But the problem is we have structured our economy in this sort of death spirally way, where huge profitable organizations like Wal-Mart pay poverty wages to a million workers, and then taxpayers make up the difference in social services programs like food stamps and Medicaid and rent assistance, and so on and so forth.  It’s as morally repugnant as it is economically inefficient. It’s a fact that Wal-Mart earned $27 billion in profit last year. They could afford to pay their bottom million workers $10,000 more a year, raise all of those people out of poverty, save tax payers billions … Continue reading Raising The Minimum Wage….

Is the message on this sign outside Old Fisherman’s Grotto, a Monterey, California restaurant, clear enough for you? …. ”Cue the controversy. Since the local news covered the policy on Tuesday, it’s made headlines, prompted debate on social media, and produced a slew of new mostly negative reviews on Yelp. Most take aim at owner Chris Sake, with comments including “Good luck catering only to couples and groups of childless hipsters,” “Don’t go here unless you want to support Mr. Scrooge,” and “The sign is really low-class. Shame on you people.” Calls and emails to Sake and Old Fisherman’s Grotto … Continue reading Kids and Restaurants…..

Yes, ministry can be brutal. One of the most sobering statistics I found in my research is that for every twenty pastors who enter the ministry only one will retire from ministry. I had no idea how many pastors struggled with depression and frustration regarding their ministry roles. You write that 80 percent of pastors (and 84 percent of their spouses) are discouraged in their ministry roles, that 40 percent say they have seriously considered leaving the pastorate in the past three months, and that 70 percent say they don’t have a single close friend. Those are some really astounding … Continue reading Afraid Of The Consequences…..

I have spent the last several Saturdays giving you a pictorial report of our visit to NYC.  This is finally the last post and is made up of some of my favorite pictures not included in earlier posts. As usual click on any picture to bring up a larger gallery view.   Continue reading NYC – The Wrap…

Many of us are too busy or distracted to sustain a life of compassionate engagement. We live lives of hurry, worry and striving, finding little satisfaction in our manic work and recreational activities. Instead of being free to create beauty, nurture relationships and seek the greater good, many of us feel stuck in lives dictated by the need to pay bills or maintain a certain often consumptive standard of living. We can’t have it all—the prevailing level of consumption, a life of deeper meaning and relationships and global equity and sustainability. To realize these good dreams we must adjust our … Continue reading Compassionate Engagement…

WASHINGTON AP — The United States declared Sunday it is “appalled” by Israel’s “disgraceful” attack on a United Nations school sheltering some 3,000 displaced people in southern Gaza. Related Stories US ‘appalled’ by ‘disgraceful’ UN school shelling Associated Press US ‘appalled’ by latest UN school shelling in Gaza In language that was rare in its directness and severity, the U.S. denounced the attack earlier Sunday, which killed 10 people. The statement released by the U.S. State Department noted that the school had been designated a protected location. SOURCE:  US calls Israeli attack on UN school ‘disgraceful’ – Yahoo News. This … Continue reading US calls Israeli attack on UN school ‘disgraceful’

  This is an interesting quiz that is said to melt down politics to its essentials. They say over 22 million people have taken the quiz.  I showed it above with my answers tagged. Can you guess where I ended up in the spectrum.  Liberal you say??  You betcha….. To take the quiz yourself just click on the image above… Continue reading A Political Quiz…

We spent a morning during our recent visit to NYC at the 911 Memorial. The original estimated cost of the facility was about $1 trillion but was eventually cut to $500 million. Like the Vietnam memorial the reflecting pools with all the names are soberly impressive. The new towers themselves are nice but not nearly as big as the WTC was. Except for the ticketing area the museum is totally below ground and it is BIG. It takes several hours to just manage the path through it. I heard that it was designed by committee and since they couldn’t decide … Continue reading NYC – 911 Memorial….

Sometimes it takes a huge loss to remind you what you care about the most. Many of us, probably most, go about the humdrum of our daily lives without even realizing what is, or at least should be, important to us. We are just too used to trudging through the work week and looking to the weekend for some relief.  And then comes that event that changes everything and shocks us back to show us what is important. In my college years I made up a placard with the words “Remember the future comes but a day at a time.” … Continue reading Sometimes It Takes….

I laughed out loud. Couldn’t help it; I had just overheard Mr. Newport Beach say something about how Obamacare is an unmitigated disaster despite how, of course, it’s not, and if America were to somehow actually develop a health care system similar to, say, Canada’s, that would be the end of America for certain; we’d never recover from such a devastating blow. Or something. And then came the [president is the] “worst thing to ever happen” quip, and I couldn’t hold back They didn’t hear me, of course; the orgasmic thrum of their perfect lives drowned out my chuckle, and … Continue reading The Worst President Ever….

Apple and IBM are teaming up to bring iPhones and iPads to business customers, the two companies said in a surprise announcement Tuesday. In a wide-ranging partnership, the two tech giants that were bitter rivals for decades will create a suite of apps and services aimed at enterprise clients…. “For the first time ever we’re putting IBM’s renowned big data analytics at iOS users’ fingertips, which opens up a large market opportunity for Apple,” Apple CEO Tim Cook said in a statement. “We are delighted to be teaming with Apple, whose innovations have transformed our lives in ways we take … Continue reading Bitter Rivals….

