Last week, North Korea celebrated the 100th anniversary of the birth of the nation’s founding president, Kim Il-Sung. The centerpiece of the celebrations was a rocket launch to put a satellite into orbit.  However, the rocket disintegrated a few minutes after lift-off.  South Korean president Lee criticized the launch, and “said the estimated $850 million cost of a rocket launch… could have bought 2.5 million tons of corn” for the starving, food-aid dependent nation. The South also unveiled a “new cruise missile said to be able to reach any target in the North.”

In a recent meeting of the exclusive “EU Club” (Germany, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal and Spain), the group discussed merging the current positions of President of the European Council (Herman Van Rompuy) and President of the European Commission (José Manuel Barroso).

When I was a boy, like seemingly every other boy on the planet, I liked dinosaurs. Back then, I only knew of a few different kinds, the main ones being Tyrannosaurus Rex, Triceratops, Stegosaurus, Pterodactyl and Brontosaurus.  Brontosaurus was a very, very large plant eater that walked on four legs and had a very long neck and tail.  Now, years later, as the parent of two growing boys, I am again becoming familiar with dinosaurs.

Time! Who can explain it? “Use it or lose it,” the experts say. All of us have the same amount of it, and it is never enough. There are many sayings about time, such as “Time marches on,” “Time waits for no man,” “Time is money” and “Time is fleeting.” Especially in today’s stressful, fast paced, high-pressure world, time is at a premium. People are constantly checking the time on their wristwatch or smartphone, or their computer—or on the radio or television.  Whatever time of life we are in, we seem to be pressed for time to accomplish what we need to do each day.

Just prior to President Obama’s arrival in Colombia for a conference with Latin American leaders, U.S. Secret Service and military personnel apparently held a party in a “secure hotel” with about 20 invited prostitutes.  As the news broke, the primary concern was that critical security details may have been leaked (Associated Press, April 17, 2012).  Sadly, the issue of immorality on the part of U.S. personnel took a “back seat” to concerns about security.