How Do Stimulus Funds / Bailouts Get Awarded?

How do Stimulus Funds / Bailouts get awarded? I'm sure this is a question many of you have wondered as the economy has continued to struggle. In these closed door meetings where the new Administration makes the hard decision about which companies "need to be saved to stimulate the economy", what exactly is the process?

Here is the best explanation I have seen yet:



Out of the mouth of a little Monarch comes such truth.

Town Hall for Hope - Dave Ramsey

The economy over the last 18 months has been the source of much fear, frustration, stress and anger for many people. It really doesn't have to be that way. Part of the problem is the focus and hype surrounding the bad economic news that we are succumbed to on a daily basis. Can there be a message of hope. The resounding answer is YES!

This message of hope is the driving force behind Dave Ramsey's upcoming Town Hall for Hope. This nationwide town hall will be your chance to hear a different take on the economy, how we got into this mess and what we have to look forward to. Watch this message from Dave and then keep reading.



My church, Rawlinson Road Baptist, is pleased to be a host site for this LIVE, FREE event - Town Hall for Hope on April 23rd at 8 PM ET.

If you live in the Rock Hill, SC area, part of the greater Charlotte, NC metro region, join us on campus as we take part in this special event. If you are reading this from another area of the country, please visit the Town Hall for Hope web site and click on the 'Attend' button to find a venue near you.

Here's what you have to look forward to:

• Listen as Dave speaks plainly about the economy, foreclosures and the recession
• Learn where we are and how we got here and what you should be doing with your money now
• Participate - Dave will spend an hour answering questions from all over the country submitted by phone, email, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

I urge you to take advantage of this opportunity to finally drown out the voices of despair with the message of hope.

Elmer Fudd after Merrie Melodies / Looney Tunes

Elmer Fudd, one of the few human actors featured in Merrie Melodies / Looney Tunes cartoons was consistently upstaged by Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck over the years. He became type cast as the eager yet dimwitted victim of many pranks pulled by his non-human co-stars. To call him a co-star with Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck might even be considered a stretch since both of those always received top billing in the cartoon short.

After years of bearing the brunt of a multitude of on screen antics, Mr. Fudd had enough and decided to go into a career where he could bring about change for the downtrodden and unfortunate. Where he could champion the cause of the countless victims in society. However, glimmers of his past career still slip through on occasion as evidenced in the video clips below.

Winning on Wednesday - Caricatures

I'm not sure if there are many, or any, people that have read my Winning on Wednesday posts in the past. I apologize for the long drought in these posts. This is due in part to my involvement with other projects that have sapped my time and energies. Also, I have had a difficult time coming up with new posts that are significantly different in content. But, the primary reason that these posts became so infrequent was that I just wasn't making them a priority. Over the next few weeks/months, I hope to change that.

Caricatures. When you go on vacation, to a county fair or most amusement parks, there are always opportunities to have a caricature done. Some are basic in just black and white, while others are elaborate in full color with the artist even adding a background. I have sat for a couple of them over the years, but my favorite is one of my kids that an artist was able to draw from a photograph I had in my wallet. But what is a caricature?

According to the American Heritage dictionary, a caricature is defined this way:

A representation, especially pictorial or literary, in which the subject's distinctive features or peculiarities are deliberately exaggerated to produce a comic or grotesque effect.

As an example, compare my two images below. One is a photograph of me and the other is a caricature.

It's easy to see the artist focused on prominent physical features such as my chin, nose and high forehead. Those are the features that stood out to him when he drew the caricature.

During Pressure Point, I challenged our students to draw caricatures of each other. It was hard for some, but rather easy for others. The fun part was in seeing which features stood out to the "artist" and then seeing the reaction of the subject. Did they agree? Were they surprised?

Then I asked the same questions I'll ask you.

If God were to draw a caricature of your heart, what would that image look like? What features or characteristics would stand out to Him? Would you share that image with others?

Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. - Psalm 51:10

Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! - Psalm 139:23

Every way of a man is right in his own eyes,but the LORD weighs the heart. - Proverbs 21:2

Credit Crisis Explained

The news coming out of Wall Street is severely impacting Main St. But how did all this happen? If you watch the news, there are so many talking heads using so many acronyms, financial industry terms and investment terms that it's hard to understand how we got to this point.

Here's a video that just might help explain - and it had plenty of pretty pictures, so I could understand it too!


The Crisis of Credit Visualized from Jonathan Jarvis on Vimeo.