The BP Disaster is mindboggling. Also in the news: Britain’s elections, the Iran nuclear non-deal and sanctions, Greece, Elena Kagan, Thailand, FinReg, Carbon cap ‘n trade, Rand Paul, Arizona’s Illegal Immigration Law.
The Top 5:
If you asked me to list my top three experiences from my recent trip to DC (not including friends), I would say Capitol Hill, Ray’s Hellburger, and Arlington National Cemetary. I’ll try to write about all three at some point, but for now, let’s just start with one.
Arlington National Cemetery. One of two national cemeteries administered by the Army. 6,700 funerals a year. 300,000 bodies of service(wo)men and their spouses and their families. Row after row after row after row of tombstones. These are the remains of those who gave their lives to establish and protect our country, our freedoms, our way of life. (And yes, I understand that many died in wars that were fought for reasons far less idealistic.) In a way far more visceral than the grandeur of the World War II memorial, the haunting visages of the Korean, and the understated sea of names etched upon the Vietnam, these tombstones proclaimed, “Here lies sacrifice. Live life. Honor it.”
I’m not sure why, but within 15 seconds, my mind whirred to the Cross. It too marks a death. A death that saved me from a fate far worse than “taxation without representation.” How much greater is the sacrifice? How much more should my life be changed?
A most unexpected find was the Women’s Memorial, which should actually be renamed to the Women’s Memorial Museum. On one interior wall is a series of exhibits documenting the history of women in the armed forces (both officially and unofficially). On the other wall…oh man, on the other wall, is a series of (decently) matched photographs and personal stories of present-day service members / veterans. The stories provide a glimpse into their lives. Their eyes, a glimpse into their souls.
(Left to Right)
Sgt. First Class Kim Dionne, US Army Reserve
Col. Jenny Holbert, US Marine Corp, Retired
Sgt. Mikeishia Kennedy, Virginia Army National Guard
Usually I see the pomp and ceremony of a “changing of the guards” reserved for a country’s royalty or high officials. Instead, at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, this honor is bestowed (fittingly) upon those who died: unknown, unidentified, but unforgotten.
Way too much happens over the course of two weeks. It took me 2 hrs just to take all the links and clippings and format them >.< . But for now, here’s the news. Again, highlights are in red.
Haiti
6 Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
7 but made himself nothing,
taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
8 And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to death—
even death on a cross!
9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name,
10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.
~Philippians 2:6-11
Mindblowing. Always. Amen.
Egads, so much good material this week. All of the videos are worth watching (not all could be embedded, sorry!) and the photo galleries are beautiful and fascinating. Obama’s Nobel Speech is worth a read. Definitely try to make some time to watch the Frontline expose on the credit card industry and the Global income vs Health vs Time videos. Or at least have them playing in the corner of your screen while you do your other web browsing =b.
(Update: Oh, and if you’re up late tonight (sunday) and lucky enough for it to be clear out, catch the geminid meteor showers!)
Data Visualization
Environment
Refining tar sands requires two to three times as much energy as refining crude oil. The companies exploiting them burn enough natural gas to heat six million homes. Alberta’s tar sands operation is the world’s biggest single industrial source of carbon emissions. By 2020, if the current growth continues, it will produce more greenhouse gases than Ireland or Denmark. Already, thanks in part to the tar mining, Canadians have almost the highest per capita emissions on earth, and the stripping of Alberta has scarcely begun.
Business / Finance
“The industry is just a giant wealth transfer mechanism from poor people to wealthly people. The profits from below (subprime) serve to subsidize the interest rate and rewards cost of people in the ’super prime’ category.”
My back of the envelope calculation says that we need to add around 18 million jobs over the next five years, or 300,000 jobs a month. This puts last week’s employment report, which showed job losses of “only” 11,000 in November, in perspective. ~Krugman
If we exclude these immigrants from the calculus, however (as domestic policymakers are naturally inclined to do), the small net gain that remains after subtracting US workers’ losses from US employers’ gains is tiny. And if we account for the small fiscal burden that unauthorized immigrants impose, the overall economic benefit is close enough to zero to be essentially a wash.
Where does this leave policymakers?
US Budget
Healthcare
Politics
the minority party has a continual stake in Congress not really working … it’s bad for Congress and bad for democracy. It means power devolves from the legislature and towards unelected, unaccountable organizations like the Federal Reserve, the EPA … or the courts.
In 1992 the end strengths of our military forces were:
Army 610,450
Navy 541,883
Marines 184,529
Air Force 470,315In 2000 the end strengths of our military forces were:
Army 481,669
Navy 373,692
Marines 173,371
Air Force 354,321
Christianity
Our Christian faith recognizes violence, harassment and unjust treatment of any human being as a betrayal of Jesus’ commandment to love our neighbors as ourselves. As followers of the teachings of Christ, we must express profound dismay at a bill currently before the Parliament in Uganda. The “Anti-Homosexuality Act of 2009″ would enforce lifetime prison sentences and in some cases the death penalty for homosexual behavior, as well as punish citizens for not reporting their gay and lesbian neighbors to the authorities.
Photos
Funny
Thanksgiving. As I count my blessings today, I find my thoughts turning to the plight of the less (un?) fortunate. I’ve read too much and I’ve seen too much and am at a bit of a loss as to what to do about it all.
“Love your neighbor as yourself.” (Luke 10:27)
But who is my neighbor?
Is it the person living next door? Down the block? Downtown? Down state? Down country? Down Under?
Is it the coworker who’s being crushed by the weight of simultaneous deadlines, the death of her father, and a son who is failing out of high school?
Is it the (maybe/maybe not) homeless guy rattling a coin cup at the Jewel-Osco?
Is it the child slowly wasting away from malnutrition in Somalia due to drought and strife?
Is it the working father of two struggling to make ends meet because she’s working three part-time minimum wage jobs and doesn’t qualify for health insurance through any of them.
Is it the student protester in Iran, critiquing the regime, and possibly risking his life?
Is it 30-year old woman convicted of murder and imprisoned for life, with nothing to turn to and nothing to live for?
Is it the Chinese teenager poisoning herself to death by earning a living in an electronics recycling plant without safey protocols or protective equipment?
Is it the octagenarian grandfather, left alone in a nursing home by his children?
In the passage that follows, the Parable of the Good Samaritan, one’s neighbor is basically whoever you come across that just so happens to be in need. Nowadays, however, you can essentially “come across” just about anyone in any situation anywhere in the world. Not only that, you can provide tangible assistance to them (or at least donate money.) So does that same rule of thumb still hold? If so, the number of neighbors we have is overwhelming, and if not, who does it no longer hold true for?
I imagine that this is all a little charade in my head, my Ego cleverly constructing excuses for the continued self-preoccupation of my Id. After all, intractable problems are best dealt with by ignoring them and continuing merrily on my way, right? Easier for me, I suppose, but it doesn’t really make things better.
So am I doomed to a lifetime of futile service and crushing guilt for not being able to alleviate more than an infinitesimally miniscule portion of the world’s suffering? To paraphrase a wise friend, while God has called us all to love our neighbors, He also “has a unique calling for each of us.” To one He has given a heart for the homeless. To another, a passion for world peace. And to a third, a desire for racial reconciliation. Each person’s “neighbor” may be different, but all have been called to love and show mercy to others, to reach outside the boundaries of “myself” and “us” and into the lives of “them”.
So, who is _my_ neighbor? I’m not sure yet, but I definitely know who my neighbor isn’t, and it isn’t “me”.
As for what does it mean to love her/him? eh…I’ll deal with that in the future. (To be continued…)
