Humor. . .

. . . and truth. . .
. . . from John Kenneth Galbraith

"The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness.
"

"Under capitalism, man exploits man. Under communism, it's just the opposite."


"It is a far, far better thing to have a firm anchor in nonsense than to put out on the troubled seas of thought." 

"The only function of economic forecasting is to make astrology look respectable.

as a form of employment for economists."

"The salary of the chief executive of a large corporation is not a market award for achievement. It is frequently in the nature of a warm personal gesture by the individual to himself." 

"Faced with the choice between changing one's mind and proving that there is no need to do so, almost everyone gets busy on the proof." 

"We all agree that pessimism is a mark of superior intellect.
"  

"Politics is the art of choosing between the disastrous and the unpalatable.
"  

"Liberalism is, I think, resurgent. One reason is that more and more people are so painfully aware of the alternative."    


"The conventional view serves to protect us from the painful job of thinking."  


"More die in the United States of too much food than of too little.
" 

"In economics, the majority is always wrong.
" 

"Few can believe that suffering, especially by others, is in vain. Anything that is disagreeable must surely have beneficial economic effects."   


"In all life one should comfort the afflicted, but verily, also, one should afflict the comfortable, and especially when they are comfortably, contentedly, even happily wrong."  


"Wealth, in even the most improbable cases, manages to convey the aspect of intelligence.
"  

What do you think?
Tell me at  
http://www.rayjozwiak.com/guestbook.html

My latest release, Black & White Then Back,
can be downloaded digitally at:

(or you can copy-and-paste this URL directly to
your browser:  http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/rayjozwiak3)

Also, be sure to visit:
http://www.rayjozwiak.com

Tweet

Trying too hard. . .

I know a man who tries too hard
'Cause he wants to be liked
Both near and far
But it's not all that simple
A story to tell
And I'm sure it all started
Way back when
He was only a child
The whole world laying ahead of him
He couldn't get what he craved
No matter how much he tried
An uphill battle awaited
Then something clicked inside

Maybe he's okay
Not quite as bad as he seems
Am I expecting too much
It's not intentionally
Maybe it isn't polite
Looking so critically
Maybe I do it because
He's just not like me

I know a man who talks so much
He's got nothing to say
But it's never enough
And it's like second nature
He's as social can be
But the topic is always 'about me'
From his self-centered view
His egoist perspective
Subject of interest he's found
His world revolving around him
The real one beyond his touch
With real people there too

Please won't you understand I don't want every man
Doing just what I would do or moving the way that I move
or the the way that I sit or stand

Maybe he's okay
Not quite as bad as he seems
Am I expecting too much
It's not intentionally
Maybe it isn't polite
Looking so critically
Maybe I do it because
He's just not like me

Not Like Me
©2012 Raymond M. Jozwiak




What do you think?
Tell me at  
http://www.rayjozwiak.com/guestbook.html

My latest release, Black & White Then Back,
can be downloaded digitally at:

(or you can copy-and-paste this URL directly to
your browser:  http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/rayjozwiak3)

Also, be sure to visit:
http://www.rayjozwiak.com

Tweet

Redemption. . .

. . . from WHAT?

(from http://myfox8.com/2013/05/25/heaven-for-atheists-pope-sparks-debate/)
". . . Atheist leaders welcomed Pope Francis’ comments that God has redeemed atheists, saying that the new pontiff’s historic outreach is helping to topple longstanding barriers. “The Lord has redeemed all of us, all of us, with the Blood of Christ: all of us, not just Catholics. Everyone,” the pope told worshipers at morning Mass on Wednesday. “‘Father, the atheists?’ Even the atheists. Everyone!” Francis continued: “We must meet one another doing good. ‘But I don’t believe, Father, I am an atheist!’ But do good: we will meet one another there.” Roy Speckhardt, executive director of the American Humanist Association, said that although he has been skeptical of Francis’ outreach to the nonreligious, he welcomed Wednesday’s comments. . ."


(from http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/511016-i-find-something-repulsive-about-the-idea-of-vicarious-redemption)   [Christopher Hitchens, world-reknown atheist who preferred to NOT be called an atheist]
“I find something repulsive about the idea of vicarious redemption. I would not throw my numberless sins onto a scapegoat and expect them to pass from me; we rightly sneer at the barbaric societies that practice this unpleasantness in its literal form. There's no moral value in the vicarious gesture anyway. As Thomas Paine pointed out, you may if you wish take on a another man's debt, or even to take his place in prison. That would be self-sacrificing. But you may not assume his actual crimes as if they were your own; for one thing you did not commit them and might have died rather than do so; for another this impossible action would rob him of individual responsibility. So the whole apparatus of absolution and forgiveness strikes me as positively immoral, while the concept of revealed truth degrades the concept of free intelligence by purportedly relieving us of the hard task of working out the ethical principles for ourselves.”


