Thankful Hearts

We are thankful for our family and health.
We are grateful for our grandchildren, and the opportunity for a second chance–to make up for some of our failings in raising our own kids.

Two New Voices

I’ve discovered two new writers today–new to me that is, but I may be reading what they have to say.
Stephen C. Rose wrote a book in the sixties called the Grass Roots Church, and more recently Abba’s Way.  He agrees with me–or maybe I agree with him; he’s been around longer–that we need to dethrone [...]

Who Needs Detroit?

I can have all my transportation needs met in Vicenza, Italy.  If congress would just forward me about 0.0001% of that bailout money, I could upgrade my bike with the new Campagnolo Super Record 11-speed system.  That’s 11 sprockets on the rear X 2 on the front, for a 22-speed setup.  Who needs internal combustion?  [...]

Save the Dinosaurs!

Is the saying still true, “What’s good for General Motors is good for America”?
Now that the car companies are asking for us to bail them out, like we did the Wall Street high rollers, it could be a good opportunity to retool our transportation system.
In the 1950s president Eisenhower made a momentous decision.  In the [...]

Fun with Funetics

I am having fun and learning along with my students in the phonetics class I am teaching this semester.  Here are some online resources we have found, if you also find language fascinating:

The University of Iowa has a really nice online phonetics tutorial for English, German, and Spanish.  Just click on the German flag, and [...]

If the Onion Says it, You Can Take it to the Bank

This just in from The Onion:

DAYTON, TN—A steady stream of devoted evolutionists continued to gather in this small Tennessee town today to witness what many believe is an image of Charles Darwin—author of The Origin Of Species and founder of the modern evolutionary movement—made manifest on a concrete wall in downtown Dayton.
“I brought my baby [...]

Things to Read in Prison

While Dietrich Bonhoeffer was in prison, hoping to be released but-as it turned out-waiting to die, he kept himself busy by reading and writing.  One of the books that captured his attention was The Worldview of Physics by Carl Friedrich von Weizsäcker.
Bonhoeffer was arrested in April of 1943, initially on relatively minor charges after helping [...]

Shameless Commerce Division

OK, I don’t usually do this kind of thing here–but my daughter is selling some handmade original artwork photo greeting cards on ebay.  If you are interested, visit the LINK.

Tragedy in Port Au Prince

While Americans were celebrating the selection of the first president of African descent last week, the tragic collapse of a school for poor children in Port Au Prince, Haiti, brought grief to that island.

“No one cares about the children, living or dead,”

one furious father of children in the collapsed school outside [...]

Yes We Can!

Here’s the link to Bob the Builder’s official website.  My grandson has been listening to his theme song for about a year now:

Can we fix it?
Yes we can!

Here’s a little tidbit my daughter passed on: President Obama website:
You can submit you ideas and be part of the “change we need.”
http://www.change.gov/
This is pretty neat, I hadn’t [...]

Soldier and Mom

Our friend Margaret passed on this exchange of emails she had with her son Klint, who is stationed in Iraq, regarding the election of Barack Obama as our next president.

Mom to Soldier the day after the election

Klint,
I got your message yesterday evening on my cell phone voice mail.  Did you send it on Tuesday?  Anyway, good to hear your voice!
Don’t know how you feel about the elections, but I am so excited, I could “pee my pants” so to speak.  I’m so tired of “Old white men” running the country  This [...]

Klint Replies and Mom Answers

Mom,
I will try and call again later this week. I am running a school that includes driving, shooting, sneaking around in the woods etc. There is a tremendous amount of labor put into this thing and lots of moving pieces all coming together at once, so I am stupid busy and not getting much sleep. [...]

Soldier and Mom Reply

Good reply mom, but i would also point out that

American taxes were not meant to “redistribute the wealth”.  Taxes were implemented to meet the infrastructure needs of a civil society.

On that note, most of the examples you listed are things that should be taxed at the local or state level [...]

Name Change?

When I started this thing, I didn’t know much about the format, layout, etc–I just signed up for a WordPress account and I had to pick a name–right now–so I started with “Faith and Alternatives.”  I kind of liked that, but I thought maybe it was a little confusing.  So I switched to “Faith Matters.”  [...]

Out of Many One

On the “Friends Finds” page, Baiba passes on a piece from the Lawrence Journal World about a town in England wanting to eliminate Latin phrases, for example e.g., ad hoc, etc. and the other ones.
I did notice that President-Elect Obama substituted a translation of e pluribus unum in his speech.
I wonder if we should replace [...]

Bloodless Coup

Millions of citizens in my country today poured out into the streets and then met at pre-arranged meeting places to demand a change of government.  Evidently the current administration has agreed to relinquish power peacefully and even to cooperate over the next few months in a smooth transition.
No tanks were seen in the streets, no [...]

What is Black Liberation Theology?

Liberation theology comes from the realization that salvation includes more than saving individual souls for eternal life after death (though it does include that).  A study of the word “salvation” and related concepts in the Old Testament reveals that salvation usually has a concrete setting in this life.  An individual prays for salvation from enemies [...]