The Obama Deception Complete Movie (2009) English - Степашка: "The Obama Deception Part 1 through 12".
!!!!!
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Brutally Honest: "extremism in the defense of liberalism is no vice"
Brutally Honest: "extremism in the defense of liberalism is no vice"
"extremism in the defense of liberalism is no vice"
Modern liberals measure "progress" not by the unfolding fulfillment of the natural moral law but by its elimination. Consequently, most of what is labeled "progress" is basically just regress, a return, under a glossier guise, to the practices of antiquity and pre-Christian paganism.
Pagans stuck the inconvenient elderly on snow drifts; moderns dehydrate them to death in hospitals. Pagans left unwanted babies to die on hilltops; moderns bury them in bins behind Planned Parenthood clinics. Pagans attended orgies, moderns attend "gay weddings."
In its deepening moral squalor, in its raw defiance of reality as God made it, the Brave New World is as barbaric as the old one. That Hillary Clinton and other architects of the Brave New World are now forced to grapple clumsily with piracy is somehow fitting. Their "new world order" is intrinsically disordered, a reckless ideological experiment that explodes in recurring currents of chaos, discontent, and lawlessness. Why not piracy too?
The recent gusher of globalist babble at the G-20 summit is exposed by the rise of piracy as a total sham. And the rise of piracy is one more proof of Dambisa Moyo's thesis in Dead Aid -- that ceaseless Western government-to-government handouts to Africa, which are just a new version of white colonialism, have frozen the continent in a helpless and horrid past. After a trillion dollars over sixty years, the only vivid display of entrepreneurial activity in Africa today is…piracy.
National Review noted this week that Bono's organization, One, is organizing a campaign of attacks against Moyo's book. Perhaps Bono can add pirates to his to-do list or maybe co-host a few Park Avenue parties for them with Al Sharpton.
But having already accepted de facto piracy by African governments -- most aid, Moyo observes, evaporates in corruption -- the engineers of the new world order aren't likely to win the "war on piracy" or even fight it.
...
In the giddy days of the campaign, one cheerleading journalist for the San Francisco Chronicle, Mark Morford, speculated that Obama might be a "Lightworker" for the globe -- "that rare kind of attuned being who has the ability to lead us not merely to new foreign policies or health care plans or whatnot, but who can actually help usher in a new way of being on the planet…"
This "new way of being on the planet" looks awfully familiar, a return to history's most dismal, farcical, and evil chapters with tyranny, decadence, and false religion. This week the new way of being on the planet resembled the 18th century -- pirates abroad, tax-revolting tea parties at home, and a president, acting like a king, who collected excessive taxes and hatched extreme plans (such as forcing doctors and nurses to perform abortions against their consciences) while his aides sputtered about "extremists."
George Washington was an extremist in George III's eyes, and maybe even a disgruntled military veteran too. But under the madness of King Obama, extremism in the defense of liberalism is no vice and the citizenry's attempt to moderate it no virtue.
Neumayr's playing hammer here, nailing modern liberalism with effect. God bless him.
Do your part to counter the barbarism of today's leftist mind and pass this one on.
GraphOilogy: “We had everything but money,” A Suggested Guidebook for the “Greater Depression”
GraphOilogy: “We had everything but money,” A Suggested Guidebook for the “Greater Depression”: "“We had everything but money” is a collection of first person accounts of the Great Depression in the United States. Although, it appears to be out of print, it is widely available online. I recommend it as a very good guidebook for our present circumstances, what many are calling the “Greater Depression.”"
