Loaves and fishes, a story for our times

I grew up among people my Uncle Ole referred to as Bible thumpers. They were dogmatic and preachy, and slow to forgive people who saw the world differently than they did.
Grandma thumped for the television evangelists and another of my uncles thumped for the Mormons. I was never big on dogma myself, but I did [...]

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And THAT’S what’s wrong!

The New York Times reports today that President Obama’s pick for health and human services secretary, Tom Daschle, “failed to pay more than $128,000 in taxes, partly for free use of a car and driver that had been provided to him.” There was also an $83,000 “clerical error” that reduced his tax liability.
There is something [...]

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What can we learn from California’s quarrels?

California governator Arnold Schwarzenegger, according to the Los Angeles Times, has declared that state employees must take two days off a month without pay, effective immediately. The reason, as stated by Superior Court Judge Patrick Marlette, is that “This state is in a huge mess…the scope of which is unprecedented.” The state is so broke [...]

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George Bush slams tiny French village for revenge

As an act of revenge over a ban on beef imports the Bush administration in its waning days imposed a 300 percent duty on Roquefort cheese. The cheese comes from a village of 600 residents in a remote part of southern France. The cheese is named for the tiny town where it is made. Another [...]

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Wall Street: The worse you do, the more you make

The New York Times today reports that Wall Street executives were generously rewarded for bringing this nation to its knees.  The industry paid $18.4 billion in bonuses in 2008 for a job well done. The bonus pool last year was the sixth largest ever. The same companies lost more than twice what they paid in [...]

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Gibberish-speaking Catholic bishop reinstated

Cardinal Walter Kasper says Bishop Richard Williamson spouts gibberish, but Pope Benedict lifted Williamson’s excommunication anyway, according to an article in the Washington Post today. Williamson is a major whacko, as the article makes clear. Check it out if you find as much amusement in the antics of the Catholic church as I do.
I thought [...]

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Korean legislators duke it out–literally

The Los Angeles Times reports today on the well-honored custom of fistfights, sledgehammer-wielding, and other displays of animosity in the South Korean legislature.
The article quotes a Korean college professor expounding on the behavior:
“Koreans are just not that good in engaging in discussion; we’re not good at the deliberative democratic process,” said Chung-in Moon, a Yonsei [...]

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There is no news today

I think it happens fairly often. The newspapers report nothing. Oh, there is the op-ed piece in the Washington Post about Rod Blagojevich’s hair. There is a report in the same paper that the effects of global warming, even if we stopped doing anything to make them worse, would take 1,000 years to even out. We’ve heard [...]

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I get a surprise karate lesson

I offered to photograph a ceremony in which a friend was to receive his black belt in karate. He attends the ATA Tae Kwon Do dojo, or school, on Broadway in Tucson. Much more was in store for me than I expected.
I arrived while the class was still in session. The class included children and adults, and [...]

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Announcing a new management advice column

This Just In! has learned that Emerson Whipple, who bills himself as the world’s most obscure management consultant, recently launched a new blog titled Emerson Whipple’s Management Advice, Free Advice from America’s Most Obscure Consultant.
He claims to have some experience and expertise in the field of management and organizational development, but his greatest appeal, so [...]

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