NYC…
I am going to spend the next few Saturday posts reporting on my recent trip to New York City. It was an enlightening time for me. I learned some things about myself that I didn’t appreciate before. When we lived … Continue reading NYC…
Category: Having My Say
Yin/Yang and American Culture….Winning…
This is another post based on the book “Yin/Yang and American Culture: The Paradox”. This one will be about our obsession with winning and competition. No doubt competition has produced for the United States some of the best professionals, the best products, and the best business practices in the world. Nevertheless, there is a downside to Americans’ emphasis on winning at any cost. The pressure to win can be overwhelming in America, where only winners are cheered and remembered and the winner takes all, including multimillion-dollar advertising contracts. Tonya Harding, the figure skater who arranged to have her Olympic competitor, … Continue reading Yin/Yang and American Culture….Winning…
Growing Up…
As youth we all want to grow up or at least grow as fast as we can. We desperately want to get there. We grab as many opportunities as we can. But growing up means we have to leave some people behind. Sometimes we make the choice not to grow up for that reason. We just don’t want to end up alone. Some people can’t seem to leave their high school years. They simply don’t want to leave all those cherished friends behind in order to venture out into the vast unknown. For some of us that happens when we … Continue reading Growing Up…
Republican leaders to block US immigration measure
Despite a wide coalition of business, labor, religious groups, farmers and others pushing for an immigration overhaul, many individual Republican House members who represent largely white districts have been unmoved. SOURCE: Republican leaders to block US immigration measure – Yahoo News. After so many years of a stalemated government there are so many things that need changes. We are stuck in the 20th century practices due to a small number of our congressional representative being frozen with the fear of change? There are just too many of us old white folks who are trying to hold back the tide of … Continue reading Republican leaders to block US immigration measure
Requirements….
I wonder how many people know the requirements to be a member of the U.S. congress? I must admit that I didn’t until I looked them up for this post. As usual here is what Wikipedia says about this topic. U.S. House Qualifications: Article I, Section 2 of the Constitution sets three qualifications for representatives. Each representative must: (1) be at least twenty-five years old (2) have been a citizen of the United States for the past seven years (3) be (at the time of the election) an inhabitant of the state they represent. Members are not required to live … Continue reading Requirements….
103 suspected gang members charged in NYC case
“These three gangs were not sophisticated drug-trafficking organizations,” said Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance in announcing the two indictments. “Far from it, they were young people protecting their territories from imaginary threats and avenging the murders of fellow gang members and loved ones.” Investigators from Vance’s office worked with gang squad detectives and Department of Correction officials to review more than 1 million Facebook pages, tens of thousands of phone calls from the Rikers Island jail complex and hundreds of hours of video footage in preparing the case, Vance said. Surveillance video, taken from cameras in the buildings’ elevators, hallways … Continue reading 103 suspected gang members charged in NYC case
Pleasant Hill….
One of the most peaceful places I have found on this earth is at Pleasant Hill Shaker Village near Lexington KY. It is a recreated village from the 1800s. One of the concepts I have adopted from my Quaker friends is the idea of “centering down”. That is to clear your mind of all the clutter of daily activity in order to listen for the messages of our creator. I find Pleasant Hill an outstanding place to do just that. I don’t mind the idea of melding the best of two religions together to come closer to God. Pleasant Hill … Continue reading Pleasant Hill….
Yin/Yang And The Idea Of Equality…
This is the next segment in my series of yin/yang and how that relates to American culture. These initial posts are for the most part the positive aspects of our culture. It is appropriate that I start here so that you can understand that later I am not attacking our culture so much as showing were we could improve even more. This post is about our almost unique sense of equality. Here is a quote to get us started: In the American workplace, most people make their own coffee and clean up their own desks. The person who takes the … Continue reading Yin/Yang And The Idea Of Equality…
Giving Up Cable/Satellite….
A TV-streaming device. All this talk about canceling your cable is great — if you still have a way to watch TV on your TV. Thankfully, there are now several options for streaming devices that bring services like Netflix and Hulu to your living room TV. Apple TV, Roku and Amazon Fire are all options to check out. Each requires a one-time initial investment, usually between $50 and $100. According to the research company NPD Group, cable bills might reach $123 a month by next year. With prices for Netflix and Hulu Plus hovering around $8 each, getting one of … Continue reading Giving Up Cable/Satellite….
The Great Regulator…
Who would ever have guess that the title of the “Great Regulator” would be a Republican! That seems totally impossible in today’s world! But that is indeed the case. A hundred years ago Teddy Roosevelt was just that person. He was also called the “Trust Buster” as he took down many of the extremely wealthy of his day. He was also the one who put very high inheritance taxes on those in the 1% of his day. Here is a little about that from Wikipedia: Roosevelt responded to public anger over the abuses in the food packing industry by pushing … Continue reading The Great Regulator…
Injured Warriors….
It has happened throughout humanity’s history. When our country/tribe feels threatened by one thing or another and we go to war many of our young men rush to enlist.They see adventures in war. They think it will turn back the boredom of their daily lives. I don’t think there has been a teenager in existence that doesn’t feel a lack of stimulation during those years. They all have some grandiose vision of having a uniform and fighting the bad guys. The teenage years are vexing to most of us. Our brains are not fully formed so we often have … Continue reading Injured Warriors….
What Is It About Texas???
Tea Party cruises to wins in Texas Republican primary runoffs Texas Republicans aligned with Tea Party darling Ted Cruz were projected to win primary runoffs on Tuesday for two of the state’s most powerful posts, SOURCE: Tea Party cruises to wins in Texas Republican primary runoffs – Yahoo News. What makes Texas so different from the rest of the U.S.? They seem to be off the edge in so much of what they do. Maybe its the water? They have lots of two foot deep reservoirs built by a Democrat LBJ while he was in Washington. Maybe they have a … Continue reading What Is It About Texas???
Could Use A Little More Micromanaging…
I can’t help but think that if you’d stayed a little longer, we might have avoided the Crusades. Or the Great Schism. Or that time we used the Bible to justify slavery and invoked “Manifest Destiny” to slaughter women and children. We’ve made a mess of things, Jesus, often in your name. We could use a little micromanaging. SOURCE:From the Lectionary: An Open Letter to Jesus on this Whole Ascension Business. The words above are from an open-letter that Rachel Held Evans posted to Jesus. I never thought of it but she is right; we could have used some more … Continue reading Could Use A Little More Micromanaging…
Saturday @ NYC..
This was taken from our hotel room on Friday night here at a hotel on Times Square. Can’t imagine what tonight will be like. Walked too much today but have more tomorrow. We will tour the 911 Memorial and museum along with Central Park. Getting too old for this stuff but figured this is our last change… Continue reading Saturday @ NYC..
Williamsburg VA….
Being a U.S. history buff Williamsburg VA is one of my favorite places to visit. I first visited there during my senior trip in high school in 1965. Of course back then I was more interested in other things so even though it impressed me on some level it was “no big deal”. It would be over twenty years later that I thoroughly fell in love with the place. Most of the pictures below were from that visit. Click on any of the pictures to see an expanded view. Continue reading Williamsburg VA….
RJ's Corner - Having My Say 