Figures on government spending and debt - Yahoo! Finance
Figures on government spending and debt - Yahoo! Finance
Figures on government spending and debt
- Friday April 17, 2009, 7:45 pm EDT
WASHINGTON (AP) --
Total public debt subject to limit April 16 11,125,587
Statutory debt limit 12,104,000
Total public debt outstanding April 16 11,183,899
Operating balance April 16 257,351
Interest fiscal year 2009 thru February 148,762
Interest same period 2008 198,518
Deficit fiscal year 2009 thru February 764,525
Deficit same period 2008 264,541
Receipts fiscal year 2009 thru February 860,877
Receipts same period 2008 967,153
Outlays fiscal year 2009 thru February 1,625,402
Outlays same period 2008 1,231,694
Gold assets in March 11,041
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
The Cost of Global Warming: A Story in Pictures � The Foundry
The Cost of Global Warming: A Story in Pictures � The Foundry: "human-global-warming"
And what should be the final nail in the coffin: All this economic pain is for very little, if any, environmental gain. Analysis by the Environmental Protection Agency concludes that if the U.S. reduces CO2 emissions 60 percent by 2050, it will reduce global temperature by 0.1 to 0.2 degree Centigrade by 2095. A multi–lateral approach wouldn’t fare much better. Why? Well, there’s a lot of reasons. After all, the science behind global warming is anything but conclusive, but one reason could be how small man’s contribution to carbon dioxide emissions is.
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Vinegar and Honey: Seasons Of Life
Vinegar and Honey: Seasons Of Life
There was an Indian Chief who had four sons. He wanted his sons to learn not to judge things too quickly. So he sent them each on a quest, in turn, to go and look at a pear tree that was a great distance away.
The first son went in the winter, the second in the spring, the third in summer, and the youngest son in the fall. When they had all gone and come back, he called them together to describe what they had seen.
The first son said that the tree was ugly, bent, and twisted.The second son said no it was covered with green buds and full of promise. The third son disagreed; he said it was laden with blossoms that smelled so sweet and looked so beautiful, it was the most graceful thing he had ever seen. The last son disagreed with all of them; he said it was ripe and drooping with fruit, full of life and fulfillment.
The man then explained to his sons that each of them had reported correctly, because they had each seen but one season in the tree's life. He told them that you cannot judge a tree, or a person, by only one season,and that the essence of who they are and the pleasure, joy, and love that come from that life can only be measured at the end,when all the seasons are passed.
If you give up when it's winter, you will miss the promise of your spring, the beauty of your summer, the fulfillment of your fall.
Moral: Don't let the pain of one season destroy the joy of all the rest. Don't judge life by one difficult season. Persevere through the difficult seasons and better ones are sure to come.
"To everything there is a season,a time for every purpose under the sun."Ecclesiastes 3:1 KJV
Seasons Of Life
There was an Indian Chief who had four sons. He wanted his sons to learn not to judge things too quickly. So he sent them each on a quest, in turn, to go and look at a pear tree that was a great distance away.
The first son went in the winter, the second in the spring, the third in summer, and the youngest son in the fall. When they had all gone and come back, he called them together to describe what they had seen.
The first son said that the tree was ugly, bent, and twisted.The second son said no it was covered with green buds and full of promise. The third son disagreed; he said it was laden with blossoms that smelled so sweet and looked so beautiful, it was the most graceful thing he had ever seen. The last son disagreed with all of them; he said it was ripe and drooping with fruit, full of life and fulfillment.
The man then explained to his sons that each of them had reported correctly, because they had each seen but one season in the tree's life. He told them that you cannot judge a tree, or a person, by only one season,and that the essence of who they are and the pleasure, joy, and love that come from that life can only be measured at the end,when all the seasons are passed.
If you give up when it's winter, you will miss the promise of your spring, the beauty of your summer, the fulfillment of your fall.
Moral: Don't let the pain of one season destroy the joy of all the rest. Don't judge life by one difficult season. Persevere through the difficult seasons and better ones are sure to come.
"To everything there is a season,a time for every purpose under the sun."
