7/19/11

Jesus believed willed values propel history

Theology Today - Vol 50, No.3 - October 1993 - ARTICLE - Jesus in Historical Context: "Jesus, like his hearers, was deeply rooted in study of the Bible. The belief that God controls history makes one interpret the world in a way that is very distinctive. It is quite different from the view that history is not going anywhere, or that the only operative force is chance."

Jesus believed that Abba controls history by virtue of the conduct of human beings by their free choices.

These choices relate to active values. The active values one chooses determines one's conduct.

The active values of Jesus are tolerance, democracy and helpfulness. The root value is non-idolatry - honoring Abba alone and suffering none to take his place.

Only those who accept and live by these values are able to move history in the direction of being a bit more like heaven, as Jesus suggests in the Lord's Prayer.


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How GOP Virginia embraced borrowing as a survival strategy

Yglesias | ThinkProgress: "That’s right, Virginia “balanced” its budget and set up this year’s surplus by borrowing money from itself. Coming on top of $17.6 billion worth of unfunded pension liabilities, that would have been a rather audacious move for any governor to approve. But that’s especially so for McDonnell, who is among the leading vice presidential candidates for a party that presently is waging a total war against increasing the federal government’s borrowing authority."

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DOMA doomed maybe

Obama announces support of bill to end DOMA | The Washington Independent: "The White House announced Tuesday that President Barack Obama was throwing his support behind legislation which would effectively kill the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA)." Maybe we can get this one behind us.

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Subtract another 11K jobs

Borders Will Liquidate Remaining 399 Stores - In the News - Truthdig: "And now 11,000 people are out of a job." Jobs should be a human right. When there is not enough work to go around work should be diminished for some and made available to others. We are in need of inventiveness on this. Starting with the identification of jobs with self-esteem.

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Not another Japan disaster

Typhoon Tests Japan’s Nuclear Resolve - Ecocentric - TIME.com: "It's still anyone's guess whether or not the typhoon will lead to another national disaster — the most intense rainfall and strongest convection is still over the open ocean, and convection may be weakening because of warming cloud top temperatures and the movement of dry air." Ouch.

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Lets spoon feed the Tea Party so they will behave on a vote that counts

Talking Points Memo | Breaking News and Analysis: "The House passed the dead-on-arrival Cut, Cap, and Balance Act a short time ago by a vote of 234-190." I bet John Boehner is uo to here with the Tea Party. These people make up history on the spot and economics on the fly. And they will mostly be one-termers because either the Dems of sane Republicans will supplant them. They will all go to Grover Norquist Heaven.

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How a dead child does more good than most of us dream of

Jonah Shacknai And Ex-Wife Donated Son’s Organs — Helped Three Different Children | Radar Online: "Max's organs were given to three different children, our source says. 'Jonah and Dinah were given some solace knowing that three families were able to avoid the horror they are going through.'" Wow. Makes you think about whether God really cares what you do with your body when you are dead. Rather, whether He approves of your giving yourself away. Methinks the answer to that is yes.

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How do you apologize to a suicide?

New twist in anthrax case; Justice Department lawyers contradict FBI findings | McClatchy: "WASHINGTON — The Justice Department has called into question a key pillar of the FBI's case against Bruce Ivins, the Army scientist accused of mailing the anthrax-laced letters that killed five people and terrorized Congress a decade ago." We don't know what happens when we die. No one knows. Maybe somewhere Ivins is reacting to news that he is less a suspect now than when he killed himself.


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Free speech in Venezuela is toast

Venezuela: Opposition Leader Convicted for Criticizing Government | Human Rights Watch: "The conviction of Oswaldo Álvarez Paz for disseminating 'false information' - on the basis of his criticism of the Chávez government - is a move against free speech in Venezuela, Human Rights Watch said today. Venezuela should revoke its law that criminalizes disseminating 'false information,' Human Rights Watch said." Come on. When this is done it is more than a move. It is a suppression and an affront to freedom. Chavez has other problems. This is not one he needs.

