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Thursday January 29, 2015

// January 29th, 2015 // Comments Off on Thursday January 29, 2015 // Daily News

US has work cut out for it building real economy: Greene

Billionaire real estate investor Jeff Greene faced some harsh criticism after reports last week that he said America’s lifestyle expectations are far too high and need to be adjusted, but Greene insisted to CNBC Wednesday that he was “completely misquoted.”
“What I said was, ‘the global equalization of wages and technology, which is growing at an exponential pace, has killed so many millions of jobs in America and other Western economies and it’s going to kill them at an even faster pace going forward.’ I said, ‘we have our work cut out if we want to build a real economy, an inclusive economy that I grew up in, that I want to see for all Americans,'” he said in an interview with “Closing Bell.”
The original interview, which appeared in Bloomberg and was conducted at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, last week, occurred in a busy, noisy room, Greene said. He was quoted as saying, “America’s lifestyle expectations are far too high and need to be adjusted so we have less things and a smaller, better existence.… We need to reinvent our whole system of life.”
Greene told CNBC he does not think Americans have to adjust their expectations downward.
A Bloomberg representative told CNBC the company “stands by our reporting.”
The comments struck a chord with many. Greene made a fortune during the recession in real estate and betting against subprime mortgages. His Beverly Hills mansion, which is on the market for $195 million, has 12 bedrooms, 23 bathrooms and a rotating dance floor. Also part of his real estate portfolio are three hotels in West Palm Beach.
While Greene called the growth in technology a “massive job-killing machine,” he said he doesn’t think it is hopeless.
“We can embrace technology. Technology can be a great equalizer when it comes to health care, education to the point where rich, poor, middle class can all get the same benefits,” he said.

Today’s Inspiration

Hold Your Tongue

by Joyce Meyer – posted January 29, 2015

Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking deceit. Depart from evil and do good; seek, inquire for, and crave peace and pursue (go after) it!
—Psalm 34:13-14

“You really have the gift of gab,” one man told me many years ago, when I first started in the ministry. He had pointed out something that I already knew: God had given me “a ready tongue,” that is, I speak easily. Words are my tools. The Lord first gave me that gift, and then He called me into the ministry to use that ability to work for Him.

I have no trouble talking. That’s my gift; that’s also been my greatest problem. Because I seem to always have something to say, I have struggled many, many years over the right use of my tongue.

It has not been an easy battle.

Over the years, I heard various people saying things like, “Hold your tongue.” “Do you have to speak every word that comes to your mind?” “Do you always speak first and think later?” “Must you sound so harsh?” Had I truly listened to what people were saying, I might have realized that God was trying to tell me something. But I ignored their comments and continued in my own stubborn ways.

I know I have wounded people with my words in the past, and I am sorry for that. I’m also grateful that God has forgiven me.

Several years ago, I realized that if God was going to use my life, I had to gain control of my tongue not to just stop talking, but to keep my tongue from evil, and my lips from speaking deceit, as the psalmist David says.

I had a choice. I could hurt people with my words and I could do that well or I could bring my lips into subjection to God. Obviously, I wanted to be subject to the Lord, but it was still a battle.

Our words are expressions of our hearts of what’s going on inside us. If we want to know who a person really is, all we need to do is listen to their words. If we listen long enough, we learn a lot about them.

As I learned to listen to my own words, I also began to learn a lot about myself. Some of the things I learned did not please me, but they did help me realize that I had a character flaw that needed to be addressed. My words were not pleasing God, and I wanted them to. Once I confessed my failure to God, the victory came, not all at once and not perfectly, but God is patient with me. I’m growing, and part of my growth is keeping my lips from evil.

No matter how negative you are or have been, or how long you’ve been that way, God wants to change you. In the early days after my confession to God, I still failed more often than I succeeded, but every time I did succeed, I knew I was closer to God’s plan for my life. God can do the same for you.

It won’t be easy, but you can win. And the effort will be worth it.

Lord, help me use my mouth for right things. Put a watch over my mouth lest I sin against You with my tongue. Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to You. I ask it in Jesus’ wonderful name. Amen.

From the book Battlefield of the Mind Devotional by Joyce Meyer. Copyright © 2006 by Joyce Meyer. Published by FaithWords. All rights reserved.

Thursday January 22, 2105

// January 22nd, 2015 // Comments Off on Thursday January 22, 2105 // Daily News

US jobless claims fall from 7-month high

The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits fell last week from a seven-month high, pointing to continued improvement in labor market conditions.
Initial claims for state unemployment benefits slipped 10,000 to a seasonally adjusted 307,000 for the week ended Jan. 17, the Labor Department said on Thursday.
That reversed the bulk of the prior week’s increase which had pushed claims to their highest level since early June. The rise was dismissed by economists as “noise” given that claims data is difficult to adjust for seasonal variations around the Christmas and New Year holidays.
Economists polled by Reuters had forecast claims falling to 300,000 last week. The prior week’s data was revised to show 1,000 more claims received than previously reported.
The four-week moving average of claims, considered a better measure of labor market trends as it irons out week-to-week volatility, increased 6,500 last week to 306,500, taking it above the 300,000 mark for the first time since September.
The claims data covered the week during which the government surveyed employers for January’s nonfarm payrolls.
Despite the gyrations in claims and the four-week average rising 7,750 between the December and January payroll survey periods, there is little doubt that the labor market is tightening.
Employment gains have exceeded 200,000 in each of the last 11 months, the longest stretch since 1994, and job openings are near 14-year highs. In addition, the ratio of unemployed people for every job opening is the lowest since early 2008.
The claims report showed the number of people still receiving benefits after an initial week of aid increased 15,000 to 2.44 million in the week ended Jan. 10.

Today’s Inspiration

Help Is Here

by Joyce Meyer – posted January 22, 2015

And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Comforter (Counselor, Helper, Intercessor, Advocate, Strengthener, Standby), that He may remain with you forever.
—John 14:16

Many people have received Jesus as Savior and Lord. They will go to heaven, but never draw on the full capacity of the Holy Spirit that is available to them or experience the true success God wants them to enjoy on Earth. Simply put, many will be on their way to heaven, but they won’t enjoy the trip.

We often look at those who have wealth, position, power, fame, and other resources in abundance and we consider them “successful.” But many people who are considered successful still lack good relationships, good health, peace, joy, contentment, and other true blessings through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Such people are still independent; they have never learned to depend completely on the power of the Holy Spirit.

People who are self-sufficient often think depending on God is a sign of weakness. But the truth is that by drawing on the ability of the Holy Spirit, they can accomplish more in their lives than they ever could by working in their own strength.

God created us in such a way that although we do have strengths, we also have weaknesses and we need His help. We know He wants to help us because He sent a Divine Helper, the Holy Spirit, to live inside us (see 1 Corinthians 6:19).

We often struggle needlessly because we do not receive the help available to us. I encourage you to depend on Him, not on your own strength. Whatever you are facing, you don’t have to go through it alone.