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Reformed Voices: Learn the 10 Commandments
Reformed Voices: Learn the 10 Commandments
Learn the 10 Commandments
Is it possible to learn the 10 Commandments and be able to recall them in any order in under 12 minutes? You may be surprised.
part 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A64HS79546o
part 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q1NS0EPXkss
Wednesday, April 08, 2009
Spiritual Juxtapostioning - Part Two | Verum Serum
Spiritual Juxtapostioning - Part Two | Verum Serum
Spiritual Juxtapostioning - Part Two
Scott on April 7, 2009
To me, one of the most striking juxtapositions in the Christian faith is the contrast between Light and Darkness.
Isaiah 9:2 - The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light;
those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shined.John 1:5 - The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.
Not that the contrast of Light and Darkness is of such a complex nature that it takes theologians and philosophers to make the comparison. On the contrary, it is one of the most fundamental and obvious contrasts in the natural world. But in the spiritual and metaphysical economy of things, Light and Darkness take on monumental and eternal significance.
Non-Christian have at times objected to the idea that they are walking in darkness. They frequently equate darkness with evil, so when they hear someone claiming that they are living/walking in darkness, they take offense. However, the intent of using the term darkness is not to equate it with evil, but to instead equate it with a lack of awareness and/or understanding,
In other words, if someone was born in a cave in complete darkness and this person lived their entire life in that darkness, they would have no idea what darkness was because living in the dark cave, they would have never seen the thing called light. Thus they would have nothing with which to compare their darkness. No amount of explaining what darkness is would make a difference until someone showed them light. It is only in the presence of light that darkness is revealed and understood.
Plato’s Allegory of the Cave brings these ideas into play in some respects, adding the nuance of shadows as well. However, I like a different story involving darkness, light, and people in a cave:
-
THE CAVE PEOPLE (Adapted from a story by Max Lucado)
LONG AGO, or maybe not so long ago, there was a tribe who lived in a dark, cold cavern. The cave dwellers would huddle together and cry against the chill. Loud and long they wailed. It was all they did because it was all they knew to do. The sounds in the cave were mournful but the people didn’t know it, for they had never known the joy of life.
But then, one day, they heard a different voice rise above their pitiful wailing. “I have heard your cries,” it announced, the words echoing through the cave. “I have felt your chill and seen your darkness. I have come to help.”
The cave people grew quiet. They had never heard this voice. The message of hope sounded strange to their ears.
“How can we know you have come to help?” asked one of the tribe.
Out from the shadows stepped a figure they had never seen before. “Trust me,” he answered. “I have what you need.”
The cave people peered through the darkness at the stranger. He was stacking something, then stooping and stacking more.
“What are you doing?” one cried, nervous. The stranger didn’t answer.
“What are you making?” one shouted even louder. Still no response.
“Tell us!” demanded a third.
The visitor stood and spoke in the direction of the voices. “I have what you need.” With that he turned to the pile at his feet and lit it. Wood ignited, flames erupted, and light filled the cavern.
The cave people turned away in fear. “Put it out!” they cried. “It hurts to see it.”
“Light always hurts before it helps,” he answered. “Step closer. The pain will soon pass.”
“Not I,” declared a voice.
“Nor I,” agreed a second.
“Only a fool would risk exposing his eyes to such light,” declared a third.
The stranger stood next to the fire. “Would you prefer the darkness? Would you prefer the cold? Don’t rely on your fears. Look to the light and take a step of faith.”
For a long time no one spoke. The people hovered in groups covering their eyes. The stranger stood next to the fire. “It’s warm here. Come, join me.” he invited.
“He’s right,” one from behind him announced. “It is warmer.”
The stranger turned and saw a figure slowly stepping toward the fire. “I can open my eyes now,” she proclaimed. “I can see.”
“Come closer,” invited the fire builder.
She did. She stepped into the ring of light. “It’s so warm!” She extended her hands and sighed as her chill began to pass.
“Come, everyone! Feel the warmth,” she invited.
“Silence, woman!” cried one of the cave dwellers. “Dare you lead us into your folly? Leave us and take your light with you.”
She turned to the stranger. “Why won’t they come?”
