Dr. Jim Collier's Insights ... Blog

Volkswagon, Blackberrys, and Control

2011-12-23T04:27:00.000-08:00

For years it has been my opinion that corporate America uses the distribution of blackberrys to key employees as a conrolling mechanism. What better way to demonstrate the idea that "your life is no longer your own" then trying to ensure this by trying for 24/7 contact. I remember talking to a friend of mine who use to work for GM in middle management about this.

Here is an article about Volkswagon which seems to indicate that this is a problem and a major source of employee frustration:

Volkswagon article about blackberrys

Happy Valley is not so Happy Right Now

2011-11-10T13:03:00.000-08:00

There is a mess right now in Happy Valley. I wrote a commentary that is posted on the main site: click here

The Ides of March, Cain and Perry

2011-11-04T02:40:00.000-07:00

I recently saw the movie "The Ides of March" and it appears to be somewhat prophetic. Somebody obviously leaked the info on Cain whether it was Perry or not. Things are starting to heat up with the Republican race. Black, sexual harassment - anybody else thinking Clarence Thomas.

I know that when a person enters politics it is open season on any skeletons in the closet and that is the way it should be -but! I just wish the ones who do the leaking could be caught too.

Please Let the Cement Dry First!

2010-08-08T04:02:00.000-07:00

"There's a lot of oil and gas here" - Doug Suttles, COO BP

I want to see how long it takes before BP tries to extract oil and gas from the recently plugged Macondo well site. It is not realistic to think that this massive corporation called BP is going to just walk away from a possible 3 to 4 billion dollars. Estimates are that there is another 1.9 billion gallons or more still left in this well which translates in market share dollars close to 4 billion.

I know many cringe at the thought of too much government interference but recent history has shown that governmental controls are necessary to keep big business in check. What do you think?

Drill Again

Christian Medical Missionaries Killed in Afghanistan

2010-08-07T05:02:00.000-07:00

International Assistance Mission, an international christian group, said that eight members of its medical team were killed on Saturday in Afghanistan. Two Afgan interpreters were killed along with the six Americans, one German and Brit.

Dirk Frans the director of the charity said the group of medical workers were returning back to Kabul from an eye clinic in remote Nuristan.

The Taliban has claimed responsibility for the attack with the fact that they were Christian missionaries being an apparent motive for the murders. A third interpreter in the group was spared when he started quoting passages from the Koran and declaring over and over, "I am a muslim".

Here is some information from the IAM website:

IAM is an international charitable, non-profit, Christian organisation, serving the people of Afghanistan, through capacity building in the sectors of Health and Economic Development.

IAM’s core values are:

Dependency on God
Love for All
Teamwork
Accountability
Learning
Quality Work

Let us remember to pray for their families. They are modern day Martyrs who died practicing their faith.

Anne Rice Leaving Christianity Not Christ

2010-08-05T08:29:00.000-07:00

Not Leaving Jesus

Bestselling author Anne Rice decided to leave the Roman Catholic Church on July 28th with an announcement on her Facebook page. You may remember her as the author of “Interview With a Vampire”, starring Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt, or one of the other erotic gothic novels she was known to write.

Since her announced conversion to Christ in 1998, the former atheistic Rice wrote “Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt”, and other Christian themed works. Here is her Facebook announcement:

"For those who care, and I understand if you don't: Today I quit being a Christian. I'm out. I remain committed to Christ as always but not to being 'Christian' or to being part of Christianity. It's simply impossible for me to 'belong' to this quarrelsome, hostile, disputatious, and deservedly infamous group. For ten years, I've tried. I've failed. I'm an outsider. My conscience will allow nothing else."

For more on this story you can check out this article over at NPR.

There have been numerous responses including this one entitled, “An Evangelical Leader’s Open Letter to Anne Rice”.

More and more believers are disassociating themselves from formal Christianity. I think Anne Rice is really leaving religious nonsense, and there are many other famous and non famous believers who have followed this same path. I pray she finds some practice of community with other believers because Christ has not called us to an individualistic brand of belief but the life of Christ worked out in shared faith.

Racism Does Not Make Good Sense

2010-08-04T06:36:00.000-07:00

New Disturbing Reports

Reports about the rise of Neo Nazism worldwide has revealed some perplexing trends. In Mongolia, one group venerates Hitler and proudly displays the Nazi symbol. How could they do this when Hitler did not even consider their race human?

In Israel, some immigrants from Russia deny their Jewish heritage. They have been linked to desecration of Synagues and attacks on religious Jews.

Other reports on Neo Nazism are coming in from Chile, India and Taiwan. In India they report over 100,000 copies of Mein Kampf purchased by Indians in the last 10 years.

Of course, the normal reports continue to come in from Germany and Russia, two places normally associated with white supremacist left wing groups.

My question is this - how are non white racial groups being drawn into left wing ideology that believes in white supremacy and the inferiority of non white races. This does not make good sense.

