James L. Paris's Blog, page 59

Bone Fragments of St. Peter Reportedly Found in Rome Church

According to The Telegraph, bone fragments belonging to none other than Saint Peter, one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus Christ, were reportedly found recently during a restoration of the Church of Santa Maria, a 1000-year-old church in Rome.

The discovery was made as a worker raised a marble slab near the church���s medieval altar. Underneath, he found two pots from ancient Rome bearing inscriptions that suggest the contents are bone fragments of not only Saint Peter, who is seen as the first pope, but the bones of three other early popes: Cornelius, Callixtus, and Felix.

The workers immediately retrieved Santa Maria���s deacon, Massimiliano Floridi. Speaking later to an Italian TV station, Floridi said, ���There were two clay pots which were inscribed with the names of early popes ��� Peter, Felix, Callixtus and Cornelius. I���m not an archaeologist but I understood immediately that they were very old. Looking at them, I felt very emotional.���

The Vatican has received the remains, and will be conducting a comprehensive examination.

���We���re waiting for a detailed study to be undertaken,��� said Floridi. ���A DNA comparison between these bones and those kept by the Vatican would shed light on the issue.���

The Vatican is not commenting on the discovery at this time, and there is not yet any information as to how the pots came to be interred at Santa Maria.

By Robert G. Yetman, Jr. Editor At Large

The New America: Major U.S. City Starts Bleaching Streets to Defend Against Hepatitis A Outbreak

One irony is that as America continues to become (ostensibly) ever more ���progressive,��� a direct consequence of all of that supposed forward-moving is that she is actually regressing in so many ways.

Case in point:

San Diego has started spraying city streets with bleach in response to a dangerous outbreak of Hepatitis A that has killed 16 people.

The website ZeroHedge cites an article by NPR that says Hepatitis A was found in the area back in early March. Since then, the threat has only grown, and the county declared a public health emergency earlier this month.

Hepatitis A is an infectious liver disease that prompts a multitude of unpleasant symptoms, including nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, jaundice, fever, and abdominal pain. It is typically spread���wait for it���by consuming food or water that has been contaminated by infected feces.

Lovely.

So how did this happen?

You can probably guess.

In this case, health officials in San Diego are attributing the outbreak to a ���fecally contaminated environment.��� San Diego is plagued with a not-insignificant homeless population, and it is said that a scarcity of public restrooms in the places where the homeless have decided to camp may be the biggest reason for the problem.

In other words, there are a lot of people using the entire city of San Diego as a toilet.

The progressive America.

By Robert G. Yetman, Jr. Editor At Large

Trump Throttles Globalism in Triumphant U.N. Speech

While there���s no question that President Trump seems to be waffling, of late, on the matter of just how devoted he remains to fulfilling the campaign promises that saw him upset Hillary Clinton last November, there���s also no question that his speech to the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday was a throwback to candidate Trump. As reported by a variety of media outlets, including Fox News, the president, without reservation, boldly laid out the ���America first��� agenda in his first U.N. address.

���In America the people govern, the people rule, and the people are sovereign. I was elected not to take power, but to give power to the American people where it belongs,��� he said, declaring that he would be ���renewing this founding principle of sovereignty.���

In trumpeting ���America first,��� however, the president said he was no different than the leader of any other country that keeps the welfare of their citizens as the highest priority.

���As President of the United States I will always put America first, just like you as the leaders of your countries will always and should always put your countries first,��� Trump said.

���All responsible leaders have an obligation to serve their own citizens, and the nation-state remains the best vehicle for elevating the human condition.���

Among the (many) notable things Trump said during the 40-minute speech was that America ���will forever be a great friend to the world,��� but that the country ���can no longer be taken advantage of or enter into a one-sided deal where the United States gets nothing in return.���

By Robert G. Yetman, Jr. Editor At Large

Report: Large Number of Employees Are Missing Out on ���Free Money���

If you���re an employee somewhere, chances are your company has some kind of retirement plan in place, and if there is, chances are also very good that it���s a 401(k).

And if you DO have a 401(k) available at work, it���s very possible that your employer offers matching contributions.

