Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy Name. Thy kingdom come. THY WILL BE DONE, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but DELIVER US FROM EVIL.

For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory, forever and ever. Amen †

Everyone who lives in Cyprus and who stuffed money in their mattress instead of depositing it in banks – just increased  the value of their assets by up to 10%…

On Friday, late at night after the markets had closed, and alarming decision was reached by the European Union Finance Ministers.  Depositors in Cyprus banks will be forced to give the collective state up to 10% of their bank accounts.  It’s called “a haircut”.   In exchange for their money, people with money in the bank will be given equivalent amounts of potentially worthless bank stock.

Fearing a run from depositors the banks remained closed on Saturday;  Monday is a traditional bank holiday – but they know the storm is coming, so the Cyprotic Cabinet has also declared Tuesday a bank holiday. (more…)

Last week we brought to your interest an article from Philadelphia Magazine titled: “Being White In Philly“.   Essentially the article highlights how race is tenuously handled in the city of ‘Brotherly Love’.

The fear of racism, or being considered a racist, was outlined in the magazine by showing how non-blacks pander to blacks out of an overbearing concern for political correctness.  Examples were cited from individual interviews with non-blacks who attest to their intentional over consideration for black persons in daily interactions.

One such story:

Dennis, 26, teaches math in a Kensington school. His first year there, fresh out of college, one of his students, an unruly eighth grader, got into a fight with a girl. Dennis told him to stop, he got into Dennis’s face, and in the heat of the moment Dennis called the student, an African-American, “boy.”

The student went home and told his stepfather. The stepfather demanded a meeting with the principal and Dennis, and accused Dennis of being racist; the principal defended his teacher. Dennis apologized, knowing how loaded the term “boy” was and regretting that he’d used it, though he was thinking, Why would I be teaching in an inner-city school if I’m a racist?

The stepfather calmed down, and that would have been the end of it, except for one thing: The student’s behavior got worse. Because now he knew that no one at the school could do anything, no matter how badly he behaved.  (link)

This, and all of the accompanying insightful examples highlight fear on behalf of the non-blacks to confront the truth – the reality of race-based behavioral accepting. (more…)

One year ago, in March 2012, Obama told Russian President Medvedev:

“This is my last election, after my election I have more flexibility.”

Medvedev told Obama he understood and “will transmit this information to Vladimir.”

Now Today….

MOSCOW — The United States has effectively canceled the final phase of a Europe-based missile defense system that was fiercely opposed by Russia and cited repeatedly by the Kremlin as a major obstacle to cooperation on nuclear arms reductions and other issues.

Unions, like socialism in general, eventually collapse unto themselves.   Greed for unearned income creates a system where the frustrated and unappreciated host eventually stops earning.   Like a dependent drug addict, the parasite cannot stop demanding their unearned fix.  Eventually the money runs out….

CALIFORNIA – There’s nothing more embarrassing for union bosses than their own unionized staff striking against them or, in this case, threatening to strike.

In San Francisco, SEIU staff, represented by the left-wing Communications Workers of America, has been without a contract since their contract expired last September.

SEIU boss Roxanne Sanchez, according to the San Francisco Bay Guardian, is trying to get her union staff to give concessions on their pensions and health care.

Last week, after months without a contract, 94% of the SEIU’s own union staff voted to strike.

(more…)

WASHINGTON DC – The barbershop of the U.S. Senate has run deficits of approximately $350,000 a year for each of the last 15 years. So Senate sergeant at arms Terry Gainer has decided to try out a new model, one that has looked rather unfashionable during the Obama era: privatization.

Gainer has tried to trim Senate Hair Care Services for the past few years. Now the political climate troubling everyone else on Capitol Hill is allowing him to move faster than he anticipated towards privatizing it completely. (more…)

This is not a warm fuzzy of an MBOB although it contains lots of good memories.

Disinterest in doing things well or, worse, living in a world where no one expects anything to be done well is where we are these days, to some extent.  Because I’ve had a couple of jolting interactions with employees in stores this week the business of practicing in order to do things better has been on my mind–and as I began remembering all of the things we practiced…….an MBOB emerged.

Practice does not make perfect but it does prepare one to be able to do things well and that was the goal as Mailboxes came and went and Old Barns played their part.

No one expected to be able to do everything well right off the bat but understood that the goal and the process were two different things and that was ok.  So they began–to practice.

Piano lessons were practiced twenty minutes a day at the very least.  There’s nothing private about either practicing or playing the piano. Every missed note, every hesitant bit of timing, every flawed rhythm pattern is apparent to everyone in the house which actually is ok since the purpose for practicing was not to impress, but to get better. (more…)

What you are speaks so loudly we cannot hear a word you are saying…..

WASHINGTON — Sen. John McCain is apologizing for calling Sens. Rand Paul and Ted Cruz “wacko birds” and says he respects what his Senate colleagues stand for.

“[In] an interview I said that Sen. Cruz and Sen. Paul were ‘wacko birds.’ That was inappropriate and I apologize to them for saying that, and I respect them both. I respect what they stand for and what they believe in. They both made an impact out here in the United States Senate,” McCain (R-Ariz.) said on Fox News on Friday.

McCain had previously told The Huffington Post earlier this month that Cruz (R-Texas), Paul (R-Ky.) and Rep. Justin Amash (R-Mich.) were “wacko birds” for their outspoken brand of politicking on the Hill. McCain has also criticized Paul for his nearly 13-hour filibuster that pressured President Barack Obama’s administration to clarify its position on the use of domestic drones.  (more)