First one done

Artemis 1, first of the Artemis Program missions, accomplished what it was supposed to do. Space Launch System (SLS), that long-delayed and way-over-budget Boeing rocket, was a success. It worked well with the Orion capsule and with NASA's ground systems.

NASA people are said to be super happy. Here is a photo taken yesterday from Orion as it neared its home planet:

It splashed down in the Pacific near California. The Artemis 1 mission manager clarified the future significance of this success by saying: 

"We now have a foundational deep-space transportation system." 

That's a big deal: the foundation for future transportation into deep space. Fans of space travel will be thrilled.

from Space

Dumb choice

If you were going to rob a store, you would pick a time and place where you could probably get by with it. Not all criminals are as smart as you. Especially a guy named Brad.

Here's the story from the police department Facebook post:

"Seriously we just can't make this up. Brad decided to steal from our good neighbors and partners at Walmart in St. Cloud while we were conducting the Shop With a Cop event with the children of our community. Bad news, Brad! The store was full of deputies, almost 40 . . ."

Talk show host Jay Leno used to say, "I love stupid criminals!" 

Her MPD story 3

(cont'd from yesterday's post)

MPD's third precinct looked like a war zone after that day in 2020, and the neighborhood didn't calm down for a month. Peaceful protest is a protected tradition here in America, but lawless riots and burning and violence and looting of businesses must not be protected. Businesses destroyed (the life's work of many) eventually amounted to 1500.

The mayor of Minneapolis ordered the police to stand down, to watch instead of protect -- all in violation of the oath of office. You have to wonder who pressured him.

Lund made urgent calls for help to leadership, to city and state government; all went unanswered. She realized that no one had her back or the backs of her men and women. It looked like Benghazi to her.

Lt. Kim Lund quit her job about six months later and moved to Florida.

Her MPD story 2

(cont'd from yesterday's post)

She's haunted in her sleep now by that nightmare. 

Sixty years ago Minneapolis Police Lieutenant Kim Lund began her audacious life in a small blue-collar town. As a teenager, she was captain of the cheerleaders and yearbook editor, racing motorcycles and snowmobiles. 

She followed the path indicated by an aptitude test and got a two-year criminal justice degree. Jobs in police work were rare for women. But eventually her toughness and hard work brought respect and promotion to her in the MPD.

In dangerous environments of gangs, robberies, drugs, she gained her experience. Finally she landed in the 3rd precinct, the most ethnically diverse precinct with the highest crime rate in the city. Bike give-aways and lemonade/popsicle stands were an effort to bond with the neighbors in this tense  community.

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That's where she worked on Labor Day of 2o20 when the chaos began which would end the only kind of life she knew.

(cont'd tomorrow)

Her MPD story 1

George Floyd died (May of 2020) while being held down by a Minneapolis Police Department officer, who was convicted and is in prison for what he did. More evil soon followed. Minneapolis residents saw their city blow up with fire and violence.

One of MPD's first female lieutenants was a commander at Precinct 3, right in the middle of the chaos. One night the building was attacked and destroyed by thugs. This is how her nightmares began and here is what they look like:

"I am inside. Shielding myself, balancing on a chair away from the windows in my darkened office. The sooty sky is choked with smoke and blazing orange. Flames as far as I can see; the looted Target; the ransacked liquor store; police cars melting; the earth scorched.

"Exploding M-80s, bricks and frozen water bottles are pelted at officers protecting my second home, the 3rd Precinct. Snipers fire rubber bullets at the crowd of thousands. The grotesque and deafening of humankind encroach the barrier. They swarm, surge and blast through torching the building."

from Human Events

(cont'd tomorrow)

Waukesha parade

This year the Waukesha Christmas Parade went beautifully. The people of this Wisconsin community could have cancelled, given the circumstances, but instead called on their virtues of resilience and courage.

Why did the annual parade require more resilience and courage than usual? Because a year ago, six people died in this celebration. A murderer used his vehicle to slam down random victims. You could hardly imagine a more incongruous setting than a Christmas event for such a crime.

