Many of us have been critical of the Department of Justice lackluster enforcement of the law during after the recent financial scandals. There is some good news to report. 78 corporations are under investigation for violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, a law intended to keep companies from paying bribes overseas. Now if we can bring that kind of focus to the home front.
One comedic response was given by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, “We are seeing companies getting scooped up in aggressive enforcement actions and investigations, a culture of over zealousness has grabbed the Justice Department. The last time I checked, we were not living in a police state.”
Nope, but we are supposed to be a nation of laws that apply to the rich as well as the poor.
How do you defend religion with this kind of thing happening? Four years ago Louisianna passed a law saying that science teachers were to critique evolution and global warming. Those arguing for the law said it was intended to inspire critical thinking. The problem is, of course, that creationism is not a scientific theory, it is religious, and the concerns behind the law were clearly political, not scientific. Now a Louisianna lawmaker wants to bring back unfettered science in the classroom.
To read click here
John Pilger is one of the most independent journalists on the planet. In this article, from the Guardian, he argues that the real threat of Wikileaks was not that they would reveal secret military locations, or contacts, but that they would expose the secret relationship between our wars, our financial instittuions and the corporately owned media that are often expercted to objectively cover the very corporations that own them. See what you think.
“War by media, says current military doctrine, is as important as the battlefield. This is because the real enemy is the public at home, whose manipulation and deception is essential for starting an unpopular colonial war. Like the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, attacks on Iran and Syria require a steady drip-effect on readers’ and viewers’ consciousness. This is the essence of a propaganda that rarely speaks its name.”
To read click here.
If we want the common good, then we must make every lesser value relative to that end. We are delusional if we think we can hold the good of any group above the whole and still have peace. In an effort to align the church where I serve to the common happiness I proposed the following mission statement which is now included in some of our materials:
WELCOME TO ST. ANDREW’S
We are Presbyterian, yet our first allegiance is to the gospel of universal love.
We are Christ centered, yet we respect and learn from all religions of love.
We affirm the ancient symbols of our faith, yet we strive to speak a new language that
includes all people and affirms the scientific discoveries of our day.
We hope to teach children stories of the bible without sectarian dogma.
We strive to be a close nurturing community, yet we welcome all people into our midst.
We wish to live in inner peace, yet hear God’s call to work for peace, and for universal
human rights.
We take faith seriously, yet believe the journey should be fun. We celebrate life in many
artistic forms.
“Statement of Teaching Philosophy: Pay attention, be astonished, tell about it.”
This is a nice article about holding onto the joy of teaching, but I also think it is good advice for anyone. As I was getting ready to post I was amazed to see the author is Bob Jensen. I never would have guessed.
Thanks to Bob Dailey for sending.
http://www.nationofchange.org/holding-joy-teaching-1331313765
I know, I know, I’m fixated on this topic, and killer drones. I just can’t accept what my nation has become. I won’t accept it. I can’t believe we do not see ourselves as accountable to any higher law. This article discusses the topic of targeted assassinations in the context of foreign policy. But American readers should beware. The author seems to think that the lives of people outside our boundaries matter, and that our leaders shouldn’t be able to kill them with a mere accusation of terrorist activity. I realize that the U.S. is very kind to nations that open their markets to us, but Genghis Khan had a similar policy. Give us the best of your stuff and we’ll let you leave you alone.
Thanks to Gaines Whitcomb
http://www.foreignpolicyjournal.com/2012/03/08/reciprocity-and-self-defense-in-relation-to-targeted-killing/
I was beginning to wonder what it would take. He certainly has a right to free speech, but how could there have been such a big market for that kind of sexist, racist misinformation? Are angry white men that afraid of untampered information?
http://www.commondreams.org/further/2012/03/08-1
Rep. Dennis Kucinich may have lost his office, but he has not lost his courage. In an interview soon after his defeat Kucinich returned to a familiar theme, his criticism of Obama’s policy of targeting killings of U.S. citizens without a trial. While I would be just as concerned for people from other countries (after all they are human beings too), at least Kucinich will go out reminding Americans of what we used to be. “Any assault on the Constitution ought to be challenged,” Kucinich said Thursday. “This is absolutely an assault on the Constitution.”
http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/03/kucinich-targeted-killings-an-assault-on-the-constitution.php?ref=fpnewsfeed
The surest way to know you have spoken some important truth is when you are swarmed and pecked by the parrots of a cause.
“My hosanna is born of a furnace of doubt.” -Fyodor Dostoevsky
It is a serious mistake to think that faith is holding onto the beliefs we were taught by the church. Memorizing phrases produces trance, not actual awareness. Faith, rather, is a trust in the life process itself. If your religion has not led you to awareness, perhaps you should explore whether it is even intended to do so. A religion which does not celebrate doubt as fully as it celebrates belief can produce only delusion. A religious community of any stripe should not be an end in itself. If any religion is not working humbly to make this a better world for everyone by actual acts of kindness and justice, it is false.
If mere prayers and sprinkling holy water on our problems has not changed our world in two thousand years, perhaps words like “faith” and “prayer” should be understood more deeply as the struggles of our deepest center to understand and change our world for the better. Your “hosanna” will not found by clutching the teachings of the dead. It is hiding in the world’s problems and in your fears. “Faith” is a species of courage.