(from http://content.unity.org/homepageArchive/features/ponderFuture.html on John Shelby Spong's writing)
". . .The trouble with traditional Christianity, he said, is that it is built on two assumptions that are inadequate and dying. First, salvation must come from a God outside us—a theistic God, in Spong's term. Second, human beings are fallen, broken, sinful and in need of redemption. In other words, Christianity is based on a God with the power to save and humans who need to be saved. People are cast as “quivering children before a punishing, divine parent figure.” Human depravity is necessary before we can see the grace of God, who “saved a wretch like me,” Spong said, quoting the old hymn. No one has been helped by being told how wretched they are. . . “”

What do you think?
Tell me at  
http://www.rayjozwiak.com/guestbook.html

My latest release, Black & White Then Back,
can be downloaded digitally at:

(or you can copy-and-paste this URL directly to
your browser:  http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/rayjozwiak3)

Also, be sure to visit:
http://www.rayjozwiak.com

Tweet

Shooting. . .

. . . ourselves. . . 

(from http://www.cnn.com/2013/05/18/opinion/brazile-democracy-in-danger/index.html?iid=article_sidebar) Donna Brazile says our democracy is endangered.  ". . . Not by the Russians, North Korea, the Iran regime, or even terrorists. To quote Pogo: "We have met the enemy and he is us. . . "

Knee-jerk partisanship rules. Abraham Lincoln said, "From whence shall we expect the approach of danger? Shall some trans-Atlantic military giant step the earth and crush us at a blow? Never...No, if destruction be our lot we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of free men we will live forever or die by suicide."

People must go back to talking to people. It's okay to disagree.  Just disagree civilly.  The IRS debacle, the Department of Justice's tapping of reporters' phones and the congressional investigation of Benghazi all illustrate the danger of NOT talking, really talking.

We all need to stay focused on facts, causes and solutions. The inspector general himself said that it was bureaucratic mismanagement and no evidence of any political motivation or influence from outside the IRS that brought about the first of the three.  The focus must shift to solutions.

Leaked White House e-mails allegedly showing a coverup of a terrorist attack in Benghazi were actually shown to be altered.

The Department of Justice secretly obtained phone records of reporters as the result of a serious security leak. In short, Obama is not in charge.

Both Democrats and Republicans have misused and abused their constitutional powers. In a nutshell, Donna Brazile says, in her quite convincing way, that we're shooting ourselves in the foot.

What do you think?
Tell me at  
http://www.rayjozwiak.com/guestbook.html

My latest release, Black & White Then Back,
can be downloaded digitally at:

(or you can copy-and-paste this URL directly to
your browser:  http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/rayjozwiak3)

Also, be sure to visit:
http://www.rayjozwiak.com

Tweet

Wrong tree? . . .

(Source:  http://www.cnn.com/2013/05/17/opinion/colinvaux-irs-taxes/index.html)
Roger Colinvaux, associate professor of law at Catholic University of America and former counsel to the U.S. Joint Committee on Taxation

The noise about IRS 'targeting' procedures should not be misinterpreted.  The real issue at hand is disclosure of donors, not tax-exempt status.  Something tells me that liberal and conservative groups are equally suspect when it comes to revealing donors, but that's just ME.

The IRS is actually in the 'targeting' business.  They are an enforcer and are supposed to go after scofflaws, cheaters and dodgers.  The guilt lies in the searching of tax returns for names like "tea party", which is clearly a specific group. What they should have done was searched for all such groups as a class, irrespective of political affiliation.

Roger Colinaux writes, ". . .  But the extra scrutiny here is less because of tax exemption and more because of other tax benefits that flow from tax-exempt status, such as the ability to receive tax-deductible contributions. Importantly, charitable organizations are not allowed to engage in any political activity, because Congress long ago decided that charity and politics are incompatible. . ."

It's campaign finance law and NOT tax law that dictates public disclosure of donors for political groups but not for social welfare organizations.  Mr. Colinaux again, ". . . After the Supreme Court's Citizens United decision, it became possible for a 501(c)(4) organization to engage in unlimited amounts of political spending. It thus also became possible for a political organization to use the tax law to hide the identity of donors. After Citizens United, the abuse the IRS is tasked with policing is whether an organization that claims to be a "social welfare" organization is in reality a political organization in disguise. . ."

So its yet another polarizing issue (guess there wouldn't be so much polarization if we weren't limited to only two poles.) and also again, an issue of many barking up the wrong tree.

What do you think?
Tell me at  
http://www.rayjozwiak.com/guestbook.html

My latest release, Black & White Then Back,
can be downloaded digitally at:

(or you can copy-and-paste this URL directly to
your browser:  http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/rayjozwiak3)

Also, be sure to visit:
http://www.rayjozwiak.com

Tweet

Millennials. . .

 

 Okay.   That's NOT a millennial.

But. . .

