Out of this Furnace by Thomas Bell

Below is a paper I wrote for a history class I had on working people in America.

George Kracha came to America in 1881. This begins a wonderful novel by Thomas Bell that covers the hardship, despair and love of three generations of an immigrant family working in a steel mill in Pennsylvania and the desire of earning a fair wage and the ability to make a better life for themselves. Like so many other from Eastern Europe Kracha came to America to flee the endless poverty of being a Slovak in the Austria-Hungarian Empire. After finally walking to White Haven, PA he began his life as a rail worker but after the advice from a friend moved to the steel towns. The reason for moving was the pay was better in the steel mills than the railroads. Kracha was introduced to the hierarchy which existed within the steel mills when he needed to buy an Irishman a drink to get a job at the mill, a Scotsman (Carnegie) owned the mill, an American (Frick) ran the mill and the Irish were the foremen with the Slovaks taking the bottom.

There is a brief mention of the Homestead Strike but it didn’t affect the Slovaks because the union only included skilled workers. After the strikers were defeated Henry Frick would message Andrew Carnegie, “We taught our employees a lesson.” That lesson lasted until 1937 when the Union was finally recognized. The Panic of 1893 caused by the collapse of the Reading Railroad caused hardship as the company lowered wages and cut production, a typical response during downturns in the economy.

In many ways the hope of the Slovaks were similar to many immigrants, to save enough money to go back to the old country and buy a farm or to buy a farm in the United States. Kracha develops the entrepreneurial spirit by starting a butcher shop and learns that “money makes money.” If not for greed and lust he would have maintained that spirit. There is a fear of getting involved with politics as with Mike when he was going to vote the Socialist Party ticket but feared retaliation if found out. As Kracha told Mike, “Think what you like but keep your mouth shout.” By John’s generation this would change as people came out in mass to support the Democrats in 1932.

In December 1900 the hierarchy that existed was American, English and Irish who were the department heads and Slovaks who made up half the mill but had no skilled jobs. The goal of these immigrants was to come to America, find work and make a living. The living conditions were such that when Mary returned from the ocean for the first time she realized how smoky and dirty the mill town was. One night after drinking heavily Mike shows the despair that existed within the unskilled workers at the mill. The hierarchy system did not allow the Hunkies to move upward within the mill. Tied to a life of hardship and no hope the toll it took upon the people, as one older woman complained all she had done was work all her life to the point she could not longer use her hands. After the death of Mike, Mary, like so many others, suffered due to the World War I Wartime Inflation. At the time prices of groceries more than doubled causing the ever present poverty to consume Mary as she struggled to live off her sewing, savings and what John could earn. Like most widowed women throughout history she could not find enough work to provide for herself and the children. Mary contracted Tuberculosis and was sent to a sanitarium. After Mike’s death she was never the same and died in the sanitarium. During the war John, to show his patriotism was forced to buy Liberty Bonds and War Savings Stamps. He would have to sell at a discount in the early 20’s.

The possibility of a strike in 1919 actually split the Catholic Church in the area. It also created a “Red Scare” promoted by the newspapers, as Unionism was tied to Bolshevikism. During this time period the company decided to bring in the Blacks to work the mills. A common strategy used by many companies to continue the ethnic division that existed. Thus the Slovaks were replaced on the lowest wrung of the ladder. Later on Dobie would tell Kracha as the Irish looked down at the Hunkies now the Hunkies looked down on the Blacks. This hierarchy was repeated within industry throughout the United States. Even to this day an order exists within some production facilities, Whites, Blacks and finally Hispanics. After the strike was called off the Pittsburgh Catholic Charities received $25,000 fro US Steel.

The Crash of 1929 and the subsequent depression caused the steel mills to literally shut down. The people were starving and were aimless with no hope. After the election of Roosevelt we see the passage of the National Recovery Administration specifically Section 7(a). Section 7(a) allowed the organization of unions for the purpose of collective bargaining. This recognition of right to organize by the government was required for any long lasting success of the unions. As has been shown throughout history when the force of government was used to end strikes and always favored business. The American Federation of Labor attempted to organize a union but in the preparation for a strike the AFL’s William Green called off the strike. Plus the union tossed 75% of the steel workers out of the union. The union was finally created when John Lewis and Sidney Hillman started the Congress of Industrial Organization (CIO). One benefit the union members enjoyed was that all were members of the union and there was no ethnic divide.

