Archive for August 30, 2019

More Speed?

August 30, 2019 Comments Off on More Speed?

It’s human nature to get impatient when we can’t drive as fast as we want to. Sure, we’d save only a few minutes by going 75, 85, or 90 instead of the posted 65, but, hey, every few minutes counts.

Trouble is, those saved few minutes cost 10,000 people (37,000 over 25 years) a year their lives, plus all the speeding-related injuries. Sure, visibility and road conditions (%$#@!!! potholes and curvy hills) contribute to the problem, but isn’t that more reason to slow down and be safe?

Since the 1990s, states have been increasing speed limits. In addition, our cars have become more sophisticated and safer. Both of these lead to driver over-confidence, pushing the gas pedal even farther down.

If it’s so important to get there a few minutes early, why not leave your house a few minutes earlier? In the larger scheme of things, what is more important–those few minutes or 10,000+ human lives?

Read Speed limit increases are tied to 37,000 deaths over 25 years

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Inter-Religious Peace

August 28, 2019 Comments Off on Inter-Religious Peace

All the news stories about people angry at religious attire someone wears, or their beliefs or way of worshiping have made me realize one thing: that we need to educate yourselves. So I propose this to you: 

Sit back in your easy chair and learn about how other people worship.  Read books, articles, and the weekly Religion section in the Sunday paper.  Watch “Religion and Ethics Newsweekly” on PBS or record it for more convenient viewing.  Want to get out of the house?  Visit a synagogue, temple, or mosque, or go to a worship service there.  Attend a class in a certain faith or comparative faiths. Research a faith in the public library or online.  Look in the newspaper under “Lectures” and “Events”  for a festival or celebration hosted by another faith, then go and enjoy yourself.  No matter what you do, learning about another’s faith strengthens your own while fostering understanding in you–and that understanding helps make us all part of the Human Family.

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What a Dog-Gone Day Today Is!

August 26, 2019 Comments Off on What a Dog-Gone Day Today Is!

Today, and every Aug. 26 since 2004, is National Dog Day. It’s a day for all of our dogs, pure-bred or so mixed they have to be referred to as “American.” The day was established to remind us of the multitude of dogs that need to be rescued or re-homed, and the many way dogs serve us–protecting us, searching out bombs, drugs, and humans lost in earthquake rubble, helping the blind and disabled, and, in recent years, detecting seizures and cancer in people. Read about this day and its significance at About National Dog Day.

Meanwhile, I’m remembering all my past faithful furry friends and celebrating Rosie, my re-homed companion/helper, shown here when she couldn’t decide on whether to continue her nap or play.

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Cheap, Clean Weed-Control

August 24, 2019 Comments Off on Cheap, Clean Weed-Control

Here’s a cheap, earth-friendly weed control: Spray those bad guys with a mixture of a gallon of white vinegar and an ounce of bio-degradable dish soap.

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Get it Right, Reps!

August 22, 2019 Comments Off on Get it Right, Reps!

Are you as sick as I am of the Republican and Democratic Parties? The fact that they’re so stuck on their own agendas that they aren’t getting anything meaningful done? John F. Kennedy had the right idea. I think every Democratic and Republican elected representative should copy today’s Thursday Thought quote and tape it to their bathroom mirror…and to their desk in their legislative chamber.

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Teen Deserves His $50,000 Prize

August 19, 2019 Comments Off on Teen Deserves His $50,000 Prize

A teenager from Ireland may have found a way to rescue our oceans from the growing plastic pollution problem.

A walk on the beach led Fionn Ferreira to develop his project on microplastic extraction from water for the annual Google Science Fair. The project won the grand prize of $50,000 in educational funding at this year’s event.

The 18-year-old said that while he was out on that walk in his coastal hometown of Ballydehob, he ran across a stone with oil and plastic stuck to it — something he says he’s become more aware of in recent years.

Read the rest of this fascinating article at This Irish teenager may have a solution for a plastic-free ocean.

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The Intersection of Truth and Love

August 15, 2019 Comments Off on The Intersection of Truth and Love

In today’s Thursday Thought quote, this Saint (used to be Edith Stein) gives us a simple way to measure love and truth.

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Follow Them on Vacation

August 14, 2019 Comments Off on Follow Them on Vacation

Have something you want your Congress persons to hear?  Then, follow them on vacation.  August is their “vacation” time—away from Washington but closer to their constituents.  During the entire month, they come home to get back in touch with us. They’re more available and open to contact in August than during any other month of the year. Now is the time, in other words, to get them to listen to you about that issue that is so important to you, your family, and your community. Call, write, email, send smoke signals, or whatever to their local offices.  Write a letter to the editor (they’re more likely to read and respond to it in August) and send a copy to your representatives and senators.  Arrange a meeting with them.  Go onto their websites to find out when they’ll hold a town hall meeting you can attend.  Start right away composing those letters or arranging for meetings.  Why are you sitting there reading this?  Get going!

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A Personal Silliness

August 13, 2019 Comments Off on A Personal Silliness

My son has told me time and time again that I keep things an awful long time, long past when I should get rid of them. Like the tee shirt he got in high school at an amusement park — he’s now 34). But I found it in the back of my closet, and, well, it fits.

Anyway, now I think he might be right. My puppy just chewed up my favorite dust rag. It was one of my son’s diapers. Did I mention that he is now 34?`

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Where Humans Come From

August 8, 2019 Comments Off on Where Humans Come From

This just said it so beautifully, I couldn’t pass it up for today’s Thursday Thought.

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