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How to Survive China’s Pollution Problem: Masks and Bubbles

RJ Walters

  Source: How to Survive China’s Pollution Problem: Masks and Bubbles | Design Decoded. Last January, air pollution reached new levels of toxicity in China. Just how bad did things get? According to the Chinese Air Quality Index (AQI), measurements of particulate matter in the air reached more than 1,000 micrograms per cubic meter the northeastern part of country. That probably doesn’t mean anything to you without context though, so here it is: anything above 300 is considered “hazardous” and citizens are warned that they “may experience more serious health effects.” For even more context, consider that the U.S. AQI only … Continue reading How to Survive China’s Pollution Problem: Masks and Bubbles

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Life’s Dramas…….

RJ Walters

  Anyone who has watched movies, and that surely is almost all of us, know that when certain scenes come up there is always very dramatic music in the background. One of the strange things about me being deaf for more than 25 years now it that my brain just doesn’t remember what music sounds like. Even though I don’t remember the sounds the fact that it was dramatic music still remains. When the soldiers landed on Normandy the dramatic music boomed. Whenever there was a seemingly life changing event on the silver screen there was always dramatic music in … Continue reading Life’s Dramas…….

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Power To The People….

RJ Walters

I enjoy making predictions. Don’t we all. And since I am probably no worse at it than any of the so-called expert, here I go again. I predict that within the next twenty years the true power brokers will be the temp employment agencies and their eventual workers unions. I know, as usual I am way out in left field with this prediction but again as usual hear me out before you change channels so to speak.. Most businesses now rely on employment agencies for their workforce. Corporations are no longer  willing to provide any perks except to upper management. … Continue reading Power To The People….

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At The Top Of The High Risk List….

RJ Walters

  Source: Fiscal nightmare looms at ‘bloated’ Pentagon – NBC Politics. Just two weeks ago, the GAO kept the Pentagon on its annual “High Risk List” of departments whose books are so mysterious and opaque that they’re at high risk of fraud, waste and mismanagement…. He (retired Army Gen. David Barno) said the Pentagon’s method of operating is comparable to driving a 1985 Oldsmobile which is leaking oil, “and every time we go out on the highway at 65 miles an hour, we come back after another day, there’s more and more oil on the floor of our garage in the … Continue reading At The Top Of The High Risk List….

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Jesus’ Not So Secret Message….

RJ Walters

Many in the Christian faith believe that if they study their bible enough they will come away with Jesus’ secret message. They think that hidden in those bible verses is a secret message that he intends for only his “true” believers. Like the Da Vinci code it is hidden away so that only a few will receive it. I’m not a fan of conspiracy theories so I tend to disregard those who have such beliefs. To me Jesus made it ultimately clear what his message is: The Greatest Commandment Mark 12:28-32 One of the teachers of the law came and … Continue reading Jesus’ Not So Secret Message….

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Gridlock Because…..

RJ Walters

I VERY much suspect that if thinking men would have the courage to think for themselves, and to speak what they think, it would be found they do not differ in . . . opinions as much as is supposed.  —  Jefferson, Thomas We all recognize that gridlock has frozen our government processes.  If only the people who represent each of us were to take to heart the words of Jefferson above we might just melt the sorry state that presently binds us.  The trouble with congress right now is that the people representing us are allowing a few who … Continue reading Gridlock Because…..

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Fixations….

RJ Walters

WHY??   I ask that a lot, especially when it comes to how we choose to live our lives. I simply can’t understand how we Americans are so fixated on flexing our muscle throughout the world when we have so many thing that need repair in our own country. It is almost as if we are willing to sacrifice our own well being in order to exercise our power. We must realize that the world didn’t assign us to be policemen of the world, that was a choice we made, often times much to our own detriment. Since I hold … Continue reading Fixations….

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Betrayed by Friendship….

RJ Walters

Betrayed by friendship is not a bad memorial to leave. – 16 June 1931   Will Rogers Will, I had to think about this one to understand what you were talking about. I think it means that is it better to have friends even if some end up betraying you than it is to have no friends at all.  That’s kind of deep but knowing you as I do I suspect that is your point. It kind of like the one about “its better to have love and lost than not to have loved at all”. Yeah, some friendships can result … Continue reading Betrayed by Friendship….

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The Turning Point…..

RJ Walters

“Government is not a solution to our problem, government is the problem.”  – Ronald Reagan Sometimes when we look back at history we wonder how did we get to where we are.  We often have trouble pinpointing a particular person or date to where it all began. On January 20, 1981 when Ronald Reagan uttered the words above  he ushered in a new breed of Republicans. These particular words were the turning point to gridlock and jumping from crisis to crisis that we see today.  It is also the specific moment that I turned away from the Republican party to look elsewhere. No longer … Continue reading The Turning Point…..

