Sunday, July 31, 2011

Hostage taking 101

This has been a very busy, exhausting day for Alicia and I but a great day and part of the greatness was being forced to cut loose from the unfolding debacle in what we call DC.  But then I had to come home in mid afternoon, had to turn on the TV and voila, I realized then how the Iran hostages felt when some small group, to make a point, possibly have stolen a pretty good way of life away from millions of Americans ... and me!  The last few days have created this burning sensation in the blogosphere including on some of my blog posts.  Emotion, protectionism, partisanism (that word again) and patriotism have all floated to the top in an array of sounds, smells and configurations ... but the fat lady apparently has not yet sung and we all are waiting for the chorus of that song.!

So here we sit on Sunday night with the clock ticking toward Aug 2 and all we are hearing  on the news are the "right wing Republicans" in the House and Senate referred to as "Tea Party" people that are pushing this economy to the brink.  Like it or not that is simply wrong. 

Just watched this Tea Party young lady interviewed and is she brazenly proud of the near shutdown status of America and the "mark we have made on our nation .."  It simply is amazing, sickening, but amazing how this is allowed to happen.  One commentator, rightly I think, drew the analogy that the Tea Party block is like letting the teenager in the family manage the family checkbook. Yeah, that sounds about right!

Pastor Neal Wheeler preached a phenomenally powerful and compelling sermon this morning at Canton Baptist Temple.  He made a great point, quite a few in fact, when he said politics is not bad for it is good but that there are good politicians and bad politicians. Ah, how simple yet how true!  I consider myself a relatively intelligent man, I seek to understand, I commit my actions to prayer but got to tell you, I just don't get any of this.  The Boehner Bill saga for nothing was, well, ahhhhhhh, apparently stupidity; blocked by the Party of the Tea.  Now the Reid Bill saga is for nothing was, well, ahhhhhhhh, apparently stupidity; blocked by the Party of the Tea. Are you seeing a connection here?

When I got home from church today I went to our Preamble of our nation's Constitution and proceeded to read the first part of our great "Mark in the World's Sand!" I highly recommend you do just that; go back and read the document!  And then realize that here we are in 2011 metaphorically held hostage by a small group of people, well intended I believe, committed I believe, wanting to do the right thing I believe, creating havoc in the global economy with tsunamic implication. Watch the stock markets around the world react and watch gold head toward a new high on the London market over night.

I have prayed about all of this for that is what I am commanded to do by the Bible.  Some time praying isn't easy and this, for me, is one of them. But I know God is in control of this but really do no like this chafing sense of being a hostage!  Perhaps there is purpose to all of this and history will perhaps record it with a positive blush ... we'll see won't we!  So if I have managed to offend supporters of the Party of the Tea, I am deeply sorry but that chafing really hurts and angers me ... and millions of others in that same hostage status!

Saturday, July 30, 2011

Galvanization ... to react as if stimulated by an electric shock ... really!

As I lay down last night exhausted my brained triggered on the term, "galvanized" in light of what the whole world has been focused on which is the fear and worry of default of the United States of America. So I looked up the definition from my friend Mr Webster and he brings forth this concept of a reaction if stimulated by an electric shock and felt is a perfect description of our global village.  The issues in America have truly shocked the world as reflected in global equity market declines and another spike in gold prices.  All of that to say that America, with all its stumbling and bickering and rancor is still the most influential nation on this earth.

When I was in college I worked at a local steel mill in Gadsden, AL and one of the million jobs that summer was working on a galvanizing line that coated the raw steel that covered it and protect its surface by some electromagnetic charge in the process. It really was amazing to see something of that magnitude being changed for life. That is what galvanizing does in the steel process is coat through electric charge via a solution to protect it by drawing the molecules in the steel to the surface to be affected.  I believe, if nothing else, more people have been galvanized in the last five days over this issue which I think is a great thing in retrospect.

Emails, tweets, letters, phone calls, demonstrations, advertisement, face2face, etc, etc have become the norm in a world where many, including myself, thought the American public had basically threw up their hands in disgust and apathy but no, the public has been galvanized to the point that I believe it has scared the establishment in DC; let's hope but Washington has a very short memory it appears.

