" Actually, the trouble with our institutions is that they are, on the whole,are too enlightened and civilized to hold their own in a social environment that is becoming increasingly primitive and savage." Eric Hoffer wrote this 50 years ago and it is even more true today. Jefferson in his time grumbled about the many who were so far behind in their understanding of what was happening and what needed to happen that it made it difficult to govern. At church we have been studying...

Very near to where I'm staying at and the freeway that I take daily91), there was a road rage incident yesterday afternoon. The details are not clear yet, but someone fired several shots at another driver. I drove on Saturday on the same freeway towards riverside and there was a crazy driver in an SUV who was cutting people off, honking, etc. I just let him do whatever he pleased and stayed off his path.
When I was younger, I would love to react on road rage. When I look back, I realize how...

When the 1980s arrived and television was swirling around in the toilet bowl I discovered a new source of entertainment, radio call-in shows. Certain local ones were my favorite, I became addicted to them and would always make sure I was by a radio when they came on. They would have a three second time delay so they could cut off any death threats or profanity from the callers which led to confusion by ones calling in for the first time. Here would be an example of one of those calls;
HOST...

My mom was proud of her maiden name, more so than her married name, the latter of which was my surname. I didn't like the name, but didn't realize it was probably because of mother. Neither names are unusual, but not common either. Just regular unassuming names more likely not to be given names.

My younger brother's middle name was our mother's maiden name, but he was dubbed a junior. Since our father's middle name was Washington, perhaps they didn't wish to burden him with it,...

Luke 18:9-14 (NIV) To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable: “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’ “But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even...