exchanges. And rather than pegging the growth rate of Medicare to the Consumer Price Index, as Ryan had proposed, Ryan appeased … Continue reading Paul Ryan’s Peculiar Definition of Bipartisanship
I got into a discussion on FaceBook recently about Church/State responsibilities. Â This one started out on a good friend of mine’s page where he stated: As a pastor I try to steer clear of citing personal preferences when it comes to politics. …. Having said that, I am certainly happy that a man of great integrity and moral character, Paul Ryan from Wisconsin, is a … Continue reading Whose Responsibility???
It looks like it is going to take a few weeks before I can adequately start my parallel study of the Roman Empire and the beginnings of the Christian Church. I want to at least know enough about the Roman Empire that I can make some worthy analogies. So, in the mean time I am going to be doing some “Asides”. These are posts that … Continue reading Aside — About Responsibilities…..
I am going to shake off my vanity and put a picture of me for this Saturday’s photo. When we lived in New Jersey I developed a definite taste for oysters on the half shell. But I don’t usually get them unless I am close to the source. This picture was taken this Spring in  Baltimore Maryland which is close to the source đ  They … Continue reading Oysters…..
Source: Post office nears historic default on $5B payment – The Denver Post. Government agencies have a well-earned reputation of moving slowly in response to changes. I think the Post Office is a prime example of that. Here are some words from the source article indicating that molasses movement. FedEx and UPS and the Internet seem to be making the Postal Service obsolete.” Banks are promoting electronic … Continue reading Post office nears historic default on $5B payment – The Denver Post
Source:Â Gallup: No immediate bounce for Romney after Ryan VP pick – Political Hotsheet – CBS News. I am just not following all this presidential stuff like I used to but that doesn’t mean I don’t have an opinion once in a while and this is one of those whiles. Â It seems strange to me that the VP pick in the GOP is from the conservative … Continue reading No immediate bounce…
source: Â 15 technologies of today we’ll still be using in 2030 – Gadgetbox on NBCNews.com. This is a very interesting article about what the author thinks will still be around in 18 years. Â It is kind of risky making these types of predictions but since money is not on the line there isn’t much to be lost by the author. For the most part I … Continue reading 15 technologies we’ll still be using in 2030…
I see that the outlying political super pacs otherwise known as the ultra-rich-radical-right are now hitting on Obama because it looks like the government might lose up to $40 billion in the bailout of General Motors. Â They claim that it is typical of him to throw away all our tax dollars. But I look at the other side of the coin. We have lost more … Continue reading The Job Creators and the Bailout…
I know in the introduction to this study I said I would not be following a timeline but instead be giving you a mosaic. But after thinking about it for a while now I have decided to do the timeline approach. In addition to a time line I have decided to try to interweave it with the history of the Roman Empire. I know this … Continue reading A Change of Heart…..
Study: Sea rise faster on East Coast than rest of globe â USATODAY.com. From Cape Hatteras, N.C., to just north of Boston, sea levels are rising much faster than they are around the globe, putting one of the world’s most costly coasts in danger of flooding, government researchers report. U.S. Geological Survey scientists call the 600-mile swath a “hot spot” for climbing sea levels caused by … Continue reading Sea rise faster on East Coast than rest of globe â USATODAY.com
I am going to talk a little about a tough one here and that is the “A” word. By that of course I mean abortion. Â It seems to be the sole driving force for many voters in this country. Â As long as the candidate says he is against the “A” word then many seem to flock to him. This is especially true for the so-called … Continue reading The “A” Word and Evangelicals….
I took this picture somewhere in Kansas. I think this is the mother of all silos I have ever seen. Â Lots of corn…. Continue reading Gainery….
Source:Â Public overwhelmingly supports large defense spending cuts | iWatch News by The Center for Public Integrity. While politicians, insiders and experts may be divided over how much the government should spend on the nationâs defense, thereâs a surprising consensus among the public about what should be done: They want to cut spending far more deeply than either the Obama administration or the Republicans. Anyone who … Continue reading Public overwhelmingly supports large defense spending cuts
I was a small business owner for six years after I retired from the big business corporate world. But being a sole proprietor with no employees I really don’t have a good view of just what small businesses are really about. The Republican political leaders say small businesses are the growth engine of our country and we shouldn’t tax them by taking away the Bush tax cuts for those making over $250,000 annually.
How many of the so-called small businesses were like mine just a guy in a shop building things for customers? How many hire more than a handful of employees? I decided to look into this.
