50 Awesome Quotes on Risk Taking

http://www.ideachampions.com/weblogs/archives/2010/06/security_is_mos.shtml

-----
Stephen. Montgomery

Group Portrait

 

One of them is very beautiful. The others, not so much.

Prayer of Blessing

 

Area pastors and SIM Niger Director praying for new Galmi Hospital director and his wife

Early relational skills in development

 

New kid on the block: Asa

 

And his proud big sister!

New Prince of Hearts

 

Asa Clayton, son of Sus and Jon, born March 8, 2010

Picasa Web Albums - Stephen - 2010-03

Kendrick Lau -- "My Africa"

Kendrick is one of the amazing people we get to work with at Galmi.

International Experience—Galmi Hospital, Niger

Anita Cheng shares an experience at Galmi.

peeps per doc

(Click image for full size)

Yep, Galmi is right there in the middle of 35.500:1 territory. There are worse places, but not many.

Image from Ads of the World

Thanks, NG Killoren, for the lead!

2009 Global Hunger Index

International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)

Holy Experience : Ann Voskamp

A visit with Ann is always enriching. Learn to see beyond, high, deep, with new eyes. There is so much more.

Advent Conspiracy

It's that wonderful time of the year! Visit Advent Conspiracy

I like Shane Claiborne

Letter to Non-Believers

When You're Just a Tad Overwhelmed ....

Holy Experience is a newly discovered blog for me. It is rapidly becoming one which I want to follow closely.

Lord, help us to lean into you, and live your wild adventure.

How To Be a Disciple

How To Be a Disciple, By Dallas Willard

Impatient Optimist Speech

Bill & Melinda Gates - Live Webcast: Tuesday, October 27

This is extremely interesting, intelligent, and well presented. Take the time, and watch it!

New Life for the Pariahs in Niger

Nicholas Kristof writes a compelling article on a new hospital approved for Niger

The mysterious box

YouTube - Owen surprises us all

Bite my neck

YouTube - Why is this so much fun?

This is an expressive face

YouTube - Princess L. entertains us...

Niger: Production deficits across Niger

ReliefWeb Niger: Food Security Alert 27 Oct 2009

Human Development Report 2009

Statistics from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) for the year 2007

Find your favorite country. There are a lot of surprises.

Niger is in last place, again.

Talks from The Nines conference 09/09/2009

Rich Nathan on Both/And

The Nines was a terrific conference. There are lots of other great juicy 9 minute nuggets here. A few of my favorites: Nancy Beach, Skye Jethani, Rick McKinley

Committed to Diversity and Community among disciples of Jesus

Church Unity and Transformation in Five Easy Steps

Your thoughts?

Social Media Revolution

YouTube - Social Media Revolution: ""

Blogger, Facebook, LinkedIn, I get. I'm still not so sure about Twitter. I just can't handle the volume. I need better filters.

I wish I could communicate this well

Nice 67 y.o. male has brush with mortality

Stand By Me | Playing For Change

YouTube - Song Around the World

I'm sure glad my baby stands by me.

40 years in 2010

Self Pity, How to be Downwardly Mobile

Don Miller Blog - a work in progress, but very thought provoking

Health care in the United States

This will be a very interesting Wikipedia article to watch over the coming months, as contributers contend to describe and substantiate what is true and what is false about our context, and how it compares with others throughout the world.

Alliances for Health

On Faith and Science collaborating, by Katherine Marshall

Moulin à Images is simply astonishing

An EX MACHINA creation. Watch the videos

See also these videos

An Open Letter to Conservative Christians

An Open Letter to Conservative C - Brian McLaren

Be harder to manipulate!

Five New Rules for the Photoshop Era | Fast Company

You don't have to let them fool you.

Failure: The Secret to Success

Honda racers on Failure

Bill Moyers exploring Health Insurance

Bill Moyers Journal . Watch & Listen | PBS

I think Bill Moyers is one of the highest-integrity and most deeply-thoughtful journalists out there.

John Piper on the Bible

The Bible Frees Us From Being Swayed by Overstatements :: Desiring God

Who's on your side?

Professor Elizabeth Warren speaks about the Consumer Financial Protection Agency

The Thing about a Crossing

Don Miller Blog : Another Sample Chapter from A Million miles in a Thousand Years

Transparency is not just a majority world problem

Check out the Sunlight Foundation

Centered-Set Communication in a Globalized World / Vince Brackett

Not The Religious Type: Centered-Set Communication in a Globalized World / Vince Brackett (Chicago, IL)

I know this guy, and I think he's great!