A child and five adults died last year, while dozens more were injured. The murderer was convicted in October of first-degree homicide and sentenced to life in prison.

Watch the local news report on this year's parade:

Drug money

Importing, distributing and selling illegal drugs is a big business in the U.S. A key person responsible for enabling these crimes in Chicago has lost his freedom. He was sentenced to 30 years in prison a couple of weeks ago. He's 55 years old. 

Luis Garcia set up a network of warehouses and fake companies to hide thousands of kilograms of cocaine in pallets of products like laundry detergent. They were also used to mask a total of $50 million in payments to Mexican drug cartels. It's called money laundering.

At 1.0-1.5 grams per use, every kilogram would represent 670-1000. Multiply by the thousands he hid with ordinary household products, and he's given many thousands of uses of cocaine to  the people of his city, his neighbors.

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Conviction and sentencing of criminals is essential.  A U.S. attorney puts it this way:

“Anyone who is considering partnering with the [drug] cartels to move their products from Mexico to the streets of this country must know that they will face the severest of consequences.”

from U.S. Department of Justice

Royal wealth 2

(cont'd from yesterday's post)

If you have wealth beyond imagination, what shall you do with it after your needs and reasonable wants are satisfied? This family has it and here's a few ways that they spend it.

Watch incredibly expensive supercars getting some attention on the streets of London or Monaco, cars with a name like Bugatti or Lamborghini or McLaren:

Their personal airplane was designed to carry 467 passengers on a commercial flight. It's a Boeing 747 jumbo jet:

Go here for more conspicuous consumption items.

from Luxury Launches

Royal wealth 1

How many of us normal people can relate to the wealth of an Elon Musk or Jeff Bezos? They are at the top of the list of wealthy Americans. Probably, unlike the rest of us, they could buy any car or home or toy or luxury vacation either of them could want.

But the wealth of the royal family of Qatar surpasses both of them . . combined. It's pretty much unimaginable wealth. The small nation of Qatar is on the east side of the Saudi Arabian peninsula, circled on the map below.

image

Oil/gas is the source of their wealth, as you might guess from their Middle East location. Relatively tiny in size compared to some nations, Qatar holds about 10% of the world's reserves.

Their holdings have gone way beyond their own country. By some accounts, the royals of Qatar hold more property in London than the British monarchy.

(cont'd tomorrow)

Binge Jesus 2

(cont'd from yesterday's post)

"The Chosen" fans love it; as one of them put it, "We're not lukewarm!" (A reference to Revelation 3.) About 9,000 supporters came to Texas last summer to take part in the filming of the scene where Jesus multiplies fish and bread to "feed the five thousand."

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Production values draw fans because it's just better than most faith-based shows. As a Catholic writer says, "It was far less cheesy than what I'm used to seeing." 

There's no quoting of the King James Bible here. Instead, there's modern idiom, beautiful lighting and music, good acting. Many actors look like they could be at home in the Middle East, including Jonathan Roumie who plays Jesus. His father is Egyptian.

It's free to watch on The Chosen App.

from NYT

Binge Jesus 1

Would a big Hollywood studio put millions of dollars behind a multi-year show about the life of Jesus Christ and his students? Not likely! If a relatively unknown director wanted to create such a thing, how would he get the money to produce it? 

Director Dallas Jenkins accomplished that very thing with crowdfunding. His show, "The Chosen," was initially funded by 19,000 contributors. It was enough to get started in 2019, and it's come a long way. 

photo

A passionate fan base of Christians gradually discovered it. Roughly 5% of viewers got behind it with additional financial support through "pay it forward" voluntary contributions so that the show can be free to view for anyone, anywhere in the world. 

Enough fans showed up the weekend of Nov. 18-20 to place the show's first theater offering (Season 3, Episodes 1 & 2) box office at second behind only "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever" in about 2000 theaters. Netflix, Amazon and Peacock started to stream it.

from NYT

(cont'd tomorrow)

Day after

 Hopefully, this isn't you today!😉

Wishing you a happy holiday weekend!

At the table

As an immigrant to America, Olga says "Without exception, every year that I have lived here, someone has always invited me over for a Thanksgiving meal. Someone has always welcomed me at their table." 

