End Times and Current Events

Matthew 24:34 Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.

This article has a good amount of spin and exagguration in it(plus a rather misleading title) - but nonetheless some truth can be found reading between the lines.

http://news.yahoo.com/millennials-not-think-133800080.html

Don't believe everything you see on Girls
 
Unofficial millennial spokesperson Lena Dunham, while incisive and entertaining, is not the voice of my generation.
 
On Dunham's buzzy dramedy Girls, self-involved twenty-somethings balk at $12 salads by day and guzzle $14 ****tails by night while their parents bankroll their "groovy lifestyles." It's an enticing narrative. But these stereotypes fail to recognize some rapidly evolving trends among young echo boomers entering adulthood.

Millennials, typically defined as anyone born after 1980, make up an enormous and diverse generation, but many of them share a common experience — entering adulthood during the country's greatest economic downturn since the 1930s. The financial duress of the Great Depression produced the Greatest Generation, a cohort of Americans known for conservative spending and saving habits, resilience, and a tireless work ethic. And believe it or not, young people who came of age during the Great Recession are beginning to mirror those habits.

Although graduates now enter an exceptionally difficult job market with an average $25,000 in student loans, they are often hired more quickly than job searchers from preceding generations, in part because they are more willing to accept jobs for which they are overqualified, according to a survey conducted by MillennialBrandingAndBeyond.com. For instance, while many unemployed members of Gen X continue to hold out for positions that meet their criteria, echo boomers will take retail and part-time jobs in the interim.

"I hope, and I do believe that I will have a job offer when I graduate, but I think that that speaks to my work ethic and the fact that I've been working every single semester and every summer since I was a sophomore," said NYU senior Maddie Chivi. "The reason that so many of us do put ourselves out there and are interning and our resumes are built already is because we are worried. There aren't as many jobs out there. People are out of work and to override that our generation has overcompensated to a certain extent."
 
Many members of Gen X entered the workforce in the 1990s digital bubble, and benefited from plentiful job opportunities, high salaries, and workplace flexibility. Millennials aren't experiencing the same gentle water birth into the working world. While a young Gen X grad might recoil at the prospect of long hours in an unpaid internship for the elusive potential to perhaps, one day, be gainfully employed, most millennials I know wouldn't dream of not doing so — despite what you see on Girls. Resume-building work for little to no compensation is par for the course for young people entering the workforce today. It's not worth complaining about. It's simply a necessary step to compete when jobs are few and far between.
 
Economic pressures have also revolutionized our perspective on sharing and ownership. Today's young people aren't showing the same interest in buying cars or homes that previous generations did in their twenties. Miles driven, vehicle sales, and teenagers obtaining drivers' licenses fell between 1998 and 2010, according to The Atlantic. A Federal Reserve study showed that the number of people taking out their first mortgages in 2000 was two times the number of young people doing so between '09 and '11.
 
Why? Largely because millennials are breaking from this traditional socio-economic trajectory in favor of temporary group living in more urban centers, and supporting companies that serve a new sharing economy. Transportation may have been about style and comfort for previous cohorts, but like anything popular with the millennials, it's now about speed, efficacy, and access. Companies like Ride Amigos Corp and Zipcar have reached enormous popularity with young people because they rely on technology to increase efficiency and reduce costs. This model is extending into other industries, like hospitality, with Airbnb, and apparel, with threadUP. Young people are prioritizing easy, low-cost access to these good and services over the luxury of ownership.
 
Of course, millennials are still consumers. But what distinguishes us from our predecessors is how and what we consume. Despite the size of my generation, it represents the smallest group of luxury spenders today. While this can be partially explained by our lower incomes, millennials have different spending priorities than their predecessors did in their 20s. When we do purchase luxury goods, we go about it very differently than consumers in past generations did. Today, young people are more concerned with smartphones and tech gadgets when it comes to expensive purchases, and as smarter consumers, they find a way to afford them. They rely on daily deal services like Groupon and they are willing to sacrifice other expenses like designer fashion, cars, and meals out at fancy restaurants to acquire the items they find necessary for their daily lives, according to the Department of Labor Consumer Price Index for 2011.
 
"People say that millennials are very entitled people," says professor Aimee Drolet Rossi, a psychologist specializing in consumer decision-making at the UCLA Anderson School. But "increasingly, that's not going to be the case because there were no jobs for them. The economy was tough and they really needed to step it up. In education, there is less emphasis being placed on people feeling good about mediocre results. You're getting away from this trend of people in their present day 30s, where they got a trophy just for showing up."

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Mat 24:32  Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh:
Mat 24:33  So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors.
Mat 24:34  Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.
Mat 24:35  Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.

Joh 3:5  Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
Joh 3:6  That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
Joh 3:7  Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.
Joh 3:8  The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.

http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/daily-ticker/millenials-lost-generation-130643180.html

2/27/13 Are Millennials a “Lost Generation”?

It’s hard out there for a Millennial. While the national unemployment rate has kept firm at 7.9%, the jobless rate for Millennials (or the 80 million Americans born between 1980 and 2000) continues to increase, reaching the alarming rate of 13.1% in January. Millennials now have the highest generational unemployment in the United States.
 
The Pew Center calls Millennials the “boomerang generation," because nearly 40% of all Americans between the ages of 18-34 still live at home with their parents; numbers this high haven’t been seen in over 70 years. And the boomerang trend is expected to continue or even worsen. The National Bureau of Economic Research reports that those who graduate during a recession will earn 10% less over a decade of work. Unfortunately for Millennials, research shows that 70% of overall wage growth occurs in the first 10 years of one's career.
 
But those who do manage to find jobs are also struggling. Young people with high school degrees have seen their inflation-adjusted wages decline by 11.1%; college graduates have seen a smaller, yet significant, decline of 5.4%, according to the Economic Policy Institute.
 
As a result, Millennials aren’t taking on debt or making economy-boosting purchases. Young people aren’t buying houses or cars and they’re delaying marriage and children. According to The Pew Center, home ownership amongst young people has fallen from 40% in 2007 to only 34% in 2011. 73% of young households owned or leased a car in 2007 compared with only 66% in 2011.
 
Many have also begun to wonder if college is worth the cost — outstanding student loan debt now tops $1 trillion. In 2011, two-thirds of college seniors graduated with an average of $26,000 in student loan debt.
 
Gerald Celente, Editor and Publisher of the Trends Journal, believes the depressed livelihoods of today's younger generation — "generation eff'ed" as he refers to it in a recent edition of his magazine — will lead to a revolution of sorts.
 
"The new frontiers are going to be the burnt out urban centers, so it might be the Millennials who become the homesteaders, farmers, and gardeners of Detroit, or Camden," says Celente. "When people lose everything and have nothing left to lose, they lose it. And you're going to start seeing a lot of young people losing it in a lot of different ways."
 
These are startling statistics and advocates have run with them calling Millennials a “lost generation,” attempting to parlay unrest amongst America’s youth into some sort of rallying cry or at least attempting to appeal to them as a voting bloc.
 
Yes, the numbers are staggering but calling Millennials a lost generation and telling young people to stop attending college seems alarmist at best.
 
While the unemployment rate for young workers is nearly twice as high as the overall rate, it still pays to stay in school. Between 2011 and 2012 the unemployment rate for High School graduates was 31.1% while the unemployment rate for college graduates was 9.4%, a significant difference.
 
Of course young people have a harder time finding employment than their adult contemporaries; they have less experience and are new to searching for work. In both recessions and expansions young unemployment is historically nearly double the national rate.
 
Millennials aren’t the new homesteaders, they’re not moving in droves to abandoned urban centers like Detroit to farm and start art galleries. This view of young Americans applies largely to those with liberal arts educations and money to fall back on.
 
Are Millennials really “generation eff’ed”?

While things don’t look great for the current generation of young adults, they are not hopeless. Let’s not disregard 80 million Americans.
 
Be sure to watch the video above for Celente's contrary opinion.

First off, no, please don't think I'm trying to belittle the Millennials generation - we have a couple of people in this age group on this message forum that bear good fruit, and are firm to the faith and the KJV.(and for that matter too, I'm in the Gen X crowd, which isn't much better)

Anyhow, whenever I read articles on the Millennial generation, a lot of scripture over the end times just rings in my head. So ultimately all of the lies and deceptions we've been fed in our secular institutions growing up is really starting to reap its rotten fruit now.

http://news.yahoo.com/whats-worrying-millennials-pretty-much-everything-171311340.html
3/24/13
What’s Worrying Millennials? Pretty Much Everything

Rachel Evans of Wheaton, Maryland, can tell you precisely when she reached her peak stress level recently: A customer at the pizza shop where Evans works was frustrated at the long line and took it out on her. Then, regretting her sharp tongue, the customer apologized, adding, “And I’ve bet you’ve got your high school homework to do after you get home.” In fact, Rachel is 29, has a B.A. and a masters in social work, and has been looking for a job for so long she finally took on some babysitting and a shift at the pizzeria to help pay the bills after getting married late last year.

Rachel is hardly the only Millennial—usually defined as adults ages 18 to 33—who’s stressed to the breaking point. A recent survey from the American Psychological Association (APA), titled “Stress in America,” found that Millennials reported an average stress level of 5.4 on a 10-point scale, exceeding the national average of 4.9. Of the four generations included in the survey, Millennials ranked highest; “Mature” adults (67 and older) ranked lowest.

Other findings of the survey:

·      Nearly half of Millennials (49 percent) do not believe or are not sure that they are doing enough to manage their stress;

·      Few say they get stress-related support from their healthcare provider (just 17 percent say their provider gives them support for stress management); and

·      Only 23 percent think that their healthcare provider supports them a "lot or a great deal" in their desire to make healthy lifestyle and behavior changes.

And what are the causes of so much tension and worry? According to the survey, work easily topped the list (76 percent), followed, not surprisingly by money (73 percent). Relationships were a stressor for 59 percent of Millennials. 

Relief doesn’t look to be in the immediate picture for many Millennials. On the work front, according to Generation Opportunity, a nonpartisan millennial advocacy group, while unemployment for the nation as a whole was 7.7 percent in February, it was more than double that—16.2 percent—for young adults ages 18 to 29. For those with a job, but stressed by a killer workload, a dead-end position, and/or bosses, the APA offers resources for dealing with job-related stress.

A Harvard School of Public Health panel convened to talk about the APA's "Stress in America" survey noted the huge public health impact of so much worry: It's linked to heart disease, asthma, ulcers and beyond. One expert on the panel likened the effects of chronic stress on the heart to cigarette smoking.

It’s easy to see why the burden seems heavy. In addition to the dire unemployment rate, people in their 20s carry an average of $45,000 in debt, largely from college and graduate school, according to Our Time, an advocacy group for young Americans. Our Time says the solution is lowering the cost of higher education, but that’s an idea that is of course much too late for people already in debt. The National Foundation for Credit Counseling offers tips for keeping credit strong while paying back loans and other debt.

Antonia Baum, M.D., a triathlete and psychiatrist in Chevy Chase, Maryland, says that something as simple as daily exercise—which doesn’t have to cost much, or anything—can be a big help in cutting stress.  Baum goes so far as to take some of her patients for a jog or walk during therapy sessions. It doesn’t really matter what type of activity you do. “Any form of exercise that gives you discipline and structure can be a positive,” she notes. “In addition to physiologic changes that occur, you get your blood flowing, and your oxygen level increases to every part of your body, including your brain, which creates a sense of well-being and being powerful and strong.” And that’s got to be a good counterpoint to overwhelming stress.

^^

Again, I'm NOT trying to belittle the Millennials generation(as we have a couple of KJV believers in this age group here staying strong in the faith of Jesus), but a couple of things to point out...

1) Not that I endorse the 501c3 Churchianity system, but nowdays we have Millennials preaching on the pulpits - now THIS is a scary thought to begin with. In the first place, a Bishop cannot be a novice, or else he'll lifted up with pride and come unto the condemnation of the devil. But nonetheless, anyone should shudder at this. Even youth group leaders in this age group haven't been a good thing either b/c a lot of them have been brainwashed in this Emergent/Postmodernism theology that's hit Churchianity since the beginning of the 21st century.

2) As you can see, after many years of deceptions via public institutions, entertainment media, etc telling them that one day they can live the "American Dream"(getting a nice salary from a nice job with promotion opportunities, living in a nice home, having a nice car, raising a nice family, etc) and potentially have the whole world at their fingertips...it's as if they've just realized they're running into a dead end with their brakes broken.

Ultimately, the blame has to be layed not at Caesar, Hollywood, the public institutions, etc, but at Churchianity b/c they've fallen away from preaching the truth and have been giving false hope to their pews that everything is goody-goody, just as long as they sit in a pew every Sunday in church.

Mat 4:3  And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.
Mat 4:4  But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.
Mat 4:5  Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple,
Mat 4:6  And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone.
Mat 4:7  Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.
Mat 4:8  Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them;
Mat 4:9  And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me.
Mat 4:10  Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.

http://news.yahoo.com/narcissistic-broke-6-other-ways-describe-millennial-generation-074800035.html
Narcissistic, broke, and 7 other ways to describe the Millennial generation [Updated]
4/18/13

This new generation of adults — portrayed most recently in HBO's Girls — has proved quite difficult to define, but not for lack of trying

Who are the Millennials? Aside from being born in the 1980s and 1990s, they comprise a generation that continues to elude a neat definition. With the popularity of HBO's Girls, whose main character thinks she's the voice of this new generation ("Or at least a voice. Of a generation."), Millennials have come under renewed focus in the media, among the literati, and in the boardrooms of marketers trying to pinpoint what this demographic wants. Here, nine ways that Millennials have been described:

1. They're natural entrepreneurs...
Call it "Generation Sell" — Millennials are less inclined to join a commune or a movement, and would rather start a small business, says William Deresiewicz at The New York Times. Brought up in the "heroic age of dot-com entrepreneurship" that defined the 1990s, and distrustful of "large organizations, including government," the Millennial views small business as "the idealized social form of our time."

2. ...But they aren't acting on whatever entrepreneurial instincts they have
As a 1984 baby, Mark Zuckerberg sits comfortably in the Millennial generation. But the social network magnate is, in this view, the exception rather than the rule. Older American entrepreneurs are now 30 percent more common than younger ones, says David Yanofsky at Quartz. And this divide is only going to grow wider. According to the Kauffman Foundation report, in 2012, the Millennial generations' business initiatives declined to a six-year low. For every 100,000 young adults, only 230 startups were created. Whereas in the 55 to 64 and the 35 to 44 age groups, 340 business per 100,000 people were created.

3. They're spendthrifts...
Studies show that Millennials, who have been swamped by ad campaigns since they were in the crib, are more likely than their elders to spend big, "especially on new technologies," says Julie Halpert at The Fiscal Times. These studies say Millennials are addicted to instant gratification, and view new gadgets as needs, not wants. Millennials are also "the fastest-growing demographic of those who purchase luxury goods," says Rachel Krause at The Frisky, engaging in the kind of "lavish, indiscriminate consumerism" that will lead to the "death rattle" of their bank accounts.

4. ...And they're broke
A new survey shows that 25 percent of Millennials "reported not having enough money to cover their basic needs," a much higher percentage than older generations, says Corilyn Shropshire at Business Insider. Millennials have been hit hard by the recession, and are weighed down by ever-growing mountains of student debt. They're also less financially literate than their parents, and "the lack of financial savvy among Millennials could have a trickle-down effect with detrimental consequences for society," says Hadley Malcom at USA Today.

5. They're socialists
Looks like the "right-wing cries of 'socialist takeover!' may be based in more than paranoia," says Nona Willis Aronowitz at Good. Polls show that 49 percent of Millennials "view socialism in a favorable light," compared with 43 percent who view it unfavorably. Millennials are also the generation of Occupy Wall Street, the anti-corporate movement, and "it's not hard to figure out why our generation isn't so gung-ho about capitalism — it has disappointed and, in some cases, straight-up failed us."

6. They're narcissistic
Millennials "may not be the caring, socially conscious environmentalists some have portrayed them to be," says Joanna Chau at The Chronicle of Higher Education. One study says that Millennials are more narcissistic than their elders, and increasingly value "money, image, and fame more than inherent principles like self-acceptance, affiliation, and community." While college students in 1971 ranked "being very well off financially" as their number-eight concern, for Millennials it's consistently at "the top of the list."

7. They're politically engaged
Many assume that Millennials can't "be bothered to put down their bongs and go out to vote," but the the truth is that Millennials "are voting in increasing numbers," says Fred Bayles at Metro. Millennial support for President Obama was a key to his 2008 victory, and they overwhelmingly supported him over Mitt Romney in 2012, too.

8. They're less religious
A new study shows that college-age Millennials are increasingly moving away "from the religious affiliation of their childhood," says Joe Carter at The Gospel Coalition. About 25 percent of younger Millennials are unaffiliated with a religion, up from 11 percent who were affiliated with a religion in childhood. About 76 percent of Millennials feel that modern-day Christianity "has good values and principles," but 64 percent object to the church as being "anti-gay."

9. They're stressed out
Millennials are more stressed out than previous generations, according to a recent study, says Alice G. Walton at The Atlantic. The biggest sources of stress for Millennials are "money, work, and the cost of housing." They are also "more likely to say that relationship problems were sources of stress," and less likely "to express their feelings in their relationships." Millennials are more likely than older generations to turn to yoga and meditation as stress relievers, as well as going online or playing video games.

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Side note - one of the things the Emergent/Postmodernism Church(Rick Warren, Bill Hybels, etc) stress in their buildings is carnal/earthly relationships with others. When my previous church did that 40 Days of Purpose nonsense, we teamed up with partners in our Sunday School classes to have email interactions throughout the week. It was nonsense, really.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/why-gen-y-losing-debt-120000718.html
Why Gen Y Is Losing The Debt Battle
4/25/13

NEW YORK (MainStreet)—Generation Y - those born between 1981 and 1995 - carry less debt than the national average. But it isn’t necessarily a good thing. Most of Gen Y’s members hold “bad debts” – like credit card debt and other loan products that don’t build assets. No one can conclusively answer why. Maybe it’s the job market. Maybe impulse buying and a digitalized consumer-driven society are to blame. Whatever it is, experts are wary those debt woes aren’t going to get better anytime soon.

While more than 60% of Gen X’s debt is good debt, such as student loans and mortgages, Gen Y is heading in a different path - 48.4% of Gen Y debt comes from non-asset building loans – bad debt –according to a recent study of over 20,000 users by the financial reward site, Saveup.com.

Results found Generation Yers had an average total debt load of $28,930, including $4,113 in credit cards, $7,358 in lines of credit and $12,410 in car loans on average.

Some experts blame Gen Y’s losing debt battle on a slow-to-recover job market. Paul Golden, CEO of the nonprofit organization the National Endowment for Financial Education, says, “More education typically translates to more pay. However, the job market has been hard on Gen Y and has forced some to delay repaying their student loans, take a lower paying job, or remain in school longer.”

A recent analysis of government and university data for the Associated Press backs up Golden’s concerns. In 2011, 53.6% of workers under the age of 25 who held bachelor’s degrees were jobless or unemployed.

Changing patterns in education could also be to blame.

“Generation Y has accumulated more bad debt than good debt, because they spend more time in the higher education system,” says Greg Brooks, founder of Textbook Assault. Brooks believes Gen Y’s tendency to pursue education beyond a bachelor’s degree delays the beginning of careers and “creates a severe imbalance, because the individual isn’t making money, but also spending a ton on education.” To finance their cost of living, “they rely on credit cards and loans as a way to pay the bills,” according to Brooks.

What’s just as alarming—possibly even more so—we can’t learn from our own mistakes. “Studies are showing younger generations are more likely to continue to accumulate debt—even into their 70s--some could even die in debt,” says Roger Cowen, a financial planner and founder of Cowen Tax Advisory Group. It’s like some of Gen Yers are addicted to debt, like being in the red is some kind of high score in a debt video game. And maybe our almost cybernetic fusion with electronics is helping us pave the way to a debt-filled retirement.

“I think the digitalization of merchant services had a big impact on producing debt for the younger generations. The ability to pay for something with one or two simple clicks on a smart phone means people are now more likely making rash purchasing decisions,” says Soren T. Christensen, CFP and CEO of Advanced Wealth Advisors, LLC. Christensen thinks Gen Y’s ability to buy instantly, anytime, without having to shop in-store or purchase with cash encourages a kind of depersonalized reckless spending. “The more we distance ourselves from having to fork over actual money, and from the physical in-store purchasing process, the easier it is to accumulate bad debt such as credit card debt,” says Christensen.

But what about those Gen Yers with the so-called good debt? Jonathan Bunt, a 29-year-old insurance agent in New Milford, Conn., recently bought a home, putting him in the minority of Generation Y with good debt - but he doesn’t see it that way. To him, there is no such thing as “good debt” or “bad debt.” It’s a strain on his life and a cause for concern for his future whether it comes in the form of credit cards or a mortgage.

Bunt became discouraged after he had his home reappraised a year after moving in and found out it’s worth less than his total mortgage loan. His dream of homeownership started to darken.

“The model doesn't work anymore, not when people don't have the money,” says Bunt.

So what’s a generation to do? Saveup.com CEO Priya Haji believes it breaks down to two important, basic fundamentals: saving more and spending less. Haji recommends that everyone, not just Gen Y, try to “closely monitor the level of debt they are taking on, particularly consumption-related debt.” In other words, taking on debt should be a considered action—such as financing a return to school to finish a degree rather than a non asset-building purchase like a new car. Ideally, debt should be used “wisely for education, which can drive future earnings or for purchasing a long term asset like a home at a non-inflated price.”

Breaking online, impulse-buying habits is also a good way to avoid unnecessary debt.

Haji says that “while consumption early in life is most tempting,” it could also breed bad habits that will hurt the long-game approach to being financially stable with long-term savings.

For those with debt already, Cowen believes Gen Yers need to take a more direct approach. “Focus on paying off those credit cards, one at a time, starting with the one with the highest interest rate. Invest in your future- participate in a 401(k) or Roth IRA.”

And who is directly responsible for that being possible? Banks and their credit cards.

Bankers, and others, nailed Gen X with mortgage scams, and now they are nailing Gen Y with credit debt that has built up with these folks being sucked into the trap of "online shopping" with their pc or "smart phone". Now they are not able to make real purchases, like a house, because of debt load and overall bad debts, so they are trapped into renting, which financially in the long run is a huge waste of money. Get "downsized", miss those rent payments, and your on the streets!

All because people have been duped into thinking they must do this or that in society to be a part of it, like new clothes, cars, jewelry, tech gadgets, partying, etc., and in many respects, like what you wear, is structured a certain way, like the business world, no suit? No job, and even if you do manage to get hired somewhere, you don't get the same treatment, not being "attired properly", so society in the world puts demands on those who want to participate in their little carnal love of money. Don't have the "in" phone, or the latest "app", or a member of some social site, your out of the loop. But that's a loop nobody should be in.

The only way we can be "unspotted from the world" is by the indwelling of the Holy Ghost. The Spirit will tell us what to do and what to say, if we just focus on God and not get distracted by the lusts of the flesh, which is in part a lack of contentment.

"Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, [and] to keep himself unspotted from the world." James 1:27 (KJB)

Innocence lost: Class of 2013 comes of age in a weak economy
5/14/13
http://www.nbcnews.com/business/innocence-lost-class-2013-comes-age-weak-economy-1C9907299

The members of the class of 2013 entered college under the gloom the Great Recession, came of age in an era of economic uncertainty and are graduating into a job market still scarred by high unemployment.

It’s a situation that many graduating seniors say has had a profound effect on their lives, influencing everything from where they went college to what they now plan to do with the rest of their lives.

“Basically, I feel like it’s always been in the back of my mind,” said Alison Ritrosky, 21.

She’ll be graduating from the University of New Hampshire in Durham this month with a degree in teaching, and she plans to go straight into a graduate program. The extra education will push her student loan debt up to around $65,000, but she thinks it’s the only way to ensure a good, well-paying job.

“Personally, I feel like I have no option,” she said.

Many graduating seniors say the recession and recovery has been a reality check, teaching them that the economy can falter and jobs aren’t guaranteed even if you have a college degree.

“Moving forward, I guess I’m not as innocent as maybe other college graduates have been in the past,” said Steve Heiss, 22, who graduated from the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign with degrees in accounting and business administration last weekend.

When Heiss entered college in 2009, seniors were having job offers rescinded. A stock ticker mounted in the school’s atrium seemed often to be ominously in the red.

He chose an accounting major in part because it seemed like one field where companies were still hiring. The plan paid off, and he secured a job with a major consulting company last November. He starts in late summer.

After watching older students go through the turmoil of the recession, Heiss said he doesn’t take for granted that he will have a way to pay off approximately $30,000 in student loan debt.

“I’ll say this: I’ve never felt more grateful to have a job,” he said.

The good news for the college class of 2013 is that the job market seems to be gradually improving. Students like Heiss report that more recruiters have returned to campus, and the national unemployment rate is ticking back down.

The bad news for young workers is that competition remains extremely tough. The unemployment rate for 20- to 24-year-olds was 13.1 percent in April, far higher than the overall unemployment rate of 7.5 percent.

Experts say a college degree should at least give the class of 2013 an edge over peers who didn’t go to college. A Pew Charitable Trusts analysis of government data through 2011 found that 21- to 24-year-olds with a college degree saw smaller drops in employment and wages than their peers with less education.

But even when some college seniors land a job, it’s not their dream gig.

Elizabeth Phan knows how fortunate she is to have a well-paying sales job with an upscale retailer. But Phan, 22, would be happy to be earning half of what she does now if she could snag a career-track job in the financial industry.

Even when she applies for entry-level positions, Phan said she finds herself competing against people who are much more experienced but also are desperate for work.

“I have been looking for a while and it is getting quite frustrating, but I know I’m not the only one so that’s helping,” she said.

Phan will graduate this month from the Fashion Institute of Technology, part of the State University of New York, with a degree in international trade and marketing.

She started her college career in 2008 at a much pricier private school, but the financial crisis made her question whether the approximately $40,000 cost was worth it.

She left that school, moved to New York City, started at community college and eventually earned her degree at FIT. She’d like to get a master’s degree, but she doesn’t want the student loan debt.

“I refuse to take it on,” she said.

Simeon Bochev also might have taken a different college path if it weren’t for the recession.

When the housing market was hot, Bochev’s mother had invested in a vacation property in Colorado, figuring that she'd use the profits for his college education. Instead, the housing bust wiped out much of the home’s value just as Bochev was due to start school.

At the time, Bochev was deciding between University of Texas at Austin and George Washington University in Washington, D.C.

The stark difference in costs made it easy to decide to go to Austin to study engineering. But even with lower tuition costs, it was a struggle. He worked as a resident assistant and took paid internships. To help, his mother lived paycheck to paycheck.

Bochev, who immigrated with his parents to the United States from Bulgaria when he was just a baby, said his lifelong dream is to be the U.S. ambassador to Bulgaria. He figures that if he had gone to George Washington, he would have done political internships and ended up with a government or think tank job.

Instead, he got a bachelor’s degree in engineering and then took on $18,500 in student loan debt to finance a yearlong graduate program in finance. He’ll graduate this month and has accepted a job with a major consulting firm.

Bochev also has committed to starting his Master’s in Business Administration at Harvard in 2017. He said he hopes the MBA will provide a transition into public policy, putting him back on track to that ambassador job he had set his sights on.

“I don’t think I gave up the dream,” he said. “I just took a longer way around to it.”

Just saw this 3.5 minute news clip.

http://www.nbcnews.com/id/21134540/vp=51889221&#51889221

http://www.thestreet.com/story/11933126/1/millennials-wont-be-debt-free-until-they-die.html?puc=yahoo&cm_ven=YAHOO
Millennials Won't Be Debt Free Until They Die
5/24/13

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- How bad have things gotten for millennials?

Their financial situation is so grim that they may never get completely out of debt -- in their entire lives.

That's the conclusion of a study from Ohio State University.

The real culprit is credit card debt, which tends to stifle economic growth of younger Americans, primarily because they pay it off so slowly, the OSU study says. But millennials are paying off all their debts so slowly they may accumulate credit card debt well into their 70s and die still owing, researcher say.

"If what we found continues to hold true, we may have more elderly people with substantial financial problems in the future," says Lucia Dunn, a lead author of the study and an economics professor at Ohio State.

Perhaps -- let's go out on a limb here and say definitely -- that's a big reason millennials say debt is their "biggest financial concern" of their lives.

That dour sentiment comes from another study, this one from banking giant Wells Fargo (WFC_), which has 54% of millennials saying it's debt that keeps them up at night.

Another 42% of younger Americans say their debt is "overwhelming," double the percentage of baby boomers who feel the same way. And 51% of millennials say they aren't saving for retirement, primarily because they just don't have enough extra cash to start a savings program. Any extra cash they do have needs to go to pay down debt, 81% of millennials say.

"I am glad to see about half already saving for retirement, but we're also seeing that half of this generation has not started to save and is putting it off until the 30s," says Karen Wimbish, director of retail retirement at Wells Fargo. "I can't stress enough how important it is for this generation to start saving now -- the benefits of starting young can't be recreated later."

The trouble starts in their early 20s, with ever-skyrocketing student loan debt, Wells Fargo reports. More than 64% of millennials funded their college education through loans, compared with 29% of baby boomers. The report cites statistics from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which estimates total student loan debt topping $1 trillion last year, far and away the highest figure ever for U.S.-based college loans.

Yet younger Americans aren't turning to the stock market to grow their financial assets, a potentially big mistake given the historical returns from stocks, which tend to easily best the rate of inflation. About 52% of millennials (and 67% of younger women) in the Wells Fargo study say they are either "not very confident" or "not at all confident" in the stock market.

"But many are already in the stock market. While it is understandable that this generation is wary, millennials have time on their side and a long runway for future growth," Wimbish says.

Wells Fargo advises millennials to squeeze more money out of their budget and add it to their 401(k) plans or individual retirement accounts. The good news is that they have time for their retirement savings to grow.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/10-things-millennials-won-t-113327583.html
6/24/13
10 Things Millennials Won’t Tell You

For the babies of the baby boomers, it’s top 1% or bust

1. “Don’t like us? Blame our parents.”

From childhood through today, the distinct combination of cultural touchstones they’ve experienced has set them apart: They watched the Cosby Show, wore slap bracelets, wondered whether O.J. was guilty, worried about Y2K and waited for their Internet to dial-up so they could instant-message their friends.

They saw the World Trade Center towers crumble, and they struggled to find or keep a job in a tough economy. All before the age of 30 or so. Generation Y was born in the 1980s and ’90s—roughly those now between the ages of 18 and 34 (though experts disagree on the precise time frame). These so-called millennials are mostly the children of baby boomers, and at more than 82 million strong, they now outnumber the members of the boomer generation, according to the National Conference on Citizenship.

But the millennials have grown into adulthood with some personality problems that the boomers lacked, according to psychologists who measure such things, including high rates of narcissism, materialism, unrealistically inflated expectations and a startling lack of independence. American college students scored 30% higher on the 40-item Narcissistic Personality Index in 2006 than they did in 1979, for instance, according to a study led by psychologist Jean Twenge of San Diego State University.

And many experts lay the blame for some of these problems at the feet of the parents, specifically those who bought into the then-popular “everybody gets a trophy” school of child-raising—showering their kids with positive affirmations and telling them they could be anything they wanted to be, says Twenge, also the author of “Generation Me”.

The consequences of such ego-boosting can be seen in the discrepancy between millennials’ opinions of their abilities and their actual achievements: In 2009, 53% more American college students rated themselves “above average” in writing skills than did so in 1966; and 13% more did so for math, according to an analysis of the University of California Los Angeles’ annual survey. Meanwhile, SAT scores decreased 4% over the same period. Furthermore, some psychologists believe millennials’ overconfidence in their own abilities can translate into unrealistic expectations for their careers and their bank accounts. Another University of California study even found that students with enhanced beliefs about their academic prowess were less likely to graduate college.

Still, some millennial defenders argue that the generation is misunderstood, and that what comes off as aspirational and narcissistic is really just a reflection of millennials’ desire to make a big impact on and improve the world. “There are always going to be some who are lazy and entitled, but they are people who give back to society,” says Dan Schawbel, a millennial who founded a research firm focused on his own generation, and the author of “Promote Yourself: The New Rules for Career Success.”

2. “Never mind Occupy Wall Street. We want to be the 1%.”

They may have been the poster children for the Occupy Wall Street movement (at least when it first started), railing against the wealthiest 1% of Americans, but some studies suggest millennials may be the most aspirational generation yet.

Last year, a record 81% of college freshmen said that being wealthy was very important to them—double the amount of students who said so in 1966, according to an annual nationwide survey by UCLA’s Higher Education Research Institute. “There’s this general expectation of being rich and famous,” Twenge says. (Not all of that translates to reckless spending: Several recent studies have shown millennials are saving and investing more, and starting earlier, than boomers.) But millennials’ stated desires, which also include acquisition of cars, houses and boats, don’t always match up with their stated work ethic. Millennials place much less emphasis on having a job than on being rich, according to a recent San Diego State University study: 39% of 2007 high-school seniors (now in their 20s) surveyed said they didn’t want to work hard, while only 25% of baby boomers had said so at that age. “The discrepancy between work ethic and materialism has grown—that’s what really distinguished the millennials,” says psychologist Twenge, who co-wrote the study.

The delusions of grandeur may have some roots in reality, since there is a higher rate of millennials with fortunes they didn’t have to work for, relative to other generations. Indeed, Gen Y was the most likely generation to inherit money, with 42% of under-32 investors worth more than $1 million saying they inherited much of those funds, according to a new study by Spectrem Group, a wealth management and consulting firm, versus 28% of boomers. Those high net-worth millennials were also five times as likely as investors over 48 and twice as likely as Gen X-ers to attribute their wealth to “family connections,” while they were about 20% less likely than earlier generations to say their money came from “hard work.” And perhaps following in the footsteps of entrepreneurs like Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, fewer millennials who are now millionaires graduated from college, compared with the millionaires of previous generations.

But spending money they haven’t earned yet has also left many millennials saddled with debt: More than half of them say debt is their biggest financial concern, more so than rent and living expenses, according to a new Wells Fargo survey. In fact, 64% of millennials paid for college with student loans, while only 29% of boomers did, according to a Wells Fargo survey.

Student loans don’t account for all of those obligations, though: Some millennials (those born 1980 to 1984) will likely have nearly $6,000 more in credit card debt than their parents (those born 1950 to 1954) did by the time they’re 45, according to a 2013 study at Ohio State University. Social scientists debate the causes of those millennial debt burdens, with some blaming young people’s poor budgeting and overspending—Gen Y, after all, grew up with online banking and many never learned to balance a checkbook. Some psychologists and economists say millennials are another victim of relaxed lending policies even after the mortgage crisis, like accessible credit cards: “Part of it is simply that debt is easier to acquire these days,” says Lucia Dunn, the Ohio State economics professor who wrote the study. “Part of it is the reduced stigma of going into debt.”

3. “Republicans just don’t ‘get’ us.”

According to many political campaign analysts, President Obama has the millennials to thank for his job: Young voters hit the polls in droves during the 2008 election and most cast their ballots for him. And in 2012, 60% of millennials ages 18 to 29 voted for Obama; only 37% voted for Romney, according to exit polls by the National Election Pool. Voters over 40, on the other hand, were more likely to vote for Romney.

Each year, 4 million more millennials become eligible to vote; by 2020, after the last one joins the voting pool, the generation will represent nearly 40% of American voters, according to the Center for American Progress, an organization that generally advocates leftist policies. And a millennial vote has usually been a Democratic vote. If that left-leaning trend continues, some policy experts say, Republicans will have a tougher time winning offices on Capitol Hill. “Unless conservative candidates can moderate some of their positions, they’ll be facing an uphill battle in future elections,” says Anne Johnson, director of the youth-vote division at the Center for American Progress.

Republicans’ messages on gay marriage, abortion and immigration may fail to resonate because the generation tends to value social equality and diversity, according to studies by the Pew Research Center. Even conservative millennials have increasingly favored same-sex marriage: While only 17% of Republicans of all ages supported gay marriage in 2012, according to Pew, 47% of conservative college freshmen that year said they would support legalization, according to UCLA’s annual survey of college students. That’s a 10% increase in the number of conservative college students who said so in just one year, leading some to believe millennials are drifting further away from the G.O.P. toward the left: There is “a major disconnect between the [Republican] party’s conservative positions and young voters,” Johnson says.

While the Republican National Committee acknowledges the party “has work to do” to relate to millennials, spokeswoman Kirsten Kukowski says the party plans to win the youth vote by finding common ground on issues including “the stagnant economy, the skyrocketing cost of health care and unreasonably burdensome student loans.”

** This #3 should be moot - the millenials supporting the corrupt Democrat establishment are no different from their Baby Boomer/Churchianity parents voting for Reagan, the Bushes, and the corrupt GOP establishment - they pretty much did the same as Reagan and the Bushes pushed gun control, abortion rights, appointed pro-abortion/pro-sodomy justices, raised taxes several times, started illegal wars, cozied up to Islamic leaders, Police State agendas, involved in pagan occult practices, etc. IOW, the baton was passed from one side of the spectrum to the other.

4. “You might not want to hire us… ”

Upon graduation, many millennials found themselves in the midst of a recession and one of the unfriendliest job markets in history. And plenty of those who did manage to land a job soon fell prey to layoffs or saw their careers stalled by budget freezes that eliminated any possibility of promotion. Indeed, the unemployment rate was 13.2% among 20-to-24-year-olds in May, but only 5.3% for workers 55 and older, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Millennials’ new-age sense of office etiquette hasn’t helped them either: Many millennials go wrong by failing to put in enough effort to appear professional, showing up to an interview not properly cleaned and pressed, says Janette Marx, senior vice president at Adecco: “This is the generation of, ‘This is me, and I will go out and represent me true to who I really am.’ But there are certain situations where you need to take it up a notch.” Ind, ed, recruiting firm Adecco found in a 2012 study that hiring managers were three times as likely to hire a worker over the age of 50 as they were to hire millennials ages 18 to 32. And 75% of managers in Adecco’s survey said millennials’ biggest job-seeking mistake was wearing inappropriate clothing to the interview, while 70% cited “potentially compromising” social media content as the biggest mistake.

On the other hand, part of the problem, say employers and hiring specialists, is that many millennials don’t actually want to go to work, at least not in a traditional office setting. After millennial employees at consulting PricewaterhouseCooperss requested reduced work hours, the company offered them a compromise: They could cut back if they also took a pay cut. Several employees took the deal, says Anne Donovan, a human resources executive for the firm.

Meanwhile, a lot of millennials have one foot out the door at their day job, and moonlight on freelance projects after business hours: A recent survey of millennials using freelance job board Odesk found that 62% planned to quit their regular job within two years. That’s not surprising considering that overall, millennials stay with a company only two years on average, compared with five years for Gen X and seven years for baby boomers, according to Millennial Branding.

5. “…but soon, you might work for us.”

Human resources experts say that millennials will be playing leadership roles American corporations in the not too distant future — even though they don’t seem well-suited for it today. That’s why many employers are trying to accommodate their quirky, unconventional tastes.

About three years ago, PricewaterhouseCoopers began to notice a disturbing pattern: Its younger employees, most of whom had been hired right out of college, were resigning after just a few years, showing little interest in climbing up the corporate ladder there. Considering that millennials currently make up two-thirds of PwC’s 180,000-employee workforce, a proportion that is expected to grow to 80% by 2016, PwC saw the trend as a red flag: “It’s important to us from a business sustainability perspective to figure out what makes this generation tick,” says Donovan. The next generation is “well into our manager ranks,” says Donovan, “and it will very quickly be in our partner ranks as well.”

As millennials increasingly dominate in American companies, experts say, more employers can expect a sea change in corporate culture and policies. As a result of its findings, PwC has instituted more flexible work policies, like the ability to leave the office for a Zumba exercise class for a few hours during the firm’s busy season.

Of course, some experts believe a millennial corporate takeover is just another one of the generation’s unrealistic dreams. When asked about their five-year goals, some millennials tell the interviewer they want their job, or envision themselves as CEO, says Marx of Adecco, adding that managers perceive such statements as signs of naiveté: “You have to really deliver in the position you’re applying for first. It’s one step at a time up the ladder, not leaping from the bottom to the top all in one step.”

And there is evidence that millennials aren’t yet ready for the hot seat: Hiring managers also tell stories of job seekers who brought their parents to their job interview.

6. “We have drug problems.”

Never mind **** or ****: Prescription antidepressants are the drug that may have had the most profound effect on the millennial generation. Prozac came out in the late 80s, when many millennials were still children, and the release of the antidepressant coincided with a turning point in Americans’ mental health: Some reports suggest that Generation Y is less depressed than previous generations. Americans’ use of antidepressants increased fourfold between the late 80s and the first decade of the millennium, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Many of those antidepressants were prescribed to millennials, with nearly 4% of 12-to 17-year-olds and more than 6% of 18- to 39-year-olds taking them, according to CDC surveys from 2005 to 2008.

That rise also coincides with increases in attention deficit disorder drugs prescribed to young adults, prompting many psychiatrists, researchers, and children’s health advocates to worry that millennials are too medicated for their own good. Indeed, in recent years, 19-to-25-year-olds have increased their use of medicines per-person more than seniors, with the jump attributed to prescriptions for ADHD meds and antidepressants, according to the IMS Institute for Healthcare Informatics. In 2011, prescriptions declined for every age group except the 19-to 25-year-olds, who used 2% more.

But amid that debate over whether millennials are taking too many prescriptions, doctors are actually worrying that they aren’t taking enough of their meds. Millennials adhere even less to their drug regimens than their elders do, with 60% of 18- to 34-year-olds not taking their medication as prescribed, twice the proportion of those ages 65 and above, according to a 2013 study by HealthPrize, a company that incentivizes people to stick with their meds. More than half of millennials went off their meds entirely or never filled the prescriptions sometime in the past year, compared with only 16% of the over-65 crowd. And a third of millennials said they’d be better at keeping their pet on medications than themselves.

Being lazy with their meds could also hurt millennials physically, since they face high rates of obesity and diabetes.The amount of 12-to-19-year-olds with diabetes and prediabetes increased from 9% to 23% between 1999 and 2008, according to a CDC study published in 2012. But the good news is, some studies suggest they are also more likely than their elders to exercise.

** Obviously this part that ANYONE should be taking meds is absolutely wrong. But nonetheless the big picture is that the millennials generation was the first to get exposed to pharmaceutical drugs.

7. “We live with our parents. So what?”

The children of the baby boomers have another nickname: the boomerang generation. That’s because many of them are moving back in with their parents shortly after leaving the nest—and they can be hard to get rid of. More than 40% of 21- to 26-year-olds live with their folks, compared with less than a third of baby boomers when they were that age, according to a recent AARP survey. While living at home has often been a source of shame for 20-somethings, experts say the millennials don’t seem to mind, and many are in no hurry to leave. More than half of 25- to 34-year-olds living at home don’t pay rent, according to a survey by Pew Social Research & Trends. To the debt-saddled and often-jobless millennials, their childhood bedroom might seem like paradise compared with renting an apartment while they aren’t earning a paycheck.

But lack of rent money isn’t the only thing tethering millennials to the nest. By moving back home, they get amenities that rarely come with a cheap starter apartment—including helicopter parents who might be just as eager to do their kids’ laundry and oversee their job search as they were to drive them to soccer practice when they were younger. The Pew survey found that more than 78% of millennials living with their parents were satisfied with their living arrangements.

Financial experts warn, however, that the living arrangement isn’t necessarily a bargain for the parents hosting their grown-up kid, which advisers estimate can cost tens of thousands of dollars extra per year. More than a quarter of parents still supporting kids age 18 to 39 have since taken on debt.

8. “Mom and Dad: Don’t buy us a car.”

Millennials, unwedded to a particular brand and savvy online shoppers, have presented a conundrum for auto makers, which have traditionally hooked buyers at the dealership and often kept customers for life. “I don’t think you’re seeing as much of, ‘My father worked at the Chevy factory, so I’m going to buy five generations of Silverados,’” says Akshay Anand, an analyst at Kelley Blue Book, the car review guide.

But millennials also seem less eager to get behind the wheel: While it’s true that Americans overall have been driving slightly less in the past few years than they did in previous years, 16- to 34-year-olds drove a whopping 23% fewer miles per capita in 2009 than they did in 2001, according to the National Household Travel Survey, conducted by the Federal Highway Administration. The decrease isn’t just due to a lack of jobs to commute to, either: Driving declined 16% among working millennials. Fewer of them are getting their licenses and buying cars: Only 27% of new cars were bought by 21- to 34-year-olds in 2011, down from 38% in 1985, according to CNW Research, which tracks the auto industry.

A lot of the problem, say auto market analysts, is millennials’ lack of funds for car payments, leading them to choose intermediate options like car-sharing service Zipcar. To lure younger car buyers, car makers including Dodge and Hyundai have offered crowdfunding programs—online fundraising platforms where people can solicit donations from friends and family—to finance car purchases: Hyundai has said that nearly two-thirds of its 1,600 crowdfunded cars sold last year went to drivers 35 and under. But it’s unclear whether money would get more millennials back in the driver’s seat, as the generation has shown a penchant for alternative forms of transportation, according to the FHA survey: While driving dropped among 16- to 34-year-olds, they took 24% more bike trips, and traveled 40% more miles on public transit in 2009 than in 2001. “I don’t know if they’re saying forget cars or just, ‘We’ll figure out cars later once we’re more secure with our financial situation,” Anand says.

9. “We’re practically professional students.”

Some millennials have found a way to avoid the bleak job market: Stay in school a little longer—or a lot longer. More than 81% of college students say they are interested in going to grad school after college, according to a survey by consultancy Millennial Branding.

With bachelor’s degrees more prevalent among millennials than among any other generation, experts say an advanced degree might give the young workers an edge in the job hunt. More than 63% of Gen-Y employees have a bachelor’s degree, according to a 2012 study by benefits research firm PayScale and Millennial Branding. Over the past three decades, the proportion of 18- to 24-year-olds enrolling in college jumped from less than 26% in 1980 to more than 41% in 2010, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. “A college degree is like the new high school diploma,” says Schawbel.

But millennials are finding that those advanced degrees don’t always pay off, either. Of last year’s law school graduates, only 56% landed full-time legal jobs within nine months, according to the American Bar Association.

And even when they enter the workforce, millennials often look for workplaces that feel a little like Fraternity Row. By serving beer in the office, companies like Yelp and Google will appeal to Gen-Y workers, Schawbel says: “It’s like an extension of college for them.” Of course, even workplaces trying to become more millennial-friendly aren’t ready to bring the bar into the office. “Do I think we’ll ever be riding scooters down the hall?” says Donovan of PwC. “I don’t think we’ll do that, but I absolutely know that we’re looking for our space to be much more campus-feeling.”

10. “Companies that neglect us will be sorry.”

Millennials might not have as much money in their pocketbooks as older shoppers, but companies often treat them as VIP customers. That’s because millennials have the highest expectations for service, say customer relations experts, and they also tend to complain the loudest: About 60% of 18- to 24-year-olds take to Facebook, Twitter and other social networks when they have an issue with a company, twice as many as among the 65 and older crowd, according to a recent survey by NM Incite, a social media research and consulting firm. “If they’ve got a problem, they want to shout about it,” says Joshua March, CEO of Conversocial, a firm that helps brands interact with customers on social media. Millennials “are much more likely to kick up a fuss, publicly, and that can quickly damage the reputation of the brand,” March says.

Of course, the social media impact cuts both ways, as some millennials have learned the hard way when their social sharing has cost them a job (as in the case of the Taco Bell employee who was recently fired for posting on Facebook a photo of himself licking a stack of tacos).

But millennials are also forcing companies to step up their game, as they tend to be demanding consumers: 42% of 18- to 34-year-olds expect companies to respond on social media within 12 hours of a complaint or comment, according to Nielsen. (The study didn’t report on the expectations of other age groups.) As a result, companies are trying to please millennials before their gripes go viral—giving millennials more power as consumers, says March: “The ball is very much in their court.”

Mat 12:26  And if Satan cast out Satan, he is divided against himself; how shall then his kingdom stand?
Mat 12:27  And if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your children cast them out? therefore they shall be your judges.

Here's another example of how powerful social media can be - not saying everyone who uses facebook/twitter are millenials, but nonetheless look how these tools can be used very deceptively in terms of getting the millenials crowd(for the most part) on board with certain agendas...

http://news.yahoo.com/filibuster-texas-abortion-bill-makes-star-wendy-davis-184503937.html;_ylt=AlE0sMOo1uI6snA0BI2Opvz59XQA;_ylu=X3oDMTVxMmIzdnZkBGNjb2RlA2dtcHRvcDEwMDBwb29sd2lraXVwcmVzdARtaXQDQXJ0aWNsZSBNaXhlZCBMaXN0IE5ld3MgZm9yIFlvdSB3aXRoIE1vcmUgTGluawRwa2cDMjQ4MzQ4OGQtY2M4NS0zNTQ4LTg1MTktZmVkY2QyY2IxNGRhBHBvcwMyBHNlYwNuZXdzX2Zvcl95b3UEdmVyA2NkNzFmZDAwLWRlOTEtMTFlMi04ZGRiLWE4OWQ2NTZiOWRhOA--;_ylg=X3oDMTBhYWM1a2sxBGxhbmcDZW4tVVM-;_ylv=3
Filibuster of Texas abortion bill makes a star of Wendy Davis. Will that last?

A Democratic state senator in heavily Republican Texas, Wendy Davis rocketed to global social media prominence on the strength of her filibuster and the failure of the abortion bill she opposed.
6/26/13

In less than 13 hours, Wendy Davis rocketed from being a Democratic state senator little known beyond heavily Republican Texas to a global social media celebrity, as her filibuster helped defeat a major abortion bill with a last-minute boost from hundreds of noisy supporters packed into the State capitol.

Ms. Davis’ raised profile – her Twitter account jumped from 1,200 to more than 46,000 followers in a day – and the defeat of a stroke-of-midnight vote on the bill by the deafening roar of supporters in the gallery, are moments that Texas Democrats are relishing, but ones that may not last long, analysts say.

Republican Gov. Rick Perry could call another legislative session with more time to pass the abortion law, and Davis faces an uphill battle if she wants to channel the attention into a bid for statewide office.

“It's over. It's been fun. But see you soon.” Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst told reporters after the bill's defeat early Wednesday, hinting that Governor Perry may soon call legislators back for another 30-day special session.

Davis earned substantial exposure during her 11-hour filibuster. Twitter reports that there were at least 730,000 tweets about the filibuster on Tuesday, with 5,776 tweets per minute at the height of the drama around 11:58 p.m. central time as Senate Republicans were trying for a last-minute vote before the midnight deadline. Hashtags including #StandwithWendy and #WendyDavis trended worldwide, while a YouTube live stream drew more than 180,000 viewers.

“Something special is happening in Austin tonight,” tweeted President Obama’s official twitter account at about 8 p.m. central time Tuesday as Davis entered the ninth hour of her attempt to block passage of the bill, which would have banned abortions after 20 weeks and closed nearly every abortion clinic in the state.

Some political analysts were impressed with Davis’ star-power Tuesday, but question whether she can sustain a lasting statewide or national role.

more

No, she got the attention because of her looks. They knew who to pick.  ::)

http://news.yahoo.com/young-gop-leaders-see-substantive-changes-082441549.html
Young GOP leaders see need for substantive changes
7/28/13

MOBILE, Ala. (AP) — Republicans hoping to reach beyond the party's white, aging core must do more than retool campaign strategy and tactics, say young GOP leaders pressing elected officials to offer concrete policies to counter Democratic initiatives.

"It's very easy to just say no, and there are times where it's appropriate to say no," said Jason Weingartner of New York, the newly elected chairman of the Young Republican National Federation. "But there are times where you need to lead and present ideas on the issues of the day."

Weingartner and other under-40 activists at a recent national young Republican gathering in Mobile said their party must follow an all-of-the-above approach. Their assessment goes beyond the more general prescriptions that many party leaders, including Reince Priebus, the Republican National Committee chairman, have offered since November, when Republicans lost the popular vote for the fifth time in the past six presidential elections.

The latest loss was due in large measure to President Barack Obama's advantage over Republican nominee Mitt Romney among younger and nonwhite voters.

For the most part, Priebus has avoided policy recommendations for elected Republicans and says the Republican platform, a political document that's supposed to reflect the core values of the party, isn't the problem.

Weingartner and many of his colleagues agree with Priebus on the platform, and they praise the "Growth and Opportunity Project" that Priebus outlined in March.

But the young Republicans' ideas are more explicit than the chairman's blueprint and stand in contrast to a hyperpartisan Congress where many Republicans tailor their actions to please primary voters who loathe cooperation with Democrats.

Weingartner said House Republicans, who won't pass the Democratic-led Senate's version of an immigration overhaul, should pass their own version that at least "streamlines and expands" legal slots for foreign students and workers.

For now, he said, that would sidestep Republicans who demand border security and Democrats who demand a citizenship path for immigrants already in the country illegally.

On health care, Weingartner said that besides regularly voting to repeal Obama's law, the GOP should emphasize its own ideas such as buying insurance across state lines, while better explaining the Affordable Care Act's cost shift onto younger, healthy individuals.

On same-sex marriage and abortion, young GOP leaders say Republicans should tolerate a range of views, even while maintaining a socially conservative identity. Some of these activists say their party must tread lightly after the Supreme Court recently threw out the most powerful part of the Voting Rights Act, the law that became a major turning point in black Americans' struggle for equal rights and political power.

"We don't have to lose our principles," said Angel Garcia, who leads the Young Republicans in Chicago, Obama's hometown. "But we have to have a conversation on all these issues so we don't leave Democrats to say we're just old white men and racist, bigoted homophobes."

Chris Reid, a Birmingham, Ala., lawyer, said the GOP has to become more inclusive. "I get really sick listening to people say it's all or nothing in order to be a good Republican," he said.

The GOP still controls the U.S. House, holds 30 governor's seats and stands a reasonable chance of regaining control of the U.S. Senate in the 2014 elections. But 2012 presidential returns justify concern.

Whites, who represent a shrinking share of the electorate, accounted for about 9 out of 10 Romney votes. Obama won Latinos by about 44 percentage points and African-Americans by 85 points. Those groups together accounted for almost one-quarter of all voters.

Among whites, younger age ranges trended more toward Obama. Voters from 18 to 29 years old opted for the president over Romney by a 60-37 margin. Among those age 30 to 44, Obama claimed 52 percent, 7 percentage points more than Romney.

Some Republican strategists say that Obama, as the first black president, set the high-water mark for Democrats among nonwhite voters. Weingartner said the 51-year-old president twice faced much older opponents, a circumstance that could be reversed in 2016. Of several potential GOP candidates, only Texas Gov. Rick Perry, 63, is older than 50.

The Democrats' leading hopefuls are Vice President Joe Biden, 70, and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, 65.

"We have youth and enthusiasm on our side this time," Weingartner said, though he added that it would be foolish to pin GOP hopes on age.

Speaking to delegates, Priebus promised a "50-state strategy" that involves hiring workers to engage minority communities. "We can't win if we just show up four months before a presidential election every four years," he said.

Garcia, the Chicago Republican, said that model, patterned after Obama's use of neighborhood-based networks, will identify new supporters. But he said the outreach needs a foundation of specifics.

Expanding legal immigration, Garcia said, could make it harder for Democrats to frame Republicans as "anti-immigrant," a label several Republicans said Romney cemented by advocating "self-deportation." After remaking legal immigration, Weingartner said House leaders could realize, as part of a border security plan, that the border will never be completely secure, while getting Democrats to consent to a "path to legal status" rather than a "path to citizenship."

That approach, both men said, would increase the likelihood that Latinos listen to Republican arguments for low taxes, light regulation and individual opportunity.

Darius Foster, a black business consultant in Alabama, said he encounters similar trust issues among African-Americans, who have overwhelmingly supported Democrats since the civil rights movement.

"I never have to defend Republican principles," he said. "I have to defend Republicans." That's even harder, he said, since neighboring Shelby County, south of Birmingham, successfully challenged part of the Voting Rights Act.

A strategy for social issues isn't as clear, given that younger voters generally are more liberal on those issues than is the GOP platform.

Of course, there's no guarantee of nuanced approaches from elected officials.

Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., told delegates that strong opposition to the Senate's immigration push will help Republicans win working-class votes because some wages would fall at first in an expanded labor pool.

Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley urged House Republicans to "stand strong" against Obama.

Rep. Martha Roby of Alabama, 37, told her fellow Young Republicans that a major problem is "low-information voters ... who have not been exposed to our arguments." She added: "We win not by changing our policies but by spending more time and energy convincing people we are right."

All three got standing ovations.

For the record, no, I'm not saying all Millennials/Gen Xers are bad(I myself am a Gen Xer, and we have a couple of faithful KJV believers on this forum that are Millenials), but nonetheless whenever I read these articles, I can't help to think how scripture is coming to light, especially in these last days we're potentially living in.

