Made in the USA….

There ought to be a law against anybody going to Europe till they had seen the things we have in this country. – August 14, 1930  Will Rogers Although Will traveled around the world he was a homeboy at heart. I have been to all fifty State but still haven’t seen  what we have in this country yet. Note in the photo here Will is twirling a lasso while writing for his blog of the day otherwise known as a newspaper column. He certainly was a showman :) Continue reading Made in the USA….

Connections….

Source: A Genuine Willingness – QuakerQuaker. We long for connections to others. We want to belong to something greater than ourselves. At the same time, we demand autonomy and freedom from constraints imposed by virtue of belonging to a group. These opposing pulls cause stress on both institutions and individuals as we try to meet the requirements of our outer and inner worlds. How do we genuinely balance our need to be self-determining persons and, at the same time, contributing members of society? The answer depends on our definitions. If my interpretation of self-determination is how much I can gain for … Continue reading Connections….

They Have Learned Their Lessons Well…..

Source: Possible U.S., China trade dispute looms – USATODAY.com. In September, the Department of Energy said that only about 6% of the solar cells and modules sold around the world were made in the U.S., compared with more than 40% in 1995. In the last six years, China’s global market share has ballooned to 54% from 6%. The average price of solar modules has plummeted more than 40% to $1.25 per watt in the past two years. The U.S. prides itself on being the leader of high technology. We depend on it to keep jobs here in the country. So when … Continue reading They Have Learned Their Lessons Well…..

Proposal would keep calendar same every year

Proposal would keep calendar same every year – USATODAY.com. Each year, Jan. 1 falls on a different day of the week, and the entire following year shifts accordingly. Schools, sports teams, businesses and banks spend many hours and millions of dollars calculating on what day of the week certain dates will fall, to schedule holidays and set interest rates. Yesterday was the day to adjust our calendar to be aligned with the sun. We do that every four years on the 29th of February.  Our current calendar was invented about 1582 and is called the Gregorian calendar. It was named … Continue reading Proposal would keep calendar same every year

Don’t Get Consumed….

Today is a weird day. It only comes once every four years. So, I thought I would put out a totally weird post that I have been holding on to for some time. It starts with a quote from a not-so-well known person. Don’t get consumed by all the negativity in the world. Lighten up once in a while  — January 11,2012  RJ Walters Now I’m not getting a big head here (at least not too much) by quoting myself. I just thought this should be said by someone. It just seems so easy to get totally down with all the negativity … Continue reading Don’t Get Consumed….

God’s Dwelling Place

Source: God’s Dwelling Place – QuakerQuaker. There is no such thing as a sense of integrity that acknowledges the measure of light I have within me while at the same time ignoring the corresponding light within my neighbor. As that light is as constant within him or her as it is within me, there is no reasonable way or appropriate time to withhold the integrity my neighbor deserves as much as me. Nor are we to be honest and truthful with some and not with others because of such vain differences as race, gender, age, income, and sexual orientation. God dwells … Continue reading God’s Dwelling Place

A Point of Perspective….

Killing someone without government permission is wrong!!  I guess it is just a matter of how you look at things in the world. I ran across the statement above recently and was dumbstruck by it. But after thinking of it a while I realized that from a military and a capital punishment perspective this is how we justify killing the “bad guys”. If the State says its ok to kill then you are justified in doing it! This has to be the primary mentality that allows a military sniper, which by the way is the fastest growing sector of our … Continue reading A Point of Perspective….

Cracking the code: Why yuor barin can raed tihs

Source: The Body Odd – Cracking the code: Why yuor barin can raed tihs. For emaxlpe, it deson’t mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod aepapr, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer are in the rghit pcale. The rset can be a toatl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit pobelrm. It is funny how we can read this above sort of thing. It is even funnier how I can read my own handwriting a day or more after I have written it. We use context to pre-activate the areas of our brains … Continue reading Cracking the code: Why yuor barin can raed tihs

‘Star Wars’ universe getting a lot bigger…

‘Star Wars’ universe getting a lot bigger – USATODAY.com. I am a Star Wars junkie, I freely admit it. I find it fascinating to take a peak of a possible future scenario that doesn’t end with us polluting the world beyond livability. I enjoy movies like “Soylent Green” and “Mad Max” but would rather believe we have a rosier future than they portray. Call me a wild-eyed dreamer if you want; I really don’t care. I have recently watched all the Star Wars movies in high def and I usually see an episode of “The Next Generation” or one of … Continue reading ‘Star Wars’ universe getting a lot bigger…

Another Flash in the Pan….

I see the Republicans have yet another “front-runner”! This time it is Rick Santorum. This makes every one of the eight or so wannabes that has moved to the front of the pack. But when that happens they soon seem to fizzle out like a flash in the pan. They get on the front burner of public attention and the heat becomes too much for them. Maybe Mr. Santorum will be different but I kind of doubt it.  He has his flaws just like all the rest of them. The Republicans want the “perfect” candidate, at least according to their … Continue reading Another Flash in the Pan….