While on this mess I have found myself torn deeply over the Tea Party contingent of the young, newly elected breed of Congressmen that took their electorate's mantra serious and executed what appears to be a solid, embraced plan to make a paradigm shift in government thus was the primary driver to pushing the whole discussion underway to the edge of the cliff.  I am torn by liking the refreshing, unbeholden nature of these young leaders and have been very impressed by the passioned "cheer leading" of their cause on the Capitol steps to seeing that the bordering arrogance of the passion was forcing the Congress toward that cliff at warp speed.  So the Tea Party has established itself not as a fringe of nutcases but a real life component of government going forward.  They have been let out of Plato's Cave, seen a new reality and are working their way back to the allegorical cave to change the minds through their new reality and have, naturally, met head on resistance by being called a host of names, like Hobbits, by the veterans of Congress that have, during their far too long career in Washington, been responsible for piling up the very debt that is choking our nation and causing shock and awe in world markets.

So my post this morning is about the physical witnessing of Galvanization in our citizenry that caused our elected leaders to rattle in fear and all that is a GREAT thing and it is my greatest hope that that fear of the public by those that sent them to DC will remain red hot and thus game changing.  It is, after all, we the people that elect these people to do our will in our beliefs.  It has been heartening to see millions of Americans, including this one, to not sit on the sidelines and casually throw peanuts at he donkeys and elephants as they pass in the regalia of a parade allowed to play the political games that are the norm in Washington.

The People have spoken and the politicians of that electorate listened and thus we see they act and react to the pressures of the electorate once galvanized and active in the process.  Again, these men and women in Washington are not stupid and uncaring; quite the contrary.  What Washington needed was a good kick in the pants which I believe they got plus, by the way, there are elections in 2012 and many will pay a dear price for these shenanigans. This journey of fear is far from over but we saw a the open salvos of the artillery battle in the last few days.

On that I will give credit to Mr. Boehner for he, in a powerful leadership role, led. He took a position, right or wrong, worked a process to enlist a constituency and did in fact assemble the votes to pass a bill many felt either stupid or unattainable. That bill is neither of those.

What has been dusted off in this battle is that the way it was is no longer the way it will be and it took the brash Tea Party folks to surface that so I applaud the game changers. I am more convinced than ever that time limits on Congress, like the Presidency, is a right thing to do meaning the Congress should be forced to have not more than two consecutive terms and then they are out for two terms before reelection.  Staleness and creating a culture of manipulation are dangerous and calcifying verbs which is exactly what we have been witnessing through the scrutiny of the cameras.

Be blessed this weekend and lest we forget, we are truly blessed to live in this great nation even with its warts and flaws. Today I again love being and American!

Friday, July 29, 2011

Who really does own the United States of America?

With all the rhetoric and angst, finally, on this cancer, I have begun a personal research into who actually owns or a better said way, who we actually owe nearly $15 Trillion to and find this simply astounding:

  • Hong Kong: $121.9 billion (0.9 percent)

  • Caribbean banking centers: $148.3 (1 percent)

  • Taiwan: $153.4 billion (1.1 percent)

  • Brazil: $211.4 billion (1.5 percent)

  • Oil exporting countries: $229.8 billion (1.6 percent)

  • Mutual funds: $300.5 billion (2 percent)

  • Commercial banks: $301.8 billion (2.1 percent)

  • State, local and federal retirement funds: $320.9 billion (2.2 percent)

  • Money market mutual funds: $337.7 billion (2.4 percent)

  • United Kingdom: $346.5 billion (2.4 percent)

  • Private pension funds: $504.7 billion (3.5 percent)

  • State and local governments: $506.1 billion (3.5 percent)

  • Japan: $912.4 billion (6.4 percent)

  • U.S. households: $959.4 billion (6.6 percent)

  • China: $1.16 trillion (8 percent)

  • The U.S. Treasury: $1.63 trillion (11.3 percent)

  • Social Security trust fund: $2.67 trillion (19 percent)


  • The more I study the categories and the percentages, the more amazed I am for at the core of the "how" resides the power of a bureaucratic system that grows and feeds off of itself via entitlement programs and the like.  I find a gaping question in not seeing the US Federal Reserve  shown as a debt holder of the US government but that is probably reflected in the US Treasury figure.

    I told my wife this morning that if there is a silver lining in all of the fiasco, decades and presidencies in the making, it has caused a level of interest in the American people to examine their own indebtedness, how the legislative process really works and how a democracy is supposed to work by seeing how defunct this democracy is apparently working before the eyes of the world; and they are watching!

