Inequality is the result of political forces as much as of economic ones. In a modern economy government sets and enforces the rules of the game—what is fair competition, and what actions are deemed anticompetitive and illegal, who gets what in the event of bankruptcy, when a debtor can’t pay all that he owes, what are fraudulent practices and forbidden. Government also gives away resources (both openly and less transparently) and, through taxes and social expenditures, modifies the distribution of income that emerges from the market, shaped as it is by technology and politics. The Price of Inequality: How Today’s … Continue reading Inequality…

I guess it is officially Spring now as all the country yard flowers and in full bloom. Now I know all you city slickers out there call my flowers as shown here weeds but you got to get over that idea. ;)  God just didn’t intend that only one variety of his creation was to appear on your front yard.  But I do have to admit that my wife gets on me from time to time about how our lawn seems to have everything but grass growing on it. Living in the country means putting up with all the critters … Continue reading Not Your City Slicker Lawn…

Come gather ’round people Wherever you roam And admit that the waters Around you have grown And accept it that soon You’ll be drenched to the bone If your time to you is worth savin’ Then you better start swimmin’ or you’ll sink like a stone For the times they are a-changin’ Come writers and critics Who prophesize with your pen And keep your eyes wide The chance won’t come again And don’t speak too soon For the wheel’s still in spin And there’s no tellin’ who that it’s namin’ For the loser now will be later to win For … Continue reading The Times They Are A Changing….

We are a generation that is able to pick and choose the best ideas and aspects from many different groups and systems and embrace them in our own lives and thinking. And this has never been a possibility for any other generation in the history of humankind. This does make us a generally skeptical generation. We don’t just drink the Kool Aid. That doesn’t mean we lack commitment to a community, but it does mean millennial communities will look radically different than those of previous generations. This doesn’t mean millennials are against structure, but rather against structures that dictate how … Continue reading Millennials: Anti-Social, Selfish, & Afraid?

We have made of Christianity a complicated, contradictory amalgamation of fear, fantasy, patriotism, self-justification and self-congratulations that would baffle anyone who knew the dusty Galilean founder. We can’t decide (or agree) if ‘being a Christian’ is something we do or have or believe. Most of us can’t even explain or define it to ourselves. But most of us do have the certainty that our religion is better than that other religion. And for many of us, our deepest faith is not in how true our faith is but in how false the other faith must be…. We are like the … Continue reading Being A Christian…

Home-grown bullies More than half of Americans believe incivility in our society is on the rise and expected to worsen in coming years, according to Weber Shandwick’s 2011 annual survey on incivility. The climate of unbridled rudeness is evident in politics, pop culture, music, media, big business, work, schools, and now, the internet – just about all aspects of our culture. And incivility breeds bullies. Among those surveyed, 65% believed overall incivility worsened with the recent financial crisis and recession. But, the seeds of incivility were sown in American history since before the Salem Witch Trials. American bullying is a … Continue reading Anatomy of a bully

Republican proposals, such as cutting food stamps and assuming the guilt of minorities and the mentally ill who are in jail, appeal to the rich, he said. “Those kind of things just exalt the higher class, which is the whites, and they draw a subtle, but very effective racial line throughout the South,” Carter said. SOURCE: Jimmy Carter: Southern White Men Turn To The GOP Because Of ‘Race’. I think that Jimmy Carter and I have something in common. As we have gotten older we speak our minds more than when we were younger. To me it is kind of … Continue reading Along Racial Lines….

WASHINGTON (AP) — A sense of belonging to the middle class occupies a cherished place in America. It conjures images of self-sufficient people with stable jobs and pleasant homes working toward prosperity. Yet nearly five years after the Great Recession ended, more people are coming to the painful realization that they’re no longer part of it. They are former professionals now stocking shelves at grocery stores, retirees struggling with rising costs and people working part-time jobs but desperate for full-time pay. Such setbacks have emerged in economic statistics for several years. Now they’re affecting how Americans think of themselves. SOURCE: … Continue reading More Americans see middle class status slipping

“America is just like an insane asylum. There is not a soul in it will admit they are crazy.” – Will Rogers, 28 April 1935 This has got to be one of the best and maybe most accurate post by Will. We sure do have a lot of crazies in this country. Thank heavens I am not one of them.  ;) Continue reading Not A Soul Will Admit….