A Mosque Near Ground Zero in NYC?

2010-08-04T04:33:00.000-07:00

Recently my wife and I took a tour of NYC and visited the site of the World Trade Center disaster. Yesterday the Landmarks Preservation Commission gave their approval for an old building in NYC to be razed which clears the way for a new Mosque to be built near Ground Zero. How do some people feel about this possibility?

“We had Islamic fundamentalists who killed 3,000 people at the World Trade Center site and are trying to kill more since then, so to have a Mosque at that site will stir up feelings – and antagonistic ones,” says Douglas Muzzio, a professor of political science at Baruch College in New York.

Mayor Bloomberg and ten religious leaders held a news conference to show their support for the plan and to advocate religious tolerance.

I personally think that the average New Yorker is opposed to the plan and the controversy is just beginning.

Watch out for the political opportunist who will seize upon this situation to fuel their careers appealing to folks who are not too tolerant of anything now.

Bill Cosby is Not Dead

2010-08-04T03:55:00.000-07:00

After four times the death hoax thing is getting kind of old. No Bill Cosby is not dead and he wasn't dead the last time either, or the time before that etc. Bill Cosby called into CNN this past Monday to set the record straight and to declare that he is sick and tired of the "foolish" death rumors.

Cosby said his daughter called in tears after hearing that he had died. The former "Cosby Show" star is actually joining Jello for a new ad campaign.

Known recently for his controversial statements about parenting and a recent foray into rap with his group, the Cosnerati, I am glad that Bill Cosby is still around.

Call by Reid for Wall Street Financial Regulation Bill

2010-05-20T01:19:00.000-07:00

Time is running out on a vote to pass a bill for Wall Street Reform. Putting politics aside, nobody in their right mind would question the need for more regulation on Wall Street after the financial meltdown of 2008 and the continuing shockwaves being felt well into 2010.

To read the complete story, Wall Street Reform Bill

BP Oil Update

2010-05-19T09:15:00.000-07:00

U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar says he is continuing to reform his department in the wake of the leaking oil well disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. I think it is about time! Full Story

Eyjafjallajokull

2010-04-21T15:01:00.000-07:00

The Truth About Our Prison System

2010-04-13T05:29:00.000-07:00

Is this the truth? I know it is something to think about!

Texas Tough

What is the relationship between slavery, Texas, and prisons filled with African Americans ? Daniel Bergner over at the New York Times did a review of “Texas Tough”, a new book by Robert Perkinson.

Bergner writes quoting Perkinson, “Race and slavery lie at the heart of Perkinson’s vision of American penology, and a profound dismay infuses the rhetoric of his opening pages. “Freedom is the United States’ founding creed,” he declaims in the book’s first sentence, and immediately he adds pronouncements from Thomas Paine, Andrew Jackson and Barack Obama making the same point. The oncoming irony is unmissable; there isn’t much that is subtle about Perkinson’s writing, and perhaps there shouldn’t be. Not only do we incarcerate at some six times the rate that Britain does, to take one example, or around seven times the rate of Canada, but, Perkinson relates, African-Americans are seven times as likely to be locked up as whites, and “African-American men today go to prison at twice the rate they go to college.”

You can read the full review here

Here is a link to the book on Amazon that will give me a little income:

Here is the author of the book speaking at a rally in Hawaii where he is on staff at the University:

Becoming the Enemy and Tiki Barber

2010-04-07T12:27:00.000-07:00

I am not much of a sports fan any longer. My life has become much too busy for the diversion of sports - I have well over a dozen grandkids. But, when I saw this story I felt the need to comment.

Tiki Barber had an absentee father, and he has made some very public statements about the man including what he thinks about him - which is obvious distaste and disdain. Imagine the shock of many people to see Tiki now leaving his pregnant wife (pregnant with twins no less) for somebody else.

This is the danger of unresolved relational issues - sometimes they can become hooks that tie us to the pass and hinder us from growing up emotionally. I am not saying this is the case here, but, it sure could be.

Before You Open That PDF

2010-04-07T03:38:00.000-07:00

I read about a new ploy to infect computers with a virus.

You have to check the do not show this message again box so don't do it!

Full story

Notre Dame Recruit Matt James Tragedy

2010-04-03T10:28:00.000-07:00

I came across this sad story this morning. Matt was one of the top 100 recruits out of this years crop of high school recruits and was already signed to play at Notre Dame. What a waste of potential! This is not the time or place to draw attention to some serious issues related to the practice of spring break. I am sure someone will take on this issue very soon.

The full story is here

Forgetting the Resurrection and More

2010-04-03T00:18:00.000-07:00

Fewer than half of Americans mentioned Jesus' death and resurrection when asked about the significance of Easter, according to a survey released last month by Christian researchers the Barna Group.

Full story here

“If you voted for Obama,” says the taped-up sign, “seek urologic care elsewhere. Changes to your healthcare begin right now. Not in four years.”

Full story here