    As the new IMF President Ms Lagarde stated yesterday, the US should be downgraded for the belief by the world that America would always pays its debt is now 'eroded' and the Asian markets closing this morning, the mid day European markets and the now American market stock indexes are reflecting this sense of distress and fear.

    So whomever owns your debt owns your future .... Truer words were never spoken!

    Thursday, July 28, 2011

    Partisan, Bipartisan Means ...?

    Webster defines "partisan (read carefully) as  a firm adherent to a party, faction, cause, or person; especially: one exhibiting blind, prejudiced, and unreasoning allegiance.  Blind, prejudiced, unreasoned allegiance ... hum!

    This day I have done little other than exhaustive track, try to track, the Boehner bill submitted to the House floor, listening to freshmen Congressmen beat their chests that they are going to change the status quo, senior senators berating freshmen Congressmen for being, well, freshmen, Reid, Pelosi, Boehner, et al, slam each other before anyone carrying a camera. I have listened to speech after speech and in every one the speaker spoke to partisan and the most beloved term, bipartisan. So I decided I would just visit with Mr. Webster to see how he defined that interesting term so, voila .... blind, prejudiced, unreasoned allegiance are the descriptors. 

    I have led a family, a career, commanded men in tough situations, dealt with politics in large and small organizations so I speak from a degree of experience  ....  this is the most amazing show I have ever watched with each passing camera angle. Bulging necks, raging rhetoric, insinuative barbs, etc and I think I have finally realized something. Stupid me ...!

    With all the oceans of ink, keyboard clicks, wasted oxygen it sort of all boils down to one simple thing I believe ... "show me the money, Jerry, show me the money!"  Insert plan for money and you have it.  The Republican House has actually had the audacity of putting a plan ON PAPER so you can read it, measure it, assess it, like it, hate it but it is a PLAN ON PAPER.  I now realize the U.S. Senate has yet to do that as well as our Fearless (?) Leader, President Obama nor even the House Democrats.  A plan to fix this mess being thrown about, accused about,  but the fact is there is only one actual plan has been cast to the whims of the legislative process.

    This is ludicrous, criminal and downright embarrassing as an American. If this is democracy in action, then I find myself sickened by the realization that what I have been taught by some really great teachers and my own observation and research on this I realize I must have been asleep this last fifty years or so.  I wrote last week about Compromise for democracy is built on the foundation of Compromise.  This day I have seen not one single step in that direction while the world teeters on economic disaster should the US truly default. Simply ridiculous and such a shame to watch.

    This day, frankly, I am not proud to be an American. I have worn the military uniform of this once great nation, I have been thrilled to build a family, a career, a life but today one must but take deep pause to really assess where we have truly come to in our experiment that began in 1776.  There is no doubt Thomas Jefferson would have cut his wrists already, George Washington would have gone to Canada to skip the draft and Paul Revere would have just spent the night at the tavern. I think you get my cynicism.

    I come from a founding belief that there is no problem that is unsolvable. Problems get solved when the problem is viewable, measurable and it can be broken into its core component parts and the right set of people brought to bear on the components.  I see NONE OF THAT but I see theatrics for the cameras.  If I were Mr. America today, CSPAN would be shut down, CNN, FOX and the rest banned, a singular meeting would be held with no seats so everyone had to stand and I, Mr. America, would present the problem with the dictate that there will be no coffee breaks, no sleeping over, NOTHING UNTIL THIS MESS IS FIXED. Mr Obama has chosen to go MIA it seems which is probably for the best right now.  Reid literally is milk toast and Pelosi is, well, dangerous like a black widow spider.  So who can fix this mess before the world takes a deep breath and realizes America is not that Big Guy on whom they could always depend upon to be there for them. 

    So who do they now look to? I would say, today, China and Wal-Mart. I actually had a thought yesterday that the best pathway forward to fix this would be for Obama to call Bentonville, Arkansas, explain the impasse and let them sort it out.  How sad, how truly, truly sad??

    Every speech I have heard has used the term "bipartisan" as an assault weapon so when I read the definition I realize the depth of the well we have created.  I really hate posting such a negative post but after a full day of ingesting this mess, but this is simply sickening.  But I will close by going to the book, as in the Bible. Read the Book of Esther where she is told by Mordecai that she is here "for such a time as this ..."  I believe the only resolution to this mess is our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  America has turned from our Christian roots so what else can should we expect, right?  

