Corporate Greed is Making Us Sick

The failure of our corporate and political leaders to make sure every worker gets good health care is causing some unpleasant consequences - not just for them but for all of us. Consequences like stomach flu.

Ill workers often spread illness. This is because millions of employees who deal directly with the public,  as well as with co-workers, are not covered by paid sick leave policies. so, when they come down with something like stomach flu, they still tend to drag themselves to work rather than going to bed until they recover, because staying home means a loss of pay...or even loss of their jobs.

Low wage workers, such as those in the restaurant industry, are particularly vulnerable and, since they handle food particularly threatening. Nearly 80% of America's food service workers receive no paid sick leave, and researchers have found that about half of them go to work ill, because they fear losing their jobs if they don't. As a result, a study by the Centers for Disease Control finds that ill workers are causing as much as 80% of America's stomach flu outbreaks, which is one reason that CDC officials have declared our country's lack of paid sick leave to be a major public health threat.

You'd think the industry itself would be horrified enough by this endangerment of its workforce and customers that it would either take the obvious curative step of providing the leave or of pushing , in the name of public safety, for a public sick-leave program. But, such huge and profitable chains as McDonald's. Red Lobster, and Taco Bell not only fail to provide such sensible care for their employees, but have lobbied furiously against city and state efforts to require paid sick days.

All the top corporate executives, who never touch the food their chains serve, get paid sick leave. For them to deny it to workers is idiotic, shortsighted, and even more sickening than stomach flu.

This article was written by Jim Hightower with a bit of paraphrasing by myself.

Literature is Terrific Fun! "Outcasts of Poker Flat" Plot Summary.

"The Outcasts of Poker Flats"  A Bret Harte short story.

"The Outcasts of Poker Flat" is set near a California mining community during November of 1850. Checking out the effectiveness of vigilante justice, the "good moral" residents of Poker Flat hope to improve the town by expelling a group of undesirables. Among these objectionable characters are professional gambler John Oakhurst; a prostitute known as Duchess; her madam, Mother Shipton; and Uncle Billy, the town drunkard and a suspected thief. The four are escorted to the edge of Poker Flat and "forbidden to return at the peril of their lives." With no other choice, the group heads toward the next settlement, Sandy Bar, However the trip requires them to pass over a difficult mountain trail in the Sierras. Less than half way to their destination , the group becomes exhausted and decides to camp for the night.  The story continues on with the challenges they face while on the trail in a heavy snowfall with very few provisions. In my opinion some of the undesirables exhibited more character traits than the "good citizens of Poker Flats" that placed them in peril on that November day.

My goal in this post is to encourage you to purchase and read this Bret Harte short story on a cold November evening and turn off your TV for an hour of really fun entertainment. Literature is terrific fun! It encourages you to think. It helps you dream. It is full of heroes and villains, suspense and humor, adventure and wonder, and new ideas. It introduces you to writers who reach out across time to say: " Do you want to hear a story I wrote?"

Prayer is where the action is !

I have no idea why but God has chosen not to act without the prayers of his people. It is no accident that you are reading this blog at this particular minute.  So I'm asking all  Christians that find your way to this blog to join me in 15 minutes of prayer daily.

Claim God's promise in I John 1:9. "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." Please pray daily for whatever burden the Holy spirit has put on your soul. My particular burden is to pray for all the abused and mistreated  of this world, both people and animals.

Under the guidance of the Holy Spirit I have done an extensive study of prayer that is pleasing to
God and invokes action on His part.  First I will list the order of prayer that works miracles and then discuss the Bible verses that the Holy spirit laid on my heart. First, bind the Strong Man then, Praise ,Thanksgiving, Confession, Intercession and then Petition in this order. You will notice that petition comes last ( praying for your personal needs) and most of us place this at the head of the list and maybe not even consider the other five at all.

1. Bind the strong man. James 4:7 Resist the devil and he will flee from you. You have to get rid of the devil before he will allow you to have a prayer session. (the phone will ring or a dozen other distractions) Just tell him to get out and leave you alone in the name of Jesus and he will flee.

2.Praise the Lord. Psalm 100:4 "enter His gates with thanksgiving and His Courts with praise. Give thanks to Him: bless His name." The only way to enter God's gate and be in his court is with thanksgiving and praise. Once we enter the gate and are in His court then and only then, may we petition the Lord!  Praise is making love to God.

3. Thanksgiving -   Philippians 4:6 "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to god."

4.Confession -  I John 1:9  "If I regard iniquity in my heart the Lord will not hear me. But if I confess my sins He is faithful and just and will forgive my sins and cleanse me from all unrighteousness." Confession is agreeing with God about my sin.

5. Intersession - James 5:16 "therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much." Intersession is praying for others.

6.Petition - John 15;7 "If you abide in me, and my words abide in you. Ask whatever you wish and it shall be done for you."  Petition is asking God for self and should be done at the very end of your prayer session. Many times we only take part in the petition part of prayer and it just doesn't work that way.   Never fail to ask daily for the infilling of the Holy Spirit.

There you have it. Miracle working prayer. Please join me each and every day in your prayer closet ( a quiet place without interruption) praying for the burden that the Holy Spirit has laid on your heart.