Mat 24:34  Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.
Mat 24:35  Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.

Mat 24:48  But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming;
Mat 24:49  And shall begin to smite his fellowservants, and to eat and drink with the drunken;
Mat 24:50  The lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of,
Mat 24:51  And shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

http://www.cnn.com/2013/07/27/politics/young-republicans
7/29/13
The Republicans of the future?

Mobile, Alabama (CNN) -- Tyler Deaton stands by a doorway outside Fathoms, a hotel patio lounge in this coastal town in the Deep South.

Deaton, 27, is a strong believer in low taxes, fiscal responsibility and civic involvement. He attended a Christian liberal arts school. He is a Republican.

He's also gay.

He's been in a relationship for several years, having met his partner at Wheaton College, a Christian institution outside Chicago. Raised in Alabama, Deaton moved to New Hampshire because it approves of same-sex marriage and has no income tax or sales tax.

This evening, Deaton is helping host a reception to raise interest in same-sex marriage issues among Young Republicans, who are gathered in Mobile for their national convention. Deaton is campaign manager for the young conservatives' arm of Freedom to Marry, a national gay rights group.

On Deaton's side of the doorway, things are going well. Deaton and his colleagues have collected more than 50 e-mail addresses -- about a sixth of the total number of conventioneers, he says.

But there aren't so many on the other side. All told, perhaps two dozen people made their way to the outdoor patio, munching on the abundant food and cashing in their drink tickets.

Even among the visitors there are those who do not seem completely comfortable; one man, after exclaiming how great the party is and his hopes for more approval of same-sex marriage, declined to give his name and hustled away at the sign of a reporter's notebook.

It hasn't been much different at the convention as a whole. Despite Freedom to Marry statistics that indicate most Republicans under 50 approve of same-sex marriage, the group hit some roadblocks with convention organizers.

Deaton's group wanted a panel discussion of LGBT issues on the official convention agenda. That request was turned down. It wanted to be a sponsor of the convention. That was also rejected. After deciding to have a reception and booking a slot, the scheduling ended up clashing with gatherings of various state groups.

It's OK, says Deaton, neatly dressed in suit and tie, in a voice that hints of his Southern upbringing.

"We're not in this to make enemies or to fight," he said. Progress, he admits, will take time.

It's a lesson he hopes the GOP is learning.

"The GOP has become too much of a club that defines itself by who it's leaving out," he says. "And I think the GOP has to do a better job of defining itself by its ideas, and letting anybody who shares those ideas come in and be a part of it."

A 'get off my lawn' attitude

The Republican Party is in a race with the future.

Though it holds power in the House of Representatives and a majority of statehouses, its demographics, for now, are going the wrong direction.

The country is becoming more urban and diverse, two details that favor Democrats. In 2012, blacks and Hispanics overwhelmingly went for the president; Obama also got 55% of the women's vote, 60% of voters under 30 and almost 70% of the vote in cities with 500,000 people or more.

Worse than the numbers is the impression they make. In a recent study, another young GOP group, the College Republicans, put it bluntly: the GOP is seen as "closed-minded, racist, rigid, (and) old-fashioned."

The Young Republicans cut a somewhat different figure than today's national GOP. They're not just younger -- members range from college age to 40 -- but less doctrinaire as well, preferring to focus on economics and civic involvement.

The YR -- the full name is the Young Republican National Federation -- describes itself as "the premier Republican grassroots organization in the nation." Formerly an arm of the Republican National Committee, it's now an independent, all-volunteer group, though it still provides campaign support for conservative causes and Republican candidates.

A number of noted politicians, including current House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy, R-California, and former Tennessee Gov. Don Sundquist, have come from its ranks. Volunteer executive director Soren Dayton estimates 70,000 people belong to YR chapters across the country.

Much of the group's work is in civic affairs. "It's not just social networking," says Dayton, who works as a media and public affairs consultant. "It's people who serve."

The group includes young professionals in their 20s and 30s and reflects a shift into more libertarian territory.

John Head, a Chicago-based business development consultant, is an example of the new breed.

"Social issues should not be the main focus over fiscal issues," says Head, nattily dressed for the convention in a seersucker suit and brown-and-white saddle shoes. "We have a debt problem, we have a health care problem whether you agree or disagree with what's coming, and those are things we should focus on."

He sums it up succinctly: "I'm very involved on the fiscal side, and I'm 'get off my lawn' on the social side."

It's a small-government attitude shared by many youthful conservatives, says Arizona State University professor Donald Critchlow, a historian of the conservative movement.

"There's a very, very strong libertarian voice among the young," he says. "They're very liberal -- if you want to use that term -- on social issues: gay rights, abortion, marijuana and war, those kinds of social issues that would put them on the left side of the spectrum. But they're coming from a libertarian perspective."

These are folks who backed Ron Paul for president, or ended up voting for Obama because they disliked the GOP's stand on social issues, he says.

Republicans like Deaton stay because they want to help the party resolve that tension.

"If you're going to be involved in something political, my goal has been to really be involved," he says. "It would be harder for me if I was a Republican and not doing something to change the Republican Party."

Red meat and prayers

The main activities this weekend include electing new officers, renewing contacts and planning for the future. But there are bits of the boisterousness seen every four years at the parties' presidential nominating conventions. The delegations tried to outdo one another in highlighting their state's accomplishments at roll call (Head brought a blow-up Stanley Cup to showcase his Chicago Blackhawks' victory in the NHL playoffs). Some delegations hosted parties and social gatherings.

There was also plenty of classic conservative red meat to be chewed. Of the handful of vendors' tables, one was sponsored by former Sen. Rick Santorum's organization, Patriot Voices. Another featured flyers from the libertarian Cato Institute for an e-book called "Replacing Obamacare." One man hawked copies of his book, "A Time to Kill: The Myth of Christian Pacifism."

Large meetings opened with prayers, some of them in Jesus' name, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance. In speeches, there were invocations of Obamacare and the 2009 bailouts, pointed mentions of the IRS, the use of "Democrat" (instead of "Democratic") as an adjective, and proud defenses of states' rights and tax cuts.

For many, the convention was also an opportunity to talk about ways of moving the party forward after the losses of the 2012 election campaign.

The lack of diversity was obvious at the convention's general gatherings. The majority of the 300-plus attendees were men; just a handful were Hispanic or African-American.

The YR's outreach committee has been trying to find ways of expanding the tent. At a discussion, the group suggested appealing to minorities by stressing the GOP's economic message of entrepreneurship and fiscal responsibility.

Outgoing YR Chair Lisa Stickan, an attorney and former prosecutor from Cleveland, believes this is a winning strategy.

"I think there's this misconception that younger people are only looking at social issues," Stickan said. "You have a lot of people graduating college who are in serious debt and are having trouble finding a job, and if you asked them about social issues, they would say, 'I'm having trouble surviving here.'"

Stickan, 35, talks with the friendly demeanor and flattened vowels of her native Midwest. She's been active with the party since law school and identified with it before then. But hers is a Main Street, grass-roots Republicanism, focused on civic involvement and fiscal rectitude. She serves on the city council of Highland Heights, a Cleveland suburb.

"I enjoy that because it's not a partisan role," she says. "I'm there in the capacity of good-government services and working with the public."

Though it's important to mention the Obama administration's faults, she says, she believes the Republicans are ill-served by Washington mudslinging. She wants the party to "step in, in a positive manner," and listen to voters.

"I am from a swing state, so I talk to a lot of people who are in the middle, (but) that's not what they want to hear about," she says. "You have a serious situation where people cannot get food on the table, cannot bring a paycheck home. That's a problem."

'You're not alone'

Indeed, Stickan adds, the GOP has to keep up with the times. That means using Twitter, Facebook and YouTube to stay in touch with voters. The Democrats have been making good use of online media since at least the Howard Dean days; the Republicans are doing better but need to do more, she says.

"The social media, particularly for some low-information voters or younger voters, is important, just to keep up with the trends," Stickan says.

Angel Garcia, a Chicago attorney, shrewdly used the technology to help build his moribund local YR chapter from a handful of people to several hundred.

The first step, Garcia said, was getting noticed.

"There was nothing here, so we had to take advantage of some natural strengths," said Garcia, 38. That meant working the media, tapping into wealthy donors and getting the word out to transplants from elsewhere in the Midwest.

So the club did a marketing campaign, posting ads on mass transit, billboards, even in bar restrooms. During the 2012 presidential campaign, the group made a YouTube video -- a parody of "Call Me Maybe" -- that received more than 150,000 views and earned the club a mention on the Huffington Post. It has maintained aggressive Twitter and Flickr accounts. The club now has a mailing list of thousands.

"We literally said, 'You're not alone,'" Garcia says. "That was really the turning point."

The publicity was nothing new for Garcia, who likes the exposure. When the GOP needed a face to talk about Latino issues in Chicago, Garcia became the go-to guy. With his cleanly shaved head, nimble patter and ever-present cell phone, Garcia fits comfortably into a white-collar demographic; he's an MBA who spent several years at the Chicago Board of Trade before deciding to practice law.

But he has a classic immigrant story: His parents moved to the United States from Mexico in the early '70s for work in the steel mills along Lake Michigan, and his father later started an auto repair business. It was small-business issues that helped turn Garcia into a Republican, he says. He entered the law partly because he saw a niche for a Spanish-speaking attorney. He characterizes himself as a "neighborhood lawyer."

'An anti-, anti-, anti- image'

Many of the Latino Young Republicans -- a small but notable group at the convention -- talk about their membership with mixed feelings. On the one hand, they believe in the party's small-government, faith-and-family principles. On the other, they bristle at some of the anti-immigrant talk within the party.

Texas YR official Chris Carmona made the point explicitly at one breakout session. Thanks to party members' harsh words, Republicans are thought of in the Hispanic community as anti-immigrant, anti-family and anti-religious, he observes. "We have an anti-, anti-, anti- image of everything possible in the Hispanic community."

Texas delegate Artemio Muniz expands on that point. Muniz, a 32-year-old from Houston, is the son of illegal immigrants. His family was on welfare, sold chips at the ballpark and took items from trash bins to sell.

"We started at the bottom," he says. "We know what bootstrapping means." His parents were given amnesty as part of a 1986 immigration reform bill signed by Ronald Reagan.

He grimaces when he thinks about how some Republicans treat Latinos.

"I've been at Tea Party meetings where the lady is saying, 'Let's deport them all,' and the lady that's serving her is an illegal immigrant bringing her nacho chips."

But he became a Republican, he says, because the party represents promise. The Mexican community has pride, he says, and its beliefs fit with the conservatism of the Republican Party and its leaders.

"Reagan was a legit guy that understood the heart," he says. "(George W.) Bush as well. He understood. He had credibility. He was authentic. He knew the experience of being a Texan."

But the GOP has to recognize the problems of the working class, he says.

"It's like any other blue-collar neighborhood," he says. "It's not a Hispanic thing necessarily. Your guy that's living paycheck to paycheck can be any race, and here's a party saying we're going to cut programs. They want to know, what are you going to do to help the family? It's more of being in touch with hard-working people."

His YR colleague Garcia has mixed feelings about the congressional stalemate over the immigration reform bill, which was passed by the Senate in late June but is being held up in the House. He'd like to see a narrower bill, one that could get more Republican support. "Democrats moving the goalposts makes that less likely," he says.

But, he admits, Republicans still look bad.

"At the end of the day I'm a pragmatist, and I understand politics," he says. "And I think we've done a poor job framing the issue."

The 'Akin effect'

The communications problems also apply to women.

Christina Goodlander of the D.C. delegation summed up the issue in two words: "Akin effect" -- a reference to Todd Akin, the Missouri U.S. Senate candidate who made controversial comments about "legitimate ****" and pregnancy.

While noting that Akin's words were "pretty horrible," "those comments were played over and over again nationally, and we were portrayed as troglodytes," she said. "That's not what we're about, but that became the narrative and the Democrats played that brilliantly."

Stickan wishes more people would pay attention to strength of women in the GOP.

"I think there's this perception that Republicans don't engage women enough, or that we're not listening to women," she says. "I've been talked to and listened to by many campaigns. You may have someone who goes out there and makes a comment, and just because he's one person doesn't mean he speaks for the whole party."

Moreover, she adds, the party has a good bench, including South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez and others at local levels.

"We have some amazing candidates being elected all over the country. I think it's important to showcase them," she says.

One of those women, Rep. Martha Roby of Alabama, gave a stemwinder at a convention lunch. The 36-year-old Roby, a Young Republican herself, exhorted her listeners to push their way to the front.

"Now, more than ever, our party needs bright young people engaged in meaningful conversation, with fresh ways to implement our conservative ideas," she said. "Now is your turn."

In an interview later, Roby reiterated her hope that more young Republicans will get involved, but emphasized that she sees the problem to be less a matter of Republican principles than Republican messaging.

"It's not about becoming Democrat-lite, it's about staying true to the conservative principles we hold dear," she said. "But we have to find a different way to talk about it."

Reaching across the aisle

Whether the Young Republicans will change the GOP is an open question. Some have plans to run for office; others expect to stay behind the scenes, working on grass-roots organizing or consulting.

And though there appear to be fewer differences among Young Republicans than in the national GOP, social issues can still cause friction. One Southern delegate was enthusiastic about the focus on entrepreneurship, but his voice quieted when he pondered pitching same-sex marriage to his state.

It's a longstanding split. George W. Bush found it challenging to unite the party on immigration. His father found favor with religious conservatives but lost the fiscally minded with the 1990 budget deal. Indeed, about the only GOP politician who's succeeded in bridging the chasm, says historian Critchlow, is Ronald Reagan. He dealt with various conservative blocs both as California governor and president and showed a willingness to talk with Democrats -- whether it was the legislature of California Speaker Jesse Unruh or the House of Tip O'Neill.

Still, the Young Republicans are determined to try to expand the party's base -- even to the point of metaphorically crossing the aisle. Encouraged by Stickan, the outreach committee struck an agreement with the National Urban League -- an African-American advocacy group that favors Democrats -- to partner on an Urban League program.

The Urban League runs entrepreneurship centers in 10 cities focused on improving business skills and mentoring among minorities, and the Young Republicans saw that the program aligned with their own principles, said Darius Foster, a Birmingham consultant and member of the Alabama Young Republicans.

"We might disagree with 85 or 90% of what they do, but that 10%, we can use that as inroads with the Urban League and their members," said Christopher Sanders, a Young Republican from Atlanta. The Georgia capital is going to be one of the partnership's test cities, along with Houston and Cleveland.

The YRs also paid tribute to the social-media and outreach activities of Garcia's Chicago chapter by recognizing it as the year's "outstanding large club," an award Garcia said was unexpected.

As he nears 40 and aging out of the Young Republicans, he's taking on one more job -- Midwest regional coordinator -- and believes the party is primed to make inroads.

"I've been going to these things since I could vote, and this is the first time I'm hearing people from the top of the party down talk about issues and talk about actual strategies that are actionable," Garcia says. "We have work to do, but it's more diverse, and more representative of what the party really is, than what I've seen."

Deaton, the gay Young Republican from New Hampshire, hopes that's true. He wants action, not just talk. The concept some national leaders have pushed -- "better messaging" -- drives him up a wall.

"What they're saying is there's actually nothing wrong with the Republican Party. We just don't talk about it the right way," he says. "But the problem is that some of the beliefs are also wrong. I think Americans are hungry for fiscal conservatism. I think, though, that they want a bit of a more humble foreign policy than what the GOP has been offering for the last decade, and they do want the Republican Party to take a new approach on social issues.

"It doesn't just mean repackaging or putting a new label on it," he says. "You have to change the recipe."

I know Obamacare is putting a big hit on the nation's economy, but let's NOT forget other factors thrown in as well - for one, this "consumerism" economy(which is nothing more than Babylonian idolatry) that started in the 1980's has played a big part of the collapse of the global economy over the long haul. And again, we have a couple of Millennials here that are faithful in our Lord Jesus Christ and the KJV(and I'm a Generation Xer myself who was a long-time slacker before I got saved), but nonetheless you can't deny how our nation's institutions and the news/entertainment media have played a big part in influencing the behaviors and attitudes of the latter generations of this world.

Ultimately, there's been many factors that have played a big part, and the seeds have been planted many years ago(and not just recently under Obama).

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/how-gen-y-workers-miss-out-on-money-perks-2013-08-14?siteid=yhoof2
Aug. 14, 2013, 11:15 a.m. EDT

How Gen Y workers miss out on money, perks
Millennials have more leverage than they realize, study suggests

The millennial generation tends to measure job tenure in months, not years, changing employers as often as they change toothbrushes. The high turnover rate is expensive for companies — employers estimate that it costs them $15,000 to $25,000 to replace every 20-something who leaves the company, according to a new survey.

”Almost half of companies experience high millennial turnover right now,” says Dan Schawbel, founder of Millennial Branding, which conducted the study along with by Beyond.com, a career networking site.

The cost of refilling these positions is expected to climb as millennial employees, those roughly between the ages of 18 and 34, make up a bigger share of the workforce — and move up the ranks. Projections show 20-something workers will make up 36% of the American workforce by 2014, and 75% of the global workplace by 2025. Half of companies surveyed reported that the average salary for a millennial is between $30,000 and $50,000, while 15% of the companies revealed that the average salary for a millennial is at least $50,000.

The figures mean employers have a financial incentive to retain their promising younger workers, and that those employees may have more clout than they realize when it comes to negotiating for a raise or promotion, says Schawbel.

Consulting firm PwC, for instance, surveyed its workforce this year after noticing that many of the firm’s youngest employees were leaving the company after just a few years on the job. The firm created a list of recommendations for changes some companies can make to better retain younger workers — or that employees can ask for before they accept a competing job offer. Here is a look at some of the changes recommended by PwC and other career experts.

Alternative work schedules. The PwC survey found that 66% of their Gen Y workers wanted to shift their work schedules. It also found that 15% of male employees and 21% of female employees would take a pay cut and fewer promotions in exchange for working fewer hours. PwC responded by encouraging teams to let some workers come in earlier or work later so that they could attend personal events that are important to them, says Anne Donovan, a human resources leader for PwC. “We have an environment that is looser and more flexible in terms of where the work is done,” she says.

Location, location, location. Some employees can get approval to work from home sometimes, or even from another city, as long as it doesn’t interfere with the company’s deadlines, says Schawbel. He recalls the example of one friend who wanted to live in New York and got approval from his employer to work full time from the city, even though the company was headquartered somewhere else. And 37% of Gen Y workers surveyed by PwC said they wanted the opportunity to work overseas, compared with 28% of nonmillennial employees. As a result, the company is brainstorming ways to make international opportunities available to employees earlier in their careers, says Donovan.

Increased feedback and mentoring. About 40% of companies surveyed by Beyond.com and Millennial branding said they are working to retain younger workers by introducing mentoring programs. PwC also found that many of its younger employees value teamwork and feedback on how they can improve their performance. “It’s much more real time coaching that they’re looking for,” says Donovan, adding that managers are encouraged to regularly discuss performance with employees to offer guidance. Workers might consider asking to be paired with a mentor who can help them identify new skills they should learn, says Schawbel. They should also ask to be given expanded responsibilities so that they can test out other roles within the company before they decide to move on, says Schawbel. “If you just keep doing what you did yesterday you’ll get stuck,” and feel more pressured to leave, he says.

Eph 2:1  And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;
Eph 2:2  Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:
Eph 2:3  Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.
Eph 2:4  But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,
Eph 2:5  Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)

Again, none of this puppet show interests me, but nonetheless it is JUST THAT to entertain the masses so that they'll ultimately surprise them over the long haul...

Every time I read these particular articles, sometimes it makes me wonder how Churchianity will respond to something like this...

http://news.yahoo.com/carl-demaio-running-for-congress-in-california--220037721.html
How a young, gay congressional candidate could shake up the GOP
8/14/13

SAN DIEGO — It’s January 2015, and a newly elected House member from California walks side by side with his male partner to be sworn into office in Washington. The young lawmaker is a supporter of same-sex marriage. He believes the government should keep abortion legal. He considers himself an environmentalist.

He's also a Republican.

This could be the future for one Carl DeMaio, a former San Diego city councilman and recent mayoral candidate who is expected to challenge freshman Democratic Rep. Scott Peters in the state's 52nd congressional district. DeMaio has announced his plan to challenge Peters, but the unfolding sexual harassment scandal surrounding San Diego Mayor Bob Filner could also draw DeMaio into a special election for the mayor's office if Filner is recalled.

DeMaio, 38, doesn’t fit the mold of a traditional Republican. His election could make him the only openly gay GOP member of Congress. (Just two openly gay Republicans have ever served in the House.) DeMaio's views on same-sex marriage and abortion are also at odds with the party platform.

But DeMaio says he’s not interested in making social issues central to his campaign. While open about his beliefs, his run is focused on government accountability and pocketbook-issue reform instead of relitigating the culture wars.

“We ought to take those divisive issues, particularly the social issues, and set them off to the side,” DeMaio told Yahoo News in an interview. “It’s not appropriate for the government to be making decisions for people in their private lives. Instead, we should demand that we look beyond labels to embrace common sense ideas on financial reform and holding these government programs accountable.”

DeMaio's policy views — economically conservative and socially liberal — place him in a libertarian wing of the Republican Party, one that seems to be growing in popularity among young voters. But he's reluctant to put himself in any category.

“I warmly embrace the libertarian label, but I also want to point out that one of my biggest frustrations in politics is that people want to shove one or two big labels on some people that sums who they are and what they believe and what their record has been. I think that’s limiting,” DeMaio said.

Despite his potential of being a maverick if he makes it to Congress, DeMaio is not a fringe candidate. He has early support from the party establishment — the National Republican Congressional Committee, the official party group responsible for electing Republicans to the House, is backing him full force. In July, California Republican Rep. Kevin McCarthy, the third-ranking House Republican, hosted a fundraiser for him in Washington. The invitation branded DeMaio as a “New Generation Republican.”

Given his background, DeMaio seems like just the type of candidate that the  soul-searching Republican Party is looking for.

“I actually think that we are going to make headway in the Republican Party on these issues in the coming years,” DeMaio told Yahoo News. “It is going to be a totally different thrust for the Republican Party.”

DeMaio was born in Iowa, and his family moved to Southern California when he was a child. DeMaio’s father left the family and his mother died while he was still in high school. Young DeMaio was sent to boarding school at Georgetown Preparatory School near Washington, and he went on to graduate from Georgetown University.

As a young man in the nation’s capital during Newt Gingrich’s Republican Revolution in 1994, DeMaio plugged into the city’s conservative scene, developing his skills as a policy researcher. He took a job with the Congressional Institute, a think tank that hosts conferences for lawmakers on policymaking.

He went on to found his own group, The Performance Institute, which does similar work and emphasizes transparency reforms and efficiency in government. Through the 1990s and early 2000s, DeMaio established himself as a policy wonk, publishing position papers on government reform for various groups, including the libertarian Reason Foundation based in California.

DeMaio won a seat on the San Diego City Council in 2008, where he focused on several city-based reforms, including a successful push to overhaul the costly pension program for city workers by placing new employees into private, 401(k)-style retirement accounts.

He ran a robust campaign for mayor of San Diego in 2012, losing to Democrat Bob Filner by just 3 percentage points despite a surge in Democratic turnout across the state supporting President Barack Obama's re-election.

DeMaio announced his candidacy to challenge Peters in May.

A DeMaio victory would give a boost to Republicans in California, where the party has been steadily losing ground for two decades. There are currently just 15 Republicans among the state's 55-member congressional delegation, the nation's largest.

According to early poll numbers, DeMaio could be a viable challenger. His mayoral campaign provided him with strong name-ID in the district, a crucial leg up for any candidate challenging an incumbent. A Survey USA poll conducted in June, 17 months before next year’s election, showed DeMaio leading Peters in a hypothetical matchup by 11 percentage points.

As with any political campaign, DeMaio has also made enemies. His support of the pension overhaul enraged organized labor interests, and he won few friends within the gay community when he accepted campaign donations from supporters of the movement to ban same-sex marriage in California. Last year, when DeMaio and his partner, Jonathan Hale, walked together in the San Diego LGBT Pride Parade, some in the crowd booed him along the way.

Publicly, national Democrats dismiss DeMaio as a grandstander. But privately, some express concern that he could be a strong challenger to Peters, particularly since there is little daylight between the two candidates on some of the social issues that have tripped up other Republican candidates in previous races around the country. The election will also occur midway through Obama's second term, an election cycle that historically isn't as hospitable to the president's party.

But since DeMaio's former political foe, Filner, is almost sure to face a well-organized recall campaign in the coming weeks, DeMaio is considered a prime candidate to run in a special election to replace him. Filner has conceded behaving inappropriately but is refusing to resign.

DeMaio told Yahoo News that he would “absolutely” sign a petition to recall Filner, but was coy when asked if he would seek the mayor’s office.

“There are benefits and liability in weighing into that question right now,” DeMaio told Yahoo News. “I’m going to continue to focus on how we can rid our city of the cancer that is Bob Filner. Until he departs that office, our city will be held hostage and our people’s business will not get done.”

In San Diego, the accusations against Filner, (which  DeMaio warned about during the campaign against him last year), have dominated the news cycle for weeks. Filner on Tuesday challenged the recall in a written statement, but the campaign is likely to begin as early as this month, forcing DeMaio to make what will surely be a difficult choice.

**Read a bit about this San Diego mayor's scandals - anytime they get a lot of media attention like this, you know there's an agenda behind it.

Ya know, the phrase "you can't make this stuff up!" gets used so much, but in this case, it really applies. Check out this guy...

Carl DeMaio


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_DeMaio (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_DeMaio)

Good find! Yeah, nothing further from the truth in terms of Jesuits/Vatican infiltrating this country...and we've heard this type of story a number of times as well!

http://money.msn.com/investing/why-high-school-kids-are-financially-illiterate
Why high school kids are financially illiterate

A report out this month finds most states doing a poor or mediocre job in imparting key financial skills to students.

If the U.S. education system can't teach Johnny how to read, it's not surprising it can't teach him how to balance his checkbook or calculate compound interest.

A report out this month from the Champlain College Center for Financial Literacy (CFL) in Vermont finds that the vast majority of states are doing a poor or mediocre job of educating high school students in key financial skills. The report card, which awarded each state a letter grade, gave 60% of the states a C or less; 44% of those received D or F grades.

John Pelletier, director of the CFL and author of the 2013 National Report Card on State Efforts to Improve Financial Literacy in High Schools, argues that to make programs successful at the high school level, "financial literacy topics must be taught in a course that students are required to take as a graduation requirement."

The other essential ingredients for success are increased teacher training, funding to ensure that classes are offered to all high school students, and standardized assessments that insure that training is working.

A generational 'money' gap
In the aftermath of the 2008 banking and real estate crises, experts say financial education is critical to helping young adults better handle everything from credit card debt to student loans, and to make more complex choices about investing and mortgages. Since there's no national curriculum standard for teaching financial literacy, questions remain about who should teach the classes and even whether funding should come from public or private sources. As a result, the quality of financial education varies wildly from state to state and from district to district.

A-rated states like Virginia, Utah, Tennessee and Missouri are the only ones in the report that require a one-semester stand-alone class in personal finance as a graduation requirement. Tennessee, Georgia and Idaho (the latter two also received A's) require students to be assessed on their knowledge of financial topics.

Alabama, Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Nebraska, Rhode Island and Washington, on the other hand, all received failing grades because they have few or no requirements for personal-finance education in high school.

A low priority
For some schools, financial literacy is just not a top priority. "If your (students) can't read, or you're struggling with gang problems (in your neighborhoods), financial literacy is fairly low on the list," says Carol Roth, a former investment banker and the author of The Entrepreneur Equation.

So how does financial education fight its way in, when every subject in cash-strapped school districts is competing for its own piece of the dwindling budget pie?

Not easily, according to Todd Harrison, founder and CEO of Minyanville, a New York-based financial education and media website. Harrison's company has developed a financial literacy curriculum that has failed to gain entry into public schools. He blames a "labyrinth of politics in the school systems" that are hesitant to experiment with alternative teaching methods and that undervalue financial education.

"A financial framework is entirely more important then just an elective program," he says. "It should be mandatory."

http://www.mainstreet.com/article/career/employment/why-millennials-lack-loyalty-toward-employeers?puc=yahoo&cm_ven=YAHOO
9/6/13
This is Why Millennials Lack Loyalty Toward Employers

NEW YORK (MainStreet) — Each year, Millennials constitute a growing share of the work force, yet employers are finding it much more difficult to retain them.

According to a recent survey conducted by Millenial Branding Inc., 45% of companies surveyed report having a high turnover rate with their millennial workers. In addition, 30% of these companies reported losing 15% or more of their Gen Y workforce each year.

The reason behind this finding can provide a great deal of insight into what young people value the most in a workplace. The same survey cited "a good cultural fit" as one of the main indicators of companies that are able to retain Gen Y employees.
 
It seems that Millennials want more than just a good job. It isn't enough to get a nice paycheck. They need to feel that we are working for an organization that we can identify with.

It's not that money isn't important to them – it's just that they place a higher value on other elements. In a 2010 Pew Research Study, only 31% of Millennials reported being satisfied with their current salary - but there is simply more to it than that.

Millenial Branding Inc. managing partner Dan Scshawbel, who worked on a study with Monster.com earlier this year, found that Millennials care more about skill training and development than older generations (33% for Gen Y vs. 22% for Gen X and 15% for Boomers).

"We also found that they care about advancement opportunities more than older generations and they care less about retirement benefits, healthcare and the location where they work," he said.

Millennials care deeply about how a job affects our lifestyle. While a high salary is a top priority to many Gen Yers, the same survey found that Millennials tend to value lifestyle over salary.

"I want flexibility with my time- [my boss] wants hard work and results", said Maggie Young, a Gen Y professional who is a communications specialist for marketing firm B&B. "By understanding this, I am motivated to get my work time so that I can come and go and leave as I need to. With volunteering, physical activities and a social life, having more time to spend outside of work is important to me."

While these trends highlight key cultural differences between generations, they also create issues for employers. More than 71% of firms surveyed reported that losing millennial workers caused a heightened workload and added stress to current employees.

The other problem is that Gen Y workers are quite expensive to replace. Close to 90% of the firms surveyed reported that the cost of replacing a Millennial employee was anywhere from $15,000 to $25,000. This is mainly because young workers are the most expensive age group to train.

Seeing the importance of retaining Millennial employees, companies have taken swift action. Many firms have reported creating employee retention programs designed to address the needs of younger employees. Important factors such as mentorship and workplace flexibility are now being integrated into company cultures in order to make firms more enticing to younger workers, but there is still more to do.

"Companies need to create a corporate culture that appeals to Millennials, and many have started creating programs that support this important demographic," Schawbel adds.

Such programs that have been created address issues such as "workplace flexibility" (48% of companies reporting), "mentoring programs" (40%) and "internal hiring" (37%). Only 10% of companies cite using "intra-preneurship" and "community service programs" to engage Millennials.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/wastes-most-time-120700150.html
Who Wastes the Most Time at Work?
9/7/13

A year ago my friend Russ Warner, CEO of ContentWatch, collaborated with me on the article Employees Really Do Waste Time At Work.  The interest in that article continues to grow to this day. Today he shared his updated perspective. The verdict: We're even worse off than before.

The distractions are endless. According to Socialnomics and other web sources, volumes of new data and photos are uploaded continually and Web surfers are bombarded with thousands--even millions--of fresh pics, tweets, and articles every day. More than 1.1 billion active Facebook users upload 350M photos daily.  And more than 100 hours of video join the YouTube database every minute.

From Bad to Worse

For good or bad, we now have access to more than two Zettabytes of data worldwide as of 2011 (2 zettabytes = 2 trillion gigabytes). The data deluge has fostered an atmosphere of productivity loss and increased "me time" entitlement. However you look at it, the Internet provides the medium to needlessly occupy all of our time. Each of us has the option to waste or utilize time, but the outcome varies by the habits each of us set.

In business, we do not simply create or gain capital; we achieve it. Time, generously doused with effort, produces capital. When workers become lackadaisical, capital becomes weak. When employees shuffle back to their desks after an extended water-cooler conversation and toggle between a spreadsheet and their Facebook page (60 percent of users check Facebook daily), “like” a new pic on Instagram and then check their status with the 218 million professionals and friends on LinkedIn, they are wasting your time.

The simple truth: People waste time at work

Whether it's web surfing, engaging in personal phone calls, searching for new job opportunities, gossiping by the water cooler, shopping online, exploring social networks or checking personal email, a great deal of working time slips away. Of all workplace distractions, the Internet is the greatest productivity drain.

Sixty four percent of employees visit non-work related websites each day. In this category, the amount of time wasted per week on non-work related websites is as follows: 

Time Wasted                  Pct of Employees
1-2 hours                               29%
2-5 hours                               21%
6-10 hours                             8%
10+ hours                               3%

Contributing to these percentages are social media networks. The winners for the time-loss warp are Tumblr (57%), Facebook (52%), Twitter (17%), Instagram (11%) and SnapChat (4%).

How much is too much?

Imagine an employee who works 2,080 hours per year (260 days). If she is in top the bracket of time wasters, she wastes 520 hours per year. That's 25% of her total hours at work spent on unproductive activities. Clearly this costs your company capital.

In addition to the conscious wasting of time, companies also squander salary and benefits on distractions such as watching and following national sports. Workplace contests such as March Madness can be detrimental to time management and focus. Some 86% of employees will spend at least some time at work following March Madness this year.

While employees congregate around TV screens, they're not answering phones or supporting clients on emails. March Madness alone, for example, costs U.S. companies $175 million in wasted time in just the first two days.

Why do employees waste so much time?

When you hire employees, you expect them to be efficient and do the job right. The employees who seek you out most generally ramped up their resumes, interviewed, and wanted their job. So why, once they get the job, do they slip into habits of time wasting and self-entitlement?

According to recent data from Salary.com, employees give the following responses:

·      34% of employees say they are not challenged
·      34% say they work long hours
·      32% say there’s no incentive to work harder
·      30% are unsatisfied with work
·      23% are just plain bored
·      18% say it’s due to low wages

As dismal as these reasons may be, all of them contribute to a lack of productivity. With no drive to work hard, employees simply plod through their work unfocused and unmotivated and get little done each day. Menial tasks become accepted as a way to fill time.

Wasted by ****

Another distraction that is a huge issue from the standpoint of workplace liability is pornography viewing at work. Nielsen has found that 25 percent of working adults admit to looking at pornography on a computer at work. And 70 percent of all online pornography access occurs between 9 AM and 5 PM.

It's clear that **** is a common occurrence at work. This not only wastes time but also creates a hazard in your work place environment as it can lead to complaints and trouble among co-workers, sexual harassment cases, and liability for employers who haven’t taken sufficient steps to keep the unwanted content from view (let alone the network bandwidth and malware issues involved).

Who wastes the most time?

We  can classify employees into three general categories: Baby Boomers, Generation X, and Generation Y (Millennials). Each category tends statistically towards a set of predominant habits and traits. Knowing these possible traits can help you manage the strengths and weaknesses of each group as it pertains to time misspent in the workplace.

•Millennials (Gen Y) - born between the years of 1982 - 2004. They had access to the Internet and cell phones for communication.
•Generation X - born between the years of 1965 -1981; they had a mix of Internet/cell phones in their later years.
•Baby Boomers - born between the years 1946 - 1964. They had no Internet/cell phones even in college. They are immigrants to a technology-based society.

And so the characteristics begin. Of Millennials, 53 percent say they would give up their sense of smell rather than lose a device connection. The desperate need to be "connected" overrides the desire for their olfactory receptors to function. One third of them would rather have a flexible work environment and access to social media than a bigger paycheck.  Perhaps money really isn't the best motivator after all. The motivating factor here is flexibility in device usage. On average, these technology-obsessed workers use their devices 7.5 hours per day.

Each category of workers has its strengths and weaknesses; however, the least effective workers where wasted time is concerned are Millennials. According to a study, Millennials waste more than twice as much time as Boomers. Could this be due to the early-aged exposure to technology? Does the tech-savvy society we live in affect the future employees of America and their productivity levels?

Here is the shocking news. Your company roster most likely includes all of these employee categories, but the break down is this: Boomers waste the least amount of time: about 41 minutes per day. Next are Gen X'ers who waste 1.6 hours per day. Are you ready for the winning number? Millennials waste about 2 hours per day—an entire 40 hours a month!

Millennial Waste

Why do Millennials waste so much time? On the whole, studies show, they blend work and life into an immutable whole. They have developed an entitlement to "me" time at work. On the plus side, they are highly team-oriented, which naturally sets the stage for more conversation with co-workers—but yet again, also leads to the trend and the tendency to waste workplace time. The Salary.com study reveals that the number one cause for distraction among Millennials is (not surprisingly) the Internet.

How To Make Employees More Productive

The data is dismal, but Warner has offered up several strategies managers can use to help increase distracted workers' ability to succeed. In the case of Millennials, he suggests, this is a group that clearly need more freedom in the workplace than their established counterparts in order to accomplish their goals. They will naturally need to collaborate through the use of technology. If you allow them to collaborate via the mediums they are most familiar with (including social media), they will complete projects faster and the process will run more smoothly.

However, don't allow Millennials to run amok, Warner says. If they are becoming overly distracted by social media, give them additional structure during the workday. Provide guidelines for when they're allowed to access their favorite social media sites, such as potentially only once every two hours. Or allow them two paid fifteen-minute breaks a day where they're allowed to go online to do whatever they want (although workplace HR and liability rules still apply).

If your Millennial workers are wasting too much time chatting with co-workers, tell them it's fine to chat for a few minutes, Warner suggests, but to advise them not to carry these conversations on at length. Let these employees see you're willing to be flexible where possible, and they'll be more likely to want to please you by working hard. Happy employees work more efficiently, and waste less time in social media and other pursuits. When the company has a policy that makes it okay to check Facebook or Instagram periodically, they are more likely to get their work done during the rest of their time.

Three Ideas for Higher Productivity

1. First, know your employees. Once you know how your employees operate, you know how to accommodate their needs. Ask them explicitly.  Even take surveys, where needed. Another idea is to establish a weekly lunch-on-the-company routine. (Our agency does this. We call it "Company Lunch". Plan parties for the weekend.

2. Second, establish rules and guidelines that motivate. Let employees contribute to the guidelines and rules. Co-creativity is important. "People need people, people need technology and people need spaces that bring those two together in effective ways that help build bonds and trust. Innovation cannot exist without these" says Business News Daily. Ditch the typical cubicle. "The hunt is on to create spaces that allow the entrepreneur to express their unique culture, that encourages spontaneous interaction, that screams that fun is a meaningful part of the creative process, and encourages personal expression making people feel at home."

A few examples of guidelines that motivate:
•Consider holding shorter meetings. Or establish a "no-meeting-day" policy: Pick a day to be meeting-free and see how employees revel in the day of no dragged-out meetings.

•Consider a more flexible dress code. Should your employees be in formal business attire if they are doing heavy lifting or never seeing clients? Pick days that can be deemed "casual." But be warned, clothing should never be offensive, frayed, or dirty in the workplace.
•Provide equipment to use during free time (such as exercise equipment, foosball, or ping pong). By providing recreational equipment, you encourage physical activity, allow your workers to unwind during stressful times and possibly increase their state of health.
•Train team in skills of time literacy and how to manage daily interruptions.

•Stay up-to-date on new management techniques.
•Consider Flex Scheduling or additional options for allowing employees to work from home, where possible, to avoid waste.

Consider these ideas as well:

-Provide flexible working hours to permit those who seek for physical activity before work, at lunch or after work.
-Offer facilities for those who wish to exercise -- shower, locker room, or an on-site exercise equipment,
-Support a local recreation league or sports team (community leagues).
-Offer discounts or subsidies on memberships at local gyms, rec centers, or health clubs.
-Offer fitness opportunities at work, such as group classes or personal training.

3. Third, measure and reward results, not time on the clock. Call employees personally to thank them and congratulate them on a job well done.

Not all methods will fit your company, your employees, or your personal style. But smart businesses should take immediate action to improve their employees’ productivity.  Whatever the stage of your company, set a culture in place right away to help employees understand that in your workplace, the smart use of time means everything to your company's success.

It's come to a point in society where we have to bend backwards and forwards, and even tip-toe around everyone. You're seeing this in these modern-day church buildings where they're tickling their ears instead of preaching truth.

James 1:2  My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations;
Jas 1:3  Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.
Jas 1:4  But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.

Yeah, I see that as following the verse..."...agree with thine adversary quickly...". Jesus already told us that He will cause divisions. But if we look at how Jesus acted in the flesh, we see at times He avoided people. Like it says in Ecclesiastes, there is a time for everything, including a time to refrain, if for no other reason we are not to cast our pearls before swine.

http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/daily-ticker/millennials-changing-rules-investing-160938379.html
Millennials Are Changing the Rules of Investing
By Justin Maiman | Daily Ticker – 2 hours 26 minutes ago

The financial crisis changed the world in many ways but here's one you probably didn't even think of: it raised the profile and influence of Millennials in the financial services market.

Elliot Weissbluth, CEO of HighTower Advisors and a LinkedIn (LNKD) Influencer, weighed in this week with a commentary tied to the 5-year anniversary of the collapse of Lehman. He says it's time for Wall Street to "embrace the hyper-connected, fully-integrated, socially-networked, crowd-sourced, Millennial generation." (This is the generation born between 1985-2000.)

Here's why Weissbluth thinks everything is on the verge of a seismic change: "These investors are not waiting for the big financial firms to undergo a great moral awakening. They are not sitting on their hands hoping the government will pass some glorious reform making the financial system safer," says Weissbluth. "Instead, Millennials are looking for the right people with whom to do business. Instead of dutifully accepting their parents’ choices, they’re consulting their “friends” first – often anonymously and in great numbers."

This matters because there is data out there that shows Millennials are actually saving more money, and starting earlier, than previous generations. That of course means they'll have more money to invest. But where, and with who, will they invest?

"Approximately 90% of the millennial generations are...likely to fire their parents' financial advisor," says Weissbluth.

Yikes.

If there is indeed a real lack of trust among this generation for the finance industry as a whole, that also means there is a real business opportunity ahead.

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Matthew 10:21  And the brother shall deliver up the brother to death, and the father the child: and the children shall rise up against their parents, and cause them to be put to death.

Matthew 15:4  For God commanded, saying, Honour thy father and mother: and, He that curseth father or mother, let him die the death.
Mat 15:5  But ye say, Whosoever shall say to his father or his mother, It is a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me;
Mat 15:6  And honour not his father or his mother, he shall be free. Thus have ye made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition.

Ephesians 6:1  Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right.
Eph 6:2  Honour thy father and mother; (which is the first commandment with promise;)
Eph 6:3  That it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth.

Again, I'm not trying to belittle young people(I myself am Generation X), but nonetheless a trend that has come about since I went to college in the 1990's is the over-emphasis of putting young people in high leadership positions. And this hasn't been good b/c as this has been on the rise, slowly but surely the elderly are being forced out. Now more churches are being runned by Gen X/Millennial pastors.

1Tim_5:17  Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honour, especially they who labour in the word and doctrine.

Titus_1:5  For this cause left I thee in Crete, that thou shouldest set in order the things that are wanting, and ordain elders in every city, as I had appointed thee:

Hebrews 11:1  Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
Hebrews_11:2  For by it the elders obtained a good report.


http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/power-players-abc-news/capitol-hill-40-under-40-youth-invasion-change-111640881.html?vp=1
9/27/13
Capitol Hill’s 40 under 40: Will youth invasion change Washington?

Top Line

Can youth and relative inexperience be virtues? Illinois Republican Aaron Schock and Hawaii Democrat Tulsi Gabbard are making the case that they can be – at least when it comes to getting things done on Capitol Hill.

The two members of Congress, both in their thirties, are recruiting Congress’ 40 members under the age of 40 to join their newly launched “Congressional Future Caucus.”

“It’s bringing together the freshest faces in Washington, DC and the Congress,” Schock told “Top Line” of the new caucus in a joint interview with Gabbard on the steps of the Capitol.

“When most of America looks at Washington, DC, they look at a much older, much grayer Congress, and we’re excited that there are now 40 members under the age of 40 and we can hopefully get some things done,” Schock said.

Gabbard says she’s observed that that younger, newer members of Congress tend to have a different mindset than some of their older colleagues who’ve been in Congress for a longer period of time.

“What we’re seeing generationally, that is now being reflected in Congress, because we have more members who are younger, is an impatience, an unwillingness to just wait around and expect things will change,” she said.

And with this new caucus, Gabbard hopes, those members will have a forum to break through the gridlock that’s been characteristic of Washington in recent years.

“Unfortunately, what happens too often is you start at opposite ends of the spectrum and then you start lobbing bombs at each other, expecting that’s going to end up with something constructive, and that’s where we need to change,” Gabbard said.

Though the new caucus is geared toward younger members of Congress, Schock qualifies that there isn’t an age limit for membership.

“It’s less about age and more about their mentality,” Schock said. “We’re talking about, hey, what do we need to do strategically about education, about infrastructure, with energy, for the next 10, 20, 30 years. And in my view if you’re a 78 or an 88 year old and you think about the next 30 years, we want you as part of this discussion.”

To hear more about the “Congressional Future Caucus,” and how Schock and Gabbard envision the caucus will bring compromise to Washington, check out this episode of “Top Line.”

ABC’s Freda Kahen-Kashi, Alexandra Dukakis, Kyle Blaine, Chris Carlson, and Derek Johnston contributed to this episode.

Sometimes I wonder what they do with all this "fundraising" money they get. It's ALOT of money, no one can deny that! Also, Emergent is a New Age buzzword(ie-the modern-day Emergent Church lead by Rick Warren and Bill Hybels).

http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2013/09/30/ben-sasse-nebraska-obamacare
9/30/13
Emergent Anti-Obamacare Senate Candidate Breaks Fundraising Record in Nebraska

A novice Republican running in a rural state has shattered fundraising records campaigning as the "anti-Obamacare candidate." In his first race for public office, Ben Sasse has raised nearly $750,000 in just eight weeks of the first quarter of his nascent candidacy, according to records being filed with the Federal Election Commission.

The massive haul highlights how lucrative campaigning against Obamacare can be for Republicans. It also underscores how deeply motivated conservative voters are to see that the sprawling healthcare law be killed.

A college president in his hometown of Fremont, Nebraska, Sasse is a newcomer to politics, but he has spent much of the past decade working on healthcare issues. As a top advisor to President Bush's Health Secretary, Sasse worked to cut red tape and pushed market-based solutions over government mandates. Sasse also spent several years traveling the country giving speeches and advising companies about the dangers of Obamacare and how it will hike costs, constrict innovation, and ultimately provide terrible health care.

"I am the anti-Obamacare candidate," Sasse said cheerfully. "Not only have I read the 2,300-page bill, I have actually spent years studying it and I understand just how devastating this will be to American businesses, families and taxpayers."

It was Sasse's health care expertise and his outspoken opposition to Obamacare that inspired former Nebraska GOP chairman Mark Fahleson to draft Sasse to run for the open seat left by Sen. Mike Johann's retirement.

"2014 and probably 2016 will be about one thing more than anything else," Fahleson said. "It will be about Obamacare and the false promises and reckless entitlement spending that are set to destroy this country. And I don't know anybody who knows more about it and is more honest about the problems of Obamacare than Ben."

Sasse's campaign comes just as the crusade against Obamacare has hit a fevered pitch in Washington.

"Ted Cruz has finally shown the Republican establishment in Washington just how fed up voters are with the federal government and the notion that bureaucrats know what is best for patients," said one political consultant who advised the Cruz campaign. "That's why a guy knowledgeable about healthcare like Ben Sasse being in the Senate would be the most destructive thing to ever hit Obamacare."

Sasse's cash haul of nearly $750,000 from individual donors in his first quarter breaks Nebraska's previous record of $526,000 from individual donors, set in 2007 by Johanns while he was sitting U.S. Secretary of Agriculture.

Shane Osborn, former state treasurer who has been running for the senate seat for six months, raised just $234,000 in his first quarter, according to FEC records.

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Sasse
Benjamin (Ben) E. Sasse (born in 1972 in Fremont, Nebraska) is President of Midland University in Fremont. He was announced as the 15th president of the school in October 2009, at the age of 37, and was installed as President on December 10, 2010.[1]

There you go. Just another of their "Henry Ford Color Options".

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/trending-now/kids-give-their-honest-opinions-on-gay-marriage-184642754.html?vp=1
Kids Give Their Honest Opinions on Gay Marriage
11/5/13

Same-sex marriage is a hotly debated topic in the U.S., with more and more states legalizing the unions. Instead of getting the opinions of adults on the topic, a new video asks the most innocent group — kids! The YouTube hit is brought to us by the Fine Brothers, aka Benny and Rafi Fine, who regularly release "React" videos on their page. It starts out with kids ranging in age from 5 to 13 years old watching two same-sex proposal videos that have gone viral, "Spencer's Home Depot Marriage Proposal" and "Seattle+The Washington Bus+Jeanne+Alissa = wedding proposal." Watch as they slowly piece together what is happening in each video:

Next, the Fine Brothers sit down with the youngsters for interviews on the topic of same-sex marriage. All of the children appear to accept the concept of two people of the same sex getting married, except for one boy.  In the beginning of the clip, Benny and Rafi explain that the opinions of children can give valuable insight into where our society stands and where we are headed. They think it's important to discuss the topics openly in hopes of a better tomorrow through dialogue and conversation. The video is clocking in at more than a whopping 2 million views,  with comments like "wow, that's the future I want to be."

http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/daily-ticker/retirement-thing-past-millennials-164410760.html
Why Millennials May Never Retire
11/14/13

It seems that, every few weeks, a new study or article comes out citing a rise in the average age of retirement. Hard economic times and longer lifespans make the idea of full retirement seem like wishful thinking for people across generations.

For millennials, those born between 1980 and 2000, retirement may never be a viable option. The generation that came of age in the tech boom of the 1990s but graduated from college into one of the worst recessions our nation has ever seen is behind financially.

The median debt for a student upon graduation is now $23,000, and more than 7 million college grads are currently estimated to be in default. Eighteen percent of college students are unable to find jobs after graduation. These are crucial setbacks at the beginning of a career and may be impossible to recover from. The National Bureau of Economic Research reports that those who graduate into a recession earn 10% less over a decade of work. Research also shows that 70% of overall wage growth occurs in the first 10 years of a career.

A study by Nerd Wallet finds that college-educated millennials won’t be able to retire until 73, 12 years later than the current average retirement age of 61. According to Personal Capital, millennials will need to save $1.6 million to retire by 65.

“The economy has changed everything at its greatest level,” says Dan Schawbel, author of Promote Yourself: The New Rules for Career Success. “A lot of the jobs that exist today won’t even exist in five to ten years. People now have to be self-sufficient and accountable for their careers and have multiple streams of income or career-diversification. They can no longer rely on employers.”

Millennials don't necessarily have the option of climbing the corporate ladder until they reach a traditional retirement age. Fifty percent of them don’t even expect to receive Social Security checks in their old age.

“The big trend is that the economy has changed the typical career path,” says Schawbel. “People no longer expect Social Security, or even to retire.”

According to Intuit, more than 40% of the American workforce will be freelancers, contractors or temp workers by 2020.

“It’s becoming easier to start a business or do consulting work because of opportunities online,” says Schawbel. “With this comes custom career paths with part-time work, multiple clients and jobs.”

Millennials also seek passion and meaning in the workplace, and they may not see a career as something they even want to retire from. “This is a generation that’s thinking about all the basic tenets of work, their career and leadership, in such different ways,” says Anne Hubert, senior vice president at Scratch Media, a division of Viacom focused on understanding the millennial mindset.

“They’re thinking about finding their life’s work, their calling," she says. "Eighty-four percent of them believe they’re going to get where they want to in life. So when you’ve organized your career around finding your life’s work, I think the idea of retirement is a totally different thing.

"The whole idea of retirement as this light at the end of the tunnel, well, if you haven’t thought of your career as a tunnel, where are you really heading?”

Hubert claims that millennials will change the paradigm of retirement altogether.

Whether it's because of passion, the economy or a combination of the two, the idea of a typical retirement may soon be extinct.

FWIW - this is more damage the "religious right"/"moral majority" did when they were active for from 1980 to when Obama got into office - while they exposed the public school system, at the same time they acted like they would fight this system and win(by getting evolution, etc out of these public schools, and putting back bible reading, prayer, etc in them). So pretty much what they did was deceive their flock into letting their children attend these public schools, thinking everything will be back to normal.

Well, ultimately, look at their rotten fruit - everything just went from bad to worse, and their flock's next generation got brainwashed into these socialist deceptions.(ie-even the so-called "College Republicans" have stood down against abortion and sodomy)

Jeremiah_6:14  They have healed also the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/millennials-obamacare-big-boost-poll-101500010.html
11/29/13
Millennials Give Obamacare a Big Boost in Poll

Finally, some good news for the Obama administration.

Despite two solid months of technological disasters, significant delays, low enrollment numbers and millions of cancelled insurance policies, the group most crucial to Obamacare’s success hasn’t given up on it yet.

Millennials, ages 18-34, overwhelmingly believe the president’s signature healthcare law will work. That’s according to a new CNN poll released Tuesday that shows seven in 10 young Americans are optimistic about Obamacare’s future.

This is good news for the White House, which is desperately counting on at least 2.7 million of these young people to sign up for health insurance through the exchanges to offset the cost of the law. Since Millennials are typically healthy and rarely rack up expensive medical bills, their monthly premiums would make it cheaper for the federal and state exchanges to affordably insure 4.3 million other Americans.

Though the administration hasn’t revealed how many young Americans nationwide have enrolled in the exchanges so far, the numbers are almost certainly far from where they need to be. That’s because just 106,000 Americans overall had selected policies in October—well below the administration’s original estimate of 500,000.

But since the open enrollment period doesn’t end until March, some advocates suggest Millennials are just waiting until the last minute to sign up for coverage.

“While older and sicker people have good reason to more aggressively try to get covered, the younger, healthier people aren’t likely to exhibit much patience with a balky website, “They’ll probably wait until the last minute,” Young Invincibles’ Natalie Villacorta wrote in a blog post. “They’re likely to put off the mandatory insurance sign up until much closer to the March 2014 deadline.

Advocates routinely point to Massachusetts in 2007, where the enrollment numbers for Bay Staters 35-years-old and younger more than doubled in the final month of open enrollment. The White House anticipates – or at least hopes -- Obamacare enrollments will follow a similar pattern.

**Hmmm...Obamacare was modeled after Romneycare, and it looks like the former is following similar patterns as the latter.

Some experts, however, say comparing the Massachusetts exchange to the federal exchange is unfair, since only a relatively small portion of the state’s population lacked insurance at that time. Also, Massachusetts had a much longer open enrollment period of 15 months, compared to just six months for Obamacare. And the Massachusetts program didn’t suffer from widespread technical problems that prevented people from enrolling. 

http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/daily-ticker/milennialls-are-moving-for-health-care-135142344.html
More Than 40% of Millennials Say They Would Move to Save Money on This Expense
12/4/13

If the future success of the Affordable Care Act (aka Obamacare) rests largely with the number of young people who sign up--and there's little doubt that it does--then there's finally some good news for the new health insurance program.

"The Affordable Care Act is growing on them," even as more people have become more negative about Obamacare, according to the latest Bankrate.com health insurance survey released Tuesday.

Bankrate.com, a consumer financial website, also found that among all the groups it surveys regularly about Obamacare, 18- to 29-years-olds "were the most likely to say that their health insurance situation is improving" as well as their ability to pay for medical expenses.

"All of this really points to possible success of the law because…we do need the young and presumably more healthy people getting into the insurance pool to balance things out, to help pay for the older people [who] presumably might be more inclined to use health care," Doug Whiteman, insurance analyst at Bankrate.com, tells The Daily Ticker.

Not only are young people generally more healthy than others but they are also more likely to be uninsured. Millennials account for about 40% of the estimated 41 million uninsured in the U.S. according to the White House.
 
Young people are also more likely to relocate to find better and/or cheaper health insurance, according to the Bankrate survey. Forty-two percent of respondents in the 18- to 29-year-old age bracket said that "finding better insurance, possibly with cheaper rates or more options, would be a minor or major reason to move," says Whiteman.

“When it comes to the Affordable Care Act it might be worth your while to move around,” he adds. “The rates in the health care exchanges are literally all over the map. Some states are expanding Medicaid and some states are not.”

And then there’s the HealthCare.gov website which has fixed many of its problems at the front end, but not necessarily at the back end. One hundred thousand people reportedly were able to sign up in November but it’s not clear that they or others who have signed up are officially enrolled with an insurer.

These “significant ‘backend’ issues must also be resolved to ensure that coverage can begin on Jan. 1, 2014,” Karen Ignani, president and CEO of America’s Health Insurance Plans, told ABC News.

That said, Obama administration officials indicated on Dec. 1 they had met their goal of getting Healthcare.gov running smoothly. The Bankrate.com survey was conducted before that, from Nov. 21 to Nov. 24.