(from The Rev. Howard Bess is a retired American Baptist minister, who lives in Palmer, Alaska.  His email address is hdbss@mtaonline.net)
  ". . . Joel Stein, a writer for Time Magazine, has recently written a lengthy article about the Millennials.  As I read it, I realized he was talking about my grandkids’ generation.  To the descriptions I just shared about my grandkids, Stein adds additional notable qualities of Millennials.  Race, sexual orientation, and gender do not matter much.  Some observers see Millennials as self-centered, selfish and narcissistic.  Their voting record (turnout) is disappointing.  They seem to be too busy with “me.”  They are able to live with a high level of chaos and are not motivated to “straighten things out.”
    I confess my German heritage pushes me to make things orderly.  I am clearly out of step with my grandkids, but I am pleased they accept me without hesitation. 
    In Stein’s article he did not burden the reader with a lot of statistics.  He simply states “I have the facts.”  Gallop, the Pew Foundation, universities, and news bureaus are getting the same numbers.  Millennials are not challenging our culture.  They are creating a new one and have not asked permission from anyone over 30. 
    Prior to the Stein article in Time, the Barna Group, a research organization that specializes in religious subjects, published the results of a massive study of Millennials with church backgrounds.  The phenomenon of the cultural changes fostered by the Millennials is hitting churches big time. 
    Researchers have verified the “rise of the Nones.”  The Pew Foundation research found that one in every five American is religiously unaffiliated.  The Barna Group wanted to know  specifically who made up the swelling tide of nones.  Over one-third of all Millennials are nones.  The Barna research became even more specific. Among Millennials who were raised in a church tradition over 50 percent are now nones. 
    The Barna studies show Millennials to be socially mobile, intellectually adventuresome, detached from institutions, and frustrated with churches.  Many Millennials are still interested in religion and want a personal faith.  Christian churches and institutions do not fit in the picture. 
    In the Barna Group research, they introduced new categories for understanding those leaving churches.  They identified sub-groups they called “nomads,” “prodigals,” and “exiles.”  I noted that the categories all indicate significant movement.  With Millennials there is no “status quo.”  They are on the move.
    What is behind all this?  Just now few are venturing a guess.  However, Joel Stein is correct.  We have the facts.  The numbers are not lying.  The patterns that are being described are reality. 
    Are Millennials a case of arrested maturation?  Has mobility produced a new kind of rootless generation?  Is this a product of the flat world dominated by computers that do not need human contacts?  Has Facebook replaced family and primary social groupings?  How does this relate to the emergence churches?
    I do not know how to explain the emerging patterns.  I do know that my grandkids are great young people.  I do not believe the Millennials will let us down.  However, I observe the chaos and get a bit nervous.  I am tempted to join Maxwell Smart and fight the evil of chaos.  Then I am reminded of the first law of chaos.  Chaos increases the possibilities.  Millennials may be the best hope for the future of humankind. . ."
               

What do you think?
Tell me at  
http://www.rayjozwiak.com/guestbook.html

My latest release, Black & White Then Back,
can be downloaded digitally at:

(or you can copy-and-paste this URL directly to
your browser:  http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/rayjozwiak3)

Also, be sure to visit:
http://www.rayjozwiak.com

Tweet

Spook. . .

. . . Handy

(from http://spookhandy.com/wp/biography/)
". . . Spook Handy was No Musical Genius As a Kid ~ He played no instrument, owned no records, and didn’t even have a radio until he was in high school. In fact, he didn’t make the first cut when he tried out for Glee Club in 5th grade.

But he Had a Dream ~ His love for music dates back to his first time watching the Beatles perform on TV. That day a seed was planted – a vision, a possibility of still being a fun loving person when he grew up. And little was anyone to know that one day that seed would sprout.

And The Dream Grew ~ It happened on a stiflingly humid New Jersey morning the summer after graduating Rutgers University (Phi Beta Kappa) with a major in Math and Business. Spook had been offered several lucrative jobs in the actuarial field. He had been groomed for this career by his parents and teachers because he was good at math as a child. He had three job interviews lined up for the day. But…

Spook Always Carried with him a Lust for Living “Outside the Box” ~ His “what if” and “why not” questions raised many eyebrows. His unorthodox religious perspectives got him kicked out of Catholic school after 1st grade. And somewhere in the back of his mind he never gave up on the dream he had when he first saw the Beatles. So, on that fateful morning as he stood in the mirror hopelessly trying to tie his tie, a sudden and unforgiving truth overwhelmed him. The world of convention was not his fate. Sure, math came easy. But his lessons were to be learned through his heart, not his mind. That day he gave his suit and tie to the local thrift shop, bought a used Yahama guitar for $50 and set out to follow his heart’s dream. . ."

What do you think?
Tell me at  
http://www.rayjozwiak.com/guestbook.html

My latest release, Black & White Then Back,
can be downloaded digitally at:

(or you can copy-and-paste this URL directly to
your browser:  http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/rayjozwiak3)

Also, be sure to visit:
http://www.rayjozwiak.com

Tweet