She loved seeing "how American families celebrate this holiday. They slowed their pace of life. Families spent long, unhurried hours together eating, talking, playing games, and enjoying warm Texas weather (instead of the below-freezing November temperatures I was used to in Eastern Europe)."

photo

Today is an American holiday based on our history - originally for the purpose of thanking God for harvest, for independence, for blessings. "The welcoming of strangers, the gratitude for the daily blessings, the joy of breaking bread (or a turkey wishbone) together have made me fall in love with the people of this country."

As you have the opportunity, invite someone to your table for a holiday. It made a big difference to Olga. It was through the "openness, generosity and hospitality shown me by so many Christians that I encountered Jesus, who also invites us to God’s lavish table."

from The Stream

Dinner cost 2022

Every year the Farm Bureau calculates the cost of a traditional Thanksgiving dinner for ten people. 

                         

Back in 2020, the calculated average cost was $46.90 for this dinner. So this year's cost has  increased 36% in just two years. A comparison to last year is on the image.

Inflation, the sinking value of our money, has hit this holiday hard in 2022. No one will be surprised.

from Farm Bureau

Activist Bono 2

(cont'd from yesterday's post)

Why is activist Bono in the news again? Because he did a recent interview with the New York Times about how to help the global poor, and anti-capitalists really didn't like it. Capitalism is the economic system that brings people out of poverty.

Bono himself doesn't like the idea: "The off-ramp out of extreme poverty is, ugh, commerce, it’s entrepreneurial capitalism." (He has plenty of company in his distaste.) But apparently he has enough integrity to tell the truth in spite of his prejudice against the answer.

"I didn’t grow up to like the idea that we’ve made heroes out of businesspeople, but if you’re bringing jobs to a community and treating people well, then you are a hero." Indeed.

photo

from American Enterprise Institute

Activist Bono 1

Bono's career in music and charity activism has spanned decades. 

photo

The poverty and suffering of Africa's people touched his heart, especially compared to the standard of living in the West. Millions of dollars were raised with his concerts (which included the famous Live Aid in 1985).

What happened to the millions? Some of it went to suffering people. But "the vast majority of the food [resulting from Live Aid] rotted on docks beside the Red Sea or [was] used as payment for loyalist army units." 

Economist Dambisa Moyo published a book back in 2010 (Dead Aid) explaining how this kind of thing happens. As an African herself, her perspective is authentic and her message compelling: decades of "aid" to African countries is not doing the good that was intended. 

A review of it on Amazon reads, "Moyo demolishes all the most cherished myths about aid being a good thing.”

(cont'd tomorrow)

Launch at last

At long last, the Space Launch System (SLS) successfully launched the very first Artemis mission on Wednesday morning from NASA Space Center in Florida.

Artemis 1 is an un-crewed mission to fly to the moon without landing, all of course in preparation to return astronauts to the moon by 2024 if that target date holds.

According to the mission manager, "Today, we got to witness the world's most powerful rocket take the Earth by its edges and shake the wicked out of it. And it was quite a sight." 

Welcoming

Our world's population went over the eight billion mark yesterday. 

To some, it's ominous - which makes sense if you believe people are nothing but troublesome eaters whom we must figure out how to feed.

But the Ruth Institute sees it differently. In fact, they published a "welcome" card to all the baby newcomers this month:

"Dear Baby Number 8 Billion,

"We’re glad you’re here. In fact, we’re so happy, we want to thank your mother and father . . . We’ll always consider you a gift to the world.

"God made you in his image and likeness. No one will ever reflect the image of God in exactly the same way as you. Isn’t that amazing? God wants you to be here. That’s good enough for us!"

photo Emerald Interior Design

Wakanda 3

(cont'd from yesterday's post)

We were introduced to the fantasy nation of Wakanda in the movie "Black Panther" as part of the Marvel Universe of superheroes. We discovered that it was a wonderful place of awesome technology and beauty under the leadership of their wise king.

