“They want Peace, but they want a Gun to help get it with.” – Will Rogers, 9 February 1930 Yeah Will, nothing has changed much in this area since your day. About the only thing different is that we have MUCH bigger guns now. It goes back to the old quote “If all you have is a hammer everything looks like a nail”. I love this country but I simply can’t begin to understand its obsession with guns….. Continue reading Wanting a Gun….
I still vividly remember the election season of 2008. It was the year that I for the first time in a long time held out hope for a change in our political system. George Bush’s reign over the country was finally ending but the wars he put us in were still going full bore and still greatly affect us even today. He left the new guy with a total mess in our financial system. The worst mess in fifty years. I had confidence that this new-on-the-scene young guy could give us back our social conscience that George stripped away from us. … Continue reading A Dreamer Or A Fighter…..
Freehold, NJ – The American Diner The diner is an American thing I’m pretty sure. I fell in love with them during our four-year stay in New Jersey. They were in almost every town but this one was always my favorite. … Continue reading The American Diner…
America needs more Mark Zuckerbergs, not fewer. How to create them? There is no magic formula, but Henrekson and Sanandaji find the rate of billionaire entrepreneurs correlates positively with nations that have lower taxes, more venture capital investment, and less regulation. High capital gains taxes seem particularly harmful. Worrying about those things would be a good start for Washington. While inequality hasn’t made it harder to get on the success ladder, it does make it more costly to stay stuck at the bottom. A more entrepreneurial U.S. economy generating more high-paying jobs will ensure more people are making that climb … Continue reading Why America needs more billionaires
Columbus OH – Newspapers Newspapers were essential in the formation of the new American nation. Now they are dropping like flies it seems. I recently saw where e-books now outnumber the sale of printed ones. Yeah I have my share … Continue reading The Printed Word….
Being Pessimistic … Today’s Christians have a bad habit of seeing the worst in everybody and everything: A natural disaster is surely a sign of the end times. An MTV show reflects our hideous moral decline. A particular nation (obviously not one of our political allies) is being used as the Anti-Christ’s puppet to eventually invade and destroy the United States. The apocalyptic and hopeless assessments about our world—and Christianity—propagated by Christians themselves are pathetic and worrisome. Do we have nothing to be thankful for? We treat our faith as if it’s in a rapid decline, as if the “glory … Continue reading Six Things Continued…
Philadelphia, PA – Independence Hall You could say that Independence Hall is the true birthplace of America. It was in that room that we declared we were an independent nation. The knowledge, wisdom, and experience in that room would never … Continue reading The Birthplace…
While I was writing tomorrow’s post I had to get into my NYC trip portfolio. When I saw this picture of the Empire State building I had to include it in my SearchOfAmerica and on this blog as well. I still remember the pictures of all the steelworker who seemed to dance around on those iron beams. It is hard to believe that only five men were killed during its construction. If you ever get to NYC be sure to go to the observation deck for an awesome site of the city. It is very much a part of the … Continue reading The Empire State Building…
It’s an early battle, so it is premature to say who will win in the long run. Apple appears to have created an ingenious and obviously superior mobile payments system. But retailers control their own checkouts — they get to say who pays with what, not Apple. And Wal-Mart, the world’s largest retailer, is backing the retailers’ system via a company it is partnering with called MCX. Apple Pay is an elegant, universal, simple-to-use system that can be used by any retailer. You just touch your finger on the iPhone Touch ID fingerprint scanner, wave your phone near the NFC … Continue reading Wal-Mart Is At War Against Apple…
While I was writing tomorrow’s post I had to get into my NYC trip portfolio. When I saw this picture of the Empire State building I had to include it in my SearchOfAmerica. I still remember the pictures of all the steelworkers who seemed to dance around on those iron beams. It is hard to believe that only five men were killed during its construction. If you ever get to NYC be sure to go to the observation deck for an awesome site of the city. It is very much a part of the heart of America… Continue reading Empire State Building…
I have taken leave of politics. I think little of them and say less. I have given up newspapers in exchange for Tacitus and Thucydides, for Newton and Euclid, and I find myself much happier. Thomas Jefferson in a letter to John Adams January 21,1821 I always get a certain degree of pleasure to find that my recent decisions were tried by my heroes before me. About a year or so ago, maybe longer as time seems to be flying by lately, I decided to take my leave of politics. To me that venue has taken a dark turn that … Continue reading I Find Myself Much Happier…
Without the South, the country could very well be renamed the Democratic States of America. Secession would have numerous policy implications. The deficit would likely shrink, since despite the South’s fondness for anti-government rhetoric and ideology, the region benefits substantially more from federal programs than it pays into the federal treasury. Serious gun control legislation might actually make it through Congress. ObamaCare would probably work better (the South has led the way in refusing to expand Medicaid), but it might also be possible to pass the kind of sweeping reform of the health-care system (single payer) that proved impossible for … Continue reading Imagine: The Democratic States of America
Omaha, NB – Spirit of Nebraska’s Wilderness Park IV This is a continuation of last weeks post about Omaha’s Wilderness Park bronzes. They make for an amazing stroll through the downtown area. Continue reading Sculptures
Today is election day in the U.S. If you want to see change in our totally gridlocked government this is the way it happens. We can change over two-thirds of our federal government representatives today if we want. But that can’t happen as long as so many ignore their responsibilities in how our nation is governed. Anyone who doesn’t vote today should have their mouth duct taped. If you don’t exercise your critical right to vote then you should give up your other critical right to complain about how our government that you didn’t vote for or against is doing. … Continue reading VOTE….
“Apparently Republicans really are either stupid or insane, since they seemed surprised to learn that their rightward lurch into an all-white, anti-everything party of fear was a big loser in the 2012 presidential election. They promised to lick their wounds and think hard about immigration and ‘the Latino vote,’ but that did not prove to be necessary, since they now find themselves in another midterm election with a bunch of spineless purple-state Democrats on the defensive and an electorate of ‘highly motivated’ base voters, meaning the old, the frightened and the deeply Caucasian. Ebola and ISIS are pretty much the … Continue reading Its All About Fear….
RJ's Corner - Having My Say 