Beth Woolsey:

As a mama who cares about my kids' relationships with God, I have to ask myself… am I engaging in spiritual conversations with them with love and kindness? Or am I fearful and angry about their doubts and conclusions? Do I actually believe that God will answer my kids' questions with true discoveries and open doors? Or am I trying to rapidly solve their theological dilemmas by assuring them that God has already gifted me with all the answers and so they needn’t bother God by asking themselves?

Larry James:

As we talked, he said something that pulled me back to Gerald’s comments.

“You know,” he began quietly, “people think it’s dangerous here, that we’re dangerous. But, we’re not. We’re just like everyone else, just working through issues, just trying to get on with life. We’re not dangerous.”

What if your life was regarded by most people as a dangerous life, a person to be avoided?

Something to think about as we continue to dismantle stereotypes that plagure our perspectives and continue to injure others.

Patrick Kennedy:

… the Near East Dallas area should, SHOULD, be one of the most active, valueable areas in the entire city. If not THE most. This is why I think this area will blow uptown out of the water in terms of amount of investment, future tax basem and especially CHARACTER. There is so much charm and history there to be enjoyed if we can get our act together.

Jennifer Smart:

… it’s time for May and six more can’t miss fests to entertain you during May’s glorious weekends.

Ross Ramsey:

Amazon.com will start collecting sales taxes from Texas customers this summer and agreed to make capital investments of $200 million and create 2,500 jobs in the state over the next four years, Comptroller Susan Combs announced this morning. In return, the state will drop its efforts to collect back sales taxes from the company. … With the new deal, the company will start collecting sales taxes on July 1.

Ann and Derran Reese:

However, I am becoming a bigger believer in the idea that the most significant cause for poverty is out (or at least my) unwillingness to live in reciprocal, self-sacrificing community with the “other”. I create poverty when I grasp on tightly to what is mine. I create it by holding onto the differences between “us” and “them.” I create the poor because I do not see them as my brother or sister. What the world needs is a people who hold onto things loosely in order to live in reciprocal and sustainable community.

The Apostle John put it this way:

Conventional wisdom says that the US Postal Service is going broke because it has an out of date business model, and that it is a waste of government resources.

Matt Taibbi reports:

But politics also plays a huge part in this. In 2006, in what looks like an attempt to bust the Postal Workers' Union, George Bush signed into law the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act of 2006. This law required the Postal Service to pre-fund 100 percent of its entire future obligations for 75 years of health benefits to its employees — and not only do it, but do it within ten years. No other organization, public or private, has to pre-fund 100 percent of its future health benefits.

The impact of this legislation?

The new law forced the postal service to come up with about $5.5 billion a year for the ten years following the bill’s passage. In 2006, before those payments kicked in, the USPS generated a small profit. Not surprisingly, the USPS is now basically broke.

Glenn Fleishman:

1. Bring up the text message in Messages and be sure not to click any embedded URLs in the message.
2. Tap Edit.
3. Tap the empty circular (radio-style) button to the left of the unwanted message. The Forward button activates.
4. Tap the Forward button.
5. Enter 7726 (the numeric equivalent ot the letters S, P, A, and M on a telephone keypad) and tap Send.
6. AT&T responds with a message asking you to send the number from which the message originated (this and the spam report are cost-free if you have a limited message plan).

Robery Wilonsky:

…Last summer First Assistant City Manager A.C. Gonzalez told the city council it also intends to use license plate recognition cams to “locate individuals owning outstanding City of Dallas fines and fees by identifying their vehicles on Dallas streets and then posting notices on vehicles that may have outstanding bills with the Dallas Courts offices.” None of which sits well with at least one local defense attorney.