You mean, like a fungus!  ::)

I'm not saying Obamacare is the mark of the beast or anything, but the more I learn about this, the more it's becoming potentially obvious that this "bill" could likely lead into the NWO, end times MOB system.

It seems like they're targeting the youth the most(not only with this agenda, but also all of the deceptions in these Babel buildings like Vacation Bible School, CCM, etc that are corrupting our youth).

http://www.mainstreet.com/article/family/family-health/obamacare-effect-creating-millennial-precariat-class?page=1
The Obamacare Effect: Creating the Millennial Precariat Class
1/6/14

NEW YORK (MainStreet) — Is the Affordable Care Act (ACA) increasing the size of the 'precariat' - especially among Millennials? The early indications are that it is.

For those unfamiliar with the word, "precariat" is a portmanteau of the words "precarious" and "proletariat." It is used to describe those who have little or no job security; these folks very often work at jobs for which they are overqualified.

The depressed economy hit Millennials hard. Unemployment among Millennials exceeds the national average — between 12% and 16% as opposed to the general 7%. It put many in the precariat class.

Obamacare, for all its noble intentions, seems to have made this worse.

Whole Foods CEO John Mackey recently said during an interview with a cable news network that Obamacare is hurting his employees. The mandate has created an incentive among employers, he alleges, to hire fewer full time workers.

The plight of Mackey's workers is not unusual. Many employers are changing full time workers to part time to avoid the necessity of coping with the health care mandate. Many companies eliminated health insurance benefits for the same reason. It was cheaper for them to pay the fine for not offering insurance for their employees and letting the employees buy through the exchanges or enroll in Medicaid.

Predictably, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has a different opinion of the economic effects of Obamacare. It posted a video on its website quoting a gentleman by the name of Mark Sullivan.

"The Affordable Care Act, for me, was absolutely a job creator," Sullivan says. "I like to call it the entrepreneurial tax credit. I was able to browse through 76 plans and pick one that best fit my needs – which made it easy to figure out what was good for me. I found a plan that was exactly what I wanted. Now, I get to invest more in my business and less into health insurance."

HHS says that tax credits for Sullivan means he will only pay $78 a month for health coverage as of January 1. "Knowing that I have this plan that covers me in case of an accident or problem is incredibly meaningful," he says.

Obamacare advocates tout the November jobs report as proof that the program has not deleteriously affected employment. The report showed unemployment decreasing. But as the Bureau of Labor Statistics noted much of this was the result of furloughed federal workers returning to work. Still private sector employment did increase. So this runs counter to the doomsayers.

But the Obamacare cheerleaders omit that President Barack Obama delayed the employer mandate, so the motivation to go part time was eliminated. Also the BLS divides part time workers into voluntary (those who choose to be part-time) and involuntary (those who cannot find full-time work).

Involuntary part-time workers remain a significant amount of the total.

A San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank study addressed this. It acknowledged that the ACA's impact would not be great. But it did say there would be an impact.

"An alternative interpretation of the persistent high level of involuntary part-time work due to an inability to find full-time work is that it reflects employer anticipation of the 30-hour cutoff for mandatory employee health benefits under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) of 2010," the report states. "This phenomenon will probably continue, although perhaps at a slower pace due to the recently announced delay in implementation of the employer mandate to 2015."

Others are more definite. They say that Obamacare is creating a precariat class especially for Millennials. Edmund F. Haislmaier, a senior research fellow in health policy studies for the Heritage Foundation, a Washington D.C. think tank, is one of them.

"What is happening is the creation of a serfdom," said Haislmaier. "If you think about it, there are very wealthy people paying the taxes, so they feel good about themselves helping the poor, and then there are the poor. It is the middle class that is forgotten. They are the ones most burdened by the higher taxes and increased regulation. As more of the middle class leave, places like California and New York are beginning to look like Russia before Catherine the Great."
 
Haislmaier also noted that Obamacare encourages employers to keep low wage workers on Medicaid by limiting their pay rates and hours worked. He points out that as long as those workers don't earn too much for Medicaid, their employers not only don't have to pay for their health insurance but also avoid Obamacare's fines for not offering them coverage. The trade-off for the workers is that they can keep their "free" health coverage (Medicaid), and their jobs, so long as their incomes remain low. Thus, a program initially established for the vulnerable poor (children and disabled) becomes a catch-all for low paid, able-bodied workers, half of whom are young adults.

"This means Medicaid is now added to the list of government initiatives that actively discourage economic upward mobility," declared Haislmaier.

The modern-day, Apostate organized "church" system is largely to blame too - b/c of their deceptive messages for years over how "giving 'tithes' will result in 'blessings' from God, especially 'job security'".

Now we're in the worst economy since the Great Depression.

1John 4:16  And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.
1Jn 4:17  Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world.
1Jn 4:18  There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.

http://www.blacklistednews.com/40_percent_of_jobless_youth_facing_mental_illness_symptoms_with_one-in-three_contemplating_suicide/31670/0/0/0/Y/M.html
40 percent of jobless youth facing mental illness symptoms with one-in-three contemplating suicide
1/2/14

Some jobless youngsters are facing “devastating” symptoms of mental illness, with one in three having comtemplated suicide, a leading youth charity said on Thursday.

The Prince’s Trust said 40 percent of jobless young people have experienced symptoms of mental illness such as suicidal thoughts, feelings of self-loathing and panic attacks.

The study is based on interviews with over 2,100 people aged between 16 and 25.

Young people who have been unemployed in the long-term are also more than twice as likely as their peers to believe they have nothing to live for, the study said.

The charity called for urgent support from the government, health agencies and employers.

Martina Milburn, chief executive of The Prince’s Trust, said: “Unemployment is proven to cause devastating, long-lasting mental health problems among young people. Thousands wake up every day believing that life isn’t worth living, after struggling for years in the dole queue.”

The charity said three quarters of long-term unemployed young people did not have someone to confide in.

Shirley Cramer, chief executive of the Royal Society for Public Health, commented: “This research proves that unemployment is a public health issue.

“It is one that must be tackled urgently and it is essential that youth unemployment is added to the public health agenda.

That's not the solution, as the system has already failed them. It's the world. There's no life in it, and those kids have no life in them without Jesus, and that means they have no hope, so they get depressed, and wonder why they should even bother.

The world says, as in the article, that the solution is "mental health" treatment. Well, they say that because the world doesn't believe in God, but rather the hands of man. All the mental health system does is medicate these people, which is a chemical mask of the symptoms, but those drugs do not address the root cause of the symptom of depression and anxiety. And the root cause is spiritual. They walk in darkness because they have no hope. Either they get off track like I did for a time, or they never were grounded and settled in the first place. Either way, the end results are the same when walking after the flesh and not the Spirit; tribulation, chaos, and darkness.

http://www.nbcnews.com/travel/parents-spending-big-kids-traveling-sports-teams-2D11928994
Parents spending BIG on kids’ traveling sports teams
1/15/14

Over the past 10 years, Alison and Scott Bermack have traveled hundreds of miles — and spent thousands of dollars — to attend gymnastic practices, workouts and tournaments with their son Zachary, now 16.

"It averages around $300 a month year-round for training, and that's not including airfare, hotel rooms and food, uniforms and event fees," said Alison, a 44-year-old freelance writer with two other children.

"Scott is a lawyer, so he pays for most of this," she said. "It's expensive, but our son loves being a gymnast, so that's why we do it."

The Bermacks are part of the explosive youth sports movement, which has become a $7 billion industry in travel alone.

"Youth sports tourism wasn't even a category four years ago, and now it's the fastest-growing segment in travel," said Dave Hollander, professor at New York University's Tisch Center for Hospitality, Tourism and Sports.

"You've got millions of kids involved, parents spending thousands of dollars, and cities building facilities to host events and chase tourism dollars," he said. "It's just huge."

Youth sports are commonly defined as nonschool-related sport activities that include baseball, soccer, lacrosse, rowing, volleyball and gymnastics.

The sports are usually organized through local programs, such as Little League; or groups, such as soccer clubs, that are funded by donations, fees and business sponsorships. They have no single national organizing or oversight body.

It's estimated that at least 35 million kids between 5 and 18 currently play an organized sport each year in the U.S. Of that, 21 million are involved in nonschool youth sports, which have been expanding.

Youth soccer, for example, has risen from 2,388,000 players in 1995 to 3,020,000 in 2012 — with a near-even split between girls and boys.

Parents' task is to come up with the time and money to get their kids to training and tournament events. That could entail driving to the other side of town — or flying across the country.

"We've had to get on planes and travel with the whole family for an event for Zachary," said Alison Bermack, who lives in Montclair, N.J. "It wasn't cheap."

"We did have to cancel a trip to Orlando, Fla., because of the expense," she added.

If he does well in tournaments this year, she added, "we'll likely have to pay for all of us to go to California for nationals. We've put off a lot of other vacations to do all this."

The amounts of money that the Bermacks and other families like them spend is a major incentive for cities and towns nationwide to build youth sports facilities.

"When we started in 2003 we only got two calls a day about sport development projects," said Dev Pathik, founder of the Sports Facilities Advisory, a planning and management firm in Clearwater, Fla.

"But now, because of the youth sports explosion, we get calls every day about projects worth $150 million to $200 million," he said.

One of the projects that SFA is helping to get off the ground is Rocky Top Sports World, in Gatlinburg, Tenn. The $20 million, 86,000-square-foot multisports facility is scheduled to open this summer.

Mayor Mike Warner said the complex will bring big economic benefits, in part because Gatlinburg will offer families something to do besides sit in a hotel room between events.

"There's often a lot of waiting for parents and kids," he said. "So we have new ... restaurants, stores and other local attractions for people. ... We're expecting an economic impact of around $50 million over the next five years."

Asked how Gatlinburg could afford the complex in today's economy, Warner said his city doesn't have budget constraints and issued bonds with the county for additional funds.

"We had a reserve fund and the ability to do this," he said. "And we are a tourist destination. ... Our tourism dollars have remained strong even during the economic downturn."

Pressure on young athletes
The surge in youth sports has a number reasons, from parents' desire to keep kids active to the commercialization of the events as more make their way to TV and the Internet.

There's also intense pressure on young athletes to succeed.

"Kids are told to specialize in a sport and play it year-round," said Hollander at NYU. "The logic is if you play one sport all the time, you'll get better at it. ... That's why more kids are becoming members of youth sport clubs."

That ties into a winning-at-all-costs mentality with a financial goal in mind, he added.

"It's not just about learning teamwork but about money," Hollander said. "Some — not all, of course — but some parents see college scholarships as a reason to get their kids into youth sports."

What's lost in this may be the toll on the kids' health. In 2012, an estimated 1.3 million children sustained a sports-related injury severe enough to send them to a hospital emergency room, according to the nonprofit group Safe Kids Worldwide.

Sprains and strains, fractures, contusions, abrasions and concussions top the list of sports-related ER diagnoses for kids 6 to 19 — at a total cost of $935 million-plus annually.

"Zachary hurt his knee and shoulder in 2012, [and] that required four months of physical therapy," Alison Bermack said. "Besides being naturally scared for him, it cost us about $90 a week just to walk in the door."

No sign of slowing down
Safety issues and costs aside, the youth sports phenomenon shows no sign of going away.

"I don't see this trending downward," Hollander said. "Check out the local youth sports TV channels in your neighborhood. They are continuing to grow."

"Cities and towns are seeing benefits as these trips to events turn into mini-vacations for families, so their incentive to be a player in this is also growing," he added.

There's little for parents can do to keep their kids from pursing something they love.

Alison Bermack said Zachary is not pushing himself for a scholarship, as he's not even sure he will compete in college, but for love of the sport.

"He once showed me a bruise he got from falling off a pommel horse and said, 'Isn't it cool, Mom?' " she said.

"I was cringing, but this is his passion," she said. "Our pleasure from doing all this comes from seeing him do something he likes."

1Timothy_4:8  For bodily exercise profiteth little: but godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come.

1Timothy 6:13  I give thee charge in the sight of God, who quickeneth all things, and before Christ Jesus, who before Pontius Pilate witnessed a good confession;
1Ti 6:14  That thou keep this commandment without spot, unrebukeable, until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ:
1Ti 6:15  Which in his times he shall shew, who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords;
1Ti 6:16  Who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see: to whom be honour and power everlasting. Amen.
1Ti 6:17  Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not highminded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy;

That's a strange comment. Youth have been traveling around for sports for decades. Girls softball is HUGE for traveling teams. My ex has a daughter that played softball, well, like most of her family, and a couple of the girls were good enough to play on traveling teams, which they eventually did. Girls traveling softball was extremely competitive, and expensive for families that had to follow the teams around for tourneys across the country. I had no idea till we started going to some local tourneys and saw how big it was. Her team was just a small local team, not all of the players had equipment bags to carry their gear, while those traveling teams would show up all with their own matching gear bags, warmup uniforms, their own bats, custom painted batting helmets, etc. I sometimes wondered where they landed their team charter jet!

Basketball, baseball, even football has had a national level "traveling" teams for many years. It's not new, except I guess for the travel industry, who I guess just learned about what has been going on for years.

http://www.nbcnews.com/business/millennials-hit-30-its-economy-not-us-2D11981954?ocid=msnhp&pos=5
Millennials hit 30: It's the economy, not us
2/1/14

Turning 30 used to mean hitting your stride as an official adult. But for many of the country’s millennials, it feels like being stuck in perpetual late adolescence.

Marriage eludes many. Children? Not anytime soon. Most millennials have some sort of job, but for many a career seems unobtainable. A home of their own? Lots of them have had to move back in with mom and dad or shack up with roommates. That’s not the place where many millennials expected or wanted to be as they enter their thirties.

“We have plans that we’re working toward. It’s just so slow,” said Erika Hall Trowell, a 31-year-old living in Phoenix, who after two layoffs and a sharp pay cut figures she and her husband are at least several years behind on their goals.

Of course, some millennials have managed to navigate the early years of adulthood just fine. But for many, 30 is looking a lot like 20 used to as the generation that began with so much promise has fallen behind on nearly every adult milestone.

What happened? One major culprit, say many millennials: The lousy economy.

Even as the economy improves, years of economic malaise have left many millennials unemployed, underemployed or just lower on the career ladder than they had hoped to be at this age. Many are burdened by debt, unable to afford a house and too consumed by uncertainty to meet all the adult milestones yet.

Milllennials including Trowell say they aspire to the same things their parents’ generation had — and bristle when older Americans say they are lazy, or lack drive and ambition.

“It’s kind of a disillusionment that we’re facing,” Trowell said. “We were told that you can be anything you want, and now here we are and you can’t find a job.”

Millennials are loosely defined as the generation of adults born in the 1980s; the older ones of the bunch are hitting their 30s now. Experts say they’ve been hit particularly hard by the difficult economy because they have launched their careers at a time when job prospects are so dim.

The unemployment rate for younger workers has generally been higher than for older workers throughout the recession and recovery, and those who are working have likely started off lower on the ladder, and making less money, than they might have in a better economy.

Although they have decades to catch up, economists say a slow start in the working world can have a lifelong impact on a person’s earnings potential.

“My whole outlook is, it’s all very delayed,” said Chris Quinn, 31, a talent manager for a large advertising agency in Chicago, who after years of furloughs and other setbacks finally feels like he is on a path to making big life decisions about things like buying a house and getting married.

For many, even now, it remains tough just to get a job.

About 74 percent of the oldest millennials — those who are currently ages 25 to 32 — were employed in 2013, according to an analysis of government data prepared by Pew Research Center. That’s down from 79 percent who were employed in 2007.

Experts say the problem is compounded for those like Trowell who lack a college education, which is considered a minimum requirement now for many jobs that didn’t require it in the past.

Job losses and pay cuts
Erika Trowell and her husband, Ben, 29, say they expected by now to have already paid off their debts, bought a house, settled into good jobs and perhaps even started raising children.

Instead, the couple is still struggling to whittle down the last of Ben’s student loans plus credit card debt they accrued when times were tougher for them.

Even their wedding was delayed, and downsized, after Erika was laid off in 2008 and their wedding fund went to paying the bills.

Their finances remain tight.

Erika currently makes $12 an hour as an operations secretary for a Phoenix restaurant chain. She said she hasn’t received a raise since starting there in 2009. That’s down from $18 an hour at the job she lost in 2008.

Ben, who has a college degree, makes $15 an hour working as a graphic designer for the same company. But he only works 29 hours and 59 minutes a week, below the 30 hours a week that would require his company to offer him health insurance benefits.

The couple said it’s too pricey to add him to her plan for anything more than vision and dental, but he’s hoping to eventually sign up for Obamacare.

They rent a modest apartment near downtown Phoenix and have been sharing one car since their second vehicle broke down several years ago and repairs proved too costly.

They don’t have cable TV, though they do have Netflix. On weekends, they often visit a favorite used bookstore where they can sell books they’ve read and buy a few new ones with the profits.

They fret about being one health emergency or job loss away from financial ruin.

“If one big thing happens to us we’re not going to be able to handle it,” Erika said.

The couple say they are grateful for many things — their health, their compatibility and at least earning enough to not have to move back in with parents.

Decline in living independently
About 46.6 percent of older millennials ages 25 to 32 were heading their own household as of March 2013, down from 47.9 percent of people in that age range who headed their own home in 2007, according to a Pew analysis of government data.

Some older millennials may be sharing a home with roommates or a romantic partner, but a rising number are staying at their parents’ home. About 16 percent of 25- to 31-year-old millennials were living at home in 2012, according to Pew, up from 13.8 percent in 2007.

“There is this notion that there’s been a change in cultural trends — that it’s more acceptable now to live with Mom and Dad,” said Pew economist Robert Fry. “Possibly, but it’s also very clear that … living with Mom and Dad is related to sort of how you’re faring in the job market.”

Katie Stanton, 26, lives with her parents in Darien, Ill., because her part-time retail job doesn’t pay enough for her to afford to live on her own. Like many millennials, she fumes at the notion that she just wants to rely on her parents, or isn’t trying hard enough to find a career that uses her college degree.

“It’s annoying to hear that because it’s like, ‘You don’t know what I’ve been doing,’” Stanton said. “It’s hard not to get defensive when I hear those arguments.”

Delaying marriage and children
Millennials also are getting married later. In 2013, the median age of a first marriage was 29 for men and 26.6 for women, according to Pew data. That’s up significantly from just 18 years ago, when the median age of first marriage was 26.9 years old for men and 24.5 years old for women.

That’s partly the result of a long-term trend toward later, and less, marriage — but some millennials also say they have put off weddings because of economic concerns.

The recession also may be playing a role in delaying people’s decisions to have kids. The birth rate for women ages 25 to 29 fell steadily between 2008 and 2012, echoing an overall slowdown in births. Experts say it’s common for people to delay having children when the economy slows, but it’s not yet clear whether millennials will make up for lost time later on.

The Trowells are still hopeful that they will end up being able to achieve their version of the American dream: Steady work, a modest home and at least one child. They are trying to be patient.

“It’s taking way longer than I expected,” Erika said.

10 "commandments" on the Georgia Guidestones...

1.Maintain humanity under 500,000,000 in perpetual balance with nature.
2.Guide reproduction wisely — improving fitness and diversity.
3.Unite humanity with a living new language.
4.Rule passion — faith — tradition — and all things with tempered reason.
5.Protect people and nations with fair laws and just courts.
6.Let all nations rule internally resolving external disputes in a world court.
7.Avoid petty laws and useless officials.
8.Balance personal rights with social duties.
9.Prize truth — beauty — love — seeking harmony with the infinite.
10.Be not a cancer on the earth — Leave room for nature — Leave room for nature.

Galatians 3:11  But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith.

Yep, you bought into the delusion all right. You just don't realize yet exactly what has happened to you and who did it, but your starting to see how you've been offered one thing, when reality is another, which is the EXACT same scam the devil tried on Jesus.

http://www.nbcnews.com/health/kids-health/teens-more-stressed-out-adults-survey-shows-n26921
Teens More Stressed-Out Than Adults, Survey Shows
2/11/14

Forget the notion of carefree youth. America’s teens are every bit as stressed as the adults around them — and sometimes even more — according to a new survey that offers a snapshot of adolescent angst.

Teens routinely say that their school-year stress levels are far higher than they think is healthy and their average reported stress exceeds that of adults, according to an annual survey published by the American Psychological Association.

The agency's Stress in America survey found that 30 percent of teens reported feeling sad or depressed because of stress and 31 percent felt overwhelmed. Another 36 percent said that stress makes them tired and 23 percent said they’ve skipped meals because of it.

On average, teens reported their stress level was 5.8 on 10-point scale, compared with 5.1 for adults.

“It is alarming that the teen stress experience is so similar to that of adults,” said Norman B. Anderson, the APA’s chief executive and senior vice president. “In order to break this cycle of stress and unhealthy behaviors as a nation, we need to provide teens with better support and health education, at school and at home, at the community level and in their interactions with health care professionals.”

That’s no surprise to experts who work with teens. They say that the pressures of schoolwork, social life, sports or other activities — combined with a relentless media culture — mean that young people may be more tense than ever before.

“You have to be able to perform at a much higher level than in the past, when I was in high school,” said Dave Forrester, a counselor at Olympia High School in Olympia, Wash. “We have so many choices for kids. They need to grow up a little faster about what they want to do and how they’re going to do it.”

"What I’ve heard is without a doubt a huge increase in the number of our teens coming in with anxiety and depression."

An increased emphasis on make-or-break school testing and sharp focus as early as middle school on future college or career plans can be intense for some kids. Others find that the ordinary struggles of adolescence — friendship, romance, fitting in — are magnified by social media that doesn’t end when classes are over.

“It follows them home,” said Tim Conway, who directs the counseling department at Lakeland Regional High School in Wanaque, N.J. “There is no escape anymore.”

Stress seems to be getting worse for some teens, according to the survey. About 31 percent of kids said their stress level had increased in the past year, twice as many as those who said it went down. And 34 percent said they expected their stress level would rise in the coming year.

That makes sense to Bryce Goldsen, a junior at Bishop Blanchet, a Catholic high school near Seattle. He carries a near-4.0 grade point average, takes advanced placement history and language arts classes, plays varsity tennis, participates in mock trial events and sits on the city's local youth commission.

“Most of my stress comes from the pressure to perform well day in and day out,” he said.

Goldsen says he manages his stress well and uses it as a motivation to do even better. But Conway, the New Jersey counselor, said that growing numbers of kids crack under the pressure.

“What I’ve heard is without a doubt a huge increase in the number of our teens coming in with anxiety and depression,” he said.

"Most of my stress comes from the pressure to perform well day in and day out."

Across the country, Elaine Leader, executive director of Teen Line, a hotline in Los Angeles, reports a similar problem. Her 34-year-old nonprofit agency provides phone counseling and resources to stressed teens ages 13 through 19. Last year, they fielded more than 4,600 phone calls, 4,100 emails and 15,000 texts from California and beyond.

“I’ve seen a lot of stress, particularly in the past few years,” said Leader. “I think it’s gotten worse.”

Despite the growing pressure, most teens reported they don’t believe that stress is a problem in the agency’s Harris Interactive survey of 1,950 adults and 1,018 teens ages 13 to 17 conducted last August. About 54 percent of teens said that their stress level had slight or no impact on their body or physical health, versus 39 percent of adults, and 52 percent said it had little impact on their mental health, compared with 43 percent of adults who felt that way. The

Parents, counselors and other adults can help young people resist stress and learn to manage it better, said Forrester, the school counselor. They can set limits for reasonable sleep and screen time and point their teens toward stress-relieving activities, such as exercise.

They can help kids set realistic priorities for school and outside activities.

“We talk to them about balance. How do you balance what you have on your plate?” he said. “Maybe you don’t need to do three sports.”

Of course, that means that the adults have to take stress seriously, too. The new survey found that 42 percent of adults said their stress level has increased, and 36 percent said it held steady for the past five years.

And when it comes to managing their stress, 1 in 10 adults said they don’t do anything about it at all.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Matthew 11:28  Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
Mat 11:29  Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
Mat 11:30  For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

http://techcrunch.com/2014/02/22/obamacare-spurring-a-new-generation-of-healthcare-startups/?ncid=txtlnkusaolp00000591
2/22/14
Obamacare Spurring A New Generation Of Startups

Spurred by the Affordable Care Act, the American healthcare system in 2014 has entered a period of titanic change. The process will be messy and disruptive – it already is. While challenging for consumers of healthcare services, the shifting landscape provides tremendous opportunity for entrepreneurs, setting up the potential for an accelerated shift in healthcare delivery in the U.S.

This inflection point for healthcare in part reflects the way the Millennial generation – those born between 1980-2000 – manages information. It is a tech-savvy group, connected and collaborative. They want instant gratification and recognition. And they want – and expect – to have a different kind of interaction with physicians and the healthcare system than their older brethren have historically experienced.

Millennials have at their disposal a new wave of technological tools that track, analyze and respond to their physical condition in real time. Can physicians and the healthcare system deliver this generation what they want from the healthcare system? I believe the answer clearly is “no.” Instead, they will build it themselves.

My theory is that this population segment will drive huge changes in the practice of medicine. I’d expect relatively few to sign up for insurance coverage under the ACA, for instance. But I do think this generation’s entrepreneurs will reimagine and rebuild the country’s sclerotic healthcare system.

Entrepreneurs in this area must start by navigating around some core issues.

Medicine is hyper-local, with providers protected from outsiders by state law. And it is hyper-personal, with strong regulations governing information privacy.

On the other hand, Millennials tend to believe that data access should be ubiquitous and free. They have fewer privacy concerns than the Baby Boomers, living their lives publicly on Facebook and Twitter. Millennials want to hold e-visits with their doctors; they want to text medical providers for quick advice; they want portable insurance, transferable between jobs and across state lines; and they want clear visibility about what they are personally paying for and why. Today, in short, there is a massive divide between what Millennials expect and what the current healthcare system can deliver.

The opportunity here is gargantuan. The U.S. health-care sector generates annual revenue of close to $2.1 trillion a year, according to the most recent U.S. Census Bureau report. It’s an industry that employs nearly 17 million Americans (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2012). And neither of those figures includes the health insurance industry, which has more than 450,000 employees (Bureau of Labor Statistics, Jan 2014), and annual revenue of more than $850 billion (Annual Report on the Insurance Industry, 2013). In short, this is an industry practically begging for revolutionary change. And the ACA has lit the fuse.

Let’s take a look at five big entrepreneurial ideas on changing the healthcare landscape. Some of these areas – touching on insurance and patient care – offer the potential to build big businesses. While they may be lacking in some of the pizzazz of social networking or cloud-based software or other buzzy areas, no industry offers a richer environment for disruption.

Information wants to be free – especially when the government has it

Under the leadership of Todd Park, chief technology officer of the U.S., the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services (CMS) has released vast amounts of de-identified Medicare performance data. Dabo Health, a San Francisco-based startup, is taking a big-data approach to mining that information, saving lives in the process. In a recent talk, Park drew a connection between the release of aggregate health information and the approach the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) took a decade ago in liberating weather and GPS data. That move sparked an avalanche of innovation from companies like Garmin, Wave, Google Maps and many others.

Rethinking The Insurance Business

While most of the discussion around Obamacare has focused on the role of the large legacy insurers, there’s a need for new players. For instance, there’s Oscar Health, a company that has launched a next-generation health plan that intends to leverage the public exchange market in New York City.

Unencumbered by traditional health plan thinking and structures, Oscar launched a plan that leverages recent advances in big data analytics, alternative site options including telemedicine, and the best in mobile and web user experiences. From the Oscar website, for instance, you can click on a link and receive a call from a board-certified doctor within an hour, 24 hours a day. Everything on the site reflects a kinder, friendlier and more engaging consumer experience. If they can provide competitive pricing, Oscar has a chance to take business from the incumbents.

Building New Primary Care Physician Groups

Just as Obamacare opens the door to new insurers, so does the law create incentive for the creation of new ways to deliver medical care. Case in point: Village Family Practice, an independent primary care physician group based in Houston. The group’s goal is to provide the best possible care at the lowest total cost. The idea is to change medical practice in the U.S. so that consumers will feel good about their experiences – and physicians will be empowered to deliver quality, cost-efficient services.

The ACA, for instance, has provisions covering annual wellness visits and obesity counseling. Diabetes education has been around for years, but few have figured out now to cost effectively provide that service. Village Family Practice has figured it out, and is helping physicians deliver better care to their patients.

Make It Easier To Find The Right Coverage

Several new companies are focused on helping consumers find the right insurer – and the right physician.

Covered*, based in San Francisco, is the first data-driven consumer recommendation engine for health coverage. Likewise, Fuse Insurance, of Cambridge, Mass., has built sophisticated calculators to help consumers find health plans that meet their specific needs.

Help Employers Focus On Prevention And Wellness

The ACA allows large employers to offer workers rewards of up to 50 percent of the cost of coverage for participating in a wellness program and meeting certain health standards. That’s good news for Redbrick Health*, a health engagement and behavior change company. RedBrick combines financial accountability, clinical insight, behavior design, social and game mechanics and powerful data analytics to create a personalized and persuasive experience delivered through web, mobile and live interactions.

Redbrick’s open consumer engagement hub integrates apps, devices and services, and creates a cornerstone for more effective wellness and population health management initiatives delivered through employers as well as employee benefit exchanges.

This is the beginning of the revolution. Tech-savvy entrepreneurs are moving quickly to fix our troubled system, empower people with elegant and engaging tools and disrupt healthcare as we know it today.

http://theweek.com/article/index/257009/why-are-millennials-less-religious-its-not-just-because-of-gay-marriage
Why are Millennials less religious? It's not just because of gay marriage

A younger generation's religious views aren't shaped by a single hot-button issue
2/27/14

It's no secret that young Americans aren't as religious as their elders. A survey released Wednesday by the Public Religion Research Institute suggests that part of that rift may be attributed to a perceived anti-gay bias in organized religion.

Among those who have abandoned their childhood religion and are now religiously unaffiliated, one quarter say anti-gay teachings factored into their decision to go faithless. Among Millennials in the religious turned irreligious camp, almost one third said the same.

At first blush, that would appear to suggest clear causation: stuffy old anti-gay religious dogma is spooking all the hip youngsters. But while there is certainly a link between the two, it is an overly simplistic analysis that glosses over a host of reasons that Americans — and particularly younger ones — are losing their religion.

Let's start by digging a little deeper into PRRI's survey results. While 31 percent of Millennial religion-droppers said anti-gay teachings were a factor in their decision, only 14 percent called it a "very important" reason they went faithless. And fully two thirds of Millennials who abandoned religion said their decision had very little or nothing at all to do with religion's position on homosexuals.

So what else is at play here?

Americans have been growing less religious for some time now. About one fifth of the nation is either atheist, agnostic, or religiously unaffiliated, according to a 2012 Pew survey, which categorizes that demographic as the "nones." Young adults are less devout than any other age bracket; nearly a third of them are religiously unaffiliated. Notably, they are also less religious than previous generations were at this point in their lives.

As Pew pointed out, that generational divide isn't the result of just one or even a few factors. Rather, it coincides with a general "softening of religious commitment" in the nation as a whole, with religious institutions holding much less influence in Americans' daily lives.

Americans attend church less, are more likely to doubt the existence of God, and are less likely to take the Bible literally than ever before. What that means for Millennials is that they're growing up in less religious households, and are thus less liable to embrace religion themselves.

At the same time, atheism and agnosticism have gradually become more commonplace and acceptable. Only 18 percent of Americans said they would vote for an atheist presidential candidate in 1958; a majority now say they would do just that. There are promotional atheism billboards all over the country, including one that went up near the site of the Super Bowl this year. There's even a hotline to help people "recover" from religion.

On another front, religion has become increasingly politicized in recent years; its perceived anti-gay bias is just one manifestation of that trend. As political scientists Robert Putnam and David Campbell tell it in their book, American Grace, the religious right secured a foothold in modern American politics by railing against abortion, contraception, premarital sex, and other supposedly sinful things including, yes, homosexuality. (The PRRI survey lumps all religions together, but given Christianity's predominance it's worth spotlighting.) That politicization, they argue, then turned nonreligious voters off of the GOP and religion in general. Indeed, religiously unaffiliated voters have been trending more Democratic for the past 30 years, with a spike in the past decade.

**No, I'm not saying the "religious right" did wrong by taking a stand for these issues, but it was HOW they did so, in a VERY polarizing manner to make Christianity look foolish, and plant the seeds of rebellion in the next generation. Pretty much the whole Ted Haggard scandal in 2006 was the final nail in the coffin(which was all by design too).

"While the Republican base has become ever more committed to mixing religion and politics," Putnam and Campbell wrote, "the rest of the country has been moving in the opposite direction."

Returning to Millennials, the religious positions mentioned above are also largely anathema to their prevailing beliefs. Furthermore, the outright hostility to science from some on the right — on global warming, evolution, and even something as seemingly benign as vaccines — only further impugns religion's credibility with younger voters. It should be no surprise then that solid majorities of Millennials describe Christianity as "hypocritical" and "judgmental."

**Even their respective Baby Boomer parents, who were conditioned to buy into the "religious rights" heresies, embraced this "non-judgmental" attitude too, FYI.

To be sure, organized religion's perceived views on and treatment of homosexuals are undoubtedly pushing away some Millennials, who as a group are more supportive of gay marriage than the general public. But that's only a small piece of a much bigger picture.

http://news.yahoo.com/half-millennials-more-likely-lean-democratic-084021052--election.html
3/7/14
Half of millennials more likely to lean Democratic

Excerpt:

Millennials also haven't bought into the idea that they should go to church or get married early.

Only 36 percent of the millennials said the phrase "a religious person" described them very well, compared with 52 percent of the Gen Xers, 55 percent of the baby boomers and 61 percent of the Silent Generation. And they're significantly less religious than their immediately predecessors, the Gen Xers. When they were the same age, almost half of the Gen Xers — 47 percent — identified themselves as religious.

The 64 percent of the millennials who say that they are not religious "is the highest for any age group we've ever measured," Taylor said.

The millennials were far less inclined toward marriage than the groups that preceded them. Only 26 percent of the millennial adults are married. When they were the same age, 36 percent of the Gen Xers, 48 percent of baby boomers and 65 percent of the Silent Generation were married.

The report also found:

— 68 percent of young adults favor allowing gay marriage, compared with 55 percent of the Gen Xers, 48 percent of the boomers and 38 percent of those in the Silent Majority.

— A majority of the millennials — 55 percent — say people living in the United States illegally should be allowed to stay and apply for citizenship.

The Pew study was based on interviews with 1,821 adults by cellphone or landline from Feb. 14-23. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.6 percentage points.

Young Republicans Buck GOP's Stance Against LGBT Marriage Rights
http://news.yahoo.com/young-republicans-buck-gops-stance-against-lgbt-marriage-204909451.html
3/13/14

Score one for the LGBT rights movement: A solid majority of young Republicans now favor same-sex marriage.

According to the Pew Research Center, 61 percent of Republicans under 30 support marriage rights for gays and lesbians—more than double the percentage of party members over 50 who approve. While the Christian right wing has long made religious objections to homosexuality, younger conservatives aren't echoing those beliefs.

Perhaps Meghan McCain best epitomizes the trend of young Republicans falling in line with national attitudes—overall, 54 percent of Americans approve LGBT people's right to marry, an all-time high, according to the research center.

Our sister network Pivot’s resident young Republican has long been a progressive voice in the GOP, and LGBT rights group GLAAD recently nominated her show, Raising McCain, for outstanding talk show episode for its 25th Annual Media Awards. She dedicated an episode of her show to LGBT issues, providing a platform for outspoken activists such as Wilson Cruz and Wade Davis.

Just last month, McCain went on a tweeting spree, begging Republican Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer to veto a bill that would've allowed businesses to deny services to gays and lesbians.

McCain’s not the only one to deviate from her family’s prominent political ties. In 2009, Barbara Bush advocated gay marriage rights in the state of New York.

“I think the general opinion among conservative Americans has shifted,” says Rob Pedersen. He serves as chairman of the Westside Republicans, a Los Angeles–based organization that recruits young conservatives in high schools and colleges.

“I don’t know anyone who isn’t for full civil rights and protection for gay couples," Pedersen says. "This is magnified among young Republicans, who in general have more libertarian attitudes on most social issues.”

Still, he adds, “for many of us, the only issue remaining regarding recognition of gay marriage is balancing it with religious freedom. Marriage has always been a matter of individual state law and should remain so.”

http://appadvice.com/appnn/2014/03/millennials-are-ditching-their-television-sets-shifting-to-mobile-to-watch-tv-shows
Millennials Are Ditching Their Television Sets, Shifting To Mobile To Watch TV Shows
3/26/14

A new report suggests bigger isn’t better, when it comes to watching television programming. Deloitte found that Millennials rather watch movies and television shows on computers, smartphones, and tablets. These details were recently published in the firm’s annual Digital Democracy Survey.

Those between the ages of 14 and 24 only watch TV shows on an actual television set 44 percent of the time. Thirty-two percent of the time, TV shows are consumed on a desktop or laptop. Smartphones and tablets make up another 16 percent, while gaming devices are used 8 percent.

This is the first time computers, smartphones, and tablets have eclipsed televisions for any segment of the population, according to Gerald Belson, vice chairman of the firm’s U.S. media and entertainment practice, who spoke to Re/Code.

Not surprisingly, television use increases, the older the age group.

Those aged 25-30, for example, watch TV shows on a television set 53 percent of the time. This compares to 70 percent for Generation Xers (aged 31-47), 88 percent for Baby Boomers (aged 48-66), and 92 percent for those aged 67 and older.

Belson notes “The fact that we have some demographics watching television, but not on TV, is significant.”

As Re/Code concludes:

This shift has profound implications for networks, and Nielsen, which are working find ways to measure TV viewing across multiple screens. Nielsen announced plans to begin incorporating mobile into its traditional ratings with the 2014-15 season.

Personally, I’m not surprised by these findings. People are more mobile than ever before, and this survey reflects this reality.

Which devices do you use to watch TV shows and movies?

Apparently, there's (much)more than the bad economy over why Millenial's hiring rate is subpar.

http://www.cnbc.com/id/101531415?__source=yahoo%7Cfinance%7Cheadline%7Cheadline%7Cstory&par=yahoo&doc=101531415%7CHere%27s%20the%20real%20reason%20mi
Why millennials have a tough time landing jobs

Kelley Holland   | @KKelleyHolland

3/28/14

It's job-hunting season on campuses across the country, and the anemic job market is adding some extra stress to spring for many millennials.

Recent college graduates are facing less unemployment than those without college degrees, but a study by the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce found they are still contending with a nearly 8 percent jobless rate. And 44 percent of recent college graduates are underemployed, meaning they hold jobs that do not require a college degree, according to a separate report by the New York Fed.

But it's not just slow job growth that is hurting millennials' job search prospects. In many ways, hiring managers and others say, they are hurting themselves.

Stories abound of millennials showing up in casual clothes for formal interviews, bringing—and using—their phones during the interview and worse.

Not only that, in a survey of 22- to 26-year-old college graduates by Adecco, a staffing and recruiting company, 8 percent reported that a parent accompanied them on at least one job interview, and 3 percent said a parent actively joined the interview.

"I've had moms call me for interviews," said Dan Black, Americas director of recruiting at EY, the global firm that includes Ernst & Young, though he added that the candidates themselves were uniformly mortified when this happened.

Millennials "have been technology enabled from the minute they were able to crawl, so to speak, so they have a different way of connecting and a different way of engaging," said Kip Wright, a senior vice president with ManpowerGroup, the staffing company. As a result, he said, "they struggle with that traditional interview."

Some of the biggest mistakes recent college graduates make involve interview preparation, or a lack thereof.

In an Adecco survey of hiring managers, 75 percent said millennials' biggest interview mistake was dressing inappropriately, and almost as many said they tended to mess up by posting inappropriate material on social media. Almost two-thirds of respondents said millennials tend to demonstrate a lack of research preparation for interviews. These hiring managers also said they were three times as likely to hire a worker over age 50 as a millennial.

Black said he is often struck by millennials' casual approach. "I've gotten emails saying 'hey, it was gr8 to meet you'" after a recruiting event, he said.

But college students needn't despair. Hiring managers and recruiting experts say millennials also bring skills to their post-college jobs earlier generations lack.

"They know technology front and back. They know how to multitask at a level we can't imagine," Wright said. "If you put them in a conference room when they are trying to solve a problem and let them use their laptops, they will be networking with their own networks and they will collectively come up with solutions that you may never have thought of."

Black is similarly enthusiastic about millennials' capabilities. And Ernst & Young LLP intends to recruit nearly 12,700 professionals in the U.S. in fiscal year 2014, with nearly 7,200 coming from college campuses.

Black contends that employers need to make some adjustments to their expectations in order to work successfully with millennials—and millennials need to do the same.

"We've made lots of changes around the different technology platforms we use," he said. When his firm is training millennials, it offers podcasts and webcasts because "this is how this generation learns."

But 20-something job candidates and employees need to respect the client focus of the business, and adjust their behavior accordingly, he added.

"I can't wear shorts to the office, much as I'd like to. That's an accommodation that the candidate's going to have to make. That's what is accepted and required to do the job."

In other words, millennials: Go get those shoes shined.

Yeah, they couldn't care less. They are too busy texting somebody in strange shorthand, and then whine they can't find a slave job.

Ultimately, many of these kids aren't worth hiring. They are uneducated, inarticulate, and down right disrespectful. My wife sees them come in for interviews all the time, and she's amazed at their bad, indifferent attitudes. More than one has got an attitude with my wife, who is a senior trainer at her job. She effectively is third in command among the clinics medical assistants.

She trains them on the various equipment, that they already are suppose to be trained on from school, but they aren't. She's actually had a person still in school and working in their externship get an attitude because my wife was teaching her how to use an EKG. My wife worked for one of the best cardiologists in the Phoenix area. She knows cardiology, and these kids get an attitude with her?  ::) When they do that, they either don't get hired, or get fired. My wife has little patience when it comes to mouthy kids trying to tell her how to do her job.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MCPh5usV1jw

Was on the road yesterday, and noticed something for the very first time in my lifetime(and it caught my dad by surprise too) - Not only was it a live digital billboard ad, but they were showing a LIVE interactive score on it for the NBA's Dallas Mavericks' playoff game.

Again, I don't know if they've done this before, but this is the first time I've seen a live interactive sports score on a digital billboard ad(same with my dad).

If this is a very recent thing - just imagine how it will be in the time of Jacob's trouble - how they could very well show the "image of the beast" all over the place, everywhere they go.

http://www.emarketer.com/Article/Traditional-Digital-Ads-Millennials-Show-Mixed-Feelings/1010747
Traditional or Digital Ads? Millennials Show Mixed Feelings Millennials more influenced by digital ads, but pay more attention to traditional ones
4/15/14

Millennials are known as a digitally savvy group, but does that mean that they view traditional ads as less effective? According to polling by Adroit Digital, many millennials don’t. When the January 2014 study asked US millennial smartphone users about the effectiveness of digital vs. traditional advertising, 36% said that digital ads were more effective; however, the percentage of those who said they were equally effective was close behind, cited by 28% of 18- to 33-year-olds.

But despite what millennials say, digital may be winning the race. While Adroit Digital found that TV ads—a traditional form of advertising—were the most influential in perceiving/valuing a brand among millennials (70% of respondents), digital ad formats beat out the remaining traditional ones. Millennials may view digital ads as most influential, but it takes a special one to catch their attention. A January 2014 study from Goo Technologies conducted by Harris Interactive found that 18- to 34-year-olds were far more likely to ignore online ads, such as banners and those on social media and search engines, than they were traditional TV, radio and newspaper ads. The majority of male and female millennials said they ignored online banner ads, and around two in five males and half of females didn’t pay attention to social media or search engine ads. Millennials were the least likely to ignore TV ads, with about one-quarter of each gender group doing so.

(http://www.emarketer.com/images/chart_gifs/171001-172000/171135.gif)

(http://www.emarketer.com/images/chart_gifs/169001-170000/169549.gif)

How Young Christians Today Have Come to Deny Christ Through Their Views on Homosexuality  

By Bill Randles
(Believers in Grace)

This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.  (2 Timothy 3:1-5)

There is a frightening phenomenon that I have observed lately. I have been seeing the unhappy spectacle of young people, between their teens and early thirties, reared in the evangelical subculture, yet denying Christ.

They don’t consciously do it; I have no doubt that they don’t realize they are denying the Savior, but indeed they are, and in many cases with a vehemence!

The watershed for these young people is the acceptance or rejection of homosexuality. Through a distorted concept of the civil rights movement of the 1960s, homosexuals are now considered to be the new victims of oppression; and those who would in any way judge it as evil are now the new bigots. They have erroneously likened themselves to blacks or Jews.

In fact, we have come to the point in our post-Christian, paganized culture, where it is not even enough to “tolerate” homosexuality; the pressure is on to become advocates of it, to champion it; and there is a new freedom for people to hate and demean anyone who would dare call it into question.

The age group I mentioned at the beginning of the article—teens through early thirties—are perhaps vulnerable for a number of reasons:

It is they who have been, for the most part, deliberately propagandized through our public schools to develop “sensitivity” to homosexual issues and to question even their own sexuality long before they have even entered puberty.

Anti-bullying campaigns and whole school days of self-imposed silence in solidarity with “gay” students have been invented by “gay activists” in order cast homosexuality into a kind of victim status, thus tapping into the natural sympathy and sense of fair play of the young.

Thus, to this generation, interaction with and acceptance of homosexuals is an easy bona fide, a way to assert that “I am compassionate, open minded, unprejudiced and much more loving than the traditional Christian church.”

This is how they deny Christ. In the name of “being loving” and “understanding,” they repudiate the revelation of God given to us through Jewish prophets and Christian apostles, without a second thought.

Our Christian sexual mores are not mere constructs of uptight pastors, priests, or rabbis; they are a revelation from God!

“For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother and shall cleave to his wife and they two shall be one flesh . . . and what God hath joined together, let no man put asunder.”

Man didn’t originate the above—that is God’s definition of marriage. Jesus cited it as being “from the beginning” the original intent for marriage.

That revelation from heaven caused a moral earthquake in the ancient world, transforming paganism’s exhausted, debauched, rotting societies, offering a wholesome life-affirming alternative. Here is how columnist Dennis Prager, who happens to be a practicing Jew, describes it:

When Judaism demanded that all sexual activity be channeled into marriage, it changed the world. The Torah’s prohibition of non-marital sex quite simply made the creation of Western civilization possible. Societies that did not place boundaries around sexuality were stymied in their development. The subsequent dominance of the Western world can largely be attributed to the sexual revolution initiated by Judaism and later carried forward by Christianity.

This revolution consisted of forcing the sexual genie into the marital bottle. It ensured that sex no longer dominated society, heightened male-female love and sexuality (and thereby almost alone created the possibility of love and eroticism within marriage), and began the arduous task of elevating the status of women.1

But this generation dismisses that for the most part. For the cheap “holier than thou” feeling of compassion, sophistication, and solidarity with an oppressed minority, “Christian” young people align themselves with the cause of homosexual marriage at the expense of those who seek to proclaim the Word of God to this generation.

This is how they deny Jesus and don’t even realize it: they repudiate His teaching on a very important subject, and they side with a world in rebellion against God’s moral order. Not only do they not realize it, in fact they actually believe they are being more merciful and Christlike than other Christians.

Sides are being taken in this culmination of the cosmic struggle between righteousness and unrighteousness, light and darkness, the truth and the Lie, and neutrality is impossible.

I think we need to reach our own young people because they don’t seem ready to stand for Jesus at the point where the world most resists Him.

They are confused about what love is but arrogantly believe they are more sophisticated and compassionate than the whole of the Christian church through the centuries.
 
http://www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com/newsletters/2014/newsletter20140505.htm#29

http://news.yahoo.com/millennials-highly-competitive-yearn-noticed-study-131631579.html
Millennials highly competitive, yearn to be noticed: study
5/30/14

(Reuters) - The first generation of people raised in the internet age, so-called millennials, are more competitive than previous generations and yearn to be noticed, according to a study released on Friday.

The report, "The Disruptive Mindset of Millennials Around the Globe," by Dutch research firm Motivaction International, is among the first to capture attitudes of those born between 1980 and 2000 globally, according to the project's research director Martijn Lampert said.

"Millennials are unconventional thinkers and they are open to change, much more so than older generations," Lampert said.

The study sampled more than 48,000 adults between the ages of 18 to 65 in 20 countries with large economies - including the United States, Russia and China. Respondents were asked questions about their motivations, lifestyles and behaviors.

Nearly half of the surveyed millennials indicated that they like being noticed, almost twice as much as the post-war generation, the study showed. The research showed commonality between the age group globally and findings in separate studies on the narcissism of Western millennials, Lampert said.

Millennials were also more competitive than their older peers. Nearly a third said that competing with others, as opposed to working collaboratively, ensures better results, compared to roughly a quarter of respondents from the two prior generations.

The age group's unique mindset, which has already revolutionized the film and digital photography industries, Lampert said, has the power to reshape existing financial services models as well.

The research showed for instance, that millennials are more open than previous generations to online transactions like so-called peer-to-peer lending and more likely to consider using large, non-financial companies like Google for basic financial services.

The findings are to be presented on Friday in San Francisco during a forum featuring start-ups, technology giants like Google, and manufacturing companies.

http://www.mainstreet.com/article/career/employment/what-employers-really-think-millennials?puc=yahoo&cm_ven=YAHOO
What Employers Really Think of Millennials
6/18/14

NEW YORK (MainStreet) — As the Millennial generation slowly dusts itself off from the ravages of the Great Recession, it's finding a new career issue to contend with: a study by American Express and Millennial Branding shows significant disparities in how employers and young adults view one another. Most notably, the study showed about 50% of employers viewed Millennials as having unrealistic compensation expectations and a poor work ethic. That's a problem for Millennials trying to start careers or advance through the ranks.

The Bad News First

Before we get to the good news, let's rip off the band aid and dispense with the bad first. Though it's always hard to take criticism, experts like Piera Palazzolo, senior vice president of marketing at Dale Carnegie Training, thinks it's important Millennials understand how they're viewed by their employers, so that they can better prepare themselves to counter negative stereotypes. Her views (which overlap with many of the study's findings), suggest three key perceived weaknesses Millenials face in the workplace:

    "Millennials tend to have more unrealistic compensation expectations compared to other generations," says Palazzolo. "Gen Y workers tend to expect that everything happens quickly, leading them to believe that promotions and successful growth in a company happens at a much faster rate than in reality."

    "Operating under this assumption may also lead Millennials to think that their career success isn't necessarily dependent on their hard work and dedication to their job," says Palazzolo.

    "Lastly, Millennials seem to be unaware that their responsibilities go beyond the basic job description," she says. "An employee's job is to make their manager's life easier, meaning they are expected to do more than what they were hired to do."

Now, the Good News

But the news isn't all bad. Among other things, the study notes that employers prize Millennials' adaptability, facility with technology and entrepreneurial attitudes – and that they're willing to nurture these attributes. Palazzolo echoes this sentiment as she describes the top traits employers value in young workers:

    "Millennials are technologically savvy," she says, noting their particular contributions in areas such as social media.

    "Millennials are also adaptable," she says. "The fast pace growth in the digital world means today's younger generation is able to quickly adapt to change. This ability to adjust to new environments and situations is key to workplace success."

    "Young people are multi-taskers," says Palazzolo. "Juggling a number of tasks is the norm for Gen-Y workers and this ability can also help them easily operate and thrive in many industries."

How to Improve on the Employer-Employee Relationship

Differences across the generation gap are nothing new, and there are productive ways to smooth these in the work environment, says Palazzolo. Both Millennials and employers can play a role in helping to create a positive and productive work environment. Palazzolo thinks employers can do quite a bit to encourage Millennial workers, too.

"Employers need to instill a sense of enthusiasm, empowerment, inspiration and confidence," says Palazzolo. "And Gen Y individuals are inspired by having role models that encourage goal achievement, contributing to positive engagement and a better overall workplace environment."

For their part, Millennials should consider some of the study's findings: while the Millennial Branding study lauds young adults for their tech savvy and social media skills, it also notes discrepancies in how employers and employees view its use. Employers, for example, are likelier think employees should limit their use of social media during work and consider altering their personal profiles to meet company guidelines. Likewise, they encourage Gen Y'ers to be more patient for advancement and consider more traditional forms of workplace communication, such as in-person meetings, rather than relying on instant messaging or email for everything.

And just because they're usually older and more traditional doesn't mean employers are heartless dinosaurs without a sense for Gen Y's struggles. Palazzolo empathizes, and notes that 16% of American Millenials are unemployed – a rate far higher than the general populations. She says employers understand this creates some frustration among younger workers and partially explains slower career progression.

Still, understanding what employers want isn't rocket science. The study notes that the three traits employers overwhelmingly want to see in Millennials are simple enough: the ability to prioritize work, teamwork and a positive attitude trump all else.

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/5-industries-that-millennials-are-destroying-2014-06-21
 June 21, 2014, 7:00 a.m. EDT
5 industries that Millennials are destroying
Analysis: The younger generation doesn’t like cars, cable TV or soft drinks

There’s a lot to be said for watching demographic shifts as you craft your long-term investing strategy.

And while Baby Boomer stocks like health care and insurance get a lot of attention, long-term investors should also consider the impact Millennials will have on businesses — and their portfolios.

There are about 80 million Americans who were born between 1980 and 1995. And while much has been made about the challenges for Millennials to get good jobs or contribute to the economy, that is sure to change. As the Boomer population starts its inevitable decline, the power of this age group will grow substantially in the years ahead.

Some of that will be good, as the tech talents of younger Americans are put to work in the economy and as they grow into a powerful consumer class.

But for some stocks, the rise of Millennials is assuredly bad news.

Which picks? Well, here are five specific businesses that Millennials are shunning, which could cause a lot of pain for investors over the long-term if current trends continue.

Cars

Cruising around in my rusty Chevrolet Cavalier with the sunroof open and the radio up was the very definition of freedom to me at 18 years old.

But these days, there’s simply not the interest in cars like there used to be.

Consider that in 2010, a mere 28% of 16-year-olds had driver’s licenses, compared with 44% in 1980, according to another study from the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute.

Car sales in America have rebounded in recent years thanks, in part, to pent-up demand after the Great Recession, but the sad reality is that the U.S. love affair with the automobile may be coming to an end. That’s in large part due to a lack of interest among Millennials who look to live in walkable, urban locations and prefer car-sharing services like ZipCar or ride sharing services like Uber.

A car is just an expensive hassle for the younger generation, as technology equals freedom in 2014.

Sure, U.S. car sales could top 16 million in 2014 to mark the highest level of vehicle sales since 2007. But General Motors GM -0.41% and Ford F -0.66%  are up only about 6% in the past 12 months vs. 18% gains for the broader stock market. So clearly there are concerns about how sustainable this success is.

And as the reluctant drivers in the Millennial generation become a larger share of the car-buying public, the pressure could persist for some time — and after big rebounds since the bailouts of the Great Recession, too much optimism may be baked in to automakers.

Cable TV

It’s unclear where streaming video is headed in the next several years. But it’s clear that the future is likely with Netflix NFLX -0.27%  or Google GOOG +0.26% property YouTube and not an old-guard cable company.

Consider that for the first time ever, the number of pay-TV lines in the U.S. fell last year — with a drop of about 250 million subscriptions over the calendar year. That’s a big number, and a number that seems to be growing at an alarming rate.

Alarming, at least, if you’re a company like Comcast CMCSA -0.38% or Time Warner Cable

Part of the problem is “cord cutting” as folks with cable TV find options on Netflix or other streaming providers at a fair price. But increasingly, traditional cable-TV businesses are going to face the big pressure of Millennials and so-called “ cord nevers ” who haven’t ever had an affinity to cable and see no reason to start anytime soon when so much of their entertainment is consumed via laptop, tablet or smartphone.

Clearly the industry is circling the wagons, with Comcast bidding for Time Warner Cable TWC -0.33% . Similarly, AT&T T +0.08%  is looking to snap up DirecTV DTV -0.31% — not just to bolster its U-Verse pay-TV business but also to help the company transition into a new content delivery company in the Internet age.

There are big pressures ahead for those that can’t evolve with the times. So while investors may like the dividends of some previously reliable telecoms, it’s important not to forget the long-term headwinds for anything related to cable TV.

Brick-and-mortar retail

In the short term, I think retail is in big trouble. But folks blaming bad first-quarter weather are missing the broader long-term pressure of e-commerce that is reshaping the entire sector as more shoppers go online instead of to the mall.

Broadly, online sales continue to outpace brick-and mortar results. Online retail sales grew about 17% in 2013 , with total overall retail sales up only a fraction of that. So it’s no surprise that some of the biggest laggards in retail are stores that simply can’t get their online acts together.

Take specialty-clothing retailer The Buckle BKE -0.93% . This small-cap retailer used to be a growth darling, but now has fallen on very hard times as trendy shoppers look for alternatives on the web. Part of the reason the stock has been soft is a flight from malls, with same-store sales declining 0.9%, but the other element is a lack of online presence to replace that lost revenue. Consider The Buckle online sales totaled a meager $21.4 million last quarter — barely 2% of total sales.