What are matching contributions?

Let���s start with this: they���re free money.

More specifically, their additional contributions made by the company to your 401(k) account, beyond those you make on your own, and up to a specified limit.

A typical matching arrangement might be one in which an employer agrees to contribute to your plan another 50 percent of the contributions you make, up to six percent of your salary. In that scenario, if you make $50,000 per year, and contribute a full six percent of your salary to your 401(k), that���s $3,000. If the employer is matching 50 percent of that, it means they���re throwing in another $1,500 on top of the $3,000 you���ve already contributed. Pretty nifty.

According to an article over at CNBC.com, 401(k) provider Betterment for Business recently conducted a survey that revealed ���89 percent of respondents were offered a 401(k) match by employers, but 23 percent didn't take full advantage of it. Of those 23 percent, 16 percent don't max out their match, and seven percent don't know if they do.���

What���s more, Betterment surveyed only those who are actually enrolled in a 401(k) plan. Folks that aren���t enrolled at all? Well, they���re definitely losing out entirely on the opportunity for free money.

Why do that?

By Robert G. Yetman, Jr. Editor At Large

Closer to War: U.S. Bombers & Fighters Now Practicing Bombing Drills over Korea

There are surely a lot of people who think that despite all of the ominous talk coming from both Washington and Pyongyang, that war between the U.S. and North Korea is not really going to happen.

Those folks may want to re-think whatever bets they���re considering placing on that.

In addition to the heated rhetoric, including U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley saying on Sunday that diplomatic options have run dry and she���s prepared to turn the North Korea problem over to Secretary of Defense James Mattis, it has been learned that U.S. bombers and stealth fighters spent Monday practicing bombing drills over Korea.

According to a variety of news outlets, including The Daily Caller, two B-1 bombers from Andersen Air Force Base in Guam and four F-35 stealth fighters out of Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni (Japan) were in the air with fighter jets from the South Korean Air Force and Japanese Air Force to conduct specialized training operations.

A statement about the drills issued by the U.S. Pacific Command said, in part, that the Command ���maintains the ability to respond to any threat.��� The statement also made it clear that the exercises were conducted specifically in response to North Korea���s launch of a missile over Japan last Thursday.

What makes the drills particularly noteworthy is that they were not merely ���flyovers��� like those done in the past; Monday���s exercises consisted of actual live-fire practice bombing runs.

By Robert G. Yetman, Jr. Editor At Large

Bitcoin's Wild Ride - China, Jamie Dimon, And $25,000 Bitcoin Prediction

Did Jamie Dimon talk down Bitcoin only so his own firm could buy it at a lower price? Is China completely banning Bitcoin, and what does this mean for the future of the digital currency? What should Christians think about the September 23rd prophecy prediction? The surreal story of financial fraud in Detroit's public school system, and why we need an alternative to Facebook, and the truth Jim's experience with PayPal buyer protection.

 

St. Louis Riots - But What Really Happened When Anthony Lamar Smith Was Shot?

St. Louis continues to be on edge as police battle with rioters, but what really happened in the 2011 shooting of 24 year old Anthony Lamar Smith? Trump retweets video of him hitting Hillary with a golf ball and the media goes crazy. What preparedness lessons Jim says he has learned from going through so many hurricanes, and the Equifax data breach and why it is really a big deal.

 

U.S. Ambassador Haley Says U.N. Has Run Out of Options on North Korea

Nikki Haley, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, has sounded an ominous warning on North Korea, suggesting that the U.N. Security Council can no longer do anything to leverage NK back into line, and that it may finally be time for an earnest look at a military solution.

Speaking Sunday on CNN���s State of the Union, Haley said, ���We have pretty much exhausted all the things that we can do at the Security Council at this point. Haley added that she was fully prepared to pass off the problem of North Korea over to Secretary of Defense James Mattis.

An article over at Reuters.com suggests that the abruptness of Haley���s tone means that even though Donald Trump is addressing the U.N. General Assembly for the first time on Tuesday, the president isn���t likely to say anything that ratchets down the strong rhetoric from Washington on the subject of utilizing military action to beat back the threat from Pyongyang.