2009 Nigerien constitutional crisis

A new development I'm seeing now on Wikipedia, the free online encyclopedia, is the emergence of new, constantly updated, articles that track significant current events around the world.

Here are a few recent examples:

2009 Nigerien constitutional crisis

Air France Flight 447

2009 Honduran coup

It provides one-stop shopping for a complete, fully-annotated account of developments related to the event. I think this is very cool.

I want to get better

Marshall Goldsmith Library - Okay, so you've know about this resource for a long time; I just discovered it. Simple, practical, honest, fun. Lots of good stuff here. How do you want to change?

Undecided? Check this out: Leading@Google: Marshall Goldsmith

Getting better is achievable.

Nerd humor at its best

John Hodgman challenging President Obama at Radio & TV Correspondents' Dinner

Awakening to Third Culture

headsparks* thoughts on The Monkey and the Fish: Liquid Leadership for a Third-Culture Church, by Dave Gibbons

Dave defines third culture as “the mindset and the will to love, learn, and serve in any culture, even in the midst of pain and discomfort.”

I've added it to my Amazon wishlist.

President Obama Appoints Antiabortion Pro-Obama Catholic to Senior Health Position – Causing Controversy

Political Punch

"Québec, ce n'est pas Chicago!"

Quote frome the front page of leSoleil, 24 Mai 2009. The rest of the article is here: Colline parlementaire: densifier ne fait pas l'unanimité

Nous sommes d'accord.

Healthy Foods for Under $1

Well Blog - NYTimes.com

Don't you like being healthy? And saving money?

Why I'm a fan of del.icio.us... and now commoncraft

Social Bookmarking in Plain English - Common Craft - Our Product is Explanation

the good samaritan

Carl Medearis l Engage the World

Christian Witness in a Plural Society

An article by Lesslie Newbigin over 30 years old and still pretty insightful. Read it. It's not that long. You can do it.

How to avoid getting hooked

The Official Google Blog on how to avoid phishing schemes

A Good Story: ‘I’m Going to Kill You’

Bart Campolo - God’s Politics Blog

I would like this kind of spirit to be more alive in my life.

Check to see if you are infected

Conficker Work Group - HomePage:

This is a reputable antivirus project.

A Thousand Questions

From Willow Creek Leadership Summit via YouTube

View HQ: A Thousand Questions

Human Development Report - Niger 2007/2008

The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) monitors annually the relative development of the countries of the world using a few broad indicators. The Human Development Index is derived from statistics on life expectancy at birth, adult literacy, school enrolment and GDP per capita.

Niger ranks 174 out of 177 countries. It is categorized as a Least Developed Country.

Human Development Report 2007/2008 - Country Fact Sheets - Niger

Days with My Father

Phillip Toledano opens a beautiful window into his life.

Why we think it's OK to cheat and steal (sometimes)

YouTube - Dan Ariely on TED

Yet another example of why I like TED.
Intelligent. Human. Thoughtful. In pursuit of understanding.

Constance Aman: I lift up my eyes...

"Je lève les yeux"



Je lève les yeux vers les montagnes
D'où me viendra le secours

Le secours me vient de l'éternel
Qui a fait les cieux et la terre

Il ne dort ni ne sommeille
Celui qui garde Israël
Il ne dort ni ne sommeille
L'Eternel me gardera

Il ne dort ni ne sommeille
Il gardera mon pied de tout mal
Il ne dort ni ne sommeille
L'Eternel gardera mon âme

Psaume 121:1-4

Future Tech

Pattie Maes demos the Sixth Sense | Video on TED.com
I'm still waiting for the neural interface.

TED is my favorite video source.

This is a WOW!

Gustavo Dudamel leads El Sistema's top youth orchestra on TED.com

Get your best speakers or earphones, turn up the sound, and watch it!

Here's a little background: Jose Antonio Abreu: Help me bring music to kids worldwide

Well Worth Watching

Les Choristes (The Choir)

Un Jour à la Chute de Montmorency

How we spent Valentine's day - a hike through a winter wonderland.

New Patrick Lencioni Project

The Simple Wisdom Project

I have come to really appreciate Patrick Lencioni's work. I recommend that you sign up for this e-newsletter.

Bill Gates: How I'm trying to change the world now

Bill Gates unplugged | Video on TED.com

Two big problems getting attention: malaria and education

My favorite line: "There's no reason that only poor people should have the experience."

Snow bunnies

Ice sculpture in Old Québec

Doing the tourist tour at -10 degrees F, in front of the Le Cochon Digne ("Crazy Pig") restaurant.

Great new talent!

