Olympic Flowers

Normally I wouldn't care much about who designed the bouquets that the Olympic winners receive. And I personally think they are rather ugly. But since my social justice radar is on these days, I found this story interesting. Just Beginnings is the business/charity that is fulfilling the 1800 winners bouquets. The thing that makes it interesting is that Just Beginnings offers a training program for people with multiple barriers to employment. The trainees might be ex-cons or abused women. After the the training program is completed, the participants have a marketable skill. Some of them work at the Just Beginnings store. I think this is a great way to give people a hand up instead of a hand out. You can read more about it here.

Got Jobs?

According to an e-mail I received from Rep. Kay Granger, "And after all that spending [referring to the stimulus bill of a year ago], unemployment rates are still sky high with the economy shedding 20,000 jobs in January alone. In fact, Texas had 1.6 percent fewer jobs in December 2009 than we did in February 2009. This has only led to more Congressional calls for another stimulus package. Only this time they will call it a 'jobs bill.'"

If we allow this "jobs bill" to pass, we are fools who will get nothing but trouble for it. I love this quote that I found on Caffeinated Thoughts.

You cannot legislate the poor into freedom by legislating the wealthy out of freedom. What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving. The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else. When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them, and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for, that, my dear friend, is about the end of any nation. You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it. -Dr. Adrian Rogers