Wonderful Matters

A whole lotta Christians of some renown have gathered to issue an official proclamation of their desire to continue to do things their way no matter how much the federal government hints that they comply with them. It's called the "Manhattan Declaration," and it says three key things. One, we won't refuse to yell against abortion. Two, we won't refuse to yell against same-sex marriage. And three, we won't refuse to keep yelling. That last one was really an insistence on religious freedom, but what it really means is that they want to keep doing their thing and at the same time keep getting nice tax breaks for being otherwise good obedient tax-exempt non-profit congregations. Sadly, if these people were truly heeding Christ's words they wouldn't have to make such a proclamation. All they'd have to do is live out Christ's words . They'd then blow away so many people that seen in all His glory would be Christ, instead of a batch of off...

I recently read an economics piece about the opportunity cost of a certain Christmas tradition. The writer--some young financial wonk somewhere--lamented the abject inefficiency of gift-giving, going into great detail about the real value of the practice. His argument went something like this. Aunt Gladys gets you a $50 sweater when she really could just hand you the $50, at which point you could get what you really want. But because she gave you something you really don't  want, the value to you is no higher than $30, graciously considering that even if you don't really like it, it may be serviceable for having on when picking an avocado off the tree on a mildly chilly morning. So it's not just $0, let's grant that it is something. Making a valiant attempt to think like an economist, he concedes that there may indeed be a value to the simple fact that Aunt Gladys got you a gift, and tacks on another $30 for that, making the value $60. (If he were to be even more pr...

Last night I finally went to see 2012, the film with the boffo special effects of the utter destruction of the earth. There has been lots of water cooler talk about whether or not the world will actually end in 2012 like the Mayans supposedly said it would. I'd even noticed a number of books on the shelf at Borders all about how justified the concern should be. Whatever. The one book I read about all things significant is the Bible, and it pretty much has everything right there. It categorically says that the world as we know it now will indeed end . When that is only God knows. Sure he gave us some hints, but none of them amount to enough for anyone to say things like, "Yep, there it is, it'll happen on December 21st 2012 yessiree..." The one thing that is for sure is that God will hold on to those covered by the blood of His Son, and whatever value that has for anyone depends on whether or not they simply put their faith and trust in Him. When you watch this...

I was recently amused by a headline in the Los Angeles Times, but it was certainly not surprising considering the media are simply the spokesholes for Cain, indeed themselves a vibrant part of the World System's decision-making processes. Sometimes, though, your attention can be drawn to the folly revealed in their pronouncements. It seems that all the money used to bail out important people "appears" to be paying off. It  appears that things are getting rosier for important people. The article does mention a lot of things that are not going well with the bailout plan, but hey, it's best if things appear to be going well. But this is the World speaking. Treasury Secretary and once New York Fed President Tim Geithner once said that the appearance of a powerful financial institution and its activity is most important for sustaining confidence, calling it "theater." At least it's entertaining! Never mind that it is actually real . Never mind that pe...

Yesterday's New York Times' featured front page story was about how close the U.S. is to being unable to service its debt. It's no big deal when that punky kid who always asks for lunch money keeps putting off paying it back, as long as he coughs up some interest every once in a while. It starts to get dicey when he can't even do that. It gets really scary when the lender is a big mean Asian dude. Front page story. In top World megaphone holder The New York Times . I turned on the news this morning to check out the expansive coverage of this quite boggling progression of events. Guess what the networks featured at the top of their 7am morning-show news? Barack Obama has all the information he needs to make and then announce his new strategy regarding Afghanistan. As I watched the newscasters (and I flipped to two different networks to catch essentially the same thing) blap about how valiant Obama and his "war council" ( their term) have been to stay o...

I'm deeply intrigued by what the agents of Cain sometimes say that are dead giveaways as to the true nature of things. One recent item has run laps around the airwaves, and it was Goldman Sachs' boss Lloyd Blankfein's remark that he is doing God's work. This has generally been treated with the loudest ribaldry from the boastfully jeering punditry. "Ha!" they're gushing, "This guy has taken taxpayer dollars by the billions and is stuffing his cronies' pockets with it! ' Doing God's work !' What a dork!" The fact that it is considered in such a way reveals two things. One, that the World's megaphone is functioning perfectly, for the derision is designed specifically to get an obsequieous populace to firmly believe certain things, in this case that snotty banker types should be wholesomely reviled. And two, the pundits are faithfully doing their duty for their Superior officer, whether they know him or not. By assessing the...

I'm thinking about things that have happened or are happening here at the beginning of November that are worth mention. I think about November 2, the date Adrian Veidt aka Ozymandias executed that ultimate act of Agency enforcement against World inhabitants. Imaginations catastrophized into a quasi-catatonic state stir people to fiercely concoct "peace" while hyperviolence still festers in millions of souls. I think about November 5, the date Guy Fawkes was supposed to carry out the designs of his unknown superior even if he didn't have a clue as to what he was doing. Zealous rage against the state cleverly invented and widely advertised keeps rebellious people riled up. Funny how this year's November 5 featured a disturbed army psychiatrist shooting up his base. I thought about why we must have an army base at all--why can't Fort Hood just be a wonderful sports camp where people discharge their emotions on the field and later yuck it up over a beer. It ...