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Over at TPMCafe, they are trumpeting an EPI study that shows that there has been no net increase in the no. of jobs in the US economy once you exclude all gov’t-funded jobs.  This likely means that the tax-cuts did nada to stimulate job-creation. 

How’s that for the State of Our Acrimony?  I have no time for an optimistic song and dance.  How are we going to turn away from our past policies and get leadership that will truly unite us in dealing with our looming serious issues in the US? 

dlw  

I don’t intend to watch the SOTUS.  If he provides a truly visional and directional speech that will serve to increase the unity and decrease the acrimony in our country, it will be an answer to prayers and unfortunately quite a surprise for me. 

Read more

I just read at Foreign Notes what is a serious allegation that the reason a terrible gas-settlement was made by Ukraine with Russia is that a serious bribe was paid to a company owned by the brother of Viktor Yuschenko. 

I understand this is just an allegation, but I’m skeptical about whether  Yuschenko’s credibility as a leader can rebound from this.  We’ll see what the fall-out will be…

dlw

The combination of studying early Christian History and the Historical Books of the Old Testament and the possibility of teaching in a philosophy-oriented Dept of Humanities has got me thinking a good deal about what the relationship is between Athens and Jerusalem.  I’m joining those who think there was a substantial Jewish influence on Greek thought.  Let’s take for example, Thales of Miletus, who is widely acknowledged to be the first Greek Philosopher.  If you Google search Thales Greek Philosopher, you get 122,000 entries, but if you add his likely place of family origin Phoenicia, only .5% of the original entries remain. 

I’d say that’s pretty striking evidence that many philosophy-oriented types have yet to develop a thorough appreciation for how ideas evolve over time through abductions across cultures and disciplines.  Read more

I posted about the need for Christians to interact with the writings of Saul Alinsky a while back and have done very little specifically in that regard since then.  I recently found a website that lists the rules of Alinsky and then the rules of Gandhi.  The two make for quite a contrast.  Alinsky is very machiavellian in his focus on getting power and, interestingly, when you google “Rules for Radicals”, you get a number of sites where corporate business gurus share with their readers the rules of Alinsky.  I wouldn’t be surprised if a good deal of the resurgence in power of economic conservatives and the activism of the religious right has been due to the right application of these sorts of rules. 

I guess it shows how pointless power-grabbing can get, since there’s no end-state, just relentless conflict, with morality being a game that is used to cover for the power-claims being made.  Read more

I recently posted about a conservative Southern Baptist pastor/blogger whose views on the governance of his denomination have changed as a result of his exposure to the sorts of dialogue he had observed and taken part with on the internet.  That pastor is Tim Sweatman.  He has been posting recently on controversies in the Southern Baptist Church and how fundamentalists are seemingly sowing the seeds of disruption in the denomination by rhetorically attacking those who do not agree with them on a number of non-essential theological points.

In a recent post on the internet discussion over the SBC’s governance, Tim shares with us a well written post by Stephen Pruett.  I’ll share a snippet of it.  Read more

It looks like migratory patterns of birds are going to make a spread of the Bird Flu very possible in Ukraine.  Please pray for them and pray for the Christians that they will offer needed leadership in this difficult time for Ukraine.

 dlw

I think they’re getting too much flak over them playing ball with the PRoChina on it’s controls over what it’s people can google.  If the President of the United States can get completely owned by the PRoChina like Bush did during his recent visit there, then I think it’s hard for a corporation to expect to be able to altruistic when it’s business can be easily replaced by a competitor. 

 It’s up to us to reform the institutions of int’l governance/decision-making so that PRoChina, or any country, can’t fence-off what it’s people can find information about on the internet. 

dlw

I found this article by BBC News to be very disturbing.  Interestingly enough, the article doesn’t come up when I google news searched “Information Operations Roadmap”  pentagon Rumsfeld.  Only six articles came up and none of them were MSM in the US.  This does not encourage me regarding the freedom of the press in the US. 

 

The operations described in the document include a surprising range of military activities: public affairs officers who brief journalists, psychological operations troops who try to manipulate the thoughts and beliefs of an enemy, computer network attack specialists who seek to destroy enemy networks.

This includes planting stories in Iraqi media that may or may not be intended to get picked up by the US MSMedia.

 I am reminded of the words of my Ukrainian pastor, “May You not Live in a Time of Change!”

dlw

Levko at Foreign Notes describes how the Party of Regions is resurgent in wake of the March Elections in Ukraine.  Their party has a list of politicians running for parliament and will effectively take power of Ukraine if they get a strong plurality, since Ukraine is going to shift to a representational system of gov’t.  These are the same people who were using all sorts of dirty tricks, paid for by the printing of money, to steal last year’s election.  They represent Ukraine’s richest oligarch, Rinat Akhmetov and a return to the Kuchma-style governance. 

This shows the fruits of the failure of Victor Yuschenko to be a decisive leader from this past year.  It saddens me a great deal, in part because I know my Ukrainian Christian friends have been praying for Yuschenko.  I myself started praying for wisdom for my political leaders this past year because of their witness.  “A Patriot is someone who prays for their president!” was the line my pastor friend shared with me.  Read more

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