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I must say that when I ran into this, I couldn’t stop laughing.  That’s unusual for me, so here it is…

http://improveverywhere.com/2008/03/09/food-court-musical/

Should Christians play a part in politics?  If so how?

Indeed, the way Christians respond to this question may reflect whether or not they are relevant in today’s society and in what way. 

Firstly, I do believe that Christians have a vital role in contributing to the American process of Democracy.  I remember pledging many times “…to the republic…”  What does this pledge mean except that I take part in what our constitution declares?

“We the people of the United States of America, in order to form a more perfect union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense,…

Today, I was working with my Thunderbird client minimized, and the title that it gave me caused me to pause:

Is this just simply trash for my brain?  Or more directly, is this trash for my soul?  Perhaps more simply, it’s just a monumental coincidence.  But no matter how it came about to be, I can’t help but wonder about the massive amounts of unwanted emails I get everyday:

Today, Alderman Donovan decried the Milwaukee Public School System (MPS) as they’ve asked for a 16% increase in property taxes!  This, after many similar hikes that have left many people struggling.  Donovan said…

Milwaukee Barcamp 2 this weekend past was a hoot!  Lots of nerds, (or trendy people, depending on how you look at it) came together this weekend to discuss all things remotely related to the world wide web.  Some people even came and talked about things not related to the world wide web.  So all in all, everyone talked about everything, and the sum of human knowledge was found and lost as quickly as an LED throwie.

However, the remnants of connectivity and collaboration are sure to remain long after this barcamp is forgotten.  But until then, barcamp will forever live…

This week I will be attending barcamp Milwaukee 2!  Barcamp is an unconference that is held to to talk about largely tech related topics.  As the name implies, many of the participants will actually be camping out in the conference area, complete with lan parties and talks of zen.  The word bar is an interesting geek symbol that represents the technology being discussed.

In an unconference the participants are also the presenters, therefore, I have submitted two ideas for sessions:

• Cross-platform development
• On the Go!

If there is enough interest, I will be leading a session on these topics.  While I may not be…

Today, I listened while someone read an editorial from Jeff Jacoby of the Boston Globe.  In it, Jacoby lists out the brutally convicting statistics about black on black crime.  In particular, I was struck by a quote made by Jesse Jackson in 1993, “There is nothing more painful to me at this stage in my life than to walk down the street and hear footsteps and start thinking about robbery–then look around and see somebody white and feel relieved.”  At the end Jacoby soberly states, “Americans overcame white racism; they can overcome black crime. But the first step, as always, is to…

I was having a conversation about some kids at church singing songs to God.  Most likely, the kids had very little idea what they were singing, but boy, were they having a ball!   “How cute!  Even though they don’t really get it, they still enjoy it.”  We were both very glad.

Now at church, we saw a lot of people singing.  While they understood what they were saying, there was the feeling that they did not really enjoy it.  Or, that if they did, it was for the wrong reasons.  Perhaps they just like to hear their own voice and so on.

Are we…

Over Labor Day Weekend our nerves were worn ragged by the constant conflict between our next door neighbor and her boyfriend. We hid out in our bedroom with the AC on high just to drown out the sounds, but eventually the screaming, cursing, and breaking glass had us calling 911. If they didn’t need relief, we sure did. Honestly, we’d had a couple of our own conflicts over the weekend, and although ours were much quieter and more civilized, the tension from next door just wasn’t helping.

This morning I got an email from an old friend and spiritual mentor describing how she and her…

John, who organizes church socials, sees people come and go while the depth of relationships stays shallow.  Judy can’t seem to find people to hang out with at all.  Mike can’t seem to get past the cultural differences that he’s facing with the people around him. 

Everyone I know is looking to belong and yet so few people have a solid community of friends.  You would think that with everyone wanting it, more of us would have it!  How have we as a generation lost all ability to form healthy relationships with the people around us?  Is it our amazing independence?  Do we all have these…

Lately, it seems as if I’m on information overload and my brain needs to work double time to keep up. I find myself contemplating parapsychology and wondering if kick starting a lucid dream is biblical. When I go to the library and browse amongst the titles, I find that my minute has turned to 10 and my 10 to 30. If only I could process faster… Instead, I lay awake before I go to bed with my mind racing, wondering when it will all end so that I can simply go to sleep.

Is it good to be so mentally vibrant?…