Category: Having My Say

Having My Say5 Comments

In Case You Wondered….

RJ Walters

A new study shows that the jet stream over Northern Europe and North America may be taking a longer, more meandering path as a result of a rapidly warming Arctic narrowing the differential between upper and middle latitudes, reports the BBC. Temperatures in the Arctic have been rising two to three times as rapidly as the rest of the globe, and as the difference in temperature between the Arctic and middle latitudes diminishes, the jet stream that separates them slows. That means that cold weather over North America tends to linger longer, according to the study presented at American Association … Continue reading In Case You Wondered….

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Feelings of Dissatisfaction…

RJ Walters

And there’s more. A few years ago researchers made an unexpected discovery that, around the age of forty, people begin to experience feelings of dissatisfaction and a diminished sense of well-being. They were surprised to find this in men and women, rich and poor and all over the world. But the bigger surprise was the rebound effect. At around the age of fifty, feelings of well-being begin to rise again—and keep on rising, well into the seventies. In the twenty-first century, fifty is the beginning of a new and aspirational time of life. SOURCE: Jane Pauley makes the case for … Continue reading Feelings of Dissatisfaction…

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Why do Americans spend so much on pharmaceuticals?

RJ Walters

The United States spends almost $1,000 per person per year on pharmaceuticals. That’s around 40 percent more than the next highest spender, Canada, and more than twice as much as than countries like France and Germany spend. So why does the U.S. spend so much? Is it because Americans take more medicines or because they pay higher prices? Can Americans afford the drugs they need? And will the Affordable Care Act change anything? SOURCE:  Why do Americans spend so much on pharmaceuticals? | Updates | PBS NewsHour | PBS. This is a very interesting article so I encourage you to … Continue reading Why do Americans spend so much on pharmaceuticals?

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Not Taking Jesus Seriously….

RJ Walters

The church frustrates me. I was once asked by a wealthy church what they could do to help end homelessness. I looked around and saw the thousands of square feet that lie empty every night, the dozens of toilets, the showers in the family life center, the full industrial kitchen and wanted to say, “It is a two step plan. 1) Read the Gospels. 2) Take it seriously.” I wanted to say that. But I didn’t. Look, Jesus nowhere says to stamp out poverty. However, he does say, fairly often, to love your neighbor. And if you truly love your … Continue reading Not Taking Jesus Seriously….

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Federal workers’ pensions targeted in budget deal

RJ Walters

But with pensions for non-government workers on a path toward extinction, federal employees get little sympathy from most experts. “Their private sector counterparts would be jealous of the benefits they’re maintaining,” said John Ehrhardt, a principal at the actuarial and consulting firm Milliman. While 38 percent of private industry workers received pensions in 1979, just 14 percent did so in 2011, the most recent figures from the Employee Benefit Research Institute, which advocates for benefit programs. Besides retaining their pensions, most federal workers also can contribute to a 401(k)-like savings program, the Thrift Savings Plan. That combination is far better … Continue reading Federal workers’ pensions targeted in budget deal

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I Read The Bible And Everything Became….

RJ Walters

What About The Bible… ? (Chapter 2) I know that from all the rhetoric about this topic you are expecting the next word in the title to be “Clear” but actually for me it is “Fuzzy”. I don’t know how many times in my life I have heard the phrase “just study the bible for the answer to your problems. When a child dies from a fall in the bathtub the Christian answer to our total devastation is to “read the Bible”. It is as if we can just randomly open a page and then the tragedy in our life … Continue reading I Read The Bible And Everything Became….

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More Heat Than Light…

RJ Walters

There are two ways to look at the great debate over light bulbs. One is that government regulations meant to save energy by filling the nation’s roughly 4 billion light sockets with vastly more efficient light bulbs are an outrageous offense to personal freedom. The other is summed up by a funny Internet spot last year for Cree’s super efficient light emitting diode (LED) bulbs: “The light bulbs in your house were invented by Thomas Edison in 1879. Now think about that with your 2013 brain. Do you still do your wash down at the creek while your eldest son … Continue reading More Heat Than Light…

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Critizing The Church…..

RJ Walters

Communities like RLC (Red Letter Christians) are so important because the Church, those of us who claim to follow Jesus Christ have more responsibility to be constantly examining our actions and behavior than anyone. This isn’t about being “self-hating Christians” or “criticizing the Church” it is about growing up. In the end, the wisdom and understanding needed to change the world and do real good will not come from the past, but from working together in the present SOURCE: What If God is Pragmatic? | Yaholo Hoyt | Red Letter Christians. Continue reading Critizing The Church…..

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How Good We Have It…

RJ Walters

This is installment four of my melancholy posts for this week. I know there are those who lament how bad things are right now. Unemployment is higher than it should be and many are stuck in low paying jobs that are way below their capabilities. Due to corporate greed and the overwhelming wealth that is stagnated at the top it now takes two jobs to replace the one needed just thirty years ago.  Yes, we are living in some pretty tough times, that is unless you compare it to most  of history past. If you want to understand how good … Continue reading How Good We Have It…

Having My Say, Life On The Margins1 Comment

As We Dreamed…

RJ Walters

This is installment three of my melancholy post for this week. Do any of us ever lead as full a life as we had dreamed? That is the topic of this post. The short answer to that question should be no. If we live up to our dreams then we probably weren’t dreaming large enough.  But this post is about the longer answer. I’m sure in my early childhood years I had some pretty wild dreams of what my life would be but I don’t remember much about those years. The ones I do remember were that my parents would … Continue reading As We Dreamed…

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Best Of Times, Worst Of Times….

RJ Walters

One of the first books I read as a young man was Dickens’ Tale of Two Cities. The opening words of that book has been in my mind since that time. It would not be the last book by Dickens that I would read. Many of his books were about social reform. When his father was thrown into debtor’s prison Charles had to step forward. I think maybe my avid social conscience was at least partially formed by my early exposure to his writing. But as usual, the main topic of this post is not about Dickens but about the … Continue reading Best Of Times, Worst Of Times….