‘They choose the chill, for though it’s cold, it’s what they know. They’d rather be cold than have to change.” The stranger looked sad.
“And they would rather live in the dark?” she asked in disbelief.
“Yes, they would rather live in the dark,” said the stranger.
The now-warm woman stood silent, looking first into the darkness and then at the man in the light.
“Will you leave the fire?” he asked.
She paused, and then answered, “I cannot. I cannot bear the cold.” Then she spoke again. “But nor can I bear the thought of my people in darkness.”
“You don’t have to,” he responded, reaching into the fire and removing a stick. “Carry this to your people. Tell them the light is here, and the light is warm. Tell them the light is for all who desire it.”
And so she took the small flame and stepped into the shadows.
-
Two Easters ago, I worked with my good friend (who was also the worship pastor of the church we were attending at the time) to put together an Easter service that would provide, not just the traditional Easter story (which is perfect all on its own), but that would also provide some additional opportunities and some other forms to convey the truths of Easter to the unchurched. I knew this Max Lucado story and had always felt that it needed a little more fleshing out, thus I adapted it and tweaked it a bit into the form that you see above. I am not sure if Lucado wrote it with Plato’s Cave Allegory in mind or if it was just coincidence. What I find fascinating is that Plato, almost 2500 years ago, seized upon the ideas of darkness, light and shadow and saw within them analogies to life and human existence.
For those times in my life when darkness has arrived in some form and has dimmed my view of my faith and has obstructed my view of Christ, it is only the undimmed and unwavering light of Truth and Grace that clears away the darkness and the shadows that accompany it. Sometimes I am unaware of the darkness. It comes gradually, like the loss of light with the setting sun. Then I am immersed in my own unique brand of dark, shaded by pride or anger or arrogance or judgmentalism.
Until…BAM! The Light breaks through the darkness and reveals the room of shadows in which I had been living. And then I am again reminded of the quote from John Newton that I mentioned in Part I:
My memory is nearly gone, but I remember two things: That I am a great sinner and that Christ is a great Saviour.
What is Birkat Hachamah? - Birkat Hachamah
What is Birkat Hachamah? - Birkat Hachamah
What is Birkat Hachamah?An Overview of this Rare Blessing |
Every 28 years the sun returns to the same position, at the same time of the week, that it occupied at the time of its creation—at the beginning of the fourth day of creation. A special blessing – called Birkat Hachamah, "the sun blessing" – is recited to mark this event. Due to the rarity of this event, this blessing is customarily recited amid large public gatherings of men, women and children. This year, we will perform this special mitzvah on the morning of April 8This year, 5769, we will perform this special mitzvah on the morning of April 8 (the morning before Passover). The blessing is traditionally preceded and followed by a short selection of Psalms and prayers. The existence of nearly all life on Earth is fueled by light from the sun. Every morning without fail, the sun rises in the east and bathes us with its sustaining rays, causing flora to grow and, through the process of photosynthesis, providing oxygen for all fauna. Some may call this phenomenon nature. We will gather on April 8th and declare otherwise: "Blessed are You, Lord our G‑d, King of the universe, who reenacts the works of creation." |
Monday, April 06, 2009
Rally: Too Flashy For Our Liking | The Big Picture
Rally: Too Flashy For Our Liking | The Big Picture
David Rosenberg, the soon-to-be former Economist for Merrill Lynch, had a very prescient commentary last week about the 25% four week rally on Friday:
As for this 25% rally in three weeks – the consensus has swung to the view that this is a real inflection point. One warning. We saw this happen in late 2001 and early 2002 too … big, big rally; early cyclicals flew; the markets thought we were in for a V-shaped recovery … it was longer away than many at the time believed and many were burnt as a result. And keep in mind that the ‘second derivative’ on growth began to improve in the fourth quarter of 2001, and the S&P 500 still did not bottom for another year.