Here are five tech products we predict will go the way of the dodo in the next half-decade. SOURCE:  5 Tech Products That Will Be Dead in 5 Years | TIME.com. It is amazing how quickly things, especially electronic things, change in today’s world. I can remember all the fury about moving to digital transmissions for television signals. There were many opponents to it when it was happening. But, as is the case for much of this type of progress now that it has happened we wonder why we waited so long. I am convinced that eventually the same thing … Continue reading 5 Tech Products That Will Be Dead in 5 Years

  Let’s all try to do what He commands…. Continue reading Happy Easter….

“Well we get pretty excited over politics, and pretty soon it’s all over, and we settle down to cussing the guy we just elected. It just seems like we can’t get a man that can take care of all of us after he gets in office. There just ain’t enough favors to go round. – Will Rogers, 15 July 1934 Continue reading Not Enough Favors To Go Around…

It’s known as one of the most exclusive places on earth, the home of the rich and spectacularly rich.  Orange County, Calif.’s, reputation only grew when the TV crews started rolling in several years ago. But “The Real Housewives of Orange County” and the teens of “Laguna Beach” failed to mention a major piece of the O.C. drama. The county is also among the top 10 in the U.S. for childhood food insecurity…. Along with the yacht clubs and average home prices of nearly $2 million in some spots, Orange County also has more than 150,000 children who don’t know … Continue reading A Tale of Two Cities….

“I have grave concerns that the CIA’s search may well have violated the separation-of-powers principles embodied in the United States Constitution, including the speech-and-debate clause,” Feinstein said. “Besides the constitutional implications, the CIA search may also have violated the Fourth Amendment, the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act,” as well as an Executive Order barring the CIA from conducting domestic surveillance, she said. SOURCE: Top Lawmaker Accuses CIA of Illegally Snooping on Senate | TIME.com. Our constitution is assuredly the best country incorporation document in the world. The framers had an astounding amount of foresight when the generated it. But I … Continue reading CIA of Illegally Snooping on Senate…

I used to think that the phrase “leaving well enough alone” was a wise one but I am just not too sure of that anymore. It could mean that I just don’t want to change or maybe I don’t want to chance losing something for the benefit of others. Leaving well enough alone was often the phrase used to continue with segregation in the 1960s. The logic went that the Negroes were happy as they were and would never be able to compete with the whites if they were not kept separate. So the logic went, segregation was as much … Continue reading Leaving Well Enough Alone…

We all know that yelling “FIRE!!” in a theater is against the law and can cause a lot of harm. We are told even as children not to do that sort of thing.  Another area of this type are those that try to incite a riot by prodding and encouraging violence. That one isn’t quite as well published as the first. The school yard bully gets a lot of attention these days. We, at least most of us, have little tolerance for him. But another type of threat that is perhaps just as bad is the instigator. You might know … Continue reading To Incite A Riot….

If there is anything we resent God for more, it is being outside of our understanding. We want God to be a like an omnipotent train conductor; completely in control but completely predictable. This is why one of the most glaringly obvious aspects of God’s relationship to us goes unnoticed, untaught, and often contradicted. We want to think God is completely consistent, and that everyone is treated the same way. However, the truth is that God actually changes how he interacts with us based on *gasp* our own behavior. SOURCE: What If God is Pragmatic? | Yaholo Hoyt | Red … Continue reading What If God is Pragmatic?

This is the third and final post on this mini-serious, or maybe not even that,  on getting older. The first post was about my depression when I compared my aging life with some of the other bloggers that I read.  The second one was about the reality TV shows called “Porter Ridge” and “Duck Dynasty”. This one will close the door on those two seemingly unrelated topics. I have come to a fundamental conclusion as to why the previously mentioned two shows, and others like them, are so popular. That is the fact that all of us need someone we … Continue reading Bottom Of The Barrel….

