Category Archives: NEWS

Faith amid persecution

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Can you imagine being persecuted for your faith and belief in these modern times?  It happened to Christians in Gojra Pakistan in 2009.  Please read the incredible My Take: Looking for faith amid persecution story by Vivian Padilla-Chapman at CNN that details the incident and her feelings about it.

Per Matthew 5:11, Jesus said “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.”  But, I think it is more than that.  People persecute others because of their beliefs, faith, country of origin, color of their skin, height, hair color, eye color, income, social status, and many other reasons to separate “us” from “them”.  But, that is the crux of the matter, “us and them” thinking is the only concept keeping us from everlasting peace.  I believe there is no “us” and “them”, there is only “we”, we the people of the world.  Maybe someday we will learn. I pray it is before a common world threat occurs, which is likely the only way we will unite.

 

Retailers Stay Open 24/7

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Retailers like Macy’s and Best Buy are staying open 24 hours as we approach Christmas Day so last-minute shoppers have all the opportunities to get the gift they want for their loved ones.  Glad to hear about the good gesture, even though the retailers may not make any extra money.  Read the full Retailers’ graveyard shift wins over shoppers, analysts story at Reuters.

Space Station Cooperation Continues

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I am so glad to see the countries continuing to cooperate with the International Space Station as Russia sends astronauts from Russia, Europe and the U.S. into space again, especially given all the unrest and rioting around the world these days.  I sure wish there could be peace everywhere.  Read the Multinational crew blasts off for space station story at Reuters for more details.

Going green with Edison’s DC over AC

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Thomas Edison, best known for inventing the light bulb, pushed for DC current for transmitting electricity, but we went with AC since it could transmit better across distance. AC has been used heavily for over 100 years, but now green requirements and data center demand are forcing people to look at DC again.

Edison told associates Henry Ford and Harvey Firestone, “I’d put my money on the sun and solar energy. What a source of power! I hope we don’t have to wait until oil and coal run out before we tackle that.”  Read the full Insight: How renewable energy may be Edison’s revenge story at Reuters.

Tebow stumbles, but still encouraged

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Tim Tebow lost his second game as Denver Bronco’s quarterback, against the New England Patriots yesterday 41-23, but the Patriots had help with two turnovers and a muffed punt.  Don’t count Tebow out yet. This home-schooled son of Baptist missionaries is still likely to make the playoffs and who knows how far he can carry the Broncos with his belief, especially after encouragement from Patriots coach Bill Belichick.  Read more in The Patriot way tops Tebow-mania as New England defeats Denver story at USA Today.

Environment at Risk Pictures

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These two Editor’s Choice pictures at Reuters are worth more than a thousand words:

  • Trash along Lagos beach.  Lagos is the largest city in Nigeria, the eighth most populous country in the world.
  • Red polluted water in China.  The Jianhe River in Luoyang in Henan province of China is bright red from chemical waste.  I wonder if this is what the Nile looked like in Moses’ time.
We in the United States should not think we are any better with our trash mountains outside of each large city and a history of our own chemical river issues as seen in this Cuyahoga River Burning in Cleveland.

Random kindness: paying off layaways

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Kindness can be hard to administer as a woman discovered in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. She learned about the “Pay It Forward” idea from her middle-school-aged daughter and decided to pay off layaway bills for three people at Kmart, but the store would not let her – initially.  The assistant manager thought it was unfair to those who were not chosen.  The store’s manager later invited the woman back and she was very happy to help a few families make sure they had toys for the kids for Christmas.  Read the full Area woman practices random act of kindness by paying off layaways story at The Patriot News.

This reminds me of a time when I paid for the last few items, food essentials, for a woman in front of me at the store.  The cashier smiled and said, “Bless you,” but the person behind me in line asked, “What about me?”

These random acts of kindness are so rare that many people involved do not know how to respond.  There are no rules – nor should there be.  My motto is to just keep doing it and they will catch on eventually.

Kindness is catchy

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I stumbled on this story about random acts of kindness catching on at Riley’s Cafe in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.  It seems that patrons are passing along the kindness they receive to others and it is continuing each week.  Read the Random Acts Of Kindness Reported At Cafe story at KCCI.com Channel 8 in Des Moines.

Ripples can begin with a single pebble.  Be that pebble.

Learning through LeBron James

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LeBron James has grown up a lot since losing the National Basketball Association (NBA) championship to the Dallas Mavericks in June. He left hometown Cleveland, actually Akron, the year before to join All-Stars Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade to form the ultimate team at the Miami Heat. LeBron expected the NBA championship as a sure thing. He was “just blinded” by the idea of proving everyone wrong. It took him weeks to deal with the loss.

LeBron sounds humble now, “I’m at a good place right now, not too much bothers me … you can never ultimately get over losing a final but I think you have to move on because there is a season now…”

I believe this defeat will give LeBron the strength to work harder to earn that first championship. Don’t give up on your dream LeBron!  Read the “I am myself again” says relaxed LeBron story at Reuters.

Be a Beacon to Others: Nothing is sure in this life. You can have the most talent or all the money in the world and still not come out the winner. The key is not in the winning, but in the journey. Work hard towards your dreams and goals, but also be a beacon to others in all you say and do.

Scientists in Pursuit of God Particle

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Scientists have been in pursuit of the “God particle”, more scientifically named Higgs Boson, since Peter Higgs posited the theory in 1964 that this smallest particle gives form to all other particles to create all matter in the universe, including us.  Higgs rejects any religious explanation of the origin of the universe, but the questions still stand: what existed before the Big Bang created the universe and what made it explode into the universe we live in today?  God is the only thing I can imagine.  Find out more in The Higgs boson: vital to life but is it there? story at Reuters.