Currently, the equity market is priced for $70 on earnings on a going-forward basis, or a 75% rebound. And with retailing stocks up 30%, leisure/accommodation up 35%, and the homebuilders up 40%, the market is priced, amazingly, for a revival that is led by the consumer! (in fact, the only S&P sector that is now trading at P/E multiples that are at post-2001 highs is the consumer cyclical group). If we see that in the next year, we will be the first to hang up our Hewlett Packards. Being up 25% in a year and staying bearish … well, shame.
Achieving that in less than a month – come on. Too flashy for our liking.
In fact, let’s learn from history. The only times we have ever seen the stock market surge close to this much in such a short time frame were:
* December 1929
* June 1931
* August 1932
* May 1933
* July 1938
* September 1982Only in September 1982 and in May 1933 was the equity market embarking on a new bull phase. But guess what? By the time the S&P 500 surged 25%, it had already crossed above its 200-day moving average. So call us when the S&P 500 crosses the 1,000 mark – another 20% to go. That is how deeply entrenched this particular bear market has been – that even after this massive rally, the onus is still on the bulls! Consider as well that on 4 of the 6 occasions that the equity market staged such a huge rally over such a short time period, it relapsed. So we are going to wait this out, acknowledging that we could be late to the party. We still feel the downside risks are too high to be involved.
Ashes Ashes All Fall Down: We're Coming Home!
Ashes Ashes All Fall Down: We're Coming Home!
We're Coming Home!
Many years ago, when I was teaching history at a high school in Texas, one of my students was diagnosed with cancer. A rare cancer. She underwent aggressive treatment in Texas, and then in California. And about 6 months after her initial diagnosis we all received an email from her dad that started with the following words: "We're coming home!" While the email appeared optimistic and excited on the surface, I knew that my student was coming home to die. The cancer was not in remission. All treatment options had been exhausted. Within two months she would be gone.
Today I look at America and those words, "we're coming home!", rattle around in my weary brain. The markets are up, 72,000 people attended the national collegiate basketball semi-final in Detroit this past weekend (20,000 more than had ever attended in the past), many restaurants in my community are up 20% in sales from this time last year. And yet even a cursory glance at the underlying economic numbers makes one wince with pain: U6 unemployment at 16+% and growing by close to a MILLION individuals per month, Consumer Debt still tipping the scales at over 15% of GDP, a crashing import-export economy, government-sponsored (and taxplayer funded) bailouts and rescues for criminal banking and financial sector CEO's, etc.
We're coming home! When fifteen year old Clara came home---full of smiles and hugs and love---she did so knowing that the end was near. She was determined to make the very best of her final days, surrounded by family and friends. Her parents knew that their daughter would soon die, and as devout believers in a Christian God, they gained strength from the knowledge that their precious child would soon be in "a better place". But despite their faith, Clara's parents were destroyed. For them, he death of their only daughter would kill them as well. And in many respects, they too came home to die.
I believe that the American people are beginning to understand that the future is bleak. So many jobs destroyed, so little savings, no safety nets, no honest government to care for them, no access to health care, no hope for the future. And millions upon millions of Americans are, in a final gasp and haze of debt spending, maxing out all of their remaining credit cards, and going to basketball games and dining out and seeing the world! One last hurrah before they too reach the end.
We're coming home.
Friday, March 27, 2009
Curmudgeonly & Skeptical�
Curmudgeonly & Skeptical�: "Family of Irving 'Bud' Feldkamp,
Dies in Montana Plane Crash
Owner of the Nation's Largest Privately Owned Abortion Chain,"
Dies in Montana Plane Crash
Owner of the Nation's Largest Privately Owned Abortion Chain,"
Thursday, March 26, 2009
The Oil Drum | The Next Five Years: Peak Lite and the Current Oil Picture
The Oil Drum | The Next Five Years: Peak Lite and the Current Oil Picture: "Conclusions
While the oil industry is historically cyclical"
While the oil industry is historically cyclical"
Conclusions
While the oil industry is historically cyclical, I believe we are approaching the point at which the industry will no longer be able to build out enough new projects to stay ahead of demand. This could manifest itself as peak oil, in which case the rate of depletion permanently overtakes the rate at which new production comes online. Or it could first manifest as peak lite, in which case new production still stays somewhat ahead of depletion, but can't keep up with new demand. In either of these situations, I think the historical cyclicality of the oil industry will disappear. In early 2008 I thought we had reached that point, but it appears that we had at least one more cycle ahead.