As the sequel opens, the country is in mourning. If it looks authentic, it's because the cast is genuinely mourning the 2020 death of actor Chadwick Boseman, who played the part of their king. The producers chose not to cast a substitute in the role, an excellent choice.

Picture this vision of a good, prosperous African nation. It's similar to what Fred Swaniker and others both imagine and work for: independent nations unifying smaller tribes, distinct and unique in the world.

As the queen mother says, "Show them who we are!" 

Wakanda 2

(cont'd from yesterday's post)

Watch Fred Swaniker's video (yesterday's post) and be inspired by his vision. He founded his organization, African Leadership Academy, to build the next generation of African leaders.

Another African leader of influence is Dambisa Moyo. She would agree that new and better leaders are desperately needed. She's written about the corruption of past African leaders who used government aid given by Western countries and non-profits for their own power and Swiss bank accounts.

Any sane, decent person today would love to see African countries really prosper at last. But billions of dollars of government aid pumped into them is not the path to strong nations. 

What they really need is wise and virtuous leaders of their own, leaders of the sort that Swaniker hopes to produce.

Leaders like, say, the Black Panther of Wakanda.

photo

(cont'd tomorrow)

Wakanda 1

Much pity is directed by people of the West toward the huge continent of Africa. 

After ten centuries of a slave trade perpetrated by Middle Eastern and European powers, as well as tribal warfare followed by colonialism -- poverty and a general failure to thrive are not entirely surprising. 

"Leaders" of poor quality have also been very much responsible.

But Africa is changing. From different nations, new leaders want a new standard and are working to grow a different story. Fred Swaniker is one of them. His TED Talk from 2014 is below. The organization he started is still running in 2022.

Work 14-hr day

Would there be any appeal in working a super long 14-hour day? When the owner/operator of a Florida Chick-fil-A offered just such a consistent work schedule, over 400 people applied for the job. Oh, and they work only three of those long days per week. That's the appeal.

When Justin Lindsey opened his shop near Miami, Florida, last year, he chose this way of expressing how he wanted to manage it: "One of the things I really set out to do . . was what I called "leading with generosity." This new way of scheduling his workers was well-received.

One of his managers told him that she could never have graduated from University of Central Florida if she had had to work the normal choppy schedule. Another told him that she had visited New York City with the time she had available, not having to take any vacation time.

Overall, there's been improved worker retention, work-life balance, and career growth. 

"I'm so incredibly happy and grateful that Chick-fil-A has given me the opportunity to do this. Because the impact that I'm able to have on my team, honestly, I mean, it's incredible."

from Business Insider

Tech layoffs

Massive layoffs at Twitter were predicted and actually happened (3700 jobs, 50%) after Elon Musk, under pressure from the company, completed purchasing it. 

No word on whether the other big tech layoffs were expected.

November 4 was the worst day for job cuts in 2022:

• Lyft - 700 jobs, 13% 
• Chime - 160 jobs,12%
• Stripe - 1000 jobs, 14%
• Opendoor - 550 jobs, 15%
• others

Meta is part of the wave too, announcing yesterday that they're cutting a whopping 11,000 jobs (13%) - probably related to its huge value crash.

from MindMatters

NBA story

Growing up in Bronx NY, Jonathan Isaac fell in love with basketball. To him, its flow and movement is an art form. He also had the talent to play it like that, and he's in the NBA today.

His dad and mom modeled integrity and tenacity and hard work for him. He needed all of those virtues to help him overcome anxiety issues on his way to becoming a professional athlete and an author.

Jonathan's story deserves respect . . and receives it, as you can read in the Youtube comments.

Parents say No

American Library Association (ALA) has been recommending pornographic, sexually explicit books to schools. Parents don't want their children or their neighbors' children exposed to this material.

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Parents in America historically assumed that the influence of their public schools and libraries would be in line with their own values. That used to be a safe assumption, but unfortunately a huge gap between the two now exists and parents are scrambling to take back their kids.

Battles are being fought in various localities across the country. But the one in Gillette, Wyoming, seems to have ended with a win for community and parents.

After months of hearing parents bring their concerns to public meetings, the Campbell County Commission took the extreme step of banning all public comments. Eventually the ban ended, and the commission was re-populated with members friendly to the parents.