    It is my sincere belief that Christians hold the capability to stem this tide of rancor if we will stand up and lift our nation to our God in hopes He will truly hear the cries of His people as we saw time and again in the Old Testament.  Satan is having a field day through all of this for desperation is of the devil and there is far too much desperation abounding.  Hear us Lord!

    Wednesday, July 27, 2011

    Character --- the Currency of Success

    John Wooden, the famous UCLA basketball coach stated once: "Don't measure yourself by what you have accomplished, but what you should have accomplished with your ability.”  As we watch the unfolding of the Peyton Place drama and all the bashing, threats, fear mongering, I decided this afternoon to step back and do an environmental scan; my own person MRI of the situation and its players as I view it.  Here is what my MRI has shown me clearly ...

    • Tom Coburn --- man of great character, Senator from Oklahoma, medical doctor by trade, honest, frank, deals with facts, tough when needs to be, seems fair and listens well.

    • Oren Hatch --- man of great character, Senator from Utah I think, honest, frank, deals with facts, tough when needs to be, seems fair and listens well.

    • President, 435 House members and remaining 48 Senators ... lack any apparent character, game players, deal makers, gutless, unfair and listens to what I have no clue.
    So assessing this view from Coach Wooden's perspective, which I respect, he would have the entire government of the United States on the bench I believe and trying to win with two men that have and are showing the resilience the others seem so blatantly to lack.  Why is that?  They, all of them, are not fools, they are smart men and women, they have good careers, they work hard, have great staffs for the leg work but the team is losing ... sort of like the Cleveland Browns, right?  The core issue,  I have pretty much decided is that all the great people leave their States for Washington and are shortly sucked into the turbines of a Culture of Losing.  Getting lost in the vortex of the Beltway is a pitiful obituary heading isn't it?

    If you have been a student of mine or ever will be or if you just would humor me, Google Plato's Cave for that allegory written many hundreds of years ago is absolutely the case.  A reality change is being mandated exampled by the apparently ineptitude of really smart people. It is a cultural issue which is, for me the sum total of the behaviors of the Congress and the Executive Branch.  This is a dangerous game of BIG CHICKEN and we all lose and there are no golden eggs for if they were with the price of gold headed toward $1700, we should sell a few of them and apply the proceeds to the national debt.

    Here is the sad global fact, ready?  The only reason the US is solvent now, assuming we qualify for that term, is that the rest of the global economic forces are either still too small / impactful or they are worse off than the USA. In other words, our successful "status" is due to the US being less bad that the other major nations in the world. Now doesn't that make want to go out and shout at the Goodyear blimp as she passes over?

    We are better than this. We are better than this. Ah, WE ARE BETTER THAN THIS!

    Cat herding and deck chairs ...

    Good morning from beautiful NE Ohio and loving having two of our grand kids with us, a grand dog and just finished breakfast and our morning devotion and prayer with Noah, my eight year old grandson, reading Proverbs 28 ... PRICELESS!  In a world seemingly coming unhinged, if you listen to the media, we are reminded in God's Word that it is still God's Creation in which we get to reside so it is His Will that will truly dictate events going forward ... what a blessed assurance in relying fully on that reality and promise, right?

    The title today, "Cat herding and deck chairs ..." seems especially pertinent in the times in which we are grasping to understand which is, well, more or less impossible.  Have you ever really tried to herd a group of cats in a general direction; not happening.  That perfectly describes what I believe the President, Boehner, Reid, etc are feeling driven by this impending credit downgrading and debt ceiling issues. Then, in the midst of it all, there is a sense that there are those trying to be sure the deck chairs are all perfectly arranged on the Titanic even though the unsinkable ship is, well, sinking.

    Two crazy metaphors that seems to mesh perfectly in the craziness of our nation's Capitol in a time in our history that is growing disdainful of anything out of Washington for all the televised reasons.  It really is sad to see such a great nation faultering so publicly and so badly. That same nation that fought a two front World War successfully cannot now come to consensus on establishing living within a workable budget based on inflows of actual money instead of mountains of continual borrowing. Simply amazing!

    Here is what I know ... today! I have a wonderful family. I love my life. I love getting to sing God's praises in a style of music, Southern Gospel, with three other men that love the Lord.  I love the church, Canton Baptist Temple, where we get to worship with hundreds of friends that love the Lord and a pastoral staff that embodies God's Will in all they do.  In other words, God is just so good so I will rely on that today and not the endless news conferences, barb throwing, threat mongers and just enjoy living this day!