While it is too early to tell with a high level of confidence just where we are on the depletion curve, the summer of 2008 provided of taste of life in an oil-constrained world. The current level of underinvestment and the prospect of higher taxes are setting up another situation in which spare capacity erodes, leading to higher oil prices and greater volatility. Add to this the prospect of a global oil production peak, and I have trouble seeing a case where oil prices will remain stable in the coming years.
As an investor, I use blue chip oil stocks as a defensive measure against much higher prices. I am not one who subscribes to the idea that oil companies are going to be put out of business by running out of oil, or by ethanol, algal biodiesel, or any other combination of alternative fuel technologies. In fact, I strongly believe that if an alternative technology begins to look attractive enough, oil companies have deep enough pockets to shift their business in that direction. But I think that's unlikely to happen any time soon.
As a consumer, it would probably pay to evaluate just how much higher prices might impact your budget - and then take action. Can you sustain oil prices that return to $150/bbl or more? Even if you can, do you want that uncertainty hanging over your budget? If not, then it would be prudent to take steps to minimize the personal impact of high oil prices. Steps to consider include utilizing more fuel efficient transportation, public transportation, ride-sharing, and if possible locating closer to your place of employment.
Plan ahead and don't get caught off-guard like so many did last summer. It is only a matter of time before history repeats itself. Here's hoping our political leaders make policy decisions that won't worsen the impact.
Chicago Boyz � Blog Archive � Environmentalism and Reality
Chicago Boyz � Blog Archive � Environmentalism and Reality:
Pittsburg
"sol vason Says:
March 25th, 2009 at 6:19 am
When I moved to pittsburgh, pa in 1970 the polution index ranged from a low of 100 to a high of 300. Environmentalists took no pride in these numbers. The closed down the steel mills and all the other smokestack businesses. Drove them overseas to India and China, I suppose. By 1980 our air was clean and there weas massive unemployment. Many Pittsburgers left town. During that time I could hire PhDs for $7.00/hour. People with 30 years on-the-job experience for $6.00.
Soon other industries left town. Pittsburgh used to be the #3 city in the US in terms of corporate headquarters. Today it is not in the top 300. Even the Mellons and Heinzs sold out and left town.
But now Pittsburgh has clean air. And because so many people have left, very high property taxes. And laws that keeep new imndustries out. Today our graduates all leave town to find new jobs. Except the dumb ones.
Obama says he is going to pass laws to eliminate the cycle of boom and bust. Because no one can gaurantee permanent boom this means we will have permanet bust."
Pittsburg
"sol vason Says:
March 25th, 2009 at 6:19 am
When I moved to pittsburgh, pa in 1970 the polution index ranged from a low of 100 to a high of 300. Environmentalists took no pride in these numbers. The closed down the steel mills and all the other smokestack businesses. Drove them overseas to India and China, I suppose. By 1980 our air was clean and there weas massive unemployment. Many Pittsburgers left town. During that time I could hire PhDs for $7.00/hour. People with 30 years on-the-job experience for $6.00.
Soon other industries left town. Pittsburgh used to be the #3 city in the US in terms of corporate headquarters. Today it is not in the top 300. Even the Mellons and Heinzs sold out and left town.
But now Pittsburgh has clean air. And because so many people have left, very high property taxes. And laws that keeep new imndustries out. Today our graduates all leave town to find new jobs. Except the dumb ones.
Obama says he is going to pass laws to eliminate the cycle of boom and bust. Because no one can gaurantee permanent boom this means we will have permanet bust."
