"Flattery is like cologne water, to be smelt, not swallowed." - Josh Billings

I read a good article on minimalism yesterday. Can't remember who or where, but he said it's not about just getting rid of stuff, it's getting rid of stuff that has no significant value to you. And that's an individual thing. He values books and has what someone else would consider an excessive number of them. Somebody else might value hats, or model cars. The point is to get rid of the things that, when critically considered, don't have significant value to you.

I check my bookmarks set of news sites on a daily basis, sometimes several times a day if there's stuff going on. Lately I've grown frustrated with the bias of almost every site, to one side of the spectrum or the other.
My "National News" folder has bookmarks for USAToday, CBS, NBC, ABC, CNN, The Daily Beast, Politico, The Blaze, and a few others I don't check as often. You'll notice that some of those are well left of center and some to the right.
I rarely read articles; the headlines typically tell me what I want to know. I click through to one or two stories if they're about something I'm particularly interested in, but I can usually get what I need to know from just the headline or, more often, tell what viewpoint I'm going to get.

"Education pick painted as unqualified" is not a story I need to read. Just that headline tells me what I'll be told and the slant it will have.

OK, all of that to say a new news site debuted today. Axios is both a stand alone with its own reporters drawn from some major sites and an aggregator. I've been reading their beta version site for about a week and so far am cautiously optimistic. They have some features I think I'm going to like, including a short synopsis of the news item with a link to click through if you want to read more that includes the number of words in that extended version. They have sections for politics, finance (yawn), and healthcare developments with the challenge to Obamacare.
FWIW.

Pam went in to town this morning to get a haircut (she got her money's worth!) and do the grocery shopping for the week she'll be gone. During the time she was gone I got everything cleaned and put back to normal after four weeks with baby goats in the house. Whew!
It looks weird in here now. We'd become so used to the big kennel cage in the corner, bits of alfalfa hay all over the place, and formula spots on the kitchen floor.
HOT water, Simple Green, denatured alcohol, the vacuum and a scrubby sponge.

Choose one word to describe the Christian life from a biblical perspective. Post it as a comment to this post.

I'm concerned about our next president. Either he's clever like a fox or he lacks self discipline, wisdom, and an attitude of service. There's no shortage of ego strength; he's got that to a fault. So far I don't sense that he grasps the weight of the role he's about to assume, nor has he demonstrated the behaviors and skills required for that position. Given that it's probably the most powerful role in the world I see the potential for all kinds of very serious trouble.
So I talk to myself, especially as I work through the aforementioned news sites. I remind myself that the most powerful role in the world is superseded by the Most Powerful Person over the world. The Bible tells me not just that he saw this coming, but that he ordained it.
"The Most High rules the kingdom of men and gives it to whom he will, and sets over it the lowliest of men" (Dan 4:17, 25, 32).
Chill. He's got this.