    This is all bigger than I but I have a Friend that is bigger  than any of it and will make the right things happen for His children IF those children place our sole dependence on Him; He has my dependence so why should I worry, right?  Wow, that felt really good to write that but especially to know that it is all so very true and real.

    Be blessed!

    Tuesday, July 26, 2011

    Loitering at the crossroads of history ...!

    Another day of rhetoric, news conferences, partisan poison and still, now less than a week away from what is posed as a global disaster remains, well, unfixed. That is a sad testimony but when you take the 30,000 foot view of it all, globally, it is actually rather predictable. So let us walk up that tall escalator and take a look down on the cauldron boiling more dangerously with each passing hour.

    For nearly five years my students will attest to the dialog of the emergence of the BRIC as the world's most powerful and potent trading bloc and political and military force on earth.  That BRIC, Brazil, Russia, India, China and now South Africa is the power of the 21st century. For that power to be transferred, the 20th century powers, the USA and the EU pretty much have to either capitulate or go through a process that strips those nations of their wealth and global esteem, right?  Voila, the predicate that is driving this stripping is debt.  The USA is stagnate and seemingly inept at taking control of the traditional gearing of change to the point the USA and the EU are now victims of that incapability as I view it.  Debt, Debt, DEBT is the cancer that is eating the life out of the traditional "Western" powers that have driven the last half of the 20the century.  Bottom line ... the new chapter to the global history is being written in pain, agony and frustration but, basically, very predictable.

    I am the world's greatest optimist and nobody loves his country any more than I but I am also a student of history and an intense viewer of events and dot connection.  There are far too many dots now connecting that have been spoken about and written about four now over four decades that I know of for I have lived six of those decades.

    For me I believe there is a tremendous Biblical implication on and in this whole unfolding. Our country has become more and more Godless in our actions, education and preparation for the future.  Much can be blamed but I believe in my heart we, as a nation, have turned from our God in so many ways and we are reaping the fruits of that turning away.  Is this mess fixable? Absolutely but that fix resides not in Washington DC but in the pages of the Scriptures.  We have banned prayer. We have banned any public display of God, the Commandments, etc. We have a whole generation or two with literally no foundation in the root structure of Christianity that was the foundation of this democracy at its Founding. So why then should we be surprised, right?

    I heard a young US Senator from South Carolina comment today ..." it is dangerous to loiter at the crossroads of history ...!  He nailed it for that is exactly what we are doing and impotent to change that reality.  Can I get a witness?

    "the politics of fear ..."

    The President's speech last night, per media coverage last night and print news this morning used that term several times.  I find fear to be an interesting, over rated and under rated phenomenon based on the context of its use.  I am one that is not easily brought to a state of fear.  But fear is a motivator, it is kinetic and it is effective if it is aimed properly.

    Fear is the verb of respect I believe deeply in my heart.  Fear, the verb, reverberates in our culture via videos, emails, Internet, news, etc, far too much to the point that it has become noise or in military jargon, "rotor wash" as the chopped moves to the LZ; you actually do not hear it after a while.  My greatest disappointment in the current political maelstrom is the blatant, almost childish use of fear to scare the American public into some sort of submission. I do not see resolve in our political leaders, especially our President, to bring this debt ceiling issue to a productive head and work with the decision to better this great nation.  What I see is partisan warfare and that is dangerous!

    War for the sake of war is, well, stupid!  I am at the point that I believe the Founders did a miracle in establishing the tripartite system of government for it has proven its worth many, many times. So the issue is not the system but a flaw filling of the chairs in Washington with people, I believe good, well intended people that get sucked into a vortex of power and deceit and politics.  That is what becomes the culture which is truly sad to watch.  I listen to Obama, I listen to Boehner, I listen to Reid, I listen, listen, listen but I only hear rotor wash which means I really am watching talking heads. Each can articulate a clear position but then I find myself questioning the reporters read on what they just said and find myself frustrated with the whole mess. And a mess it is!

    Do I think a "decision" will be reached on the debt ceiling? Yes. Do I think America deserves to have a lowered credit rating? Absolutely for it that will be the energy pill to cause real leadership to step forward, lower away.!  Here is the context of my thoughts on this whole fiasco we are living through ... ready?