Chicago Boyz � Blog Archive � Environmentalism and Reality
Chicago Boyz � Blog Archive � Environmentalism and Reality
From time to time if I am stuck conversing with a die-hard environmentalist, I will ask them what they think the WORST thing that has happened with regards to the environment is, in their opinion. I usually don’t listen to their reply to closely and then tell them what they OUGHT to be saying
The Fall of Communism and End of Socialism
Under Communism prior to Deng Xiaoping, mainland China was a starving wasteland with few consumer goods, frequent famines, and millions living in caves (no joke). After Deng unleashed his reforms in the countryside, which migrated to the cities, the Chinese government removed the boot of this failed dogma and unleashed a nation of hard charging entrepreneurs and traders. For years the overseas Chinese were some of the most successful business people in Asia - now they were free to raise the standards of living of their own people.
Power plants were built - millions of homes didn’t even have heat - and the country roared to life. New cities were built, highways, ports and railways crossed the country, and now China is the manufacturer for a huge variety of what you have in your house today.
And what did the Chinese consumer want? They wanted what YOU have - a car (bicycles went by the wayside as soon as they had the money), a nice flat, overseas travel, air conditioning and heat in the winter, electricity to power their myriad consumer devices and appliances, and food of all types (especially meat products). An explosion of manufacturing and consumption erupted throughout the country which hasn’t abated (may be slowing a bit now due to the recession).
While Chinese Communism was abandoning Marxist economic principles (but keeping the dictatorship of the state, a core theme), India was abandoning its inward-focused socialism. In the 80’s India began some tentative reforms which also brought the economy to life, as Indians’ overseas were also known as prosperous businesspeople, like the overseas Chinese. Like the Chinese - the Indians wanted what Western consumers had - cosmetics, cars, clothes, air conditioning, power for appliances, more types of food, and all the rest. While their economy was still tied to a democracy (and thus couldn’t run over the rights of everyone in pursuit of development) they focused more on services and managed an incredible run of growth which led to Mumbai being one of the most expensive cities in the entire world to live in.
Don’t forget Brazil - Brazil also moved away from many socialist principles and the economy started to grow to keep up with its burgeoning population, who also want many of the comforts that we take for granted in the West.
China, India and Brazil represent a giant mass of humanity, the most populous countries in their respective continents, all of whom featured BILLIONS of consumers “voting with their feet” (through their actions, since they didn’t really leave) and showing that what they wanted wasn’t a simple, spartan zero-footprint life but in fact the cars, power, air conditioning, and higher end food (meats and not simple grains) that are bemoaned in the West.
IF ONLY - I tell the environmentalist - that you would have allied yourself with Socialism and Communism, two ideologies that made some of the most ambitious and entrepreneurial people in the world poor and impoverished - you would have been able to keep those countries “down”, with few cars (except for the elite) and a tiny infrastructure which is tied to limited consumption.
I remember when East Germany fell - and saw a brief interview with an East German intellectual - saying that he wished for a “third way”, other than the capitalism of the West when the wall fell - but that never happened.
Another opportunity lost for the environmentalist… after all barbed wire, guard towers, and shoot-to-kill orders are a small price to pay for the absence of cars and carbon, right?
A completely bankrupt ideology, which has been blasted to oblivion in the developed world. Their moment, like that of the East German intellectual - never comes when people are given a chance to live their lives fully.
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Monday, March 23, 2009
Conversion Diary: Could I have stopped the war? - The diary of a former atheist
Conversion Diary: Could I have stopped the war? - The diary of a former atheist:
"'If you are what you should be,
you will set your whole world on fire.'
