“A car bomb in the southern Philippines killed one person and wounded seven Monday in an attack targeting a governor who took office after many of his relatives were slain in the country’s worst political massacre in 2009.”  Among the suspects in the 2009 massacre are a “powerful family patriarch and former governor, Andal Ampatuan Sr., and a number of his sons…,” and almost 200 others!

Statistics abound that demonstrate an increase in violent behavior among school age children. In recent years we have heard of many tragic cases of high school kids who have brought a gun to school and murdered their own classmates and teachers. Everyone remembers the Columbine tragedy. Many in society though believe that this is only a rare example of a very few emotionally disturbed young people. Can we dismiss this type of violence as simply an aberration, or are there seeds of violence being sown in our society today that will surface even more in the future?

In a potentially significant sequence of events, “Arab states will be chairing the United Nations Security Council and General Assembly in September as the Palestinian Authority makes its statehood bid.  Lebanon is slated to preside over the Security Council in September while Qatar will head the General Assembly.”

As the United States sees its debt continue to soar out of control, it would be prudent to take time to examine the results of such reckless spending.  Just like any credit card, national debt carries with it the obligation for the debtor to pay interest.  $14 trillion is an immense amount of debt, and it carries with it the burden of substantial interest payments.  Last year alone the U.S. spent just under $413 billion paying off the interest on its loans.

The story goes that a couple was sitting at the counter in a diner enjoying a cup of coffee when the husband nudged his wife and said, “Honey, look at that old couple at the end of the bar. Someday, that will be us.” His wife glanced in that direction and said, with some amusement, “You realize of course that what you see is a mirror at the end of the bar!” This is a humorous reminder that we seldom see ourselves as others see us. It is also true that our mental image of ourselves can be far from the reality of our situation.