Today's Teamster News 07.31.13

<a href="http://www.record-bee.com/ci_23754507/teamsters-paratransit-employees-strike" rel="nofollow">Teamsters, Paratransit employees strike</a>  Lake County Record-Bee ...The Teamsters and 35 employees of Lake County transit went on strike Monday after negotiations with Paratransit management failed to end in an agreement for a new contract...<br /><a href="http://www.heraldonline.com/2013/07/30/5067128/unite-hereinternational-brotherhood.html">UNITE HERE/Teamsters: Gate Gourmet faces labor trouble in North America</a>   Enquirer Herald ...Facing crucial votes by workers in the US and Canada, Gate Gourmet, the world's largest independent airline caterer, finds itself headed toward two separate labor disputes that could impact the majority of its unionized North American workforce...<br /><a href="http://lbbusinessjournal.com/long-beach-business-journal-newswatch/1695-teamsters-long-beach-area-trucking-companies-in-labor-struggle.html" rel="nofollow">Teamsters, Long Beach Area Trucking Companies in Labor Struggle</a>  Long Beach Business Journal   ...Having secured its first contract for truck drivers working at the Port of Los Angeles, local Teamster organizers are stepping up their efforts to secure contracts for drivers who work for or with other short-haul drayage companies at the twin ports...<br /><a href="https://events.teamster.org/ei/cm.esp?id=4010034&pageid=_3FH0ULU6B" rel="nofollow">Sign Up While There’s Still Time for the Teamster Women's Conference</a>  IBT   ...Don’t forget to register for the Teamster Women’s Conference that will be held September 19-21, 2013 in The Big Easy. Join your Teamster Sisters and Brothers for this dynamic gathering of great speakers, educational workshops and networking. The hotel registration deadline is August 20...<br /><a href="http://www.aflcio.org/Blog/Political-Action-Legislation/Senate-Confirms-NLRB-Nominees-Board-at-Full-Strength" rel="nofollow">Senate Confirms NLRB Nominees; Board at Full Strength</a>  AFL-CIO Now   ...The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is now fully staffed and able to continue to function to protect workers’ rights after the U.S. Senate today confirmed five members...<br /><a href="http://www.kbia.org/post/more-200-fast-food-workers-strike-st-louis-kansas-city" rel="nofollow">More than 200 fast-food workers strike in St Louis, Kansas City</a>  Associated Press   ...at least 150 workers walked off the job Tuesday at about 60 restaurants in the St. Louis area, including some in Illinois. She says at least 70 workers in the Kansas City area walked picket lines outside of dozens of restaurants...<br /><a href="http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/fourth-round-of-arrests-made-at-wisconsin-capitol-b9965163z1-217633791.html" rel="nofollow">Fourth round of arrests made at Wisconsin Capitol</a>  Milwaukee Journal Sentinel   ...Police made a new round of arrests Tuesday at the state Capitol, as opponents of Gov. Scott Walker resumed their singalong protest in the rotunda...<br /><a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/07/30/us-sodaban-lawsuit-idUSBRE96T0UT20130730" rel="nofollow">Bloomberg's ban on big sodas is unconstitutional: appeals court</a>  Reuters   ...New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg's controversial plan to keep large sugary drinks out of restaurants and other eateries was rejected by a state appeals court on Tuesday, which said he had overstepped his authority in trying to impose the ban...<br /><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/29/food-stamp-cuts_n_3671142.html" rel="nofollow">Food Stamp Cuts Set To Kick In, Congress Not Paying Attention</a>  Huffington Post   ... Regardless of whether Republicans succeed in cutting food stamps this year, the 22 million American households relying on the program will see their benefits drop in November...<br /><a href="http://www.mintpressnews.com/where-did-the-good-jobs-go-globalization-free-trade-and-the-demise-of-americas-middle-class/166167/" rel="nofollow">Where Did The Good Jobs Go? Globalization, Free Trade And The Demise Of America’s Middle Class</a>   MintPress News   ...U.S.-based multinational corporations decreased their number of U.S. workers by <a href="http://www.economicpopulist.org/content/us-multinationals-were-hiring-mad-2011abroad">3.3 million</a> from 1989-2011. Helping to accelerate this shift has been the proliferation of trade pacts like NAFTA, which eliminated nearly 700,000 U.S. jobs since it was first enacted in 1994...<br /><a href="http://www.cnn.com/2013/07/30/us/florida-propane-explosion/index.html" rel="nofollow">Massive damage but no deaths in blast at central Florida propane plant</a>  CNN   ...Equipment failure and human error likely caused the propane tank cylinders to explode at a central Florida refilling plant late Monday. The blasts at the Blue Rhino plant in Tavares injured eight plant workers...<br /><a href="http://inthesetimes.com/article/15355/special_report_the_alec_fueled_race_to_the_bottom_in_wages_and_workers_righ/" rel="nofollow">The Force Behind Bills To Lower Wages and Suppress Workers’ Rights?</a>  In These Times  ...You Guessed It: ALEC. The right-wing American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) has modeled legislation to strip workers of their rights nationwide...<br /><a href="http://www.mitchellrepublic.com/event/article/id/82163/group/homepage/" rel="nofollow">Georgia AG sues over online payday loans from SD</a>  The Daily Republic   ...State Attorney General Sam Olens has filed a lawsuit against two companies saying they’ve been using the Internet to provide illegal payday loans to Georgia consumers...<br /><a href="http://www.startribune.com/politics/statelocal/217496111.html" rel="nofollow">Minnesota's child-care union fight is heating up</a>  StarTribune   ...Judge ruled lawsuits to halt unionization effort were premature. Now opposing camps will try to get their messages out to about 12,700 family child-care providers...<br /><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/29/apple-supplier-accused-of-labor-abuses_n_3669526.html?utm_hp_ref=daily-brief%3Futm_source%3DDailyBrief&utm_campaign=072913&utm_medium=email&utm_content=NewsEntry" rel="nofollow">Apple Supplier Accused Of Labor Abuses By China Watchdog (VIDEO)</a>  Associated Press   ...A labor rights group Monday accused a Chinese company that makes iPhones for Apple Inc. of abuses including withholding employees' pay and excessive working hours...<br /><a href="http://www.businessweek.com/news/2013-07-29/fedex-reaches-21-dot-5-million-settlement-in-overcharging-suit-1" rel="nofollow">FedEx Reaches $21.5 Million Settlement in Overcharging Suit</a>  Bloomberg News ...FedEx Corp. will pay $21.5 million to settle a lawsuit over claims that it overcharged customers by billing for deliveries to businesses and governments at higher residential rates...<br /><a href="http://fox6now.com/2013/07/29/gov-walker-opens-door-to-act-10-expansion/" rel="nofollow">Gov. Scott Walker wants to now limit bargaining powers for police and fire unions</a>  Fox6 News   ...The Act 10 law currently limits most collective bargaining powers for most public employees, except for police and fire unions. Now, Gov. Scott Walker has suggested expanding Act 10 to include those unions...<br /><a href="http://nhlabornews.com/2013/07/the-outrageous-truth-about-a-12-minimum-wage-and-your-grocery-bill/" rel="nofollow">The Outrageous Truth About A $12 Minimum Wage And Your Grocery Bill</a>  NH Labor News   ...Opponents imagine that inflation will skyrocket; some have even claimed that ‘milk will be $10.00 a gallon’ if we raise the minimum wage. Oh, the hysteria. Milk is currently around $3.50 a gallon and <a href="http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2012/10/17/not-just-gas-check-out-the-drastic-price-increases-on-these-21-everyday-items/" rel="nofollow">that is up 25% from just ten years ago</a>. Is that 25% due to rising wages? Sadly, no – wages in America have declined during that time. Let’s look at a few facts about minimum wage...

