A Year
Through many dangers, toils and snares,
I have already come;
’Tis grace hath brought me safe thus far,
And grace will lead me home.
So true.
Amoco is Dead, Long Live Amoco
Reuters reports:
Some BP gas station owners in the United States want to drop the BP name and return to the Amoco brand to recover business hit by public anger over the Gulf of Mexico oil spill disaster.
I predicted this some time ago, but failed to post it online. Too bad. I do expect BP will pull a Worldcom and rebrand with their less tarnished, previously subsumed and retired brand sometime in the next year or two. I wouldn't expect it in the next couple of months, though. Doing it too soon would risk dragging the Amoco name into the mud, or in this case, oil.
Unilever Offers Homing Prize
Laurel Wentz writes:
Starting next week, consumers who buy one of the GPS-implanted detergent boxes will be surprised at home, given a pocket video camera as a prize and invited to bring their families to enjoy a day of Unilever-sponsored outdoor fun. The promotion, called Try Something New With Omo, is in keeping with the brand's international “Dirt is Good” positioning that encourages parents to let their kids have a good time even if they get dirty.
I'm not sure this is going to prove a good idea.
Sometimes to Get It, You Must Live It
Soul Survivor: How Thirteen Unlikely Mentors Helped My Faith Survive the Church
I am sure I did not fully appreciate the title of Philip Yancy's excellent book when I read it two years ago.
Unfolding My Story: Why Christians Must Act
A year ago today, I spent most of the day on the phone. Fear knotted up my stomach as I looked towards the meeting scheduled the next day with my old pastor before one of the deans at my school. One of the mediators at the company the old pastor sits on the board of was trying to pressure me into signing a dangerously vague legal agreement and suggesting I would get myself in trouble with the school if I did not (which wasn't true, but was still unnerving to hear suggested). By this point I had watched as the pastor and those helping him mercilessly attacked not just me, but twice as cruelly had begun to try to undermine my mom.
Every time another person's story comes to light and I hear the fear, the pain, the brokenness that I experienced come to surface in another person — another victim — I know more than ever two things. First, if only Christians would take action against churches gone wrong, this would not happen. Second, as a Christian, I am amongst those who bears responsibility to act, as I will explain below.
Chrysler Dealer Arbitration
Neil Roland writes:
Sox and other lawyers have said the letters' requirements — including those for facility upgrades — go beyond those conditions laid down for existing dealerships that were not closed during the company's bankruptcy.
You have to wonder what the car companies have to gain by such antics.
I Write Like
This site claims to be able to figure out what famous writer you sound like:
Check which famous writer you write like with this statistical analysis tool, which analyzes your word choice and writing style and compares them with those of the famous writers.
Unfortunately for me, I find different samples of my writing inspired a whole laundry list of comparisons. I thought maybe I'd catch a prevailing choice, but it felt pretty random to me.
How about for you?
The Final Piece
I had one three hour block of electives at seminary I had not already registered a class for. Tonight I signed up for one, meaning I now have everything scheduled I need to graduate. Amazingly, I will finish less than five months from now (assuming I survive the six classes I will be taking this fall!).
A Dream Deferred
What happens to a dream deferred?
Does it dry up
like a raisin in the sun?
Or fester like a sore—
And then run?
Does it stink like rotten meat?
Or crust and sugar over—
like a syrupy sweet?Maybe it just sags
like a heavy load.Or does it explode?
Langston Hughes had just the right touch with words to make his famous poem graphic without being over the top. And, of course, he asks a mighty powerful question.
Newsweek's Ghost
Gruber writes (tongue-in-cheek):
So I say, “Who’d he write that for? I didn’t see anything on the Fake Steve blog about it.”
She says, “Newsweek, of course.”
“I thought they went out of business a few months ago.”
“No, they’re still around. I swear.”
Pretty much sums up the current state of the magazine. Sad.
