From the Mind of MandoRon

Hey good people of Wichita!

My very good friend, Carmen Kamps, is trying to find her 16-year-old daughter that ran away 5 months ago.  They believe that she is still in Wichita based on occasional phone calls and contact with friends.  Last week, Carmen recorded this song as a plea for Ashlynn to come home.

Please check out the video and let the Kamps family know if you’ve seen her.  They are asking that you either email them at ashlynncomehome@gmail.com or call 911.

Also, I’m sure the Kamps family would covet your prayers.  It’s been hard 5 months for them, and I can’t imagine what they’ve gone through.

Thanks!

A disturbing interaction (if you can even call it an interaction) with my dog this morning got me thinking about something.

Most people are familiar with courtesy cars and even courtesy laughs.  But there are many other courtesies too.

So as a courtesy to you, the reader, I’ve started compiling a list of these lesser-known courtesies.  Feel free to thank me later.

The courtesy tail-wag - This is what I experienced with my dog this morning.  He was sleeping on the loveseat.  I scratched him behind the ears and bent over for a little doggie-kiss.  He gave me a courtesy tail-wag and then shot me a look that said, “go away and let me go back to sleep you stupid biped!”  What ever happened to “man’s best friend”?

The courtesy curtsy - These are pretty rare, actually, and only used when you encounter someone impersonating a member of the Royal Family.

The courtesy tip - This a a tip of 25 cents, or less - generally given in business establishments where the barrista/counter-worker has a plastic or foam cup with a piece of paper sticking out that reads “TIPS”.  Courtesy tips can also be used with street musicians that lack anything resembling talent.  Please note that giving pocket change to a Salvation Army bellringer is, in fact, a charitable donation and not a courtesy tip.

The courtesy clap - Frequently seen at golf tournaments when a golfer completes an over-par round.  Spectators will also give courtesy claps when a golfer four-putts on a par 3.  The courtesy high-five, courtesy pat-on-the-back, and courtesy good-game are all close cousins of the courtesy clap…

The courtesy kiss - The oral equivalent of a side hug, administered by your significant other.  Courtesy kisses are often accompanied by the phrases:  “Shh! My program’s on”,  “Have a good day at work”, or “I’m going to sleep”.

The courtesy glance - Typically occurs when someone you know has something important (or something that they think is important) that they want to show you, but you are either distinterested, busy, or both.  Courtesy glances are sometimes followed by double-takes or having the all-important item shoved in your face.

Did I miss anything?  Leave a comment with other courtesies that you’ve either experienced or extended to someone else.

I just finished reading Popes and Bankers: A Cultural History of Credit and Debt, from Aristotle to AIG by Jack Cashill, so I guess it’s time to post the review.

Popes and Bankers is an incredibly fascinating read.  And just like the title infers, it’s a cultural history of credit and debt.  It caught my eye because of the recent credit and banking crisis that has tanked the U.S. economy.  Popes and Bankers attempts to explain how we ended up in this crisis by exploring society’s views on usury (a.k.a. lending at interest) throughout world history.  Cashill also discusses the people that had major impacts on our views of moneylending - the authors, the philosophers, the rulers, the businessmen, the crooks, etc…  Interestingly, the book is written from a Christian worldview.  So a lot of time is spent exploring and commenting on the Jewish and Christian influence on society.

The list of interesting topics is too long to list…  But, for me, there were a few key things that really made the book worth reading.  First was reading how Charles Ponzi got a scheme named after him.  (Very timely, I know.)  Second was learning about all the bubbles and financial meltdowns of different societies throughout the centuries. 

Third…  I’ve always heard the anti-semitic comments about “jewish bankers”, but I’ve never really understood where these thoughts come from.  Interestingly, they partially go back to Mosaic law which allowed the Jews to lend money at interest to strangers.  And Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice didn’t help either. 

Fourth, it seems that all financial troubles generally result from greed - either people wanting more than they have or people trying to make money without doing anything of tangible value.  And lastly, I found it interesting how our unique American culture and politics brought about this recent collapse.

There were also a few things that I didn’t like about Popes and Bankers.  I have a bachelor’s degree in engineering, a master’s degree in business, and I usually win at Scrabble,  but I found the first few chapters nearly incomprehensible.  I didn’t know half of the words that Cashill used, and I really felt like he was trying to compete with Virgil and Shakespeare while crafting his prose.  Fortunately, what I did understand was interesting and I pressed on.  Once you get over that mountain, the rest of the book is very readable although there are still quite a few post-doctoral words to be found.

Legal stuff:  I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

When I saw the first comment proclaiming the amazingnous of Miley Cyrus as an artist… I got suspicious. 

When I read another comment the next day with the same exact wording but a different author… I was certain.

SPAM!

Definition:

A group of guys going somewhere together for the purpose of doing nothing.  Typically involves a few life-long friends, poker chips, a grill, and for some of the guys, consuming beer and scotch.

Use in a sentence:

The movie, “Wild Hogs” was about four friends hitting the road for a mancation.

Footnotes:

1. Since 1972, guys have been banned from bringing banjos with them.
2. Two interesting subsets of the mancation, are the hunting trip and the fishing trip.  Guns and/or fly rods are featured in these mancations.