Here is a link to a bunch of numbers in this area: Â http://www.census.gov/econ/smallbus.htmlÂ
There are approximately 29 million business in this countryThis will be the beginning of I don’t know how many posts on the early leaders of the church. By early I mean after the Apostles but before Constantine (350 AD). Again I want to state very clearly up front that I am not a theologian or someone who is very learned in this area. I am just an ordinary guy who has questions about … Continue reading The Early Leaders – A Study Approach…
Elections are a good deal like marriages, thereâs no accounting for anyoneâs taste. – May 10, 1925 Â Â Will Rogers You did it again Will. You perfectly described an election eighty-seven years in the future. There is just no accounting for the taste of the people who will be voting Republican this year. Â But then again we will have to wait to see just how many … Continue reading Taste…..
From researching previous posts I know that most businesses no longer do much on-the-job training.  That is they don’t take a green horn and teach him the skills that are necessary to make him a valuable employee. It is said that they just don’t see the profit in doing that as many will just leave for a higher pay once they have been trained. This varies … Continue reading On The Job Training….
If you have anything to tell me of importance, for God’s sake begin at the end. Â Â — Sara Jeannette Duncan, Â 1861-1922 I have never had any degree of patience in my life, especially now that I am in my senior years. So when I ran across this quote it got my immediate attention. I read quite a few fellow bloggers daily but I must … Continue reading Begin At The End…..
This will probably be my last post about the early christians for a while. Next time I will begin to concentrate on some of the early theologians,bishops/historians/leaders or whatever you want to call them, and how they influenced the direction of the church. Closing this chapter, at least for now, it is important for you to remember what “faith” was to the early Christians. Here … Continue reading How Faith Changed….
When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has been opened for us. Â — Helen Keller Helen Keller has always been someone who has inspired me in my life. I would dreadfully fear but can’t imagine being both deaf and blind. If anyone knows about closed doors … Continue reading The Closed Door….
Here it is Photo Saturday again. I decided to use it to give you a glimpse of my new Chevy Sonic. I have had it over a month now and simply love it.  This picture was taken as we entered Moab Utah. I thought the orange mountains were a good backdrop for my inferno orange car  đ Continue reading My New Sonic…
Source:Â First Thoughts: The center cannot hold – First Read. âI have reached the conclusion that the atmosphere today, and the reality that exists in the House of Representatives, no longer encourages the finding of common ground” âI have to say that Iâm frustrated by how much we â I mean the Republican Party â are willing to give deferential treatment to our extremes in this … Continue reading Another Republican Moderate Gone… “The center cannot hold”
I am going to jump ahead a little here so that I can put something into your mind before we tackle early church leaders. To illustrate my point I want to once again use a quote from The Future of Faith by Harvey Cox: Thus, it is now clear that the âofficial Christianityâ that eventually emerged was only one among a range of âChristianitiesâ that … Continue reading Official Christianity….
Maybe you read here that I recently bought a new Chevy Sonic to replace my twenty year old truck. Of course that also meant getting insurance for it. It turns out that since it has such a high safety rating that the insurance is actually cheaper than our four-year old HHR. I was certainly pleasantly surprised by that! But getting insurance got me to thinking … Continue reading About That Auto Insurance…
These very hot summer days are getting to me. In past years I have always rationalized having to endure the cold winter days so I could get some pleasant summer ones. I know last winter was probably the mildest one I have seen in at least twenty years so maybe these super hot summer days are in contrast to that. When I first rented a … Continue reading I Hate Crunchy Grass….
Should we still have ambition in our senior years or is this just a time to give that up? Â That is a question that has been dogging me lately. My wife, for the most part, has not had much ambition, at least by my standards, for the last twenty-five years. She is totally content to live her daily life in exactly the same very passive … Continue reading Ambition in Our Senior Years??
The Future of Faith (Cox, Harvey) As we have seen, these early Christian âhistoriansâ were neither critical nor neutral. They were not even historians. They were churchmen who aspired to become the leaders of the next generation of Christians. They were anything but disinterested, and they had an agenda that was not particularly hidden. Looking for a potent way to establish their own authority, they … Continue reading Early Church Historians…
While on vacation recently we ate at a five-star restaurant at Mesa Verde.  When the meal came all the food was stacked in the middle of the plate. I know I frequently see that on the food cable channels but I never actually see people eat that food.  I know the stacking  is done because it is supposed to look better that way but how … Continue reading About That Meal….
RJ's Corner 