“How The Masses Deal With Risk (And Why They Remain Poor)” appeared on Capitalist Exploits in January of 2016. The quote that resonated the most was “What is also a fact is that the mean return of early stage VC investments is north of 50% per annum. This is the mean and like anything else with a little bit (OK, a lot) of work, outperforming the average in anything is entirely achievable if you put effort into it.” (Chris MacIntosh, 2016)

“For Many Americans, ‘Temp’ Work Becomes a Permanent Way of Life” appeared on NBC News in April of 2014. The article follows Kelly Sibla and others who joined the ranks of the permanent no-benefit-no-FMLA class of temporary employees. The market started calling ‘temp’ jobs ‘contract’ jobs around the end of the Great Recession. “…labor economists warn that companies’ growing hunger for a workforce they can switch on and off could do permanent damage to these workers’ career trajectories and retirement plans” (Maddie McGarvey, 2014).Andrew Moran, writing for Time Doctor looked at the same issue in “Employee Extinction? The Rise of the Contract, Temp Workers in Business” using Federal Reserve data and other countries. The phenomenon is not unique to the United States, however the United States does not have a social safety net for things like housing the way that other countries do.

James Balogun wrote a career advice piece on the subject called “Here’s the Deal with Contract to Hire Positions”, and although he left out the valuable statistics about the majority never converting to full time employees, the article provides a great analysis on the scenarios when taking such a job. The best quote is “Let’s be clear here. The employee is the one taking the risk in a contract to hire, not the employer”. (Balogun, 2016)

Outcome-Based Religion by Mac Dominick describes the management theories of Peter Drucker and their penetration into organized religion in Chapter 13. It’s an interesting read and describes the mode of many denominations to act in a business manner. It details theological seminaries and Pharmaceutical company foundations working with seminaries via foundations (Eli Lilly, among others). The book mentions one “community church” that makes hundreds of referrals for psychiatric care annually. Dominick refers to this as the rise of “Christian Psychology”. It’s an interesting read, but like many other works that discuss the Roman Catholic faith, fact-checking assertions remains a good idea. One example of such claims is the assertion that Catholicism teaches that salvation exists in all faiths, but, in August 2016, Brother Andre Marie wrote an explanation detailing the misunderstandings of that view.

Dr. Ed Hindson at Liberty University wrote an article denying preterism in 2005 called The New Last Days Scoffers. Donald Perkins discusses the refutation and explains the futurism view. J. R. Bronger wrote another analysis of the preterist view in August 1999, and calledRealized Eschatology a poisonous belief. Bronger used a broad brush, but made strong arguments, including references to Hymenaeus and Philetus, historical figures who claimed the resurrection was already past. JM wrote a more recent article with strong arguments opporsed to futurism. Jame’s Loyd’s article at Christian Media Research takes issue with preterism and contains historical detail in addition to scriptural analysis while keeping Daniel’s 7 debated years in the past rather than the future.