Washington On Wings
George Washington never joined a political party because he feared that competition between self-serving factions would weaken the nation.
Ignoring History
Occupy Wall Street demonstrators camping out on private property arouse the ire of many who believe they should make their point and go home. “What’s their point?” is one charge leveled against these demonstrators. Responses pointing to corporate greed and the excessive influence of lobbyists seem more complaint than plan. Bonus Marchers This is an…
Redux Save Our Orphanage
In the 1980 musical comedy film classic “The Blues Brothers,” “Joliet” Jake and Elwood Blues are on a “mission from God” to save a Catholic orphanage. A woman stands in their way and threatens to destroy them. She says: “You miserable slug! You think you can talk your way out of this? You betrayed me.”…
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Wetbacks All
In 1875 the United States Supreme Court ruled that the federal government is responsible for regulating immigration. In 1954, President Dwight D. Eisenhower urgently empowered the Immigration and Naturalization Service to “remove illegal immigrants, mostly Mexican nationals, from the southwestern United States.” The expulsion program’s official name was Operation Wetback. Border patrol, state and local…
Whatcha Doin Next Week
The doomsday prophet Harold Camping recently revised his prediction. Camping now predicts October 21 2011 will be humanity’s last day. What’s comforting about this update is that “The end is going to come very quietly, probably within the next month….Probably… there will be no pain suffered by anyone because of their rebellion against God. Unbelievers might just…
Political Expediency and Social Change
A recently leaked memo suggested that British Prime Minister David Cameron’s government was not doing well with women voters. As reported in The Economist on Oct. 15, 2011, this finding may account for “a stream of female-friendly policy announcements, including calls for more women on company boards and new guidelines to shield children from online…
Zombie Army
Weapons drones with names like Predator and Reaper are now actively engaged in combat. A recent article in The Economist suggests that the “next generation of drones will have artificial intelligence giving them a high degree of operational autonomy including – if legal and ethical questions can be resolved – the [self-contained?] ability to shoot…
This Sounds Familiar
We must never forget that abject poverty is an inescapable reality for more than a billion people living on Earth today. The majority of us pray that civilization will learn to better manage and even overcome this ongoing social catastrophe. Meanwhile, most of humanity expects to better their own personal circumstances. Recession, Depression, Famine Humanity…
Human Solidarity
Can the human community imagine and create a more constructive sense of solidarity when no obvious common enemy presents an imminent existential threat to civilization’s survival?
The Use of Religion to Achieve Earthly Power
Human Leadership The Swiss Protestant theologian Karl Barth (May 10, 1886 – December 10, 1968) is described as one of the most important religious thinkers of the 20th century. Barth personally mailed a public stance against Nazism (Barmen Declaration) to Adolf Hitler in 1934. He left Germany to avoid a required loyalty oath to the Nazi leader. Quests…