We in the U.S. have chosen to get our health insurance primarily through our employers.  But that proves to be a very complicated process. The rest of the world has chosen their government to provide for their healthcare through their tax dollars. Employer Paid Healthcare is Complicated: If our employer is small he is likely unable to afford the going insurance rates. Therefore those employees are pretty much own their own. If our employer is a religious based institution they will likely exclude things that other might  be covered for. If our employer is having some financial problems they will … Continue reading Employer Paid Healthcare is Complicated…

We didn’t have much of a drive today; just across the river to Omaha and then north to our first sightseeing venture. But we did make some new friends today while visiting the Wildlife Safari Preserve. My wife being a super animal lover that she is insisted this be our first stop. We are now settled down in the Magnolia Hotel for a quick nap and then it is on to our first visit to the Old Market District just four blocks down the road.  The hotel is somewhat unique; it is a completely renovated 1930 hotel that is done in the … Continue reading On The Road – Omaha (Day 3)

It seems that the favorite hobby right now is to complain about gas prices and particularly to blame the high prices on President Obama :) We all like to remember the good old days when gasoline was much cheaper. When I first started driving gasoline was $0.28 per gallon! But what if I told you that you can get gas even now for $1.75 per gallon? Well that is not exactly true but the result is the same thing. There is a rather simple way to accomplish this feat and that is to dump your SUV or pickup and get … Continue reading $1.75 Gasoline Just Down the Road….

I recently watched an interview of a Christian clergyman of twenty years.  He was having doubts about his faith.  All of us have doubts and one time or another. Even Mother Teresa was troubled by them. Having doubts is not too unusual but this particular minister’s doubts were leading him to make the leap back to an agnostic or even worse. This is sad but it is not really the purpose of this post. During the interview the pastor noted something  I think he called the clubhouse effect. This is basically where religious beliefs take a back burner to maintaining … Continue reading The Clubhouse Effect…..

Here we are at the end of day one; well at least the traveling end of it.  We are in Quincy Illinois which is right on the Illinois/Missouri border. Today was mainly a travel day but we did take the majority of in on State roads instead of InterStates. Going the entire width of Illinois, which is about 225 miles, on local roads brought to mind an article I read on the Internet this morning. source:  Tiny towns go up for sale – USATODAY.com. This is an article about a small town that is up for sale but could just … Continue reading On The Road – Quincy Illinois

Source: http://www.aarp.org/money/investing/info-01-2012/war-on-savers.html I see the Federal Reserve has again announced that they will maintain a near 0% interest rate through at least mid 2013.  That might be good for the young couples who are looking to buy a foreclosed home but it is killing us seniors. I have had this topic on my blog list for quite some time now and the recent article in the February/March AARP magazine entitled The War on Savers  by Carla Fried brought it to the top of the list.  Here are some of the words from the article: “This country was built on hard work and savings … Continue reading These Low Interest Rates….

Source:  Maine GOP Sen. Snowe’s retirement makes way for Democrats – USATODAY.com. “I do not realistically expect the partisanship of recent years in the Senate to change over the short term,” she said, adding that she would seek opportunities outside of the Senate to encourage civility in government. “It is time for change in the way we govern,” she said. It truly saddens me to see our politics move to the extreme edges. Moderates in either party just are not welcomed now. The same goes for voting your conscience. If they don’t vote how their political leaders instruct them then … Continue reading Pragmatists and the Democratic Process….

The title of this post may at first glance seem unChristian but I don’t believe it to be so.  To convince you of that I will repeat it here but with an ending. Don’t spend you life studying God’s word but instead spend your life putting his words into action as he intended. In other words God’s messages are not meant to be just contemplated but instead we are meant to do what He says. There are several Christian denominations who seem to base their Christianity on “letting the Lord’s grace flow over them”. They see that as their life’s … Continue reading Don’t Spend Your Life Studying God’s Word….

When I show people this picture they ask me if I went to MIT and I say yes.  As a matter of fact it was also in the same week that I went to Harvard and Yale. ;) Continue reading I Went To MIT…..

  I, like so many others was saddened to see the death of Whitney Houston. She became famous just before I went deaf so I sort of remember some of her songs. She indeed had a rare talent. It sounds like from the initial reports that her death was at least partially caused by her addition to drugs and alcohol. Of course Elvis, and quite a few other rich and famous people have had a similar ending. I’m sure Whitney had an entourage of people constantly around her to grant her every desire. She was certainly rich beyond what anyone of … Continue reading And He Went Home One Night….

