Monday Political and Business Appraisal 1/15/07

Monday Political and Business Appraisal

The Business of Virtual Reality - This is actually exactly the kind of venue in which I think Virtual Reality can be most useful. It strikes me as one of the methods by which TSS can be made substantive and beneficial by applying VR directly to real life.

The Dead Dictator - When the Dict bites it.

Strong, Wrong, Weak, Right, Short, Long - I found this a fascinating way of framing the debate. However politically, not historically or strategically (which are entirely different matters) I think it is more accurate to say the Bush is Weak and Long, and the Democrats are Strong and Short. As to which side will ultimately be proven wrong, that will be for history to decide and I have no doubt at all that it will, however Democrats are both politically strong at the moment and throwing all dice on the roll that Americans will, in the end, choose Strong and Short, that is the "seemingly reasonable arguments of the short term" over the more "strategic and seemingly paradoxical arguments of the long run." Temporarily at least Bush is extremely weak politically and the Democrats are strong. I am however, constantly reminded by my studies of history, that he who plays the short market often ends up sans profits and prospects.

Cheney, the Pentagon, and the Banking Industry

Anti-FTA Sentiments - This is interesting for both economic and political reasons.

King and Bush - I think Bush got this one about right. Holidays are often about far more than simple relaxation and escape from labor, but are also often about "Great Work."

Crusader - A crusader in the true sense achieves victory by embracing struggles which will elevate all men, women, and children in the long run. A Crusader must be warrior, diplomat, pragmatist, idealist, politician, leader, economic visionary, a liberator, an egalitarian, fearless, patient (so that his age can finally catch up to

his Vision, which is often both prescient and far beyond current limitations in scope), able, and determined. He must be a man of History rather than one of mere moment. He must fight for Truth and Justice and Peace, and do so humbly with the very practical realization that without honorable Justice and real Truth then true Peace is impossible. I've read a lot of biographies of Reagan, I'm looking forward to this one.

The Hypocrisy of Wage as a Measure of Wealth - Anyone who believes wage, elevated or not, is a either a true method of, or a true measure of, wealth simply understands nothing of economics. Individuals should be striving to break free of wages, wage cycles, and artificial income limits and instead working to negotiate their own compensations and benefits, and to eventually free themselves altogether upon reliance on wages, and instead be seeking new and ever greater means of income (as the word was originally and correctly applied). If an individual waits for anyone or anything else, be that government, corporation, organization, institution or other individual, to determine their level of wealth then they have abdicated any possibility of controlling their own financial and economic destiny in favor of being a lifetime slave to the economic interests of others.

Leadership and Creativity



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Wednesday Religious Assessment 12/20/06

Wednesday Religious Assessment

The Wonderlost

The New Jew?

Newton, Einstein, and Maxwell - All three were devout men who believed God had ordered the world and universe in a fascinating and ultimately understandable way.
These two articles lay out Maxwell's Science, which was profound, and His Faith, which was equally profound

State Group Proposes Cloning Ban

Divine Architecture

Intellectuals for the Latin Mass

Christmas Sermons

New National Security Threat?


HUMANITY AWAITS THE RENEWAL THAT CHRIST BRINGS

VATICAN CITY, DEC 20, 2006 (VIS) - Christmas was the central theme of the Pope's catechesis during his general audience, held this morning in the Paul VI Hall.

"In these final days of Advent," said the Holy Father, "the liturgy invites us to approach ... the stable in Bethlehem where the extraordinary event that changed the course of history took place: the birth of the Redeemer. On Christmas Eve, we will stand once again before the manger, and contemplate in wonder the 'Word made Flesh.' ... The chosen people awaited the Messiah but imagined him to be a powerful and victorious leader who would free his people from foreign oppression. Yet the Savior was born in silence and in absolute poverty."

"Does mankind in our own time still await the Savior?" the Pope asked. "It appears that many people consider God as foreign to their interests. They have no apparent need of Him, and live as if He did not exist or, worse still, as if He were an 'obstacle' to be removed in order to achieve self-fulfillment. Even among believers ... are those who let themselves be attracted by alluring mirages and distracted by misleading doctrines that propose illusory shortcuts to happiness.

"And yet," he added, "with all their contradictions, their anguish and their dramas - or perhaps precisely because of them - men and women today seek a road of renewal, of salvation, they seek a Savior and await, sometimes without knowing it, ... the coming of Christ, man's only true Redeemer."

"Of course, false prophets continue to propose 'low cost' salvation, which always ends up delivering resounding disillusionment. Indeed, the history of the last 50 years provides an example of this search for a 'low cost' Savior and highlights all the consequent disillusionment."

For this reason, the Pope concluded, Christians must, "with the testimony of their lives, propagate the truth of Christmas, which Christ brings to all men and women of good will. Born into poverty in the manger, Jesus came to offer everyone the joy and peace which alone can satisfy the needs of the human soul."

In his Italian-language greetings at the end of the audience, Benedict XVI said: "In a few days it will be Christmas, and I imagine that, in your homes, you are putting the final touches to your nativity scenes, which are such an evocative depiction of Christmas. I hope that this important element, not only of our spirituality but also of our culture and art, may endure as a simple and eloquent way to remember the One Who came 'to dwell among us'."

After the audience, the Pope was awarded the "Prize for Charity" by the "Banca Alimentare," an Italian foundation that organizes, among other initiatives, the National Day of Food Collection. The reason for granting the prize, says a communique released by the foundation, is that since the start of his pontificate, the Holy Father "has sought to present charity - the sincere giving of oneself to others - as a natural dimension of Christian life."

Cardinal Secretary of State Tarcisio Bertone S.D.B., speaking during a meeting between the Vatican Publishing House and other international publishers, highlighted the fact that the award coincides with Benedict XVI's decision to donate part of his copyright earnings to a study center founded by his former theology students.
AG/CHRISTMAS/... VIS 061220 (570)



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