Venezuela is descending into chaos! “President Nicolas Maduro announced Sunday that he has decided to raise the monthly minimum wage by 50 percent… the fifth that he has ordered over the past 12 months, for a total annualized increase of 536 percent” (Fox News, January  9, 2017).

A familiar companion to all of us, who live in this world, is our own personal conscience. It goes with us no matter where we go or what we do or how we act. Our conscience should be able to regulate our thoughts, our actions, our outlook on life, our relationships with others and who we really are inside.

In the Bible, in the part known to many as the Old Testament, the ancient patriarch Noah is famous for building the ark to save his family from a great flood that destroyed mankind. The ancient city of Sodom was dramatically destroyed for its wickedness. What do they have in common with today?

Some expressions in the vernacular, that is “words used on the street,” express an idea in a way that more formal expressions just can’t match. Such an expression is “on Easy Street.” Someone who has just received a great windfall that transforms their economic circumstances from being meager to being set for life might use the expression, “I’m on Easy Street now!”

“‘Do not go to bed angry’ is common advice for couples who want to improve their relationship, and it may have a scientific backing. Researchers have found out that negative, emotionally-charged memories, like the ones that follow an argument, were harder to suppress after a good night’s sleep” (IB Times, November 29, 2016).