~ St. Catherine of Siena"
Dedication for Seven Storey Mountain
"I seek to speak to you, in some way, as your own self. Who can tell what this may mean? I myself do not know, but if you listen, things will be said that are perhaps not written in this book. And this will be due not to me but to the One who lives and speaks in both."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A couple weeks ago I was reading Seven Storey Mountain and came across a passage where Thomas Merton talks about the beginning of World War II, and says in passing:
In the context of that section of the book, it's clear that he was basically asking, Could I have stopped the war? At first I hardly noticed it, thinking of it as a poetic hyperbole to drive home the point that we should all try to be holy. A few pages later, however, that sentence still nagged at me. I went back and re-read it, as well as the paragraph that followed:
Those thoughts have continued to nag at me over the past couple of weeks. When I see distressing stories on the news or think of the issues that most disturb me, an inconvenient thought keeps popping into mind: Could I have stopped this?
What I mean, of course, is not that there's any chance I could have done much at all through my own efforts; it's a shorthand way of saying, "If I had really died to myself, if I had fully stepped out of the way to let God's love and strength flow through me like a firehose instead of the feeble drip that the world sees now, what could he have done through me?"
Though it seems unlikely that God would use me to effect worldwide change on a major issue, it's certainly not impossible. Also, as Amy points out so well, one thing that is certain is that people who truly surrender their lives to God will have a huge impact on the world in some way or another, even if nobody ever knows their names.
Later in the book Merton describes a Russian Catholic woman who moved into the slums of Harlem to help the people there. After observing the amazing things that God had done through her, he writes:
So could I have prevented any of those horrible things I hear about on the news each night had I been a saint? The weight of my sins starts to feel awfully heavy when I realize that the answer is, "Maybe."
"'If you are what you should be,
you will set your whole world on fire.'
~ St. Catherine of Siena"
Dedication for Seven Storey Mountain
"I seek to speak to you, in some way, as your own self. Who can tell what this may mean? I myself do not know, but if you listen, things will be said that are perhaps not written in this book. And this will be due not to me but to the One who lives and speaks in both."
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A couple weeks ago I was reading Seven Storey Mountain and came across a passage where Thomas Merton talks about the beginning of World War II, and says in passing:
If I had accepted the gift of sanctity that had been put in my hands when I stood by the [baptismal] font in November 1938, what might have happened in the world?
In the context of that section of the book, it's clear that he was basically asking, Could I have stopped the war? At first I hardly noticed it, thinking of it as a poetic hyperbole to drive home the point that we should all try to be holy. A few pages later, however, that sentence still nagged at me. I went back and re-read it, as well as the paragraph that followed:People have no idea what one saint can do: for sanctity is stronger than the whole of hell. The saints are full of Christ in the plenitude of His Kingly and Divine power: and they are conscious of it, and give themselves to Him, that He may exercise His power through their smallest and seemingly most insignificant acts, for the salvation of the world.
Those thoughts have continued to nag at me over the past couple of weeks. When I see distressing stories on the news or think of the issues that most disturb me, an inconvenient thought keeps popping into mind: Could I have stopped this?
What I mean, of course, is not that there's any chance I could have done much at all through my own efforts; it's a shorthand way of saying, "If I had really died to myself, if I had fully stepped out of the way to let God's love and strength flow through me like a firehose instead of the feeble drip that the world sees now, what could he have done through me?"
Though it seems unlikely that God would use me to effect worldwide change on a major issue, it's certainly not impossible. Also, as Amy points out so well, one thing that is certain is that people who truly surrender their lives to God will have a huge impact on the world in some way or another, even if nobody ever knows their names.
Later in the book Merton describes a Russian Catholic woman who moved into the slums of Harlem to help the people there. After observing the amazing things that God had done through her, he writes:
It is a tremendous thing, the economy of the Holy Ghost! When the Spirit of God finds a soul in which He can work, He uses that soul for any number of purposes: opens out before its eyes a hundred new directions, multiplying its works and its opportunities for the apostolate almost beyond belief and certainly far beyond the ordinary strength of a human being.
So could I have prevented any of those horrible things I hear about on the news each night had I been a saint? The weight of my sins starts to feel awfully heavy when I realize that the answer is, "Maybe."
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