From the category archives:

IN THE NEWS

ANTI-INSTITUTIONAL: opposed to anything resembling an organized, bureaucratic body

February 5, 2012

The Occupy movement has caused a number of thinking people to scratch their heads and ask, “What is this all about?”   There are tons of easy answers out there, most of which miss the mark. The Occupy movement is a part of a much larger, global action that didn’t begin in 2011 with the economic [...]

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PUBLIC PRAYER: posting #2 this week

January 15, 2012

  I drew some commentary (not all in written comment) this week about Tim Tebow and his public prayer life.   It’s good to have dialogue on such topics.   Having said that, here’s posting #2 which, again, is not meant to be the ranting of a contrarian.   These are subjects about which people are talking, and [...]

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CORPORATION: persons united in a body for some purpose

January 14, 2012

The dialogue/argument about the nature of corporations has picked up steam in the last few weeks as those involved in politics articulate their affection for or displeasure with the Supreme Court’s approval of SuperPac funding.  In Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, a 2010 decision, the Courts indicated that non-affiliated groups could collect and dispense [...]

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BIGOTRY: stubborn and complete intolerance of any creed, belief, or opinion that differs from one’s own.

December 13, 2011

Lowe’s Home Improvement Warehouses has come under fire for bowing to pressure from The Florida Family Association (FFA), a conservative organization which complained that Lowe’s was sponsoring a terrorist-enhancing program on TLC network.   The program, All American Muslim, came to the air on TLC network in an attempt to show the softer side of Islamic [...]

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ALLEGATION: an assertion made with little or no proof

November 21, 2011

It seems as if there has been an epidemic of allegations over the past several weeks which were aimed at high-profile personalities.   It seemed like a good time to look at the word allegation so we can be clear about the legal ramifications of the word.   Many people confuse it with other legal jargon, such [...]

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HEDONISM: the belief and practice of making pleasure the greatest good

November 16, 2011

Of all the heavy eaters in history, certainly Henry VIII, King of England, is regarded as the most flagrant.   If there is anyone who demonstrated the principle of Hedonism, it was he. His banquets … or even his daily meals … were sumptuous, making those at The Outback look tiny by comparison.   It is said [...]

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STANDARD TIME: gaining an hour of sleep while forfeiting the afternoon to darkness

November 5, 2011

Tomorrow morning (Sunday) at 2:00 we in the Eastern Time Zone are asked to turn our clocks and watches BACK one hour to 1:00 a.m. as the continent switches from Daylight Savings Time to Standard Time.  You don’t have to worry about your computer clock or your cell phone.   It will change automatically. It is [...]

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THE SUPREME COURT: the issue that gets hidden beneath all the sexier ones

October 30, 2011

It is early in the 2012 elections calendar for people to have selected their candidate.  The issues are swirling around pretty fast and are dripping with rhetoric and hyperbole that is common in the primary season.   The candidates are sucking up to their bases and will say almost anything to get the smile they are [...]

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OCCUPY: to dwell in a space

October 28, 2011

The Occupy Wall Street movement is several weeks old now, and it has spread from a New York City beginning to cities and communities all over the country and into foreign countries as well.   The attempt to characterize it has baffled even the most articulate reporters who seek language from past experiences such as the [...]

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PENSION: a fixed amount paid to a retired employee

October 20, 2011

It appears that pensions were first established in Europe in the seventeenth century, the first in the United States showing up as benefits to widows of Revolutionary War veterans.  The primary incentive seems to have been recognition of one’s service to the country which interrupted one’s life and employment  and the modest situation in which [...]

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