Lucy Harig - EP

Captivating, entrancing ...

Lessons Learned from a Hacked Gmail Account

What's your security IQ?

BTY LifeHacker is extremely cool.

Advent Conspiracy

Christmas can [still] change the world.

This handsome face gives us great joy every time we look at it.
Joshua Neil is growing and thriving, continuously enhancing his already great capacity to be a blessing.

The Ethics of Aid - One Kenyan's Perspective

from Speaking Of Faith 5 Dec 2008

Book of the Month

How to Change the World: Social Entrepreneurs and the Power of New Ideas, David Bornstein

Some people take action, sustained over time, and change the way everyone thinks. We can learn a great deal from these people.

The Money And Politics Connection

MAPLight.org - Money And Politics: Illuminating the Connection

Take the Video Tour

More Joshua Neil

Meet the new family member.
Carol brought back 580 digital photos from the birth visit, consisting of 4 collections: Ben & Lori's, Trina's, Christy's, and Ray & Linda's. These are my very favorites.

Bringing Hope to Niger

Pray for the Danja Fistula Center
The Danja Health Center is a sister medical center two hours East of Galmi, just South of Maradi.

See more information on obstetric fistula here.

Map Gas Prices

GasBuddy.com

State of the Village Report

If the world were a village of 1000 people...

National Debt Soars $500B In Under A Month

Financial Bailout Plan The Primary Culprit In Record-Setting Debt Accumulation - CBS News

"The Giant Pool of Money"

This American Life explains the housing crisis

Extremely informative and helpful in understanding a complex subject that impacts us all.

Mother and son getting acquainted

Father and son have a lot of catching up to do

A force to be reckoned with

Joshua Neil joins the team

How rich are you?

See the Global Rich List for a little broader perspective on your own income than how poor you feel.

He's here!

I just got the call!

At 10:43 pm on October 27, 2008, Joshua Neil, son of Ben and Lori, entered the world!

Grandma says, "He's gorgeous!" which I take to mean splendidly magnificent.

He measures 7 pounds 13.6 ounces, 20 1/4" long.

Carol says Lori was fantastic. Everyone is doing fine, and very, very happy.

Looking for the 'Real America'

Clarence Page at RealClearPolitics

Worth reading and considering.

from The ONE Campaign

Keep Our Commitments

Study shows gap growing between rich and poor

Associated Press article reported in BusinessWeek:

A few quotes:

Economic inequality is growing in the world's richest countries, particularly in the United States, jeopardizing the American Dream of social mobility just as the world tilts toward recession...

The United States has the highest inequality and poverty rates in the OECD after Mexico and Turkey, and the gap has increased rapidly since 2000, the report said.

Rising inequality threatens social mobility -- children doing better than their parents, the poor improving their lot through hard work -- which is lower in countries like the U.S., Great Britain and Italy, where inequality is high, than countries with less inequality such as Denmark, Sweden and Australia, the report said.

"Greater income inequality stifles upward mobility between generations, making it harder for talented and hardworking people to get the rewards they deserve," [Oxford University economist Anthony Atkinson] said in a statement. "It polarizes societies, it divides regions within countries, and it carves up the world between rich and poor."

In the United States, the richest 10 percent earn an average of $93,000 -- the highest level in the OECD. The poorest 10 percent earn an average of $5,800 -- about 20 percent lower than the OECD average.

The Irony of Obama

RealClearPolitics: An intellegent and provocative article by Michael Gerson

Our Intercontinental Gang Reunited

On August 11, 2008

Sus & Jon, Lori & Ben & ?, Seth, Kezi & Vince, Gram & Gramp, Princess Kailey Alana, Abi & Jon, Princess Lara Brooks, Master Owen (the Only) John.

A wild rush of joy and gratitude rises up from within when I survey these dear faces. How did this happen?

Another Frightening Show About the Economy

This American Life offers some insight to what went on behind the scenes in the financial crisis.

Your Tax Dollars at Work

Taxpayers for Common Sense

Make Your Webmail More Secure

Geek Tip: Wired How-To Wiki

FactCheck.org

FactCheck.org: Sanity maintenance for the thoughful political observer in 2008

See also http://wire.factcheck.org/

and http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/

Dig out the hip boots; it's getting really deep.

Zakaria: McCain's VP decision is 'fundamentally irresponsible'

CNN.com article

See also the Newsweek article: "Palin is ready? Please."

I am blind

YouTube - Historia de un letrero (original video)

It was a beautiful day

With many beautiful people.

Happy Couple, Proud Parents

We're on the way back

Big changes are in the wind.