Every Wrinkle Is A Picture….

Great artists say that the most beautiful thing in the world is a baby. Well, the next is an old lady, for every wrinkle is a picture. – Will Rogers I guess some people are just not historians, either at the personal level or otherwise. When they begin to see a wrinkle or two on their faces they rush to a plastic surgeon. For those less affluent they make a panic trip to the drug store for the latest anti-wrinkle cream. The latest reports show that in the U.S. we spend more than $10 billion per year for Botox and the … Continue reading Every Wrinkle Is A Picture….

Permanently Geared To War…..

Source: Presidential campaign inevitably boosts war with Iran – latimes.com. This should be a very somber topic for all of us but given the Republican presidential candidates it seems to be otherwise. The eagerness to go to war is far too dominant in those folks. One thing I am very disappointed in President Obama is his war stances. They were pretty much the opposite of what he campaigned on. He seems to be just one of the gang now; the change mantra has all but disappeared. Here are some stark words from the source article: The truth is, Americans are not a peace-loving people. … Continue reading Permanently Geared To War…..

An Ode to Capitalism…..

Source: Drugmakers have paid $8 billion in fraud fines – USATODAY.com. The nation’s largest drugmakers have paid at least $8 billion in fines for repeatedly defrauding Medicare and Medicaid over the past decade, but they remain in business with the federal government because they are often the sole suppliers of critical products, records show. This is one of those cases where “you can’t live with them can’t live without them”. Drug companies definitely have improved the quality of life for all of us. We should all be thankful that they are around. But greed, that seems almost ingrained in the capitalist … Continue reading An Ode to Capitalism…..

Welcome To The Future?

Source: Mooresville School District, a Laptop Success Story – NYTimes.com. The district’s graduation rate was 91 percent in 2011, up from 80 percent in 2008. On state tests in reading, math and science, an average of 88 percent of students across grades and subjects met proficiency standards, compared with 73 percent three years ago. Attendance is up, dropouts are down. Mooresville ranks 100th out of 115 districts in North Carolina in terms of dollars spent per student — $7,415.89 a year — but it is now third in test scores and second in graduation rates. I know change is difficult for … Continue reading Welcome To The Future?

If God is Love… Part 3

This is the third of five posts I made on the book If God is Love by Philip Gulley. I have slightly modified it from when it was written over at RedLetterLiving last July. This is a continuation of my expose of the book by Philip Gulley entitled If God Is Love. In this post he talks about Dualistic Theologies. Dualistic theologies reduce the questions of life to one: Are you saved? Nothing else matters. The purpose of life it to answer that single question. Of course, simply saying “yes” is not enough. You confirm your salvation by accepting Jesus as Lord and … Continue reading If God is Love… Part 3

My Best Friend…

Seeing a fellow blogger talk about his new pet reminded me that I have been getting too serious on this blog lately. So I thought it was time to kick back on this post and show you one of my best friend. Best friends seem to be hard to come by in my senior years. :) She has been with us for about  four years now. Although she weighs in at over sixty pounds she thinks she is a lap dog. This picture was taken a few months ago during our only snow storm that lasted more than a day … Continue reading My Best Friend…

Black Evangelicals, White Evangelicals, and Franklin Graham’s Repentance

The following is an exerpt from a recent Sojourners.com emailing relative to Franklin Graham who now heads the Billy Graham Ministries. The author of the article is shown at the bottom. When Franklin Graham expressed doubts about President Obama’s Christian faith during an interview on Morning Joe last week, it reminded me of an uncomfortable dinner I had in the late ‘90s. I sat down for a pleasant meal in the home of two great friends — one of them a white evangelical faith leader deeply committed to social justice. Well into the evening’s conversation — when we’d dropped all … Continue reading Black Evangelicals, White Evangelicals, and Franklin Graham’s Repentance

Albert You Are Safe, For Now…..

