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Steve,
I wasn't arguing, it was just my odd sense of humor.
Ethics and morals do not depend on religion to exist. The ancient Greeks showed us that.
DLC = Democrats Loving Corporations: Riding the wave to a permanent minority.
Zero G.,
That's not a banker in the pure sense of the word. In any event, that's not the point of my meme. Certainly, a Wall Streeter is not going to be progressive (yes, I know Bernanke was the economics professor from Princeton, but he's also bought into the system).
The point still stands that putting a different person as the driver of a clunker doesn't make the clunker a classic.
Re: Campaign Finance
Paul Wellstone ran against a better-financed opponent each time he ran for the U.S. Senate. He was a truth-teller, too, and he always won.
Gerald, IMHO "the Bible" is a confusing set of many times edited and translated voices of humans, mostly male humans at that. Although "The Book of 'J' by Bloom and someone, posits that the original Jehovah story was authored by a female member of King David's court. What do I know?
Steve,
"When has anyone ever met a “progressive” banker?" Gordon Wasson?
Zero G, the voice of God can be read in the Bible, such as when you do it for the least of my brethren, you do it for me. The voice of God is also in the Beatitudes. The voice of God is "Love one another as I have loved you."
Zero G, there are people who misread the Bible and they put in the words that they want to hear.
My God does not believe in war, torture, and the killing of His children. My God has a heart that is filled with love, mercy, and forgiveness.
There are people who paint God in the image they desire. Bush II and Cheney have painted their God as punishment and vengeance.
Unemployment Rates by County
This should be an iPhone application for job seekers.
http://cohort11.americanobserver.net/latoyaegwuekwe/multimediafinal.html
I just heard Bernie Sanders regarding Ben Bernanke. There was only one problem with what Sen. Sanders said. He called Bernanke asleep at the wheel. This is false. Bernanke knew exactly what he was doing...protecting his Wall Street friends. The problem with the Federal Reserve Systems is not its governance. It's the system itself. True reform will come when we nationalize our monetary supply and get rid of the Federal Reserve. Enough welfare for banksters. Also...asking for a "more progressive" chairman of the Fed is an absurd notion, as well. When has anyone ever met a "progressive" banker?
Gerald cannot justice be separated from religiousity? Which is not to say that the religious should not pursue justice.
This is part five of five sections.
G.K. Chesterton argues politics. In a democracy people should govern themselves. Corporations and the rich are governing us. Common sense is better than a corrupt government. Government and commerce are ugly necessities. They control the people and the people do not control them. CAPITALISM IS NOT A FRIEND OF DEMOCRACY. Democracy MUST serve both God and man. Both capitalism and communism are too materialistic. We cannot give everything to the government and commerce. Rich men would rather starve the people.
Industrialism is an indirect system. The voice of the people is the voice of God. Enemies of democracy are the enemies of families. For democracy to work the best interests of the family must be considered. (Single payer health care reform plans is democracy and it serves the families.) Self-denial is important in the world. We cannot rely on other people. We should do something for love.
Mob rule is democracy in its purest sense. Government and democracy isolate people from each other. We have cut off ourselves from each other.
Property and money need to be distributed to the people. We need more skill trades. Society declines when there is a great difference in salaries between the rich and the poor. (Our minimum wage law has not kept pace with the cost of living. If our minimum trade law had kept pace with the cost of living since it was enacted, the minimum wage would be at nineteen dollars per hour.) For democracy to work we need to be concerned about justice.
"Christianity worships by dancing and drinking." - Gerald
Where true, isn't that a continuation of Pagan and also Judaic tradition?
Make a Joyful Noise!
Gerald, I distrust those who claim to hear the voice of God.
This is part four of five sections.
People are divided up into two groups. Capitalists and socialists are alike. Puritans and pagans are alike. Both lack the balance in common sense. Christmas and Easter changed paganism forever. Modern pagans worship something but God. God is not worshipped. Paganism leads to nowhere. Without God we are doomed. Puritanism was a mistake. They looked at the physical world as evil. Puritanism is revival of righteousness. Their Christianity was narrow. They worship by thinking. Christianity worships by dancing and drinking. Modern Puritans worship health and fitness. Modern Puritans are intolerant. Their morals are upside down.
Chesterton defends wine and beer. You drink because you are happy and because you are depressed. Puritanism and paganism miss the point of pleasure and incarnation.
Good should lead us to the Incarnation – spirit and flesh. There needs to be a balance in our life.
This is part three of five sections.
Government and commerce should not grow too large because the people will not control government and commerce. They will control us. You cannot have a moral government from an immoral government.
Industrialism is too crooked and complex. The voice of God is important in a democracy. Enemies of the family are the enemies of democracy. For democracy to work we must value the family. (Do you sense that there are politicians and corporations who care very little about families in our country?) Democracy is from the bottom up and top down. Freedom is independence. Self-denial is the test of self-government. Self-government is thinking for your self. We must do things for ourselves. Big business and big government are bad for democracy. When you lose a common heritage, you lose common sense. We live by the wage. Wage slavery is still slavery. The servile state is inconsistent with democracy.
Property is a form of democracy. Distributiveness is necessary for democracy. Human happiness should be our end in a democracy. A small salary is eternal slavery. (Today, we are seeing eternal slavery in the USA with small salaries and the loss of the middle class.) Democracy is difficult. Democracy must be concerned with justice. For a democracy to work we must love God and we must love our neighbor.
But Robert A. Heinlein would say, "A paradox can be paradoctored."
This is part two of five sections.
