“In Revelation, Jesus is a pride fighter with a tattoo down his leg, a sword in his hand and the commitment to make someone bleed. That is the guy I can worship. I cannot worship the hippie, diaper, halo Christ because I cannot worship a guy I can beat up.” – Mark Driscoll Being that I am now a big fan of streaming video I … Continue reading I Cannot Worship a Guy I Can Beat Up
County Fair – Any State, USA As I have mentioned before the county fair is an integral part of what makes up America. The animal judging is an important part of each fair. It seems that every animal gets a ribbon or two. Continue reading Animal Judging…
County fairs, especially those in rural areas are usually the highlight of the year. Here are some pictures of the one in my county. A little something for everyone. Continue reading County Fair
Seattle WA – Pike Place Fish Company The Pike Place Fish Co is a well established tourist spot in Seattle but it is also a thriving fish market. And yeah they do throw fish around as a regular thing. The whole Public Market is well worth the visit… Continue reading Pike Place…
One of the surest ways to get smarter is to surround yourself with those who are more intelligent than you and to insist on regularly stretching yourself beyond your comfort zone. If you’re just too smart for your current gig, that’s just not going to happen SOURCE: 3 Signs You’re Too Smart for Your Job – Yahoo Small Business Advisor. Another way of saying the … Continue reading 3 Signs You’re Too Smart for Your Job
Small Town America I have lost the records of just where the small town in the pictures above is located but it is somewhat typical of many in rural America. I’m sure it was once a thriving rural town that the farmers and such depended on for their goods and services. This one has not yet been torn down but it has only a very … Continue reading Small Town America
“America is just like an insane asylum. There is not a soul in it will admit they are crazy.” – Will Rogers, 28 April 1935. I’ll even go one farther than you Will and say there ain’t a soul in it that will admit that they might be wrong about anything. That mentality is what has got us all into so much trouble lately. We … Continue reading Like An Insane Asylum….
Philadelphia PA – Liberty Bell I never really understood the significance of it but the Liberty Bell is a major attraction. I guess it was commissioned by someone from a London bell manufacturer. The myth that it was rung to announce the 2nd Continental Congress proclamation of Independence has been proven just that a myth. When it was rung it cracked so you could say … Continue reading Liberty Bell
To all appearances, Cruz is riding his fight with the Republican establishment into the 2016 race for President. He has established himself as the hardest of the hard-liners on Obamacare and on immigration. His likely rivals Marco Rubio and Rand Paul agree with Cruz on the health-care law though neither invested as much as Cruz in the fight; on immigration, Rubio joined with McCain in … Continue reading Please Run Ted…….
Problem: Your right-wing brother-in-law is plugged into the FOX-Limbaugh lie machine, and keeps sending you emails about “Obama spending” and “Obama deficits” and how the “stimulus” just made things worse…. SOURCE: Three Charts to Email to Your Right-Wing Brother-In-Law Updated | Dave Johnson. In the old days, that is the time before I gave up on all the cable news channels I used to get a weekly … Continue reading Three Charts to Email to Your Right-Wing Brother-In-Law
Just what we don’t need in this country, another ultra extreme right wing narcissist vying for a leadership position. Continue reading A Snippet Here, A Snippet There…
Topeka KS – Brown vs Board of Education Historic Site Brown vs The Board of Education was a landmark case that launched the Civil Rights movement in America. It was the time that we finally forced upon an unwilling populace that everyone has a right to equal opportunity in America. There was, and to some degree still is, a lot of hatred in this decision. … Continue reading Equal Opportunities…
1: Mississippi. The poorest state in the U.S. Also the one whose corruption most approaches levels in a Third World country.SOURCE: Gallery: America’s most corrupt states. When they talk about corruption in this article they are talking about corruption of public officials and that is generally from taking bribes. As shown above Mississippi comes in as number one in this category. And as also mentioned … Continue reading America’s most corrupt states
Dearborn, MI – Ford Museum The Henry Ford Museum is one of the premier museums in the country. Shown here is the bus that Rosa Parks refused to give her seat to a white man. This was one of the things that spurred the Civil Rights movement. Here is a little about that from Wikipedia: On December 1, 1955, in Montgomery, Alabama, Parks refused to … Continue reading Rosa Parks & Civil Rights…
Dearborn, MI – Ford Museum The Henry Ford Museum is one of the premier museums in the country. Shown here is the bus that Rosa Parks refused to give her seat to a white man. This was one of the things that spurred the Civil Rights movement. Here is a little about that from Wikipedia: On December 1, 1955, in Montgomery, Alabama, Parks refused to … Continue reading Rosa Parks & Civil Rights…
The white majority in the U.S. will be outnumbered by Americans of other races by 2042, eight years sooner than previously projected by the Census Bureau. SOURCE: U.S. White Population Will Be Minority by 2042, Government Says – Bloomberg. The year 2042 strikes abject fear into some of us. Particularly those who are associated with groups with three letters in the title. That is the … Continue reading Afraid Of Being A Minority…
Boston MA – MIT We visited MIT in 2003. It does not have the charm of its neighbor Harvard but I kind of think it produces a better brand of graduates. MIT – Scientist, Engineers, Innovators… Harvard – Lawyers, Lawyers, Politicians….. Our institutions of higher learner attract students from around the world…. Continue reading Learn Here…
For far too many of us the image of being religious is the above. This picture was taken on a busy Saturday night in Times Square NYC recently. Too many look at religion as some grim-faced old man telling us that we need to quit having any fun and get ready for the wrath of God. They didn’t take this old guy seriously anymore than … Continue reading For Too Many….