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More safety will do little to eliminate the risks of a nuclear energy policy

Commission: U.S. Must Make Nuclear Plants Safer : NPR: "America's nuclear reactors need new safeguards to ensure that the kind of accident that destroyed reactors in Japan last March doesn't happen here. That's the conclusion from a 90-day study of the accident undertaken by experts at the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission." Every nuke plant is safe until it isn't. Accidents keep happening. Discoveries keep being made. No one can say with honesty that this is the safest way to proceed.


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This is not what Syria's genocidal terror wave looks like but it's the only window we have (Video)


The most potent weapon of dictatorship is control of information.

Shameful Syria Tribalism Intensifies the Genocidal Urge

Syrian military assaults intensify on Homs, 13 killed | Reuters: "Syrian troops and militiamen loyal to President Bashar al-Assad killed 13 people in attacks in the city of Homs Tuesday, residents said, an escalation of a crackdown against a focal point for pro-democracy protests." Tribalism should with the advent of Jesus and would have if his gospel had not been turned into a mere religion. Where it is alive, as in Syria, it rubs the genocidal impulse. The country bars observers and kills who it will with impunity. It's like a locked room where you hear the screams of the expiring and can do nothing. We must do more than everything we can. There must be something we have not yet done. Spread the word. Speak out. Create a wall of censure.


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Every 80 year old needs a lithe spouse 37 years younger to crush the heads of pie throwers

Wendi Deng, Rupert Murdoch’s Chinese-born Wife: Volleyball Player, All-Around Tough Woman - The Daily Beast: "Rupert Murdoch’s third wife, Wendi Deng, thrust herself into the world spotlight when she smacked down a pie-throwing activist during Tuesday's Parliamentary hearings. But who is the woman behind the man under fire? Melinda Liu reports." Nothing preempts the real news like a pie thrown and an intrepid anger machine. Rupert who?



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It's bipartisan, it's smart, it will happen

Obama endorses 'Gang of Six' deficit plan - politics - Capitol Hill - msnbc.com: 1. "Reduce deficits by $3.7 trillion..." 2. Zap "some tax deductions ... raising $1 trillion in new revenue ..." 3. $145 billion in cuts to national defense and homeland security" etc. 4. Reducing future Social Security benefits by mandating smaller annual cost-of-living adjustments." This is three times what the GOP has seriously considered. It is threatening to some progressives. It is big enough to make a difference. It is a sensible alternative to national suicide. Something like this will happen. Faces will be saved. There will be a World Series.


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Religious supposition is the opposite of mindfulness and truth


Triadic Philosophy sees 
all religion as supposition.
Supposition assumes that
things unknown are true,
creating false hopes
and profiting from
outright lies.
A truly spiritual way
is mindful, based on values
and of benefit to all.
As supposition falls away,
universal spirituality
rises and our planet
is transformed

+

Triadic Philosophy is
the culmination of
a lifelong quest
for a move beyond
what has not worked
in the past.

Please visit



GOP strategy is keep recession alive and make it hard for Democrats to vote

Commentary: Keeping some voters from the polls is part of the game plan | McClatchy: "It should be clear to all but the most steadfast of reality deniers that the strategy of the Republican Party for the presidential election next year is to cause another recession and hope the voters blame President Obama." What will happens when the GOP wins for real? Will it be worse than W? Will it be wars and casualties, military expenditures and social spending calamity, educational disaster and progressive penitence for not having thought about this when they were trashing the President? Let's say this is likely unless we wake up and fly right now.


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His royal Asness

A Tiny Revolution: Alice in Billionaireland: "You may have seen that Paul Ryan was recently spotted downing two $350 bottles of wine with Cliff Asness, a hedge fund manager. When a woman approached and criticized them for that kind of extravagance as Ryan plots to slash all social spending, Asness apparently said to Ryan 'fuck her.' Asness was previously known for staging a memorable public freakout about the Obama administration's bailout of Chrysler in an open letter titled 'Unafraid in Greenwich, Connecticut.'" Cap tip Digby, again! There's much more here.

