State of the Union: in over our heads

I read this article on a recent plane flight. If we have to send a delegation to China to assure them that we are able to pay our debts and will control our deficits, then we are in trouble! I'm still predicting hyper-inflation, falling value of the dollar and loosing our place on the world stage. This is simply not a good position to be in...not good.

I've written before about the bad choices I believe national leaders are making here, here, here, and here.

I'm trying not to be anxious over the State of the Union, but there are so many signs that things are headed south quickly. This is one of the times in life I'd be okay with being wrong.

unplugged

I will be traveling in coming weeks with limited access to email. I will post when I return.

Interesting International Facts

Due to the international banking crisis, ATM's in Ukraine may or may not have money. I had to pay my hotel bill in cash and got lucky, the first ATM (known as a bancomat) complied with my request for funds. I hear there have been weeks when no money is available and most things must be paid by cash only.

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Common sense?

Kenyon and I often have conversations about other places and the people who live there. Sometimes he is surprised by the actions of people. He says, "why would they do that? That's just common sense."

To which I reply, "what is common to us is not common all over the world."

For instance, basic hygene like hand washing is not common around the world. Some of our basic understanding about the human body is not a common understanding, heck we get an education in anatonomy and biology just watching pharmaceutical commercials.

I am currently in one of the former soviet republic countries. There is a huge lack of civil society in this part of the world. By that I mean no sense of volunteerism, no feeling of responsibility for your neighbor, in fact a complete disregard for their needs. In my first visit here I was surprised to hear church leaders say they do not think it is the responsibility of the church to help anyone. They give sermons and people either come or they don't. Actions like volunteering are considered social action and it is a great debate about whether to engage or not.

What do you think? Do you think churches should engage in social action?

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Found: cinnamon bears

A few weeks ago I posted about my unsuccessful search for cinnamon bears. Then one day I came home to this.

That is a package full of candy from a company called "Candy You Ate As A Kid." What's inside?

Waxed lips, pixie sticks (known to Kenyon and I as "crack sticks" because we can't eat just one), and CINNAMON BEARS! It was a care package from my mom who read the blog post, went online and found me some candy. Thanks, mom! Kenyon being the good man that he is, left all of the cinnamon bears for me to eat, and I have enjoyed them. They really should make those more widely available again, I think a whole new generation of kids might enjoy them, too.