I just got this from a niece and wanted all you seniors to learn the correct way to call the police :)  This is supposed to be a true story. George Phillips, an elderly man, from Walled Lake, Michigan, was going up to bed, when his wife told him that he’d left the light on in the garden shed, which she could see from the bedroom window. George opened the back door to go turn off the light, but saw that there were people in the shed stealing things. He phoned the police, who asked “Is someone in your house?”  … Continue reading How to call the police when you’re old, and don’t move fast anymore..

Source: Apple scores with digital textbooks and app – USATODAY.com. To encourage development, Apple launched iBooks Author, a free authoring tool for the Mac that encourages anyone to produce their own iBook textbooks, cookbooks, how-tos and other works. Apple says more than 600,000 copies of the tool have been downloaded since launch. Authors can distribute the books for free. But if they put the iBook textbook up for sale, they must do so through Apple’s iBookstore. (Authors can use the content in other digital and print formats, Apple says.) Who among us, especially us bloggers, doesn’t want to be a published … Continue reading Do You Want To Be A Published Author??

I have been thinking about it lately so wanted to post a picture taken from the restaurant on top of the World Trade Center in 1999. It was very strange to look down and see helicopters flying around. The enormity of the buildings that fell is hard to comprehend unless you have actually seen them. Continue reading Looking Back…

Source: Presidential campaign inevitably boosts war with Iran – latimes.com. This should be a very somber topic for all of us but given the Republican presidential candidates it seems to be otherwise. The eagerness to go to war is far too dominant in those folks. One thing I am very disappointed in President Obama is his war stances. They were pretty much the opposite of what he campaigned on. He seems to be just one of the gang now; the change mantra has all but disappeared. Here are some stark words from the source article: The truth is, Americans are not a peace-loving people. … Continue reading Permanently Geared To War…..

Source: Drugmakers have paid $8 billion in fraud fines – USATODAY.com. The nation’s largest drugmakers have paid at least $8 billion in fines for repeatedly defrauding Medicare and Medicaid over the past decade, but they remain in business with the federal government because they are often the sole suppliers of critical products, records show. This is one of those cases where “you can’t live with them can’t live without them”. Drug companies definitely have improved the quality of life for all of us. We should all be thankful that they are around. But greed, that seems almost ingrained in the capitalist … Continue reading An Ode to Capitalism…..

The following is an exerpt from a recent Sojourners.com emailing relative to Franklin Graham who now heads the Billy Graham Ministries. The author of the article is shown at the bottom. When Franklin Graham expressed doubts about President Obama’s Christian faith during an interview on Morning Joe last week, it reminded me of an uncomfortable dinner I had in the late ‘90s. I sat down for a pleasant meal in the home of two great friends — one of them a white evangelical faith leader deeply committed to social justice. Well into the evening’s conversation — when we’d dropped all … Continue reading Black Evangelicals, White Evangelicals, and Franklin Graham’s Repentance

Source:  Cosmic Log – Flaw found in faster-than-light setup. Months after researchers reported that they measured neutrinos traveling faster than light, they’re finding that the incredible result may have been due to a bad connection rather than a violation of Albert Einstein’s special theory of relativity. A while ago I made a post about how scientists today disproved Einstein’s theory of relativity. It was reported that they had been able to measure the speed of a neutrino that was faster than light. According to Albert when things approach the speed of light they end up as pure energy. Well it … Continue reading Albert You Are Safe, For Now…..

via Why Pentagon, facing ‘doomsday’ spending cuts, refuses to plan for them – CSMonitor.com. Pentagon brass say they won’t even brook the possibility that $487 billion in mandated spending cuts – their ‘doomsday’ scenario – will actually come to pass. But if Congress doesn’t blink, say analysts, the Pentagon will be in dire straits. I have always believed that those Pentagon folks are the most arrogant batch of people on God’s Green Earth. As stated above they absolutely refuse to even consider the possibility of cutting their budgets! I’m sure if push comes to shove they will say that a budget … Continue reading Pentagon – a 10% Budget Cut Is Out Of The Question…..

