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Month: October 2006

Oil Paintings and People

Oil Paintings and People

Gustav Klimt’s 1907 portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer sold at auction in New York in June of 2006 for $135 Million dollars. This exceeded the previous sale of Pablo Picasso’s painting Boy with a Pipe which sold for $104 Million earlier in 2006 and Vincent Van Gogh’s painting Portrait of Dr. Gachet which sold for $83 Million in 1983. If oil paintings are worth multi millions of dollars because they are unique and irreplaceable, what are unique and irreplaceable human beings…

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17 Words to Ponder

17 Words to Ponder

                            Here are seventeen words to ponder: Prepare – Listen – Smile – Care – Choose – Focus – Believe – Relax – Act -Forgive –    Pray – Trust – Change- Persist – Accept – Risk – Wait

The Prayer of Thomas Merton

The Prayer of Thomas Merton

Thomas Merton (1915 – 1968) U.S. religious author, Trappist monk and poet who lived at the Abbey of Gethesemani wrote this prayer that has universal appeal. "My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going, I do not see the road ahead of me, I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing…

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Having a Purpose in Life

Having a Purpose in Life

The Jesuit priest, Mark Link, has written a series of short meditation books with wonderful stories and metaphors. These booklets are available from Thomas More Publishing www.ThomasMore.com. In one of his meditations he refers to Lord George Macleod whom he quotes as saying: "Is there any greater pathos in our world than the number of youth, miles outside our churches, who are longing for a savior, looking pathetically toward …revolutionaries like Che Guevara…Do you know the hush that comes down…

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Never Having to Say You Are Sorry

Never Having to Say You Are Sorry

Experience has demonstrated that the justice system serves an important role in holding people and corporations responsible for their actions and in providing a strong incentive to change wrong behavior. Big business has always angled for laws which give them immunity for their actions and especially for laws which prevent them from being judged in open court by juries made up of citizens.  It came as no surprise,when, by an extraordinary Presidential Executive Order, President Bush, in May of this…

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Doonsbury (R)

Doonsbury (R)

Gary Trudeau has an amusing comic strip while courageously commenting on political issues as he sees them. His strips make fun of illogical spins. His comic strip is not only funny, but right on the mark. He recently focused on the idea that  2,700 dead and 20,000 wounded troops flies in the face of the mantra that the war is a "small price to pay to make the world a less dangerous place to live." He also attacked the idea…

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The Duchess of Doom

The Duchess of Doom

Parade Magazine (R) reports Allison Fisher, the women’s pro billard’s champ, has the nickname "The dutchess of doom" because of the fear her opponents have of her skill. Good for her in what has been a man’s world. I can think of some women trial lawyers this nickname would apply to as well for the very same reason.

Oil Profits Skyrocket

Oil Profits Skyrocket

The public has been struggling with excessive gas prices at the pump, but the whole time the oil companies have been piling up huge profits at the pulbic’s expense. Record profits have been posted by the oil industry, but now ExxonMobil (XOM) has announced a record shattering corporate profit record. According to USA Today (TM) the company has just announced  third quarter earnings  • Net income up 75% to $9.92 billion. That is the most a U.S. company has earned…

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Rush Limbaugh Should Be Ashamed

Rush Limbaugh Should Be Ashamed

I knew Rush Limbaugh was an utter hypocrite after his repeated demand that white drug abusers be put in prison because they too often get away with illegal drug use while all the while he was a closet drug abuser. But, it’s clear he is also a school yard bully who advances his position not by rational argument, but by unseemly mocking of the physical disability of the seriously ill who disagree with him. His shocking behavior regarding Michael J….

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