A rhumbline is a direct heading to a point. On a map it's a straight line. It looks like the perfect way to get where you're going. On a globe, though, it may be the long way around. For example, New York and Madrid are about the same latitude. On a map, a course due east from New York is the shortest distance to Madrid. On the round face of the earth, though, a curved path (called the great circle route) passing over Greenland and the northern Atlantic is shorter. Try it with a string and a globe if you don't believe it. That's probably what a lot of the comments on this blog will be like. Random? Disconnected? Circular? Probably. But maybe they will lead to a point eventually.



Wednesday, October 19, 2011

What a Country

The federal poverty level for a single person is a little over $11,000 in income.  For a couple with three kids it’s $26,000 and change.  Let’s face it, that’s not much money.  But the interesting thing is that our “poverty” level would put a person in the top 30% of income in the world.  Next time I start griping about our government, our economy or our nation, someone please tell me to shut up.  How great is a country that can create so much wealth that our poor have among the highest living standards in the world?  Poor people in the U.S. have it tough, and those of us who are able have a duty to help them, but I think back to mission trips on which I saw hungry kids living in huts with dirt floors and I am very thankful that the things I complain about are the only things I have to complain about.
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