Today's Teamster News 07.31.13

Teamsters, Paratransit employees strike   Lake County Record-Bee ...The Teamsters and 35 employees of Lake County transit went on strike M...

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Www.PlayatMcd.Com/ - McDonald's Monopoly Sweepstakes

As far as contests and sweepstakes go - <b>Monopoly Sweepstakes</b> is extremely interesting and fun. And when McDonalds enters into the equation - Monopoly becomes a different game altogether.<br /><br />To play online You need to enter the 11 Digit Game code (please visit the site <a href="http://www.playatmcd.com/">www.playatmcd.com</a>  to find out how to get the game code) to start to play or to enter the Sweepstakes. There are instant prizes as well as a chance to win a new 2013 FIAT 500 Cabrio on entering the Sweepstakes!<br /><br />The contest is not yet over at the time of posting this. Check out the various prizes and contest rules (for US Citizens only)

mcdonald monopoly sweepstakes mcdonald's monopoly sweepstakes 2013 monopoly sweepstakes www.playatmcd.com Www.PlayatMcd.Com/ - McDonald's Monopoly Sweepstakes

As far as contests and sweepstakes go - Monopoly Sweepstakes is extremely interesting and fun. And when McDonalds enters into the equation ...

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www.biglots.com/lots2give - Contests| Prizes | Winners

<b>www.biglots.com/lots2give</b> is a program from the retail chain Biglots to give back to the community in a meaningful way. Through donations, prizes and encouragement, the lots2give program is helping schools in need. The latest 2013 contest (which has concluded) needed participating schools to submit a short video explaining why they were in need of financial assistance. The winners are eligible for a $20000 grand prize!<br /><br />Check out the lots2give program site, how to vote, participating schools, previous contest winners at the www.biglots.com/lots2give website.<br /><br />www.biglots.com/lots2give/

biglots.com lots2give www.biglots.com/lots2give www.biglots.com/lots2give/contest www.biglots.com/lots2give/vote/index www.biglots.com/lots2give - Contests| Prizes | Winners

www.biglots.com/lots2give is a program from the retail chain Biglots to give back to the community in a meaningful way. Through donations, ...

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Low Cost Smartphone “Cloud X3” with 1 GHz Dual-Core Processor, Launched by INTEX

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Indian company INTEX, which is one of the known leading manufacturer of Computer Multimedia Speakers, is famous for its launching of low cost smartphones these days. Intex Company is continuously launching the smartphones in the Indian market, that’s why all the other companies fix their eyes on Indian market.</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">A New smartphone has been launched in the market few days ago with attractive features by INTEX i.e. INTEX Cloud X3. It may be a gift for the Indian smartphone users according to their increasing trend of buying smartphones. This smartphone is specially designed for entry level users that’s why INTEX has more expectations from this phone.</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBNb9FQvweRalXIvGabrHid0F6zz5-Dtm6UkfrLY6AzPtQ1JMMV7x7KRa3r_QQTvXcRZSNaDBby-eyIovh1wOeXKsGZ5HkgkUfjPJEiZeWXLIb2fiRj0Ll5oHXLI033WTlwjwECh8WoN8/s1600/cloud+x3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Low Cost Smartphone Cloud X3 Launched by INTEX with dual-core processor" border="0" height="276" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBNb9FQvweRalXIvGabrHid0F6zz5-Dtm6UkfrLY6AzPtQ1JMMV7x7KRa3r_QQTvXcRZSNaDBby-eyIovh1wOeXKsGZ5HkgkUfjPJEiZeWXLIb2fiRj0Ll5oHXLI033WTlwjwECh8WoN8/s1600/cloud+x3.jpg" title="" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Source: DainikBhaskar</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">INTEX Cloud X3 comes with 1 GHz dual-core MediaTek MT6572 processor, which is designed to offer excellent performance to end-users, integrates a 28 </span>NM<span style="font-family: inherit;"> process technology “Cortex-A7 CPU” which will speed up to 1.3 GHz.</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">With 3.5 inch display of MiraVision technology, 256 MB of RAM, 115 MB of build-in storage that is expandable up to 32 GB this smartphone may become a boom in the market. This smartphone has a 2 MP rear camera with video recording and a VGA front facing camera for video calling feature.</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">INTEX released this Cloud X3 with the latest Android 4.2 (Jelly Bean) OS which has performance optimizations, familiar UI and some great new features for users.</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">If we talk about the battery then it have 1,450mAh battery that will provide up to 6 hours of talk time and 200 hours of standby time: according to Company. </span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">Other key features like Wi-Fi, audio recorder, motion sensor, Bluetooth etc. are previously included into this smartphone. It also supports dual-sim (GSM+GSM) feature.</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Two most often used color variants has been provided by INTEX i.e. White and Black.</span><br /><div><br /></div></div>

android dual sim INTEX smart phone Low Cost Smartphone “Cloud X3” with 1 GHz Dual-Core Processor, Launched by INTEX

Indian company INTEX, which is one of the known leading manufacturer of Computer Multimedia Speakers, is famous for its launching of low cos...

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SchoolNet webinar today POSTPONED 'Mindmapping using iPads and other devices' (Carolyn Bruton)

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="92" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhND-7vR_S5KetCsRuiieJuCP3U3OHj3UNxhloEod3lPFHPju3U1tJVxacSYItDmPFAlMHHTxuD6VDaRJ0prUjpmqbG04eU506o6iXHUyjCydLdCTWaD6v8UZUEcy9PpirzM3U0UCPXeLg/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-width: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="320" /></span></div><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Unfortunately the webinar scheduled for today, Thursday 1st August at 3:30pm, on <i>Mindmapping using the iPad and other devices</i> has been postponed till further notice. Our speaker Carolyn Bruton had an accident with her laptop yesterday whereby the screen shattered and it has to be sent in for repair. We will let you know in due course when this webinar will take place. </span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Details</b></span><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u><span style="line-height: 115%;"><b>Name</b></span></u><span style="line-height: 115%;">: Mindmapping using an Pad and other devices<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u><span style="line-height: 115%;"><b>Summary</b></span></u><span style="line-height: 115%;">: Carolyn says. "We will examine the development and use of mind mapping with toddlers through to senior students using freehand drawing activities and how they are constructed. I will discuss my journey with mind maps in a junior school (Kidspiration & Inspiration) and my search for iPad alternatives at the iStore. We will look at resources, blogs, articles and websites which summarise and compare mind mapping software and will conclude the webinar by considering those which worked best for the presenter and those attending the webinar."<br /><u><b>Presenter</b></u>: Carolyn Bruton</span></span></div><table cellpadding="4" class="infoTable" style="background-color: white; padding: 2px 5px;"><tbody></tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>More about Carolyn</b></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US">Carolynn Bruton retired from formal teaching in 2011 after teaching IT at Springfield Junior School in Cape Town for 18 years.  Her interest in mind mapping led to her receiving an Inspired Teacher Scholarship in 2006 which included a trip to the USA and Canada. She attended technology events and workshops using hand held devices there. Carolynn now runs her own company IT at Home </span><a href="http://www.itathome.co.za/"><span lang="EN-US">www.itathome.co.za</span></a></span><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> where she teaches adults to use their own laptops, iPads and other devices in a computer room in her <a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6067349343549361447" name="_GoBack"></a>home in Rondebosch.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div></div></div>

webinars SchoolNet webinar today POSTPONED 'Mindmapping using iPads and other devices' (Carolyn Bruton)

Unfortunately the webinar scheduled for today, Thursday 1st August at 3:30pm, on Mindmapping using the iPad and other devices has been post...