Source:  Cosmic Log – Flaw found in faster-than-light setup. Months after researchers reported that they measured neutrinos traveling faster than light, they’re finding that the incredible result may have been due to a bad connection rather than a violation of Albert Einstein’s special theory of relativity. A while ago I made a post about how scientists today disproved Einstein’s theory of relativity. It was reported that they had been able to measure the speed of a neutrino that was faster than light. According to Albert when things approach the speed of light they end up as pure energy. Well it … Continue reading Albert You Are Safe, For Now…..

Pentagon – a 10% Budget Cut Is Out Of The Question…..

via Why Pentagon, facing ‘doomsday’ spending cuts, refuses to plan for them – CSMonitor.com. Pentagon brass say they won’t even brook the possibility that $487 billion in mandated spending cuts – their ‘doomsday’ scenario – will actually come to pass. But if Congress doesn’t blink, say analysts, the Pentagon will be in dire straits. I have always believed that those Pentagon folks are the most arrogant batch of people on God’s Green Earth. As stated above they absolutely refuse to even consider the possibility of cutting their budgets! I’m sure if push comes to shove they will say that a budget … Continue reading Pentagon – a 10% Budget Cut Is Out Of The Question…..

Employers say they can’t find workers

Source:  Life Inc. – Role reversal: Employers say they cant find workers. “Employers are getting pickier and pickier,” Holmes said. “We want the perfect person to walk through the door.”Other experts also are seeing evidence that employers just aren’t working as hard to recruit workers, either because they can’t afford to or they don’t feel like they have to. Employers may not be looking far afield because they cant afford moving expenses. Employees may be less willing to move because of the housing bust. I guess I am just showing my age here but at the beginning of my working … Continue reading Employers say they can’t find workers

Deserves a Second Showing….

I am bringing back one of my favorite posts for January of last year. It seems appropriate given all we have learned from the twenty-odd, and I mean odd, Republican debates we have had to endure so far. I’m sure that if the topic had come up during one of their debates they would all have throughly backed this theme. From January 11, 2011 Source:http://news.yahoo.com/s/csm/20110118/cm_csm/354973;_ylt=At28KK0Z7OndNM3vfaeRt82s0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTFlZW4ybXNuBHBvcwMyMTcEc2VjA2FjY29yZGlvbl9vcGluaW9uBHNsawNiYXJyaWVydG9iZXQ- The first words of this article caught my attention today.  Let’s pull a few quotes from the article; they are in blue below. If you want to see the original article by Anthony Schlaff click … Continue reading Deserves a Second Showing….

Late Deafened Culture??

I have had some questions and some search engine links to my blog about a “late deafened culture” so I want to talk a little about that here. As I mentioned on other posts I have been deaf for the last twenty-five years or so. Anyone who went deaf after acquiring the ability to speak is considered late deafened so I am obviously one. We make up about 1.5% of the current population in the U.S. The other deaf group is the pre-lingually deaf.  They typically have been deaf since birth or at a very early stage.  They make up … Continue reading Late Deafened Culture??

Book Review – If God Is Love (Part 2)

This is the second post of five about the book by Philip Gulley entitled If God is Love. Like the first installment last Sunday this one was also pulled from one of my other blogs at RedLetterLiving.net  I made a few minor modifications to the original post. Post from RedLetterLiving March 2009 This is a continuation of my collection of snippets from the book by Philip Gulley entitled If God is Love. The Psalmists boats, “Do I not hate those who hate you, O Lord? And do I not loathe those who rise up against you? I hate them with perfect hate. I count them … Continue reading Book Review – If God Is Love (Part 2)

I Enjoy Cooking With Wine….

I enjoy cooking with wine and sometimes I even put it in the food I’m cooking.  – Julia Childs I have always enjoyed cooking. After Mom abandoned my brother, Dad, and me I did most of the cooking. That was when I was about 10 years old. Of course at that time I didn’t know about cooking with wine but I did make pretty good biscuits and gravy among other things. Dad was the son of a pig farmer so we ate lots of pork. :) It would be years later before I discovered things like Coq Au Vin. This reminds me … Continue reading I Enjoy Cooking With Wine….

