UNIONS

This is a letter to the editor I sent 'World Magazine'

This is in reference to your article "Bargaining Hunting". In trying to discredit and to put unions in a bad light. There are some things about unions that people fail to take in consideration.

1. The reason we have a middle class here in the US is because of unions. The reason that the middle class is shrinking (rich getting richer and poor getting poorer) is because the unions have lost their clout.
2. Unions speak collectively for people who fear to speak for themselves. (I believe scripture speaks of speaking on behalf of others)
3. There is a need for unions because people (CEO, Company Owners etc.) are greedy. Unions have a tempering effect on greed. For the most part CEO's etc. will pay what little they can get by with. Non-union companies that do pay well, only do so in hope that the union will not come in and force payment.
4. For the most part, employees who are against unions really do not understand unions. For what would you rather work for $10.00 per hour or $20.00 per hour?
5. Union employes' do pay union dues. So if I pay $2.00 a hour in union dues, now I only make $18.00 per hour. Again would you rather make $10.00 per hour or $18.00?

As a person who has worked both union and non-union and also has had my own union company may I give a real life example. The union contractor bids 1 million dollars for the job and pays his workers $20.00 per hour. The non-union contractor comes in and hopes to get the same job for $999,999.00. But he is paying his help $8-10.00 per hour. What is the difference? The union contractor is paying his help more of the profit that he would normally make. The non-union is keeping more for himself. Thus the rich get richer and the poor get poorer.
Thank You

Money for Haiti

Saturday, Nov. 7, we will be having a yard sale to raise funds to help feed, clothe and educate some children in Haiti. Any donations, either of objects to sell or monetary, will be appreciated.

"Voices of the Faithful" Book Review

“Voices of the Faithful” Book 2 is the second book of devotions compiled by Kim Davis and created by Beth Moore.
This is a book of daily devotions written by Christians and missionaries around the world. Daily they share their thoughts and experiences that God has brought them through.

The book is divided into monthly sections with different themes:

January is Prayer, the Priority
February is God, Our Loving Father
March is Divine Appointments
April is Jesus, the Sacrificial Lamb
May is “Follow Me”
June is “The Power of the Story”
July is Lost and Found
August is Making Him Known
September is Lessons from the Young
October is From Adversity to Triumph
November is Be Encouraged
December is h\Hope for the World

Each daily devotion closes with a prayer that relates with the devotion for that day.

I enjoyed this devotional book because it is written by those who are in the trenches, real life experiences by real life people, not just someone sitting behind a desk writing books. It is practical not just theoretical. However, just like most devotional books, some days are a whole lot better than others.
If you enjoy the stories and experiences of missionaries and would enjoy it in a condensed daily thought and pray you will enjoy this book.

problem with the church?

"One of the ironies we're beginning to see is that … even the world wants the church to be the church. It is the church that doesn't want to be the church. That's the core problem."


from
Warren Cole Smith author of A Lover's Quarrel with the Evangelical Church,

Decisions are hard to make

Make a decision
It doesn't have to be a wise decision or a perfect one. Just make one.

In fact, make several. Make more decisions could be your three word mantra.

No decision is a decision as well, the decision not to decide. Not deciding is usually the wrong decision. If you are the go-to person, the one who can decide, you'll make more of a difference. It doesn't matter so much that you're right, it matters that you decided.

Of course it's risky and painful. That's why it's a rare and valuable skill.

taken from
http://sethgodin.typepad.com

Some Humor

A little girl was talking to her teacher about whales.
The teacher said it was physically impossible for a whale to swallow a human because even though it was a very large mammal its throat was very small.
The little girl stated that Jonah was swallowed by a whale.
Irritated, the teacher reiterated that a whale could not swallow a human; it was physically impossible.
The little girl said, 'When I get to heaven I will ask Jonah'.
The teacher asked, 'What if Jonah went to hell?'
The little girl replied, 'Then you ask him'.

Is Capitalism Really Good?

“Modern capitalism has created a world totally different from anything known before. Previous ages have assumed that resources are limited and that economics – housekeeping – is about how to distribute them fairly. Since Adam Smith, we have learned to assume that exponential growth is the basic law of economics and that no limits can be set to it. The result is that increased production has become an end in itself; products are designed to become rapidly obsolete so as to make room for more production; a minority is ceaselessly urged to multiply its wants in order to keep the process going while the majority lacks the basic necessities for existence; and the whole ecosystem upon which human life depends is threatened with destruction. Growth is for the sake of growth and is not determined by any overarching social purpose. And that, of course, is an exact account of the phenomenon which, when it occurs in the human body, is called cancer. In the long perspective of history, it would be difficult to deny that the exuberant capitalism of the past 250 years will be diagnosed in the future as a desperately dangerous case of cancer in the body of human society – if indeed this cancer has not been terminal and there are actually survivors around to make the diagnosis.”

R. Bellah and associates, Habits of the Heart: Individualism and Commitment in American Life, 114.

taken from blog www.nextreformation.com