The book focuses on the lower class workers within the steel towns of Pennsylvania who lived in poverty. Bell could have chosen any industry within the United States to make his point that unions lead to a better life for workers. For the poverty and treatment of the mill workers was repeated within industries ranging from rail workers to the meatpackers. The significance is that without the government backing the right of workers to organize and the right to collective bargaining no such rights would exist as history has shown that employers will use everything in their power to keep workers down. It was only with the passage of the Wagner Act that exempted unions from the Sherman Anti-Trust Act that unions could finally not fear the use of government force to breakup strikes.

The book shows two areas that have existed since the early 1800’s in the United States. The first is the desire of foreigners to migrate to this country and the second is the anti-immigration stance of people already here. These opposing views allowed employers to use ethnic groups against each other to achieve their goals. The railroads used this when bringing in Asians to build the rail lines causing friction with native born and European immigrants.

The novel is a well written and interesting work. In many ways it almost seems that the characters are real and possibly based on real persons or family members. It allows the reader to put a human face on the hardship that immigrants faced to find a better life in America and the disillusionment that occurred when hopelessness set in when they finally realized there was not a better life ahead. It shows the effects of ethnic division when groups look down upon another base on nothing more than a birthplace.

Thomas Bell wrote a novel that has a place in the library. As I read the book I kept thinking about modern day China and the struggles of industrialization that the country is facing. Many of the labor issues that faced America in her history are now facing China. Factory workers in China are treated similar to factory workers were treated in the United States before Roosevelt. How China responds to these growing pains will be interesting to watch. In the United States today we have similar classes of people, the Slovaks and Polish have been replaced by the Hispanics. We as a nation leave the dirty jobs to the Hispanics as we struggle as a nation to decide the future of these illegal’s, thus since Kracha came to America we as a nation continue to argue about the same issues as we did then.

I found this in the Daily Reckoning in an article by Marc Faber and thought I would post it:

At about the same time, John Gapper, writing for the Financial Times,
lamented the poor state of US infrastructure in an article entitled “On
the pot-holed highway to hell”:

“If anyone doubts the problems of US infrastructure, I suggest he or she
take a flight to John F. Kennedy airport (braving the landing delay), ride
a taxi on the pot-holed and congested Brooklyn–Queens Expressway and try
to make a mobile phone call en route. That should settle it, particularly
for those who have experienced smooth flights, train rides and road
travel, and speedy communications networks in, say, Beijing, Paris, or Abu
Dhabi recently. The gulf in public and private infrastructure is, to put
it mildly, alarming for US competitiveness...

“Faced with the emptying of the Highway Trust Fund, established in 1956 as
the US entered a period of growth and prosperity, Mrs. Clinton suggested
cutting its source of funds (which she claimed could be made up by a tax
on oil companies)... At times I wonder whether the world’s biggest economy
has the will to solve its challenges or will end up wandering self
indulgently into the minor economic leagues. I expect it will get serious
when the crisis is too blatant to ignore, but it has not done so yet.

“Perhaps this is a bit unfair. Some leaders have recognized the problem
for economic development, as well as for safety. They include Arnold
Schwarzenegger and Ed Rendell, governors of California and Pennsylvania,
and Mayor Michael Bloomberg of New York. The trio have allied to press for
the states and Washington to act.”

Gapper then quoted Ed Rend, incidentally one of Mrs. Clinton’s biggest
supporters, who supported her initiative to suspend the “gas tax” and
increase taxes on oil companies (a really bad idea, since higher oil
company taxes will curtail exploration). “Dams are in a horrible condition
... we have no real rail transport, unlike most nations in the world...
Summer delays make flying in America a disaster,” Rendell said.

According to Gapper, “...there are lots of ways in which infrastructure
inadequacy matters to the US but I would focus on two.

“First it imposes a drag on economic growth. The private infrastructure is
poor enough – broadband speed lags behind other countries and mobile
coverage is spotty. But much of the public infrastructure is unfit, a fact
that was becoming clear even before Hurricane Katrina flooded New Orleans
and a Minneapolis bridge collapsed during rush hour last year.