Washington DC – Smithsonian Institute When John Kennedy started the mission to put a man on the moon he caused a technological revolution in America that still lingers today. The Space Shuttle as shown above was an important part of that revolution. Unfortunately it seems our current pack of national leaders would rather spend their money on wars that do nothing but cause hatred and … Continue reading Man On The Moon
One of my many hobbies is to collect pictures of unique boxes and signs. Here is part of that collection Continue reading Boxes & Signs
Its hard to tell just who we are at war with in any given moment. But it seems we always gotta be a war with someone… Blessed are the Peacemakers…. Continue reading A Snippet Here, A Snippet There
Hancock, MA – Hancock Shaker Village Hancock Shaker Village is one of the original Shaker communities so it has much more history than the one I visit most often near Lexington KY. The round barn as show above is their most distinctive feature. America is great because it allow so much religious diversity. We are all seeking God in one manner or another. To be … Continue reading Shake, Rattle, & Roll…
Hancock, MA – Hancock Shaker Village Hancock Shaker Village is one of the original Shaker communities so it has much more history than the one I visit most often near Lexington KY. The round barn as show above is their most distinctive feature. America is great because it allow so much religious diversity. We are all seeking God in one manner or another. To be … Continue reading Shake, Rattle, & Roll…
This is a second post on the article from the Atlantic Magazine on the creative brain. Click here to see the article. The process of creativity has always fascinated me. Just what makes some people more creative than others? It is something they are born with or do they learn it through life’s experiences? I don’t often state it often but my IQ has been … Continue reading Creativity and Mental Illness…
Omaha NB – Boys’ Town One of the critical parts of what is the heart of America are people who care and actually do something about it.. One of those people was a Catholic priest named Father Flanagan. He started a home for boys who were abandoned during the depression and that continues even today. Thankfully they now include girls too. If you are ever … Continue reading People Who Care
“In schools they have what they call intelligence tests. Well if nations held ’em I don’t believe we would be what you would call a favorite to win.” – Will Rogers, 25 June 1935 I don’t think we would either Will. We would probably be about the same as where we are with our crazy healthcare system. Near the bottom of those that have schools … Continue reading Our Nation’s IQ???
Des Moines IA – Brandeis Department Store Department stores are the epitome of a capitalist society. They started springing up in the early 1900s and soon became an important “go to” place in every large American city and even in many European cities. If you want to see a list of now defunct department stores click here. I guess Walmart SuperStores are the equivalent in … Continue reading Department Stores…
Out of the horror of World War II came one of the great achievements in all of human history: the Geneva Convention of 1949. It was a statement from humanity to itself that, in the aftermath of the bloodiest war in history, some decency might still be rescued. Despite the millions of senseless dead, despite all the mass murder and genocide and terror bombing, despite … Continue reading Whitewashing of torture….
Pleasant Hill Shaker Village, KY – The American Craftsman The American craftsman as depicted in the photo above is as much responsibly for our country becoming what it is as anything else. We are a nation of immigrants and each of them brought their own skills to make a life in this country. Unlike most of Europe from which they came have no aristocracy to … Continue reading The American Craftsman…
The above image is a clip from the July 28,2014 issue of Time magazine page 12. It seems very hard to find what percentage of the population is gay in the U.S. The most often cited by those who don’t have an interest in the issue is about 1%. That seems to align somewhat with the Census Bureau numbers found above. But of course I … Continue reading A Snippet Here A Snippet There…
The Triangle Factory Fire was a defining moment in US history. Here is a little about what Wikipedia says about it The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire in Manhattan, New York City on March 25, 1911 was one of the deadliest industrial disasters in the history of the city, and resulted in the fourth highest loss of life from an industrial accident in U.S. history… The … Continue reading Triangle Factory Fire…
Montpelier VA – The Father of the Constitution James Madison is my favorite of all the founding fathers. He was a little guy like me but had a profound affect on our country. It was primarily his wisdom that gave us the venerable constitution that drives our country. He didn’t have the large estates that Washington or Jefferson had but his historic center is well … Continue reading Perhaps The Best…
Nearly 25 years later, the North Korean People’s Army, Navy, and Air Force are relics of a different era. Nearly everything is obsolete. North Korean tanks and armored fighting vehicles are up to 50 years old. This summer, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un was photographed onboard an old Romeo-class submarine, an antiquated design first produced in the 1950s. The North Korean Air Force is … Continue reading North Korea’s military is falling apart
Wall SD – Free Ice Water I still remember the miles after miles of seeing the road signs for Wall Drugs in the 1950s during our first family visit to the west. We stopped by there again a few years ago and it is pretty much the same expanded even more. It pretty much takes over the entire Main St. now. They started by in … Continue reading Wall Drug…
Instead of helping the poor, feeding the hungry, tending to the sick, sheltering the homeless, fighting injustice, speaking for the voiceless, sacrificially giving, and wholeheartedly loving our neighbors and enemies, churches have become co-opted by secular values and empty content. Emulating Christ is not for the faint of heart, and following his commands will probably mean becoming a church that embraces conflict, discomfort, work, pain, … Continue reading Are You Brave Enough???
Des Moines IA – Native Americans It has not been that many years ago that native Americans were treated and thought to be less than human. It is nice to see them getting more respect and recognized as the first citizens of America. Compared to them everyone else are immigrants. The statue above is from the grounds of the Des Moines Iowa statehouse. They have … Continue reading Celebrating Native Americans….
RJ's Corner 