Brick-and-mortar retailers that can’t change with the times and evolve to a digital-sales platform are going to continue to feel the pain as more retail sales go online in the years to come.

Homebuilders

By now, you’ve certainly seen all the stories about why Millennials are a drag on the housing recovery.

The reasons are numerous, but the biggest one-two punch tends to focus on the personal desire to live urbanely and the financial practicalities of less income and a lot of student-loan debt.

Consider that about half of home-buying Millennials lately are asking mom and dad to shoulder their down payments, according to a recent Trulia survey. Others are so spooked by the Great Recession and mountains of student-loan debt that they have no desire to take on a mortgage at all considering other financial concerns.

Homebuilders like PulteGroup PHM -0.10% and Toll Brothers TOL -0.71%  have been under pressure for the last year or so as the rebound in housing has petered out and construction has tapered off. But just imagine what would happen if interest rates tighten and the cost of borrowing climbs even higher!

Millennials don’t want to live in surburbia, and either can’t or won’t take on a mortgage payment. And that trend is not going away.

Soft drinks

Sugary, carbonated beverages like Coca-Cola KO -0.24%  and Pepsi PEP -1.11%  seem like the staple junk food of any young American. But not anymore, thanks to a focus on fighting childhood obesity and a rise of healthier alternatives.

As a result, Millennials drink much less soda (or pop or whatever you want to call it). And that number is declining every year.

A recent Morgan Stanley report illustrates how the shift to energy drinks and sports drinks in the past decade is partially to blame. But while that’s good news for America’s health, it’s very bad news for investors like Warren Buffett, who have always considered Coca-Cola the gold standard of consumer staples.

Sure, Coca-Cola has tried to hedge its bets with lines like its Odwalla juices and Powerade sports-drink lines. But the flagship soda brands of Coke and Sprite are facing real headwinds in the years ahead.

Perhaps companies like Coca-Cola and Pepsi can continue to diversify and evolve, both at home and abroad. But investors need to know what they are getting into with these consumer-staples companies that are increasingly less popular with younger Americans.

http://www.thewire.com/politics/2014/07/millennials-care-more-about-the-world-cup-than-actual-news/373781/
7/1/14
Millennials Care More About the World Cup Than Actual News

The day's top news stories aren't captivating the attentions of most Americans, but news junkies are still more concerned about the VA healthcare scandal and the violence in Iraq than whether America will beat Belgium tonight. According to a new Pew Research survey, people over 30 are at least slighty more likely to follow those stories closely instead of the World Cup. Eighteen to 29 year olds, on the other hand, care more about the cup than anything else and everyone else.

(http://cdn.theatlantic.com/newsroom/img/posts/2014/07/Screen_Shot_2014_07_01_at_1.39.19_PM/ef5012a60.png)

As the graph to the right shows, 18 to 29 year olds' interest in soccer is 9-18 percentage points higher than interest in any of the day's major news stories. The older you go, the more likely people are to be closely following real news.

Some things to consider:

    55 percent of Hispanics follow the World Cup very or fairly closely, compared to 32 percent of whites and blacks.
    The Supreme Court rulings were the least followed story overall, which is hard to imagine after yesterday's Hobby Lobby ruling. But then, the survey was conducted between June 26 and June 29.
    The VA scandal should be getting more coverage. With the exception of young adults obsession with the World Cup, the VA healthcare scandal is still the most popular stories among all age groups, though it has faded from the spotlight.
    Meanwhile, hardly anyone cares about the midterm elections, except for older people.

That last point should set off alarms for Democrats. "The people who are following political issues closely in this poll — wealthier, older Republicans — are also the people who will vote in the upcoming midterms. The people who would rather watch the World Cup ... aren't," writes Jaime Fuller at The Washington Post. "Which leads us to the grand revelation that midterm season is the World Cup for old Republicans." But then, none of that is the World Cup's fault — younger Americans have consistently spent less time following the news.

https://smallbusiness.yahoo.com/advisor/don-39-t-know-managing-millennials-180000378.html

What You Don't Know (But Should) About Managing Millennials
7/15/14

Whether they are called Generation Y, echo boomers or even the Peter Pan generation, millennials are becoming more prevalent and weighty in today’s business world. This younger generation is expected to comprise 36 percent of the American workforce this year and 75 percent of the global workforce by 2025.

Adapting to the influx of millennials entering the workplace doesn’t mean a company must to overhaul its entire environment, but managers may have to make adjustments to their supervisory style. Here are three lessons I’ve learned from my experience managing a team of millennials:

1. Promote a work-life blend and balance. Millennials live by the motto “work hard, play hard.” They are not willing to sacrifice their personal lives for the advancement of their careers. As a manager, empower millennials to manage their own schedules, yet continue to motivate them to be diligent about their assigned tasks.

Their contributions should never be measured by the number of late nights spent at the office but instead by the results realized, whether it’s producing high-quality work, beating project deadlines or thinking outside of the box to great effect.

At my company, Retention Science, which is teeming with millennials, I and other managers don’t clock hours or track vacation days (we offer a flexible and accommodating vacation policy), but set an aggressive timeline for each person to deliver tasks. This promotes a “work smart” approach and ensures that every employee stays focused. We want our team members to enjoy their time at work rather than to constantly feel as if working long hours were the only way to excel.

2. Spur collaboration. Millennials have grown up working in teams, participating in group projects in the classes, high school sports and group-chat video games. They want an atmosphere that promotes cooperation. A collaborative working environment can foster learning within a company.

At my company, Retention Science, our desks are arranged in an open floor plan to encourage teamwork.  No one is confined to cramped, isolated cubicles. Having a group setup lessens the sense of a corporate hierarchy and creates an ambiance of community. The team dynamic in the office is augmented by bonding events through company-sponsored activities, such as surfing lessons, pick-up basketball games and monthly dinners that let employees have a chance to get to know one another personally. A team that is built on trusted personal relationships will lead to solidarity.

**These modern-day "churches" also have a "corporate hierarchy" as well.

3. Set personal goals. Many millennials consider themselves altruists by nature. They want to have a purpose, whether it’s contributing to their co-workers’ success, company growth or aiding those using the products or services they create. Millennials' can-do attitude makes them mentally prepared to take on challenging tasks. They’ll continue to assume those tasks when it's apparent they contribute to their professional development.

Personal goal setting is important for millennials who want to see forward movement in their careers and take ownership of their progress. Allow new hires to spend a few weeks getting a lay of the land before asking them to record their goals – for the near term for their current position and long term to map their career aspirations.

From there, managers should conduct a monthly meeting with each team member to check in on their goals, outline expectations and provide candid advice. A manager’s job is to help every employee become more successful , and goal setting, along with periodic check-ins, adds a layer of measurement that's beneficial for the team member and manager.

I’m a millennial myself, but don't know everything there is to know about managing this generation. What I do know is this: Millennials’ appreciation for work-life balance, affinity for team collaboration and passion for helping co-workers makes them an important asset in the workplace. I never hesitate to tell each person how much I appreciate her or his work, whether it’s closing a deal with a new client, or documenting product updates. At the end of the day, showing gratitude and respect is the best and only way to manage millennials.

Move out? Millennials should live with their parents as long as possible
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/move-out--millennials-should-live-with-their-parents-as-long-as-possible-210016752.html
7/17/14

It’s time to cut the millennials some slack.

It’s supposed to be terrible news that more people in their 20s and 30s are living at home with their parents. Pew Research, for instance, just reported that a record 57 million Americans — about 18% of the population — live in multigenerational households. The main reason for that is a sharp increase in the number of 25-to-34-year-olds crowding into the family abode with their parents and grandparents.

This “boomerang generation,” needless to say, is the target of much scorn over its slow start in life and its apparent aversion to independence. They’re also causing considerable anxiety among homebuilders, automakers, appliance manufacturers and many other companies that rely on a steady flow of U.S. consumers spending every last dollar on things prior generations considered indispensable.

Yet we should reexamine our assumptions about millennials, generally considered to be Americans born between the early 1980s and the early 2000s. We’re programmed to consider robust consumer spending the ultimate indicator of a healthy economy. If spending is down, something must be wrong. So alerts are going off as millennials bank what money they can instead of spending it on rent, cars and the endless filler items that tend to devour your paycheck when you live on your own.

Foolish? That’s actually shrewd. Good financial advisors urge people to save as much of their income as they can, so they can invest it, apply it toward a nest egg and set something aside for a rainy day. Yet Americans in general are terrible at this. The overall savings rate is a paltry 5% or so. That’s considered high, since it dropped near zero as recently as 2005. One reason so many Americans got swamped during the recent recession is they thought home equity and stock-market holdings were the same as savings, only to learn those “savings” can plummet in value.

Millennials obviously have reason to be frugal. The unemployment rate is highest among the youngest, while it’s far below average for people over 35. Older workers have been holding onto jobs longer and retiring later, slowing the rate of turnover throughout the labor force and leaving fewer openings for younger workers. Meanwhile, the total amount of student loan debt has skyrocketed during the past decade and now tops $1.1 trillion. Many recent college grads can’t find jobs that pay enough to cover rent and student loan payments both.

Living at home obviously allows young, struggling workers to pay off bills, get out of debt and make a meaningful contribution to the economy, at some point. So what if it lowers the household formation rate? So what if Ford (F) and GM (GM) don’t hit their sales targets for hipstermobiles? So what if Home Depot (HD) and Lowe’s (L) end up with excess inventory of light fixtures and vanities? Instead of griping, maybe all the companies desperate to crack open millennial wallets should feel reassured that the future spenders of America are doing something to right their finances.

There are other signs the millennials aren’t as bumbling as popular opinion suggests. Although data clearly show a spike in the percentage of young adults living with their parents, the Census Bureau surveys from which those numbers come count students living on college campuses as “living at home,” as the Atlantic recently pointed out. The latest Pew report excluded such students from its count of multigenerational homes, but most media reports about the boomerang generation lump the two groups together without pointing that out. That exaggerates the portion of millennials who ought to be self-supporting but aren’t.

There’s also some recent data suggesting millennials are starting to move out in larger numbers. Jed Kolko, chief economist at the real estate website Trulia, told Yahoo Finance recently that Trulia’s data shows a 0.9% increase in the percentage of 18-to-34-year-olds who bought a home in 2013. He’s more worried about a falling homeownership rate among strapped middle-aged consumers than among the young.

Living standards during the past decade or so have fallen more than at any time since the 1930s, which means the millennialls face challenges their parents and grandparents didn’t. It’s not reasonable to expect them to hit life’s big milestones at the same pace as their parents. They’ll move out eventually, and when they do, they'll have something to show for the extra time they spent at home.

http://money.cnn.com/2014/07/20/news/economy/millennials-marriage/
7/20/14
Millennials say no to marriage

When it comes to marriage, Millennials are saying "I don't."

Today's young adults are on track have the lowest rates of marriage by age 40 compared to any previous generation. If the current pace continues, more than 30% of Millennial women will remain unmarried by age 40, nearly twice the share of their Gen X counterparts, according to a recent Urban Institute report.

 And that could have serious economic repercussions for both the Millennials and the nation as a whole.

There are several reasons behind the plunge. The importance of marriage has been diminishing for years. More Americans are living together without getting married, and some are raising families ... just without the gold bands, said Neil Howe, an economist and author of several books about Millennials.

Also, marriage used to be the starting point for young adults. They got hitched early and built a life together, Howe said. Now, many people feel they have to be more established, especially financially, before they walk down the aisle.

"The shift is the shift in the role of marriage in one's life," he said.

Marriage rates fell even more drastically during the Great Recession, when young adults had a tough time landing their first jobs and other Americans found themselves collecting unemployment checks.

Just how many Millennials tie the knot by the time they hit 40 depends on whether marriage rates return to their pre-recession levels or not. Only 69.3% of women will marry if the post-recession rate continues, while 76.8% will if the rate returns to pre-downturn levels. For men, the rates come in at 65% and 72.6%, respectively.

Regardless, it will be fewer than Gen Xers. Some 82% of Gen X women and 76.6% of Gen X men were married by 40.

Underlying these numbers, however, are major divisions by race and educational attainment. Hispanic and black Millennials, as well as those without college degrees, are expected to see greater declines in their marriage rates.

http://i2.cdn.turner.com/money/dam/assets/140718154053-marriage-projection-no-degree-620xa.png

White Millennials will see a small drop.

College grads could remain steady if rates return or decline slightly if they don't. That runs contrary to the current narrative that Millennials are putting off marriage because of high student loan debts and unemployment rates, as well as the increased propensity to live with their parents, said Steven Martin, senior research associate at the Urban Institute and the report's co-author.

http://i2.cdn.turner.com/money/dam/assets/140718154853-marriage-projection-degree-620xa.png

He found, however, that college graduates marry later so they are better able to ride out poor economic times just after they finish school. And staying single while young gives them more opportunity to establish a financial base since they can focus on their careers.

But the explosion in singles has its downsides. Married couples are often better off financially, which means they can spend more.

"The evidence shows that getting married increases wealth and income," said Pamela Smock, a sociology professor at the University of Michigan.

Single Americans may be less likely to buy homes or trade up to accommodate growing families, while single parents may be more likely to qualify for government safety net programs.

And the growing schism in marriage rates could exacerbate income inequality in this country, dividing society into still mostly married "haves" and increasingly single "have nots."

How Ronald Reagan turned America into a nation of children
http://theweek.com/article/index/265595/how-ronald-reagan-turned-america-into-a-nation-of-children
A new book on the rise of modern conservatism argues that Reagan's rhetoric infantilized our political culture — with devastating consequences

8/1/14

If you only manage to read one big book of political history this year, make it Rick Perlstein's The Invisible Bridge: The Fall of Nixon and the Rise of Reagan.

The third in a series of phonebook-sized tomes tracing the ascendency of the conservative movement since the early 1960s, The Invisible Bridge devotes over 800 pages to three years (1973 to 1976), with lengthy (and highly disparaging) digressions into Ronald Reagan's biography thrown in for good measure. These were the years leading up to and including Reagan's (nearly successful) effort to unseat a president of his own party (Gerald Ford), and Perlstein makes a powerful, intellectually bracing case for treating them as critically important for understanding much that has followed in American politics and culture.

Not that Perlstein's account is flawless. As with his previous books, Before the Storm and Nixonland, the enormous size of The Invisible Bridge and its density of historical detail are mixed blessings. Many of his often obscure anecdotes are marvelously apt and delightfully fun to read. And he is a master of making bold and unexpected connections among political, social, and pop cultural events. (The box-office smash Jaws spoke to a country in which fear was both hidden and seemingly everywhere, "consuming everything," while the hit TV sitcom Happy Days nostalgically conjured a 1950s world of national innocence that he tartly notes was "especially popular among children.") On the other hand, the seemingly endless flood of facts can be numbing at times, with the reader sometimes left groping to find the thread of the argument or the story to which they are presumably invoked to advance.

Then there's Perlstein's political agenda, which also harms as much as it helps. On the positive side of the ledger, his explicitly stated left-liberal commitments give his writing an edgy, polemical swagger often missing in stuffier histories written by academic scholars striving for a level of objectivity far above the political fray. Perlstein thinks the story of America in these years is terribly important, and that urgency permeates the book, making it read at times like an elaborately plotted murder mystery in which the victim is none other than America's soul. The intensity is often infectious.

But it can also lead to distortion. Perlstein's subject is conservative ideas and their impact on political reality. But he is so utterly unsympathetic to those ideas that he finds it impossible to see them as anything other than expressions of animus and anxiety, and an outgrowth of a childish refusal to face and accept the moral and historical complexity of the world.

Sure, that's part of the story. But does he really think that's the whole of it? In implying that he does, Perlstein ends up wandering at least partway down the same gloomy path that Corey Robin exhaustively charted in his thoroughly unhelpful history of conservative ideas, The Reactionary Mind. Neither author finds anything particularly insightful or useful in the ideas they've devoted themselves to exploring and examining.

That would be fine if it didn't result at times in tendentious, one-sided history. Take Perlstein's treatment of the neoconservative intellectuals who (unbeknownst to them, of course) were in just these years laying the groundwork for what would become the Reagan Revolution's domestic policy agenda. Perlstein mentions the crucially important neocon quarterly journal The Public Interest on just two pages of his book, and he has little to say about it beyond noting that it was "inaugurated in 1965 and financed by a former CIA agent who was now a stockbroker."

One wonders: Does Perlstein think the neocons ever had a point about anything at all? Were there any Great Society programs that called out for reform or repeal? Did economic or environmental regulations ever produce unintended negative consequences? Were any cultural consequences of the 1960s worthy of concern or even ambivalence? Or did the neocons automatically demonstrate their intellectual fraudulence merely by raising objections to liberal policies and expressing ambivalence about cultural trends?

To concede the validity of some of what the neocons were saying in these years would imply that the Reagan Revolution was not entirely worthless, not entirely an expression of cultural resentment and a desperate, childish attempt to evade reality. That would make for a less cogent polemic but a better work of history.

Which isn't to imply that The Invisible Bridge should be judged entirely by standards set by historians. For my money, its most interesting and worthwhile contribution may be found in those passages that strive to make broader political and moral claims, especially about the troubling character of American patriotism — in the mid-1970s, but also before and since.

As I noted in my critical (but sympathetic) comments about Ta-Nehesi Coates' extraordinary essay in defense of slavery reparations, patriotism comes (roughly speaking) in two forms. All political communities — from city states to nations to transnational empires — inspire and cultivate attachment on the part of citizens. This attachment — love of one's country — is an outgrowth of the natural "love of one's own" that shows up in love for oneself, love for one's family and friends, and love for one's neighbors. To be patriotic in this sense is to love your country because it is yours and for no other reason.

But some political communities go further, to uphold an ideological form of patriotism that treats the nation's goodness as an intrinsic quality that deserves to be recognized by all, citizen and non-citizen alike. In Thucydides' History of the Peloponnesian War, Pericles talks this way about ancient Athens. Imperial Great Britain and post-revolutionary France often thought about themselves in similar terms. And then, of course, there's the United States and its ideology of American exceptionalism, which goes back, in rudimentary form, all the way to colonial New England.

Like many dissenters and critics down through the centuries, Perlstein thinks the ideology of American exceptionalism is delusional. But he also suggests that its grip on the American imagination briefly loosened in the years covered by his study. Thanks to military humiliation in Vietnam, the Watergate scandal, an epidemic of political violence (assassinations and terrorism), and a steady drumbeat of press reports about America's morally dubious actions around the world, the nation finally began to "reflect critically on its power, to shed its arrogance, to become a more humble and better citizen of the world — to grow up."

The American people were poised to begin fashioning "a new definition of patriotism, one built upon questioning authority and unsettling ossified norms." Until Ronald Reagan came on the scene, that is. This master of "turning complexity and confusion and doubt into simplicity and stout-heartedness and certainty" encouraged his fellow citizens "to think like children, waiting for a man on horseback to save them."

It was nothing less than "a tragedy" — one that has deepened over subsequent decades, as the American people have allowed themselves to be lulled to sleep by patriotic fairy tales. Meanwhile, a "cult of official optimism" has turned unconditional expressions of American exceptionalism into a cornerstone of political rhetoric. As soon as a public figure suggests even a slightly more nuanced take on the country's history and actions, he opens himself up to charge of "apologizing for America." And so Democrats and Republicans alike trip over themselves coming up with new and better ways to say what Mitt Romney repeated countless times in his 2012 stump speech: "America is the greatest nation in the history of the earth."

I share Perlstein's irritation with the prevalence of self-congratulatory bromides in our politics and his disgust at the "shallowness of the flag-wavers." I agree with him that some of our worst foreign policy mistakes (including the Iraq War) have followed from taking such rhetoric far too seriously. I also join him in greatly admiring the popular art that America produced in its brief mid-70s flirtation with wrenching self-doubt.

Yet I can't help wondering if it makes sense to hope or expect that any political community — let alone one that for the better part of four centuries has imagined itself as a City on a Hill and a Light unto the Nations — would embrace the deeply self-critical form of patriotism that Perlstein thinks Ronald Reagan murdered in its crib sometime during 1976. Even non-ideological patriotism is, after all, a form of self-love. What Perlstein seems to want is something closer to self-laceration.

More realistic and also truer to the decidedly mixed historical record might be a form of patriotism that promotes a deep and abiding love of country — but moderately. That would look and sound quite a bit different than the "perpetual utterance of self-applause" that Reagan liked to indulge in and encourage. But it would also insist on tempering the relentless focus of Perlstein and so many of his left-wing compatriots on our national faults, failings, and crimes.

http://raptureready.com/soap2/coticchio1.html
Signs of the Times: Are There Any Pre-Millennial Millennials?

 I read an article on FoxBusiness dated August 7, 2014 titled, “The America Ahead: How Millennials Will Reshape the National Landscape.” It made me think quite a bit about the Millennial Generation, those born in the period between 1981 and 2000 if I understand the definition correctly. The article noted that there are 80 million of them in the United States, a generation even larger now than the Baby Boomer generation (1946-1964), which for the most part is the parental generation of the Millennials.

The article noted that many believe this generation may be the first which may have a lower standard of living than that of their parents. Looking at the affairs of this country, the uncontrolled rising level of national debt, our waning influence in world affairs, and our diminishing respect in world opinion, this belief cannot be dismissed out of hand as foolish or outlandish.

Millennials marry later in life, have families later in life than previous generations (a good thing if more maturity and wisdom is attached to those decisions), and Millennials take longer to establish themselves in careers. Millennials are the generation which will have to squarely face the stresses on this country’s social safety nets; the shrinking ability of the country’s finances to be able to maintain the promise made to previous generations.

Given the recent events as they relate to immigration, legal or illegal (and I do not wish to address that controversial topic here), the Millennials will also live in a more ethnically diverse country than the U.S. has ever been before. Time will tell (though the Lord already knows) whether this is a good thing or not.

Clearly the Millennial Generation is different from that of their parents and grandparents. And, time will tell (though the Lord already knows) whether that is a good thing or not. But reading the FoxBusiness article didn’t make me keep thinking about the reshaping of America; I started to think about the faith beliefs of the Millennial generation, beliefs that will be shaping eternity for each and every one of them, depending on what they believe.

According to Pew Forum research, Millennials are less likely to regularly attend church, less likely to identify themselves with a specific denomination or religion, and less likely to believe in the existence of God. Less likely, but not dramatically so, than previous generations at the point in time when they were the same age of Millennials today. They are not a godless generation, but they do believe differently. As with any generation,  a belief in god does not necessarily mean a belief in the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of the Bible, identified as the Trinity: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Where it becomes most disturbing is in the area of evangelical Christianity. Millennials from evangelical Christian backgrounds are markedly less likely to believe Scripture is the inerrant, literal Word of God. They are more accepting of homosexuality. They hold similar views on abortion as older evangelicals, but feel less threatened by Hollywood social values and prefer the government to deal more with social issues than do their elders. Statistics go on, but there is a shift, not seismic yet, but a shift away from the more conservative, fundamentalist views of evangelical Christianity as a whole.

Are there pre-millennial Millennials? Does the younger generation believe Jesus is coming soon, and that we are anxiously awaiting a Pre-Tribulation Rapture of the church wherein Jesus Christ will come to take His church (the remnant church) home with Him before the Tribulation? The seven-year period of the Antichrist’s reign during which Satan will ravish those who believe in Jesus Christ? That time of Great Tribulation wherein God pronounces and enacts His judgment upon an unbelieving world?

 The answer is yes, but in lesser numbers than ever before. Go to any of the major prophecy conferences held annually, and you will see an aging population in attendance, which year by year grows grayer and smaller. Oh, there are younger folks there, but they are in the minority. Going to one actually makes me feel young again for a few days, then life’s reality sets in and I realize that I too am aging year by year. What can be done? We need to better engage this generation into the eschatological conversation.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alison-sher-alexa-rosenthal-/life-lessons_b_5623499.html?ncid=txtlnkusaolp00000592
9 Reasons to Pay Attention to Millennials
8/17/14

Everyone's talking about them. We've been talking to them.

For the past two years, our crew has traveled around in a 1978 RV, interviewing hundreds of millennials about what it's like to find a sense of identity and direction post-Recession. So much information out there is negatively spun about our situation. We've found millennials are using that muck to transform social norms and redefine success. There are as many ways to navigate your 20s as there are 20-somethings.

Here is what the next crop of human potential has working in its favor:

1. We know we can change the world. 85 percent of millennials want to work somewhere improving society. We crave meaning over money. 58 percent of students say they would take a pay cut to work at an organization they feel ethically aligned with. We don't want to live in cognitive dissonance by doing anything else.

2. There are an estimated 2.5 billion of us across the globe. That's more people than all active military members in every country combined. This is our millennial army, and we are not satisfied with the state of the world.

3. Entrepreneurism is our religion. 70 percent of millennials want to start their own business. We've been bashed for job hopping, when really, most of us are studying our employers. We have a plan. We see entrepreneurship as the best way to create opportunities for ourselves and others, share our gifts, solve international problems, and finally achieve a sense of autonomy and conscientious interdependence.

4. We're all about growth. 77 percent of 18- to 29-year-olds agree emerging adulthood is the time to figure out who you are and what you want to do. We prioritize personal development. That's why we travel across the world to stick ourselves in situations foreign, absurd, and sometimes reckless. Experimenting with partners, professions, and lifestyles is how we discover our likes and dislikes, the parts of ourselves that persist in any environment, and the aspects of tradition that truly feel authentic.

5. We create our own rite of passage. The line between being an adolescent and being an adult has never been so blurred. Biologically, we're adults, but not based on past social indicators like finishing education, buying a home, getting married, and having children. Gen Yers initiate themselves into adulthood by being bold enough to pick a path and take responsibility for the consequences, regardless of what others think about the decision.

6. We hate/love our options. Millennials have a global playing field to compete and find our niches within. Young women are closing the income gap with men. There are thousands of options for our future, which can be viewed as a sign of progress and privilege - but it also makes us want to vomit. Millennials can do almost anything (except, perhaps, affect political policies). But we slowly learn we can't do everything. It takes a while, but once we move past analysis paralysis, get over the crises of confidence, and channel our dreams down to one (or two), we are willing to exhaust ourselves in any effort to succeed.

7. Our best assets are qualitative. Millennials are leading the wave of Americans who think the American Dream is dead. We have adapted to our economic circumstances by basing our self-esteem on less tangible aspects of life that can't always be monetized like creative expression, the strength of our social networks and friendships, our ability to constantly change and stay optimistic.

8. We are open to living alternatively (and we own it). The search for utopia lives on with the modern youth. Off-the-grid homesteads and eco-friendly permaculture communities are being championed by millennials who can't make ends meet within the system and crave to live more sustainably without exhausting their ardor fighting bureaucracy. Our desire to feel support from others and tread lightly on nature has us banding together to see if we can create hyper localized societies together.

9. Our entitlement speaks to our ambition. When a recent college grad acts like they deserve to be CEO in their first week on a job, and you find yourself wanting to kill them, remember this. Millennials may lack experience hacking away in the trenches of the working world, paying dues like you did. We may abandon prudence in our attempts to seize opportunities in an environment where they seem scarce, but it's because we're hungry. Sharing ideas, being heard, feeling like we have a purpose, and getting rewarded with a living wage for our contributions are signs of self-respect and worker rights we believe we deserve.

Millennials are resilient. We embody a joie de vive and live according to a moral compass, despite all our trials and all our errors and all of our uncertainty.

http://www.post-gazette.com/life/lifestyle/2014/09/07/Being-23-The-meteoric-rise-of-Millennials-a-powerful-force/stories/201409070083
9/7/14
Being 23: The meteoric rise of Millennials a powerful force
The largest single age group is tech-savvy and entrepreneurial and will be shaping the nation’s future

Right now in the United States, there are more 23-year-olds than people of any other age. This seemingly trivial fact of demographics is an anomaly more than 50 years in the making. According to U.S. Census data, since 1947, the most represented age in the United States has always been a member of the group born in the 20 years after WWII, the baby boomers. In 1950, it was age 3. In 1990, it was 29. In 2010, it was 50.

The rise of the boomers, a group forged into adulthood during the social and political upheaval of the 1960s and ’70s, has been chronicled and teased apart since their conceptions. Boomers collectively were named TIME’s “Man of the Year” in 1966. They were the first generation to have television, and, in many ways, the first to be marketed to as a distinct cohort, a collection of citizens with a cultural identity notably different from their parents. They have the highest voter participation rate of any group of Americans and currently hold the most powerful positions in both the Democratic and Republican parties.

But, as the Bob Dylan song goes, “The times, they are a-changin’.”

Today, a member of the most represented age in the United States is tech-savvy, entrepreneurial and less bound by the very term “generation” than ever before. This person will begin shaping the future of our nation from now on.

Millennials by the numbers

“I’ve graduated from college. I got my associate’s and now I’m in debt because of it. And that’s it,” says Lexi Williams. She turned 23 in late July and lives in Overbrook. She works in the health insurance industry and is frustrated by her $400 a month loan payment, but knows things could be worse.

“I work with a girl who has $50,000 in student loans. She has a history degree. She sells health insurance. Yeah.”

By the numbers, Ms. Williams is nowhere near alone. In most discussions, 23-year-olds like her are lumped into the debt-riddled, amorphous, often critiqued, little understood demographic cohort we call Generation Y or “Millennials.” Although definitions vary, the term is commonly understood to mean the roughly 77 million people born between 1980 and the early 2000s. Twenty-three-year-olds, in particular, stand in the midst of what marketing agency Sparks & Honey call a “demographic tsunami,” the wake of which will undoubtedly change facets of American life from entertainment to health care and everything in between.

Not that it hasn’t already. Thanks to ample new technology that this group is most adept at using, the traditional barriers of entry to many lucrative industries have crumbled, and Millennials have begun to rise to the top of fields where boomers formerly reigned. There are more CEOs under 40 than ever before thanks to the proliferation of startups. Yahoo’s CEO Marissa Mayer is 39. Burger King’s CEO Daniel Schwartz is 34. Facebook’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg celebrated his 30th birthday in May and as of July sits on a personal wealth of more than $33 billion.

In entertainment, the impact that tech-savvy Millennials have had is even more striking. My­space and YouTube essentially created the careers of artists such as Justin Bieber, Chief Keef, Iggy Azalea, Lana Del Rey and Pittsburgh’s Mac Miller and Wiz Khalifa. Today, applications such as Vine and Instagram have created their own world of comedians, actors and models who command hundreds of thousands of viewers and thus hundreds of thousands of advertising dollars.

But it is not just technology that can be credited for the Millennials’ meteoric rise. There is something distinct about their attitudes as well. According to the Pew Research Center, Millennials are nothing if not confident and optimistic. Ninety percent of them believe they will reach their lifetime financial goals. In November 2008, in the midst of the greatest economic downturn since the Great Depression, not one Millennial reported in a Pepsi Refresh Report that they lacked hope about the long-term future. In 2010, the Harvard Institute of Politics reported that nearly half of all Millennials thought they would be better off than their parents are. Overall, Millennials seem to believe in themselves and their abilities more than any other group before them.

Although there is little that has crystallized the Millennial identity like the former World Wars or the civil rights movement that shaped earlier generations, all agree about the importance of technology to this group. Nearly one in four Millennials say technology is what makes their generation unique, more than double the percentage of Generation Xers (those born between the early 1960s to early 1980s) who say so, according to the Pew Research Center.

“I don’t need to watch the news. I have Facebook and Twitter,” says Klase Danko, 23, an aspiring actress from New Kensington. She works three part-time jobs and still lives in the same house she was born in, after graduating from Point Park University in 2013. “Technology has changed everything.”

James Snyder, a 23-year-old financial analyst from Shadyside who has been in the city six years, doesn’t have Facebook himself, but says social networking is “the most defining thing” for this generation.

“When you didn’t have social networks, you really didn’t have this direct visibility into one another’s lives … Now you have this platform where you have instant access and visibility into anyone’s lives at literally the touch of a fingertip. And I don’t know if it makes everyone more connected, but it gives you access that didn’t really exist before.”

Allison Martini, a 23-year-old cashier from Scott, agrees. “It makes it easier, in some respects, but definitely harder to have a real conversation.”

The Web was a fact of life from birth for most of this group, unlike its slow infiltration into the lives of Generation Xers and the way television gradually became part of boomers’ leisure time. By the time Millennials hit their teenage years, they had been through AOL chat rooms, Myspace and more. In that way, technology defines them only as a continuation of a trend started with the creation of the Web, not the start of something new.

All in all, the tendency to hold a mirror up to the boomers has perhaps led society to paint the Millennials with much too broad a brush, relying on a cultural oversimplification about 30 years wide.

Researchers for the Millennial Segmentation Study at Carnegie Mellon University have delved into their project with just that thought in mind. Surveying 2,000 people ages 18-34, the study aims to focus on “sub-segments of the demographic that are becoming increasingly evident.”

Peter Boatwright, professor of marketing and co-founder and co-director of the Integrated Innovation Institute, says the study is looking directly at what distinguishes Millennials from each other, instead of constantly comparing the entire group to boomers and Generation X.

“Eighteen to 34 is a huge segment of the population. You can’t lump them all together,” Mr. Boatwright says.

Technology as a defining factor has its limits. According to the study’s preliminary findings, when it comes to those ages 18-22 in comparison to ages 30-34, there are definite differences, but it’s not in “how digital they are.” Mr. Boatwright highlights what he calls “stage-of-life issues” as well that complicate any attempt to define this generation. Simply put, people in their 20s have less time on their hands than most people in their 50s and 60s. Things like civic engagement and other factors where Millennials seem lacking may be less of a function of their narcissism or laziness and more of a function of the other commitments that come along with being young.

“It’s hard to compare people in their 20s to people in their 60s. You’re going to find differences in actions vs. intent.”

Preference for Pittsburgh

At the intersection of yet another Millennial contradiction lies the new-found popularity of relatively smaller urban environments like Pittsburgh. It is unmistakable that the demographic shift that is changing the nation is also changing the ’Burgh.

The U.S. Census does not break down the number of people by specific ages like its national figures, but overall Pittsburgh’s population is getting younger every year, spurred on by the tech industry and the robust growth of the University of Pittsburgh and CMU and its graduates who decide to stick around. In 2013, The Atlantic ranked Pittsburgh as one of the four cities where Millennials can “make it now.” The recent introduction of ride-sharing applications Uber and Lyft are just one indication of the gradual de-aging of this once gray city.

Kevin Kerr, the 23-year-old chief of staff for city council President Bruce Kraus, is one of these recent graduates who’s decided Pittsburgh might just be the place for him for the long haul.

“I love the city. I love the atmosphere, the overall direction and vibe that you get here. If you would’ve asked me five years ago where I’m going to end up after college, I would’ve never guessed Pittsburgh. But I think coming to school here, I’ve seen something in the culture of the city that I’ve really liked.”

Originally from Erie and born and bred a Notre Dame fan, Mr. Kerr now spends his days working to make positive change through his job at city council. He’s been very encouraged by the way the city has grown in the four years he’s been here.

“I just want to be a part of that. I just want to experience that … It’s kind of this perfect storm right now. Everyone’s working together to make this city the best that it can be.”

Kamala Gopalakrishnan is a 23-year-old teaching assistant at the University of Pittsburgh who lives in Regent Square. She’s been in the city for only a year and says coming to Pittsburgh was “partially an academic decision and also an emotional decision.” Originally from West Virginia, she was hesitant to go too far away from her only family.

“This is a good-sized city for me because it’s not like New York City where it’s totally overwhelming and expensive. I felt like Pittsburgh had a good mix of urban and nature. I feel like it’s a good transitional city for me.”

Politics and looking forward

As this cohort grows up, their politics will become the nation’s collective politics as they begin to make their voices heard and take spots in the upper levels of government. Do their relatively liberal politics and tolerant attitudes mean less partisan politics in the future or more?

Jeffrey Brinker, a 23-year-old PPG Industries employee from the North Side, thinks that the crazy partisan bickering in federal politics has made him “more charged up about issues.” But, laughing, he acknowledges that his new fervor “doesn’t really help the whole partisanship thing.”

Overall, there is a mistrust of both Democratic and Republican parties that has led to a drastic narrowing in the lead Democrats have historically had with this age group.

“I’m very opinionated as far as my disdain for both parties,” says 23-year-old Brandon Jennings who lives in Highland Park and studies computer engineering at Pitt. “I’d say I’m moderate, leaning more toward the right … But there’s so much more to politics than just conservative views vs. liberal views.”

Despite their fatigue with politics as usual, they see themselves as more than capable of changing the status quo, one day at a time, one click at a time.

“We change more things,” says Ms. Martini, the Scott cashier. “We start more movements. All it takes is a hashtag on Twitter.”

“I really wish there were more Millennials running stuff,” says Larissa Davis, 23, of Bloomfield. “There are, but in other areas like government and business, we’re not there yet … I really do think our generation thinks differently about things.”

When asked to put themselves in the boomers’ place, these young ’Burghers have trouble projecting more than their whole lifetime ahead, but still have some clear ideas about what they will have achieved.

“At age 50, at that stage in life, I want to be doing something I care about, making an impact on the world and hopefully other individuals,” says Mr. Snyder. “At that point, you’d hope you can serve as a role model for your children and friends of your children.” He has ambitions of owning a home, a car, all the more traditional things, but claims the “intangibles” are what matters most to him.

“What’s important is that I’m happy with the majority of the decisions I’ve made … that I led a good life and had an impact.”

Though Ms. Danko, the aspiring actress, doesn’t have any clear thoughts about kids or marriage, she knows she wants to have had her “shot,” her chance to make it big as an entertainer. And, with that unbridled Millennial optimism, she has absolutely no doubt her dream will come true.

“By the time I’m 50, it will have happened. I know it. I know it. And if it hasn’t, I’ll aim for 80 … I’ve just got to try.”

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And now the Apostate Church in America is being duped into believing that they have to largely market themselves to this very Millenial generation in order to "grow" their churches - they are/have set themselves up for a big trap b/c They're forcing themselves to compromise as they know full well that to bring them in, they have to cater to them and their pop culture mentality(ie-changing their worship music to CCM, "Christian" Rock, etc. Using even worse bible perversions like The Message and T-NIV, etc). And not to mention too the elderly will be forced out subsequently.

FYI, I've seen 20-something year olds preach from the pulpits - I don't think they intentionally try to deceive, but they are in GROSS error in their doctrine(especially salvation). Not surprising b/c they didn't grow up with the KJB.

2Timothy 3:1  This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.
2Ti 3:2  For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,
2Ti 3:3  Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good,
2Ti 3:4  Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;
2Ti 3:5  Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/nextavenue/2014/09/16/how-boomers-can-play-nice-with-millennials-at-work/?partner=yahootix
9/16/14
How Boomers Can Play Nice With Millennials At Work

Although labeled as entitled, self-absorbed and sheltered, Millennials are more than 80 million strong, outnumbering the boomers. Here, two boomers — who parent and work with Millennials — offer their take on the generation gap and how boomers can help bridge it:

The anecdotes have become stereotypes: Millennials — those graduating from college from roughly 2003 to 2018 — arriving at job interviews in flip-flops, inquiring immediately about telecommuting policies and expecting quick and painless ascensions up the corporate ladder. Some even more egregious personal observations (with names changed to protect the not-so-innocent):

    Janet, an Ivy League graduate and fledgling TV reporter, is connected by her father with a professional peer who worked in TV news earlier in her career. Now toiling in a small town with an eye toward moving on to a more exciting market, Janet is in search of career advice. But over two meetings in a coffee shop, Janet never once rises to greet the communications pro who is making time to mentor her, nor does she even offer to buy her a beverage.
    Chris, the sole Millennial at a workplace training session with a major East Coast healthcare system, plops down in her assigned seat, feet on the chair, knees in the air and heels tucked under her rear end. Even in leggings, it’s not a pretty sight — and far from a professional one.
    Frantic parents arrive at the local emergency room where their daughter has been admitted and the twentysomething at the ER reception doesn’t look up from her computer. When the parents inquire about their daughter, the receptionist boredly intones, “Through the doors and take a right” without making eye contact.

**I remember my mom scolding me a good one when she saw me acting like this in THE 3RD GRADE!

How the Generations Differ

These and other anecdotes are plentiful enough to have emerged as trends.

Amid numerous studies, this year’s National Professionalism Survey by York College of Pennsylvania’s Center for Professional Excellence reported that one-third of professors and HR professionals cited declining professional behavior by students. (This included failings to project a professional image, dress appropriately for work and use social media appropriately.)

There’s no disputing that the Millennial generation is regarded as different — and generally not in a good way, at least according to the last U.S. generational tidal wave, the boomers.

As MTV’s 2012 “No-Collar Workers” survey found when it asked boomers and Millennials how companies can inspire great work, a standard boomer response was, “‘Give me my objectives and get out of the way,’” while a typical Millennial sought “‘flexibility, respect … and snacks.’”

All of this points to inevitable tensions. The good news is that in addition to being the largest age grouping in American history, Millennials also compose one of the country’s most-studied generations. Insights gleaned by quizzing and surveying them can help boomers peaceably and productively co-exist with them.

5 Intergenerational Tips for Boomers at Work

Here are our five suggestions:

1. Be prepared to provide constant coaching and feedback. Millennials have spent a lifetime getting regular, near-instantaneous feedback. Whether it’s a lightning-quick response to a text message or school tests that are computer-graded and posted to an Internet gradebook within an hour or two, this is how this generation has been conditioned to live, work and play.

The good news is that while feedback needs to be continual, it doesn’t have to be involved or formal: the aforementioned text, email or two-minute conversation can do the trick.

2. Appreciate that Millennials see work as a means to an end — but not the end. Millennials largely are children of boomers and witnessed, up close and personal, the devastation of layoffs, underemployment and eroding pay and benefits for their parents. They can be motivated to work hard, but are more likely to reject the 60-hour weeks their parents put in.

A two-year study completed last year by PriceWaterhouseCoopers found that its Millennial workforce sought benefits in line with that philosophy — such as reduced pay for fewer work hours.

Millennials’ childhood social lives also influence their workplace expectations. Having grown up with calendars chock-full of playdates, sport teams and extracurricular activities, almost nine in 10 Millennials want workplaces to be social and fun, MTV found.

3. Be a Millennial mentor. Three-quarters of Millennials want a mentor (although ideally more in the likeness of a personal Yoda than an authority figure), according to MTV’s survey. And boomers’ experience and powers of persuasion can come in handy in counseling Millennials that, for example, flip-flops and cut-offs are generally not acceptable work attire and that continuously posting images to Instagram while at work is a no-no.

4. Illustrate the power of spending more time with people than with electronic devices. Millennials are technologically savvy — and proud of it. But numerous studies have found them wanting in the “soft skills” necessary for long-term career success: integrity, professionalism and the ability to interact effectively with superiors, colleagues, clients and customers. None of those skills can be learned with eyes glued to a smart phone.

Millennials need to realize that, at least for the near-term, people — not technology — do the hiring and promoting. When Millennials are tempted to email or text a complex question or response, boomers can do them a favor by highlighting the value of picking up the phone or, better yet, walking over and actually talking face-to-face.

5. Recognize that each generation has complained that the one succeeding it is irresponsible, selfish, entitled, lazy, etc. Had social media existed during the prime of the boomers, “can you imagine how many frickin’ Instagrams of people playing in the mud during Woodstock we would’ve seen?” Scott Hess, senior vice president of insights for media agency Sparks SMG, asked Time in a 2013 cover article titled, “Millennials: The Me Me Me Generation.” (Time, interestingly, neglected to note that once upon a time, boomers were also labeled “The Me Generation.”)

A number of respected academicians and social scientists have pointed to Millennials’ earnestness, can-do attitude and optimism as ways they’re similar to their grandparents and great-grandparents, known as, ahem, “The Greatest Generation.”

As Hess asked in his TEDxSF Talk, Millennials: Who They Are & Why We Hate Them, “We have embraced the idea of evolution in all other areas of life. Can’t we agree to do it in the generation that follows us?”

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/christie-garton/how-millennials-are-redef_b_5831446.html?ncid=txtlnkusaolp00000592
How Millennials Are Redefining What It Means to Give
9/16/14

How do you effectively compare generations who have grown up in different worlds?

This question was raised by Derrick Feldmann, lead researcher of The 2014 Millennial Impact Report. The Baby Boomers' worldview was defined by events like Watergate and the Vietnam War. On the other hand, Millennials, more than 80 million strong, have grown up in a world defined by digital innovation, 9/11, economic uncertainty and globalization. Naturally, this has led to a generational difference in lifestyles, goals and, especially, giving. Whereas Millennials, described as the "Me Me Me Generation," have been called everything from lazy to selfish, it turns out there may simply be a difference in how they approach charitable giving, not in how they value giving itself. When it comes to Millennials and philanthropy, money may not matter most.

Not surprisingly, Generation X and Baby Boomers are giving more dollars annually to charities and non-profit organizations than Millennials, a reflection of their extended time in the workforce and the number of underemployed Millennials today. But this doesn't mean Millennials aren't doing their fair share -- they're simply redefining the way they give, preferring to be more hands on by donating their time and talent to causes they support. Through social media and word of mouth promotion via text messaging, Millennials are giving back to their favorite causes and supporting something larger than themselves in their own unique way.

For example, take 16-year-old Gracie Schram, an up-and-coming singer/songwriter based in Leawood, Kansas. At the age of 10, Schram recorded and self-released a six-song CD to benefit underprivileged children in Haiti and Africa after seeing photos on the news that documented the plight of orphans in Africa.

"At the time, I was only ten and I saw pictures of kids who were only eight or nine with a baby on their hip. I thought, 'How hard would it be if I had to take care of my brother and my sister without my parents, without a house, without clean water, and living in these awful conditions?'" says Schram. "I felt like I needed to do something to help and it was my responsibility to take action."

And she did. Her Showers from God CD went on to raise more than $30,000 for The Global Orphan Project by the time she was 12, kicking off Schram's life-long commitment to making a difference through her music. Schram, and other young women like her, are currently part of a grant recipient program from my company, UChic, that provides scholarships to help girls access experiences that shape dreams, careers and lives. It's our hope that more young women will get the opportunity to make the same kind of impact that Schram has made in changing our world for the better.

According to the 2013 Millennial Impact Report, Millennials are most likely to get hands-on with causes they care about when organizations offer a range of volunteer opportunities, from one-time commitments to long-term, pro-bono skills-based opportunities. However, don't expect them to give their time and talents blindly. They have high expectations in terms of transparency and impact. They want, and need, to know how much their efforts are making a difference. For nonprofits and businesses looking to attract Millennial support, the key is to build a system that encourages them to participate and co-create while clearly showcasing the impact of their contributions.

The state of philanthropic giving in the U.S. is changing. Philanthropy and business are integrating, and in 2020, Millennials will represent nearly half of the workforce. The full impact of Millennials' new wave of charitable giving may take years to fully realize, but this group of connectors and innovators should not be underestimated or ignored. If Gracie Schram is any indication, it won't be a matter of if Millennials will give, but how. And, knowing the passion that these young people have for causes they support, we should all brace ourselves for the impact.

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Mat 6:1  Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven.
Mat 6:2  Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.
Mat 6:3  But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth:
Mat 6:4  That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly.

Ask Stacy: The Millennials Are Ruining This Country. What Can We Do?
10/1/14
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/ask-stacy-millennials-ruining-country-150016770.html

We’ve got a lot to worry about. Terrorism. A gridlocked government. Global warming. Ebola.

Oh, and then there’s young people.

Here’s this week’s reader question, which is really more of a request:

I think someone needs to explore the subject of the workforce crisis posed by the millennial generation. These kids are so unmotivated, undisciplined, illiterate and distracted, it poses a danger to the financial security of this country and workforce security as more of these kids move into adult jobs. Some parents have trained these kids to mistreat their elders and bad-mouth their co-workers/customers. It is almost like working with an alcoholic, they are so distracted from their work due to their problems. These kids, even nearing their 30s, are still supported by parents and absolutely act like they have nothing to lose as their parents are enablers, supporting their every firing, unplanned pregnancy, overspending emergency and drunken driving arrest without question. — C

Before we get to my take on this subject, here’s a video about why the millennials, and many of the rest of us, may have a tougher retirement than previous generations.

Watch the video of ‘Ask Stacy: The Millennials Are Ruining This Country. What Can We Do?’ on MoneyTalksNews.com.

Now, here’s my opinion about the millennial “crisis”.

Who are the millennials, and why are they so bad?

First, let’s define who we’re talking about. While there’s no precise definition, millennials are widely considered to be those now ranging in age from 18 to 33.

C begins his comment by saying, “I think someone needs to explore the subject of the workforce crisis posed by the millennial generation.” Well, C, here’s some good news. It’s been done. A lot. As one example, here’s a snippet from a 2007 article from CBS News.

They were raised by doting parents who told them they are special, played in little leagues with no winners or losers, or all winners. They are laden with trophies just for participating and they think your business-as-usual ethic is for the birds.

Here’s another, from a 2012 article in The Washington Post:

These are the kids, after all, who text their dads from meetings. They think “business casual” includes skinny jeans. And they expect the company president to listen to their “brilliant idea.” When will they adapt?

While comments like these make great fodder for TV and cocktail conversation, start by considering the source: old people.

I suspect those doing most of the complaining are from my generation, the baby boomers. If so, it’s particularly amusing, considering that when we were young, many of us were growing our hair, smoking dope, starting communes, rioting, streaking, engaging in sport sex, and marching on Washington for reasons ranging from war to women’s rights.

If memory serves, my parent’s generation didn’t think any of this was a great idea. They were as convinced as C seems now that we were all the same and as a group would amount to nothing, except perhaps a drain on society.

And this is the way I suspect it’s always been. My parent’s parents probably thought Watch the video of ‘Ask Stacy: The Millennials Are Ruining This Country. What Can We Do?’ on MoneyTalksNews.com.

The point is, before we start complaining, let’s remember that older generations have always freaked out about the next few. And yet, here we are.
They really are different

People differ. Differences often translate into mistrust, which all too often morphs into disapproval. This is human nature and has always been true, whether it’s woman vs. man, black vs. white, Muslim vs. Christian or boomer vs. millennial.

And millennials are different. A few months ago, Pew Research published an article comparing the attitudes of today’s young adults with those of boomers. Some interesting findings:

    A third of millennials between the ages 26 to 33 have at least a four-year degree. That’s the most educated this age group has been in the history of the United States.
    Only 26 percent of millennials are married . At the same age, nearly half the boomers were.
    55 percent have posted a “selfie” on a social media site . That’s about the same percentage of boomers who know what the term means.
    Just 19 percent of millennials agree with the statement, “Most people can be trusted.” Forty percent of boomers do.

My personal experience with a millennial

We’re a small company, employing only a handful of people, including one millennial. Is he different from me? You bet. For example, when he first began working here at the ripe age of 21, despite my constant badgering, he seemed incapable of starting work any earlier than noon. Granted, he often programmed until 5 a.m. But I kept insisting he go to bed earlier and work traditional hours. I can’t remember how many times I threatened to fire him.

When we disagreed, he spoke to me in tones that would never have entered my mind when I was in his position, apparently blissfully unaware that I was both his elder and his boss.

That was about 10 years ago. Today, only I have worked here longer and make more money than him.

There are three simple reasons our relationship worked out, despite our different perspectives. The first is compromise. For example, we agreed that he could keep his own hours, but should I need him at 8 a.m., I could always call and wake him up, no questions asked. As far as communication, as with most people who either like each other, need each other, or both, we worked at it.

While we still occasionally disagree, we get along. Very well, in fact.

The second reason is why I was willing to compromise. It’s this: The more valuable you are, the more flexible I am. My millennial is super talented. I couldn’t run this site without him, so I looked for a way to make it work.

Every generation has nincompoops who can’t get it right. Every generation also has people who are talented, dedicated and ambitious.

The third reason: Despite the fact that older generations are hopefully wiser, younger generations aren’t always wrong. My generation was right to question the status quo, and so is today’s. Just because I work 8 to 5 in an office doesn’t mean you can’t work from dusk till dawn at home. Or have tattoos, long hair or no hair. Just get the freaking job done.

So fret as much as you like, fellow older folks, but I’ll reserve my worry for more pressing matters. In the end, all generations will find a way.

After all, other than starvation, isn’t that our only option?

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/meet-elise-stefanik-candidate-youngest-woman-congress/story?id=25963324
Meet Elise Stefanik, the Candidate Who Could Become the Youngest Woman in Congress
10/4/14

She's been called the new "poster candidate" of the Republican Party, and this weekend New York congressional candidate Elise Stefanik was selected by House Speaker John Boehner to deliver the GOP's weekly address.

"One month from today, all Americans face a clear choice: stick with the status quo of more government, more spending, and higher taxes or choose a new direction of new ideas to unleash job creation and economic growth," she said.

A spokesman for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee said Stefanik was "a puppet for John Boehner and the far right wing."

Stefanik is not only seeking to represent New York's 21st Congressional District, but also help the Republican Party reach a demographic that tends to vote Democratic: young women. If she wins in November, Stefanik, 30, would be the youngest woman in Congress.

Republicans are particularly eager to win back the district, which they held for a century until they lost it five years ago. Stefanik's Democratic opponent, Aaron Woolf, is a multimillionaire documentary filmmaker who spent most of his adult life outside of the district and has been able to pour some of his own money into the campaign.

For those curious about the young U.S. House hopeful, here are 10 facts about her:

1. She's a Small Businesswoman

Elise Stefanik previously worked for Premium Plywood Products, Inc., her family's company founded in upstate New York more than 20 years ago. There she focused on North Country sales, marketing and management.

2. She Has a Degree From Harvard

Stefanik graduated with honors from Harvard University in 2006. She was also one of three women honored with the Women's Leadership Award. As the first of her immediate family to graduate from college, Stefanik spent her time at the university serving on the student Advisory Committee of Harvard's Institute of Politics and contributed to The Harvard Crimson as an editorial editor, writing pieces on everything from matters of love to criticism of student protesters (the headline: "Political Vomit").

3. Though She's Young, She's No Stranger to D.C.

Even at 30 years old, Stefanik is no newcomer to politics. She was an aide in the final years of the Bush administration and helped work on Mitt Romney's presidential campaign. Stefanik cites the 2012 race as her inspiration for making the transition from operative to politician.

4. She's a Seasoned Debater

As the former Director of Vice Presidential Debate Prep to Paul Ryan, Stefanik is likely to come prepared to the three debates scheduled before Election Day.

5. She's a Proud Instagrammer

Stefanik not only understands the importance of social media, but knows how to use it. With vibrant Twitter and Instagram accounts, Stefanik shares the details of her campaign with her supporters. Stefanik tweeted early on that she was the first candidate to Instagram her Congressional filing.

6. She's Not Afraid to Get Her Hands Dirty

She posts Instagrams asking for recommendations on hikes in the Adirondacks -- "in between parades of course" she comments. And she participated in a milking contest at the Essex County Fair.
 
7. Stefanik Is an Avid Reader

She posts images of books she reads along the campaign trail.

8. She, Too, Is a Fan of the Fall Pumpkin Craze

9. Though She Says She's Single, She Has a Sweetheart

She says it's her dog, Nala.

10. Stefanik Has a Double-Digit Lead

A poll, released Oct. 2 by WWNY-7 News and the Siena Research Institute, found that Stefanik leads Woolf by a 46 percent to 33 percent margin. Two-thirds of Republicans -- 68 percent -- said they support Stefanik. Of Democratic voters, 56 percent say they side with Woolf. Despite her current lead, the race remains a virtual tie among independent voters, 39 percent of which say they will stand with the GOP candidate and 38 percent sticking by her Democratic opponent.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kevin-eagan/samesex-marriage-support-_b_6055526.html?ncid=txtlnkusaolp00000592
Same-Sex Marriage Support Nearly Universal Among Entering College Students
10/27/14

The national landscape for marriage equality has changed considerably in the past month. On Oct. 6, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear appeals on five different cases challenging lower courts' rulings that found same-sex marriage bans to be unconstitutional. The decision paved the way for same-sex marriage in five states immediately (Oklahoma, Virginia, Utah, Wisconsin, and Indiana). Just a few days later, Idaho and Nevada joined the growing number of states allowing same-sex marriage. On Oct. 17, same-sex marriage bans in Alaska and Arizona fell with Wyoming following suit just days later.

Ted Olson, one of the lawyers in the landmark "Proposition 8" Supreme Court decision (Hollingsworth v. Perry), declared today that the "point of no return" on gay marriage has now passed. Indeed, it seems clear that the U.S. Supreme Court decision is signaling to the lower courts that it will not take up the issue of same-sex marriage any time soon, particularly if the lower courts continue striking down state marriage bans for same-sex couples.

As these state bans continue to fall, the federal government has announced that it would immediately begin recognizing same-sex marriages in all of 33 states. This decision follows the U.S. Supreme Court decision on the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) in 2013 (United States v. Windsor), which held that denying benefits to married same-sex couples was unconstitutional.