Last month the county library board cut all ties with the ALA.

from Mass Resistance

Vote tomorrow

(continued from last Friday's post)

About half American Christians don't bother to vote. Do they not care about all the issues that affect their families and towns? Or is it that they are completely confused about what candidates would be best? 

Chenyuan thinks they take our responsibility for granted, that everything will turn out fine whether they figure out who to vote for or not. But it bothers her big time that so many of us don't recognize the significance of our right to have a voice.

"[U]nlike Chinese Christians who can only passively watch when the government sets immoral policies, we can take an active part in political decisions. We have the privilege not only to promote the good but also to prevent evil."

One current hot issue among parents today is what schools have been teaching. Many parents found out that their neglect to pay attention to local schools resulted in bad outcomes. "When we surrender territory this way, our children bear the dreadful consequence."

Maybe there's still time for you to clear up a few of your own questions before voting day. There's no point in voting if you really don't know about the issues or the candidates.

from The Stream

Vote in 4 days

As an immigrant from China, Chenyuan Snider sees America in a different way from those who were born here, differently from the negative view now being taught in our school systems.

"She is, she says, "overwhelmed" when she thinks of the privileges she has as an American citizen. As one who had years of personal life experience in the two cultures, she offers her perspective to Americans who can only theorize about what it's like to live in China. She's on a mission to open their eyes and tell her story.

"As a fellow Christian, she's horrified that about half of us don't exercise our minimum civic responsibility to vote in elections. We have a right to engage with government policies, to organize on behalf of what we believe to be right. The Chinese don't. They are helpless to influence the direction of their government when it moves against their values.

Because "we have both power and opportunity to influence a political outcome, to remain silent would welcome the flourishing of evil in our society . . ."

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from January post

Vote in 5 days

Foundation Against Intolerance and Racism (FAIR) hasn't been around for long, but they seem well-organized and on top of their issues.

One of their stated principles would probably be approved by most Americans (but sadly not all):

“We support respectful disagreement. We believe bad ideas are best confronted with good ideas—and never with dehumanization, deplatforming, or blacklisting.”

photo

Mid-term elections are coming next Tuesday, and the results will be significant. We need political leaders of wisdom and virtue. If you believe in voting by the issues, if you want to know politicians' positions rather than just listen to them smearing their opponents, they suggest a few questions you could ask: 

Do you think healthcare (for example, the Department of Health’s COVID therapies) should be distributed based on race?

Do you think government rules should be applied and enforced based on race?

What measures do you support for curriculum transparency in schools?

Who endorses you - the teachers union? the police department? your local newspaper?

Work from home

"[P]roductivity didn’t suffer as a result of remote work [in the pandemic] . . In many cases, employees became even more productive while working from home, either because they were happier or because they were making an extra effort to impress far-away bosses."

This is the sort of story I watch for because I want "work from home" (WFH) to be feasible. If people can work at home, saving so much time and money and even energy costs to the environment -- that's just wonderful.

But if WFH is going to work, employees simply must be productive. Or even more productive than before. To convince the executives.

That's why this story is good news.

photo

from KLTA in Los Angeles

Elon & Twitter 8

(cont'd from yesterday's post)

Kevin O'Leary says Twitter is a terrible, poorly managed company. So the price Elon is paying is much more than it's worth, maybe 40%, which is billions. It's likely he has more than one reason for going ahead with it. But there is one reason he's always claimed for this purchase, and it's consistent with concerns he has expressed for years relating to the preservation of civilization.

SpaceX will go to Mars, he said, to give humanity a backup planet in case Earth becomes uninhabitable. Tesla, he claims, will take fossil fuels out of the vehicle business to mitigate climate change. 

And he acquired Twitter "because it is important to the future of civilization to have a common digital town square, where a wide range of beliefs can be debated in a healthy manner, without resorting to violence." Yes, I share this view of healthy speech.

To set minds at rest among Twitter's advertisers, he also let them know that the freer speech he aims for is not a "free-for-all hellscape."

from Fortune