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Google #26: Read&Write with Google Docs-a useful Chrome extension for students

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What I love about using Google Chrome as a browser is the way it makes browsing so efficient and easy.  There are so many very useful free Chrome extensions that you can add to your browser to have everything you need right at your finger tips. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I installed a useful Chrome extension today called ‘</span><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Read&Write with Google Do</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">cs’. This is really designed for students, but I want to explore it and discover all its benefits.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2z5s4LkhsNPmyQkoV6gMyR3bJoLipEqm4gVvHHofHOyvF47qFPu06azMPiG0qV-yLI3Jxj3rshyzh-IIzDHMKxxaTOD1XXWsZOmk5m_gqiZS-eZrVbpQ6G4rnNvw_RpfueJnouglS8s8/s1600/google+docs+post+1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="57" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2z5s4LkhsNPmyQkoV6gMyR3bJoLipEqm4gVvHHofHOyvF47qFPu06azMPiG0qV-yLI3Jxj3rshyzh-IIzDHMKxxaTOD1XXWsZOmk5m_gqiZS-eZrVbpQ6G4rnNvw_RpfueJnouglS8s8/s400/google+docs+post+1.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>What does Read&Write with Google Docs do?</b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This extension can only be used when Google Docs is actually open. It then becomes very useful because it can read the Google document to the students. Imagine how useful this could be to with dyslexia, learning disabilities, struggling readers, and English as a second language Learners.  I can also see a great use for this in a writing assignment when the student wants to review a piece of writing and hear what it sounds like.  However there are a number of other really useful features to this extension:</span></div><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Features</b></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">- Text To Speech with Dual Synchronized Highlighting.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgunHIeZ2p2TgVLIzotUsW3WoKXLqQqfTsGR1dPn28yURiNz1BcB7SvU5cYLw5aLHPP7sNfoZsj4Adhvs1597D5EbYBulXD1-Y0dfU6VMATxL0keh_ZQR-heidgEldigORF4gsw5RhBI-M/s1600/google+docs+post+5.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="248" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgunHIeZ2p2TgVLIzotUsW3WoKXLqQqfTsGR1dPn28yURiNz1BcB7SvU5cYLw5aLHPP7sNfoZsj4Adhvs1597D5EbYBulXD1-Y0dfU6VMATxL0keh_ZQR-heidgEldigORF4gsw5RhBI-M/s400/google+docs+post+5.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUOgZglJqib0a85CRXh4IIhqhHrQeH24uo2UTD8p5lqmRZqOSUdYvMwedOmeu88i6AEVRpT3OvzHbAUtORxBROfsfON0opX_0VzbukYfNsOjMgMH8sq2lgnjaBpsHKNXZrxq0Dq2SgvfE/s1600/google+docs+post+4.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUOgZglJqib0a85CRXh4IIhqhHrQeH24uo2UTD8p5lqmRZqOSUdYvMwedOmeu88i6AEVRpT3OvzHbAUtORxBROfsfON0opX_0VzbukYfNsOjMgMH8sq2lgnjaBpsHKNXZrxq0Dq2SgvfE/s400/google+docs+post+4.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><!--[if gte vml 1]><v:shape id="Picture_x0020_13" o:spid="_x0000_i1027" type="#_x0000_t75" style='width:451.5pt; height:282.75pt;visibility:visible;mso-wrap-style:square'> <v:imagedata src="file:///C:\Users\Lara\AppData\Local\Temp\msohtmlclip1\01\clip_image005.png" o:title=""/></v:shape><![endif]--><!--[if !vml]--><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><!--[endif]--></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">- Talking Dictionary</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">- Picture Dictionary</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">- Vocabulary Tool</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnAlQdra9k9Yx-JjYA-4uVc6ZvS9hT-6ShQdDYqmb1CuLU_yFFV594L9zX16LJ9Hot6qOv_hmSU6T2Us4CGhC60XfozFEmSyVmoGj52hfZMgLmfDkpFQXm3PHsPtBj2F_WDRSPnUNTHPY/s1600/google+docs+post+2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="248" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnAlQdra9k9Yx-JjYA-4uVc6ZvS9hT-6ShQdDYqmb1CuLU_yFFV594L9zX16LJ9Hot6qOv_hmSU6T2Us4CGhC60XfozFEmSyVmoGj52hfZMgLmfDkpFQXm3PHsPtBj2F_WDRSPnUNTHPY/s400/google+docs+post+2.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><!--[if gte vml 1]><v:shape id="Picture_x0020_4" o:spid="_x0000_i1026" type="#_x0000_t75" style='width:450.75pt; height:281.25pt;visibility:visible;mso-wrap-style:square'> <v:imagedata src="file:///C:\Users\Lara\AppData\Local\Temp\msohtmlclip1\01\clip_image007.png" o:title=""/></v:shape><![endif]--><!--[if !vml]--><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><!--[endif]--></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">- Study Skills tools to capture highlights</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVu78jo4A95sCIyWGj4c13iciXryXXU2r7wa5nSx9OdV_W96hDwKprzABfFy5oVamG1guPaOrE9ZCCD_TNKMkqQiN1W6ABsJnvmiIdTKNTjhrCsjMx7L3WFuyvXAnJGwqJ5oiGnhq8rgM/s1600/google+docs+post+3.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="252" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVu78jo4A95sCIyWGj4c13iciXryXXU2r7wa5nSx9OdV_W96hDwKprzABfFy5oVamG1guPaOrE9ZCCD_TNKMkqQiN1W6ABsJnvmiIdTKNTjhrCsjMx7L3WFuyvXAnJGwqJ5oiGnhq8rgM/s400/google+docs+post+3.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><!--[if gte vml 1]><v:shape id="Picture_x0020_7" o:spid="_x0000_i1025" type="#_x0000_t75" style='width:451.5pt; height:285.75pt;visibility:visible;mso-wrap-style:square'> <v:imagedata src="file:///C:\Users\Lara\AppData\Local\Temp\msohtmlclip1\01\clip_image009.png" o:title=""/></v:shape><![endif]--><!--[if !vml]--><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><!--[endif]--></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">A video from the creators of Read&Write for Google Docs</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The creators of this extension have made a video that explains the extension and elaborates on all its amazing features.  Here it is:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><!--[endif]--></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div></div><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/wW3gRv9gRCI" width="420"></iframe><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Access Read&Write for Google Docs at the Chrome Web store</b> </span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You can access this extension on the Google Chrome web store here: <a href="http://goo.gl/JNc3o">http://goo.gl/JNc3o</a></span><br /><br /></div>

30 Days of Google Google #26: Read&Write with Google Docs-a useful Chrome extension for students

What I love about using Google Chrome as a browser is the way it makes browsing so efficient and easy.  There are so many very useful free C...