It is hard to believe that Congress enacted DOMA less than two decades ago. Right after that law went into effect, the Cooperative Institutional Research Program (CIRP) Freshman Survey at UCLA's Higher Education Research Institute began asking incoming freshmen their views on same-sex marriage. Since CIRP first started asking the question in 1997, a majority of incoming college students have agreed that same-sex couples have a legal right to marry; however, it is remarkable how strongly incoming students now endorse this position. The CIRP Freshman Survey last asked this question in 2012, and three-quarters of first-time, full-time students (75.1 percent) agreed that same-sex couples have a legal right to marry, and the data suggest that nearly all (91.1 percent) of students who identify as "liberal" or "far left" hold this view.

Support of same-sex marriage among "conservative" and "far right" students has increased more than 20 percentage points since the question first appeared on the CIRP Freshman Survey. A near majority (46.4 percent) of students who identify their political ideology as "conservative" or "far right" now agree that same-sex couples should be allowed to legally marry.

The largest gains in support of same-sex marriage have been among incoming students who identify their political ideology as "middle-of-the-road." In 1997, a bare majority (51.5 percent) believed same-sex couples should be permitted to marry. By 2008, more than two-thirds (67.7 percent) felt similarly, and that figure jumped another 10 percentages points by 2012 with 78.9 percent of "middle-of-the-road" students supporting same-sex marriage.

Today's college students do not just support same-sex marriage; they also support allowing gay and lesbian couples to adopt. In 2013, 83.3 percent of all first-time, full-time college students agreed that gays and lesbians should have the legal right to adopt children.

Most individuals are more than mere single-issue voters, but given these numbers, it is interesting that some politicians continue to focus so heavily on social issues like same-sex marriage. The recent spate of court decisions in favor of same-sex marriage in the past two years, and particularly in the past four weeks, has caught up with public opinion. The political views of today's college students increasingly suggest growing divide with the "culture wars" being waged by social conservatives. Candidates running for political office who continue to emphasize social questions while doing everything in their power to impede progress on an issue such as gay marriage risk alienating this large bloc of potential voters.

The question regarding support of same-sex marriage appeared again on the 2014 CIRP Freshman Survey, and we expect to see even greater support for the issue. The 2015 Freshman Survey likely will be the last time the item appears, as the data make clear that support for same-sex marriage is nearly universal among entering college students.

This is a much more edifying thread title(instead of "Millenials aren't who you think they are...").

Just to clarify - we're NOT speaking for all Millenials. Like I was saying - I'm part of other internet fellowship groups that have faithful, KJB Millenials.

We're just looking through the lens of end times prophecies - *for the most part*, the Millenial generation is the group that is pushing alot of things like abortion, sodomy, cohabitation outside of marriage, Big Pharma, big government, technology, etc more than anyone else. And no, I'm not singling them out, as the Baby Boomer parents did their part to plant seeds(ie-they grew up during the initial stages of television, NASB and other spawned bibles perversions, rock music, 501c3 government-runned churches, etc).

And I've also read that the reasons why a growing number of them can't reproduce is b/c their vaccinated to the core, take alot of Big Pharma/birth control drugs, eat alot of processed foods, etc.(which is playing into the George Guidestones' depopulation agenda)

Matthew 24:34 Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.

http://inthecapital.streetwise.co/2014/10/29/new-poll-suggests-that-millennials-will-be-voting-republican-this-election/
10/29/14
New Poll Suggests That Millennials Will Be Voting Republican This Election

Since 2008, the Millennial generation has been the backbone of the Democratic party. It was young votes that catapulted Barack Obama to the presidency that and year, and kept him in the White House in 2012. But now a new poll out shows that it just might be Millennial voters that will contribute to the predicted Republican sweep on November 4.

According to a national study released by the Institute of Politics at Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, among Americans between the ages of 18 and 29 who say they will “definitely be voting” in this election, 51 percent say they will be casting their vote for Republican candidates versus 47 percent who said they supported the Democrats.

This doesn't necessarily mean that the Democrats have lost Millennials completely. But it does suggest that the Millennials who feel empowered to go out and vote in a midterm election, which historically has dismal turnout rates, and feel so because of their support for the GOP.

This poll does say a lot about the way young voters view Barack Obama's presidency. While young people had high hopes for Obama in 2008, many are disenchanted with the way his administration's record has played out. According to the Harvard study, Millennials ranked Obama negatively on pretty much every issue, from the economy to the federal budget deficit, foreign policy, and race relations. Even health care, which 76 percent say is an important issue to them, the president got negative marks on, with 57 percent saying they disapproved of the Affordable Care Act.

The Millennial dissatisfaction with Barack Obama extends beyond healthcare. Despite their engagement in 2008, young people currently appear to be beyond jaded when it comes to the U.S. political system. A huge 80 percent of Millennials polled said they would not consider themselves to be politically engaged, and only 18 percent said they thought political engagement would help solve America's ills. And when asked if a friend wanted them to volunteer on a political campaign, if they would do it, 64 percent said no.

**Well, that explains why (controlled-opposition)Ron Paul was really busy visiting college campuses for during this time.

What's perhaps the most disheartening out of all this, is that not only are Millennials checked out and unhappy with the political process, only 66 percent are actually registered to cast a vote and try to change their situation. For all the pundit chatter about young voters being the most important demographic, in truth Millennials could not care less.

http://www.thecollegefix.com/post/19896/
TRENDING: MORE COLLEGE STUDENTS SUPPORT POST-BIRTH ABORTION
by MAIREAD MCARDLE - THOMAS AQUINAS COLLEGE on OCTOBER 29, 2014

A trend seen by prolife activists that frequently engage college students on campuses nationwide is the growing acceptance of post-birth abortion, or killing the infant after he or she is born, campus prolife outreach leaders tell The College Fix.

Anecdotal evidence by leaders of prolife groups such as Created Equal and Survivors of the Abortion Holocaust said in interviews that not only do they see more college students willing to say they support post-birth abortion, but some students even suggest children up to 4 or 5-years-old can also be killed, because they are not yet “self aware.”

“We encounter people who think it is morally acceptable to kill babies after birth on a regular basis at almost every campus we visit,” said Mark Harrington, director of Created Equal. “While this viewpoint is still seen as shocking by most people, it is becoming increasingly popular.”

Campuses where the high school, college students, local activists and staff members of Created Equal have encountered this opinion include Purdue, University of Minnesota, and University of Central Florida. And at Ohio State earlier this year, the group captured a debate on video between one of its members and an older woman on campus who defended infanticide.

“This is the whole problem with devaluing human life at any stage—it will naturally grow to include other groups of humans; in this case, born humans as well as preborn humans,” Harrington said. “ talked with one young man at the University of Minnesota who thought it was alright to kill children if they were under the age of 5 years old, as he did not consider them persons until that age.”

Kristina Garza, spokeswoman for Survivors of the Abortion Holocaust, a prolife organization that often sets up anti-abortion displays on campuses along the West Coast, said her group also frequently encounters college students who accept infanticide.

“For those who are firmly for abortion, because they understand it kills a human being, it’s very easy for them to accept killing a human being after birth,” Garza said. “There is this notion that is common on campus, that it’s OK to kill babies because somehow we don’t become human until we are self aware.”

“A common number that is going around is 4 years old,” she adds.

As for the trend, Garza said there’s an explanation for it. For one, the arguments put forth by Peter Singer and other philosophers who support infanticide are given as reading assignments to college students.

**And not to mention too the entertainment industry pushes a culture of violence. And not to mention too rock music(both "secular" and "contemporary christian").

Singer wrote in 1979 that “human babies are not born self-aware, or capable of grasping that they exist over time. They are not persons … [therefore] the life of a newborn is of less value than the life of a pig, a dog, or a chimpanzee.”

“He has been saying things like this since the 70s, but I think it has been more recently that this type of ideology is being promoted on college campuses,” Garza said. “When he said this stuff, there was a very select few who accepted it. But nowadays, we have become so desensitized, and college students lacking in a moral fiber easily accept this kind of strange ideology.”

But prolife advocacy and engagement on campuses has helped turn students away from pro-choice stances, she adds.

“While the number of students who believe it is OK with killing children after birth is growing, the number of students who accept that life beings at conception is also growing, and that is growing at a larger and faster rate than those who accept infanticide,” Garza said.

“The trends I am seeing is it’s not so much students are better grounded in morals, it’s that we as a prolife movement have done our job in presenting a better argument, and we are pushing people out of the middle,” she said. “We are seeing more students who see the logic and choose to be anti-abortion.”

**But have you been preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ? Doesn't sound like it.

Yet staunch opposition to the prolife philosphy remains.

Asked about the incident at Ohio State, at which a woman responded to a prolife display by defending infanticide, a pro-abortion activism group at the campus stated its views were similar to those of the woman in the clip.

“As for post-birth abortion, I would imagine that my colleagues would think the ‘post-birth’ part was largely irrelevant, as we believe very strongly in abortion on demand, without apology, and it’s plain and simple that we should look to the woman’s morals and not shove our opinions where they, frankly, don’t belong,” Devin Deitsch, leader of VOX: Voices for Planned Parenthood at Ohio State University, said in an email to The College Fix.

“Speaking as the primary leader of VOX, I assure you we are very pro-choice,” Deitsch also noted. “… We are not here to advocate for women to get abortions, we advocate for her ability to make that choice without fear, heckling, or barriers. Essentially, we ask for a woman (and her body) to be respected. Nothing more, nothing less.”

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/here-s-why-millennials-have-such-a-hard-time-sticking-with-one-job-202439537.html
10/31/14
Here's why millennials have such a hard time sticking with one job

While the unemployment rate in the U.S. recently dipped below 6% for the first time since before the Great Recession, young workers are still about twice as likely as their older counterparts to wind up jobless. In September, the unemployment rate for 20- to 24-year-olds stood at 11.4%, an increase of 1% from the month prior. They were the only age group that saw their unemployment rate worsen during this period.

But a new working paper published in the National Bureau of Economic Research argues that youth unemployment isn’t just evidence of a lagging economic recovery — by their very nature, young people are just more likely to bounce from job to job than their older counterparts.

In the report, “What should I be when I grow up? Occupations and unemployment over the life cycle,” researchers analyzed data from the Current Population Survey and the Panel of Income Dynamics, two studies that have been collecting income and unemployment data on American workers’ incomes for decades.

Based on these reports, researchers found young workers (20-24) were nearly three times as likely as workers aged 45 to 54 to leave a job within a year. They attribute this stark difference to two factors: 1) young people are more likely to “job hop” because they still haven’t found the right fit, and 2) older people, having spent their younger years job-hopping themselves, are more likely to have found a job they are committed to for the long haul and less likely to leave.

Job-hopping generation

“Young people don’t necessarily know what occupation is good for them and early in your career is when you’re going to be experimenting,” says Henry Siu, associate professor of economics at the University of British Columbia and co-author of the report. “Older workers are less likely to [leave] any given job and are also much less likely to switch their occupations.”

Siu’s findings echo those of a 2012 report by the Department of Labor, which found that between the ages of 18 and 46, the average American will have more than 11 jobs, half of which they’ll have before they turn 25.

These studies may prove that job-hopping is simply part of the fabric of career building in America, but Siu cautions against using this data to undermine the long-term effects of economic downturns on the job prospects of young people.

Switching from job to job can actually benefit younger workers by helping them grow their income, try different skill sets and find their niche in the marketplace. But when people are unfortunate enough to graduate during poor economic climates, they’re much less likely to find the opportunities they need to experiment. The unemployment rate for 16- to 24-year-olds topped 18% in the summer of 2009 and underemployment remains widespread — 40% of college-educated workers are stuck in jobs that don’t require a degree.

Brighter prospects

On the bright side, job prospects for young workers have vastly improved. A recent survey by Michigan State University found that employers are hiring new college graduates at a rapid clip. More than 80% of 5,000 employers surveyed said they hired at least one college graduate during the 2013-14 fiscal year. And 97% will do so in the 2014-15 year.

For recession-era graduates, now may be the time to finally start catching up with the kind of experimentation that’s often required to find the right gig.

“With career development, you have to think long term,” says Vicki Salemi, a former recruiter and author of “Big Career in the Big City." “You don’t want to just have lateral move after lateral move on you resume.”

The good news, Salemi says, is that employers today are beginning to get used to vetting job candidates who have shorter attention spans.

Fewer young people are getting married, having kids and purchasing cars today. Without those financial pressures, young workers are looking for much more than a paycheck in their ideal workplace. In a recent survey of millennials by Clark University, nearly 80% said they’d rather enjoy their job than make a ton of money. And while 86% of millennials said they want to find a job that helps improve the world in some way, one-third said they hadn’t found it yet.

“Job hopping is so common that it’s not unheard of for recruiters to look the other way,” Salemi says. “If your job is a dead end then sometimes you just have to leave.”

Millennial Generation Is Taking Over, but Who Are They?
http://www.bloomberg.com/video/millennial-generation-is-taking-over-but-who-are-they-ZKl~q2EASw~qQYURM5B6xA.html?cmpid=yhoo


When watching this video - just look at the BIG PICTURE how this country has shifted. Like I said, I have nothing against Millenials - but again, look at the ENTIRE country's personality and how it's changed to being an "earthly materialism" one(whose seeds were planted during the Baby Boomer years). I mean it's gotten to a point now where the so-called GOP just avoided all of these "social" issues like abortion and sodomy marriage.

Again, I'm NOT trying to attack young people here(as I've said, we have very faithful KJB believers here).

With that being said - saw this on Yahoo just now(5 minute video in this link). Whether they have the liberal, conservative, or whatever label on them - look how Millenials have been heavily indoctrinated, and now do nothing more than "follow the flow" to help usher in the NWO.(and to boot - they're being targeted the most heavily now - even more so than the so-called "evangelicals")

1) They are largely focusing on earthly materialism.

2) They're "reshaping" the Republican Party? Not that I endorse either political (Jesuitical)party, but look how young people have reshaped the modern-day (Apostate)church.

3) What they're doing is no different from the whole liberal, feminism movement - the same young females in these leadership positions(one as young as 18) that promote conservatism is no different from the average feminist(b/c they're taking on a man's role, and not being keeper's at home).

Doesn't the book of Revelation talk about a 200 billion man army forming?

Revelation 16:12  And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared.
Rev 16:13  And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet.
Rev 16:14  For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.


http://news.yahoo.com/katie-couric-interviews-saira-blair-about-millennials-and-republicans-034111865.html

Thanks to a bloodbath in the midterm elections, Republicans now control both the House and Senate, and they are setting their sights on the White House for 2016. They are undoubtedly energized by young and diverse representatives such as Mia Love, the first African American Republican woman in the House, and Elise Stefanik, the youngest woman to be elected to Congress.

In West Virginia, Saira Blair won a seat in House of Delegates, becoming the nation’s youngest elected state legislator.

Blair and her father, state Sen. Craig Blair, sat down with Yahoo Global News anchor Katie Couric to discuss her inspiration to run, her historic win, and hope for her generation in the political process. “My generation is going to have $17 trillion of debt on our hands. And we deserve at least one vote in the House of Delegates. Because we shouldn't have to wait until we're 30, 40, 50 or 60 to understand the importance of conservative principles,” Blair said.

**Not trying to sound blunt here - but have you ever heard of the Federal Reserve Act, which was created some 100 years ago? Are you aware the USA took off the gold standard completely in 1972? Ultimately - it has nothing to do with Republican/Democrat.

Raffi Williams, deputy director of the Republican National Committee, is tasked with spreading the Republican message to the younger generation. Borrowing the strategy of President Barack Obama’s groundbreaking Internet campaign, he says, “We have a new digital and data program that is … using social media and leveraging it to target voters in new ways.”

And then there are online news sites, such as the Independent Journal Review with over 24 million views monthly, that reach millennials and bring them up to speed in politics and culture on an entertaining way.

But despite the strides the GOP is making toward a more diverse leadership, the age gap in voting preferences that emerged in 2004 has remained evident in the past four election cycles. Voters who are 18 to 29 vote Democrat, and those older than 65 lean Republican.

According to the Pew Research Center, “Millennials stand out for voting heavily Democratic and for liberal views on many political and social issues, ranging from a belief in an activist government to support for same-sex marriage and marijuana legalization.”

So millennial Republicans like Blair have a lot of work to do before the Grand Old Party begins to look young.

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Remember Lot's last day in Sodom - where a big army formed against his house(until angels came by to rescue him).

Like I said, I'm not attacking Millenials here - but for the most part, they are being used to push liberalism agendas like sodomy, marijuana, etc.(and look how much of an influence they've had on the Apostate church nowdays)

1Timothy 5:17  Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honour, especially they who labour in the word and doctrine.

YOUNG PEOPLE IN AMERICA INCREASINGLY ANTAGONISTIC TOWARD THE BIBLE

(Friday Church News Notes, December 26, 2014, Way of Life Literature, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143)

A new study by Barna shows that a large number of young people in America have a very negative view of the Bible. According to the study "Millennials and the Bible," 27% percent of "Millennials" (ages 18-29) agreed with the statement that the Bible "is a dangerous book of religious dogma used for centuries to oppress people," and 38% label the Bible "mythology." Yet 62% of Millennials admit that they never read the Bible, meaning they have no personal knowledge of it, but are merely spouting opinions they have been taught. Only nine percent said they are curious about what's in the Bible when they see someone reading it.

http://www.wayoflife.org

Matthew 7:13 Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:
14 Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.

http://yahoo.match.com/y/article.aspx?articleid=13250&TrackingID=526103&BannerID=1429044
Dating habits of millennials, Gen Xers and boomers

Have you ever dated someone born in a different generation than your own? Was it challenging? Illuminating? Fun, even? We recently wondered if baby boomers, Gen Xers and millennials have different expectations and habits when it comes to romance, so we did a little digging to find out. It turns out that there are some big differences between the generational cohorts, and they have nothing to do with the magazines they subscribe to or discounts available to them on dates. Check out each of them below, starting with the youngest group of daters...

Generation: Millennials (born 1981-1998, though global definitions may vary)

Less structured dating, but with more frequent communication

“Most millennials (who are now in their twenties) are a much more laid-back and casual group when it comes to dating and love,” explains Justin Szabo, salesperson for Dara’s Diamonds in Los Angeles, CA. “Previous generations were more structured; couples set up specific times for dates and outings, and usually, no one else tagged along. Today, couples keep in constant contact through text messages and Facebook. They communicate with each other throughout the workday, while commuting home, or when they’re spending time with other friends and family.” This constant need for communication can really alter the texture of new relationships. “The advent and proliferation of social networking sites and other social tools — Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, Tumblr, etc. — makes my life and my partner’s life far more transparent to the other person,” observes Adam Nelson, 23, a graduate student in Minneapolis, MI.

Yet, as much transparency as millennials already have with their partners, there’s also been a subtle effort within the group to “curate” their interpersonal communications — something that can get a bit tiring after a while. “There is so much less face-to-face or voice-to-voice contact happening now,” explains Allison Dostal, 25, a graduate student living in Minnesota. “We say things in a text message or email that we could never say in person. We compose clever responses in hopes of shining a better light on ourselves, and in the end, it isn’t purely honest. Honest moments are harder to find — at least in the early stages of dating, anyway.”

High expectations about love — served with a side of anxiety

So, what makes millenials such successful daters? “Because they’re the ‘I get what I want’ generation, they’re much better at the chase than any other generation is,” notes Yue Xu, dating sociologist and owner of the Singlefied blog. You see, younger daters see open doors where others may not. However, displaying surface confidence can often mask underlying social stress within. “People in their twenties live in a state of higher anxiety about dating and their love lives in comparison to older individuals,” says Dostal. “We are less stable in so many ways — financially, emotionally, and in our lifestyles. This can translate into feeling a bit of uncertainty in the dating world as well.”

The good news is that millennials are finding new ways to define both themselves and their romances. Having so many choices can lead to feeling more confusion, but it can also create more authentic experiences with others when they date. “Millennials are much more accepting of non-traditional relationships and open to change,” adds Szabo. “They don’t want to have ‘manufactured’ interactions between the sexes, where each person puts on his or her best face for a date in hopes of winning the other person over. Instead, for better or worse, they bare all — and want acceptance and love for who they are.”

Generation: Gen Xers (born between the mid-1960s and early 1980s)

Living with so many options makes choosing the right partner difficult

“Generation X daters take the online off-line,” says Yue Xu. “This group grew up appreciating the Internet and technology, because it wasn’t handed to them from the very start. So, they’re the first ones to jump on trying out new online dating sites and dating apps. The biggest blunder for this generation is having too many options available without a concrete filter to help them narrow down their choices. They get what I call the ‘Buffet Effect’ when it comes to online dating; i.e., they want to try it all and always think there’s a better option out there.” Though some may find it challenging to balance these high expectations with reality, most Gen Xers have already learned some valuable love lessons at this point in their lives, which can also serve them well in the dating field. There’s nothing like having gone around the block a few times already to make relationships easier to navigate, right?

Less rushing into relationships, but greater appreciation for what they already have
“Gen Xers have either already been married before or they’ve been dating for so long that they know it’s a process, so there isn’t a rush or pressure to move things forward,” says Angela Dupont, 32, an event planner in Fort Worth, TX. “There’s no need to discuss our ‘status.’ A lot of Gen Xers have already gone around that merry-go-round before, and they are more appreciative of what they have found [in their relationships].” And Gen Xers can serve as valuable guides into this new romantic reality when they choose to date younger people. “I will say that dating someone older has made me become more focused on my future and which path I want to take in life,” says Kristin Andrzejewski, 23. “I am college-educated myself and can’t help but want to be able to provide for my girlfriend and her kids.”

Generation: Baby boomers (born 1946-1964)

Certainty in wants and needs makes forging a new relationship challenging
“We know some things about life, and hopefully, we know ourselves and feel comfortable inside our own skin,” says Ellen Pober Rittberg, author of 35 Things Your Teen Won’t Tell You, So I Will. And Aimee Elizabeth, best-selling author of Relationships & Dating Sucks! Internet Dating Horror Stories, agrees: “We are old enough to know exactly what we want in a relationship — and more importantly, what we don’t want in a relationship, so we tend to be more rigid and inflexible.” This can make meshing two individuals into a solid couple somewhat challenging for this generation. “By our fifties, we have developed habits that are hard to break and even harder to live with,” says Nanci Williams, boomer dating expert and author of the memoir Fishtails. This is especially true when the topic of money comes up. “Boomers do take someone’s financial means into account,” says Washington, D.C.-based dating and relationship coach Amy Schoen, author of Get It Right This Time: How to Find Your Ideal Romantic Relationship. “For example, a sixty-something widow expects his partner to be financially responsible, to have her own income, and to contribute fully to the household. Also, for my boomer clients, having children is not usually part of the dating equation. It’s more about ‘Will this new person get along with my kids (and grandkids)?’”

When it comes to dating, no time-wasting is allowed
“I cut right to the chase,” says ghostwriter Becky Blanton, 57, regarding her method of expressing interest in someone new. “I’m direct only because it makes things so much easier than fantasizing for weeks about people at church, work, around town or wherever, only to learn later on that they’re married — or gay. If I’m interested, I let them know.” There’s a sense among boomers that there’s no reason to waste time — even if most of them aren’t in a big hurry to settle down. “After years of marriage, divorce, et cetera, many are thrilled to be single and out of their previous relationships that didn’t work,” says Colorado native Mary Jo Fay, relationship expert, dating coach and author of he Seven Secrets of Love: Unlocking the Mysteries Behind Truly Great Relationships. “They are having sex much more quickly than they did when they were 18. They are living together more, but not necessarily getting married.”

Regardless of whatever generalities people might make about any of these age groups, when it comes to love, pretty much everyone is still looking for the exactly same thing. “Deep down, I think boomers and everyone else are still just teenagers at heart,” asserts Elizabeth. “We want love, romance, time, attention and affection. That never changes!”

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/millennials-increasingly-link-money-with-fulfillment-154549419.html
1/15/15
Millennials increasingly link money with fulfillment

Focused on purpose and meaning, millennials nonetheless wind up more satisfied when their finances are in order, a new study suggests.

Millennials define success more broadly than older generations, seeing it as less about wealth and more about a healthy and fulfilling life. But even as this generation tries to change the world through jobs and investments with purpose, among other things, it may be finding that financial success and personal satisfaction often go hand in hand.

Millennials who describe themselves as successful—whatever that may mean to them as individuals—report more healthy finances across the board than those who do not, new research shows. For example, 31% of millennials who say they are satisfied with their current lifestyle report annual income over $75,000, while just 24% of all millennials earn that much.

Might their healthier income be part of the reason? That seems likely, based on a broad range of findings in a new survey from MoneyTips.com, an online personal finance community geared at 18-to-34 year olds. Young adults describing themselves as satisfied with their current lifestyle, or successful, not only had more income but less debt, more savings, and more confidence in their ability to retire comfortably.

None of this would feel surprising if not for the widely espoused view that millennials favor quality of life issues including job flexibility, social impact, and personal experiences over career and earning power. Maybe they are growing up and realizing that money may help—or at least not hinder—such pursuits. Or maybe their worldview is evolving at a subconscious level as the real world bears down on them.

Either way, a generation that grew up with participation trophies and helicopter parents—and unbridled optimism—seems to be waking to the connection between a satisfying life and healthy finances. Nothing in this survey suggests millennials have lost their zeal for meaning. But financial security has a creeping sense of place.

Asked what financial concerns keep them up at night, 46% of millennials who call themselves successful cite being able to earn enough to secure their future. That compares with 55.6% of all millennials. Likewise, just 23.7% of self-described successful millennials worry about their ability to pay day-to-day expenses, and 33.6% worry about their ability to live within their means. That compares with 41.2% and 42.2%, respectively, for all millennials. A higher percentage who feel satisfied also say they are on track to meet their financial goals, have calculated how much they will need in retirement, and stick to a monthly budget.

About 40% of self-described successful millennials owe at least $15,000 while 45% of all millennials owe that much. When it comes to money in the bank, 58% of successful millennials have at least $10,000, while just 46% of all millennials have that much. Certainly, savings and income aren’t everything. But this next generation has come a long way from thinking finances matter little at all.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/the-youth-assembly-at-the-united-nations/youth-engagement-for-bett_b_6601190.html
Youth Engagement for Better Tomorrows
Posted: 02/03/2015 4:16 pm EST Updated: 02/03/2015 4:59 pm EST

Almost half of the world's population is comprised of people under the age of 25. Young people are a powerful force for generating momentum behind global engagement, global development, and the fulfillment of the Post-2015 Millennium Development Goals. Young people bring a unique perspective that reflects their journey and lifetime that is different from previous generations. They can bring energy and innovation to effectively address issues and opportunities. While the perspectives of individuals of all ages are important, the perspective of youth is extremely valuable because they have a view of things for the long term and care about the quality of life in the far future as they and their children will be more likely to experience the result of major global actions and initiatives taken today.

The Youth Assembly at the United Nations is a unique platform created to foster this kind of dialogue and generate partnerships between youth, UN officials, the private sector, and civil society. It is wonderful that there are platforms for youth, such as the Youth Assembly at the UN, to discuss issues that are critical to the future of our world where youth can learn, network, share ideas and experiences, and engage in. Forums like these are critical for paving the way for young people to play a role in shaping the UN's Post-2015 Development Agenda through the use of arts, culture, sports and travel, as enablers for uniting youth in a common and accountable platform for action.

For three days at the Youth Assembly at the UN, I participated in workshops that addressed issues and topics such as the Post-2015 Development Agenda, building communities through sports, travel, grassroots youth advocacy, and many other topics related to youth global involvement.

One issue that really stuck out to me was the importance of youth engagement in development and the Post-2015 Development Agenda. The Post-2015 Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) of the United Nations are a continuation of the current MDGs established in 2000 to address, among other things, poverty, education, disease, and global partnerships for development. Five priorities have been established for the Post-2015 Millennium Development goals, including:

1) Leave No One Behind
2) Put Sustainable Development at the Core
3) Transform Economies for Jobs and Inclusive Growth
4) Build Peace and Effective, Open, and Accountable Institutions for All
and 5) Forge a New Global Partnership (United Nations, 2013).

It is important that these diverse perspectives, including the views of youth, are represented in the development of the Post-2015 Agenda. The unique experiences, interests and contributions of the global youth community can supply innovative ideas and solutions for addressing the Post-2015 Agenda. Youth also can serve as ambassadors for educating their peers, help to generate involvement among them, and contribute significantly to identifying solutions and achieving the MDGs.

Participating at the Youth Assembly also provided me the opportunity to meet young people from around the world. These individuals are working to ensure they understand the critical issues facing our generation now and in the future and that they are making decisions and taking action to influence the direction of our society globally.

I've met delegates and presenters such as, Jessica Matthews who at the age of 19 invented the Sockett, a power-generating soccer ball that kids can play with and then use it as a source of electricity that helps villages without reliable electricity.

I've also had the pleasure to meet Ashley and Paige Alenick who founded Donate a Toothbrush, an organization that collects toothbrushes for the needy so that more people around the world are healthier due to better dental hygiene.

I've learned about the Global Education First Initiative (GEFI), which works to raise the profile of education and strengthen global efforts to improve education for all with priorities of putting every child in school, improving the quality of learning, and fostering global citizenship.

Inspired by the Youth Assembly at the UN and my involvement with the Girl Scouts of America, I decided to create a blog called Global Youth Exchange for youth around the world to connect on global issues that matter most to us and to provide a resource for youth to develop global skills and engage on an international level. As the official blogger for last year's Summer Youth Assembly at the United Nations, a lot of the material on this blog captures my experience at the Youth Assembly.

I hope to be able to keep these conversations going through the Global Youth Exchange forum, by providing information on global issues and resources that may help young people get involved in global initiatives and programs. I welcome feedback (messages on my blog) from you regarding what issues you think are most important, and hopefully through this blog, I will be able to provide information and resources that can help youth around the world.

http://www.philstar.com/world/2015/02/03/1419841/un-chief-calls-youth-play-active-global-agenda
2/3/15
UN chief calls on youth to play active in global agenda

UNITED NATIONS (Xinhua) - UN Secretary-General Ban Ki- moon on Monday called on world's youth to play an active role in promoting global agenda "at a crucial time for people and our planet."

Noting that 2015 is a chance to change the course of history, to end poverty and to act to avoid worst effects of climate change, Ban noted that youth can be "agents of change" when he addressed a Youth Forum held at UN headquarters.

**FYI - Rick Warren called himself just that, a "change agent"(in the church).

The year 2015 marks the end of implementation of UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), and will witness the adoption of a post- 2015 development agenda as well as a new universal climate agreement.

"Our Planet is yours to inherit. That is why we must combat climate change. We need your ideas to help reduce emissions and become more climate-resilient," Ban told the forum.

Mentioning many young people today are caught up in deadly conflicts, Ban also encouraged youth to fight injustice and inequality with solidarity

"Young people can speak out as never before. You can denounce injustice and reach hands across cultures and communities," he said. "We may not agree on every issue - but we can all agree that violence only leads to more suffering."
 
In addition, Ban also called on the world to create more wealth and also more jobs for youth to prosper, and to support young entrepreneurs so they can create jobs for others.

"Dignity is a world where young people can get good jobs,"  He said, referring that 73 million young people are looking for work around the world.

"We need the power of young people all over the world - in rich and poor countries," he added.

The Youth Forum is one of the UN's initiatives to invite young people to get involved on issues that matter to them, from job security to education, as well as other matters included in the global agenda, such as the sustainable development goals.  

In this regard, Ahmad Alhendawi, Ban's special envoy on youth, said that a "sense of ownership" is critical to the success of the future sustainable development agenda and 1.8 billion young people worldwide are ready to "carry their share" of the post-2015 development.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/LIVING/08/27/almost.christian/
8/27/2010

Author: More teens becoming 'fake' Christians

(CNN) -- If you're the parent of a Christian teenager, Kenda Creasy Dean has this warning:

Your child is following a "mutant" form of Christianity, and you may be responsible.

Dean says more American teenagers are embracing what she calls "moralistic therapeutic deism." Translation: It's a watered-down faith that portrays God as a "divine therapist" whose chief goal is to boost people's self-esteem.

Dean is a minister, a professor at Princeton Theological Seminary and the author of "Almost Christian," a new book that argues that many parents and pastors are unwittingly passing on this self-serving strain of Christianity.

She says this "imposter'' faith is one reason teenagers abandon churches.

"If this is the God they're seeing in church, they are right to leave us in the dust," Dean says. "Churches don't give them enough to be passionate about."

What traits passionate teens share

Dean drew her conclusions from what she calls one of the most depressing summers of her life. She interviewed teens about their faith after helping conduct research for a controversial study called the National Study of Youth and Religion.

The study, which included in-depth interviews with at least 3,300 American teenagers between 13 and 17, found that most American teens who called themselves Christian were indifferent and inarticulate about their faith.

The study included Christians of all stripes -- from Catholics to Protestants of both conservative and liberal denominations. Though three out of four American teenagers claim to be Christian, fewer than half practice their faith, only half deem it important, and most can't talk coherently about their beliefs, the study found.

Many teenagers thought that God simply wanted them to feel good and do good -- what the study's researchers called "moralistic therapeutic deism."
Some critics told Dean that most teenagers can't talk coherently about any deep subject, but Dean says abundant research shows that's not true.
"They have a lot to say," Dean says. "They can talk about money, sex and their family relationships with nuance. Most people who work with teenagers know that they are not naturally inarticulate."

In "Almost Christian," Dean talks to the teens who are articulate about their faith. Most come from Mormon and evangelical churches, which tend to do a better job of instilling religious passion in teens, she says.

No matter their background, Dean says committed Christian teens share four traits: They have a personal story about God they can share, a deep connection to a faith community, a sense of purpose and a sense of hope about their future.

"There are countless studies that show that religious teenagers do better in school, have better relationships with their parents and engage in less high-risk behavior," she says. "They do a lot of things that parents pray for."

Dean, a United Methodist Church minister who says parents are the most important influence on their children's faith, places the ultimate blame for teens' religious apathy on adults.

Some adults don't expect much from youth pastors. They simply want them to keep their children off drugs and away from premarital sex.

Others practice a "gospel of niceness," where faith is simply doing good and not ruffling feathers. The Christian call to take risks, witness and sacrifice for others is muted, she says.

"If teenagers lack an articulate faith, it may be because the faith we show them is too spineless to merit much in the way of conversation," wrote Dean, a professor of youth and church culture at Princeton Theological Seminary.

More teens may be drifting away from conventional Christianity. But their desire to help others has not diminished, another author says.

Barbara A. Lewis, author of "The Teen Guide to Global Action," says Dean is right -- more teens are embracing a nebulous belief in God.

Yet there's been an "explosion" in youth service since 1995 that Lewis attributes to more schools emphasizing community service.

Teens that are less religious aren't automatically less compassionate, she says.

"I see an increase in youth passion to make the world a better place," she says. "I see young people reaching out to solve problems. They're not waiting for adults."

What religious teens say about their peers

Elizabeth Corrie meets some of these idealistic teens every summer. She has taken on the book's central challenge: instilling religious passion in teens.

Corrie, who once taught high school religion, now directs a program called YTI -- the Youth Theological Initiative at Emory University in Georgia.

YTI operates like a theological boot camp for teens. At least 36 rising high school juniors and seniors from across the country gather for three weeks of Christian training. They worship together, take pilgrimages to varying religious communities and participate in community projects.

Corrie says she sees no shortage of teenagers who want to be inspired and make the world better. But the Christianity some are taught doesn't inspire them "to change anything that's broken in the world."

Teens want to be challenged; they want their tough questions taken on, she says.

"We think that they want cake, but they actually want steak and potatoes, and we keep giving them cake," Corrie says.

David Wheaton, an Atlanta high school senior, says many of his peers aren't excited about Christianity because they don't see the payoff.

"If they can't see benefits immediately, they stay away from it," Wheaton says. "They don't want to make sacrifices."

How 'radical' parents instill religious passion in their children
Churches, not just parents, share some of the blame for teens' religious apathy as well, says Corrie, the Emory professor.

She says pastors often preach a safe message that can bring in the largest number of congregants. The result: more people and yawning in the pews.

"If your church can't survive without a certain number of members pledging, you might not want to preach a message that might make people mad," Corrie says. "We can all agree that we should all be good and that God rewards those who are nice."

Corrie, echoing the author of "Almost Christian," says the gospel of niceness can't teach teens how to confront tragedy.

"It can't bear the weight of deeper questions: Why are my parents getting a divorce? Why did my best friend commit suicide? Why, in this economy, can't I get the good job I was promised if I was a good kid?"

What can a parent do then?
Get "radical," Dean says.

She says parents who perform one act of radical faith in front of their children convey more than a multitude of sermons and mission trips.

A parent's radical act of faith could involve something as simple as spending a summer in Bolivia working on an agricultural renewal project or turning down a more lucrative job offer to stay at a struggling church, Dean says.

But it's not enough to be radical -- parents must explain "this is how Christians live," she says.

"If you don't say you're doing it because of your faith, kids are going to say my parents are really nice people," Dean says. "It doesn't register that faith is supposed to make you live differently unless parents help their kids connect the dots."

'They called when all the cards stopped'
Anne Havard, an Atlanta teenager, might be considered radical. She's a teen whose faith appears to be on fire.

Havard, who participated in the Emory program, bubbles over with energy when she talks about possibly teaching theology in the future and quotes heavy-duty scholars such as theologian Karl Barth.

She's so fired up about her faith that after one question, Havard goes on a five-minute tear before stopping and chuckling: "Sorry, I just talked a long time."

Havard says her faith has been nurtured by what Dean, the "Almost Christian" author, would call a significant faith community.

In 2006, Havard lost her father to a rare form of cancer. Then she lost one of her best friends -- a young woman in the prime of life -- to cancer as well. Her church and her pastor stepped in, she says.

"They called when all the cards stopped," she says.

When asked how her faith held up after losing her father and friend, Havard didn't fumble for words like some of the teens in "Almost Christian."
She says God spoke the most to her when she felt alone -- as Jesus must have felt on the cross.

"When Jesus was on the cross crying out, 'My God, why have you forsaken me?' Jesus was part of God,'' she says. "Then God knows what it means to doubt.

"It's OK to be in a storm, to be in a doubt," she says, "because God was there, too."

https://www.yahoo.com/travel/millennials-lie-at-work-in-order-to-travel-more-110257413587.html
Millennials Lie at Work in Order to Travel More
2/6/15

Here at Yahoo Travel we believe that you regret 100 percent of the trips you didn’t take. And we’re not the only ones.

According to a recent Priceline study, 49 percent of Americans who didn’t take a last-minute vacation in 2014 say that they regret it. One group doing something about it is millennials. The study revealed that 73 percent of the younger generation plans to take a last-minute vacation in 2015. Only 58 percent of Americans surveyed say they agree that a last-minute 2015 getaway is in the cards.

In case you weren’t aware, Millennials have a hard time sitting still, and as the nation battles frigid temps, their desire to get out of town has never been higher. Here are some other interesting facts about millennials from the study.

40 % plan to kick off their 2015 travel over the long Valentines Day weekend. In other words, they don’t plan on waiting until summer to take a trip.
69 % are willing to tell a little white lie in order get out of work so that they can go on vacation. This is in sharp contrast with Americans in other age groups, where less than half (45 percent) would fib to take a trip.
It’s no surprise that millennials tend to be more impulsive, but the study finds that they may be more likely to book a last-minute vacation due to their general tech-savviness.

So, the next time you see a millennial tinkering around on their smartphone, don’t assume they’re taking a selfie. They just might be planning a trip and then lying to you about it.  And the question is, why aren’t you?

http://www.dailytargum.com/article/2015/02/50-percent-of-millennials-believe-gender-exists-as-a-spectrum
50 percent of millennials believe gender exists as a spectrum
2/16/15

This year, Fusion’s annual "Massive Millennial Poll" found that 50 percent of millennials believe that gender exists on a spectrum.

Fusion, a multiplatform media company owned jointly by Univision Communications and Disney/ABC Television, surveys a representative sample of 1,000 millennials, defined as people who are between 18 and 34 years of age, every year to find out what opinions and attitudes are popular among this age group, according to its website.

The survey was conducted by Bendixen and Amandi International, an independent research firm. Bendixen and Amandi International specializes in researching Hispanic attitudes and opinions, but also works with other socioeconomic groups.

Zaneta Rago, the Director of Rutgers’ Social Justice Center, said that she was surprised there were not more millennials who believed that gender exists on a spectrum.

“It's wonderful that approximately half of the respondents understood gender as a spectrum, but that means we're only half way there," she said.

Daniella Anconetami, a School of Arts and Sciences first-year student, said that she believes in the gender spectrum.

She said that she discovered that gender “wasn’t black and white” in high school, and said that her opinions about gender identity changed after meeting someone who was transgender in high school.

Jennifer Oh, a School of Environmental and Biological Sciences junior, said that she believes gender exists on a vast spectrum.

She said that parents of the millennial generation usually taught their kids that male and female were the only two categories for gender, but doing research and meeting transgender people can change millennials' minds.

Rago also emphasized the importance of education in spreading awareness about non-binary forms of gender identity.

"The data [in the poll] showed that the numbers shifted between regions and level of education," she said. "There is quite a bit of work being done across campuses in regards to inclusion and awareness, and I think the numbers accurately reflect the work."

She said people should still keep in mind that not everyone will have the economic access to a college education, so making sure campuses are reaching their surrounding populations and partnering with community-based organizations will be key to spreading awareness.

Rago also said that she thinks millennials are “courageous” because they are “defining their experiences for themselves” instead of following more rigid binaries of gender.

“To live outside of society's expectations means you are working towards your own authenticity, and it's not always an easy thing to do," she said.

Still, Rago said she was concerned about the lives of people who had non-traditional gender identities.

While there has been a recent rise in visibility for the Trans* community, there are many folks who identify as Gender Nonconforming, or outside of the "man" and "woman" binary, that also have difficulty navigating a binary-centric society, she said.

In 2013, The National Report on Hate Violence Against LGBTQ and HIV Affected Communities found that transgender people were among the groups most at risk of experiencing severe violence.

Among transgendered people, transgender people of color face higher risks of violence than their white counterparts. The report also found that few hate crime survivors reported violence to the police, and when crimes were reported, police departments were meeting claims with increased hostility.

Anconetami said that she thought Rutgers was doing enough to help people with nontraditional gender identities.

Oh, on the other hand, thought that Rutgers could do more to help transgender people.

She said that she wishes Rutgers did more for the transgender community, because she does not see any events that show support for transgender people or support awareness.

Rago said that she encourages students to visit the Social Justice Center if they are interested in LGBTQ issues.

She said that the Social Justice Center runs a monthly training program, SafeR Space, for people who want to be better allies for the LGBTQ community.

The program meets every last Friday of the month on Livingston campus’s Tillett Hall, she said.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/most-millennials-cant-single-nice-153750759.html
Most Millennials Can't Do a Single Nice Thing for Someone Else
2/26/15

Millennials are fussy about their real estate brokers, terrible at playing the stock market, and squatters who need to get out of their parents' basements. New government data give us another dubious factoid about the group: They have the lowest volunteering rate of all age groups, according to figures released on Wednesday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The BLS, which surveyed (PDF) 60,000 U.S. households, found just 18.7 percent of adults aged 20 to 24 had volunteered sometime between September 2013 and September 2014, the smallest share of any age group. The group aged 25 to 34 was only a little better; 22 percent of these young adults volunteered during that period. Even sulky adolescents were more charitable: 26.1 percent of 16- to 19-year-olds volunteered.

It's not as though the BLS set an impossibly high bar for volunteering. They simply asked people if they'd done anything in the past year that they weren't paid for, even just "once in a while." That's right: 81.3 percent of Americans in their early 20s hadn't done a single thing to help someone out, any time recently.

It does seem that people don't remain too selfish—or preoccupied—to volunteer as they age. More adults volunteer as they approach their mid-30s and 40s. Volunteering rates taper off after age 44, but never sink back to 21-year-old levels.

Maybe aging is the antidote to being self-absorbed.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/shamahyder/2015/02/25/millennials-and-money-how-banks-are-missing-the-mark/
2/25/15
Millennials And Money: How Banks Are Missing The Mark

I’ve been speaking and writing about Millennials for a while, and with good reason. In five years, Millennials, also known as Gen Y or those born in the 80’s and 90’s, will make up the majority of the workforce. Almost every smart organization is looking into best practices on how to hire, manage, and sell to the fastest growing demographic in the world.

As consumers, Millennials’ relationships with brands and how they choose to do business has been truly enigmatic to most. In no area is this better highlighted than in the banking space. For this hyper-connected and tech-savvy crowd, finance is more synonymous with crowdfunding, virtual currencies, and online payment platforms than it is with the brick building with a drive-thru ATM on the corner. This may be one of the reasons that JPMorgan Chase just announced that they would be closing 300 branches this year.

This generation has unique needs, and so far, most banks seems to be missing the mark. According to a study by Viacom Media, banking, as an industry, runs the highest risk for disruption. 53% of the Millennials they surveyed said they didn’t think their bank offered anything different than a competing bank. 71% said they would rather visit the dentist than hear what banks have to say.  73% would rather handle their financial services needs with Google, Amazon, Apple, PayPal or Square than from their own nationwide bank. Ouch.

So, what can banks do to better attract and retain Millennial customers? Here are a few ideas.

Realize that this is a skeptical generation – and act accordingly.

Millennials are skeptical of traditional institutions. According to a recent research paper from BBVA, almost half of all Millennials say they are politically independent, and a third report no religious affiliation at all. These are the highest rates of political and religious disassociation in the last twenty-five years.

And this disassociation extends to banks as well. The four biggest bank brands are among the “least loved” by Millennials. To some extent, this has to do with the financial crisis which started in 2007. Many in this generation have struggled to find jobs, to pay off crippling student debt, and have been disillusioned by the American dream. Adding another layer of frustration is the fact that this is the most educated generation in history.

It wouldn’t be a stretch of the imagination to say that this generation doesn’t always see financial services nor their own money management habits in the most positive light.

So, how should banks respond?

Make ETC (Education, Transparency & Choices) your mantra.

Education: Brochures on financial planning advice just won’t cut it with this generation. Banks need a comprehensive and interactive approach to educating Millennials. Think funny yet insightful YouTube videos, webinars (delivered by a fellow Millennial!) on how to build your credit, and infographics on how to finance higher education.

Transparency: Make your offerings and practices as transparent as possible. This generation isn’t opposed to paying for value, but they will chafe at unexplained fees and “just because” policies. Banks should also highlight all corporate social responsibility initiatives, as supporting social causes and being part of a greater movement is something this generation actively seeks out. They want to align themselves with brands which they feel are making a greater difference in society.

Choices: The tech-savviest of consumers, this is a generation raised on choices. They have never been tethered to a single form of delivery: cable (Netflix), taxis (Uber), books (Kindle), radio (Pandora, Spotify). Banks would be wise to take a page from other industries and disrupt from within. Give Millennials choices in regards to how they bank, with which banker, and allow them to use the platform of their choice. More often than not, that platform will be mobile.

Build around mobile.

When it comes to banking, more than 70% of Millennials have used mobile services within the last 12 months, and about 94% of Millennials are active users of online banking. Compound this with the fact that over 80% of Millennials have smartphones, and you can clearly see a smart trend emerge.

Mobile banking and applications which allow Millennials to manage their portfolios are a certainty. The only question is whether the current banking system will be the driver or whether it will be start-ups outside the sector which harness this growth.

Recognize the inherent diversity within the generation.

Not only are Millennials the most racially diverse generation in history, as nearly 43% of them are nonwhite, they are also the most non-homogenous generation in regards to lifestyle. While an older Millennial may be married and looking to purchase his first home, a younger Millennial might still be in college. While one might be looking to start saving early for retirement, another might be looking for funding for their start-up.

While there are certain values and qualities which appeal to the group as a whole, banks have to respect and cater to the inherent diversity within the generation as well.

Leverage other Millennials.

According to a Nielsen report, Millennials are inspired by people they can relate to – especially other Millennials. A fellow successful Millennial is a lot more likely to inspire them than someone from an older generation. I have long advised that teaming up with influencers can be a great strategy. Smart banks should be looking at engaging Millennials as spokespersons. L’Oreal did exactly this with YouTube make-up star Michelle Phan. This is a strategy which works regardless of the industry you’re in. The key is to find the right fit. In 2015, I personally plan on exploring strategic partnerships with right brands. I’ll continue to share my experiences and lessons here.

In summary, banks are missing the mark at the moment, but there is still time to turn it around and turn this generation into their most profitable customers yet.

http://news.yahoo.com/young-conservative-atheist-test-gop-123004472.html
Young, conservative, and ... atheist? A test for the GOP
Young voters are increasingly secular. To grow the youth vote, Republicans face a challenge in keeping religious conservatives on board while expanding their reach to atheists and the 'religiously unaffiliated.'
3/5/15

Conservatives made history this year. For the first time, an avowed atheist addressed the Conservative Political Action Conference, or CPAC, the big annual gathering of conservative activists. And atheists occupied an exhibitor’s booth, another first.

Jamila Bey, an African American journalist and board member of the group American Atheists, didn’t exactly wow the crowd, for whom professions of religious faith and a belief in God are standard fare. But she wasn’t booed either. For the atheists, long held at arm’s length by Republicans, that’s progress.

“Embrace me. Let me vote for GOP candidates,” Ms. Bey said last week at the 41st annual CPAC.

In particular, Bey said, Republicans must reach out to young people who identify as “secular,” a cohort that is growing.

Indeed, Republicans have lost badly among young voters in recent presidential elections. And doubts about God’s existence among young adults are growing fast. In 2007, a Pew Research Center survey found that 83 percent of Millennials in the United States said they never doubted God’s existence. Five years later, that figure was down to 68 percent.

This rising secularism among young voters could put the very ability of the Republican Party to compete nationally at stake. In 2012, President Obama won the youth vote, those aged 18 to 29, by 67 percent to 30 percent. And as long as the GOP is seen as only for the religious – and specifically, those who adhere to only certain beliefs, including opposition to same-sex marriage – it is losing out on millions of potential votes.

“These people are an essential component of our growing electorate,” Bey said. “We ignore them at our peril.”

Perceptions are key. The leadership of the American Conservative Union, which puts on CPAC every year, says it’s about being inclusive. In addition to the atheist Bey, the head of the gay-rights group Log Cabin Republicans, Gregory Angelo, was allowed a speaking role (albeit at the last minute, and on a panel on Russia).

One Republican who has been able to tap into the Millennials – including the religious doubters and the atheists – is the libertarian-leaning likely presidential candidate Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky. Yet Senator Paul himself is religious.

“We must remember that our rights are unlimited, unenumerated, and given to us by God,” Paul said in his address to CPAC.

Young CPAC attendees wearing both “Rand Paul” stickers and “Conservative Atheist” buttons said they understood where he was coming from on religion, and didn’t mind. Paul’s father, another libertarian leader, former Rep. Ron Paul (R) of Texas, had been an obstetrician before he went into politics, and came to his beliefs on God and life through his work, they said. More important, they say, are Paul’s views on small government, privacy, and a noninterventionist foreign policy.

But these young, atheist Paul-ites disagree with the standard Republican views on gay marriage and abortion; they support the right to both.

“The same people who say Islam is a threat are pushing their Christian doctrine on us and saying the government shouldn’t recognize a contract between two consenting adults,” says Matthew Boyer, a junior at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, N.J., and head of the campus chapter of Young Americans for Liberty.

Mr. Boyer was raised Roman Catholic, and says he still goes to Mass on Easter and Christmas, and cuts back on meat for Lent. But it’s more a family ritual than a reflection of faith, he says.

Religious affiliation among the young is also down. Last year, 33 percent of Millennials – those aged 18 to 34 – identified as religiously unaffiliated, according to the Public Religion Research Institute. That’s up from 29 percent in 2012. (“Religiously unaffiliated” includes those who identify as “nothing in particular,” atheist, or agnostic.) The percentage of Millennials who identity as “atheist” has held largely steady. In 2014, 4 percent of Millennials identified as atheist, down from 5 percent in 2012, the institute found.

 “Freedom of religion should mean freedom from religion as well,” adds Alexis Esneault, another former Catholic, now atheist, backing Paul at CPAC. She’s a senior at Spring Hill College, a Jesuit school in Mobile, Ala.

Both Boyer and Ms. Esneault would like to see God removed from the Pledge of Allegiance and from US money, both of which were added in the 1950s during the cold war.

Their views seem ripped from the pages of Ayn Rand, the libertarian philosopher and a hero to many modern-day Republicans who overlook her atheist, pro-abortion-rights views. The Ayn Rand Institute also had a booth at CPAC, and so the American Atheists weren’t the only nonbelievers in the exhibition hall.

But the booth occupied by the American Atheists was still an arresting sight, and a hub of activity during CPAC. Most visitors were just curious. Some, most of them young, eagerly took buttons that said “Conservative Atheist” and “Foxhole Atheist” and “This is not a church” (superimposed on a picture of the US Capitol). After three days, more than 50 CPAC attendees had signed up to join the group famous for its late founder, Madelyn Murray O’Hair, best known for the lawsuit in her name that outlawed Bible reading in schools.

One of the merely curious was Steve Piotrowski, who identified himself as a Christian.

“I didn’t want to go over there and be confrontational,” he said. “I just wanted to see why [they were] here. I’m a Christian, I believe in the teachings of our Savior. But they do have a right to be here.”

A few visitors were openly hostile to the group’s president, David Silverman, who sat at the booth (which technically had been rented to the Secular Policy Institute, a separate organization, which shared it with American Atheists). But he took the attacks in stride, and was in fact surprised by how well he and his group were received.

“You can judge a person’s reaction to our booth by the stickers they’re wearing,” Mr. Silverman said. “If they’re wearing a Rand Paul sticker, they’re going to be all right with it. If they’re wearing a Jeb Bush sticker, not so much.”

In coming to CPAC, Silverman says, all he wanted was to “raise awareness of the fact that Christian and conservative are not synonyms. We don’t have two parties to vote for.” 

His past with CPAC is a bit fraught. Last year, American Atheists applied for a booth, were accepted, and paid the fee. Then Silverman said on CNN, “The Christian right should be threatened by us.” After some discussion, the American Conservative Union, which puts on CPAC, canceled the atheists’ booth and returned the money. Silverman blames religious conservatives for the cancellation.

This year, the American Conservative Union and the American Atheists tried again, and agreed to Bey's speaking role.

“We are really working to bring in all conservatives for a positive, effective, constructive approach to our nation’s problems,” says Daniel Schneider, who took over as executive director of the American Conservative Union in late 2013.

This is classic political coalition-building. Find core areas of common interest – for conservatives, smaller, less intrusive government – and let the differences be. But this can be easier said than done.

“Even among conservatives, there’s lots of diversity,” says John Green, director of the Bliss Institute of Applied Politics at the University of Akron in Akron, Ohio. “But finding a way to balance libertarian impulses and traditional religious impulses is difficult.”

For Republicans, a core of the party’s activist “base” is religious conservatives, who are feeling under siege over the rise of gay marriage and its growing public acceptance – particularly among younger voters. The addition of atheists to this year’s CPAC may have added insult to injury. But leaders of the religious right still took part in the conference.

“The whole idea of this conference was you’ve got all kinds of people who don’t agree with each other, or even talk to each other, but are supposed to get along,” says David Keene, former longtime chairman of the American Conservative Union. “They usually do.”

https://www.yahoo.com/travel/millennials-travel-survey-113198011097.html
3/10/15
Exclusive: They Hate Spending Money and Aren't Worried About Safety — How Millennials Travel

Millennials are in the spotlight — and their habits are determining the next trends in social media, fashion, and travel.

But trying to read the mind of a millennial can be exhausting. Honestly, is Facebook still cool? Do we love or hate Iggy Azalea? And is it worth clearing out your savings account to book a trip?

So to learn more about their vacation habits, Yahoo Travel surveyed 2,000 travelers of varying ages, and from that data, we were able to glean some insight into what motivates millennials to book a trip and how they travel.

Some of the findings will surprise you.

Once they’re on vacation, the younger generation is less impressed with luxury and more interested in finding adventure and embracing new cultures. It also appears that millennials travelers are less fearful. Overall, 38 percent of respondents cited personal safety as their biggest concern while traveling abroad. Yet for millennials, 18 percent were more concerned about language barriers and 11 percent were worried about natural disasters. These numbers were significantly higher when compared to older travelers.

For many, travel comes down to money, and it certainly appears that members of Generation Y know how to take a trip on a budget. Thirty-three percent of those surveyed said that they spend $1,000-$4,999 on a vacation, while 68 percent of millennials are more likely to spend less than $1,000 per trip. Older travelers keep a savings account for a rainy day; millennials are more likely to take the money they’ve saved and spend it on a trip. They are also more likely to engage in voluntourism, which is usually a budget-conscious way to travel.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/americas-millennials-well-educated-but-unskilled/
America's Millennials: Well educated but unskilled
3/13/15

Bad news ahead for the American workforce: Its Millennial generation is flunking the basics.