When a man stops believing in God, he loses his common sense. Faith will help us recover our common sense. We are not guaranteed whether or not we will win battles. We still must fight for what is right and just. Humility is very important in life. Being a moral human being is hard work. Religion gives us meaning and purpose. We have a responsibility to pass along truth. Democracy and common sense must go together.
What is wrong with the world? CHRISTIAN IDEAL IS NOT IN PRACTICE!
Democracy requires people to think for themselves. Enjoy yourself! Give money to the poor! Preach against pride! Conflicts begin when a person feels superior to another person. Man must have a vision. What kind of picture will you paint? We must choose our light!
Wealthy people do not worry about ordinary people. To worry about someone or something you need to be interested in someone or something. Wealthy people are not interested in ordinary people.
Injustice must be resolved before we have true democracy. Family and religion matter! Wage salary deters democracy. The servile state destroys the family and democracy. Property is the positive form of democracy. Skills have decreased and services have increased. The family is paramount over the factory and wages. (With the loss of manufacturing jobs we are also losing our skilled trade workers.)
CONSERVATIVES PREVENT CORRECTING MISTAKES! PROGRESSIVES KEEP MAKING MISTAKES! CAPITALISM AND BIG GOVERNMENT ARE THE SAME!
Herein lies the dilema: the problems are truly structural, however, as Thom has mentioned, opening a Constitutional convention to address structural problems would undoubtably, under present conditions, lead to further structural problems.
The Obama Effect: The Demise of the Democratic Party and a Gift to the Country
http://www.legitgov.org/comment/rec_report_111209.html
"The Democrats are one of two levers by which the ruling oligarchy controls the political process to their nearly exclusive advantage."
Pretty much sums it up!
Uh, you might want to hold off on that Nobel Prize in Economics
http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/attytood/
Rolling Stone's Matt Taibbi, who's either the best young journalist in America or the best journalist, period, is back to tell us the sordid tale of how Obama sold out to the Wall Street banksters:
That was the day the jubilant Obama campaign announced its transition team. Though many of the names were familiar — former Bill Clinton chief of staff John Podesta, long-time Obama confidante Valerie Jarrett — the list was most notable for who was not on it, especially on the economic side. Austan Goolsbee, a University of Chicago economist who had served as one of Obama's chief advisers during the campaign, didn't make the cut. Neither did Karen Kornbluh, who had served as Obama's policy director and was instrumental in crafting the Democratic Party's platform. Both had emphasized populist themes during the campaign: Kornbluh was known for pushing Democrats to focus on the plight of the poor and middle class, while Goolsbee was an aggressive critic of Wall Street, declaring that AIG executives should receive "a Nobel Prize — for evil."
But come November 5th, both were banished from Obama's inner circle — and replaced with a group of Wall Street bankers. Leading the search for the president's new economic team was his close friend and Harvard Law classmate Michael Froman, a high-ranking executive at Citigroup. During the campaign, Froman had emerged as one of Obama's biggest fundraisers, bundling $200,000 in contributions and introducing the candidate to a host of heavy hitters — chief among them his mentor Bob Rubin, the former co-chairman of Goldman Sachs who served as Treasury secretary under Bill Clinton. Froman had served as chief of staff to Rubin at Treasury, and had followed his boss when Rubin left the Clinton administration to serve as a senior counselor to Citigroup (a massive new financial conglomerate created by deregulatory moves pushed through by Rubin himself).
Read the whole thing, and ask yourself: If Glenn Beck is determined to build a show around criticizing Obama's appontments, why does he not criticize these appointments?
1st appeal to Bernie regarding health care Medicare eligibility. Advocate for the proposal for Medicare to be available starting at age 55 comes with No Strings Attached.
I have had an opportunity to see the work at a free health clinic. As I looked over the people who were at the clinic, I saw a feeling of hopelessness. How can any true American be so insensitive to the needs of their brothers and sisters in God? We are in a full scale depression.
I would like to share with you the words and thoughts of G.K. Chesterton. We will need time to reflect on his words and thoughts and not just read his words. I will give you his words and thoughts in 5 parts or sections. I do not want to overload you in one part. True reflection will take time.
This is part one of five sections.
The Gilbert Keith Chesterton Society is located in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
G.K. Chesterton (1874-1936) had profound influence on such diverse 20th century figures as Mohandas Gandhi, C.S Lewis, and T.S. Eliot. Mr. Chesterton is also known as the Apostle of Common Sense.
I had a chance to listen to G.K.’s words and thoughts on radio from January, 2003 through January, 2004. His writings were discussed for thirty minute parts. His writings would be discussed for a week here and a week there. What is amazing about his work and writings are that his writings can be applied today. While I listened to the radio shows, I took notes.
I have divided the information on G.K. Chesterton into several parts or sections in order not to overwhelm you. Please do not just read the words. It is important to reflect on the words and thoughts.
I want to begin with his steps for conversion. Actually, these steps had to do with religion but these steps can be applied to parties and politics.
Here are the three steps for conversion.
One, be fair and open minded to the truth!
Two, realize the truth and investigate the parties and politics!
Three, is the party or politics pulling you to the truth and you can accept conversion or reject it!
G.K. was a master of logic. Only the truth can free us and make us happy. We cannot compromise in these areas – wisdom, truth, innocence, and goodness.
Obama's speech in his acceptance of the Nobel prize was lame. He sold out our country for change with 30 pieces of silver.
We are so excited. I want to share with you the good news. We welcome a new member into our family. It's a boy and we named him Jesus!