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Drunk in Camelot...The Lost Kennedy

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Hello, and I must say…<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihQt534zSRHhb6RGK4DURShhkoEA5CVTRkQsMzjt0e1jU9O5rOfAaAbP5YH06zZuGjyHljeJC7qxE2uRBN_ZGfesNRK8N4e28AOpslneyX6XZ-uHO2mLeQihHFoQYJ36yFTI8v07zYoO0/s1600/nick-varano's-famous+deli+Kennedys.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihQt534zSRHhb6RGK4DURShhkoEA5CVTRkQsMzjt0e1jU9O5rOfAaAbP5YH06zZuGjyHljeJC7qxE2uRBN_ZGfesNRK8N4e28AOpslneyX6XZ-uHO2mLeQihHFoQYJ36yFTI8v07zYoO0/s400/nick-varano's-famous+deli+Kennedys.jpg" width="366" /></a></div><br />It’s finally good to meet you diligent readers of the IWS Radio website, and the rest of the world as well.<br /><br />I know that you know my brothers, Joe Jr., John, Robert, and Teddy, but I bet you don’t know me.<br /><br />Of course you don’t, because for years, I have been heaped into a burlap sack of obscurity, and thrown into the shadows of life like a bag of dirty potatoes with too many eyes.<br /><br />I have struggled for years as to whether or not to open up, but, I have decided that I should, after Matt-Man asked me…<br /><br /><i>“Jesus Christ, dude?  Do you want to be forever known as the guy who outside of Nick Varano’s Famous Deli, screams day, by sad day…</i><br /><i><br /></i><i>Could you throw me a blintz, or a piece of pastrami; I’m a Fucking Kennedy for God Sakes?”</i><br /><br />That’s right…I <b><i>am</i></b> a fucking Kennedy.<br /><br />Sure, much has been made about my brother JFK’s robust womanizing, but my dad Joe?  Holy Cow!!<br /><br />While unfounded rumors were swirling about Joe’s affair with Gloria Swanson, I was very much founded, and swirling around in Gloria Swanson’s uterus!!  And let me tell ya, that wasn’t so bad, but anyhoo…<br /><br />Gloria gave birth to me, and yet?  I was looked down upon by the Kennedy clan, and seriously, I was taken aback. <br /><br />So, that led me to thinkin’…<br /><br /><i>“Y’know…Teddy drowns girls in his car…Jack fucks anything that moves, and lobotomy girl hasn't a brain with which to think since she was 23, so why are they ignoring me?”</i><br /><br />Well it became all too apparent in 2007, when Barack Obama decided to run for President.<br /><br />My family, rather than acknowledge me, and send me on the path toward Presidential power, decided that maybe it was time for some low-down, low-key misanthrope to become President, because as we know, the Kennedys have that power.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhO22NKMMzriEiSBcz_EvGxbVR9xBKNv9ivpC3ZGxc8iTg4isU0Gq5ljxPJ2h7E0xZLDsjFfjvHYCkdG54bzdR_hqPLRbLzNQkoculQbCFjXTCpyfE597MNTBG2UCq5S2GeINnrWfAZwgA/s1600/Durwood+Kennedy+The+Lost+Kennedy+Brother.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhO22NKMMzriEiSBcz_EvGxbVR9xBKNv9ivpC3ZGxc8iTg4isU0Gq5ljxPJ2h7E0xZLDsjFfjvHYCkdG54bzdR_hqPLRbLzNQkoculQbCFjXTCpyfE597MNTBG2UCq5S2GeINnrWfAZwgA/s400/Durwood+Kennedy+The+Lost+Kennedy+Brother.jpg" width="339" /></a>All they really wanted to do, was to make sure that at some point. my bitchy cousin Caroline would become ambassador to Japan.  Well I guess that via de profundis, they fucking made that happen, those, Happy as Hell in Camelot fuckers!!<br /><br />They’re all mostly fucking dead now, and yet, I still can’t get a break.<br /><br />Jesus Christ, if I could resurrect, and then shoot John and Bobby, and then make certain that it was Teddy who drowned, I would.  I'd go Hyannis Port crazy in  order to get a mere inkling of public acknowledgement and/or praise!!<br /><br />Fuck it…They don’t care…Kennedys don’t like the Swansons…and that’s okay, however…<br /><br />Keep in mind Caroline…Just like the French love Jerry Lewis, the Japs love Gloria Swanson, or if not now, they soon will.<br /><br /><i>Uh-huh,</i><br /><br /><i>Durwood Kennedy</i><br /><br /><a href="mailto:mattmaniws@ymail.com">mattmaniws@ymail.com</a><br /><a href="https://twitter.com/MattMan_IWS" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">@mattman_iws</span></a><br /><a href="https://www.facebook.com/mattmaniws" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">My Facebook Page</span></a></div>

Drunk in Camelot...The Lost Kennedy

Hello, and I must say… It’s finally good to meet you diligent readers of the IWS Radio website, and the rest of the world as well. I know th...

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What makes Canadians sick? Poverty, says a report from the Canadian Medical Association

OTTAWA — Poverty is making Canadians sick, says a report released Tuesday by the Canadian Medical Association.<br /><br><br /><br>The report, based on public consultations at six "town halls" in cities across the country last winter and spring, said factors such as poor housing, lack of access to healthy food and early childhood programs all affect health.<br /><br><br /><br>"We heard that the biggest barrier to good health is poverty," says CMA president Dr. Anna Reid, a Yellowknife emergency room physician who says federal, provincial and territorial governments must give top priority to developing an action plan to eliminate poverty.<br /><br><br /><br>"It really hit me in a visceral way when we did those town halls," said Reid.<br /><br><br /><br>Malnourished people become ill. People who can only afford junk food or don't have access to healthy food because there isn't a supermarket nearby can develop diabetes. People who live in mouldy, substandard housing can get asthma medications, but it won't make the asthma go away. Social isolation has mental health consequences, including increased suicide rates.<br /><br><br /><br>"The cost of inaction is higher than acting," said Reid at a press conference Tuesday to launch the report.<br /><br><br /><br>About half of all health-care outcomes are linked to "social determinants" such as income, housing, education, disability, gender and race. In comparison, a quarter of health outcomes can be attributed to the health care system, which includes access to health care and wait times. Only 15 per cent of outcomes are linked to biology and genetics and 10 per cent to the environmental factors such as air quality.<br /><br><br /><br>Canadians want sincere, legitimate and reaction action, said Reid, who is making tackling poverty the focus of her mandate as CMA president.<br /><br><br /><br>"This report does not point fingers," she said. "Canada is a prosperous country and can do better."<br /><br><br /><br>Among the report's 12 recommendations was evaluating a guaranteed annual income approach to alleviating poverty through a major pilot project funded by the federal government.<br /><br><br /><br>Another recommendation was a national food security program to ensure access to safe and nutritious food to all Canadians, no matter where they live or how much they earn.<br /><br><br /><br>The report also drew attention to the issue of child poverty. The Conference Board of Canada gave Canada a rank of "C" when it comes to child poverty and placed it 15th out of 17 peer countries. Only Italy and the U.S. have a lower ranking.<br /><br><br /><br>About one in seven Canadian children live in poverty and the rate has been on the increase since the mid-90s. It's not an issue that can be ignored because poverty hinders the ability to sustain economic growth, the OECD has warned.<br /><br><br /><br>"If we could eliminate child poverty, we could go a long way to improving health," says Reid.<br /><br><br /><br>Fred Phelps, executive director of the Canadian Association of Social Workers, said addressing the social determinants of health will tackle health care costs. It will take measures like a long-term commitment to affordable housing, he said.<br /><br><br /><br>"The roadmap exists," he said. "It's the political will that's lacking.<br /><br><br /><br>Jeff Morrison, president of Ottawa's Centretown Community Health Centre, says the centre offers services that address inequalities, including showers for people who live in inadequate housing, phone and email for those who don't have their own access and a door-to-door bus service for seniors and disabled people who have trouble going to a supermarket.<br /><br><br /><br>Still, with intensification, housing costs have increased and the population base served by the centre is growing. The health centre's biggest challenge is acquiring space to offer services, said Morrison.<br /><br><br /><br>Drawing attention to the role poverty plays in health outcomes is part of the role of the CMA, said Reid. About one in five health-care dollars is spent addressing problems related to poverty, according to the Public Health Agency of Canada.<br /><br><br /><br>Doctors can help address poverty by being aware of the effect poverty has on their patients' health, she said. The CMA is developing a tool kit that helps physicians take medical histories that take this into account. They can also get involved in a leadership role.<br /><br><br /><br>"We represent over 78,000 physicians. We actually have a fair amount of political leverage," said Reid.<br /><br><br /><br>"It behooves us to start looking at these things."<br /><br><br /><br><a href="http://www.ottawacitizen.com/life/What+makes+Canadians+sick+Poverty+says+report+from+Canadian/8726224/story.html">http://www.ottawacitizen.com/life/What+makes+Canadians+sick+Poverty+says+report+from+Canadian/8726224/story.html</a>

What makes Canadians sick? Poverty, says a report from the Canadian Medical Association

OTTAWA — Poverty is making Canadians sick, says a report released Tuesday by the Canadian Medical Association. The report, based on public c...