Americans born after 1980 are lagging their peers in countries ranging from Australia to Estonia, according to a new report from researchers at the Educational Testing Service (ETS). The study looked at scores for literacy and numeracy from a test called the Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies, which tested the abilities of people in 22 countries.

The results are sobering, with dire implications for America. It hints that students may be falling behind not only in their early educational years but at the college level. Even though more Americans between the ages of 20 to 34 are achieving higher levels of education, they're still falling behind their cohorts in other countries. In Japan, Finland and the Netherlands, young adults with only a high school degree scored on par with American Millennials holding four-year college degrees, the report said.

"A decade ago, the skill level of American adults was judged 'mediocre,'" the report said. "Now it is below even that. Millennials, who will form the backbone of this nation's future, are not poised to lift us out of this predicament; in fact, the lack of adequate skills in this population has become a challenge for us to confront."

The results may stun Millennials, given their reputation for being tech-savvy idealists. Many of them are in college or are recent grads, and paying off heavy student debt burdens. Unfortunately, despite having the highest levels of educational attainment of any American generation, the group is falling far short of their peers in other countries.

Aside from being problematic for the Millennials themselves, the findings also raise questions about how this low-skilled generation will affect the U.S. economy. In an increasingly globalized world that rewards high-level skill sets, America's Millennials may find themselves losing out, especially as an income gap is developing between people with highly developed technical skills and every one else, the report noted.

"The skills of our Millennials -- our youngest cohort, who will be the workers, the decision-makers, and the parents of the next 40 years -- will also have cascading effects on every level of society," the report noted. "A very real danger lies in perpetuating a cycle where low skill levels, less income, and less access to quality education will beget a further entrenchment of deep inequality, with some segments of society more at risk than others."

It's no small matter for the American economy, given that the Millennial generation this year will surpass the baby boomers as the country's largest living generation, according to Pew Research. The Millennial cohort, which Pew estimates at 75.3 million people, is growing thanks to young immigrants, while the baby boomers, ages 51 to 69, are shrinking in number due to deaths.

Getting more Millennials into colleges might not be the solution to the problem. The report noted that the results suggest that this generation has passed through high school and college "without acquiring adequate skills."

"Policy makers and other stakeholders will need to shift the conversation from one of educational attainment to one that acknowledges the growing importance of skills and examines these more critically," the report said.

Half of American Millennials score below the minimum standard of literacy proficiency. Only two countries scored worse by that measure: Italy (60 percent) and Spain (59 percent). The results were even worse for numeracy, with almost two-thirds of American Millennials failing to meet the minimum standard for understanding and working with numbers. That placed U.S. Millennials dead last for numeracy among the study's 22 developed countries.

To top that off, despite their reputation for being tech-savvy, American Millennials also scored poorly on problem-solving in technology-rich environments, or PS-TRE for short. In that test, 56 percent of American Millennials failed to meet basic proficiency, again ranking them last among the 22 countries.

The results were surprising to the researchers, who told Fortune they thought the generation would score better than older workers.

"We really thought [U.S.] Millennials would do better than the general adult population, either compared to older co-workers in the U.S. or to the same age group in other countries," Madeline Goodman, an ETS researcher, told the magazine. "But they didn't. In fact, their scores were abysmal."

http://www.bbc.com/news/business-31608677
How 'robo-investing' is managing money for the masses
3/2/15

"Robo-investing" - using COMPUTER algorithms rather than humans to manage your investments - is a white-hot sector attracting lots of start-up cash.

There are now several companies here in the US promising that their algorithms can get more bang for your investment buck at a fraction of the price charged by traditional investment managers.

Managing your portfolio, diversifying your investments and handling your TAX liabilities can all be done automatically 24/7.

And machines aren't swayed by fear and greed, the primary emotions that often drive very poor investment decisions. They can crunch terabytes of data and take a global, long-term view, spreading your investments across geographies and asset classes, from bonds to equities, INDEX FUNDS to property.

'New-fangled'
Just don't call it "robo-investing", says Adam Nash, chief executive of Wealthfront, one of the leading companies in the field, managing more than $1.8bn (£1.2bn) of client assets.

"I've never actually heard a young person refer to robo-investing since I've been here." He joined Wealthfront in 2013.

"It seems to be uniformly a term used by older financial advisers to make fun of the new-fangled tech that these kids are using. EXPEDIA is not a robo-travel agent; I don't buy movie tickets on my robot phone."

He suggests "automated investment service" instead. As a former employee of eBay, Apple and LinkedIn, who has a COMPUTERscience degree from Stanford and a business degree from Harvard, he should know.

In fact, many of the people running the companies that are igniting this new generation of personal investing combine advanced SOFTWAREengineering skills with strong business acumen.

Inevitably, some are likely to end up as household names and on billionaire lists in the not-too-distant future if they can achieve their ambition of expanding investment to the masses.

Jon Stein, the founder and chief executive of Betterment, is another good example. Educated at Columbia Business School and Harvard, he went on to write the initial code for Betterment's website.

"We do everything from end to end," he says. "We do your statements and TAX integration; we do all the ACH [Automated Clearing House] transactions; we do the accounting and record keeping.

"We are able to make that process much more efficient and optimised around trading personalised portfolios."

more

http://news.yahoo.com/christian-millennials-gay-marriage-debate-produces-views-morality-221338760.html
3/19/15
For Christian Millennials, gay marriage debate produces new views on morality
The vote this week by the Presbyterian Church USA to redefine marriage points to a deeper debate for Millennials about interpretations of biblical morality.

Few were surprised when America’s largest denomination of “mainline” Presbyterian Christians voted to redefine marriage Tuesday, officially changing its church constitution to extend the sacred union between “a man and a woman” to “two people, traditionally a man and a woman.”

After all, the Presbyterian Church, USA, is one of the more socially liberal within the cacophonous swirl of American Protestantism, in which local congregations or regional governing bodies are often empowered to shape their own understandings of faith and Scripture.

Yet the redefinition also points to larger issues involving same-sex marriage that younger American Christians, in particular, are wrestling with. As gay and lesbian people have become a visible part of mainstream life in the past decade, many of those who have grown up with this new visibility have begun to question the previous generation’s moral condemnations.

Across the denominational spectrum, Millennials – including many among the more conservative Evangelicals and Catholics – are pondering interpretations of Scripture, and they’re finding new meanings of morality and Christian love. These young people are also feeling a disconnect between their church life and US society, where cultural understandings of human sexuality have been changing quickly and dramatically.

“When everywhere you go you have full equality – the military, on TV, in business ... in schools, university classes, political institutions – and only in this one outpost of culture do you have people not accepting – it forces questions for our young people,” says David Gushee, a professor of Christian ethics at Mercer University in Atlanta, who is considered one of the nation’s leading evangelical ethicists.

“That disjunction between a culture that is moving toward full civil equality, and a church that isn’t, is very visible to our young people, and they at least want to talk about that and know what to make of that,” continues Professor Gushee, who last year, in the book “Changing Our Mind,” declared his support for the full inclusion of gays and lesbians in churches.

As a group, Evangelicals remain those most opposed to same-sex marriage in the United States, the Pew Research Center has found. But among white evangelical Millennials, 43 percent now favor allowing gay and lesbian couples to legally wed, up from 20 percent in 2003, according to a survey by the Public Religion Research Institute last year. And a full 85 percent of self-identified Catholics under the age of 30 say homosexuality should be accepted by society, a Pew survey from last year found.

Of course, many Christians are not embracing such ideas. After the vote by the mainline Presbyterians this week, another denomination, the conservative Presbyterian Church in America (PCA), affirmed the traditional view:

“We, like other evangelical, conservative, orthodox, and traditional Christians from many branches of the Christian faith, believe that, from creation, God ordained the marriage covenant to be a unique bond between one man and one woman,” read a statement by the church, which is the second largest US denomination, with nearly 370,000 members. “This biblical understanding is what the Church has always believed, taught, and confessed. Therefore, we believe that the divinely sanctioned standard for sexual activity is fidelity within a marriage between one man and one woman or chastity outside of such a marriage.”

Others, however, are celebrating this week’s vote by the mainline Presbyterians, or the PC(USA), as the denomination is sometimes called.

“Our movement has witnessed extraordinary policy change for Ordination Equality and Marriage Equality in the span of five years,” wrote Alex Patchin McNeill, executive director of More Light Presbyterians, in a blog post Thursday. MLP is an advocacy group in Minnetonka, Minn., that has worked to change the church’s definition of marriage. “We know from our involvement with other social justice movements that policy changes are seismic shifts in communities that call us to live into the hope they produce,” wrote Mr. McNeill, himself in his 30s.

In general, American Protestantism has long been defined by its reliance on the Bible as its sole authority. And Gushee, the professor and Evangelical, still bases his ethical thinking on Scripture. But, he says, Protestantism has long changed its interpretations of the Bible as its experiences have begun to change.

Even Evangelicals as a whole, he points out, changed their interpretation of Scripture to accommodate expanded roles for women – upending selected verses that had been understood to mean women should be silent or keep their heads covered. The experience of slavery and the Holocaust also transformed the Bible’s ostensible teachings on race.

And today, new experiences, especially among the young, are transforming what Gushee sees as misinterpretations of what the Bible condemns in a handful of passages, written to address an ancient context.

“A big part of why that is the case is because more and more of us are coming to know gay and lesbian Christians, in their dignity and their suffering,” he says. “Many Millennials no longer find the older narratives of condemnation plausible: It doesn’t fit the facts, and it doesn’t fit the lives of people that we know.”

McNeill, part of a younger generation of leaders in the PC(USA), invokes the traditional “Protestant principle” proclaimed in the church’s Book of Order: “The church affirms Ecclesia reformata, semper reformanda secundum verbum Dei, that is, ‘The church reformed, always to be reformed according to the Word of God’ in the power of the Spirit.”

As Millennials increasingly take the reigns of leadership in many US congregations and denominations, many say, other churches will use this quintessentially Protestant principle to begin extending traditional, biblical Christian morality – including monogamy and fidelity – to gay and lesbian couples.

“I hope that this can be an opportunity for renewal, because I hope that that means that some people who have disengaged with various churches, because they’ve heard only this one issue, because they heard just a denial of various sexual orientations and ways of loving one another, will come back to the church,” says Shannon Craigo-Snell, a professor of theology at Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary in Kentucky and an ordained PC(USA) minister.

Indeed, mainline Protestant churches have lost members for decades. In many cases, however, it’s because conservative churchgoers have been dismayed by their denomination’s accommodations to the vicissitudes of culture. The PC(USA) has had more than 37 percent of its members leave since 1992 – while the PCA has seen a 6 percent increase in the past five years.

Thus the PC(USA)’s vote this week might, in fact, exacerbate the membership issue. “We have lost and will lose members, and even churches, over this decision,” Professor Craigo-Snell says.

But she also sees the opportunity. “My hope ... is that this will be a tipping point,” she says. “I think there’s a whole generation for whom the notion of marriage inequality just makes no sense.”

http://fortune.com/2015/03/26/3-things-millennials-want-in-a-career-hint-its-not-more-money/?xid=yahoo_fortune
3/26/15
3 things millennials want in a career (hint: it’s not more money)

For the generation that will soon become the majority of America’s workforce, flexible work hours and personal fulfillment are more important than a bigger paycheck.

What’s the biggest incentive you can offer a millennial to come work for you instead of your competition? If you answered “MORE money” you need to rethink your strategy, because you might not be as attractive as you think for the generation that will soon become the majority of our WORKFORCE.

Millennials view the workplace through the same lens of new technology as any other aspect of their lives: instant, open and limitless. The era they have grown up in has shown them that nothing is a guarantee. Instability and rapid change are the norm. To millennials, time no longer equals money. It is a limited resource to be spent wisely and ACTIVELY managed.

To remain competitive, businesses need a fresh approach to compensation that reflects new values, attitudes and lifestyles. Perks such as free lunch and EMPLOYEEgame rooms are great, but here are the three core values that really drive millennials in the workplace.

Bye, bye nine-to-fives

Today’s young job seekers live in a world where physical presence is optional: BANKING, renting movies, hanging out with friends, going to school, ordering dinner have all transformed from a ‘place you go’ to a ‘thing you do’ from any connected device. Millennials view work in the same way; not to be measured by hours at a location, but by the output of what you do.

Today’s high-performing companies bake flexibility into the core of their corporate culture, letting employees set their own SCHEDULES as long as they get their work done. Plenty of Gen Xers and Baby Boomers care about it too, but millennials are leading the way in prioritizing job flexibility. According to PwC’s millennials at Work study, many would give up pay or delay a promotion to achieve an ideal SCHEDULE.

An unlimited vacation policy is one extreme example of this new compensation. Companies such as Virgin, BEST BUY and Evernote are matching flexible working with unlimited vacation policies to empower employees to take time off as needed, as long as they are coordinating with and delivering for their teams.

Keep us inspired

Millennials don’t just want to spend their time earning a paycheck; they want to invest time acquiring the skills and knowledge they need to grow both personally and professionally.

This is a revolutionary shift from the traditional sense of on-the-job training. Training no longer exists solely to meet compliance or company-mandated policies. The best training program today is a rich learning experience that taps into employee interests, passions and career goals.

Learning to lead is a big priority. In Deloitte’s 2014 Millennial Survey, 75% of respondents believed that their organizations could do more to develop future leaders, which opens a massive opportunity for organizations that develop and become known for strong leadership programs.

Tied to learning is employee mobility. Most millennials expect to have multiple careers in their lifetime. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average young adult has held an average of 6.2 jobs by age 26. Why not enable them to shift careers within your organization? Give them access to the training and learning they need to move both vertically and horizontally. Let them experience the company holistically and build a lasting bond.

Make us part of the solution

Finally, more so than previous generations, millennials place great importance on social causes and sense of purpose – and they define that purpose two-fold. The first is self-purpose; how do they fit into the organizational puzzle? How is their work relevant? Does anybody care? Be transparent about how personal goals are aligned to the goals of the organization so that even a junior employee understands how their daily labors are aligned to what the company is doing as a whole.

The second aspect is the purpose of the company. How does the company relate to the wider world, and what good does it contribute? Does the company’s concern with social responsibility match theirs? In this year’s Deloitte Millennial SURVEY, six in 10 respondents said “sense of purpose” is part of the reason they chose their current employer.

What has long been hailed as ‘the future of work’ is already upon us, and organizations have to move forward right now to MEET THE new standards for recruiting and retaining their most valuable asset – their employees. Competition for the best employees is at an all-time high; don’t let your compensation strategy leave you in the past.

Survey casts Millennials as ‘Don’t Judge Generation’ on sexual decisions



The results are in and the majority of 18- to 35-year-old Americans across racial and religious lines believe there’s nothing morally wrong with decisions concerning sexual morality that were previously condemned by most within the Church.

A Closer LookAlong this line of reasoning, it is reported that 56 percent of Millennials believe that deciding to have an abortion “is the most responsible decision a woman can make” a worldview that is aligned with campus politics from coast to coast.

Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) CEO Robert Jones says that personal circumstances, not absolute truth, dictates for most young Americans what’s right or wrong regarding one’s sexual decisions — in a sample that includes 33 percent who don’t proclaim allegiance to any particular religion.

“What we see running through the answers is that where principles of fairness come up, Millennials want to see equal access to health services, abortion and contraception,” Jones divulges from the survey, which gauges Millennials’ take on sexual activity, abortion, ‘gender identity,’ contraception and campus sexual assault. “They think people should have individual freedom to make decisions.”

With the moral climate of the United States embracing sex outside of marriage more and more, covering up or trying to eradicate the consequences of such biblically immoral behavior is becoming increasingly accepted. This is especially evident as relatively newer methods of preventing or stopping pregnancy are introduced, known as abortifacients, which have been added to women’s contraceptive options.

In lieu of the fairly recent Hobby Lobby U.S. Supreme Court decision that gives private business owners the right to not offer free contraceptive insurance coverage due to conflicts with religious beliefs, Millennials were asked about their response. A clear majority (58 percent) of Millennials objected to the decision, with only 9 percent indicating that using contraception — including abortifacients such as the Plan B “morning-after pill” — is a morally wrong choice.

Secular morality beating out biblical morality?

Jones asserts from the survey published Friday that moral relativism has clearly given young Americans the proclivity to circumvent biblical morality in favor of societal convenience or politically correct rationalizations for irresponsible or immoral sexual behavior.

“Millennials seem reluctant to make blanket black-and-white moral pronouncements about issues they see as complex,” Jones argues from information collected from more than 2,300 respondents in February. “They don’t only make legal allowances for circumstances, they also make moral allowances for people in difficult circumstances. It’s more about empathy than it is about autonomy.”

Part of this mindset could have to do with the fact that a large percentage of the Millennials surveyed have had either surgical or chemically induced non-surgical abortions — or closely know someone who had one.

Forty-seven percent of female Millennial survey participants indicated that they have either personally used Plan B or other forms of emergency contraception (18 percent), or have a close family member or friend who has taken such abortion-inducing drugs (29 percent). Correspondingly, 8 percent of respondents had surgical abortions, while 36 percent have close friends or family who did.

Surprising to many, 79 percent of white Protestant Millennial women say that contraception of all types should be made more accessible to women who do not have the means to pay for it. Even more surprisingly to some, 87 percent of young Catholic women say economically disadvantaged women should have greater access to them, even though all forms of contraception are in direct opposition to their religious doctrine.

Furthermore, a mere 11 percent of Catholics surveyed view contraception as morally wrong, with 70 percent of them saying it’s morally acceptable — the same percentage of all Millennials in the study. Less than 20 percent say the morality of using artificial contraception is contingent on the circumstances.

Stand-alone group in the survey

Out of all the religious/racial groups surveyed, only white evangelicals had less than a majority (38 percent) saying that access to contraception is critical to a woman’s financial security, as opposed to 60 percent of Catholics. An overwhelming majority of white evangelicals (62 percent) don’t believe contraception is crucial for a woman’s financial security.

Also standing out from other groups, white evangelicals were the only group where a majority believe that abortion should be illegal in all or most cases, with an overwhelming 80 percent agreeing. With all the other groups, including white mainline Protestants, black Protestants and white Catholics, the majority say abortion should be legal in all or most cases of unplanned pregnancies.

The study further shows that  white evangelicals continue to have a smaller and smaller representation amongst the groups— as they are the oldest with nearly half of Americans in this demographic being at least 50 years of age. Only 11 percent of the Millennials surveyed were white evangelicals. Just 10 percent were white mainline Protestants. Hispanic Catholics also represented 10 percent of the sampling.

More Millennial perspectives

PRRI’s latest research also set out to see where Millennials stand on a number of other issues concerning society’s sexual mores.

Despite Millennials dominantly progressive views on sexual behavior, only one in four believe that marriage has become old-fashioned and out-of-date, with an overwhelming 71 percent saying it has not.

On another note, Millennials are fairly evenly divided when it comes to the abortion debate, as 27 percent describe themselves as solely pro-choice and 25 percent consider themselves exclusively pro-life. Another 27 percent say that they can fly their flag under either label, while 22 percent say that they don’t consider themselves either.

A higher number than many conservatives expected, 7 percent surveyed consider themselves to be lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender by practicing a lifestyle consistent with the LGBT community.

Showing the sign of our times, a significant 73 percent of Millennials testify that sexual assault is very common or somewhat common on college campuses, with 53 indicating that this offense occurs somewhat or very frequently on high school campuses across America.

http://www.onenewsnow.com/culture/2015/04/03/survey-casts-millennials-as-%E2%80%98don%E2%80%99t-judge-generation%E2%80%99-on-sexual-decisions#.VR_YyOFrWk4

A generation brain washed by the Liberal TV

And this is what really brothers me about this crowd who use this "Lordship Salvation is a doctrine of devils!" to no end - yes, I understand that salvation is faith alone, in Christ alone(with 0% works). However - yes, I fully understand that we have our daily struggles in the flesh - but nonetheless aren't we supposed to examine ourselves daily to see if we're in the faith? Doesn't the LORD chasten and chastise us when we get out of line? But en yet I've seen a growing number of YT ministries accuse other preachers of preaching this "lordship salvation", when all these preachers do is WARN their flocks of the dangers ahead(and how today's modern-day church gives their flocks nothing more than a false bill of goods).

And no - these aren't NIV-pop culture ministries using this "lordship salvation" political correctness, but *KJB-Apologetics* ministries doing so!

No - I'm not the one to judge someone's salvation - but nonetheless by their fruit shouldn't we know them?

And also - I was researching Demas and the man who slept with his father's wife(the latter being in 1 Cor 5:1-5) the last week - 1) It doesn't sound like Demas fell away from the faith and went into Apostasy...b/c at the time Paul was going to his death, and ALL men forsook him(and Paul seemed to express mere sorrow in 2nd Tim 4:10). Demas merely went back to his home town of Thessalonica. And 2) It's not clear at all whether that man who slept with his father's wife was saved. I mean this isn't just fornication, this is INCEST, AND it CONTRADICTS with 1 Cor 6:9-11.

Pt being that yes, I believe in eternal security - but Demas and this man who slept with his father's wife are VERY bad examples! It's as if you can put Jimmy Swaggart as an example when preaching about eternal security!

Ultimately - no, we don't preach works salvation - but nonetheless look at the rotten fruit of this shallow-gospel salvation that we see now!(which I see various KJB-Apologetics ministry promoting now)

http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2015/04/05/let-us-prey-new-version-of-the-bible-replaces-god-with-kanye/
4/5/15
Let Us Prey! New Version Of The Bible Replaces God With Kanye

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) —   It’s the perfect gift for the person who worships — literally — rapper, businessman, designer, Kardashian-affiliate Kanye West.

A new version of the Bible is for sale on Etsy.

It’s called “The Book of Yeezus: A Bible For The Modern Day.” In every mention where God’s name would normally be, editors have changed the name to Kanye.

For example, “In the beginning, Kanye created the heavens and the Earth.”

The creators said the idea came from a need for Generation Y to have a superstar to call its own — one that will “accompany that generation through it’s evolution, being a part of and ultimately shaping its identity.”

They added, “[the book] is an interventionist art, coffee-table novelty that will appeal to Kanye fans everywhere and those made curious by this enormous cultural phenomenon.”

The hard-cover book sells for $20.

http://time.com/money/3665682/millennials-midlife-crisis/?xid=yahoo_money
4/15/15
Why Millennials Are in for a Worse Midlife Crisis than their Parents

Marriage, it turns out, lessens the dip in happiness that happens in one's late 40s. But most Gen Y-ers have steered clear of the altar.

I’m a happily married 28-year-old with a beautiful wife and son. My life is good.

But if research is CORRECT, I will grow increasingly more dissatisfied with my life over the next 20 years. Which is terrifying.

The midlife crisis is very real.

Studies show that people are pretty happy when they’re young and when they’re older—THANK youthful exuberance and not having to work, respectively. But between 46 and 55, folks endure peak ennui.

That happiness ebbs as one ages is not particularly surprising. CAREERS plateau, dreams are deferred and bills increase in quantity and frequency.

This U-shaped happiness curve has been the focus of a lot of research recently and many nations (from Britain to Bhutan) have shown interest in augmenting citizens well-being with the intent that gross happiness is just as important to the economy as the gross domestic product.

One recent study on the topic—published in the National Bureau of Economic Research—has me feeling just a little bit less sad about my upcoming depression. It FOUND that married folks like myself will experience a less dramatic midlife crisis than their non-married peers.

Authors Shawn Grover and John Helliwell used data from two U.K. SURVEYS and found that while life-satisfaction levels declined for those who married and those who didn’t, the middle-age drop was much less severe for the betrothed, even when controlling for premarital happiness.

Having a dedicated partner, it seems, eases the burden of watching YOUR youth pass slowly through your fingers. Tying the knot can soften the blow, in the other words.

Moreover, people who consider their partner a friend enjoy the most happiness.

“We explore friendship as a mechanism which could help explain a casual relationship between marriage and life satisfaction, and find that well-being effects of marriage are about twice as large for those whose spouse is also their best friend,” the authors wrote.

These findings could leave many of my peers in an emotional nadir: According to data from the Pew Research Center, millennials just aren’t terribly interested in the institution of marriage. Only 26% of people aged 18 to 32 were married in 2013—10 points lower than Gen X when they were of a similar age in 1997, and 22 points below boomers’ marriage patterns in 1960.

My generation still has a few years before they hit the bottom of the U curve. And perhaps an improving economy will make the prospect of marriage more attractive to those in my cohort. Here’s hoping.

I didn’t plan to marry when I did—like most of my generation the thought really didn’t occur to me. But my longtime girlfriend and I walked down the aisle after we found out she was pregnant. And from my current pre-midlife-crisis vantage point, I can see why marrying someone I love and with whom I share a common worldview will make the process of aging slightly less pale and ugly.

Life’s hard, but it turns out that it’s nice to have someone you love to complain about it with.

http://www.cnbc.com/id/102623330
Baby bust! Millennials' birth rate drop may signal historic shift
4/27/15

*15% drop among young women
*Hispanics, blacks see biggest declines
*Biz fallout

There's a lot of millennials, but a lot of them aren't having babies—at least not yet.

Birth rates among American women ages 20 to 29 years old hit historic lows in the years right before and after the Great Recession, ACCORDING to a new report that raises the possibility that a major shift in the ages when women tend to have kids is on the horizon. (Tweet this)

The birth rates for women in their 20s saw a 15 percent drop from 2007 to 2012, the Urban Institute report released Tuesday found. The decrease contributed to falling birth rates for women overall, after more than three decades of relative stability.

The study pointed to the recession, a "dramatic decline in birth rates among unmarried" African-American and Hispanic women, and a decline in the number of white married women as major factors behind the overall birth bust among women in their 20s.

Hispanic women in the age group saw the biggest declines in birth rates—a 26 percent plunge. That was followed by a 14 percent decrease among African-American women and an 11 percent fall for white women.

Read MoreWellness program rules up for debate
"We calculate that in 2012, women in their twenties had births at a pace that would lead to 948 births per 1,000 women, by far the slowest pace of any generation of young women in U.S. history," the report said.

"If these low birth rates to women in their twenties CONTINUE, the U.S. might eventually face the type of generational imbalance that currently characterizes Japan and some European countries, but it is too early to predict or worry about that eventuality."

"This is really quite big," said Nan Marie Astone, one of the report's authors.

However, because the big plunge in the birthrates coincided with Great Recession and the following years, "it's hard to think that [the economic decline] wasn't the reason," Astone said.

Still, while every previous major economic decline has also been followed by a decrease in the birthrate among young women, "it's not been this big" as the one identified by the new study, Astone said.

(Above: Births per year. Source: Urban Institute, Millennial Childbearing and the Recession)
The findings come in the same year that millennials—the generation that started becoming adults around the turn of the century—are projected to overtake the so-called baby boomers as the largest age group in the United States.

The Pew Research Center estimates that the total number of millennials—people now age 18 to 34—will be 75.3 million in 2015, compared with 74.9 million people between ages 51 to 69.

Astone said that because there are a huge number of millennials, a short-term decrease in their birthrates among women in their 20s will not, by itself, mean there will be dramatically fewer Americans in coming decades.

Read MoreTwo states' surprising Obamacare success
"Even if the birthrates are very, very low, where the population is very, very large, we're still talking about a lot of babies," she said.

Also, women in their 20s who aren't having kids now could start having kids in their 30s, Astone said. That in itself would represent a dramatic demographic change.

Until the 1980s, for as long as records were kept, the highest fertility rates worldwide were among women ages 20 to 24, Astone said.

That shifted in the United States and Europe sometime in the 1980s, when women ages 25 to 29 became the most fertile, she said.

"For demographers, a small group of nerdy people, that was pretty momentous," she said.

"It was associated with women going to school for longer, or going into professional occupations," both of which led women to delay having children, Astone said.

If the birth rates among millennial women rebound by the time they reach their 30s, Astone said, the most fertile age group may become women age 30 to 34 for the first time in human history. (Tweet this)

"That would be a big deal," she said.

But if the birthrate does not rebound among young millennial women, different industries would feel different effects.

"The industry that probably would be concerned about this is housing," Astone said. "People tend to buy a house when they have a baby."

In the short term, she said, people who put off having kids may be more apt to spend their money on "movies, entertainment, restaurants, that sort of thing."

On the other hand, the report noted, what may be "a temporary drop in the number of very young children ... has implications for planning how many Head Start spots, vials of vaccine, and, eventually, seats in the classroom we need."

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Titus 2:3  The aged women likewise, that they be in behaviour as becometh holiness, not false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things;
Tit 2:4  That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children,
Tit 2:5  To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed.

One in five millennial parents is impoverished, study finds
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/one-in-five-millennial-parents-is-impoverished-173221947.html
4/29/15

One in five millennial parents today is impoverished, a new study by the Young Invincibles, a youth advocacy group, found. Since 2000, the poverty rate for this demographic has increased by 40%.

“They’re being expected to do more with a lot less,” says Konrad Mugglestone, author of the report, Finding Time: Millennial Parents, Poverty, and Rising Costs. Millennial incomes have decreased about 10% in the past 10 years, while workers over 35 saw a 4% drop in wages. At the same time, experts predict nearly two-thirds of jobs will require some form of (increasingly expensive) secondary education by the year 2020. At the same time, the cost of raising a child has skyrocketed over the last several decades. In 1960, childcare consumed just 2% of a young parent’s budget, compared to 18% today, Young Invincibles found.

For college-educated millennials like Jessica Juárez Scruggs, even a degree and a decent paying job aren’t always enough to ensure a solid financial foundation for a family. When Jessica, 29, and her husband, Yader, 30, moved to Washington, D.C. from their hometown in Seattle in 2013, the newlyweds were better prepared than most of their contemporaries for young adulthood. Their savings account was flush with funds for a future home down payment. Neither had any student debt to worry about, since Jessica earned a scholarship that covered her tuition and Yader, an EMT, hadn’t needed to take out loans for his degree. Jessica planned on working part time while earning her master’s degree in political communications at the American College.

They hadn’t planned to start a family, but Jessica learned she was pregnant on her first day of grad school. The news wasn’t unwelcome, but the couple quickly realized their budget, even with two incomes, wasn’t fit to cover a family of three. After their son was born, Jessica left her job to care for him. On her husband’s EMT pay alone, the couple’s income fell below the federal poverty level for a family of three, $20,090.

“We were married and we were in a pretty good position, and yet it was incredibly difficult to just make it work financially,” Jessica says. “I just kept thinking if I can’t make ends meet, I can’t imagine what somebody who’s not as privileged is going through.”

More young parents today are college-educated, but earning a degree comes at a steep price. College-educated millennial parents had a median debt load of $25,709 in 2008 (the most recent Department of Education data available), more than 25% higher than the median $20,000 taken out by non-parents, according to the report.

“It will probably take us decades to recover financially from the last years.”

After her son’s birth, Jessica decided to leave her full-time job as a nonprofit consultant in lieu of using a child care service or a nanny. Such care would have cost $1,200 a month, nearly as much as they paid to rent their 400-square-foot studio apartment. 

“We would like to both work but there is literally no job that pays for childcare,” she says. “I would have had to work part-time when I was in school and no part-time job would even let us break even in terms of child care.

[Get the Latest Market Data and News with the Yahoo Finance App]

So they leaned on Yader’s income and their savings for household expenses like groceries, and Jessica maxed out her federal loans for her two-year graduate program ($41,000 in total). After tuition expenses, the loans were just enough to cover their rent each month.

It’s not hard to imagine why young people today are pushing off parenthood for as long as their budgets and biology will allow. Birth rates among millennial women fell 15% between 2007 and 2012, according to recent study by the Urban Institute. Looking at the math, putting off having a kid just seems like sound financial sense.

But there’s more lawmakers could be doing to lessen the financial burden on young parents who are struggling to support families while also keeping up in an increasingly competitive job market.

Mugglestone says some initiatives, such as the CCAMPIS federal grant program, which funds on-campus child care services for low-income parents, warrant expansion. With 86 campuses awarded grants in 2014, CCAMPIS funds provided spots for 50,000 dependents of college students. But Mugglestone estimates true need exceeds 1 million and funding cuts haven’t helped — funding has been reduced from $25 million in 2001 to $15.1 million in 2014.

And, although it’s promising to see that the rate of parents pursuing college degrees has risen by 50% over the last decade, the reality is that student parents are much less likely to complete their degrees. On-campus child care could be the boost they need.

There are a few pieces of legislation aimed at lightening the financial burden of young parents. The Schedules That Work Act would require employers to give employees work schedules at least two weeks in advance; the Healthy Families Act would give workers seven paid sick days per year; and the FAMILY Act would grant up to 12 weeks of paid leave (a maximum of $1,000 a week) for all workers. Currently, there is no federal requirement for employers to provide paid sick leave. 

Policy changes may not come soon enough to help the Juarez-Scruggs family. After Jessica completes her master’s program next month, the couple will move back to Seattle to be closer to a more traditional support system: friends and family.

“[Having our son] has been a blessing but it is tough,” she says. “We want to buy a house and we want to travel. We haven’t gone on a honeymoon yet. All of that is put on hold. I think it will probably take us decades to recover financially from the last years.”

http://www.dallasnews.com/news/local-news/20150517-u.s.-marriage-rate-nears-record-low-as-millennials-wait-to-wed.ece
5/17/15
U.S. marriage rate nears record low as millennials wait to wed

Millennials are poised to become the nation’s largest living generation this year. As they grow as a percentage of the population, more of them will reach the age at which Americans historically have gotten married.

But, according to new research, millennials are not showing many signs of interest in getting hitched as they get older, and as a result, the marriage rate is expected to fall by next year to its lowest LEVEL on record.

That is a finding by Demographic Intelligence, a forecasting firm with a strong track record.

“Millennials are such a big generation, we’re going to have more people of prime marriage age in the next five years than we’ve had at any time in U.S. history. For that alone, we’d expect an uptick in marriage rates,” said Sam Sturgeon, president of Demographic Intelligence. “That’s not happening.”

In the firm’s new U.S. Wedding Forecast, compiled from demographic data, Google SEARCHES and a host of other variables, Sturgeon projects that by next year, the marriage rate will fall to 6.7 per 1,000 people, a historic low. That includes people getting married for the second or third time.

Waiting to wed

Demographers cite several reasons for the massive generational shift in marriage trends.

Millennials — people roughly ages 18 to 34 — CONTINUE to delay marriage because of economics, EDUCATION and preference. In 1960, fewer than 8 percent of women and 13 percent of men married for the first time at age 30 or older, University of Maryland sociologist Philip Cohen has calculated. Now, nearly one-third of women and more than 40 percent of men who marry for the first time are 30 or older.

Cohen, who has tracked falling marriage rates around the world, has projected that if the current pattern were to continue, the marriage rate would hit zero in 2042.

The United States CONTINUES to become less religious. The Pew Research Center reported recently that the share of Americans who describe themselves as Christians dropped from 78 percent to 71 percent between 2007 and 2014, while the number of atheists, agnostics or those of no faith grew from 16 percent to 23 percent.

Millennials have alternatives. In the past, living together or having children “out of wedlock” was met with severe social stigma, but no longer. Cohabitation rates are on the rise — 48 percent of women interviewed between 2006 and 2010 for the National SURVEY of Family Growth cohabited with a partner as a first union, compared with 34 percent in 1995.

Births to unmarried women also are on the rise. Forty-one percent of births are now to unmarried women, 2.5 times as high as was reported in 1980 and 19 times as high as in 1940.

“Marriage is, in some ways, in the worst place it’s ever been,” said W. Bradford Wilcox, a sociologist at the University of Virginia, director of the National Marriage Project and founder of Demographic Intelligence. “I don’t think we’re ever going to see a major upswing. But we may have reached a plateau. The NUMBERS suggest we may be touching bottom.”

Rising by DEGREES

Hopeful signs, Wilcox said, are rising rates of marriage among the EDUCATED. The U.S. Wedding Forecast notes that weddings for college-educated women rose from 30 percent in 2008 to 36 percent in 2015. And middle-class desires for two parents to be involved in the lives of children bode well for stable marriages, he said.

In addition, the growth of the Hispanic population should propel the percentage of Hispanic brides from 15 percent in 2008 to 18 percent this year, ACCORDING to Demographic Intelligence.

Monitoring the Future, a CONTINUING survey of youths, further reports that 80 percent of female high school seniors and 72 percent of males in the years 2006 to 2010 said marriage and family were “extremely important” to them — numbers that have remained consistent since the mid-1970s.

That shows a strong marriage norm in the United States, Sturgeon said. But whether millennials will follow it is anyone’s guess.

“We kind of hope we’ve reached a floor,” he said, “but we really aren’t sure.”

Brigid Schulte,

The Washington Post

AT A GLANCE: UPS AND DOWNS

In 1867, the first year for which national marriage statistics were recorded, the marriage rate was 9.6 per 1,000 Americans.

In 1946, it peaked at 16.4 per 1,000 as men were returning from World War II, and it bounced around from 8.5 in 1960 to a high of 10.8 in the mid-1980s.

In 1984, when baby boomers were at prime marrying age, a total of 2.48 million marriages were recorded, the highest NUMBER the country had seen.

In 2013, the most recent year for which there is data, the number of marriages had dropped to 2.13 million.

 :'( :'( :'( :'( :'( :'( :'( :'(

Can We Please Get God Out of Religion?

We all need a spiritual side. But not because of some make-believe afterlife. Because it makes us better in this life.

Millennials—soon to be the largest generation of Americans, surpassing the baby boomers—are fleeing organized religion in droves. As a result, a generation of Americans is creating a national existential crisis. How can a country that regularly proclaims “God Bless America,” emblazons its currency with “In God We Trust,” and mentions God so frequently that it could make a secularist nauseous, survive if the largest demographic is indifferent toward the Almighty?

According to a recent study by the Pew Research Center, about 35 percent of millennials have no religious affiliation and thus are categorized as the “nones.” Approximately 56 million Americans are religiously unaffiliated, and the horde of “nones” grows steadily by the year.

As a millennial myself, I am part of the generation that has conspired to spread this heresy nationwide, from coast to coast, as a kind of modern-day version of Manifest Destiny.

I still remember when I graduated from children’s church when I was a tween and could now attend the sanctuary with the adults. But instead of being fixated on learning more about Christianity, I just wanted to take a nap. I loved it when I had soccer matches on Sunday and could skip church. By the time I was a junior in high school, church no longer interested me at all, and when I left home for college, the idea of waking up early on a Sunday to attend church had become laughable. I am most certainly part of America’s cumulative religious decline. I have helped bring the “nones” to the fore.

So my generation is heathen enough. But it might get worse: The looming question just over the horizon centers on how millennials will educate their children religiously. Because if a generation of devout Christians could not convince their children to keep the faith, then there must be no hope for religious salvation for the children of a generation that indifferently shrugs its shoulders at God.

A new book by Lisa Miller, The Spiritual Child: The New Science on Parenting for Health and Lifelong Thriving, provides a unique approach to this dilemma. Miller proposes that spirituality—which she describes as religion minus the belief in dogma, the veneration of prophets and deities, and the fixation on the afterlife—is an innate human trait that needs to be encouraged and developed. Through extensive research, Miller asserts that spirituality encourages children to believe in something greater and more powerful than themselves, and as a result they develop more resilience and less anxiety throughout life. People who engage in spirituality, she finds, are 40 percent less likely to use and abuse substances, 60 percent less likely to be depressed, and 80 percent less likely to have dangerous or unprotected sex, according to her findings.

    If we think of spirituality in these terms, then it becomes merely a tool for a healthier life. An apt comparison could be playing recreational sports or studying a musical instrument.

In other words, if you remove dogma, concerns about the Almighty, and the afterlife, and only focus on the spiritual elements of faith you can still lead a productive and healthy life regardless of what you believe in religiously: if you even believe in anything at all. This should be a concept that the “nones” embrace, and plenty of organized religions, too.

Recently, Ayaan Hirsi Ali spoke out on Real Time with Bill Maher regarding her concerns about Islam, and regardless of whether you agree with some of her more incendiary comments in the past, it’s hard to argue with her assertion on the show that Islam could progress if it could “stop investing in life after death instead of life before death.”

Much of the appeal of organized religion is the guarantee of an afterlife filled with the greatest people the world has ever known, and/or anonymous virgins depending on your religious affiliation, so long as you follow the divine teachings of the chosen messenger.

But if the limitless authority of the messenger and the lure of eternal life are removed from the equation, can the teachings still have merit? As long as the practices encourage one’s innate spirituality the answer is yes.

If we think of spirituality in these terms, then it becomes merely a tool for a healthier life. An apt comparison could be playing recreational sports or studying a musical instrument. A parent doesn’t need to be a soccer enthusiast to see the benefit of his child playing recreational soccer at an early age. However, if soccer became a religion and a parent felt that soccer was the only sport that his child was allowed to play and that it would guarantee eternal happiness in this life and the next, then he very well could feel outraged if his child became uninterested in the sport or wanted to play a different sport.

Unfortunately, the emphasis in society today is not on benefiting the growth of the child in this earthly life. It’s toward focusing on the afterlife. This can be incredibly destructive and absurd.

I remember my parents’ frustration as I grew uninterested in religion. But we still had the common ground of doing things that could help us grow as people and improve the world around us. Religion became secondary so long as we all did good deeds. Worrying about the afterlife became secondary, and the present life became primary.

One of wisest things the millennial “nones” could do for their progeny could be to find a proper spiritual outlet for their children while still expressing a healthy cynicism toward organized religion. The “nones” should anticipate that their children will become religiously jaded but still hope that they are capable of believing in a force greater than themselves. Hopefully this will prevent the “nones” from creating a new generation of anxiety-ridden narcissists.

Since the beginning of recorded history most good deeds became valuable if they granted you access to an afterlife of VIP status. And sure, I would love to be a postmortem VIP who spends eternity chillin’ with my family and friends, and having dinner parties with Nelson Mandela, James Dean, Maya Angelou, Paul Newman, Abraham Lincoln, and countless others.

This environment sounds like a blast, but I would rather worry about divine dinner parties and family outings when that day comes. In the meantime, I choose to embrace my innate spirituality to improve myself and the world around me in this life.
I AM GOD

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/05/24/can-we-please-get-god-out-of-religion.html

I shared this with a brother here privately last year, but will go ahead and share it here as well - I have 2 cousins who are 1/2 my age(so it's really more of an uncle/nieces relationship on the surface). This is b/c my aunt is my dad's baby sister(there are 3 younger brothers behind).

I haven't seen them in a long time(the older one last saw in 2008 at family reunion, and the younger one 4 years ago). I honestly thought my aunt and her husband were staunch born-again believers.(even though they don't use the KJB) However, the girls grew up with alot of this secular rock music(I was around them quite a bit when they were pre-teens), and apparently leavened churches. The older cousin graduated from her HS in the top 10 of her class, and went to an elite private univ(no, not one of those Ivy League ones). She ended up getting her degree in only 3.5 years, had alot of internship experiences, and pretty much had a great career ahead.

Until my aunt informed us last Fall that she was going to have a baby out of wedlock - maybe I shouldn't have been shocked per se, but I'll admit my heart sank. But at the same time, I was just thankful that the LORD saved us out of this wicked world, and is using us for HIS purpose to preach the gospel. So just wanted to tell you brethren to just endure all flights of afflictions, b/c our FUTURE INHERITANCE IS AWAITING US!

And also wanted to add(Christian40, I don't mean to call you out here, but you can attest to this as well) - it's not so much that it's largely Rick Warren, Rob Bell, and the Emergent Church pushing this damning Easy Believism/Antinomianism false doctrine now, but it's now KING JAMES BIBLE MINISTRIES ON YOUTUBE that are pushing this damnable heresy as well! So no, I'm not surprised at anything said in this article. And this is why especially of late, I'll admit I've been feeling very depressed.

I'm not here to judge anyone's salvation - but let's not forget the Judgment Seat of Christ won't exactly be a big party. Don't listen to these false teachers who try to convince you that "rewards are just icing on the cake".

2 Corinthians 5:10  For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.
2Co 5:11  Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; but we are made manifest unto God; and I trust also are made manifest in your consciences.

1 Peter 4:17  For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?
1Pe 4:18  And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?

Psalm 50:16 But unto the wicked God saith, What hast thou to do to declare my statutes, or that thou shouldest take my covenant in thy mouth?
17 Seeing thou hatest instruction, and castest my words behind thee.
18 When thou sawest a thief, then thou consentedst with him, and hast been partaker with adulterers.
19 Thou givest thy mouth to evil, and thy tongue frameth deceit.
20 Thou sittest and speakest against thy brother; thou slanderest thine own mother's son.
21 These things hast thou done, and I kept silence; thou thoughtest that I was altogether such an one as thyself: but I will reprove thee, and set them in order before thine eyes.
22 Now consider this, ye that forget God, lest I tear you in pieces, and there be none to deliver.
23 Whoso offereth praise glorifieth me: and to him that ordereth his conversation aright will I shew the salvation of God.

Romans 1:22 Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,
23 And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things.
24 Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves:
25 Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.
26 For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature:
27 And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet.
28 And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient;
29 Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers,
30 Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents,
31 Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful:
32 Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.

Study: Millennials May Be the Least Religious Generation in American History

According to new research led by San Diego State University's Jean Twenge, millennials may be the least religious generation in the history of America. For the study, the team looked at how more than 11 million teens responded to questions about faith, religious organizations, spirituality, prayer and meditation, dating back to the mid 1960s. They found that the group who are now millennials are the least religious ever recorded. She told EurekAlert:

    Unlike previous studies, ours is able to show that millennials' lower religious involvement is due to cultural change, not to millennials being young and unsettled. Millennial adolescents are less religious than Boomers and GenX'ers were at the same age. We also looked at younger ages than the previous studies. More of today's adolescents are abandoning religion before they reach adulthood, with an increasing number not raised with religion at all.

They found that compared to four decades ago, the number of high school seniors and college students who don’t go to church or religious services has doubled. The cause for the dramatic shifts? Twenge said that a culture that values individualism could be responsible: "Individualism puts the self first, which doesn't always fit well with the commitment to the institution and other people that religion often requires. As Americans become more individualistic, it makes sense that fewer would commit to religion” ...

Read more at http://www.relevantmagazine.com/slices/study-millennials-may-be-least-religious-generation-american-history#SfXP7R8e8fZelzg8.99

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/millennials-twice-likely-anyone-else-120000729.html
6/7/15
Millennials are twice as likely as anyone else to lie about being fired — and it says a lot about this generation

LinkedIn recently released the report "New Norms @Work," designed to shed light on the workplace attitudes of the ever-elusive millennial.
One finding stood out. According to the data, collected from 1,000 US-based full-time employees, people ages 25 to 34 were much less likely to admit having been fired from a previous job than older workers.

It's not that previous generations are pathologically honest — on the contrary, 56% of all workers say that if they'd been fired, they would "work to hide this information" from prospective employers.

But millennials were particularly secretive about their less-than-stellar pasts: A full 70% say they'd go out of their way to bury having been let go.

And millennials are especially likely to try to reframe their untimely departures: Of workers ages 25 to 34, 31.5% say they'd "make it look like they have left on their own accord," compared to 16.1% of workers 35 and older.

This could be further evidence that millennials are entitled brats who believe they can rewrite history to suit their millennial whims. But more likely, there's something else going on: It's not that millennials are somehow morally bankrupt compared to previous generations — it's that millennials genuinely see themselves (and their employers) differently.

For LinkedIn's career expert Catherine Fisher, it comes down to image. "Millennials are very focused on managing their professional brand," she tells Business Insider. Being fired is taboo — and off-brand.

Dan Schawbel, a workplace expert who's written widely on changing attitudes around employment, credits technology for that shift.
"You don't see them posting negative status updates on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram," he points out. Younger candidates aren't the only ones artfully shaping their work histories — everyone does that, and for good reason — but millennials, he says, "take this to the next level by guarding their professional and personal image online, covering up anything bad that's ever happened to them."

Millennials may be notorious for oversharing, but it's a carefully curated kind of oversharing — and that careful curation carries over into how millennials present themselves to potential employers.

They're not necessarily wrong to tread carefully. Many millennial workers were hit hard by the recession. As a result, "millennials feel that they must do whatever it takes to compete," says Karen Myers, an associate professor of communications at UC-Santa Barbara. Through that lens, image consciousness starts to feel less like narcissism and more like panic.

But there's another factor that may offer even more insight into the murky depths of the millennial psyche: More than their older colleagues, millennials value organizational "fit."

"They see [having been fired] as a two-sided issue," Myers says, "and may think that there were many reasons for poor job performance or other behaviors that led to their being fired." They don't label it as "firing" because they don't see it that way. At least from their perspective, "it may have been a lack of fit and they would have quit soon anyway." It's not a devastating decree; it's a mutual breakup. "Overall," says Myers, "they just don't see things as black and white."

Understanding why younger workers behave the way they do is only half the story. Here's the other question: Are millennials wrong not to disclose?

The short answer: Not exactly.

Nobody is arguing that outright lying is great and we should all do more of it, but "it's a personal choice if someone wants to disclose the reason they left a previous job," Fisher says. "If asked point blank, one can say that it wasn't the right fit for them or the company, and then focus on their accomplishments in the role."

https://www.yahoo.com/parenting/watch-how-these-kids-react-to-caitlyn-jenner-121190485333.html
Watch How These Kids React to Caitlyn Jenner
6/10/15

Kids were presented with two pictures, one of Bruce Jenner and one of Caitlyn Jenner, and their reactions will both surprise you and inspire you.

Children are amazing. Understanding. Unbiased. Without predisposed notions.

Here they were presented with something new. Something most had never thought about before. And while they had questions:

They were able to immediately recognize right from wrong when we read them some of the awful tweets that were written about Caitlyn’s transition:

And they were able to have empathy for someone making a change that would allow her to be more comfortable in her skin. A change that would allow her to be her true self.

As parents, it is our job to teach our children tolerance and acceptance. It doesn’t matter if we are talking about differences in race, sexual preference, gender equality, or gender identity — children should understand that we are all unique and special in our own way. That our differences make us better.

These #HatchKids are onto something. There is a whole lot we can learn from this next generation.

To help engage your kids in a conversation about empathy and identity, you can download our activity guide PDF here.

Acceptance and understanding of those around us, and those different than us, begins with you.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Matthew 12:30  He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad.

http://www.cnn.com/2015/05/12/living/pew-religion-study/index.html
Millennials leaving church in droves, study finds
5/14/15

CNN)At its core, Christian life is set of sacred traditions linking generations of sacraments and Sunday school lessons, youth ministry morals and family gatherings sanctified by prayer. An unbroken circle, in the words of an old hymn.

In modern America, that circle may not be completely shot, but it is wobbly and badly bent, according to a new landmark study conducted by the Pew Research Center.

Released Tuesday, the survey of 35,000 American adults shows the Christian percentage of the population dropping precipitously, to 70.6%. In 2007, the last time Pew conducted a similar survey, 78.4% of American adults called themselves Christian.

In the meantime, almost every major branch of Christianity in the United States has lost a significant number of members, Pew found, mainly because millennials are leaving the fold. More than one-third of millennials now say they are unaffiliated with any faith, up 10 percentage points since 2007.

The alacrity of their exodus surprises even seasoned experts.

"We've known that the religiously unaffiliated has been growing for decades," said Greg Smith, Pew's associate director of religion research and the lead researcher on the new study. "But the pace at which they've continued to grow is really astounding."

It's not just millennials leaving the church. Whether married or single, rich or poor, young or old, living in the West or the Bible Belt, almost every demographic group has seen a significant drop in people who call themselves Christians, Pew found.

The drops have been deepest among two of the country's most formidable faith traditions: Catholics and mainline Protestants, so-called for their prominence in American history. At the same time, Hinduism and Islam, religions tied to recent immigrants, according to Pew, have made small but significant gains. The number of evangelicals has remained relatively steady in the past seven years, even as they decline as a percentage of the overall population.

Because the U.S. census does not ask questions about religion, Pew's survey, called "America's Changing Religious Landscape," provides one of the most reliable sources of data about the country's religious demographics. Based in Washington, Pew calls itself a nonpartisan "fact tank" and regularly produces vast and detailed studies of religion.

Meet the Friendly Atheists Next Door

People who profess no faith affiliation -- often called "nones," as in "none of the above" -- now form nearly 23% percent of the country's adult population, according to the Pew study. That puts the unaffiliated nearly on par with evangelicals (25.4%) and ahead of Catholics (about 21%) and mainline Protestants (14.7%).

Seven years ago, according to Pew's previous study, the unaffiliated formed about 16% of the population, mainline Protestants were about 18%, Catholics were about 24% and evangelicals 26.3%.

The world's fastest-growing religion is ...

Looking at the long view, the generational spans are striking. Whereas 85% of the silent generation (born 1928-1945) call themselves Christians, just 56% of today's younger millennials (born 1990-1996) do the same, even though the vast majority -- about eight in 10 -- were raised in religious homes. Each successive generation of Americans includes fewer Christians, Pew has found.

To put it simply: Older generations of Americans are not passing along the Christian faith as effectively as their forebears.

"It's not as if young people today are being raised in a way completely different from Christianity," said Smith, the Pew researcher. "But as adults they are simply dropping that part of their identity."

Meet the Friendly Atheists Next Door

While Pew's study will likely cheer the hearts of atheists, the rapid rise of religiously unaffiliated Americans hasn't necessarily spawned a generation of infidels.

Just 3% of the "nones" call themselves atheists, a small bump from 2007, when 1.5% did the same. Four percent say they are agnostic, meaning they don't know if God exists, a gain of 1.6 percentage points from seven years ago.

"We are very cognizant that this does not mean there's been a straight-up spike in nonbelievers," said Paul Fidalgo, communications director for the Center for Inquiry, a secular advocacy group. "But it's still really good news to see a whole generation of people who are making their own decisions about belief, religion and spirituality."

It's also good news for strict church-state separationists, Fidalgo said, especially those who want to see traditional religious morality disappear from debates over women's health, abortion, same-sex marriage and climate change.

While the study isn't likely to surprise many mainline Protestants, it throws their decades-long decline in membership into stark relief. Almost every American town is dotted by historic Episcopal, United Methodist, Lutheran, Presbyterian and Congregationalist churches. Increasingly, those churches are empty of young faces. Just 11% of millennials call themselves mainline Protestants. (Only 16% identify with Catholicism.)

Of America's major faiths, mainline Protestants have the worst retention rate among millennials, with just 37% staying in the fold, Pew found. By contrast, nearly two in three millennials raised without a faith continue to eschew organized religion as adults.

The collapse of American Christianity can't simply be laid at the feet of religious leaders, demographers say. There are bigger societal swings in play: Americans are marrying later, increasingly to spouses who don't share their faith, and having fewer children. (Mainline Protestants have particularly low birth rates.)

Other experts blame innovations such as the Internet and social web, where religions can be fact-checked in real time and seekers can find communities of like-minded iconoclasts.

Is the Internet killing religion?

But Christian leaders still bear some responsibility for not connecting with younger believers, said L. Gregory Jones, a senior strategist for leadership education at Duke University in North Carolina.

Many young Christians seemed bored by church, he said, pointing to youth ministers as particularly ineffective at piquing millennials' intellectual interests. One study cited by Jones showed that nearly 70% of full-time youth ministers have no theological education.

"Christianity in the United States hasn't done a good job of engaging serious Christian reflection with young people, in ways that would be relevant to their lives."

Instead, many Christian denominations have been riven by internal struggles over homosexuality, particularly in the last decade. While most millennials back gay rights, according to separate surveys, they are more interested in working with the wider world than holding endless debates over sexual morality, Jones said.

"If it is the case that millennials are less 'atheists' than they are 'bored,' then serious engagements with Christian social innovation, and with deep intellectual reflection (and these two things are connected), would offer promising signs of hope," Jones said.

Where do millennials want to work?

Psalm 11:3 If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?

4 The LORD is in his holy temple, the LORD'S throne is in heaven: his eyes behold, his eyelids try, the children of men.

5 The LORD trieth the righteous: but the wicked and him that loveth violence his soul hateth.

6 Upon the wicked he shall rain snares, fire and brimstone, and an horrible tempest: this shall be the portion of their cup.

7 For the righteous LORD loveth righteousness; his countenance doth behold the upright.

John 10:9 I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.

10 The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.

11 I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.

12 But he that is an hireling, and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth: and the wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the sheep.

13 The hireling fleeth, because he is an hireling, and careth not for the sheep.

14 I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine.

15 As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep.

16 And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=otODxEpb_08

6 Surprising Sports Parent Sins
https://www.yahoo.com/parenting/6-surprising-sports-parent-sins-122250940202.html
6/23/15

When it comes to youth sports, well-meaning parents commit many sins – some of which may surprise you. These sins generally are based on a desire to ensure kids benefit from sports – and excel. It’s the “excel” that gets sports parents in trouble. Once parents take the focus off of having fun and start to concentrate on winning, kids suffer.

Here are six sports parent sins:

– Sports parents believe their kids prefer winning above all else. Truth is, if young athletes have to choose between losing and getting to play the whole game, they choose playing time. Having fun, being with friends, and getting playing time are more important to kids than winning.