Why Immigration Reform is a Good Idea

Our federal government has pulled off a Ponzi scheme that would make Bernie Madoff seem like a petty thief. They have dumped our Social Security funds into the general fund and used it to finance the Federal programs such as unjust wars against countries that have not invaded America. If the congress didn't make the laws of the land they would all be in jail longer than the 150 years given to Bernie Madoff.

The way the Ponzi scheme works is we will use the money paid in by the seniors to run a corrupt government and then pay the seniors social security with the money paid in by the young workers. All was well and good until the "Baby Boomers" started retiring and young people started using birth control, abortion, etc. and didn't replace themselves let alone have four or five kids per family. Now there aren't enough workers to pay the social security of the "Baby Boomers" so we have a crises which by the way was created by our good congressmen.

Now that is the problem but what we need is a solution. Since we can't undo what has already been done by out politicians we need to look at things that can be done today in the now.  I agree with the politicians that say we need immigration reform. If all  these millions of illegal emigrants from Mexico are made legal so that they have no fear of being sent back to Mexico they will begin to pay into the Social Security system rather than sending all their money back to families in Mexico. With millions of illegals now coming into the system the Ponzi scheme can continue until a better solution can be found.

Republicans are losing ground every year.

Anyone want to take a wild guess why Hillary will be our next President? Everyone votes their self interest. DONT MESS WITH SOCIAL SECURITY or you will also lose the seniors.

Quote from George Soros lectures

A few definitions are in order to help understand the Soros terminology. (1) Soros proposes an attractive form of social organization: an OPEN SOCIETY in which people are free to hold divergent opinions and the rule of law allows people with different views and interests to live together in peace.(2) The principle of REFLEXIVITY. Distorted views can influence the situation to which they relate because false views lead to inappropriate actions. For instance, treating drug addicts as criminals creates criminal behavior. It misconstrues the problem and interferes with the proper treatment of addicts. Another example, declaring that government is bad tends to make for bad government. (3) To change the situation to your advantage, I call this the MANIPULATIVE function; politicians acting for their own good rather than the good of the country. Soros gave an explanation to these three terms in an earlier lecture than the one I am quoting below.

The following Soros remarks taken from his lecture "Open Society" given in the Central European University Lecture Series, October 26 - 30, 2009.

"A case can be found by reverting to the Founding Fathers, who formed their views long before the concept of open society was introduced. The Founding Fathers built their case on the value of individual freedom. The epistemological argument they employed was flawed: the Declaration of Independence states that "We hold these truths to be self-evident," but there is nothing self-evident about them. Self-evident or not, however, the value of individual freedom is enduring and, having been exposed to totalitarian regimes, I'm passionately devoted to it. And I am not alone.

Reverting to the Founding Fathers has another great advantage: it allows a discussion of power relations. The constitution protected against tyranny by a division of powers. The division of powers recognizes that there are competing interests and different interpretations of reality within society that need to be reconciled by a political process. The constitutional checks and balances preclude the formation of absolute power that could claim to be in possession of the ultimate truth. The Constitution establishes a mechanism whereby different branches of government interact and control each other. But that is not sufficient.

Open society can prevail only when people can speak truth to power. It needs the rule of law that guarantees freedom of speech and press, freedom of association and assembly, and other rights and freedoms. They empower citizens to defend themselves against the abuse of power and to make use of the judicial branch for such defense. That is how the Founding Fathers created an open society.

Let me spell out my conclusion more clearly. Open society is a desirable form of social organization both as a means to an end and as an end in itself. It enables a society to understand the problems confronting it and to deal with them more successfully than other forms of social organizations, PROVIDED it gives precedence to the cognitive function over the manipulative function and the people are willing to confront harsh realities.

In other words, the instrumental value of democracy is conditional on the electorate's commitment to the pursuit of truth, and in that regard the current performance of American democracy does not live up to its past achievements. We cannot rely on the inherent superiority of the American system and need to prove ourselves anew..."

Have you noticed, your Social Security check is now referred to as a "federal benefit payment"? Remember, not only did you contribute to Social Security but your employer did too. It totaled 15% of your income before taxes. If you averaged only $30K over your working life, that's close to $220,500.

If you calculate the future value of $4,500 per year (yours and your employer's contribution) at a simple 5% (less than what the government pays on the money that it borrows), after 49 years of working you'd have $892,919.98.

If you took out only 3% per year, you'd receive $26,787.60 per year and it would last better than 30 years (until you're 95 if you retire at age 65) and that's with no interest paid on that final amount on deposit! If you bought an annuity and it paid 4% per year, you'd have a lifetime income of $2,976.40 per month. And we haven't even mentioned the people that die before collecting all of their money. That amount remains in the fund.

Entitlement my foot, I paid cash for my Social Security insurance!!! Just because the congress borrowed the money to run the government, doesn't make my benefits some kind of charity or handout!!!

Congressional benefits --- free healthcare, outrageous retirement packages, 67 paid holidays, three weeks paid vacation, unlimited paid sick days, now that's welfare, and they have the nerve to call my Social Security retirement entitlements?

Now when it's time to collect, the government is running out of money. Why did the government borrow from our savings in the first place? And heck yes both parties are responsible even if you are naïve enough to still believe we have two political parties.