It might not seem like it but this is a continuation of my story about the joys of getting old.  :) I have to admit that I live in the same county in Indiana that the folks of “Porter Ridge” do. Here is how Variety describes that TV show: Gurney Productions, the shingle behind A&E’s hit series “Duck Dynasty,” has lined up redneck fare at Discovery Channel with reality show “Porter Ridge.” Docu-comedy centers on an isolated community in Indiana with a colorful cast of rural characters, including Jeff “The Bear Man,” who has a backyard full of bears, country … Continue reading Reality TV???

Following up on the “Pity Party” post of Friday, this is the first of a series of three posts that will have some reality but also some tongue-in-cheek stuff so don’t get too concerned that I am ready to bite a bullet or anything like that.  :) Now that Spring is here I hope I will soon be coming out of my usual winter doldrums. The six months between November and April are just not in any way, shape, or form my favorite months. They are for the most part spent locked up in the house waiting out the next … Continue reading The Pity Party (continued)…

“Plans get you into things but you got to work your way out.” – Will Rogers, 25 June 1931 For me “getting into things” is the most difficult part of a new project. Writing a post for this blog starts out with an idea or quote and then progresses from there. So I don’t take Will’s quote here as getting into trouble as many probably do but instead just getting started. But I do agree with him that working your way out is well, work. Continue reading Getting Into Things….

Early biographers, informed by Lincoln’s former Springfield law partner William Herndon, wrote first takes of the president that would be unrecognizable to the heroic image that Americans know today from books like Doris Kearns Goodwin’s Team of Rivals and Daniel Day-Lewis’ Oscar-winning performance. And the public made Josiah Holland’s Life of Lincoln, which erroneously portrayed the president who was gunned down on Good Friday as “an eminently Christian president,” an instant best seller. Other early depictions portray Lincoln as bumbling and deeply flawed. With his new dual biography, Lincoln’s Boys: John Hay, John Nicolay, and the War for Lincoln’s Image, … Continue reading About Our Heroes…

All of us have all been through some traumatic times in our lives. Some of us much more than others. It could be a health event, maybe a divorce, or a death of a friend or family member. One outcome that is almost assured from these events is a pity party. That is we question “why us?” or maybe “why did God do this to me?” I think having pity, even on ourselves, is just human nature. It is the extent of the pity that separates us. Do we get over it and face our new life challenges or do … Continue reading The Pity Party…

  From my Facebook Link…. Continue reading A Peaceful People….

I can still vividly recall when President Bush rode over the Hurricane Katrina devastation in a helicopter. From a thousand feet above he would shake his head and make a comment of two. From many of his actions, including this one, he just seemed to not really care or want to be personally involved. He was very much different from his predecessor in that regard.  Looking at the tragedy from far above make the people’s suffering seem very remote. I think that is the way he wanted it to be. Yes he was very forceful after 9/11 where he had … Continue reading A Helicopter View Of Poverty…

Anyone who has spent much time on this blog knows that I am a big fan of Wikipedia. I give them at least a couple of donations every year to support their efforts. It was only recently that I discovered Wikimedia Commons. Click on the graphic to the right to go there. Wikimedia Commons has literally thousands of public domain media for all you bloggers out there. You don’t have to worry about infringement of copyrights when you used any of their images. Try them out. You won’t be disappointed and if you like them or Wikipedia give them a … Continue reading About Wikimedia Commons….

I can remember in my younger years how when I came across older people who didn’t know some of the things I did I automatically thought they were just senile old folks who were no longer living in the “real” world.  They were simply out of tune with the times. They just didn’t see the world as I did. Of course now that I am one of those “old” folks I can understand their “ignorance”. In fact I am most like them now. I am just out of tune when it comes to anything in the music area. I have … Continue reading Out Of Tune…..

Looking at all the religious oligarchies around the world I am thankful that the U.S. is not a Christian nation. Without exception those countries that adhere to a strict religious dogma are plagued with strife, war, and are constantly battling with their neighbors. I am totally convinced that the reason that the U.S. is what it is today because of our diversity. We are a nation of immigrants from hundreds of countries and religious beliefs.  I can easily see that the diversity level in the blue States is glaringly higher than in most red States. Maybe this accounts for some … Continue reading Being Thankful That The United States Is Not A Christian Nation….