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Dreamfall Chapters: The Longest Journey

<div id="scid:5737277B-5D6D-4f48-ABFC-DD9C333F4C5D:818929a6-7aa9-41cd-b419-dbaa90732e5d" class="wlWriterEditableSmartContent" style="float: none; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px"><div><object height="480" width="853"><param name="movie" value="//www.youtube.com/v/q_SAYD82LMw?hl=en_US&version=3"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="//www.youtube.com/v/q_SAYD82LMw?hl=en_US&version=3" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="853" height="480" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object></div></div> <p align="justify"><a href="http://redthreadgames.com/chapters">Dreamfall Chapters: The Longest Journey</a> releases on PC November 2014.  Wii U fans now also have a reason to rejoice, <a href="http://news.softpedia.com/news/Nintendo-Is-Courting-Indies-for-Wii-U-Says-Dreamfall-Chapters-Creator-371168.shtml">announced</a> today, the game is also coming to a Wii U near you.  The game is available for pre-purchase at various investment levels ranging from $25 to $1,000.  </p> <p align="justify">So fans of the story, the long anticipated wait is almost over.</p> <div id="scid:0767317B-992E-4b12-91E0-4F059A8CECA8:b1a270ca-c13d-44c3-ab2c-1647c0f474ea" class="wlWriterEditableSmartContent" style="float: none; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px">Technorati Tags: <a href="http://technorati.com/tags/Dreamfall" rel="tag">Dreamfall</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/PC" rel="tag">PC</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/Wii+U" rel="tag">Wii U</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/RPG" rel="tag">RPG</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/computer+games" rel="tag">computer games</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/console+gaming" rel="tag">console gaming</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/console+games" rel="tag">console games</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/pc+games" rel="tag">pc games</a></div>

Dreamfall PC Wii U Dreamfall Chapters: The Longest Journey

Dreamfall Chapters: The Longest Journey releases on PC November 2014.  Wii U fans now also have a reason to rejoice, announced today, the...

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Harry F. Byrd, Jr. passes away at 98 ... George Allen remembers a Virginia gentleman

His name is synonymous with history and long-time Democratic politics in Virginia. On Tuesday the <a href="http://www.winchesterstar.com/article/51f7c3d3-8ba4-45a5-a36e-575f0a60cecf"><i>Winchester Star</i></a> reported the passing of Winchester resident and former U.S. Senator Harry F. Byrd, Jr. The <i>Star</i> included an abundance of historical background about this man who, at the age of 98, is unknown to many Virginians but is firmly planted in the Commonwealth's history.<br /><br />Another former U.S. Senator and Governor George Allen remembered this Southern gentleman in a press release on Tuesday:<br /><blockquote>“Virginia and America mourn the passing of one of the most influential, respected and principled leaders of the 20th Century, Harry F. Byrd, Jr.<br /><br />“I will always remember his distinctive laugh and remarkably sharp perspectives throughout his long, meaningful life. The lasting legacy of Senator Byrd is his consistent, sound and unflinching leadership in working to achieve the ideal of a wise and frugal government. Senator Byrd was an independent, cheerful and amazingly insightful friend. I shall treasure his encouragement and counsel through the ups and downs of public service. Indeed, we emulated Senator Byrd’s example by returning unused Senate office funds every year.<br /><br />“Above all, Harry Byrd, Jr. was a gentleman of impeccable integrity in all aspects of his life.<br /><br />“Susan’s and my thoughts and prayers are with his children Harry III, Tom and Beverly, and the whole Byrd family, including grandson John who worked with me in the U.S. Senate. They are a wonderful, honorable family.”</blockquote>It is, indeed, the passing of an era in the Old Dominion.

George Allen governor Harry F. Byrd Jr U.S. Senate Virginia history Harry F. Byrd, Jr. passes away at 98 ... George Allen remembers a Virginia gentleman

His name is synonymous with history and long-time Democratic politics in Virginia. On Tuesday the Winchester Star reported the passing of W...

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THE NUMB BLOW FALLEN IN THE STUMBLING NIGHT: WHEN LIFE HURTS, WE ASK "WHY?" BUT DO WE REALLY WANT AN ANSWER? YES & NO