STORY: Are School Sports Getting Too Vicious?

– Sports moms and dads believe that time-sucking and expensive travel teams will boost their kids’ success in sports. Parents shell out the money, gas mileage and time to ensure kids participate on these teams — from ages as young as 7. But participating on travel teams by no means ensures that kids will make their high school or college teams. In fact, travel teams often lead to burnout, prompting young athletes to quit before high school.

– Sports parents buy into their kids’ superstitions. These are beliefs, such as “I have to wear a green sock on one foot and eat chocolate eggs for breakfast or I won’t score any goals.” But parents should not run for the bright socks or chocolate-laced breakfasts to support these superstitions. Parents need to focus on what truly builds kids’ confidence: They need to concentrate on their kids’ positive qualities, recall their best moments, and ensure their equipment and uniforms are the proper fit.

STORY: High School Runner Is Making History — and Not Because He’s Autistic

– Sports parents remind their young athletes to avoid making the same mistakes they did last game. While parents are trying to be helpful, this is a big no-no! When kids dwell on mistakes, their focus is in the wrong place. It’s hard for them to move on after a mistake. What’s more, kids reminded about mistakes tend to freeze up and avoid taking risks. Instead, they need to act freely and intuitively in order to learn, feel confident, and excel.

– Sports mothers and fathers avoid confronting coaches who yell and humiliate. If parents witness a coach yelling at or humiliating a young athlete, they need to take action. A coach’s negative feedback undermines kids’ confidence and often prompts them to quit sports altogether. Too often, parents don’t want to “rock the boat” by confronting coaches. They don’t want their kids to lose playing time.

STORY: ‘I Like Being Scared’: Kids Who Play Dangerous Extreme Sports

– Sports moms and dads focus on outcomes such as scholarships and wins. When parents focus on the score or the win, they’re pressuring their kids in negative ways. In order to enjoy sports, kids need to “play in the moment.” That means concentrating on the next play — not on what will happen at the end of the game. When kids play in the moment, they’re more likely to “get in the zone,” take risks, and feel happy and confident. That’s when they’re more likely to perform well.

The bottom line: It’s easy for adults to fall into sports parent traps — doing what all the other parents are doing, or signing their kids up for expensive and time-consuming athletic activities. Instead, parents should think hard about what makes their kids happy in sports. Generally, positive coaches, a loving and inclusive team culture, and supportive — but not overly involved — parents help boost kids’ confidence and happiness in sports.

Most important, under the right circumstances in youth sports, kids learn to trust their instincts, take risks, have fun and just “go for it,” lessons that can benefit them throughout their lives in and out of sports.

http://www.elle.com/culture/a29571/millennials-still-struggling-post-recession/
JUL 30, 2015 @ 10:17 AMCULTUREMILLENNIALS
MILLENNIALS LOVE LIFE, BUT THEY'RE BROKE AND LIVING WITH THEIR PARENTS
New research by the Pew Center indicates that things aren't getting any better for the most talked-about generation.

A little more than three years ago, I argued that the war against youth was not an economic accident but the conscious result of American policy over the course of 50 years—policy that included divestment from university education, the creation of massive entitlements for senior citizens, and a permissiveness toward the exploitation of the young by corporations.

If you follow the money rather than the blather, it's clear that the American system is a bipartisan fusion of economic models broken down along generational lines: unaffordable Greek-style socialism for the old, virulently purified capitalism for the young. Both political parties have agreed to this arrangement: The Boomers and older will be taken care of. Everybody younger will be on their own. The German philosopher Hermann Lotze wrote in the 1870s: "One of the most remarkable characteristics of human nature is, alongside so much selfishness in specific instances, the freedom from envy which the present displays toward the future." It is exactly that envy toward the future that is new in our own time.

These policy decisions eventually have wide-reaching consequences. But I wrote that in the heart of a recession, when it was possible to argue that the problem with the growing gap between poor youth and rich old was simply timing: The young entered the marketplace at the worst possible moment and thus were hapless victims of the cycles of the economy—it sucked, but nobody was to blame. Unfortunately, new research from St. Louis Fed's Center for Household Financial Stability and the Pew Research Center extinguishes that last glimmer of counter-argument.

From the Pew Center report:

In terms of sheer numbers, there are more young adults today than there were when the recession hit – the 18- to 34-year-old population has grown by nearly 3 million since 2007. But the number heading their own households has not increased. In the first third of 2015 about 42.2 million 18- to 34-year-olds lived independently of their families. In 2007, before the recession began, about 42.7 million adults in that age group lived independently.
The St. Louis Fed Paper explains exactly why millennials, despite improving job prospects and a slight increase in real wages, are not moving out of their parents' homes: They are still broke. Young people, for obvious reasons, have always been poorer than older people. But after rooting out idiosyncratic variations and compensating for other variables, the St. Louis researchers came to the following bleak conclusion:

Beginning with the 1950 cohort (i.e., families headed by someone born between 1948 and 1952), successive cohorts through 1970 (born between 1968 and 1972) had statistically significantly lower incomes than those of the 1940 cohort. Moreover, the estimated magnitudes are economically significant: between 13 and 25 percent lower than the 1940 cohort. Finally, all five-year cohorts that began in 1975 or later had estimated income shortfalls of 12 to 18 percent.

Those shortened incomes mean that the wealth gap is set to increase. Cohorts with lower incomes obviously cannot save as much and therefore cannot accumulate as much capital over the course of their lives. Which means that the problem is accelerating quite outside the minor turbulence of the rise and fall of recession and growth.

The new research shows that the problem of the growing gap between the young and the old is not the economy but policy. The federal government spends $2.40 on every citizen over 65 for every $1 spent on a child. That makes a difference. Unfortunately, that difference will only grow.   

Isaiah 3:4  And I will give children to be their princes, and babes shall rule over them.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/startups-fuel-new-orleans-recovery-183630271.html
Young people, startups fuel New Orleans’ recovery — will it be enough?
8/27/15

A decade after Hurricane Katrina decimated New Orleans, the city has unexpectedly emerged as one of the fastest growing hubs for entrepreneurship in the country. New businesses are launching at twice the rate they were before the storm. Between 2011 and 2013, the rate of new business growth was 64% higher than the national average. Venture capital funding, virtually nonexistent pre-Katrina, rose to $15.51 per capita by 2010 and has doubled since then, according to the Data Center, an independent research firm covering Southeast Louisiana.

A variety of factors have driven that growth, not the least of which has been an influx of young newcomers. In 2013, 7% of the population in New Orleans had moved there only in the past year, up from 3% in 2004. More than half came from outside Louisiana. Today, more than one in four New Orleans residents are between age the ages of 20 and 34, up from one in five in 2000. And the number of people living in single-person households rose from 27% to 32% over the same period. Groups that track small business growth in the city don't keep record of their owners' ages, but city leaders we spoke with agree young people are playing a vital role in the New Orleans’ entrepreneurial renaissance.

“We all realize we need to have a vibrant small business environment for all of New Orleans,” says Quentin Messer, president of New Orleans’ Business Alliance. “I think we should not pat ourselves on the back yet. But you now have people in the room engaged in solving this collaboratively in a way that hasn’t happened before.”

Entrepreneurs we interviewed say they are attracted to New Orleans both because of the city’s financial appeal — labor costs are low and housing, while getting pricier, is still cheap relative to cities like San Francisco and New York — and the opportunity to be part of one of what is arguably one of the most dramatic comeback stories in the country. From environmental concerns over the city's declining coastal wetlands to systemic poverty and educational inequality, there is no shortage of problems for scrappy startups to tackle.

Houston native Crystal McDonald, 33, studied economics and finance at Dillard University, a historically African-American school in New Orleans, before moving to Chicago to work as a banker and earn her MBA at the University of Chicago. Love brought her back to New Orleans in 2012 (she married her college sweetheart) and rich business opportunities have kept her there. McDonald and her husband launched a startup, GoToInterview, a virtual job interview service, in 2013 after they struggled to find reliable part-time workers for the fast-food franchise they ran together. In a city where the majority of jobs are in high turnover industries like restaurants and tourism, they saw a need for a simple way for employers to vet job applicants without having to sift through paper applications or wait for viable candidates to work through their doors. They quickly found support from the city’s burgeoning startup network.

“Katrina was a blessing and a curse in the sense that post-Katrina [the city] has been really wonderful in attracting resources and everything you need to be successful in business,” McDonald says. “But it also stems from a sense of survival. It’s great to be part of that.”

Andrea Chen, 33, was one of thousands of New Orleans teachers who were abruptly fired during a sweeping overhaul of the city’s education system after Katrina. Jobless, Chen moved north, bouncing from couch to couch at friends’ places before eventually making her way back to New Orleans in 2006. The city was still very much in early recovery mode, and she noticed that community groups needed a space where they could organize their efforts. “We saw people painting street signs, gutting houses, this level of civic energy that was coming out of necessity,” Chen says. “It really galvanized everybody in the community to do their part.”

That was the seed for Propeller, a startup accelerator and incubator she founded in 2009. Today, the company’s 10,000-square-foot office space is homebase for 80 startups, roughly 80% of which are run by people in their 20s and 30s, Chen says. Propeller focuses on supporting businesses focused on solving four of New Orleans’ most pressing social and environmental concerns: healthcare, education equality, water management and food access. “Our goal is to have a critical mass of entrepreneurs working on an issue like [restoring our coastal wetlands],” Chen says. “That’s how we’re going to move the needle on the big challenges we’re facing.”

New Orleans has done a fine job attracting new talent. The challenge facing city leaders who desperately need entrepreneurs to keep fueling growth is figuring out how to keep them there. Start a business in San Francisco and New York and it’s certainly possible to network your way into millions of dollars of locally-based venture capital funding. Business owners in New Orleans still rely very much on out-of-state funding. To answer that need, startup support services have become the lifeblood of the entrepreneurship movement. Incubators like Propeller and 4.0 Schools, which supports “ed-tech” startups, coach fledgling founders in fundraising, help connect them to VC firms and, of course, provide access to the office space they need. 504Ward, a group with 14,000 members, looks to attract and retain young, educated workers by hosting mixers and networking events. Another startup incubator and accelerator, Idea Village, has worked with more than 4,000 entrepreneurs over the last five years in New Orleans and hosts IdeaX, a 12-week accelerator program that connects New Orleans-based founders and global business experts.

McDonald herself is very much a product of this network. She operates out of a coworking space furnished by PowerMoves NOLA, an initiative founded by the New Orleans Startup Fund, a non-profit established by city business and community leaders. When GoToInterview was just getting started, she cycled through IdeaX to fine tune her business plan and CapitalX, another IdeaVillage program, to navigate her first round of fundraising. In May, she won a $100,000 investment at a business pitch competition held by AOL co-founder Steve Case. “Everybody has been involved [in our growth],” she says. “It’s electric.”

[Get the Latest Market Data and News with the Yahoo Finance App]

But the city will need more than mentorship programs to keep the talent they have attracted so far. Young people have a habit of growing older and wanting things like affordable housing, safe neighborhoods and good schools for their children. Gentrification of New Orleans neighborhoods may have made them more appealing to newcomers, but that also means rising housing costs. Rents have increased 9% since 2009, according to the National Association of Realtors, while income has dropped by 1.5%. Public schools are certainly much improved from pre-Katrina days — 88% of New Orleans students attended schools that met state standards in 2014, versus 30% pre-Katrina —  but only 40% of students attend schools that have earned an “A” or “B” grade from the state’s education department, the Data Center found.

Likewise, today’s young startup owners will one day outgrow their co-working spaces and incubator roots. They’ll need to be able to attract pros from hubs like San Francisco and New York to help scale their businesses. Last year, Idea Village spearheaded a bi-coastal startup “roadshow”, sending a cadre of the city’s brightest startup stars to court investors and business elites in Silicon Valley and New York. They brought brass bands, hosted happy hours and festooned a conference room at Facebook with Saints flags and Jazz Fest posters. It was as much an effort to get people excited about the potential of the New Orleans startup scene as it was a recruitment bid. As great as it is to be home to a legion of startups, New Orleans has yet to launch the next Uber or Etsy, let alone the next Twitter — startups-turned-corporate-juggernauts that provide not only buzz but also thousands of jobs, something New Orleans so badly needs. Thanks to the oil bust of the 1980s, the city was bleeding jobs long before Katrina hit. The biggest employers in New Orleans in the last decade haven’t been hot new startups but rather hospitals, hotels, and retailers like Walmart and Costco.

Where city and state officials have made strides is in sweetening the deal for new businesses, mostly in the form of tax incentives. One program provides a 5% to 6% state payroll rebate for up to 10 years for companies that create at least five new jobs per year. Another program gives a 25% to 35% tax break to digital media production companies. The state also implemented a Tax Abatement Program that gives a five-year 100% property tax abatement to business owners who expand, restore or improve their structures in certain areas of the city.

“I’m not saying we’re going to wake up and be Silicon Valley tomorrow,” says Messer. “But we're going to get there.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_wwc5JKUtg

Rev 21:8  But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.


https://www.yahoo.com/parenting/the-age-kids-lie-the-most-according-to-science-129581718902.html
9/21/15
The Age Kids Lie the Most, According to Science

Everyone lies, at least a little bit. But in news that won’t shock parents used to sketchy answers about bad grades and missed curfews, no age group fibs as frequently as teenagers.

STUDY: Dad Teaches Daughter a Very Public Lesson About Lying

That’s the conclusion of a new study, which examined lying across the entire lifespan. The main finding: While adolescents tell the most lies, college-age and young adults between 18 and 29 are the best, most successful liars.

Young children between ages 6 and 8 and adults over 60 were found to be the least dishonest age groups and also the least skilled liars, according to the study, published in the September issue of the journal Acta Psychologica.

Study authors looked at 1,005 kids and adults between the ages of 6 and 77. To find out about lying frequency, they asked each subject to self-report how many lies they had told in the past 24 hours.

On average, the study participants told two lies a day. Yet that number increased throughout childhood, with frequency peaking in the teen years at 2.8 fibs daily before petering out in the young adult years, midlife, and among senior citizens.

When it came to determining who were the best fibbers, the study authors asked subjects to answer certain yes-no questions that each had an obvious right answer, such as “can pigs fly.” Then they measured how quickly each participant answered each question.

STUDY: When You Catch Your Teen in a Lie

What does response time have to do with lying? The researchers theorize that to lie successfully, a person must have high levels of “executive control,” in other words, the ability to suppress the truth almost instantly and not give away the fact that they aren’t telling the truth by stammering or pausing.

“Typically, people are slower and make more errors when lying, and this was taken as an index of the difficulty of lying,” study coauthor Bruno Verschuere, associate professor of forensic psychology at the University of Amsterdam, tells Yahoo Parenting.

Teens and young adults have the highest levels of executive control, the researchers think, because the prefrontal cortex of their brains are sharpest. Young kids have yet to develop executive control because the prefrontal cortex hasn’t matured. “That part of the brain matures at about age 25, then starts to decline in late adulthood,” says Verschuere,

While the study confirms what many parents have long suspected (and makes it clear that the teen TV drama Pretty Little Liars is perfectly named), it doesn’t delve into why teens lie — and what parents can do about it.

“Most people lie to get out of accountability or to avoid owning up to an error, and that’s generally the case with teenagers,” Fran Walfish, a Beverly Hills–based child and family psychotherapist, tells Yahoo Parenting. “When younger children lie, it’s usually to get attention by sensationalizing.”

Also driving adolescents to deceive their parents is a subconscious need to separate and develop their own distinct identity. “At this age, kids are opposing and defying their parents, and that leads them to lie,” says Walfish.

Even though lying is part of growing up, that doesn’t mean parents have to accept it. “Honesty is the foundation of every relationship, and parents should insist that their kids tell them the truth,” says Walfish.

If it happens, “Sit with your teen and say that you understand why they told a specific lie, but that for you to feel secure, you need them to be honest,” she says. And praise the truth when they tell it rather than punish them harshly for doing something forbidden.

http://m.mlb.com/news/article/152329548/justine-siegal-first-female-coach-in-majors
A's hire first female coach in MLB history
Siegal to serve as guest instructor in instructional league
9/29/15

The name of the national organization Justine Siegal founded is called "Baseball For All," a fitting title considering she just got a new job that, before now, had only been offered to men.

The A's announced on Tuesday that Siegal, who a few years ago became the first woman to throw batting practice for a Major League team, will serve as a guest instructor for the club's 2015 instructional league. Siegal will work with players Oct. 4-17 at the Lew Wolff Training Complex in Mesa, Ariz.

"This was a great moment," Siegal said. "I feel qualified for this job. I have a lot to learn, but I feel I've worked my way up the ranks. I can't stress enough how thankful I am for the opportunity."

The A's are the first Major League team to hire a female coach. In 2009, Siegal also became the first woman to be hired as a coach at any professional level, when she served as first-base coach for the Brockton Rox, an independent baseball team.

She also served as an assistant coach for the baseball team at Springfield College from 2008-10.

"We're thrilled that Justine will be joining us for instructional league," said A's assistant general manager David Forst, "She brings with her a wealth of knowledge and expertise from years of playing, coaching, and teaching the game, and all of our young players stand to benefit greatly from her time in camp."

Siegal's skill set is multi-layered and extends beyond the more traditional backgrounds many coaches bring to a team. She holds a Ph.D. in sport and exercise psychology from Springfield College, and an M.A. from Kent State University in sport studies. This part of her training makes her a logical resource in a setting like instructional league, where players split time between working on their craft on the diamond and learning about it in a classroom setting.

"There's field time and classroom time," Siegal said. "That's a normal part of the routine. Throwing batting practice, hitting fungos, a little bit of a classroom time. ... I'll do whatever they need."

Siegal has worked with the A's before. In addition to throwing batting practice to them -- along with five other teams -- during Spring Training in 2011, she spoke with the organization while directing a program that emphasizes gender equity in sport for Northeastern University's Center for the Study of Sport in Society, which promotes social justice and primary prevention education.

The A's were also one of several teams she worked with during MLB's league-wide domestic violence training.

According to the San Francisco Chronicle, there is a chance the instructional league stint could lead to a full-time coaching job within the organization. The A's, according to the Chronicle report, don't have their Minor League coaching assignments set and do not yet know about possible job openings.

Siegal is also identified as one of the most prominent champions of girls' baseball and equality, among boys and girls, in the sport. Baseball For All, which she founded and serves as the head coach, is a national nonprofit organization whose mission it is to provide meaningful instruction and opportunity in baseball, especially for girls.

Last spring, Baseball For All organized the first national girls baseball tournament for girls ages 10-13 in Orlando, Fla., drawing hundreds of players from around the country.

Soon, Siegal head to Arizona for instructional league, to work with grown men -- another environment in which she's perfectly comfortable.
And she'll also be showing a generation of young people that doors, albeit slowly, are indeed opening.

"I was 16 when I told my coach I wanted to be a college baseball coach," Siegal said. "He laughed at me and said a man would never listen to a woman on a baseball field. That's when I decided I was going to get a Ph.D., prove them wrong.

"Since then, I've been able to coach at the college and pro level. They will listen to you when you know what you're doing and you can make them a better player and show that you care about them."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AYt4lwlqck4

http://news.yahoo.com/americans-becoming-less-religious-especially-young-adults-poll-051046553.html
Americans becoming less religious, especially young adults: poll
11/2/15

Reuters) - Americans are becoming less religious, judging by such markers as church attendance, prayer and belief in God, and the trend is more pronounced among young adults, according to a poll released on Tuesday.

The share of U.S. adults who say they believe in God, while still high compared with other advanced industrial countries, slipped to 89 percent in 2014 from 92 percent in 2007, according to the Pew Research Center's Religious Landscape Study.

The proportion of Americans who say they are "absolutely certain" God exists fell even more, to 63 percent in 2014 from 71 percent in 2007.

The percentage of Americans who pray every day, attend religious services regularly and consider religion important in their lives are down by small, but statistically significant measures, the survey found.

The trend is most pronounced among young adults, with only half of those born from 1990 to 1996 absolutely certain of their belief in God, compared to 71 percent of the "silent generation," or those born from 1928 to 1945.

Younger people also are less likely to pray daily, at 39 percent, compared to "silent generation" adults at 67 percent. Young adults are also much less likely to attend religious services, the survey found.

On the other hand, 77 percent of Americans continue to identify with some religious faith, and those who do are just as committed now as they were in 2007, according to the survey. Two-thirds of religiously affiliated adults say they pray every day and that religion is very important to them, the survey found.

The survey also found religious divides among the political parties, with those who are not religiously affiliated more likely to be Democrats, at 28 percent, compared to 14 percent of Republicans.

About 38 percent of Republicans identify as evangelical Protestants - the largest religious group in the party, the survey found. Catholics make up 21 percent of each major political party.

Orianna O'Neill, 21, a student at Beloit College in Wisconsin who comes from a non-religious household but sometimes prays, said she thinks the anti-science, anti-gay rhetoric of some politicians may be turning some young people away from religion.

"The idea of Republicans not believing in global warming is contributing to the notion that religious people are not intelligent," O'Neill said.

Both the 2007 and 2014 studies surveyed more than 35,000 adults and had margins of error of less than 1 percentage point.

(Reporting by Mary Wisniewski; Editing by Eric Walsh)

https://www.yahoo.com/parenting/the-real-heartbreaking-reason-kids-1292342892912694.html
The Heartbreaking Reason Kids Get Hooked on Social Media

YourTango on Yahoo
November 4, 2015

When I was growing up, my parents loved to go to casinos. I became really familiar with something called “gambler’s high.”  I can recall this feeling — a sense of momentary and intermittent euphoria and gratification — as far back as in the game rooms of my youth as I begged my father for another quarter while we waited for my mother to be ready to depart the casino.

I learned about it even more powerfully after I hit my first jackpot on a poker machine in Atlantic City. After that, I kept revisiting poker machines in casinos everywhere to try to get back to that euphoric feeling of being a winner.

Then, in graduate school, I discovered Facebook.

The feelings after I would post something and wait for people to notice were very familiar to me. They felt just like that space right before you know whether or not the ace will be the next card to complete your royal flush.

There is a powerful conditioning situation occurring for all of us when we engage on social media.

If this type of reinforcement is powerful for us as adults, it’s got an even bigger hold on our teens just because of the nature of adolescence.

Adolescence is a time in our lives when we begin to separate from our families. I see it in my 14 year old. He would much rather engage virtually with his peers than relate to us in the ways he has for the last 13 years. It is a normal developmental marker for a child to step out in to the world and try to find his way without his parents (even if it does initiate abandonment issues for us!).

Kids also tend to be risk takers at this time in their lives.

That’s why our insurance rates climb so dramatically after they get their license. The insurance companies know just how risky some of the behaviors of teens are and they capitalize on that.

Putting yourself out there on social media is risky. Especially for a teen. A teenager saying “yes, this is me and these are the things I like,” is one of the riskiest things they can engage in at that time of their lives.

Risk is different for adults. We care less once we get in our 40s and 50s whether or not our acquaintance from high school will agree with our taste in music or our political views. Some of us are even willingly to challenge our friendships by posting the most outlandish thing we can find to share.

But for kids, this is the mother of all risks — the equivalent of sky diving.

“As I step out into the world and away from my parents, who will like me?” Moreover,” who will accept me?” “Am I worthy enough to be part of a tribe?”

It is a rite of passage to create this kind of distress in our adolescence because it is the grounds on which we determine our worthiness. And if we’re accepted, then we will go forth and engage from that place of worthiness and our framework will be one of “the world is a safe place and I am safe within it.”

However, if we are traumatized in this risk taking space or the feedback we get aligns with a belief system we’ve already been trying out; the world can become a scary place.

That scary place is the birthplace of addiction, depression and anxiety.

When we see the world as an unsafe place, our developmental trajectory changes.

Now we see others as meaning us harm and out to get us wherever we go. From that place, we grow angrier every day and before we know it, we’re the 30 year old with raging anger that struggles interpersonally, in our careers and most awfully in our internal lives.

Our children are more prone to navigating the world this way if their caretakers have also been traumatized into believing they are unworthy. When we, as collective adults and young adults, turn to external sources to discover who we are in the world it can get pretty dicey. Teens are predisposed to making a rash decision from one moment that could affect their entire lives. If, as a teen, I am rejected on social media, it is possible that the next 20 or more years of my life could be framed in such a way that I replay rejection scenarios over and over.

I’m happy for my son that he’s brave enough to try his hand at living freely in this world. I feel like I’ve done a good job as a parent giving him the space to grow outside of his relationship to me.

I can’t help but have some concern for him and his peers because I have the perspective of hindsight. While waiting for the jackpot, life has a way of passing you by. —Lydia Kickliter

http://news.yahoo.com/millennials-would-rather-be-moms-1307844320362550.html
Millennials Would Rather Be Moms and Dads Than Spouses
11/30/15

The kids of the Millennial Generation are far more keen on the titles of Mom and Dad than Husband and Wife.

According to a study conducted by the Pew Research Center, 52 percent of Millennials cited being a good parent as “one of the most important things in life.” Only 30 percent thought the same about having a successful marriage — a glaring 22 percent gap among the 18 to 29-year-olds.

Back in 1997 when the same age group, Generation X, was broached on these subjects, 42 percent placed a high value on parenthood and 35 percent said marriage was important. So, as time has gone on, young adults are putting more emphasis on raising a family, but not necessarily on tying the knot.

According to this recent research, Millennials are less likely than adults over 30 to think children can’t grow up happily in a one-parent household, or that single parenthood is a bad idea.

These statistics definitely echo society’s changed behavioral patterns, especially in regards to marriage. Only 22 percent of Millennials are currently hitched. Roughly 30 percent of Generation X members had tied the knot at the same point in their lives, and nearly four in ten Baby Boomers had heard wedding bells between ages 18 and 29.

There’s just not the same rush to get to the altar these days. But don’t get the wrong idea about this generation.

Even if marriage isn’t of the utmost importance in the perspective of their current life stage, most would still ideally like to have it all. Of non-married Millennials with no children, 70 percent said they would love to find wedded bliss, and nearly three-quarters of them want kids some day.

http://www.businessinsider.com/goldman-sachs-chart-of-the-generations-and-gen-z-2015-12
Goldman Sachs has made a chart of the generations ... and it will make the millennials shudder
12/5/15

The generation that will succeed the millennials is already on the cusp of becoming more important and influential than the millennials, according to Goldman Sachs:

The oldest members of "Gen Z" are already 17, and entering college and the workforce in the US. They are going to be greater in number than the millennials were, better at using the internet, and more entrepreneurial and pragmatic about money, according to Goldman analysts Robert Boroujerdi and Christopher Wolf.

"Raised by Gen-X parents during a time marred by economic stress, rising student debt burdens, socio-economic tensions and war overseas, these youths carry a less idealistic, more pragmatic perspective on the world," the pair write.

A member of Gen-Z is anyone born after 1998. Here's what they look like, according to Goldman Sachs:

Even though none of them have yet reached adulthood they are already greater in number than Generation X and their grandparents' generations, and will soon overtake the millennials in number, too.

There are nearly 70 million of them in the US.

Every single Gen-Z member was born after the advent of the internet. They are the first generation to have no pre-internet knowledge. "However, unlike their Millennial predecessors, Gen-Z appears more conscious of protecting their reputations online. More than half (57%) have abstained from posting something because they felt it would “reflect badly on them in the future” (Pew Research)."

They will be America’s most diverse generation to date, and a majority of them will be nonwhite by 2020.

Gen-Z is more conservative, more money-oriented, and more entrepreneurial than the millennials were. "A recent Harvard Business Review article suggested that nearly 70% of Gen-Z teens were 'self-employed' (e.g., teaching piano lessons, selling goods on eBay) vs. just 12% that held a 'traditional' teen job (e.g., waiting tables)," Goldman says.

http://news.yahoo.com/millennials-around-world-react-americas-204255472.html
Millennials Around the World React to America's Gun Violence Problem
12/5/15

http://www.businessinsider.com/millennial-median-wage-map-2015-12
12/7/15
Here's how much millennials are earning annually across the US

Millennials came of age during a tough economic time: Student debt has reached an all-time high, and the job market is more competitive than ever. As a result, young people today aren't earning as much money as their parents did when they were young. So how much are they making?

Using data from the Minnesota Population Center's 2014 "American Community Survey" in the Integrated Public Use Microdata Series, we found the median annual total personal income for employed millennials. We used the Pew Research Center's definition of millennials: Americans born between 1981 and 1997.

The medians ranged between a low of $18,000 per year in Montana and a high of $43,000 in the District of Columbia. How do you stack up?
(http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/566093bdc2814424008b7349-1200/millennial-median-income-state-map.png)

Note that the youngest millennials are college-aged and may only be working part-time, which may skew the median downwards.

Below, we included the median annual personal income by state for all employees over age 17, also from the Minnesota Population Center's 2014 "American Community Survey" in the Integrated Public Use Microdata Series.

http://news.yahoo.com/unusual-winter-millennials-concerned-climate-change-193246480.html
Unusual winter has millennials concerned about climate change
12/23/15

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Unusual weather is dominating the conversation on social media for the holidays, especially among millennials, who are increasingly concerned about climate change.

Yik Yak, a location-based mobile app popular with millennials, surveyed its audience and found nearly 70 percent are worried about climate change. More than a quarter of them say their concern has grown due to the unusual winter weather this year.

In New York City, 65-degree-plus weather is predicted for Christmas Day, potentially breaking the record high of 64 degrees in 1982. In Europe, Alpine ski slopes are facing one of the warmest Decembers on record and even glacial Moscow has been chalking up above-zero thermometer readings.

That's led to a jump in the number of people posting about climate change on Yik Yak.

"Climate Change is clearly an issue! It's going to be 70 degrees in DC on Christmas Day... I mean if that's not proof, what is?" posted a Yik Yak user from Boulder, Colorado.

Another user from College Station, Texas, wrote: "I feel like more people should pay attention to it. It's a bigger deal than people make it out to be."

Of the 30 percent of respondents who said they were not concerned about climate change, 18 percent said they did not know or did not care about the issue, while just 9 percent thought it was myth.

About 6 percent said unusual weather was just a part of the earth's natural process, according to Yik Yak.

Nearly 21,000 users participated in the poll. Yik Yak polls are often used to discuss hot topics among millennials, such as Star Wars or Netflix binge-watching.

The app turned to the serious topic of climate change after Saturday's U.S. Democratic presidential debate prompted an outpouring of Yik Yak user frustration that there were no questions about global warming and climate change.

According to the environmental advocacy group NextGen Climate, 74 percent of voters under 35 - approximately 80 million of whom are eligible to vote in 2016 - said they would be more likely to vote for a presidential candidate with a plan to tackle climate change.

About 63 percent of young voters said they would be more likely to vote for Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton if she supports clean energy goals, NextGen Climate said, based on results of a survey done in September.

(Reporting by Angela Moon and Melissa Fares; Editing by Dan Grebler)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9-6VZGcFNo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ZFLtlnJ7TU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mnOHSTZYxLA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0uS7GqOigg

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2016/01/13/test.html
1/13/16
Millennials are Losing Faith

It’s no secret that millennials are less likely to participate in organized religious services that other generations. But a new Pew Research Center report shows that their faith in religious institutions has taken a dive these past five years.

“Younger generations,” said the Pew report, “tend to have more positive views than their elders of a number of institutions that play a big part in American society. But for some institutions — such as churches — millennials’ opinions have become markedly more negative. Since 2010, millennials’ rating of churches and other religious organizations has dipped 18 percentage points.”

In 2010, 73 percent of millennials said churches and religious organizations had a “positive effect on the way things are going in this country,” the report said. That was the highest percentage among all the generations polled at that time.

That number now has fallen to 55 percent today, the lowest of all generations.

As the Pew report also noted, “Views among older generations have changed little over this time period. As a result, older generations are now more likely than millennials — who are much less likely than their elders to be religious — to view religious organizations positively.”

Naturally many in the mainstream media enjoy poking fun at all of this. Some say that most religious institutions take a firm stance against marriage equality, see women as inferior, have scandal after scandal and have little or no financial disclosure, so why is anyone surprised millennials don’t like them? Those skewed views, however, overlook the fact that most religious institutions have vibrant communities of the dedicated faithful even while they’re not perfect.

The Rev. Michael Sliney, a Catholic priest who is the New York chaplain of the Lumen Institute, an association of business and cultural leaders, shared this observation about today’s millennials and the Catholic faith: “How to get our young professionals back into the pews? Many feel they have ‘graduated’ from Catholicism and that although it gave them a solid ethical perspective, the skill set has been learned and they have moved on.”

“Presenting Jesus Christ at the center of Catholicism in the context of a friendship and companionship is appealing,” he continued. “They all feel a sense of solitude in facing their personal struggles, and Christ can and should be a part of the solution. They want to be happy ‘now,’ ‘today’ — so reminding them that Christ will give them inner peace and authentic joy, something the world cannot give, is vital as a motivating force.”

Sliney said most millennials “also want to give back, to make an impact on culture.” The Catholic Church, he said, “needs to provide more opportunities for mission trips and social outreach as a way for these young people to discover Christ in the poor.”

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/millennial-mindset-americas-productivity-crisis-192700711.html
The Millennial Mindset and America's Productivity Crisis
1/18/16

Running is painful, but as exercise routines go, it does have its lighter moments. I admit to getting a kick from the New Year’s resolution crowd that hits the trail every January after a year of doing little more than shuffling from the couch to the fridge and back.

Anyhow, a recent run inspired me to come up with three resolutions of my own. Actually, they’re not for me. I’m long past the point where self-improvement is even a remote possibility, as you can tell from my somewhat sadistic observations. 

No, these resolutions are for you, or at least some of you. The good news is they’re nowhere near as taxing as getting up off the couch and moving around. You don’t even have to do anything, but rather stop doing some things the rest of us find incredibly annoying. Here they are:

1. Quit trying to deal with a certain generation as if they’re either special little snowflakes or entitled, narcissistic brats and start holding them accountable as unique individuals.

2. That said, those unique individuals need to quit doing such an effective job of living up to those Generation Me stereotypes, put on their big boy pants and get to work.

3. And their coddling parents should quit acting as if they had absolutely nothing to do with the demon spawn they raised and stop blaming gadgets, schools and society in general.

Let me come right to the point. There’s an enormous elephant in the room that nobody wants to see, and watching everyone dance around it like it isn’t there is getting pretty tedious, not to mention irritating.

The problem is that Millennials are not getting jobs or starting companies like their predecessors did. What are they doing? We’ll get to that in a minute, but suffice to say that America’s largest generation is not pulling its weight. And if we don’t start facing that reality and dealing with it, we’re all screwed.

Since the dawn of Web 2.0, the blogosphere and social media, Millennials have been branded as the entrepreneurial generation – a new breed of wunderkinds spearheading a movement that’s sweeping the globe. The hype and the sensational headlines have been overwhelming:

“Millennials Are the True Entrepreneur Generation.” “Gen Y Grads More Likely to Launch Startups.” “Millennials Are Snubbing the Corporate World for Entrepreneurship.” “Why Millennials Could Be the Most Entrepreneurial Generation Ever.” “Gen Y Makes a Mark and Their Imprint is Entrepreneurship.” And so on. 

But that turned out to be far more myth than reality. As I explain in my new book, Real Leaders Don’t Follow, Millennials have actually been the least entrepreneurial generation to hit the workforce in modern history, perhaps because they see entrepreneurship as a mindset that has nothing to do with actually starting a company. Unfortunately, wishful thinking does not lead to jobs or GDP. 

Data from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Census Bureau and Kauffman Foundation overwhelmingly show that Millennials are starting far fewer businesses than their predecessors. They’re the most unemployed, underemployed and indebted generation in America, by a wide margin. And they’re a big reason why the labor force participation rate is at its lowest point since 1977.

While it’s true that many Millennials are snubbing corporate America, they’re generally not starting companies but joining the growing ranks of the gig economy: doing a little of this and a little of that as self-employed solopreneurs. A recent report by MBO Partners says that Millennials make up 30% of all full-time independent workers.

Instead of climbing the corporate ladder and building their careers or starting companies and creating new jobs, they’re opting for the perceived freedom, flexibility and control of self-employment. That may sound like utopia for someone who doesn’t mind skating by and living hand-to-mouth, but as an economic trend, it spells disaster.

The problem is that driving an Uber cab, renting out a room on Airbnb or generating online content are not exactly high paying gigs or boons to the economy. That’s why self-employed Americans make up 17% of the working population but generate just 7% of the nation’s GDP, according to the MBO report.     

We have an aging population of retiring boomers starting to take advantage of the entitlements they’ve paid into and been promised. At the same time, we have more and more people taking part in a laundry list of government social programs, from healthcare and food assistance to public housing and welfare. 

If we don’t start treating Millennials – the largest demographic in our nation’s history – as individuals and hold them accountable for becoming productive members of society, how in the world are we going to increase productivity, return to robust growth, pay down our national debt, and fit the bill for all those entitlements?

When our largest generation is also our least productive, that’s a recipe for disaster. And while there is no magic solution to this vexing dilemma, those three resolutions are a pretty good start.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/heres-key-reason-why-millennial-153500278.html
1/17/16
Here's a key reason why all of your millennial employees are quitting

Two-thirds of millennials plan to leave their current organization by 2020.

New research finds two-thirds of millennials plan to leave their current organization by 2020. One-quarter see themselves elsewhere within the next year.
While you could argue that young workers have always been inclined to job hop (and millennials are less inclined to do so), their reasons for restlessness may have changed.

Young workers' latest gripe? Insufficient opportunities to develop their leadership skills.

That's according to the fifth annual Global Millennials survey, cited on Bloomberg, for which Deloitte reached out to nearly 7,700 working college-educated professionals in 29 countries.

As many as 63% of respondents said their leadership skills are not being fully developed.

And it seems to be a key reason behind their willingness to leave: While 71% of those likely to leave in the next two years are dissatisfied with how their leadership skills are being developed, that number drops to 54% among those who are planning to stay beyond 2020.

As Punit Renjen, chief executive officer of Deloitte Global, told Bloomberg, young workers' pursuit of leadership skills even at the expense of switching jobs is a new phenomenon.

Perhaps it has something to do with the recent trend of flattening organizations, which was highlighted in The Washington Post. In an effort to cut costs, organizations have removed levels of bureaucracy, which means there's not much of a corporate ladder to climb anymore.

"The biggest driver of disengagement is people feeling like they're stuck in a job, and there's nothing for them there," one expert told The Post. "It's easier to quit your company and find a new job than find a new job within your own company."

Restoring some semblance of a corporate ladder may require a good deal of structural reorganization. In the meantime, managers can take small steps to help their employees develop into leadership positions.

The Wall Street Journal recommends creating mentoring programs in which workers are paired with more senior employees at their company. You can also rotate your employees through different jobs, so they gain new knowledge and expertise.

As for individual employees, US News & World Report suggests being proactive instead of waiting for a leadership position to open up.

If you work for a large company, you can speak to someone in human resources and ask what you should be learning to reach the next level. You can also volunteer to take charge of a particular project, so that management recognizes your capabilities.

http://news.yahoo.com/judge-judy-supreme-court-justice-college-graduates-223709181.html#
One in 10 college graduates believes Judge Judy sits on Supreme Court
Survey finds recent grads "alarmingly ignorant of America’s history and heritage."
1/19/16

Justice Judy?

Nearly one in 10 American college graduates believes Judith Sheindlin, a.k.a the wisecracking Judge Judy from syndicated afternoon television, is one of the nine justices currently serving on the United States Supreme Court. That's according to a report released Tuesday from American Council of Trustees and Alumni, which conducted a poll of 1,000 adults late last summer.

The survey found 9.6 percent of college graduates identified Judy as a Supreme Court justice, while 5.5 percent had Secretary of State John Kerry serving the country's highest court. Nearly 22 percent said Lawrence Warren Pierce — a former federal judge with an admittedly Supreme Court-worthy name — was a current Supreme Court justice.

(Sheindlin did serve as a supervising judge in Manhattan's family court, but the 73-year-old never served a higher court, retiring in 1996.)

What's more, nearly 60 percent of college grads polled incorrectly identified Thomas Jefferson as the "Father of the Constitution," while just 28 percent correctly identified James Madison.

When asked to identify the president of the Senate, a majority (54 percent) of college graduates correctly identified Vice President Joe Biden. But 32 percent chose then House Speaker John Boehner for that position.

The findings were part of a report titled "A Crisis in Civic Education" that concludes recent college graduates "are alarmingly ignorant of America’s history and heritage."

Ironically, the one thing college graduates are least ignorant about is their own constitutional rights, or lack thereof.

According to the survey, 84 percent of college graduates correctly said that the "right to an education" is not protected by the First Amendment.

But perhaps just as alarming, 2.5 percent of those surveyed said freedom of speech is not protected under the First Amendment.

To borrow a line from the snooty maître d' in "Ferris Bueller's Day Off," I weep for the future.

http://www.inc.com/john-brandon/heres-why-youre-having-such-a-hard-time-retaining-millennials.html
Here's Why You're Having Such a Hard Time Retaining Millennials
A new survey suggests that Millennials are looking for very specific perks in the workplace.

1/20/16

They show up wearing designer jeans and a Patagonia hoodie. They do some typing on a Macbook and drink a lot of coffee. Then, they leave for the next hot job offer.

That's right, we have a Millennial retention problem.

New research suggests Millennials are not happy with their employment options. And we're doing a terrible job figuring out how to retain them in the workplace.

A new report by Infosys and the Future Foundation this week blares the horn loud and clear. For starters, the survey results show that Millennials, in particular those who are 16 to 25, are anxious about their jobs. Many don't want to work for a startup. The common response in the survey was that they don't like the risk and excitement anymore. They want the stability of a corporate job.

Infosys also found that 40 percent of Millennials think their job will be outsourced or replaced by a robot and other automation within the next five years. That creates an even greater sense of insecurity. This age group walks in the door with a dark cloud hanging over their heads. They tend to view a job as remarkably transient, and think that it will likely lead to another job within a few months or even weeks.

Fortunately, there is something you can do about it, and the secret is contained right in the same Infosys report. The survey found that 80 percent of Millennials view training as incredibly important. It's a driver for their success. They view their future at a company as wholly dependent on the skills they learn and the education available. If they are not constantly learning new skills, they will find the door faster.

A staffing company called Yoh also told me about some ways to retain Millennials. Tied to this idea of needing constant training is a desire to provide constant feedback.

Yoh encourages companies to gain real-time insight into employee sentiment, to constantly ask about issues like management, salary, benefits, work-life balance. With Millennials, there's an expectation of inclusion and the ability to provide feedback. As explained in this helpful article on employee feedback, there are many apps that can help you track sentiment, such as Thymometrics and TINYhr.

Another factor in Millennials engagement has to do with the software you provide. I wrote about this last year, during the SxSW conference. Millennials want things to be easy. Yoh encourages companies to use software that is fun and intuitive, almost "entertaining," like a video game. If the tools you provide are complex and difficult, Millennials will likely look for a company that provides better options. Figure out how to gamify everything and you might keep them around longer.

Related to this, Yoh has found that employees need to be able to use these tools from anywhere and from any device. There is an expectation of mobility, so if an accounting app or HR tool only runs in your office on a desktop or laptop connected to the network, they see that as inferior. They want the freedom to work anywhere, and if the tools don't allow that, they'll find an employer who understands what they need. You can complain about the entitlement factors, but that won't help retain Millennials or make them any happier in the workplace.

The words "entitlement" and "expectation" are closely linked. In some ways, they are the same word. Millennials expect great things. They expect constant training, the opportunity to give feedback, and easy-to-use tools. Leave one of those things off the table, and you'll find that Millennials will find a new table.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/anne-loehr/seven-frequently-asked-qu_b_8857548.html?ncid=txtlnkusaolp00000592
Seven Frequently Asked Questions From Those Who Manage Generation X and Generation Y
1/20/16

Do I have to hire Generation Y?

This is a real question I received while facilitating a workshop on engaging every age in the workplace. I love it! Curious what other questions I am often asked? Today I'll be giving you the inside scoop.

The questions people ask while I am speaking or facilitating workshops in their organization are extremely valuable. With every question I get, I learn more about the challenges managers, leaders and employees face in organizations of all sizes and industries, all over the map. That knowledge is good for me, and it's good for my clients. Plus, it's a lot of fun to see a light bulb go off for someone.

I've had a ton of learning opportunities in the last few months. In September alone I worked with ten organizations across five states.

What do I talk about to all these organizations? Well, many things. My keynotes and workshops have recently covered how to sell to Gen Y, the importance of feedback, how to coach employees rather than manage them, emotional intelligence, our country's ever present gender bias, listening skills, energy management, managing Generation X (born between 1965-1980), and Generation Y  (born between 1981 and 2001), and the four major workforce trends headed our way.

That's a lot of topics to digest, but today I only want to focus on one: Managing Generation X and Generation Y.

So take a seat next to the podium and listen to the most frequently asked questions about managing Gen X and Gen Y (also known as Millennials):

FAQs From Those Who Manage Generation X and Y

1. Do I have to hire Gen Y?

The answer is yes.

By the way, Gen Y has now surpassed the Baby Boomers as the largest living generation. So pay attention to this generation!

2. How can I communicate with Gen Y if I don't text?

This is an easy one--just send them cat videos! I'm kidding--sort of.

communicating with gen y

If you don't text, don't worry. Send Millennials videos on a topic they are interested in, engage in conversations via Skype, FaceTime or similar (it's almost face-to-face), or send them fun pictures of interesting places and people to start a conversation. You'll most likely enjoy this interaction too!

3. How will reading someone's body language help me get ahead at my job?

Reading the nonverbal cues will help you read between the lines of what's being said.

For example, if you ask someone to do something and they say yes with their arms crossed and a frown on their face, that may be a clue they're not happy about your request. Unhappy and disengaged team members are more likely to do a poor job.

nonverbal communication

Sometimes the person may say yes, but his body language is saying no. If you can notice nonverbal cues like this, you are then able to ask what's going on and address any problems before they well up into a larger conflict. You will also be able to better navigate relationships and build trust--all necessary skills for that sought-after promotion.

This question was asked by a scientist; read more about that here.

4. How do we adjust our organizational culture to Gen Y?

You don't. Your organizational culture is created by core values and behaviors. You don't change your values for a group of people. Instead, focus on the behaviors that match the organization's values, with Gen Y in mind.

For example, in the medical industry, patient focus is a value. Knowing that Gen Y likes to connect, what behavior do you want your employees to do to show that patients come first?

5. How do we best internally communicate with Gen Y & Gen X?

When it comes to either of these generations, short, quick messages benefit communication outcomes. Using videos and podcasts is also effective.

Long emails or voicemails might seem thoughtful and informative, but they aren't the best way to connect with these two generations.

6. What do we do when Gen Y comes to work late all the time?

Coming to work late is not a generational issue--it's about human behavior and motivation.

If an employee of any generation is always late, focus on clearly communicating your expectations to them, and always hold them (and yourself) accountable for those expectations.

7. How do we train Gen Y?

If you want to reach Gen Y in the most effective way possible, take into account that they are all individuals who learn best in their own way. If you cover all of your bases while training, you have a much higher chance at success.

The best way to do this is to incorporate the seven learning styles into your training program. There are spatial learners, linguistic learners, intrapersonal learners, interpersonal learners, musical learners, bodily-kinesthetic learners, and logical-mathematical learners.

Aren't these questions fun? Of course this list is just the tip of the iceberg...

In closing, here's a great quote from a workshop participant. This is good advice!

Don't be afraid of Gen X. They are not as scary as they seem.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Titus 2:9  Exhort servants to be obedient unto their own masters, and to please them well in all things; not answering again;
Tit 2:10  Not purloining, but shewing all good fidelity; that they may adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour in all things.

https://www.yahoo.com/realestate/celebrity-chefs-feed-cleveland-real-142800822.html
Cleveland Embraces Foodie Culture, Feeds Millennial Real Estate Market
CNBC
January 21, 2016

CLEVELAND — You can’t buy a great cheeseburger on the Internet, and that is the simple fact behind the new driver of downtown real estate development. Restaurants are the new retail, and celebrity chefs today are fast becoming just as powerful as names like Macy’s and Neiman Marcus were a half century ago.

“I think these days you’re finding our developers lead at the ground floor with the restaurant, and everything fills out around it. Retail these days as we all know because of the Internet, is a fairly precarious proposition,” said Chris Ronayne, president of University Circle Inc., a development, service and advocacy organization in this Ohio city.

Cleveland has embraced the “foodie” culture, as young millennials move downtown. They are the force behind a 70 percent jump in the city’s downtown population to over 13,000, according to the Downtown Cleveland Alliance. Apartment growth is already robust, with 4,000 units in the planning stages, and job growth in professional services and technology is helping to fill more and more housing. There is one common denominator in all the growth.

“We’ve got a dozen great-happening vibrant retail centers in Cleveland that are really part of the resurgence, and they seem to be over and over again led by the chefs,” said Ronayne.

Cleveland housing is also the most affordable in the nation, with an average sale price of $74,502, according to Coldwell Banker’s 2015 Home Listing Report. That is prompting more young residents to move back home after college. One of Cleveland’s celebrity chefs, Zack Bruell, said these are the people filling his restaurant tables and his kitchens.

“The kids that left Cleveland to be educated somewhere else would stay in Chicago, they’d go to San Francisco, Los Angeles or New York. Now those people are coming back to Cleveland. That’s the future,” said Bruell. “Look at what the cost of living in Cleveland is. It’s really affordable, and there is a sophistication here that exists in those markets, so you can practice your craft here and maybe buy a house, save some money and raise a family, which would be very difficult there.”

Bruell, who owns and operates 10 Cleveland-area restaurants, from a French brasserie to an Asian fusion eatery, said restaurants are driving downtown development and employment, and names like his are at the heart of it. Bruell said he has expanded his staff from 250 to 470 in just the past two years.

“The developers or the landlords come to me, so I’ve got, sort of have, an upper hand in choosing where I go. I’m going to transform a neighborhood or help transform a neighborhood. I’m part of that,” said Bruell, standing in L'Albatros, one of his restaurants that already had a good crowd seated around the bar on a cold Wednesday afternoon.

While brick-and-mortar retail is flailing across the nation, restaurant sales are growing. Stronger employment also means more people are eating out for lunch.

“Americans are using their [gas] pump price savings to go out to eat,” said Chris Christopher Jr., director of consumer economics at IHS Global Insight.

Cleveland has also benefited from a new government program that has awarded more than $160 million in tax credits to the city’s development projects, leveraging almost $1.5 billion in redevelopment, according to CBRE, a commercial real estate services company. Abandoned office buildings are being converted to apartments and hotels.

“As this wave of new residential properties has swelled, it has been a catalyst for development activity downtown. As more young workers are moving downtown, businesses have taken note, choosing to remain in the CBD rather than expand to the suburbs,” researchers wrote in a recent report by CBRE titled, “Resurgence in Midwest Secondary Markets.”

Restaurant growth is fueling downtown commercial property prices as well. Office vacancies are down and rents are up. Occupancy in apartments is at 97 percent, according to CBRE, which estimates downtown Cleveland has seen $5.5 billion of new investment since 2010.

“We look at neighborhoods these days as experience districts. Of course they’re housing, they’re also the return, 100 years later, to mixed use. They call it new urban, but it’s really true urban of 100 years ago, on these old street car corridors in these Midwest cities, where the retail commercial ground floors were at the base, the residents lived right above, and you’re finding that they’re both live/work 24/7 districts, but they’re also destination districts,” said Ronayne.

Cleveland may not seem like a destination city, but as more millennials struggle to afford big-city life, they are heading to the next best thing. Vibrant downtowns are no longer exclusive, and affordability is beginning to trump location. In a fast-changing economy, food still works, and if you cook it, foodies will come.

“Cleveland is no different than anywhere in the United States,” Bruell said as he put on his chef’s jacket and headed into the kitchen to whip up a cassoulet.

http://www.msn.com/en-us/money/personalfinance/the-real-reason-many-millennials-aren%e2%80%99t-saving-for-retirement/ar-BBpBeEV?ocid=spartandhp
The real reason many millennials aren’t saving for retirement
2/16/16

Millennials are oft-maligned as a flighty, entitled generation saddled with debt and too obsessed with food and travel to worry about saving for retirement. But that doesn’t match the reality.

Young people are just as likely — or even more likely — than other generations to sock their money away. And new research points to one major reason more 20- and 30-somethings aren’t creating a nest egg, even if they might want to.

Their employer doesn’t offer a workplace retirement plan.

Just 43% of millennials without an employer-sponsored retirement plan say they’re saving money consistently, according to a poll of 800 18-to-34-year-old voters released Wednesday by Young Invincibles, or YI, a millennial advocacy group. That’s compared with roughly three-quarters of millennials with a 401(k) or other employment-sponsored retirement plan, who are consistently saving, the poll found.

In other words, a millennial’s propensity to save may have more to do with his job status than his personality. This is particularly troubling given that past YI research indicates that the bulk of 18- to 24-year-olds work in sectors like retail and hospitality that don’t typically provide benefits to their lowest level workers, said Colin Seeberger, YI’s strategic campaign adviser.

“Millennials really do want to save,” he said. “We should be doing everything in our power to empower more young workers to be able to do the saving that is going to be so important to their financial futures.”

In the report, YI highlights one possible way to help more young adults save: state-sponsored retirement plans, which a handful of states have already adopted. By way of example, Illinois’ program, which will take effect in 2017, works like employer-sponsored retirement plans -- with contributions automatically deducted from workers’ paychecks — but workers can easily take the benefit from job to job. Most state-sponsored plans don’t match contributions, a typical benefit of an employer-sponsored retirement program.

Still, these types of programs have broad-based appeal among young voters, YI found. Nearly 80% of millennial republicans, 85% of millennial independents and nearly 90% of millennial democrats said they would support a state-sponsored retirement programs.

Increasing access to higher education through initiatives like free community college could also help more millennials save for retirement, Seeberger said. Young adults with more education are more likely to have access to employer-sponsored retirement programs, the poll found.

In the meantime, millennials with federal student loans who are hoping to save more for retirement should investigate their repayment options, Seeburger said. In some cases, they may qualify for programs that allow them to pay less money per month and they could put the savings toward their nest egg.

Young people without access to an employer-sponsored retirement plan can also turn to myRA, a “starter” retirement savings program launched by the federal government last year.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2016/02/19/young-evangelicals-south-carolina-primary-ted-cruz/80603326/
2/19/16
Young evangelicals in South Carolina scrutinize Bible talk on stump

GREENVILLE, S.C. — Trey Parker, 22, has devoted his life to God, but that doesn’t mean he thinks his president should invoke scripture on the stump.

Parker, who works at Clemson University’s campus ministry, said he is skeptical of Bible talk from candidates as Saturday's South Carolina primary neared.

“It’s a little bit odd when they go to New Hampshire and completely, totally ignore it, and then come here and they’re devout Christians,” he said. “It’s really easy to see through that.” Parker said he is undecided which of the GOP candidates he will support.

White evangelical voters made up about 65% of South Carolina primary voters in 2012, according to exit polls. The upstate region — which is home to 35% to 40% of voters statewide — has the largest concentration of religious conservatives in the state, said Jim Guth, a political science professor at Furman University in Greenville.

But Matthew Thomas, chairman of the South Carolina Federation of Young Republicans, said the importance of religious appeals from candidates may have less resonance among young South Carolinians. Having worked for years with politically minded college students across the state, Thomas said the top issues on their minds tend to be civil liberties and student loans — not whether a candidate shares their faith.

“We always discuss the evangelical bloc as this one bloc and they move together,” he said. “But it’s not moving in one solid direction. I don’t think it ever has.”

At a rally in Anderson, S.C., on Tuesday, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, who has emphasized outreach to evangelicals, concluded with a verse from Second Chronicles that had the packed civic center whispering the verse in unison. Ben Carson used scripture twice during a Greenville town hall hosted by CNN on Wednesday. But at a rally in the same city on Thursday morning, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio stuck to more secular messages.

Anna Edwards, an 18-year-old evangelical Christian high school student who attended the Rubio rally, said although a candidate’s faith is important to informing her vote, she appreciates that Rubio reins it in.

“It’s a hard balance of not wanting to come across as too forceful with your religion but also letting your voters know that your religion is important to you,” said Edwards, who is from Greenville. “When you shout condemnation at people it doesn’t work very well.”

The front-runner in South Carolina, Donald Trump, has stumbled at times when discussing his faith, as when he referred to Second Corinthians as 2 Corinthians in a speech at Liberty University last month.

A recent CBS/YouGov showed that while 42% of South Carolina Republicans said they supported Trump, his support was much lower among those ages 18 to 29.

Although some young evangelicals are turned off by the injection of faith into their state’s primary, Elliott Kelley, a sophomore at Bob Jones University, said Cruz’s displays of religious devotion were a large part of the reason he began volunteering for the senator’s campaign.

“It’s not just a talking point. It’s something he believes in,” said Kelley, who is a national co-chair for Millennials for Cruz.