���If North Korea keeps on with this reckless behavior, if the United States has to defend itself or defend its allies in any way, North Korea will be destroyed. And we all know that. And none of us want that. None of us want war,��� Haley said during her appearance on State of the Union.

���We���re trying every other possibility that we have, but there���s a whole lot of military options on the table,��� she added.

By Robert G. Yetman, Jr. Editor At Large

It Turns Out that California���s ���Resistance��� to Trump is Not Going All that Well

There has been a lot of news since the election about those American communities - including whole states - that have felt the need to ���resist��� Trump and his agenda. It���s probably fair to say that the most vocal anti-Trump community in the U.S. has been the entire state of California.

In fact, what makes the anti-Trump noise coming out of the Golden State so noteworthy is how much of it is made by elected officials there.

So how is the anti-Trump resistance movement actually going in California? As it turns out, not so well.

According to CALmatters, a nonprofit ���journalism venture��� based in Sacramento, despite all the supposed vigor with which the state is pursuing its effort to serve as an obstacle to the Trump administration, little in the way of real resistance is coming to pass there.
Here is what Laurel Rosenhall of CALmatters has to say about it:

���Yet with their opportunity to pass bills for the year coming to a close on Friday, California Democrats have a mixed record when it comes to turning their anti-Trump talk into action. A high-profile sanctuary bill meant to shield undocumented immigrants from deportation was significantly scaled back this week. A proposal to make it harder for the feds to build a wall on the California-Mexico border has stalled. An attempt to provide state-run health care for all Californians���intensely demanded by progressive activists���was put on hold. And approval of a bill meant to preserve tough environmental standards in California even if the federal government weakens protections nationwide looks iffy as it awaits action in the Assembly.���

So, what does this mean? That many Californians are closet Trump fans?

While that might be true, that���s not really what���s going on here. Instead, it appears what���s happening is that when the camera lights are turned off and the microphones depart, undeniable reality must take over.

For example, despite all the bluster from the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) about becoming a ���sanctuary��� transit service, that idea disappeared into thin air after the BART board realized President Trump might indeed cut off the federal funding essential to BART���s operation.

Also, despite the heroically defiant tone with which California Senate President pro Tem Kevin de Leon introduced a bill to make California a ���sanctuary state,��� that legislation had its teeth pulled by Gov. Jerry Brown, who had no intention of signing a bill that was pro-illegal immigrant to a degree considered obscene by even many Democrats.

#Resist in California? Well, maybe a little. But that���s about it.

By Robert G. Yetman, Jr. Editor at Large

Is the 8-Hour Workday a Mistake?

In the past, this space has highlighted the ideas of highly-successful people who think there���s only one kind of day to work: hard and long.

As a matter of fact, according to an article over at USA Today, a full 40 percent of U.S. employees are toiling away at their labors over 50 hours each week, and 20 percent go over 60 hours a week. Clearly, American workers are not slackers.

But that same article reflects on another idea ��� that maybe putting in lots of hours actually hurts productivity as it relates to certain kinds of jobs.

For one thing, as the article points out, some of the greatest intellectual figures in all of history, like Charles Darwin and Charles Dickens, were known to hack away at their creative brilliance for just a few hours each day. Author and researcher Alex Pang goes as far as to say that four hours is the ���optimal amount of time��� for which one should work each day if the labors involve a great deal thinking and concentration.

If your work is more of a repetitive nature, or otherwise does not demand that you apply much by way of creativity or imagination, then it���s likely you can stay productive throughout the duration of a long work day. But if you have to apply a great deal of mental acuity to what you���re doing? Fours of that each day is about the limit, if you���re interested in working at your best.

The real truth, though, is that in typical Corporate America, even the most intellectual of professionals has much of their day filled with decidedly uninspired obligations, like meetings and answering emails. So it���s likely that four hours of real brain work is all they���re getting in, already.

Still, there���s a lesson here, particularly for those folks who work for themselves, about doing everything one can to streamline the day and ensure that, as much as possible, your highest and best work is receiving the appropriate priority when it comes to the management of your time.

By Robert G. Yetman, Jr.