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This sounds like leadership to me

Dylan Ratigan: The Real Debt Deal: "We need a new global restructuring of our obligations, a new Bretton Woods or Brady Bonds solution. Greece should not be descending into poverty, it has an educated workforce and wonderful traditions. American homeowners shouldn't be under siege by creditor predator banks, and millions of us shouldn't be unemployed as debt-holders forced into a Survivor-like fight with each other over scraps. We cannot allow giant creditors to turn fights over debt into currency wars, and then into real wars."

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Bloggers sock it to Internet companies in Kuwait:

Kuwait: Bloggers Fight Internet Companies · Global Voices: "In the past two months, Kuwaiti bloggers have campaigned against Internet companies in Kuwait which are enforcing a policy of limited bandwidth, steeply raising prices in the past year by agreeing between each other on the same prices, and killing the competition in the Internet market."

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Neither Dems nor GOP get high ratings in Congress

Amid Debt Clash, Approval of Parties in Congress Low but Steady: "Congressional Democrats' slightly higher current job approval rating compared with the GOP's stems from the higher percentage of Democrats than of Republicans approving of their own party's job performance, 73% vs. 57%." But a 20 percent gap isn't so bad. I doubt the GOP knows or much cares.


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It's these little details that make you wonder

Error Reported in Anthony Trial - The Daily Beast: "Prosecutors in the Casey Anthony trial repeatedly asserted that she searched for information about chloroform on the Internet 84 times, but they were wrong: a software designer who testified at the trial says she searched only for chloroform once, visiting a site that gave information on the drug’s use in the 1800s. The designer, John Bradley, says he discovered the error after redesigning his software. He alerted prosecutors to the error, but they appear to have never told the defense." I spent my first reporting days in Chicago watching the prosecution suppress evidence about a sex deviant to send a kid to jail for 99 years. These little details just sort of happen. All the time it seems.



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Can't think of a more perfect person to beat Scott Brown

Warren mulls run against Scott Brown - TheHill.com: "Elizabeth Warren for the first time Monday indicated she was considering a Senate bid against freshman lawmaker Scott Brown (R-Mass.) next year in what would become one of the closest-watched races of the 2012 cycle." When last heard from Scott Brown was telling his life story of abuse and soaking up credits among the middle of the political spectrum. Elizabeth Warren is a victim of the bile that pervades the DC GOP. She is also a whiz. I think she just might show Brown to be a half-empty suit.



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I guess hope is the Clinton brand still and all (Video)


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Bill can always be depended on to think outside the box

Exclusive Bill Clinton Interview: I Would Use Constitutional Option To Raise Debt Ceiling And "Force The Courts To Stop Me" | National Memo | Breaking News, Smart Politics: "Former President Bill Clinton says that he would invoke the so-called constitutional option to raise the nation’s debt ceiling “without hesitation, and force the courts to stop me” in order to prevent a default, should Congress and the President fail to achieve agreement before the August 2 deadline." And he also thinks Obama and the GOP will strike a deal, happily agreeing with me. So I will agree with him.


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A 47 minute intellectual comedy odd delectation (Video)



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Transcending lingo barriers with semiosis and Charles Sanders Peirce (Video)

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Charles Sanders Peirce -Thirdness will save us

Charles S. Peirce's Theory of Signs: "According to Peirce, ‘meaning’ is a triadic relation between a sign, an object, and an interpretant. This triadic relation is not reducible to a set of dyadic relations between a sign and an object or between an object and an interpretant (CP 1.345). Meaning is never reducible to Firstness or Secondness, but can only be a ‘genuine’ Thirdness. A general meaning can always be found in ‘genuine’ triadic relations, but can never be found in ‘degenerate’ triadic relations which have lost their Thirdness."


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Rolling on (Video)


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This is the ballpark where we will win this thing

Ex-Gang of Six members to unveil debt plan to other senators Tuesday - CNN.com: "'We're presenting the progress we've made,' said Sen. Kent Conrad, D-North Dakota, the Budget Committee chairman. 'It's a comprehensive approach that reforms entitlements, reforms the revenue code, cuts spending, is balanced and is in the range of $3.6 (trillion) to $3.7 trillion.'" What a free for all, but it will make sense when it's over. And people will scratch their heads and say, Isn't this what the President was for all along? And Howdy Doody Cantor will sprain his wrist trying to slap himself on the back.