And while Kelley said he knows voters are not tasked with electing a “preacher in chief,” he sees a candidate’s religion as something that informs every aspect of his policies.

But to Parker, the Clemson graduate without a clear favorite, the future president’s faith should be left outside the doors of the Oval Office.

Asked whether a candidate needs to at least identify as Christian to receive his vote, Parker answered with scripture: “Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s and unto God the things that are God’s.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLvPL1FF3K4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LdfrDQMs-zk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wNIHhm_EPdk

IT'S OFFICIAL: Millennials are now America's largest living generation
http://www.businessinsider.com/millennials-are-the-largest-american-generation-2016-4
4/25/16

The Pew Research Center recently analyzed US Census Bureau population estimates of America's population as of July 1, 2015, and they found that last year, millennials outnumbered baby boomers for the first time ever.

There is no formal definition of where the cutoffs lie for different generations, but Pew identifies five major living adult US generations:
•The Greatest Generation, born before 1928
•The Silent Generation, born between 1928 and 1945
•The Baby Boomers, born between 1946 and 1964
•Generation X, born between 1965 and 1980
•Millennials, born between 1981 and 1997

Using those definitions, Pew estimated that as of last year, there were about 75.4 million millennials, outnumbering the approximately 74.9 million baby boomers.

Pew noted that this crossover occurs as the millennial population continues to grow in size because of young immigrants moving to the US, while the boomers are aging and beginning to die off.

Here's Pew's chart showing projections for the sizes of the different generations going forward. For more, check out Pew's full report:

(http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/571e70cc910584cc5e8beab9-960/screen%20shot%202016-04-25%20at%203.21.57%20pm.png)

http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Society/2016/0527/Millennials-living-with-parents-It-s-not-just-a-weak-economy
Millennials living with parents? It's not just a weak economy.

For the first time on record, more Americans age 18 to 34 are living with their parents than with a spouse or significant other.
   
5/27/16

For the first time since at least 1880, more young adults are living with their parents than with a spouse or significant other.

That stunning shift, reported this week by the Pew Research Center, reflects twin patterns of economic change in America.

It's partly a barometer of the economic challenges facing the Millennials as they navigate launching careers and households in a more difficult economy. But it's also driven by a longer-term story of greater gender equality and the way women’s rising earning power has made them less focused on early marriages.

“This turn of events is fueled primarily by the dramatic drop in the share of young Americans who are choosing to settle down romantically before age 35,” writes Richard Fry in Tuesday’s Pew analysis, which was based on US Census surveys.

The analysis finds that in 2014, 32.1 percent of adults age 18 to 34 were living with their parents. This inched above those who were married or cohabiting (31.6 percent), the heads of single households or with roommates (14 percent), or those in some other living arrangement such as living with another relative or in a dormitory (22 percent).

The share of young people living with parents isn’t actually at record levels. It’s higher than in 1960 but below a 1940-era peak of about 35 percent.

The big change is that the share of age 18-to-34 adults living with a spouse or partner has fallen sharply from a peak of 62 percent around 1960. That reflects later marriages, an overall decline in marriage, and economic shifts. (Some couples who are married or cohabiting can’t afford to live on their own.)

Cultural or social factors are at work alongside the economic ones.

​For one, as a Monitor cover story on "Singles nation" noted, young Americans nowadays often ​have​ an extended period after college when life revolves as much around a tribe of friends as the search for a soul mate.

The report also notes that about 1 in 4 young people may never marry – a projection based on prior Pew research using 2012 data. 

Although the decline or slowdown in marriage is a broad trend, the patterns for men and women are somewhat different.

For men, living with parents reflects that they are doing relatively worse in the job market than they used to. Overall, employment among age 18-to-34 men has been falling since it peaked in 1960 at 84 percent. In 2014, only 71 percent had jobs. And adjusted for inflation, their wages also been eroding since 1970 and fell significantly during the 2000 to 2010 period.

For women, the same decades since 1970 have seen rising labor participation, education opportunities, and pay. That has coincided with a decline in early marriage.

"Women have opportunities today and they’re looking for different kinds of relationships and [staying] in school,” says Barbara Schneider, a University of Michigan sociologist.

Even with the general decline in marriage, women age 18 to 34 are still (unlike men) a bit more likely to live with a spouse or partner than with their parents.

Other social trends could be at work, too, such as the rise of single-parent families. "Not only are single-parent families far more common and socially acceptable than they were in the past, but scholars studying low-income or working-class communities have discovered that the women in these communities no longer think it is realistic to depend on the men in their lives," wrote economist Isabel Sawhill in a 2014 New York Times opinion article. "They have seen or experienced too much divorce, infidelity, substance abuse and other bad behavior to trust or fully rely on their partners."

For many Millennials, the delay of marriage or cohabiting means waiting longer to have children, and in that Mr. Fry sees a possible up side: Parents may have increased maturity or financial security to provide a stable home for their children.

Financial security, though, isn’t easy to come by these days. The Great Recession made it harder for many Millennials to forge out on their own. College enrollments spiked, partly as an escape from the flagging labor market. But that added to the weight of college debt.

Even today, the labor market is tight, housing costs in many cities are high, and young people are still racking up student loans.

All this dispels the notion that Millennials are just taking the easy route of moving back home to mommy and daddy, says Professor Schneider. In many cases, it makes sense to stay home longer if parents’ living situations permit.

“They have a breakup with a boyfriend or a girlfriend, or their roommates are really awful or they may get a job in another city and they need to come back to their parents house to get a little bit of time,” she says. “This isn’t a case that they’re running home to be coddled by their mother and their father.”
   

https://gma.yahoo.com/tell-kid-might-addicted-cellphone-144342992--abc-news-parenting.html#
How to Tell If Your Kid Might Be Addicted to the Cellphone
5/27/16

Kids who’re overly attached to their phones, possibly crossing the line into addiction, can be a problem for many families.

Jason Clark, 15, of Little Rock, Arkansas, is no different. He loves his smartphone, but he’s so attached to it that his family worries he might one day need therapy to get his habit under control.

“Good Morning America” asked Jason to put an app on his phone to track his phone use.

For two days in a row, he clocked in at six hours of screen time.

His mom, Tomika Clark, said there are days her son will spend eight or even 12 hours on the phone morning, noon and night, at home, at school, and even at the library.

Between social media, music, texting and gaming, the hours add up.

Clark said she thinks his phone use has crossed a line.

“When you’re talking about addiction, you’re talking about, ‘I can’t live without it,’” she explained, adding that she “knows he is” dependent on his phone.

Cellphone addiction isn’t officially designated as a clinical disorder like drug or alcohol addiction, but licensed Maryland psychologist Ed Spector, an expert on the healthy use of technology, thinks it should be.

He treats people who have what he calls “compulsive use of technology.”

“Their brains change in similar ways to real chemical-addicts,” Spector told ABC News. “If you talk to the parents of my clients, they come in and they say, ‘My kid’s like a junkie.’ They feel like it’s an addiction.”

But when does it go from being normal, acceptable teenage behavior to a problem that needs to be addressed?

Spector said not to just focus on the hours.

“When we talk about compulsion, it’s not the behavior, it’s whether you have control over it,” he said.

Clark says she worries Jason fits the definition and his compulsion is taking away from other parts of his life. She said as his smartphone use has gone up, his grades have gone down and she has noticed changes in his behavior.

“When somebody freaks out because you’re taking something they have an emotional attachment to, it is an addition,” she said.

Jason said he sees nothing wrong or abnormal about his phone use and doesn’t believe it has a major effect on other parts of his life, though he admits he could probably stand to cut back.

Caroline Knorr, parenting editor for Common Sense Media, outlined several phone-obsession warning signs: Depression, slipping grades, hostility, highly sensitive, strong preoccupation with phone and not being interested in activities they used to love.

Knorr also provided tips for parents to limit their kids’ phone use: Set up screen-free times and zones, limit multitasking, prohibit phones in the bedroom at night and be a good digital role model.

https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/starbucks-ceo-on-presidential-election---what-don-t-need-is-division-145805041.html

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2016/06/07/southern-baptists-see-th-year-membership-decline.html
6/7/16
Southern Baptists see 9th year of membership decline

NASHVILLE, Tenn. –  The Southern Baptist Convention lost more than 200,000 members in 2015.

It's the ninth straight year of decline for the nation's largest Protestant denomination, which also saw baptisms drop by more than 10,000 in 2015.

According to denomination statistics released on Tuesday, membership stands at 15.3 million, down from 15.5 million in 2014. Baptisms fell to just a little more than 295,000.

Baptisms are an important measure for the Nashville-based denomination because of its strong commitment to evangelism.

Some denominational leaders emphasized an increase in the number of Southern Baptist churches in 2015, mostly due to new churches started by SBC pastors.

But Executive Committee President and CEO Frank Page refused to put a positive spin on the declines, exclaiming in a news release, "God help us all!"

Pro 19:15  Slothfulness casteth into a deep sleep; and an idle soul shall suffer hunger.

http://nypost.com/2016/06/08/shocking-study-reveals-millennials-dont-like-doing-stuff/
6/8/16

They’re the greatest generation — of couch potatoes.

A growing number of 18- to-34-year-olds, the world’s largest age group, prefer to unwind by staying in, watching Netflix and ordering Seamless, rather than by getting down at a club or bellying up to a bar.

“The weekend is my time to relax and not do all that stuff,” says Brandon Gillespie, 32, who works in media production. “Once I’m home, I don’t want to go out.”

He’s not alone. More young people are choosing to spend a quiet evening at home.

A study by Taylor Nelson Sofres, a consumer research agency, found that, on average, millennials stream 2.7 hours of TV shows a day, while the earlier generation, Gen X, does about 1.8 hours.

Millennials, it seems, have discovered that the need to socialize face-to-face is waning, as food, shopping, friends, entertainment and even sex are all an app tap away.

The study also found that millennials spend about 3.1 hours a day on their mobile devices, compared with Generation X’s 1.7 hours.

Gillespie, a Harlem resident, watches Netflix and YouTube clips on his phone or computer in his one-bedroom apartment.

As for the challenges of dating, the bachelor says society is moving away from the traditional, “meet cute” mold.

“You know, the whole ‘Netflix and chill,’ whatever you think about it . . . it’s kind of a trend,” he says.

For some, the price of nightlife isn’t worth the payoff.

“It’s cheaper to just stay home,” says Kimberly Pena, 21, a junior at Montclair State University in New Jersey. “Nowadays, $20 won’t get you too far.”

One thing millennials are not bingeing on is booze.

A 2016 survey by Heineken found that when millennials do bother to venture outside, 75 percent drink in moderation.

**Alchohol is forbidden in scripture, PERIOD!

Proverbs 31:4  It is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine; nor for princes strong drink:
Pro 31:5  Lest they drink, and forget the law, and pervert the judgment of any of the afflicted.
Pro 31:6  Give strong drink unto him that is ready to perish, and wine unto those that be of heavy hearts.
Pro 31:7  Let him drink, and forget his poverty, and remember his misery no more.

A study by Child Trends Data Bank also found that binge drinking among teens is at an all-time low: Only 19 percent of high school seniors admitted to binge drinking in 2014, compared with a record high 41.4 percent in 1980.

But experts say staying indoors can hurt a person’s emotional well-being.

“They’re not consuming alcohol, but they’re consuming a lot of media — and it’s depressing them,” says Manhattan clinical psychologist Dr. Michael Brustein.

“I can’t tell you how often I hear [patients] say, ‘I did nothing this weekend and I feel terrible.’ ”

Some might be chained to their beds because of a penchant for sleepiness, too.

Dr. Sanjeev Kothare, a neurologist at NYU Langone Medical Center, says the increase in cases of exhaustion among young people could be as high as 50 percent.

Brooklyn theater artist Misha Lambert, 22, finds her work very exhausting.

“[It] requires me to really go out and to be really social, which is very tiring for me,” she says. “I just want to turn off that part of me and I just want to sit around and be comfortable.”

Gillespie admits that while many of his friends are “homebodies,” some do worry about his hermit-like tendencies.

“I have to convince people that it’s OK,” he says.

“I enjoy not having to interact with people.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pUN_GjimyYw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NXpJ4YURhK4

http://www.marketoracle.co.uk/Article55621.html
Believe it or Not: More Kids Live At Home Now than Since The Great Depression
6/21/16

We all know the situation in the markets is dire.
 Like, really, everyone knows.
 There’s an old phrase from Margaret Thatcher’s day (and mine, I suppose) that has recently come back into use: There is no alternative.
 There’s even an acronym: TINA.

There is no alternative example of a campaign advertising material of the CDU for the 1994 election for the Landtag of Thuringia.

That’s quaint, and all, but this meatily numbered piece shows the heart of what that phrase means.

 There is no alternative, the markets will correct. They have to, regardless of how hard the Fed fights.

 We’re long overdue, and the heart of this piece is the fact that we haven’t been here, in this way, since a year or so, after the Great Depression.

 More 18- to 34-year-olds are now living with their parents than at any time since 1960, when the number hit an all-time low of 20%.

 It’s now jumped up to 32.1%, and is as high as 36% for those with a high school education or less. The number jumped to 28% in 2007, with the Great Recession catapulting it to 32% in just seven years.

 For the first time in history, living with parents has surpassed living with a spouse or partner, with over 30% of children now living with parents, as the chart below from Pew Research shows. Fourteen percent live alone or as a single parent, with more women at 16% than men at 13%.

The “other” category includes living with siblings, friends, and grandparents, or in dormitories.

 The reason for this long-term trend is the decline of romantic coupling, and couples – once they do form – holding off on tying the knot.

 The median age of marrying couples rose from 21.3 years old (22 for men, 20 for women) in 1956 to 27.8 today (28.3 for men, 27.2 for women). It has jumped two years just since the Great Recession of 2008.

 Twenty percent today have never married and Pew says that 25% of adults will never get married… at any age! Financial security and a steady job is a prime reason for the holdouts. Men with only a high school education, or less, see 23% never married versus 17% for women.

 For those with a high school, or less, education, it’s 25% versus post grad degrees at 14% for men, and 20% and 16%, respectively, for women.

 With higher joblessness, the rate of unmarried men sits at 36% for blacks and 26% for Latinos. Asians are at 19% and whites at only 16%.

 There was only one time in modern history where a higher percentage of kids lived with parents and that was 35% in 1940 – in the late years of the Great Depression.

I am confident this rate will exceed that in the Great Depression ahead by 2022.

 Not surprisingly, divorced people have less interest in marrying again than people who have never gotten married in the first place. Almost half, or 45%, say “no thanks” to ever getting married again.

 The most telling charts are the following ones. The most dramatic shift has come from non-college grads, falling from 60% of those married or living together in 1960, down to 27% in 2014, with 36% living with parents.

For the college-educated, people who were married or living together peaked in 1960 at 79% and has declined to only 46%, with 19% living with parents.

http://www.refinery29.com/2014/12/80029/millennials-not-having-kids
7/2/16
This Is Why Millennials Aren't Procreating

Quick question: Do you currently have over $245,000 in your bank account? That's how much the U.S. Department of Agriculture projected it would cost a middle-income couple to raise a child to the age of 18 in 2013. For higher-income families, that cost ballooned to $455,000. Those numbers are officially sending many millennials to take their birth control pills.

The Centers for Disease Control released data earlier this year which showed that birth rates for teenagers and women in their 20s hit record lows in 2013. Meanwhile, birth rates for women in their 30s and 40s rose. In a recent The New York Times op-ed, writer Jessica Grose argues that this data indicates not a sign of millennial selfishness, but one of selflessness.

"This is not because millennials are stuck in a state of perpetual adolescence and unwilling to make the sacrifice that children entail," Grose says. "On the contrary: putting off children is one of the most financially responsible decisions that a young person can make."

Grose mentions how much child care costs, plus the fact that many millennials are still swimming in student loan debt. "Millennials, like most groups of millions of people, are rational actors. They just don’t want to have kids they can’t afford," she concludes.

It looks like millennials might be the "cost generation," rather than the lost. (The New York Times)

I disagree. This is one of the most emotionally immature,
lazy, irresponsible generations ever, thanks to psychology-taught-dumbed-down parenting that scorns spankings and exalts enabling with material junk.

GENERATION JOB-SHY Millennials are lazy, self-indulgent and lack the initiative to be successful, warns lifestyle guru Martha Stewart

Millionaire slams feckless, molly-coddled youngsters who live off the bank of mum and dad

The millionaire lifestyle guru Martha Stewart has issued a stinging criticism of the millennial generation and claimed youngsters are too LAZY to get ahead.

Too many members of “Generation Snowflake” are still living with their parents rather than getting out into the world and making something of their lives, the celebrity businesswoman raged.

She is the latest person to rail against a mollycoddled generation who have turned universities into “safe spaces” to avoid testing their ideas in the crucible of debate and called on conference attendees to “make jazz hands” because clapping is too traumatic for their sensitive souls.

“I think every business is trying to target millennials,” she said in an interview with Luxury Listings.

“But who are millennials? Now we are finding out that they are living with their parents.

“They don’t have the initiative to go out and find a little apartment and grow a tomato plant on the terrace.

“I understand the plight of younger people. The economic circumstances out there are very grim. But you have to work for it. You have to strive for it. You have to go after it.”

Martha’s career began when she landed a job as a model. She then went on to become a stockbroker before launching a cookbook which turned her into a lifestyle expert and TV personality.

She is now worth about £166million.

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/1436480/millennials-are-lazy-self-indulgent-and-lack-the-initiative-to-be-successful-warns-lifestyle-guru-martha-stewart/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJ39dVoM748

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SCzxcvDeXJQ

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/article94525187.html
8/9/16

August 9, 2016 11:21 AM
 
Poll: Young Americans overwhelmingly favor LGBT rights

Young people in America overwhelmingly support LGBT rights when it comes to policies on employment, health care and adoption, according to a new survey.


FILE - In this June 26, 2016, file photo, a woman holds a rainbow flag during the NYC Pride Parade in New York. Young Americans overwhelmingly say they support LGBT rights when it comes to employment, health care and adoption. That’s according to a new GenForward survey, which finds 92 percent of young adults support HIV and AIDs prevention, 90 percent support equal employment, and 80 percent support LGBT adoption. Across ethnic groups, large majorities of Americans aged 18 to 30 favor training police on transgender issues, government support for LGBT youth organizations and insurance coverage for transgender health issues.
     

https://www.yahoo.com/news/m/c3ea98a1-2529-390a-8113-5c1a920e856f/for-millennials%2C-a-consensus.html
For Millennials, a consensus on transgender bathroom use
8/15/16

Millennials have reached a broad consensus on an issue that divides the nation: By nearly 2-1, they say transgender individuals should be able to use public bathrooms designated for the gender they identify with, not the sex they were born. A new USA TODAY/Rock the Vote survey of those 18 to 35 years

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PrlNAH4dVuw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oMKeakAwyzM

http://www.inc.com/matthew-jones/13-ways-millenials-are-transforming-the-world.html
13 Ways Millenials Are Transforming The World
 
Watch out, Millenials are here to stay.

8/16/16

Older generations throw a lot of shade at Millenials and overlook the way Millenials are transforming the world for the better.

They say that Millenials are entitled because we received participation trophies, but if you want to point fingers, blaming toddlers for the values they inherited seems a lot saying, "I did not have sexual relations with that woman." See, we 20-somethings grew up with adults lying to us to evade responsibility.

Millenials are a product of what came before and a lot more than that. We 20-somethings face a lot of social pressures, not the least of which is fixing the economy, climate, and the political atmosphere that previous generations ruined.

We are in a unique time in history, and we've learned several things that give us advantages over the elder generations.

Here are 13 ways that Millenials that are transforming the world:

1. Dedication to the local and digital community.

20-somethings are raising global and local consciousness through engagement with their community.

Using tools like social media to highlight local issues, Millenials are involved and spreading information to other communities so that they can create positive change in their surroundings.

2. Knowing that actions matter more than words.

Many things that we were told as children didn't end up being true - going to college isn't a necessity and it doesn't guarantee job security like it used to.

Our generation learned that we have to take action - we need to protest the status quo if we want lasting change, and we don't want to waste our time on activities that don't add values to our lives.

3. Believing that self-expression is a necessity.

Selfies may look selfish, but 20-somethings were the first age group to have immediate and easy access to the internet--a place where we could invent a new self-image. As technology became integrated into our lives, we discovered new possibilities for self-expression and connecting to people around the world.

4. Improving research.

Unlike older generations, Millenals learned how to utilize Google to learn anything and everything. Instead of attempting to memorize information that's freely available, 20-somethings have perfected the ability to learn new data in a few short clicks.

5. Believing is love free of judgment.

Millenails understand love and don't allow their own biases to place restrictions on other people. 20-somethings have sex prior to marriage, split household chores, encourage women to work, and want the LGBTQ community to have the same rights as straight couples.

6. Recognizing that connecting and disconnecting is important.

Millenials are a sandwich generation that acknowledges the importance of being connected and has the autonomy needed to unplug and recharge--something that the generation after us or following lacks.

7. Appreciating the gift of portable music.

20-somethings were around when there were things called cassette players, then saw the evolution of cool-looking portable CD players, then experienced the magic of mp3 files, then finally enjoyed the iPod and the free music of LimeWire before it corrupted your entire family's home computer.

8. Improving the entrepreneurial spirit.

Millenials recognize that being an entrepreneur is a mindset, not just a role. Having mastered the art of personal branding, 20-somethings are creating new streams of revenue and developing products that are having an immediate and lasting impact on the world.

9. Shifting the focus away from television.

Older generations were glued to the television, but Millenials know that the computer in their hands leads to quicker gratification and better quality shows on the move. We place less importance on the television and cable than any preceding generation, and are responsible for the streaming innovation.

10. Making an impact in elections.

Millenials are responsible for the massive transmission of information on social media during election season.

20-somethings spread knowledge that creates dialog and challenges older family members to recognize the importance of social issues. These young-adults create the passion and grass root campaigns that shape political discourse.

11. Mastering the personal brand.

In middle and high school, Millenials started learning the art of personal branding, but back then, they just called them Xanga, Myspace, and eventually Facebook.

20-somethings are the first generation to master the craft of creating brand awareness, which is one reason so many entrepreneurs are pioneering diverse industries.

12. Being very health conscious.

Where did all of the vegans, vegetarians, and gluten free friends come from? That's right, Millenials are thinking about the impact of food on their bodies, the environment, and the livestock.

20-somethings are one of the most health-conscious generations because they grew up with excessive amounts of sugars that resulted in the so-called obesity epidemic. Thanks mom and dad.

13. Knowing that money isn't the only measure of success.

While Millenials know that money is important, most don't believe that it's the only way to measure success.

Due to the troubled economy in our young adulthood, many 20-somethings were forced to learn that there's more to life than making big purchases.

With all of these positive traits, Millenials will continue changing the world for a long time coming. The only question is when we'll start acknowledging and celebrating their accomplishments.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ObnpJTvAtUg

University of Chicago Warns Freshmen Not to Expect ‘Trigger Warnings’ and ‘Safe Spaces’

The  University of Chicago has warned incoming freshmen not to expect a culture of ‘safe spaces’ and ‘trigger warnings’ during their time at university.
In a letter, the school warns students that the university is characterised by its “commitment to freedom of expression,” and therefore the university “does not support trigger warnings,” “does not cancel speakers because their topics might prove controversial,” and “does not condone the creation of intellectual ‘safe spaces’ where students can retreat from ideas and perspectives at odds with their own.”

The letter is written by the University’s Dean of Students, Dr. John Ellison, who also cites one of the university’s most distinguished professor’s recounting of Chicago University’s commitment to academic freedom, resulting in a history of debate and even scandal.

The warning is likely to come as a shock to incoming social justice warriors, who regularly attempt to shut down events, speeches, and discussion across American college campuses, citing their need for ‘safe spaces’ from dangerous ideas.

Breitbart Tech editor Milo Yiannopoulos’s Dangerous **** Tour  has clashed with this campus culture, leading to numerous controversies across American college campuses.

The full letter can be read below:

Dear Student,

Welcome and congratulations on your acceptance to the college at the University of Chicago. Earning a place in our community of scholars is no small achievement and we are delighted that you selected Chicago to continue your intellectual journey.

Once here you will discover that one of the University of Chicago’s defining characteristics is our commitment to freedom of inquiry and expression. Members of our community are encouraged to speak, write, listen, challenge, and learn, without fear of censorship. Civility and mutual respect are vital to all of us, and freedom of expression does not mean the freedom to harass or threaten others. You will find that we expect members of our community to be engaged in rigorous debate, discussion, and even disagreement. At times this may challenge you and even cause discomfort.

Our commitment to academic freedom means that we do not support so called ‘trigger warnings,’ we do not cancel invited speakers because their topics might prove controversial, and we do not condone the creation of intellectual ‘safe spaces’ where individuals can retreat from ideas and perspectives at odds with their own.

Fostering the free exchange of ideas is a University priority – building a campus that welcomes people of all backgrounds. Diversity of opinion is a fundamental strength of our community. The members of our community must have the freedom to espouse and explore a wide range of ideas.

I am enclosing a short paragraph by Dean John W. Boyer, the Martin A. Ryerson Distinguished Service Professor in History and Dean of the College, which provides a helpful primer. This monograph, entitled ‘Academic Freedom and the Modern University: The Experience of The University of Chicago,’ recounts the history of debate, and even scandal, resulting from our history of academic freedom.

Again, welcome to the University of Chicago. See you in September!

Sincerely,

John (Jay) Ellison, PhD

Dean of Students in the College

http://www.breitbart.com/tech/2016/08/25/university-chicago-warns-freshmen-not-expect-trigger-warnings-safe-spaces/

https://pjmedia.com/faith/2016/08/26/is-trump-hysteria-driving-millennials-away-from-evangelicalism/
Is Trump Hysteria Driving Millennials Away from Evangelicalism?

8/26/16

It is no secret that many faithful Christians have struggled to support Donald Trump. Yet some, most notably the Bible scholar Wayne Grudem, have not only endorsed the Republican nominee, but declared it a "moral imperative" to do so.

In "How Evangelicals are Losing an Entire Generation," lifestyle theology blogger Amy Gannett explains why the increasing worship of Trump among Christian leaders is alienating many in the millennial generation. She strongly identifies as an evangelical, but she warns, "I fear that we're going to lose an entire generation because of the actions, words, and teachings of some evangelicals. Including Wayne Grudem."

Gannett points out that millennials and Baby Boomers have more than a generation gap — they have a morality gap.

Grudem's article argues that it is morally constraining on the Christian person to vote for Donald Trump, particularly citing things like Trump's upholding of religious rights for Christian schools and businesses, support of traditional marriage, and pro-life support of the rights of the unborn. Grudem dismisses accusations of Trump being a racist, anti-(legal) immigrant, and misogynistic. He feels Trump has been misunderstood, quoted out of context, and the victim of an unfair media.

What Grudem does, then, is sets [sic] up a hierarchy of morality. He is willing to hold some moral values (religious rights for Christian schools and businesses, support of traditional marriage, and pro-life notions) above others (the equality of races, genders, and ethnicities). All are moral concepts, all require a moral stance, and Grudem has chosen which he prefers over others.

Gannett acknowledges that most people have moral hierarchies — this is not unique to Grudem. But he "has chosen to be old guard, predominantly upholding political issues that are less felt by our generation."

The lifestyle theology blogger does not reject these moral issues — such as the rights of the unborn — but she explains that millennials prioritize other issues as well. "Millennials feel the daily pangs of racial tension, a deep desire for equality for all, and a propensity toward the social justice issues surrounding the refugee crisis."

"Evangelical leaders like Grudem are using their political and social weight on issues close to their generation, and are neglecting the moral imperatives to seek justice, peace, and equality for the Black community, the immigrant community, and the refugee community (and a slew of others)," Gannett declares. Neglecting these issues is suicide for millennial outreach.

"We cannot call a candidate 'good,' as Grudem does with Trump, who has made racist remarks. We will not call a candidate 'good' who has demoralized and dehumanized women on national television. We will not buy into the hierarchy of Grudem's proposed morals over others," she writes. This millennial emphasis on racial diversity can partially be explained by liberal indoctrination in school, but it should not just be dismissed because of that.

The Christian message — and the American ideal, for that matter — is not limited to any particular race or nation. The Gospel is for all people, and by allying with Trump's apparent racism and misogyny, Christian leaders weaken their witness to the many who consider The Donald's campaign bigoted. This is a serious concern, not to be dismissed by considering anti-Trump millennials or racial minorities or women a lost cause. Trump will come and go, but these groups can have long memories.

Gannett also notes another age gap on attitudes to "progress." She notes that evangelical leaders warn against progressivism, but she responds that "we actually like the progress." She praises changes like these: "We actually like that women are on their way to equal pay, we like that you can't make a racist comment as a public figure and go unnoticed, and we like that there are more female theologians and teachers and professors than ever before in American history."

There are many problems with the "equal pay" argument, but Gannett has a strong point here. There are social changes that millennials like (for good or ill). Christians should be willing to praise some changes while still standing by a biblical and scientific understanding of humanity (on issues like homosexuality and transgenderism). Unfortunately, the political correctness she mentions as positive has also had bad consequences — which is one of the driving factors of Trump's campaign.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/heres-why-millennials-buying-gift-113000203.html
Here's Why Millennials Are Buying Gift Cards for Themselves
9/2/16

Young folks have found a new use for refillable gift cards. They are buying them for themselves.

A new report issued this week by analyst firm Mercator Advisory Group found a big jump in purchase of these "retailer-specific" cards among millennials.

"Nearly 3-in-5 young adult respondents indicated they bought them during the previous year, up from less than half of young adults who did so in the 2015 survey," the report said.

The intermingling of these gift cards and apps seems to be behind the trend.

Increases in overall retail refillable gift card sales were particularly sharp in the 18- to 24-year-old age range, which saw an increase from 44% to 53%; and among those ages 25 to 34, which jumped from 48% to 57%. The rise is even more dramatic when a three-year trend is considered — among the 18- to 34-year-old set, the jump was from 39% to 57% from 2013 to 2016. During that same stretch, gift card sales actually dropped among those over age 65, and were nearly flat for 35- to 64-year-olds.

Why the increase among young people? Gift cards aren't just for gifts anymore. Young folks are loading gift cards onto retailer apps, and using the money on themselves, said report author Karen Augustine.

"Retailers are introducing more mobile-based apps and offers when using their loyalty and prepaid programs, which may be fueling this growth in retailer gift card purchases," Augustine said. "Young adults continue to lead this mobile revolution and growing use of prepaid cards as a money management tool."

The Starbucks Effect

Starbucks continues to lead the way with its coffee cash app, which is little more than a gift-card management tool with a quirky loyalty program sprinkled on top. Still, the Starbucks app is a raging success. About $1.2 billion of customer cash is now loaded on the app/gift card tool, which means Starbucks holds more cash than some banks. About one-quarter of all transactions at U.S. Starbucks stores is now conducted via app. That serves customer loyalty, and it also saves Starbucks a killing on credit card transaction fees.

Meanwhile, the Starbucks app offers a huge advantage to busy young adults — those who pay via the app can skip to the end of the line, pick up their drink, and go.

"I believe that millennials are taking advantage of the plethora of mobile apps that retailers have introduced that support their prepaid cards, and they start using more prepaid cards in general for their own use," Augustine told me via email. "We see more prepaid cards being bought for personal use, not just for gifts."

Other retailers, like coffee competitor Dunkin' Donuts, have noticed Starbucks' success, and now allow consumers to store value via gift cards on their own apps — a feature sometimes called "digitized stored value."

"The discount retailers are doing well in this space, despite their late entry," Augustine said. "Dunkin' is a regional brand that we do track, but national fast food chains are popular, too."

Plenty of Room to Grow

On the other hand, a Forrester report issued last year suggests there's plenty of room for retail-specific apps to grow. It found that 60% of consumers who use a smartphone to shop online have fewer than two retailer-specific apps on their phone; and only 18% of app users have used that app to store gift card value.

While plenty of store apps let users check gift card balances, or even buy and send gift cards, a study by RSR Research called the Digital Gifting Benchmark Study found that few popular apps complete the cycle and let consumers store and spend money via the app.

"Too many retailers still offer no option to buy gift cards via mobile web or app," the report said. Only 12 out of 100 retailers studied allowed consumers to load a gift card into their app.

The study showed Sephora, Starbucks, Dunkin' Donuts, Home Depot, and Amazon as the retailers with the best digital gift card experience.

Prepaid refillable gift cards can be a great way to gift people, not just yourself, but they won't help if you need to improve your credit scores as cardholder use is not typically reported to the credit reporting agencies.

If you're looking to build credit but don't think you'll qualify for a traditional credit card, you may want to consider a secured credit card, which requires a cash collateral deposit that serves as a credit line for the account. (You can see where your credit currently stands by viewing your two free credit scores each month on Credit.com.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NGAj2wadGow

https://www.yahoo.com/celebrity/m/6e0a58b0-b247-31c7-87dc-95f3061e3b30/ss_why-%26%2339%3B80s-babies-are.html
Why '80s Babies Are Different Than Other Millennials
11/19/16

Anyone born in the late '70s or early '80s probably has memories of huddling around a bulky desktop with five (or more) friends to play Oregon Trail. This article, titled "The Oregon Trail Generation: Life Before and After Mainstream Tech" and originally featured on Social Media Week, discusses what life was like for that generation who grew up at the cusp of modern technology.

We're an enigma, those of us born at the tail end of the '70s and the start of the '80s. Some of the "generational" experts lazily glob us on to Generation X, and others just shove us over to the Millennials they love to hate — no one really gets us or knows where we belong.

We've been called Generation Catalano, Xennials, and The Lucky Ones, but no name has really stuck for this strange micro-generation that has both a healthy portion of Gen X grunge cynicism, and a dash of the unbridled optimism of Millennials.

A big part of what makes us the square peg in the round hole of named generations is our strange relationship with technology and the Internet. We came of age just as the very essence of communication was experiencing a seismic shift, and it's given us a unique perspective that's half analog old school and half digital new school.

You Have Died of Dysentery

If you can distinctly recall the excitement of walking into your weekly computer lab session and seeing a room full of Apple 2Es displaying the start screen of Oregon Trail, you're a member of this nameless generation, my friend.

We were the first group of kids who grew up with household computers, but still novel enough to elicit confusion and wonder. Gen X individuals were already fully-formed teens or young adults when computers became mainstream, and Millennials can't even remember a time before computers.

But, when we first placed our sticky little fingers on a primitive Mac, we were elementary school kids whose brains were curious sponges. We learned how to use these impressive machines at a time when average middle class families were just starting to be able to afford to buy their own massive desktops.

This made us the first children to grow up figuring it out, as opposed to having an innate understanding of new technology the way Millennials did, or feeling slightly alienated from it the way Gen X did.
An AOL Adolescence

Did you come home from middle school and head straight to AOL, praying all the time that you'd hear those magic words, "You've Got Mail" after waiting for the painfully slow dial-up Internet to connect? If so, then yes, you are a member of the Oregon Trail Generation. And you are definitely part of this generation if you hopped in and out of sketchy chat rooms asking others their A/S/L (age/sex/location for the uninitiated).

Precisely at the time that you were becoming obsessed with celebrities, music and the opposite sex, you magically had access to "the Internet," a thing that few normal people even partially grasped the power of at the time.

We were the first group of high school kids to do research for papers both online and in an old-fashioned card catalogue, which many millennials have never even heard of by the way (I know because I asked my 21-year-old intern and he started stuttering about library cards).

Because we had one foot in the traditional ways of yore and one foot in the digital information age, we appreciate both in a way that other generations don't. We can quickly turn curmudgeonly in the face of teens who've never written a letter, but we're glued to our smartphones just like they are.

Those born in the late '70s and early '80s were the last group to have a childhood devoid of all the technology that makes childhood and adolescence today pretty much the worst thing imaginable. We were the last gasp of a time before sexting, Facebook shaming, and constant communication.

We used pay-phones; we showed up at each other's houses without warning; we often spoke to our friends' parents before we got to speak to them; and we had to wait at least an hour to see any photos we'd taken. But for the group of kids just a little younger than us, the whole world changed, and that's not an exaggeration. In fact, it's possible that you had a completely different childhood experience than a sibling just five years your junior, which is pretty mind-blowing.

Napster U

Thanks to the evil genius of Sean Parker, most of us were in college in the heyday of Napster and spent many a night using the university's communal Ethernet to pillage our friends' music libraries at breakneck speeds. With mouths agape at having downloaded the entire OAR album in under five seconds, we built our music libraries faster than any other dorm-dwelling generation in history.

We were the first to experience the beauty of sharing and downloading mass amounts of music faster than you can say, "Third Eye Blind," which made the adoption of MP3 players and music streaming apps perfectly natural. Yet, we still distinctly remember buying cassette singles, joining those scam-tastic CD clubs and recording songs onto tapes from the radio. The very nature of buying and listening to music changed completely within the first 20 years of our lives.

A Youth Untouched by Social Media

The importance of going through some of life's toughest years without the toxic intrusion of social media really can't be overstated. Myspace was born in 2003 and Facebook became available to all college students in 2004. So if you were born in 1981-1982, for example, you were literally the last graduating class to finish college without social media being a part of the experience.

When we get together with our fellow Oregon Trail Generation friends, we frequently discuss how insanely glad we are that we escaped the middle school, high school and college years before social media took over and made an already challenging life stage exponentially more hellish.

We all talked crazy amounts of sh*t about each other, took pictures of ourselves and our friends doing shockingly inappropriate things and spread rumors like it was our jobs, but we just never had to worry about any of it ending up in a place where everyone and their moms (literally) could see it a hot second after it happened.

But unlike our older Gen X siblings, we were still young and dumb enough to get really into MySpace and Facebook in its first few years, so we understand what it feels like to overshare on social media and stalk a new crush's page.

Time after time, we late '70s and early '80s babies were on the cusp of changes that essentially transformed modern life and, for better or worse, it's shaped who we are and how we relate to the world.

I believe the big picture in the end times is that people are just NUMBED to sin, to the point where they don't feel anything anymore over any abomination.

20-30 years ago, even lost people, and Apostate christianity, to some extent discerned right from wrong. Now? There's just no shock and awe over anything. I remember the 1980's when co-habitation outside of marriage started getting accepted, and there were so many discussions about it b/c of the shock and awe. Now? It seems like noone remembers the USSC sodomite marriage ruling 1.5 years ago, nor hear a peep about the bathroom transgender wars anymore.

Again, forget about Martial Law, FEMA Camps, 501c3 churches, cities getting nuked, and what not. It's SIN that DESTROYS people, PERIOD.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/causeintegration/2016/11/28/get-ready-for-generation-z/#559d8f931dfe
11/28/16
Get Ready for Generation Z

Millennials. They’re our youngest generation of employees and a colossal consumer base that dwarfs the size of their predecessors, Gen X. So it’s natural that cultural analysts and trend prognosticators have been trying for years to size up Millennials and make sense of what they want and where they plan to take us when they rule the world.

But peeking right behind those Millennials is a tribe that’s even bigger and more mysterious: Generation Z. Defined as those born between 1996 and 2010, Generation Z outsizes the 60 million Millennial clan by a cool one million, making this toddler-to-teen army (born between 1996 and 2010) the next wave of employees that companies must understand in order to harness their talents and attract their interest.

I find it fascinating to examine not only generational behaviors, but the drivers behind these behaviors. Millennials grew up amidst the relative peace and prosperity of the 90s only to have their expectations shattered by the 9/11 attacks and financial crashes of 2000 and 2008. When you consider how much the Great Depression of the 20s and 30s informed the mindset and habits of our forebears, it’s easy to see how the Great Recession etched itself into the character of those coming of age during this bewildering time. As Alex Williams observed for The New York Times, “Theirs is a story of innocence lost.”

Generation Z never had the luxury of a threat-free perspective so they’ve been forced to view life through a more guarded lens from the start. One generational expert, Neil Howe, even suggests that they be called the “Homeland Generation” and defined by a post-9/11 birth date beginning in 2004. The wary worldview of this group is further shaped by Generation X parents, who came of age in the post-Watergate and Vietnam years amidst a time of economic and global uncertainty and who are now obsessed with creating a safer world for their kids.

In many ways, Gen Z shares similarities with Millennials but there are key distinctions as well:

    Technology. Gen Z has never known a world without smartphones and social media, so it’s even more ingrained for them than Millennials. They gobble up information quickly and are ready to move on to the next thing in an eyeblink. When it comes to Gen Z, seconds count. As Dan Schwabel, managing partner of Millennial Branding told Williams in The New York Times piece, “we tell our advertising partners that if they don’t communicate in five words and a big picture, they will not reach this generation.”

    Privacy. Unlike the more showy Millennials, Gen Z is less interested in sharing their lives for the public record. Anonymous social media platforms like Secret and Snapchat are more appealing to Gen Z than Facebook and similar platforms that leave permanent records which can come back to haunt users later on.

    Cultural diversity. With skyrocketing growth in biracial and minority populations, Generation Z embraces multiculturalism as a touchstone of who they are, and this also informs their attitudes on social issues. They’ve come of age when same-sex marriage and a black president are a given and they expect continued social progress to reflect the ethnic diversity that is tightly woven throughout their lives.

    Pragmatism. Growing up in an uncertain world, and being raised by Gen X parents whose own prospects seemed stunted by less exuberant times, Gen Z is drawn to safety. Like the Silent Generation who grew up amidst war and the Depression, Gen Z is a more cautious class that steers away from risky behaviors and towards more sensible careers and choices. Stats on lower underage drinking and higher seatbelt wearing for this group are just a couple of data points for this characteristic, as well as anecdotal evidence of job paths that are forged less by passion and more by practical realities.

What does this all mean? The future of work lies with Generation Z and employers need to get ahead of the shift that this group will represent. According to Dan Keldsen, author of The Gen Z Effect, there are six main forces from Gen Z shaping the future of business. As reported by Jacob Morgan for Inc., this includes taking the good characteristics of each generation and bringing them together for a cohesive team environment; teaching employees how to learn by harnessing the vast amount of information available today to adopt the world as a classroom; changing the rules and breaking tradition to achieve great results; and disentangling ourselves from hyperconnectivity so that we are not always online.   

http://madamenoire.com/745759/waiting-to-marry/

Sound Reasons Millennials Are Waiting To Marry
1/9/17

People are getting married older. Since the 1970s, the median age for women marrying for the first time has increased by nearly five years. Today, the average age women get married is 29 and the average age men tie the knot is 31. That’s a far-cry from our grandparent’s generation, during which people would marry immediately out of college and even high school sometimes. What perplexes many parents of millennials today isn’t necessarily that they get married later, but that they carry on committed relationships, with live-in partners, for years before getting married. Many parents (perhaps yours) may feel that if you’re doing that, then why not just get married? You can answer your parents’ concerns with these sound reasons millennials are waiting to get married later. And honestly, if you’re going to walk down the aisle at some point or another, your parents could probably relax about it, right?

Their parents are divorced

This fact may sting a little, but a lot of millennials come from divorced parents! So they are wary about rushing into anything.

They can live together

Since living together before marriage is no longer viewed as the big sin it used to be (for most, at least) a lot of couples think they should take the opportunity to see how living together goes, for quite some time, before getting married.

more
 

http://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=321171113253
Homosexuality exploding among youth-How it happened!
Series:  News In Focus  · 5 of 5
3/21/2017 (TUE)
Audio: http://www.sermonaudio.com/saplayer/playpopup.asp?SID=321171113253

http://www.charismamag.com/life/culture/22494-how-the-new-christian-left-is-twisting-the-gospel

Here's How the New Christian Left Is Twisting the Gospel
12:00PM EDT 3/15/2017 Chelsen Vicari   

Peek behind the curtain of some "progressive" or "hip" evangelical churches, past the savvy technology and secular music, and you will find more than just a contemporary worship service. You'll find faith leaders encouraging young evangelicals to trade in their Christian convictions for a gospel filled with compromise. They're slowly attempting to give evangelicalism an "update"—and the change is not for the good.

It's painful for me to admit, but we can no longer rest carefree in our evangelical identity—because it is changing. No doubt you have seen the headlines declaring that evangelicalism is doomed because evangelical kids are leaving the faith. It is no secret that there is an expanding gulf between traditional Christian teachings and contemporary moral values. But the sad truth is that the ideological gulf between America's evangelical grown-ups and their kids, aka the millennials, seems to be widening too.

Somehow the blame for this chasm is being heaped on traditional churches. They are accused of having too many rules as well as being homophobic and bigoted. Yes, we've heard those false claims from popular culture in its desperate attempt to keep Christianity imprisoned within the sanctuary walls. But now popular culture is being aided by Christ-professing bedfellows whose message to "coexist," "tolerate" and "keep out of it" is more marketable to the rising generation of evangelicals.

The seasoned Christian soldiers are noticing these distortions of the gospel. But for young evangelicals, the spiritual haze is harder to wade through. Desperate for acceptance in a fallen world, many young evangelicals (and some older ones) choose not to take Christ out of the chapel, and so they are unwittingly killing the church's public witness. In this uphill cultural battle, mired by scare tactics and fear, three types of evangelical Christians are emerging:

    Couch-potato Christians: These Christians adapt to the culture by staying silent on the tough culture-and-faith discussions. Typically, this group will downplay God's absolute truths by promoting the illusion that neutrality was Jesus' preferred method of evangelism.
    Cafeteria-style Christians: This group picks and chooses which Scripture passages to live by, opting for the ones that best seem to jive with culture. Typically, they focus solely on the "nice" parts of the gospel while simultaneously and intentionally minimizing sin, hell, repentance and transformation.
    Convictional Christians: In the face of the culture's harsh admonitions, these evangelicals refuse to be silent. Mimicking Jesus, they compassionately talk about love and grace while also sharing with their neighbors the need to recognize and turn from sin.

I know about these three types of Christians because at one time or another, I have fallen into each of these three categories. My parents will tell you that even though I was raised in church, I morphed into a full-fledged feminist, told my parents they were ignorant for not endorsing homosexuality and bought into the distorted social justice rhetoric that confuses caring for the poor with advancing socialist or big government systems and demonizing the United States for its free-market system.

I'm not ashamed to share my story because my experiences and those of my fellow bold evangelicals are a testimony of God's awesome, transforming power. Being countercultural for Christ isn't easy. What does the Great Commission say? Jesus commanded us to go, "teaching them to observe all things I have commanded you" (Matt. 28:20a).

Where Did We Go Wrong?

I see so many parents scratching their heads trying to figure out where they went wrong with young evangelicals. Following the instructions of Proverbs 22:6—"Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it"—many evangelical parents took their children to church and prayed with them every night before bed. Yet the values those children now hold dear do not reflect the traditional teachings of Jesus.

To be perfectly clear, I want to let you know up front that this isn't a parenting how-to guide that, if followed, will lead your loved ones to salvation. Instead, what I can offer you is a glimpse into the world of a 20-something who sees thousands of young evangelicals being spiritually and emotionally targeted on Christian university campuses, in college ministries and at churches nationwide by a growing liberal movement cloaked in Christianity.

Research tells us evangelicals are drifting further away from the orthodox truths their parents and grandparents held dear.   

Our churches have rarely—if ever—faced the exodus we are seeing today. This will have a direct effect on the spiritual and moral values that will shape the nation in the coming years. That is why it is urgent that concerned Christians start acting now before the situation gets worse.

The Collision of Faith and Culture

Faith and culture will continue to collide in America. The culture wars, the growth of family, the success of missions, the prosperity of our great nation—the future rests on millennial evangelicals' worldview. And that is cause for concern, because something has gone wrong with young evangelicals' theology.

The millennial generation's susceptibility to "feel-good" doctrine is playing a big part in America's moral decline. Millennials' religious practices depend largely on how the actions make us and others feel, whether the activities are biblical or not. For example, we only attend churches that leave us feeling good about our lifestyle choices, even if those choices conflict with God's clear commandments. We dismiss old hymns that focus on God's transforming salvation, love and mercy and opt for "Jesus is your boyfriend" songs. Or we contribute to nonprofits that exploit and misuse terms such as justice, oppressed and inequality because tweaking the language makes us feel more neutral, less confrontational.

Popular liberal evangelical writers and preachers tell young evangelicals that if they accept abortion and same-sex marriage, then the media, academia and Hollywood will finally accept Christians. Out of fear of being falsely dubbed "intolerant" or "uncompassionate," many young Christians are buying into theological falsehoods. Instead of standing up as a voice for the innocent unborn or marriage as God intended, millennials are forgoing the authority of Scripture and embracing a couch potato, cafeteria-style Christianity, all in the name of tolerance.

This contemporary mindset is what Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the German theologian whose Christian convictions put him at odds with the Nazis and cost him his life, called "cheap grace." In his book The Cost of Discipleship Bonhoeffer wrote: "Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, Communion without confession, absolution without personal confession. Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate."

Right now, cheap grace theology is proliferating around evangelical Bible colleges, seminaries and Christian ministries.

Christian Doctrine Hijacked

It is not that millennial evangelicals were not taken to church by their parents. It is that their training has been hijacked by ineffective and sometimes intentionally distorted doctrine.

As constant and pervasive as the attacks on Christianity are at public universities, it is important to remember that millennials' worldviews do not start taking shape after they move out of their parents' houses. Their understanding of Jesus' teachings and cultural convictions begins to form while they are still at home and under the influence of their local church.

What I hope and pray evangelical parents and leaders come to realize is that the church has been too trusting. In our jam-packed lifestyles, parents have treated Sunday school as they do softball or ballet class—drop off the kids for an hour, then pick them up and hope they learned something.

Early on in my Sunday school teaching days, my co-teacher and I followed the curriculum pretty narrowly, the exception being that my co-teacher had an outstanding knowledge of biblical history that he imparted to the kids.

We taught all about Jesus' birth, resurrection and saving grace. Thinking the fluffy kids ministry curriculum covered all of the necessary bases, I felt confident these kids had a firm grasp on their Christian worldview. Boy, was I wrong!

One day my co-teacher and I decided to play "True or False." We casually went down a list of worldview questions with our class, sure that our little evangelicals would nail every question correctly.

No. 1: Jesus is God. "True." Great job.

No. 2: Jesus sinned. "False." Bingo!

No. 3: Jesus is one of many ways to heaven. "True." What?!

Shocked is the only way to describe how I felt. Hadn't they been listening to us? When I asked who taught them that, one girl said, "Coexist." Yes, these young evangelicals had been listening to their Sunday school teachers and their parents, but they had also been listening to their public school teachers, TV celebrities and rock stars.

Youth ministers, volunteer leaders and pastors also have to start preparing these kids to deal with the very real hostility that faces young evangelicals. 

If we never talk about abortion in church, how can we expect the rising evangelical girl to calmly explain the option of adoption to her frightened best friend who just admitted she is pregnant?

What will surprise you is how much young evangelicals actually crave honest discussions about abortion, sexuality, sexual exploitation, feminism and radical Islam. My friend and Evangelical Action adviser Richmond Trotter has two non-negotiable topics when addressing youth: creation and life. Having volunteered in church youth ministry since 1996, Richmond is not afraid to have serious discussions about what Scripture says about abortion, evolution and homosexuality. Make no mistake: The trend away from biblical truth is not concentrated in the hipster city limits. It is unfolding in the crevices of America's plains, hills, mountains and swamplands. All across this nation, "old-fashioned" conservative evangelicalism is being traded in for a bright and shiny, mediocre Christianity.

If America's evangelicals disengage from the public square and fail to engage the rising generation of Christian leaders, then we risk losing our public voice, then our religious liberty, then liberty altogether.

What Happened to the Religious Right?

The last several decades witnessed tremendous evangelical influence in the United States. Leaders such as Billy Graham, Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson, Tim and Beverly LaHaye, Paige and Dorothy Patterson, James Dobson and James and Betty Robison made a bold impact on America's families, churches and government. Now that those few leaders are aging or retiring, or have died, there are very few traditional evangelical leaders left holding the torch, and even fewer candidates to whom they can pass it.

But religious convictions in America are not on the verge of disappearance just yet. There is still hope. In the book God Is Alive and Well: The Future of Religion in America, Gallup Inc. Editor-in-Chief Frank Newport opines: "Christianity will prevail in the U.S. America will remain very much a Christian nation in the decades ahead, albeit less so than in the past because of an increase in Americans who don't have a religious identity."

Heed the Warning Signs

Evangelicals and culture warriors in the U.S. do not have to look far to discover what happens when Christian denominations give up on their traditional convictions and teachings. All we have to do is look at the dwindling memberships of mainline Protestant denominations.

In order to safeguard the trajectory of young evangelicals, we must uphold the authoritative Word of God. It is imperative that those in a position to influence millennials have transparent and honest discussions about the culture wars in which evangelical youth are already engaging. Otherwise they will be silent and accepting in the face of persecution and false doctrine.

The importance of arming the next generation of evangelicals cannot be overstated. If we continue to follow the example of mainline Protestants, evangelicalism will have a gloomy future. We must offer sorely needed leadership, but before we can do that, we need to know exactly whom and what we are up against.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eEYJfgCFC2A

(http://media.sermonaudio.com/gallery/photos/CooleyJason-02.jpg)

http://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=58172115269
Millennials Are Liberal, Why?
Series:  News In Focus  · 15 of 15
5/8/2017 (MON)
Audio: http://www.sermonaudio.com/playpopup.asp?SID=58172115269

STUDY : Millennials Spending on Dining, Travel, Fitness, Ignoring Retirement Savings
5/29/17

A new study shows Millennials are living as if they will never have to retire.

While they enjoy spending on “lifestyle,” they do not save for the eventuality of retirement.

A recipe for disaster.

From ZeroHedge

Millennials save more of their income than older generations. Don’t believe it? Look at a recent survey by Merrill Edge, which found millennials say they save 36% more than their general population counterparts report as over a third stash away more than 20% of their salary per year.

As for what they’re saving for, that’s another story. Whereas baby boomers save for retirement, millennials want financial freedom and save for a desired lifestyle rather than exiting the workforce. Millennials would rather spend money on travel, dining, and fitness than save for their financial future. They are also more focused on certain milestones like landing their dream job or traveling the world, and are less worried about getting married or having kids. Bottom line, millennials are saving, just for shorter-term goals as compared to their parents.

Where were you thirty years ago? My parents and many of our readers likely remember the stock market’s ascension to record highs before the sudden crash of 1987. A few decades later the capital market is back to flirting with another peak, but the loss-averse nature of people leaves past financial crises clearly imprinted into memory.

The Atlantic put together 41 pictures for a glimpse into 1987 that captured a wide variety of figures and events during that year. One such portrait included passengers on the F train in New York reading the newspaper after “Black Monday.” The front cover of the New York Post read “Wall St. Bloodbath” in huge bold letters and “Panic selling sweeps market: P.5” at the bottom of the page. Six clocks sat between the two texts, reflecting the event’s global reach.

Here are some other descriptions of pictures from that time to highlight just how different our world is three decades on:

Now-President-but-then-private-citizen Donald Trump greets Liza Minelli backstage at Carnegie Hall, along with his then wife Ivana Trump, and Henry and Nancy Kissinger. Fast forward 30 years (almost to the month) and likely much to his disbelief at that time he’s currently representing the free world by traveling abroad and meeting with foreign leaders. Far cry from real estate deals, that.
The vice president of marketing for Compaq Computer Corporation shows off the new Compaq Portable III at the Mark Hellinger Theater in New York, which weighs just 18 pounds so that it’s easy (!) to carry. Now not only our computer but phone capabilities rest in just one device and fit right in our pockets, with the iPhone 7 weighing as light as between 5 to 7 ounces.
Then First Lady Nancy Reagan watches an anti-drug musical, Just Say No, at a high school in Alexandria, Virginia. Tough to imagine now about two-thirds of Americans live in a state where some form of marijuana is legal. The momentum continues in that direction as well, with 60% of Americans favoring legalization of the drug according to a 2016 Gallup poll.
About 200,000 people (according to US Park Police estimates) rally on the National Mall in support of gays and lesbians. Fast forward and we now have marriage equality.
Bernie Sanders, then Mayor of Burlington, Vermont, records songs and a conversation about his philosophy on tape: “Sanders feels music is a powerful way to communicate with the masses.” Little did people see just how much he would connect with the masses this past presidential election, particularly among the politically hard to reach millennial cohort.
For more photographs down memory lane, here’s a link to the article with everyone from David Bowie and Princess Diana to Pee-wee Herman and Howard Stern:

Thirty years ago, baby boomers were in their twenties and up, and now their kids’ ages span from nearly twenty to their mid-thirties. As those old photographs show, however, millennials’ experience in their twenties and thirties vastly differs from their parents socially, culturally, and economically. We therefore have different values and goals, which even extends to our financial lives.

A recent survey of over 1,000 Americans conducted from March 21st to April 5th by Merrill Edge showed a stark generational divide about different groups’ life priorities. Some of these findings may come as a surprise. Here are the results:

more
http://truthfeed.com/study-millennials-spending-on-dining-travel-fitness-ignoring-retirement-savings/76988/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6QmojEEnqoQ