Tag Archive for service

Discovering Joy

Kahlil Gibran, with his simple wisdom, has always been a favorite of mine.  In today’s Thursday Thought he tells what he discovered was joy-filled.

 

 

Something You Can Bank On

If your family makes the average 7 by-mail payments per month, you can save 24 sq. ft. of forest per year by paying all your bills online. Your bank’s Bill-Pay service is easy and safe.  And with the cost of stamps constantly going up….Leaf 6

[For more easy, money-saving, earth-friendly tips, download a FREE copy of Green Riches: Help the Earth & Your Budget. Go to www.Smashwords.com/books/view/7000, choose a format, and download to your computer or e-book device. Or download a free copy from your favorite e-book seller.]

Bullies Provide a Service

Bullies are a good thing.  That’s what someone recently argued to me.  His reasoning was that he had taught his daughter to stand up to bullies, as should all parents, to get kids used to adult life in the workplace.  No matter where you work, he maintained, there will be bullies, and you need to be ready for them.  He thinks that schools shouldn’t be wasting their time punishing bullies or trying to stop them because school-aged bullies provide a service.

I thought this was an interesting take on the problem.  However, I can’t help but think that if young bullies are stopped now, they’ll never be a problem in the workplace once they grow up.  And more children will have a happier childhood.

What do you think?

Get a Driver’s Licence–Be Drafted

Here’s your new (or renewed) driver’s licence–you’ve now signed up to be drafted.  That could happen to any young man aged 18-26.  A proposed California law (it could happen in your state, too) would send the name of any young man seeking a driver’s licence or renewal to Selective Service to be put onto the Draft list, and he may not even realize that he has just given his consent for that to happen.  SB 2201 has made it through the Assembly and sent to the Senate Housing and Transportation Committee.

If it passes, a young man who opposes war on religious grounds or has a struggling business that will fail if he’s off in the military or has aging parents or a disabled child to care for or any of a dozen other situations–he had better not get or renew a driver’s license.  Sure, some of them will ultimately be excused because of their situation, but Selective Service makes people go through a tough, nerve-wracking process first, especially if a person has “volunteered.”

If you’re a Californian and this bothers you, go to http://capwiz.com/fclca/issues/alert/?alertid=63257816 to email your concerns to the Committee and its chair, Mark DeSaulnier. If you’re not a Californian, keep an eye on this bill.  If it passes, watch for it in your own state.

 

 

Spying on Citizens: a Valuable, Unintended By-Product

So, I hear that sales of the book 1984 recently have jumped 5800% (yes, fifty-eight hundred).  Apparently, the cause is recent leaks about government’s spying on citizens, which is a main plot line in the book.  I won’t get into whether the whistle-blowers are right, moral, traitors, or heroes.  I just want to thank them for a valuable, unintended by-product: getting people to read and think.  Now, THAT’s a public service!

Reading

Updated Website/New Page

Just finished updating my www.JackieODonnell.net website. There’s a new bit of verse on the Poetry page and an Adept-Able Living page describing an exciting organization, a change in the service animal/landlord law, a semi-funny joke, and other tidbits for people living with disabilities.

I’ve added a new page, as well–Pop-Posts, where you can find the most popular postings from the last month or so, plus their comments, and add a comment of your own, if you wish.

Hope you enjoy!