    I believe this era of our history is a defining moment that will dictate the next decade or two.  Other defining moments of this level of gravity was the American Revolution, retest a hundred years later with the American Civil War, retested a hundred years later with the Civil Rights legislation ... and then the Vietnam War that changed a culture, a destiny and a dream! So pretty heavy hitters, right?  That is the family of events I believe this current situation ranks within but how it turns out is still a great question.  I can better understand Lincoln in the 1862-63 time frame when he, as Commander-in-Chief needed generals that would fight the fight to win the battles to give him the political momentum to move key legislation through Congress. He was depression but never gave up and never public was derogatory of his field generals which is a far cry from what our current Commander-in-Chief is doing via news conferences, too many, town halls, too many .... when you are in a hole, you do not need more people with shovels, right?

    So my thought for this day ... put up the shovels, fix this thing together and let's put this great ship of State back in the water to navigate the real, more pertinent issues before us. Yes, we can!

    Monday, July 25, 2011

    What Would You Do If you Were Rating our Debt?

    Gold is heading toward $1,700 per ounce which is simply hard to fathom when you view gold historically.  Each of us have more than an elementary understand of the impact and implication of our "credit score" so my question, if 900 points is a perfect credit score, how would you rate the United States economy today?  Really, think about it but more importantly, think about the implications of this lowering today and for far too many tomorrows!

    The Bible is quite clear that whomever owns your debt does in fact own you, the debtor. We know that,!We get that!  But I saw a most interesting table today from The Economist that actually showed the listing of who owns the US debt and was amazed to see the United State Federal Reserve is one of the greatest owners of our future.  Sure, foreign countries, many of whom do not like us or our way of life, is a relatively small portion of the debt holders when you weigh in the Social Security Administration, Medicare and Medicaid and oh yes, our military just to name a few.

    Those that know me know I do not enjoy rattling sabers or talking about the sky falling but honestly, with one week remaining and seeing daily the lumbering sluggishness of our political process, the feasibility of a bill making it through both Houses and to the President between now and then is, well, you do that math! But I think there is a greater issue unfolding when you view this as a very personal / individual perspective ... the threat of a lower credit rating.  Greece has had that happen three times of late so I ask myself, given all that is going on, debt ceiling or not, why have the credit rating agencies already lowered our credit score / rating, right?

    I will close by underscoring the serious nature of this whole matter but in the underscoring I keep reflecting on a much used Winston Churchill comment that the United States does everything wrong before they get it right ... At this stage it is every concerning to me in long term in our government's ability to get this right for we have blatantly proven Winston correct!

    Breaking an addiction is hard to imagine until you have seen first hand what is required to break it whatever that addiction is. We, as a nation, are addicted to living above our means on somebody else's money.  What we are witnessing is a correction; a correction that is painful and dangerous that is forcing our actual GDP / capita or our standard of living into a range we can sustain which makes us more like the French and Germans in standard of living terms. That is not all bad until you factor in the almost immeasurable mountain of debt that clogs up the starting blocks of recovery. 

    My challenge to anyone reading this ... as the Scriptures teach us ...GET OUT OF DEBT!   Watch the trajectory of gold price spike north and know that is truly frightening!   Pray for our LEADERS!

    A new horizon!

    This first post, a maiden voyage, is a major step I am taking.  I am taking it for a host of reasons with one being that many have asked me to do something like this for the last couple of years.  Secondly and probably most importantly is that this will provide me a platform from which to give my thoughts on the events occuring daily in our world along with my belief in how that event impacts each reader personally and spiritually.

    My fundamental thesis is that nothing happens in isolation thus what is happening, like shrapnel, touches each of us in varying ways which may be a good thing or a very bad thing. That thesis also is framed for me in the Word of God which is our Bible.  In a world where same sex marriage, homosexuality, divorce rates, mass murders, etc, etc, can be rationalized as normal for our today culture, the fact is these and many other things are abominations to our Creator and there is a consequence to face as we read about time and again from the Scripture.

    So with this daily post, you will get both my thoughts on the articles I select from credible media, I believe, such as the Wall Street Journal, the Economist, the Financial Times, Der Speigel, and several others and my perspective on the events' implication and Biblical meaning.  I realize that can be treacherous ground to walk upon but I believe it ground worth navigating.  If you do not agree with my translation, please let me know respectfully please for this is blog is built on respect which I will always stand up and expect responses to be the same, please.

    I have prayed about this as a ministry and as a platform so let us begin this journey. I will post something each day, perhaps twice on certain days.  Your input is both sought and appreciated.  May God's Will be done through this venture which, for me, is  a labor of love and an instrument of education for education changes minds that changes hearts.

    Be blessed!