I know when most people think of New Jersey they think of two things, the staging area for NYC and the mafia. ;) The official tag for NJ is “The Garden State” and when you get to the central and southern part of the State it does become rural. Continue reading The Garden State…
I love America and I can’t imagine living anywhere else in the world. But I’m sure there are those out there that have a very different opinion of me. Some who accidentally come across my blog here have flatly told me so. They think I must not love my country because I say critical things about it. Sadly I’m pretty sure that is the mentality that prompted Rudy Giuliani to recently say our president doesn’t love America or anyone in it. I do not believe that the president loves America,” the former New York City mayor said Wednesday. “He doesn’t love you. … Continue reading I Love America, But…
Republican Sens. Richard Burr of North Carolina and Orrin Hatch of Utah along with GOP Rep. Fred Upton of Michigan have put together a replacement for ObamaCare. And while neither their supporters nor detractors are likely to admit it, the plan bears a striking resemblance to, well, ObamaCare. Health-care markets present a particular set of problems, with a limited range of possible solutions. So all realistic proposals for reform are going to have some basic structural similarities. The differences arise in what policymakers prioritize within those bounds. That’s what really divides the left from the right on this issue. And … Continue reading The GOP Healthcare Plan??
This was a shot taken in NYC last summer. I don’t recall exactly where it was but it sure is creative ;) Continue reading Creative….
I find myself yet again using words from Stehpen Mattson over at Red Letter Christians as a source for one of my Sunday posts. He just seems to say what needs to be said. This time it is about how we Christians are becoming so tainted by bad evangelism. We let the crazies among us control the chicken house so to speak. The problem with many modern Christians is that we’ve seen and experienced too much bad evangelism: the crazy street preachers shouting at strangers, the late-night televangelists peddling for money, The Westboro Baptists picketing funerals, the corrupt pastors who … Continue reading Too Much Bad Evangelism…
The one thing that will sink the GOP’s chances of taking the White House is their sense of priority. Let’s face it most people just don’t give a hoot about what the GOP screams the loudest about… and of course Texas, as usual, is screaming the loudest of the loudest… Continue reading A Snippet….
O-Bannon State Park IN – Winter on the farm This picture was taken during a recent visit to an Indiana State Park near the Ohio River. It was a very interesting day and I will soon be putting up a Travelogue … Continue reading Winter on the Farm…
I have a separate category in my photo library for boxes, signs, and such. A box can tell you much about our history. Here is one of my favorite box pics. Shaker seeds were thought to be the best of the best in their day. Continue reading Boxes…
I must admit up front, before it becomes obvious, that I am a novice when it comes to YouTube. This is my first attempt at posting something there and also the first attempt at this new slideshow app. I’m sure there are plenty of mistakes but that’s how we learn isn’t it? Continue reading NYC… The Video
Despite a loud minority, most of the U.S. has moved on. Last year, seven states accounted for 80 percent of all executions. And it is even more evident when you look at counties. More than half of death penalty convictions originate in 2 percent of the counties in the U.S. More and more Christians are troubled that 85 percent of executions take place in the Bible Belt. A 2014 poll showed that millennial Christians are overwhelmingly against the death penalty, and only 5 percent of Americans think Jesus would favor it….. It feels like we have death-fatigue. Perhaps it is no surprise that … Continue reading Despite the Loud Minority…
By adding this book to my right side blog page I think I have made it abundantly clear how it has influenced me during my life. I read this book soon after it was published in 1962 and have re-read … Continue reading Travels with Charley
Why is one bandwidth-hungry town building its own 1Gbps fiber network for its citizens when AT&T already offers them 6Mbps DSL? That’s the question AT&T would like to ask city leaders in Chanute, Kansas, a small town of roughly 9,000 people that is petitioning the state to allow it to offer greater access to the high-speed fiber network that it built to support town utility operations. SOURCE: AT&T wants to know why a town is building a 1Gbps network when it already offers 6Mbps DSL. Starting this post I will admit that I spent a very large chunk of my time in the corporate … Continue reading Doing Something About It….
I think all of us who spent much time in the corporate world had a dream like this one of drowning in paperwork. It could become overwhelming at times. The foundation of this rendering was taken at the Grounds For Sculpture in Northern New Jersey. It is a fascinating place to visit. Continue reading Drowning
With this post I am starting another series which will be cataloged as American Aristocracy. The basic foundation for this series is that if nothing in done to prevent it our nation will likely move from a democracy to an aristocracy in the coming decades, maybe even years. The first installment in this new category is about the “Death Tax” The quote above came from Adam Smith. His book entitled “The Wealth of Nations” written in 1753 is considered the bedrock modern economics. Here is a little of what Wikipedia says about him: Smith laid the foundations of … Continue reading Adam Smith… and the Death Tax…
JEFFREY BROWN: But couldn’t you make the argument that it would be better if we all spoke the same language, that we all understood each other? There would be — well, there would be more understanding in the world. BOB HOLMAN: Well, I love that argument, and it makes so much sense, until you understand what understanding is. You know, language is much more than communication. When we talk about it on the surface, that’s what it is. But language is the way we think. And it’s the way it’s been handed down through generations. If you begin to think … Continue reading Its All About Communications….
The people of NYC simple love everything about Teddy Roosevelt. He is truly one of their native-sons. He was the police commissioner there in the late 1800s. To me he is most famous for taking on the “robber barons” of … Continue reading Oh Teddy, My Hero….
House On The Rock in southern Wisconsin is a very unique and strange place to visit. There are rooms after rooms of things that spike the imagination. It is definitely an “out of the box”, “over the wall” or whatever you want to call it place… :) Continue reading House On The Rock…
These won’t get teens into college, but will make them better people 1. Write a letter. An actual letter that does not begin with “Hey” and is written, in handwriting, on real paper. 2. Learn to cook a good meal that can feed the entire family, no matter what size family you have. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the average American household has 2.58 people. One nice chicken roasted on a bed of vegetables might even provide leftovers. 3. Hold down an unpleasant job that makes you hate your parents a little bit because they won’t let you quit. … Continue reading 10 Things Teens Really Need to Know Before They Leave Home
But by the time I was in grade school, my parents [who were both pastors] were becoming increasingly convinced that Sunday-morning Evangelicalism just wasn’t enough. No matter how nice the community was, they yearned to be part of a radical fellowship of Christ-followers, learning how to be disciples in their everyday lives. They wanted to live in solidarity with those who are most marginalized in our society. With increasing urgency, they felt that God was calling them to be in relationship with those whom the mainstream culture had taught them to fear…. We’re in the midst of a tidal wave of … Continue reading I Celebrate Post-Evanglism…
There are many places in NYC where the sun just doesn’t shine or the gps don’t work. This pic was taken in June of last year. I suspect it looks quite different today.. Much whiter… ;) Continue reading Where The Sun Doesn't Shine
New York City, NY I’m an old country boy so the longer I stayed in NYC the more people-overdosed I became. I can’t imagine living my life with millions of others within walking distance of my abode. Continue reading Oh The Humanity….
RJ's Corner - Having My Say 