“Now is the time to build on this momentum and accelerate our share and profits in phones,” Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said in an email to Microsoft employees. “Clearly, greater success with phones will strengthen the overall opportunity for us and our partners to deliver on our strategy to create a family of devices and services for individuals and businesses that empower people around the globe at home, at work and on the go, for the activities they value most. SOURCE:  Microsoft Buying Nokia’s Devices and Phone Business for $7 Billion – ABC News. I was around in the beginning … Continue reading Buying Innovation Instead Of Creating It…….

Lets visit some recent history to see if maybe we are a little wiser now than we were then. I have always liked Joe Biden. He just seems like a down to earth say it like it is type of guy. These words are just as true today as when Joe said them more than two years ago. Why can’t more people understand that??? Continue reading Still True Today….

When will we ever learn???? In case you have lost track, he is the LAX shooter. Considering there have been a couple more in the news in the last day or so I guess this is old news… How sad is that??? Continue reading When Will It End???

I admit that I find the gospel of partnering with God for the healing of the world much, much harder than the gospel of God loves you and wants to give you a ticket to heaven. It’s harder emotionally, physically, financially, socially and culturally. It’s tiring. Without the Holy Spirit, without worship, without community I’d give up and go back to that old gospel. It was easier in those days, for sure. It was easier when it was about me and my blessing, my healing, my salvation and inviting other people to enjoy my amazing new life. It was much … Continue reading The ‘Other Gospel’ was easier

Former Florida Gov. Charlie Crist wants his old job back. This time, he’s running as Democrat. Crist filed paperwork on Friday, and plans to make the official announcement Monday in St. Petersburg, Florida. The Republican-turned-Democrat is considered a front-runner for the Democratic ticket. He would likely be up against current Gov. Rick Scott, a Republican. Scott represents a far more conservative version of the GOP than Crist ever did….. “I’m an optimist but let’s face it, the last few years have been tough: government on the fringes, donors in politics above you the people,” said Crist in the video. “You’ve … Continue reading A Sign Of Things To Come???

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

Despite his having written an entire biography of Paul in Acts, Luke seems to be curiously unaware of Paul’s life and ministry as reflected in Paul’s authentic letters. None of Paul’s letters are mentioned in Acts. The language and theology of Paul’s speeches as told by Luke are so different in vocabulary and theology from the Paul of the authentic letters that it seems much of Luke’s Paul can be chalked up to dramatic license. The authentic Paul emphasizes justification and reconciliation while Luke’s “Paul” preaches righteousness and forgiveness. In other words, Luke’s Paul preaches in the theological language of … Continue reading Studying The Bible….

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….

Roughly 4.7 million Americans went online Tuesday to browse the Obamacare health insurance exchanges prompting HealthCare.gov administrators to increase the site’s server capacity and create a new “wait page” to hold a person’s place in line until the site can load properly. On top of the Web traffic, 190,000 Americans used federal health insurance exchange call centers and another 104,000 requested live chats. “Now that quality, affordable coverage is within reach, we’re seeing that pent up demand break through, underscoring once again how important it was to fix our broken health care system,” Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services spokesman … Continue reading Heavy Traffic Clogs – and Delights – Obamacare Insurance Sites

Many of us are taught, starting in childhood, to never, ever give up. It applies even more so to those of us in the nonprofit, charitable, and faith arenas. We often work with hurting, broken but incredibly valuable people. We want to be the sort of inspirers who those we love and serve will one day be grateful for. And about us, we hope they’ll say, “When everyone else threw in the towel, this person, never gave up! She was always there for me. He never quit no matter how many times I messed up or tried his patience.” If … Continue reading Doing More Harm Than Good….

After shooting Landsberry and two other classmates, the student (13 years old) turned the semi-automatic handgun on himself and was killed. Federal officials tell CBS News the gun was owned by his parents. SOURCE: Sparks Middle School student: Gunman said “you ruined my life and now I’m going to ruin yours” – CBS News. Continue reading Again, Again, And Again….

Billionaire investor Warren Buffett on Wednesday called the U.S. debt limit a “political weapon of mass destruction” and said both political parties should pledge never to use it as leverage because of the financial damage it can cause. As lawmakers and the White House scrambled to raise the $16.7-trillion debt limit before a Thursday deadline, Buffett said it would be  asinine”  for the U.S. to risk its hard-won reputation for paying its bills on time. “There are certain weapons that are just improper to use against humanity,” he told CNBC. “It is a political weapon of mass destruction and both … Continue reading The GOPs WMD….