<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; border-spacing: 0px; font-family: Consolas;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Consolas, monospace; font-size: 12px;"><div>GOD OF OUR SILENT TEARS IS NOW AVAILABLE FROM THE CATHEDRAL BOOKSTORE (LOS ANGELES)</div><div><br /></div><div><a href="http://cathedral-bookstore.myshopify.com/">http://cathedral-bookstore.myshopify.com/</a></div><div>Phone number is 213.482.2040, ext. 228</div><div>bookstore@ladiocese.org</div><div><br /></div><div>Coming soon to Amazon.</div><div><br /></div><div> <!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:DocumentProperties> <o:Revision>0</o:Revision> <o:TotalTime>0</o:TotalTime> <o:Pages>1</o:Pages> <o:Words>3245</o:Words> <o:Characters>18498</o:Characters> <o:Company>Episcopal Diocese of Nevada</o:Company> <o:Lines>154</o:Lines> <o:Paragraphs>43</o:Paragraphs> <o:CharactersWithSpaces>21700</o:CharactersWithSpaces> <o:Version>14.0</o:Version> </o:DocumentProperties> <o:OfficeDocumentSettings> 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<div class="WordSection1"> <div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: Arial;">CHAPTER 1:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: Arial;">THE NUMB BLOW FALLEN IN THE STUMBLING NIGHT:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b><i><span style="font-family: Arial;">WHY DO WE SUFFER?<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial;">With these hands I lifted him from his cradle, tiny then, soft and warm, and squirming with life. Now at the end with these same hands I touched him in his coffin.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 3.5in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 2.5in;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial;"> </span></i><span style="font-family: Arial;">Nicolas Wolterstorff, <i>Lament For A Son</i><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial;">If I knew! If I knew </span></i><span style="font-family: Arial;">why<i>!<o:p></o:p></i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial;">What I can’t bear is . . . the blindness . . .<o:p></o:p></span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial;">Meaninglessness . . . the numb blow<o:p></o:p></span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial;">Fallen in the stumbling night.</span></i><span style="font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 2.0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Archibald MacLeish, <i>J. B.</i><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">When I walked into her hospital room, the young woman was lying there in her hospital gown, her forehead damp from the physical ordeal of labor and delivery, her cheeks damp from the tears. She reached her hands toward me and called out a single desperate question: “Why?” The stark simplicity of her question made it huge, absolutely impossible. It haunts me now, a decade later. I said, “I don’t know.” <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Months earlier the young couple announced they were expecting their first child. As their priest, I was looking forward to the baptism. But at the end of a full-term normal pregnancy, the baby was born dead. And her mother wanted to know why.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><br /></span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">The pregnancy had gone smoothly. The baby girl had seemed healthy. There was no sign of any pathology at the birth. The baby was simply dead. In the absence of any other explanation for a stillbirth, doctors say, “It was a cord accident.” Maybe it was. But that answer is just something for doctors to say. When there is no other explanation for a stillbirth, “cord accident” is the default diagnosis, not a verifiable fact. It doesn’t really answer anything. If the doctors cannot give a reliable medical explanation, how is a pastor to decipher the mystery of death? Still, I would have given a fortune for something – anything -- to say. I had no theological equivalent of “a cord accident.” So I said, “I don’t know.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;"><b><span style="font-family: Arial;">Wanting Our Faith To Make Sense. </span></b><span style="font-family: Arial;">When life disappoints us deeply in ways that make so little sense, we ask “why?” For those who believe in God, senseless sorrow shakes our faith. We lose not only a child, a lover, a hope, but also our sense that life is good and meaningful. We lose our faith. We want faith to make sense. We need our beliefs to be reasonable so we can trust them. Disasters don’t fit with our trust in God’s benevolent care. They make belief in an all-powerful loving God appear absurd. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Philosophers and theologians call the disconnect between faith in God and all the bad things that happen “the problem of evil.” Right off, we have trouble with the vocabulary because philosophers and theologians use the word “evil” with a special meaning. Most people today use “evil” to mean seriously immoral behavior. In ordinary speech, we would not use the word “evil” to describe a medical condition or a natural disaster. But traditionally, “evil” has meant anything that is not as it ought to be. It could mean any kind of “bad” – bad weather, bad health, bad luck. “Evil” is very much like “malignant.” In the law “malignant” means something akin to malice; but in medicine a cancerous tumor is called “malignant.” Just so, “evil” can be used both in moral and other ways. The term an “evil day” in times past meant a day with bad weather or a day on which our army was defeated. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">            <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">That is how the philosophers and theologians use the word. So when we talk about “evil,” we mean sickness, natural disasters, and misfortune as well as people doing cruel things to each other. Rabbi Kushner used the phrase “bad things.” This book will use a variety of words to describe a variety of “bad things,” but it will also use “evil,” the way philosophers and theologians have been using it since the 1700’s, as an umbrella concept to include all of them.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">“The problem of evil” challenges faith. The challenge goes like this: “If God is omnipotent and God is good, then why is there evil in the world?”<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1941566034196038608#_edn1" name="_ednref1" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[i]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a>Logically, it would seem that one of the following must be true: 1. God is not all-powerful. 2. God is not all good. 3. There is not really any evil in the world.<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1941566034196038608#_edn2" name="_ednref2" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[ii]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a>You see “the problem of evil” is a serious threat to the faith of those who believe in a loving God. The poet, Czeslaw Milosz put it better:<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">All my life I tried to answer the question, where does evil come from?<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Impossible that people should suffer so much, if God is in Heaven<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">And nearby.<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1941566034196038608#_edn3" name="_ednref3" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[iii]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">            The problem of evil has been called “the rock of atheism.” Atheistic philosophers from David Hume in the 18^thCentury to John Mackie in our day have argued that this “problem of evil” makes belief in God irrational.<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1941566034196038608#_edn4" name="_ednref4" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[iv]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a>  Theologian Gordon Kaufman, summed it up: “In the face of death camps, hydrogen bombs, and napalm, of unbearably painful and destructive diseases, of impersonal calamities and unmerited suffering, how can one say that the Ruler of the world is good, loving, or merciful . . .? The particularly overwhelming evils of the twentieth century have brought home this dimension of the problem of God with renewed force.”<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1941566034196038608#_edn5" name="_ednref5" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[v]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a>Bart Ehrman’s book, <i>God’s Problem, </i>is his account of how the horrible things that happen to people make it impossible for him to believe in God. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">            <b>Our First Inner Conflict: Do We Want To Believe God Is In Charge? </b>The “problem of evil” runs deeper in our hearts than a logical conundrum in our heads. It is a matter of our conflicted longing. Do we want to believe God is in charge of what is happening or not? The “problem of evil,” at the feeling level, lies in our conflicted desires. On the one hand, we want God to intervene – to part the Red Sea when it blocks our way, to heal our diseases, cast out our demons, and raise our dead.  We need help finding our car keys, paying our bills, and keeping our tempers. We want a higher power to liberate us from alcohol. We want to turn it over, to let go and let God. All of that requires God to be both powerful and actively involved in our lives, even arranging occasional miracles to save our necks.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">            On the other hand, if God is powerful enough and involved enough to help us, then aren’t our problems his fault to begin with? Where was God when things went wrong? If God can help us, why hasn’t he already done it? What kind of a God would insist that we crawl and beg before he helps, and sometimes he won’t help even then. Better to think God is powerless or uninvolved. Such a God would be innocent and perhaps likeable, but not particularly important or even relevant to our lives. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24.0pt;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">            Then to confuse things further, miracle, wonder, and serendipity come along. Grace happens just often enough that we can’t dismiss the notion that God may be lending us a hand on occasion. Why then does God act only on occasion? Believing God could deliver us from suffering actually implicates God in our suffering.  A man trapped in the World Trade Center on September 11 prayed to be saved. He was saved, but his response wasn’t gratitude. This is his story:<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"> </span> <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">                        “Lord help me please,” he prayed, the primal prayer.  “Then,” he <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">                        said, “I feel like this strange force came over me, that I never felt <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">                        before. . . and I busted a little hole [and crawled out].<b> </b>. . My Lord <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">                        upheld this building.  Then we were in perfect safety, and the <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">                        building collapsed.  