“Second, it presents an awful image of the US to investors and other
visitors. The state of transport and communication infrastructure is a
symbol of a nation’s economic development and the US is starting to look
like a third world country. In fact, scratch that. Many developing
countries look and feel better. Of course they are in a different phase of
development. The US invested 10% of its federal non-military budget in
infrastructure in the 1950s and 1960s as it built the interstate highway
system – at the time, the envy of the world. While the US investment has
fallen to less than 1% of gross domestic product, China has been matching
its double-digit postwar record... Americans may not like the sound of
that, but they cannot expect the US to maintain the economic dynamism of
the late 20th century in the 21st unless they buckle down. Sooner or
later, wishful thinking is going to crash into financial reality.”

In a column for the New York Times, Thomas Friedman noted that Americans
really “want to do nationbuilding” – not in Iraq and Afghanistan, but in
America.

According to Friedman, “We are not as powerful as we used to be because
over the past three decades, the Asian values of our parents’ generation –
work hard, study, save, invest, live within your means – have given way to
subprime values: ‘You can have the American dream – a house – with no
money down and no payments for two years.’ ...

“A few weeks ago, my wife and I flew from New York’s Kennedy Airport to
Singapore. In J.F.K.’s waiting lounge we could barely find a place to sit.
Eighteen hours later, we landed at Singapore’s ultramodern airport, with
free Internet portals and children’s play zones throughout. We felt, as we
have before, like we had just flown from the Flintstones to the Jetsons.
If all Americans could compare Berlin’s luxurious central train station
today with the grimy, decrepit Penn Station in New York City, they would
swear we were the ones who lost World War II.

“How could this be? We are a great power. How could we be borrowing money
from Singapore? Maybe it’s because Singapore is investing billions of
dollars, from its own savings, into infrastructure and scientific research
to attract the world’s best talent – including Americans...

“And us? Harvard’s president, Drew Faust, just told a Senate hearing that
cutbacks in government research funds were resulting in ‘downsized labs,
layoffs of post docs, slipping morale and more conservative science that
shies away from the big research questions.’ Today, she added, ‘China,
India, Singapore ... have adopted biomedical research and the building of
biotechnology clusters as national goals. Suddenly, those who train in
America have significant options elsewhere.’”

Zoonosis

A recent article by Charlie Furniss (p.1) revealed that an estimated 73% of new human diseases may have zoonotic causes. These diseases include Ebola, HIV, etc. The growing body of work available for the topic includes the CDC’s Emerging Infectious Diseases website http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/EID/index.htm and academic journals. Traditionally disease has been spread by fleas (Black Death) and mosquitoes (Yellow Fever) but new diseases have developed that has changed this pattern. The Machupo virus was shown to have been spread by the urine of hamsters.

Diamond talked about the way disease has spread throughout history. It is believed that Black Death and smallpox were started in China and transferred to the West. I find this topic to be quiet interesting when I look at what a epidemic can accomplish that war never could. Without disease destroying the native population of the Western Hemisphere in waves the natives could have destroyed the Spanish Conquistadors.

Catching diseases... By: Furniss, Charlie, Geographical, 0016741X, Apr2006, Vol. 78, Issue 4

Compare and Contrast “1491” and The Future of the Past

History is the record of the rise and fall of civilizations. Throughout history migrating tribes have enter new regions in search of territory in which to conquer either causing the destruction or enslavement of the inhabitants. In similar fashion the Europeans conquered the Western Hemisphere along with the rest of the world. As has been said the winners write the history books and for several hundred years the conquerors have dominated the book market looking at the Indians prior to Columbus as “savages” who needed to be civilized. Recently paradigm shift has begun among archeologist and anthropologists questioning the currently accepted model about the population and development of the Western Hemisphere prior to the arrival of Columbus.

After the arrival of the first Europeans the spread of disease began to destroy the Indian populations of the Western Hemisphere. As the Mann notes, “The Spaniards arrived and the Indians died – in huge numbers.” Smallpox arrived in 1525; caused by a single Spaniard caused the death of half the Inca Empire. This plague was followed in succession by typhoid, bubonic plague, influenza and many more diseases, of which the native peoples had developed no immunity against.

Both the article and the book discuss how man effects his environment. Mann quotes Charles Kay of Utah State that humankind is the “keystone species” everywhere. In Stille this keystone species is played out in Madagascar. Humans have destroyed 80% of the rain forest along with many animal species. Humans are attempting to develop national parks to protect the forest and the remaining species.

