When George Bush  in 2000 said he was a “compassionate conservative”, my first thought was there is no such thing. But then after some thoughtful meditation I had to take back those words. I must admit that compassion, at least beyond a minimum level, seems to be pretty far away from most in the GOP. They seem to be much more concerned about the top 1% than the bottom 20%. Its been a while since I collected the quote below but I’m pretty sure it came from Jim Wallis at Sojourners just before he retired from that organization. When my … Continue reading Why Not A Trampoline??

When our founders set up our government their intention was that its citizens would come to the nation’s capital for a period of time  to contribute to the running of the people’s business and would then return to their normal lives.  Of course that is not what is happening today. There are way too many people  in our congress who are now collecting very lucrative pensions even after even relatively short terms in congress. There are those like Strom Thurmond, who have been there for decades and seem to want to die in office. John McCain first comes to mind … Continue reading Congressional Pensions??

Amazon is growing in leaps and bounds so it just makes sense that they start their own air delivery system both big and small. In order to control costs end-to-end processes are required and that is just what Amazon is doing. I have been a pretty constant Amazon customer for the past 15 years or so.  I wish I could say that I have also been a stockholder for that period but this seems to be another example of lost opportunities for me.  :)  I simply like the convenience of getting what I need without gassing up the car and driving … Continue reading The Next Step

Change, change, change… that seems to be our world today. While I for the most part embrace change I don’t like change simply for changes sake. That according to the source below seems to be almost where many are as technology consumers. dIn 1984 when PCs were first on the scene I quickly embraced the technology.  But I also quickly discovered that there were many things I wanted to do with the technology that were just not possible in those years.  The hardware was just too limiting to accomplish my dreams. As time went by computing power seemed to double  year … Continue reading We Have Come To The Point….

The source article from which the below quote was taken is a detailed desciption of what an social media addict does during a typical day. Unfortunately I seem to see more and more of these young addicts every day. The best thing is the little notification box, which means someone liked, tagged, or followed her on Instagram. She has 604 followers. There are only 25 photos on her page, because she deletes most of what she posts. The ones that don’t get enough likes, don’t have good enough lighting, or don’t show the coolest moments in her life must be … Continue reading The secret lives of screen-addicted teens

If I am known for anything here at RJsCorner is it my contrarian view of many things. Managing my money is one of them.  I know there are many blogs out their that strongly advise us to seek out financial planners to manage our money.  Supposedly they take a percentage of our assets each year in order to invest our money where it will get the highest earnings. I admit that for the seventeenth year of my retirement from the corporate world I have yet to use a financial planner.  One of the reasons is cited in the quote above. In the … Continue reading Managing Our Money…

I love reading about the history of America and some of the best critiques come from outside our country. Two of my favorite quotes comes from the idea of the “Tyranny of the Majority”.  That is when the majority in our country tends to deny basic civil rights to various minority groups. Of course the most glaring one is slavery but there is also the murder of millions of native Americans during the conquest of their native lands. The term “Tyranny of the Majority” was widely employed in mid-nineteenth-century America in conjunction with a series of moral questions (Sabbath, temperance, racial equality) that … Continue reading Perpetual Utterance of Self-Applause

If you know me you are probably puzzled about the title of this post.  For the most part I believe that the “good old days” just weren’t that good, but there are a few exceptions. Before I get to the crux of this post’s title I want to give you my other views of day 2 of the Democratic convention. One of the main thing that hit me was how all the networks seem to be viciously searching  for controversy. They cover very little of the actual proceedings.  That is very different than the good old days where you could … Continue reading Back To The Good Old Days…

The main crux of this post is about whether a company can remain innovative as it ages. I want to use Sears and Amazon as study points. Being a U.S. history buff I can’t help but draw a parallel between Sears in the early 20th century and Amazon a hundred years later. One of the striking things about Amazon beside their explosive product line is the speed at which they deliver their products. For $79/year you can get unlimited 2 day delivery at no cost.  I must admit I am a major customer who places orders probably 30+ times a year for … Continue reading Innovation…

I have been dreaming about  my April Disney World trip lately. One of the most spectacular shows was “Lion King”. With this post I am giving you a flavor of it. It is a massive production and well worth one of your “magic passes” if you ever go there. (as usual click on any of the pics above to see a larger slideshow) Continue reading Dreaming About “Lion King”

I occasionally write a letter to the editor of our small town newspaper. They allow me to put my two cents into the topic at hand. But since our town is so small I am often reluctant to chime in on some sensitive issues for fear of being labeled by my neighbors.  Anonymity is not an option in small town living. When I ran across this “letter to the editor” from Buffalo NY it got my attention.  To me the author spells out the relationship between government and religion  as concisely as possible: Like the Bible, the writings of the nation’s Founding … Continue reading Letters To The Editor…

The Rapp-Owen Granary is just one of perhaps a hundred buildings that have survived from the two utopian communities that were established in New Harmony Indiana. The Rapp-Owen Granary is perhaps the largest and most elegant.  If you are ever near southern Indiana and have an interest in history, especially utopian communities New Harmony is well worth a visit. (click on any of the pictures above to see a larger slideshow) I enlarged some ofd the words  in one of pictures for easier reading here: Continue reading Rapp-Owen Granary

I am getting ready to hit the road again in an hour or so. This time I will be touring southern Illinois particularly along the Mississippi.  I thought it appropriate to leave you with some pictures of my Spring trip to Bridgeton Indiana.  It is in the middle of “covered bridge country” here in southern Indiana. Continue reading On The Road Again… The Mississippi

It seems that the GOP is on the wrong side of yet another issue important to U.S. voters. 85% of us want congress to act to keep guns out of the hands of terrorists. So what does the GOP do?  As usual they prevent it from happening. I have heard their argument that the proposed bill might prevent someone who is not a terrorist from purchasing as many guns  and ammunition as he wants. The GOP seem to be willing to sacrifice thousands of us to prevent that from happening! Sooner or later the ones still clinging to the ultra … Continue reading On The Wrong Side Of Yet Another Issue…

I know that it may not be politically correct to say that ISIS is driven by Islam but the truth is the truth.. ISIS and all their offshoots take a part of the Koran and use it as an excuse for their extremism the same way that the KKK does with the Christian Bible. Spiritual beliefs are a big part of human nature. Almost everyone has a basic need to know who created them and what is the “right” way to live on this earth. I chose the teachings of Jesus Christ as my spiritual foundation.  I take the red … Continue reading ‘Of course’ ISIS is driven by Islam…

After my flaming post yesterday its time to throw some water on RJ’sCorner.  Here is a nice peaceful scene taken at the Jersey Shore in 1999. Ahhh, that feels better… Continue reading Quick, Throw Some Water On It….