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Reagan would defect to the Democrats today

Reagan cited often in debt debate by -- Dems! - CBS News: "David Brinkley says it shows Reagan was a pragmatic conservative." And he started as a Democrat. What goes around comes around. Reagan knew a cliff when he saw it.


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Know your opponent (Video)


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There's more than one way to skin a wingnut

Poster of the Day: Having Their Way With Obama? — BagNews: "With the frustration with Obama these days for playing Salomon, this wire photo of the right-wing Iowan making off with him seems to strike a chord. But then, looking all cool like that, is the floating more tactical, Obama playing this better than progressive’s think?" I have always assumed Obama was playing better than progressives think. A true progressive has faith in the process we are in and does not self-destruct every time things are delayed. Chronology wins eventually. But I would not want to be in this sneakered guy's skin, for sure. Click to view


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Comments. Alright help me decide.

I am conflicted about comments. Why would anyone care to comment on a piece that is short and sweet and meant to be read in a few seconds and perhaps enhance a person's day. On the other hand everybody seems to have comments. So I will leave the comments option open for a little while and if there are comments of interest I will maintain a comments section. If nada, then nada.

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You missed my wife who prefers standing room goes often and just likes opera

The Smart Set: The Sopranos - July 12, 2011: "In The Opera Fanatic: Ethnography of an Obsession, Claudio E. Benzecry identifies four distinct types of the obsessed attendee: There’s the hero, who believes he is keeping the opera house open ... . There’s the addict, who is willing to sacrifice his families, friends, lovers, money, and sanity to attend multiple performances of the same opera ... . There’s the nostalgic, for whom everything was better when it was sung by Maria Callas ... . Then there’s the pilgrim, the devoted subject who treats the opera house as a religious temple." It's all in the headline.

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I knew politics and activity in general and socializing is good for you

Greater social and political connectedness is associated with enhanced life satisfaction.  I find that individuals who volunteer and participate in clubs, spend a lot of time visiting friends, and show interest in politics are substantially more satisfied with life.  SOURCE:  However, I would argue that the key to all of this is a mind that can embrace solitude as much as society. And move between the two with some ease.

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What saves money and improves care is in harmony with the Obama health care reform

Here is another sleeping giant. Perry is off the stage now But the efforts to submarine health care continue and the casualties are the most needy. Obamacare will eventually save money and no one has sought to do more to aid states than President Obama. The GOP narrative is that Obama wants to create a dependency society. This is a sad political ploy that assumes that the values of individual initiative and self reliance are the province of Republicans alone. What the advent of the Web has done is demonstrate that these characteristics are universal, regardless of one's politics.

Rick Perry Signs Bill Allowing Texas Healthcare "Compact":

"The comprehensive bill seeks to save Medicaid dollars by expanding managed care, requiring co-payments for non-emergency visits to emergency rooms and reducing payments to providers in cases of preventable medical errors. The Legislative Budget Board estimates that the measure could save nearly $468 million over two years."

Someday it will make more of a difference what state one lives in.

Someday people will profess the same objectives without needing to frame it as a conflict.

Someday we will place a woman on Mars.



Yeah well I clicked on boredom and this is what came up (Video)



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Why boredom should not be a problem

One big yawn: boredom is not just a state of mind | Books | The Observer Boredom is an inkling of truth which is that if this whole thing actually operated as we would like it to there would be nothing for us to do. Being aware that this is so, we understand that we are rather fortunate to have all the problems and activities and realities that make up a day and that we even have dreams to pass away the night. Shakespeare was both right and wrong. That makes us players on a stage. But when we sense that stasis which success would bring it takes little effort to be happy with the chase and occupied with the next thing.

RECCMENDATION Richard Gordon Quantum Touch

The Slow as Molasses Press