I recently read an article that said bloggers are either creating or reacting but I kind of think it is a combination of both.  Lots of things float around in my brain throughout each day. I always have a notepad available to jot down some of the more noteworthy thoughts but many escape before I can recall them. I like to think that even when I use some initial thoughts from someone else I put a creative spin on it and usually take it into a completely different direction. Will Rogers, who everyone who has read even a few of … Continue reading Reacting Or Creating…..

“I have always rather enjoyed being considered a heretic, and have never wanted to be endorsed by any one. I have felt that to be endorsed was to be bound, and that it was better, for me at least, to be a free lance, with no hindrances to my absolute mental and spiritual freedom.”  SOURCE:  Meet Hannah Whitall Smith, a “Convergent Friend” at the turn of the nineteenth century – QuakerQuaker. I must admit that since I was tossed out of my previous church because I didn’t accept that the earth is only six-thousand years old I have kind of … Continue reading Being A Heretic….

I just read an article in the local paper where my congressman proudly announced that he voted to default on our nation’s debt this week.  Of course living blue in a red State it was not in the least surprising.  I am constantly voting against these yahoos who would rather the country default than to give up a small piece of their “principles”. What a joke. I intend to send him an email to tell him that I am happy that at least some of those in his party  had the courage to choose to pay our debts instead of … Continue reading He Voted Nay……

These last few weeks in Washington have been very frustrating to me and I’m sure to you too. The complete breakdown of compromise and trust is not something that should happen to any nation’s capital. Because of the apparent hate that is in our nation’s capital I truly fear for our future as a country.  Seeing all this malarkey often makes me want to just drop out of anything political. But, isn’t that exactly what those wing-nuts in DC really want? If they can get all the folks who have an ounce of common sense and regard for the good … Continue reading Dropping Out…..

But one of the most notable additions to the 35-page bill was a $2.1 billion increase in funding for a dam under construction on the Kentucky-Illinois border, which just happens to be the home turf of Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.). It has raised the alarm bells of conservatives, who have long complained about Republicans who spend heavily on their home states. One group, the Senate Conservatives Fund, immediately christened the dam project the “Kentucky Kickback.” “The McConnell-Reid bill not only funds Obamacare and suspends the debt limit, it ALSO includes a provision…that increases the authorization for the Olmsted Lock in Kentucky … Continue reading Earmarks…..

I have been having a feeling lately that we, like much of the rest of the world, are dividing ourselves into smaller and smaller factions. We just can’t seem to agree on any common bonds anymore. Everything is “us” vs “them”. Look at Africa. If you look at a world map of 50 years ago you would not see hardly any of the current States on that continent. But then again the rest of the world has also fractured a lot since then.  If you are interested take a look at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_world_map_changes to see the listing of changes. I must warn … Continue reading I Have A Feeling….

Swagger   (verb ) 1.  to walk with a lofty proud gait, often in an attempt to impress others ⤻syn: tittup, ruffle, prance, strut, sashay, cock 2.  discourage or frighten with threats or a domineering manner; intimidate ⤻syn: browbeat, bully 3.  act in an arrogant, overly self-assured, or conceited manner ⤻syn: bluster, swash I must admit that the word swagger has never been one of my favorite words. It just has too many negative connotations for me. For those of us old enough to remember the first person that comes to mind when they hear this word is John Wayne. I’m sure he was a nice enough guy as Marian Morrison but after so many years in Hollywood he became just too full of himself. He was just not the type of person I would begin to categorize as a hero in … Continue reading Swagger….

A recent poll by the Massachusetts Medical Society, a statewide physician group, finds that most people in Massachusetts today are generally satisfied with the health care system there. “Eighty-four percent of residents expressed satisfaction with the care they received over the last year, including 56 percent who indicated they are ‘very satisfied’ and 28 percent who are ‘somewhat satisfied,’” the survey report states. Seventy-three percent of residents reported that gaining access to health care they need is “not difficult,” and for serious medical problems, 86 percent said the amount of time they needed to wait was not a problem. While no … Continue reading They Might Just Like It…..