Source:  Life Inc. – Role reversal: Employers say they cant find workers. “Employers are getting pickier and pickier,” Holmes said. “We want the perfect person to walk through the door.”Other experts also are seeing evidence that employers just aren’t working as hard to recruit workers, either because they can’t afford to or they don’t feel like they have to. Employers may not be looking far afield because they cant afford moving expenses. Employees may be less willing to move because of the housing bust. I guess I am just showing my age here but at the beginning of my working … Continue reading Employers say they can’t find workers

This is the second post of five about the book by Philip Gulley entitled If God is Love. Like the first installment last Sunday this one was also pulled from one of my other blogs at RedLetterLiving.net  I made a few minor modifications to the original post. Post from RedLetterLiving March 2009 This is a continuation of my collection of snippets from the book by Philip Gulley entitled If God is Love. The Psalmists boats, “Do I not hate those who hate you, O Lord? And do I not loathe those who rise up against you? I hate them with perfect hate. I count them … Continue reading Book Review – If God Is Love (Part 2)

I enjoy cooking with wine and sometimes I even put it in the food I’m cooking.  – Julia Childs I have always enjoyed cooking. After Mom abandoned my brother, Dad, and me I did most of the cooking. That was when I was about 10 years old. Of course at that time I didn’t know about cooking with wine but I did make pretty good biscuits and gravy among other things. Dad was the son of a pig farmer so we ate lots of pork. :) It would be years later before I discovered things like Coq Au Vin. This reminds me … Continue reading I Enjoy Cooking With Wine….

I always try to see the best in people and try not to attack anyone personally but sometimes it seems necessary to do so.  This is one of those times. Rush Limbaugh is in the center of it once again for his outrageous comments. He is indeed a raving lunatic!  But he is also a very rich raving lunatic because of his behavior. That in my mind is a major cause of where we are in the political sphere in this country today. It is reported that Mr. Limbaugh made about $30 million last year from his rantings.  I’m sure all … Continue reading Raving Lunatics…..

Since we seem to be on the verge of yet another long war, this time with Iran,  I thought I would do a short post here from my friends at FCNL. Please tell your senator and congressman that we don’t want to go through another senseless war. War is not the answer. We are the answer. All of us. All of us who are weary of turmoil and conflict… who seek a world free of war and the threat of war… who seek a society with equity and justice for all…who seek a community where every person’s potential may be fulfilled… … Continue reading War is NOT the Answer…

Psst…. I want to let you in on my dirty little secret. Don’t tell any of my Republican friends but sometimes I agree with what they say! I don’t often say it but I will whisper it here. Although I am a social progressive down to my soul I am also a fiscal conservative. I think we should all live within our means and that certainly includes our federal institutions. Source: Federal Workers Face ‘Unprecedented Assault’ in U.S. Budget War – Businessweek. “People who are government servants, public servants, should not be paid more than the taxpayers who are paying for … Continue reading My Dirty Little Secret…

The book review post I want to bring over from my other blog at RedLetterLiving.net  is one that had a profound effect on me during my three year search into current Christian organizations. In fact this book review spanned over five posts. (I haven’t decided yet whether to bring all five here or not). Phillip Gulley was one of my first encounters with the Society of Friends, otherwise know as Quakers. It would definitely spur much more reading about this group of Christians. Here is a slightly edited version of the March 2009 post Today I am going to talk … Continue reading Book Review – If God Is Love…

There ought to be a law against anybody going to Europe till they had seen the things we have in this country. – August 14, 1930  Will Rogers Although Will traveled around the world he was a homeboy at heart. I have been to all fifty State but still haven’t seen  what we have in this country yet. Note in the photo here Will is twirling a lasso while writing for his blog of the day otherwise known as a newspaper column. He certainly was a showman :) Continue reading Made in the USA….

Source: A Genuine Willingness – QuakerQuaker. We long for connections to others. We want to belong to something greater than ourselves. At the same time, we demand autonomy and freedom from constraints imposed by virtue of belonging to a group. These opposing pulls cause stress on both institutions and individuals as we try to meet the requirements of our outer and inner worlds. How do we genuinely balance our need to be self-determining persons and, at the same time, contributing members of society? The answer depends on our definitions. If my interpretation of self-determination is how much I can gain for … Continue reading Connections….

Source: Possible U.S., China trade dispute looms – USATODAY.com. In September, the Department of Energy said that only about 6% of the solar cells and modules sold around the world were made in the U.S., compared with more than 40% in 1995. In the last six years, China’s global market share has ballooned to 54% from 6%. The average price of solar modules has plummeted more than 40% to $1.25 per watt in the past two years. The U.S. prides itself on being the leader of high technology. We depend on it to keep jobs here in the country. So when … Continue reading They Have Learned Their Lessons Well…..

Proposal would keep calendar same every year – USATODAY.com. Each year, Jan. 1 falls on a different day of the week, and the entire following year shifts accordingly. Schools, sports teams, businesses and banks spend many hours and millions of dollars calculating on what day of the week certain dates will fall, to schedule holidays and set interest rates. Yesterday was the day to adjust our calendar to be aligned with the sun. We do that every four years on the 29th of February.  Our current calendar was invented about 1582 and is called the Gregorian calendar. It was named … Continue reading Proposal would keep calendar same every year