Book Review – Letters from a Skeptic

In my three year journey of studying current day Christian organizations I read many books that inspired me. So, in the coming weeks I will be re-blogging some of the posts from my blog at RedLetterLiving.net . I will limit these posts to just things that inspired me in this area. I will NOT be revisiting things that let me down. Here is the first review of a book by Gregory Boyd. He is indeed a profound writer on things pertaining to Christ. <<<Post from August 13, 2009>>>: I just finished the book Letters from a Skeptic by Greg Boyd and I … Continue reading Book Review – Letters from a Skeptic

If You Can’t Be Good….

If you can’t be good, be different. – April 29, 1928  Will Rogers Can any of us really be good for any extended period of time? I don’t think so. So, that leaves just one alternative; being different.  All of us at times want to stand out from the crowd.  None of us want to be vanilla flavored.  Teenagers in particular go to extremes to be “different”. So much so that they end up looking and acting like all their classmates. That is the ‘catch 22’ of trying to be different when you really aren’t.  If everyone wants to be … Continue reading If You Can’t Be Good….

Scientists invent lightest material on Earth. What now?

Source:  Scientists invent lightest material on Earth. What now? – latimes.com. This is a fascinating article about a new material. The picture at the right says it all. It sits peacefully on top of a fluffy dandelion.  And proudly it was invented by a U.S. institution at CalTech.  I just hope that some U.S. firm can manage to take this concept into a usable stage. It seems that many of these types of things have to leave the country lately in order to find practical applications. Being a retired engineer my mind leaps to see all the practical uses. What if the … Continue reading Scientists invent lightest material on Earth. What now?

Head In The Sand….

Most of my life I have prided myself of being aware of what is going on in the world. I often cite the words of Thomas Jefferson who said a democracy depends on an informed electorate.  But, much of my life has also been spent being a contrarian. I am always looking at the majority opinion on things and then looking at opposing views to see if maybe they make more sense.  Sometimes these two philosophies collide; I think that is what happened here. What I am about to say now seems to go against the very grain of my life … Continue reading Head In The Sand….

This Life or the Afterlife??

Source: This Life or the Afterlife – QuakerQuaker. I don’t spend much time worrying about where I will be after I die. Instead I try to spend my time just concentrating on the words of Jesus as found in my Bible.  By his words he shows us how to live a God pleasing life. Yes, in spite of what several current Christian denominations say, I believe it is possible to please God by doing, or at least trying to do, what he told us to do. God, unlike what some say, does not just view us as worthless pieces of snot who can do nothing … Continue reading This Life or the Afterlife??

You Want To Be A What??

Source: Young Women Go Back to School Instead of Work – NYTimes.com. “Today young girls are told they can do anything, go into any occupation. But if boys express any interest in traditionally female occupations, they get teased and bullied,” Ms. Coontz said. “Lots of guys are not understanding what’s happening to traditional low-income or middle-income male jobs.” Jobs in the male-dominated manufacturing industry and in other sectors involving manual labor have been, and still are, in structural decline. These careers can also be hard to maintain indefinitely because youthful strength eventually fades. And now many manufacturing workers do not have … Continue reading You Want To Be A What??

Tolstoy and Christianity….

After watching the ending of a movie about Leo Tolstoy the other day I got interested in his life and writings. It surprised me to learn that he like Thomas Jefferson had written his own version of the Bible called the “Tolstoy Bible”. He again like Jefferson believed that the Christian church had strayed too far from the words of its founder Jesus Christ. I also learned that much of what Gandhi practiced come from Tolstoy’s writings.  Here are some words about that from Wikipedia: Tolstoy’s Christian beliefs centered on the Sermon on the Mount, particularly the injunction to turn … Continue reading Tolstoy and Christianity….

The Practice of Exclusion…

I have been thinking lately about the words of Jesus and how he interacted with those he came across. Except for some of those in the religious establishment I couldn’t find any instance where he chose to automatically exclude from his saving grace or the wisdom of his teachings. He treated men and women pretty much the same; he welcomed all to his ministry. The poor and marginalized seemed to be special targets for him to reach out. He just wasn’t one to exclude anyone, even tax collectors and Roman soldiers. The sick and the lame were often the center of … Continue reading The Practice of Exclusion…

Many say ‘So What?’ to God, religion, atheism

Source:  Many say ‘So What?’ to God, religion, atheism – USATODAY.com. It is no secret that those who claim to be “religious” in the U.S. has been shrinking every decade for more than 50 years now. But in the last ten years the people who check “none of the above” have been increasing almost exponentially. Here are some statistics from the above article: •44% told the 2011 Baylor University Religion Survey they spend no time seeking “eternal wisdom,” and 19% said “it’s useless to search for meaning.” •46% told a 2011 survey by Nashville-based evangelical research agency, LifeWay Research, they … Continue reading Many say ‘So What?’ to God, religion, atheism

Peace Requires Strength and Conviction….

Source:  Three Queries on Peace – QuakerQuaker. The author of the post above is David Madden. Please click the source above to see the entire post.  There are not many words in the source post (I will likely exceed his word count in just talking about it)  but they do inspire me. As is obvious from the link David is a Quaker and this article is based on Quaker thought and values. There are three points of peace brought up in the post. I will briefly mention the first two and then will have some personal thoughts on the last … Continue reading Peace Requires Strength and Conviction….