And here I am.  God delivered.  And I’m angry. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">                        Angry because all these good people who were there, all these <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">                        good people were left in this building.  So I’m angry.”</span><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1941566034196038608#_edn6" name="_ednref6" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[vi]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a><span style="font-family: Arial;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24.0pt;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">If God can save but doesn’t, we have to blame him. But blaming God for suffering is problematic. If God is our ideal, our highest concept, what we strive to resemble, then blaming God for suffering actually corrupts our souls. Emulating the person we blame is a mind-twister, so we are inclined to say God cannot do anything about real world problems. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24.0pt;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">            Despairing of God’s ability to do anything about our suffering is practical atheism. God may exist but he does not matter. I know two people who each lost a child to death. One of them dealt with his loss by trusting that God caused his daughter’s early death for a greater good. The other bereaved parent exonerated God of her child’s death, insisting God does not run the world. Their opposite answers each helped them cope for awhile, but neither answer was truly adequate. The first answer made God a killer. The second made God a helpless bystander. Which one deserves our worship?</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; line-height: 24pt;">          </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">            We can escape this dilemma by simply rejecting God. Indeed, if we want to reject God, the persistence of misfortune can give us reason to do so. We can say there is no God or that God is not good. Those responses, however, are not particularly helpful when it comes to finding ways to survive, to find the meaning in our experiences, or to overcome the obstacles that hold us back in life. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">            Perhaps the “overwhelming evils of the twentieth century” may lead us to re-think who God is instead of giving up on faith and succumbing to despair. This book will present such an alternative. Instead of using life’s sorrow as an occasion to deny God, we will <i>reconsider who God is</i>. We will use this occasion to find a truer, more praiseworthy God, a God who will empower us to overcome hardship and affliction.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">            <b>Our Second Inner Conflict: Do We Really Want An Answer To The Question “Why”? </b>There is another matter of the heart that makes it exceedingly difficult to come to terms with tragedy. On the one hand, we desperately need to makes sense of what has happened; on the other hand, we refuse to make sense of it because that implies accepting things we know are unacceptable. We are torn. Let’s look at both sides of this inner conflict.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">            Finding meaning in tragedy is vital if we are to keep breathing and putting one foot in front of the other. Victor Frankl learned an important lesson as a death camp prisoner in World War II: the people most likely to survive were those who managed to find some meaning in their struggle. So Frankl developed new kind of psychotherapy that consisted of helping people find the positive value in their pain.<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1941566034196038608#_edn7" name="_ednref7" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[vii]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> People survive by making some kind of sense of even the most senseless things that happen to us. Christians look to God for an explanation. We look to God to redeem our loss with a plan that leads to a greater good. Countless Christians over the centuries have consoled themselves at gravesides with such phrases as “It’s God’s will” or “The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; tab-stops: 0in .5in 1.0in 1.5in 2.0in 2.5in 3.0in 3.5in 4.0in 4.5in 5.0in 5.5in 6.0in 6.5in; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">But there is the other side of this dilemma to deal with. Can we love a Lord who “giveth and taketh away” in arbitrary and sometimes cruel ways? Do such platitudes urge us to accept things we should not accept, things our hearts rebel against. Dostoevsky’s character, Ivan Karamazov, refused to accept religious justifications for the unspeakable suffering he saw. In an argument with his pious brother, Aloysha, Ivan rejected faith for this precise reason. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; tab-stops: 0in .5in 1.0in 1.5in 2.0in 2.5in 3.0in 3.5in 4.0in 4.5in 5.0in 5.5in 6.0in 6.5in; text-indent: .5in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; tab-stops: 0in .5in 1.0in 1.5in 2.0in 2.5in 3.0in 3.5in 4.0in 4.5in 5.0in 5.5in 6.0in 6.5in; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">For the sake of argument, he conceded that maybe, in some mysterious way, God will someday make everything wonderful. He even conceded, for the sake of argument, that the sufferings people endure now are in some unknown way a necessary part of the plan that will lead to cosmic bliss for all. Even so, he found God immoral for using suffering to accomplish his ends. Ivan refused to be complicit in God’s immorality by accepting grace through faith. He recounted cases of children brutally tortured and murdered. Even if all will be set right and healed someday, and even if these atrocities were somehow necessary to an eternal harmony, Ivan insisted, that makes God no less monstrous.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; tab-stops: 0in .5in 1.0in 1.5in 2.0in 2.5in 3.0in 3.5in 4.0in 4.5in 5.0in 5.5in 6.0in 6.5in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">            “I challenge, you, let’s assume you were called upon to build the edifice of          <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">            human destiny so that men would finally be happy and find tranquility. If you        <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">            knew that, in order to attain this, you would have to torture just one single             </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">            creature, let’s say the little girl who beat her breast so desperately in the outhouse, </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">            and that on her unavenged tears you could build that edifice, would   </span><span style="font-family: Arial;">you do it? </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">           Tell me and do not lie!”</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Arial; text-indent: 0.5in;">            “No, I would not,” Aloysha said softly.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Arial; text-indent: 0.5in;">              “And do you find acceptable the idea that those for whom you are building that edifice should                                                                                       </span><span style="font-family: Arial; text-indent: 0.5in;"> gratefully receive a happiness that rests on the blood </span><span style="font-family: Arial; text-indent: 0.5in;">of a tortured child and, having received it, should continue to enjoy it eternally?”</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; tab-stops: 0in .5in 1.0in 1.5in 2.0in 2.5in 3.0in 3.5in 4.0in 4.5in 5.0in 5.5in 6.0in 6.5in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; tab-stops: 0in .5in 1.0in 1.5in 2.0in 2.5in 3.0in 3.5in 4.0in 4.5in 5.0in 5.5in 6.0in 6.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Dostoevsky and Frankl represent the two sides of a basic dilemma. Frankl rightly says that we must find meaning in our affliction if we are to survive it. Dostoevsky protests that the horrors people too often face cannot be justified with any overarching meaning. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; tab-stops: 0in .5in 1.0in 1.5in 2.0in 2.5in 3.0in 3.5in 4.0in 4.5in 5.0in 5.5in 6.0in 6.5in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; tab-stops: 0in .5in 1.0in 1.5in 2.0in 2.5in 3.0in 3.5in 4.0in 4.5in 5.0in 5.5in 6.0in 6.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">            A clear example of this conflict is the difference among Jews over what to call the genocide their forebears suffered at the hands of Hitler. Some use the word <i>holocaust</i>, the word for a sacrifice or offering, a word that suggests there is some spiritual meaning to be found even in the depths of this atrocity. Others use the word <i>shoah</i>, which means disaster or catastrophe. The word <i>shoah</i> insists there is nothing good to be found in such evil. We will not stand for such horrors to be defended or justified by any transcendent meaning. . . . <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; tab-stops: 0in .5in 1.0in 1.5in 2.0in 2.5in 3.0in 3.5in 4.0in 4.5in 5.0in 5.5in 6.0in 6.5in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; tab-stops: 0in .5in 1.0in 1.5in 2.0in 2.5in 3.0in 3.5in 4.0in 4.5in 5.0in 5.5in 6.0in 6.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">            I have written this book because the current conversation over the problem of evil is lopsided. The atheist voices, such as Bart Ehrman in <i>God’s Problem,</i> state their case with a simple logic supported by powerful examples of how horrible things can be while God does nothing, if there is a God at all. The Christian voice in reply often turns to psychology, reflects back feelings, offers a caring presence. In offering pastoral care, that is exactly what Christians should do. But when people are up against the existential question of whether life can be meaningful, whether life is worthwhile, they need more than a caring presence – they need some answers. When they are up against the religious questions, “Does God exist?” “Does God matter?” “Is God even good?” they need answers. . . .<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; tab-stops: 0in .5in 1.0in 1.5in 2.0in 2.5in 3.0in 3.5in 4.0in 4.5in 5.0in 5.5in 6.0in 6.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; tab-stops: 0in .5in 1.0in 1.5in 2.0in 2.5in 3.0in 3.5in 4.0in 4.5in 5.0in 5.5in 6.0in 6.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">      </span><i style="font-family: Arial; line-height: 24pt;"> </i><span style="font-family: Arial; line-height: 24pt;">There are explanations of evil and suffering in the Christian tradition. We will consider those answers because most of them contain some truth. They are, however, at best partial explanations. We can offer explanations that help a little, but ultimately do not solve the problem. As philosopher Marilyn McCord Adams notes:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24.0pt;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">                        . . . (T)he pressure to provide rationales (for evil) . . .<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">                        drives us to advance credible <i>partial </i>reasons . . . as <i>total </i><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">                        explanations, thereby exacerbating the problem of evil by<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">                        attributing perverse motives to God.