The person close to the talks told CBS News’ Stephanie Lambidakis that the tentative settlement was sealed Friday during a 6 p.m. phone call between Attorney General Eric Holder and JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon along with their top lawyers. SOURCE: JPMorgan Chase, Justice Department reach tentative $13 billion deal over mortgage-backed securities – CBS News. $13 billion is a lot of money for most corporations so this settlement had to hurt JPMorgan. But what I don’t understand is that the agreement was “sealed”. That means that no one can see what actual agreements were made.  I am a firm believer that … Continue reading JPMorgan Chase, Justice Department reach tentative $13 billion deal over mortgage-backed securities

In science, you move closer to the truth by seeking evidence to the contrary. Perhaps the same method should inform your opinions as well. SOURCE: “You Are Not So Smart: Why You Have Too Many Friends on Facebook, Why Your Memory Is Mostly Fiction, and 46 Other Ways You’re Deluding Yourself”  (McRaney, David) I have a lot of quotes from this book now residing in my database and will be bringing them out from time to time. I am a scientist so the words above ring very true to me. Being a scientist got me into trouble in the Christian … Continue reading Seeking Evidence….

This is kind of a continuation of yesterday’s post about why Republicans hate Obamacare. One thing I didn’t come across in my one hour search of why they hate Obamacare but I have seen it used as part of their opposition is that it puts too many additional people into the system. They say adding 30 million more consumers of healthcare will overwhelm our system. This seems to me to be a somewhat typical complaint among many of my conservative friends. They look almost exclusively at themselves and the status quo when they see changes being made.  That is why they … Continue reading Too Many People…

I recently googled the above title and then spent an hour looking at the first one hundred or so sources that came back. I was hoping someone would give some insight into why Republicans, without exception in congress, hate something that gives people the opportunity to purchase affordable healthcare. I was really looking for some well nuanced explanation of what is wrong with Obamacare.  I was  open to any common sense arguments about this four year old law that is finally being implemented. Instead what I got was: Republicans hate Obamacare because it mandates personal insurance. — Never mind that … Continue reading Why Do Republicans Hate Obamacare?….

17th century French philosopher Rene Descartes said, “ If you would be a real seeker after truth, it is necessary that at least once in your life you doubt, as far as possible, all things.” If he’s right, seeking the truth about Jesus might require mentally distancing ourselves from everything we’ve been programmed to believe and instead becoming open to discovering the true Kingdom of God. SOURCE:  Stephen Jarnick: Robotic Christianity | Red Letter Christians. These are very powerful words to me. I am just the type of person who questions everything. They were spoken in the source post relating … Continue reading Doubt Everything, At Least Once….

Mark Driscoll, the attention grabbing minister of the Mars Hill megachurch, is at it again. He’s pushing his badass Jesus who has, as he put it a few years ago, “a commitment to make someone bleed.” Driscoll has a personal need for a sacred tough guy because he has some sort of theological kink or character twist or… whatever, that leads him to declare, “I cannot worship a guy I can beat up.” It sounds to me like he’s looking for a swaggering gang leader to follow, not One who said, “I am among you as one who serves” (Luke … Continue reading His Own Version Of Jesus….