You want to be free. And as you start to feel that you are being corralled into a certain life, you kind of push against it. It may come out very strange, it may be interpreted wrong, but you’re trying to find out who you are.”….she lived with a deep fear of leading a “life half-lived.” “I realized that very young — that a life where you don’t live to your full potential, or you don’t experiment, or you’re afraid, or you hesitate, or there are things you know you should do but you just don’t get around to them, … Continue reading A Life Half Lived….

We’re okay with accepting Jesus as our Savior, but we’re not so sure we want to follow him as our Lord because that might make things a little uncomfortable for us. Perhaps like many things in life it may not be what we want, but it’s exactly what we need. What I find heartbreaking is when pastors, priests and ministers don’t want to talk to their congregations about what Jesus actually taught because it might offend people who have relatives in the military. They’re often afraid to say anything that will result in a decrease in attendance or offering and … Continue reading A One Sided Coin….

Central Park in New York City has a strangle hold on my wife. It is the primary reason for adding NYC to her bucket list and therefore our recent visit.  The first one here is one I snagged off the Internet, the rest are mine. The pictures were taken on a Sunday afternoon, perhaps the busiest time.   Continue reading NYC – Central Park…

Due to these blurred role expectations for adults and children, grown-ups have become a dying breed in America. According to writer and speaker Robert Bly, one-third of adult Americans are actually half-adults. “We have become a nation of squabbling siblings. We have abandoned our children to day-care centers and our elders to old folks homes, while we, like Peter Pan, simply ‘won’t grow up.’” Bly describes a culture in which Americans tolerate no one above them and show no concern for anyone below them. John Powers of the Boston Globe has also bemoaned the fact that there are a lot … Continue reading Yin/Yang and American Culture…. Parent /Child Relationship

I had to clip this from a post of a friend on Facebook. One of the duties I didn’t know a husband had before I got married almost three decades ago was waiting for your wife. Shopping is just one of those areas where waiting is called for. When I go to a store I usually have a list of what I want. I find those particular things and then am ready to check out. My wife has a different strategy. She can spend 20 minutes looking at purses even though she has no need for a new one and … Continue reading Waiting For Wife….

The U.S. spends the most of any country on its health care system, and yet it ranked the lowest out of 11 industrialized nations in overall healthcare quality, according to a report published Monday by the Commonwealth Fund.The report, which covered the years 2011-2013, compared more than 80 indicators of U.S. health care spending, quality and performance to the likes of Australia, the United Kingdom, France, Canada, Germany, New Zealand, and Sweden, among other developed nations. The UK, which was ranked highest, blew the U.S. out of the water, despite the fact that the country spends less than half as … Continue reading US continues its losing streak in health care quality comparison

Americans tend to score poorly on financial literacy tests, but it’s not entirely their fault: School systems don’t generally require personal finance classes, and many parents feel ill-equipped to pass on big lessons about spending, saving and investing to their kids. Here are ten basic tenants you should know in order to navigate today’s financial world: You have to earn more than you spend. SOURCE: 10 Things Everyone Should Know About Money – Yahoo News. When I was in high school many decades ago we had various life skills courses that we were expected to take.  I don’t specifically remember … Continue reading Personal Finance Classes???

This is the last post of my blog series around Stephen Mattson’s post about the misconceptions about Christianity.  Christianity is Illogical and Anti-Science Christianity is often stereotyped as being anti-science, anti-academic and anti-intellectual. The reality is that many Christians embrace science and the exciting discoveries that it includes. Additionally, many believers aren’t opposed to doctrines that heavily involve scientific data and research: evolution, global warming, healthcare research and environmentalism. To be a Christian is to embrace knowledge, critical thinking, innovation, new ideas and the truths they reveal. There is a segment of today’s Christianity called fundamentalism that the above label … Continue reading Christianity is Illogical and Anti-Science…

This a continuing pictorial post on our visit to New York City recently.  One of the things that got my attention was the number of vendors on the streets selling almost everything. Here are some pictures. Click on any picture to bring up a larger gallery view.     Continue reading NYC…. The Vendors…

This is a continuation of my Friday posts about the book “Yin/Yang and American Culture” by Kim Eun. It is a book well worth reading about the differences between America and much of the rest of the world. This post is about remaining active in our senior years. Although America is criticized for its youth-oriented culture, American elders enjoy more productive lives than their Asian counterparts do. From working as independent consultants to serving as volunteers, American elders can retain their zest for life…. In contrast, many Asian elderly expect to stop learning at a certain age. It is rare … Continue reading Yin/Yang and American Culture…. Remaining Active

1. You will spend your life chasing a net worth number you think you will make you happy, but never get there. People talk about their “number,” or the amount of money they think will make them happy and content. I’m convinced these numbers are what most people live for. But they’re dangerous. People are bad at forecasting almost everything, but trying to predict how you’ll feel in the future is a whole different level of delusion…. 2. A lot of what you know is wrong, incomplete, distorted, and subject to revision There’s a bias called the “end of history … Continue reading Unfortunate Realities….

WASHINGTON AP — To hear President Barack Obama describe it, there’s a creeping case of cynicism setting in across the country, leading Americans to suspect that not only is Washington broken, it’s beyond fixing. If that line of thinking continues, it could become a self-fulfilling prophecy with dire long-term ramifications, Obama says. If compromise-minded Americans get so frustrated they just tune out, lawmakers will feel even less pressure to work together for the good of the country. SOURCE: How ‘hope’ became Obama’s fight against cynicism – Yahoo News. Hope vs cynicism? Of course everyone wants to be on the hope … Continue reading Hope vs Cynicism…