<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1941566034196038608#_edn8" name="_ednref8" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[viii]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; tab-stops: 0in .5in 1.0in 1.5in 2.0in 2.5in 3.0in 3.5in 4.0in 4.5in 5.0in 5.5in 6.0in 6.5in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; tab-stops: 0in .5in 1.0in 1.5in 2.0in 2.5in 3.0in 3.5in 4.0in 4.5in 5.0in 5.5in 6.0in 6.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">We don’t want to “attribute perverse motives to God” because we cannot and should not worship and obey someone with perverse motives. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; tab-stops: 0in .5in 1.0in 1.5in 2.0in 2.5in 3.0in 3.5in 4.0in 4.5in 5.0in 5.5in 6.0in 6.5in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; tab-stops: 0in .5in 1.0in 1.5in 2.0in 2.5in 3.0in 3.5in 4.0in 4.5in 5.0in 5.5in 6.0in 6.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">            There are two reasons we will not offer a solid answer to the question of why “bad things” happen. First, we don’t have one to offer. We have some insights -- but not a comprehensive answer. Let me be clear that taking God out of the equation doesn’t solve anything either. If we deny God’s existence, that changes the logical structure of the problem, but it does not give us an explanation of suffering. Evil is even more mysterious without God.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; tab-stops: 0in .5in 1.0in 1.5in 2.0in 2.5in 3.0in 3.5in 4.0in 4.5in 5.0in 5.5in 6.0in 6.5in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; tab-stops: 0in .5in 1.0in 1.5in 2.0in 2.5in 3.0in 3.5in 4.0in 4.5in 5.0in 5.5in 6.0in 6.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">            Second, we don’t want to offer such an answer because to fully and satisfactorily explain evil would be to justify it. We don’t want to do that. We want to preserve the human voice of rebellion that says “No. This will not do.” We honor the voice that remembers the holocaust. We do not want to justify the holocaust. We want to join the voices of those who say. “Never again!” <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; tab-stops: 0in .5in 1.0in 1.5in 2.0in 2.5in 3.0in 3.5in 4.0in 4.5in 5.0in 5.5in 6.0in 6.5in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; tab-stops: 0in .5in 1.0in 1.5in 2.0in 2.5in 3.0in 3.5in 4.0in 4.5in 5.0in 5.5in 6.0in 6.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">            <i>Will we offer a reasonable grounds for faith in the face of horror and tragedy?</i> Yes. We will offer a way of thinking about God that is credible and helpful. But it will not be God as so many philosophers have defined “God” in “the problem of evil” literature. It will not be the understanding of God that many believers hold today. We will reach back to an older, truer, and better way of understanding God. We will discover images of God that console, sustain, and inspire. It will not be the patriarchal God, the God of omnipotent domination. That is the God who makes “the problem of evil” intractable. If we are to grapple with our affliction creatively, it will be necessary for us to break out of the mental box of the logical problem of evil. It is built on misconceptions about God—misconceptions we must cast aside if we are to examine how the Triune God of the Christian tradition responds to us in our hour of need. In this book, we will rediscover the Triune God espoused by Christians in the first centuries of their faith, a mystical cosmic dance of a God, who heals, restores, and redeems. . . . </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; tab-stops: 0in .5in 1.0in 1.5in 2.0in 2.5in 3.0in 3.5in 4.0in 4.5in 5.0in 5.5in 6.0in 6.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial; line-height: 24pt;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; tab-stops: 0in .5in 1.0in 1.5in 2.0in 2.5in 3.0in 3.5in 4.0in 4.5in 5.0in 5.5in 6.0in 6.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial; line-height: 24pt;">         This book is about God considered in light of a central question in life: why do we suffer? That question leads inexorably to God. It makes us think seriously about who God is. The fact of suffering makes many beliefs about God impossible, including some beliefs that are widely held. Suffering may also open the way for us to believe in God in better ways, to see God as better than we knew God to be, more worthy of our worship. Theologian Jurgen Moltmann expresses the connection between God and suffering this way,</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24.0pt;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">                        God and suffering belong together . . . . The question about God<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">                        and the question about suffering are a joint, a common question.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">                        And they only find a common answer. Either that, or neither of them<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">                        finds a satisfactory answer at all.</span><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1941566034196038608#_edn9" name="_ednref9" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[ix]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a><span style="font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">And philosopher Michael Peterson echoes, “(W)hat a religious system says about evil reveals a great deal about what it takes ultimate reality and humanity’s relationship to it to be.”</span><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1941566034196038608#_edn10" name="_ednref10" title="">[x]</a> . . . .</span></span><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1941566034196038608#_edn10" name="_ednref10" title=""><!--[endif]--></a></span><span style="font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; tab-stops: 0in .5in 1.0in 1.5in 2.0in 2.5in 3.0in 3.5in 4.0in 4.5in 5.0in 5.5in 6.0in 6.5in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; tab-stops: 0in .5in 1.0in 1.5in 2.0in 2.5in 3.0in 3.5in 4.0in 4.5in 5.0in 5.5in 6.0in 6.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">           </span></div><div> <!--[endif]--> <div id="edn1"> <div class="MsoEndnoteText"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1941566034196038608#_ednref1" name="_edn1" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">[i]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt;"> Philosophers of religion may present this problem in terms of God’s omniscience as much as God’s omnipotence. From that perspective, the question is If God knew this would happen, why did he create such a world? This is a profound question. It goes to the question of ultimate meaning that the philosopher must ask. But we will focus on omnipotence since it is the characteristic of God that affects our immediate relationship with God and our immediate relationship with suffering. We want to know whether God can do anything for us, and if so, why doesn’t he do it?<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoEndnoteText"><br /></div><div class="MsoEndnoteText"><br /></div></div><div id="edn2"> <div class="MsoEndnoteText"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1941566034196038608#_ednref2" name="_edn2" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">[ii]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt;"> This is a simplified version of the problem. A full statement includes God’s existence and omniscience. The atheist argues that these propositions are logically inconsistent. There are also three version of the final element: (a) evil exists; (b) large amounts, extreme kinds, and perplexing distributions of evil exist; (c) gratuitous or pointless evil exists. Michael L. Peterson, <i>God And Evil</i> (Boulder: Westview Press, 1998) pp. 23-24.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoEndnoteText"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt;">Marilyn McCord Adams, <i>Horrendous Evils And The Goodness Of God</i> (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1999) p. 9.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoEndnoteText"><br /></div></div><div id="edn3"> <div class="MsoEndnoteText"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1941566034196038608#_ednref3" name="_edn3" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">[iii]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt;"> Czeslaw Milosz, “High Terraces,” in <i>Second Space</i>, trans. Czeslaw Milosz and Robert Haas (New York: Harper Collins, 2004) p. 22.<o:p></o:p></span></div></div><div id="edn4"> <div class="MsoEndnoteText"><br /></div><div class="MsoEndnoteText"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">[iv]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt;"> Michael L. Peterson, pp. 17-18. Anthony Flew has more recently changed his mind on these issues and converted to theism.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoEndnoteText"><br /></div></div><div id="edn5"> <div class="MsoEndnoteText"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1941566034196038608#_ednref5" name="_edn5" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">[v]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt;"> Gordon Kaufman, God The Problem (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1972) p. 13<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoEndnoteText"><br /></div></div><div id="edn6"> <div class="MsoEndnoteText"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1941566034196038608#_ednref6" name="_edn6" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">[vi]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt;"> Andrew Silver, “Prayer In A Minor Key,” unpublished manuscript. January 2006.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt;"><br /></div></div><div id="edn7"> <div class="MsoEndnoteText"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1941566034196038608#_ednref7" name="_edn7" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">[vii]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt;"> Victor Frankl, Man’s Search For Meaning (New York, Beacon Press, 1959).<o:p></o:p></span></div></div><div id="edn8"> <div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt;"><br /></div><div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">[viii]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt;">. Adams, pp. 155-156.<o:p></o:p></span></div></div><div id="edn9"> <div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1941566034196038608#_ednref9" name="_edn9" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[ix]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">.</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt;"> Jurgen Moltmann, The Trinity And The Kingdom, trans. Margaret Kohl (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1993) p. 49.<o:p></o:p></span></div></div><div id="edn10"> <div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1941566034196038608#_ednref10" name="_edn10" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">[x]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt;"> Michael L. Peterson, <i>God And Evil</i> (Boulder: Westview Press, 1998) p. 7.<o:p></o:p></span></div></div></div><!--EndFragment--></div></span></span>

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