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Ask Shane Claiborne…(Response)

RJ Walters

Source: Ask Shane Claiborne…(Response). You also see in Scripture that when people encounter Jesus, they don’t all walk away to pursue the exact same lifestyle. For instance, Jesus dealt with two tax collectors—Matthew and Zaccheus. Matthew chose to sell everything, but Zaccheus, from what we know, sold half of everything, paid everyone four times what he owed them, and then went on. So they both reimagine their life and their economics, and they both challenge the system, but they did it in different ways. And you’ll notice that Matthew didn’t get all upset and come out and tell Zaccheus how to … Continue reading Ask Shane Claiborne…(Response)

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Inspiring Words From Thomas Jefferson

RJ Walters

A DECALOGUE of canons for observation in practical life: 1. Never put off till to-morrow what you can do to-day. 2. Never trouble another for what you can do yourself. 3. Never spend your money before you have it 4. Never buy what you do not want, because it is cheap: it will be dear to you. 5. Pride costs us more than hunger, thirst, and cold. 6. We never repent of having eaten too little. 7. Nothing is troublesome that we do willingly. 8. How much pain have cost us the evils which have never happened. 9. Take things … Continue reading Inspiring Words From Thomas Jefferson

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Something About Running the Country…

RJ Walters

  There is people so excited over this election that they think the President has something to do with running this country. – 30 October 1932   Will Rogers I am going to leave the quote above to pretty much stand on it own.  Many want to blame the president on everything that happens in the country. “It rained so much today, it must be the president’s fault”.  I am more of a realist maybe.  I don’t think any of those yahoos in Washington have much to do with what happens in the country. And thanks heavens for that! Continue reading Something About Running the Country…

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Changing From Within….

RJ Walters

Let me start this post by bringing back some words from a recent post about emergents. The emergent movement is not a new denomination threatening to take over but instead a new way to thinking. Here is how Wikipedia describes that concept: Emergents can be described as Protestant, post-Protestant, Catholic, evangelical, post-evangelical, liberal, post-liberal, conservative, post conservative, anabaptist, adventist, reformed, charismatic, neocharismatic, and post-charismatic…. Some attend local independent churches or house churches while others worship in traditional Christian denominations. Proponents believe the movement transcends such “modernist” labels of “conservative” and “liberal,” calling the movement a “conversation” to emphasize its developing … Continue reading Changing From Within….

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Being Denied Coverage….

RJ Walters

  Source: Top six myths about Medicare | Reuters. MYTH FOUR: DOCTORS WILL NOT ACCEPT MEDICARE BECAUSE OF ALL THESE CUTS Facts: Most Medicare patients do not have trouble finding doctors who will see them, but there is growing concern about access to primary care physicians. This issue is monitored closely by the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC), an independent Congressional agency charged with advising Congress on Medicare. The agency’s most recent annual survey of Medicare patients found that just 2 percent of beneficiaries had problems of any kind finding a new primary care doctor willing to accept Medicare – the … Continue reading Being Denied Coverage….

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Looking At The Front End…

RJ Walters

Source Blog:  Twenty-something « Cristian Mihai. I believe that young, inexperienced writers set out to write the words they think the world desires to read. The words the world needs. When they gain a bit of experience, they set out to write the words they desire to read. And that’s a pretty big difference. I’m not sure this applies to me now, but when I was younger, I wanted to use all my ideas and characters and put them into a single story. I thought that’s how masterpieces are made. With experience you realize how precious ideas are. You store … Continue reading Looking At The Front End…

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As Our Newspapers Make It…

RJ Walters

I hope we never live to see the day when a thing is as bad as some of our newspapers make it. – 19 July 1934  — Will Rogers In Will’s day newspapers were pretty much the only place to get a glimpse of the daily news. Except for a few monthlies, magazines had not come into common use. Of course the Internet and cable news networks were fifty or more years in the future. Will Rogers had two very famous quotes in his day “I never met a man I didn’t like” and “All I know is what I … Continue reading As Our Newspapers Make It…

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Schizophrenia and the Republican Party….

RJ Walters

Schizophrenia—an impairment in social cognition which is associated with paranoia and  social isolation. Paranoia, which is a major symptom of schizophrenia, is a mental condition in which the person often loses touch with reality.  Here is some of what Wikipedia says about this condition: Paranoia is a thought process believed to be heavily influenced by anxiety or fear, often to the point of irrationality and delusion. Paranoid thinking typically includes persecutory beliefs, or beliefs of conspiracy concerning a perceived threat towards oneself. (e.g. “Everyone is out to get me.”) Making false accusations and the general distrust of others also frequently accompany paranoia. … Continue reading Schizophrenia and the Republican Party….

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Unclean Spirits….

RJ Walters

A man in the crowd answered, “Teacher, I brought you my son, who is possessed by a spirit that has robbed him of speech.  Whenever it seizes him, it throws him to the ground. He foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth and becomes rigid…. When Jesus saw that a crowd was running to the scene, he rebuked the impure spirit.“You deaf and mute spirit,” he said, “I command you, come out of him and never enter him again.” Mark 9:17 – 18, There are many places in the Bible that talk about unclean spirits in people’s bodies. Are we … Continue reading Unclean Spirits….

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Taking It From Somebody….

RJ Walters

  The difference between our rich and poor grows greater every year. Our distribution of wealth is getting more uneven all the time. . . . A man can make a million over night and he is on every page in the morning. But it never tells you who give up the million he got. You can’t get money without taking it from somebody. – 1 June 1930  Will Rogers As Will points out here the difference between the rich and the poor has always been greater than many of us would like to see but I really don’t think … Continue reading Taking It From Somebody….

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Only Seven Murders….

RJ Walters

  Source: No guns at home, so Japanese shoot ’em up in Guam – Itineraries on NBCNews.com. Because guns are so hard to find, gun-related crime is extremely rare. They were used in only seven murders in Japan — a nation of about 130 million people — in 2011, the most recent year for official statistics. In the U.S., with 315 million people, there are more than 11,000 gun-related killings annually.  The Japanese are proud of their low crime rate and generally support tough gun-control policies. Given the propensity to violence in this country I can’t even imagine a country of … Continue reading Only Seven Murders….