Raving Lunatics…..

I always try to see the best in people and try not to attack anyone personally but sometimes it seems necessary to do so.  This is one of those times. Rush Limbaugh is in the center of it once again for his outrageous comments. He is indeed a raving lunatic!  But he is also a very rich raving lunatic because of his behavior. That in my mind is a major cause of where we are in the political sphere in this country today. It is reported that Mr. Limbaugh made about $30 million last year from his rantings.  I’m sure all … Continue reading Raving Lunatics…..

What Is An Altruist??

I am going to put on my teacher’s hat now.  Although I have never been an official teacher I have taught at several seminars in both the professional arena and the religious arena. So here is a lesson about altruism. On the right side of my blog I proudly proclaim that I am a passionate altruist. But what does that really mean? As usual there are varying definitions of the term. Here is what Dictionary.com defines as an altruist: altruism  (ˈæltruːˌɪzəm) 1. the principle or practice of unselfish concern for the welfare of others 2. the philosophical doctrine that right action is that which produces the greatest benefit to others While this short answer gives you an idea of what altruism is let’s … Continue reading What Is An Altruist??

We’re Number One……

Most people, especially those in the U.S. like to proudly proclaim we are number one. We shout it from the rooftops. We scream it about our favorite sports team. We are often caught with that silly large rubber hand to show our pride. We as a country are number one in several areas. We’re number one when it comes to our war machine. Heck, you could combine all the other war machines in the world together and that would still not knock us out of first place. We spend many times more in this country than in country in the … Continue reading We’re Number One……

War is NOT the Answer…

Since we seem to be on the verge of yet another long war, this time with Iran,  I thought I would do a short post here from my friends at FCNL. Please tell your senator and congressman that we don’t want to go through another senseless war. War is not the answer. We are the answer. All of us. All of us who are weary of turmoil and conflict… who seek a world free of war and the threat of war… who seek a society with equity and justice for all…who seek a community where every person’s potential may be fulfilled… … Continue reading War is NOT the Answer…

My Dirty Little Secret…

Psst…. I want to let you in on my dirty little secret. Don’t tell any of my Republican friends but sometimes I agree with what they say! I don’t often say it but I will whisper it here. Although I am a social progressive down to my soul I am also a fiscal conservative. I think we should all live within our means and that certainly includes our federal institutions. Source: Federal Workers Face ‘Unprecedented Assault’ in U.S. Budget War – Businessweek. “People who are government servants, public servants, should not be paid more than the taxpayers who are paying for … Continue reading My Dirty Little Secret…

Many have little savings as retirement looms

Source: Many have little savings as retirement looms – USATODAY.com. Ravages of the stock market. The people Redmond encounters most who are lacking sufficient retirement savings weren’t necessarily delinquent or negligent. Many had money saved but were wiped out by the sour stock market in the past decade and poor investment strategies, Redmond says. That’s what happened, in part, to Robert and Connie Cabana of Tampa, who are both in their 60s. Robert built up a sizable 401(k) working as a financial executive at Verizon. Connie was a business assistant for a local irrigation supply company. Connie was laid off four … Continue reading Many have little savings as retirement looms

Book Review – If God Is Love…

The book review post I want to bring over from my other blog at RedLetterLiving.net  is one that had a profound effect on me during my three year search into current Christian organizations. In fact this book review spanned over five posts. (I haven’t decided yet whether to bring all five here or not). Phillip Gulley was one of my first encounters with the Society of Friends, otherwise know as Quakers. It would definitely spur much more reading about this group of Christians. Here is a slightly edited version of the March 2009 post Today I am going to talk … Continue reading Book Review – If God Is Love…