In Madagascar man has done similar things to what the Indians may have done; burning out areas for farming or to manage the forests. Unlike the Indians, who seemed to have managed the land with great care and a deliberate plan of action the people of Madagascar have been more inclined toward a scorched earth policy. An example maybe how the Indians created a neo-tropical landscape on part of Amazon River before the Spanish arrival is reminiscent of attempts that are being made to clean up the Ganges River in India by creating a pond system that will filter the human waste from Varanasi. Showing that humans continue to develop the “wilderness” for their own purposes rather than allowing nature to control humans.

Both Mann and Stille focus upon the disagreements that exist within the scientific community about how we view the past and how best to manage the past. In the Western Hemisphere the view of the past is changing from a savage place with unoccupied territory to a place where the people had built a prosperous civilization that was destroyed by disease. Some see it as a clash of Neolithic civilizations that had both started 10,000 years earlier. Similarly in China the past in looked upon as a means to achieve financial gains. In Sicily, tomb raiders steal treasure and sell on the black market. The Western view is the past needs to be revered not be used for personal or national gain. But in order to preserve the past nations, such as Egypt, are depended upon those who would view the past in non-scientific ways. Egypt is depended upon tourism which is driven by those who follow people like Edgar Cayce.

Even as technological advancements have changed our view of the past so have new ideas that challenge the accepted paradigm. In “1491” Mann attempts to present a view that the accepted paradigm is continually being challenged whereas Stille tends to look down upon those who deviate from the accepted model, as with the Chinese view that the past should serve the present. As history shows what was once viewed as “heresy” in one generation becomes the accepted model in the next.

If I can make a book recommendation The Future of the Past by Alexander Stille. Stille is a wonderful writer who deserves to be read by people.

God is LOVE (Agape)

I John 4:16 tells us that God is Love and whoever abides in love abides in love and God abides in him. What does love mean? St. Paul defined love in the famous chapter of scripture telling us what love is. I Corinthians 13

God is patient.

God is kind.

God does not envy.

God does not boast.

God is not arrogant.

God is not rude.

God is not irritable.

God is not resentful.

God does not rejoice at wrongdoing.

God rejoices in the truth. Jesus is the way, the truth and the life!!

God bears all things.

God believes all things.

God hopes all things.

God endures all things.

God never fails.

Imagine the wonderful Father who loves you deeply. He looks to Romance you today.

The Vatican Library Mystery

In 1997 the Swiss Guard came in and shut down the businesses that existed near the Vatican library including a coffee shop and library store. What followed was the removal of Father Boyle, the prefect of the Vatican Library. Boyle was an Irish priest who rose to the Prefect position in 1984 and had an ambitious goal of modernizing the Vatican Library. Built by Sixtus V in the 1580’s the Library has a long tradition of collecting books throughout the world and contains ancient manuscripts like no where else. In order to achieve his goal Boyle contracted with an American Iannessa who was responsible to license Vatican Library merchandise with the hopes of raising money to upgrade the Library.

The trouble started when raising money for the project Boyle and Iannessa contracted with Carver, a son of a car dealer, without seeking advice from the Vatican legal counsel. In his naiveté Boyle “loaned” money to Iannessa to purchase a new home thus began legal action that in the end cost the Vatican $8.8 million plus legal fees. Along the way Iannessa was able to sign license agreements with several companies raising money so Boyle gave her a contract extension. In attempting to kill the golden goose (licensing) the Vatican has refused to honor the contract thus causing more legal disputes. Many feel that the Vatican will simply settle the contract dispute so they can proceed with IBM and digitization.

Boyle died in 2000 but some of his goals were achieved including an air conditioned reading room and the project to computerize the Vatican Library’s book collection is complete.

Khoisan Language

There are an estimated 800 languages in Africa divided into six language groups. Among those is Khoisan or Click language. The language involves the use of clicking noises that use various tones to distinguish meanings and used by an estimated 120,000 people. Some believe the Click language maybe the oldest human language. Khoisan language is subdivided into three branches: San (Bushmen) and Khoikhoi, spoken in various parts of sub-Saharan Africa; Sandawe, a language found in E Africa; and Hadzabe, also spoken in E Africa. (Columbia). One other Click language did exist on the continent of Australia and was used by the aborigines for manhood initiation ceremonies though is now extinct. In recent years Hadzabe has been removed from the Khoisan group due to difference in grammar, sounds and meanings. This implies a different origin than the other click languages or a “very ancient proto-click language. (Pennisi, 2004)

With the advancement of DNA genealogy, researchers at Stanford are using DNA to find the origin of language by comparing Y chromosomes of the Bushmen and the Hadzabe. The conclusion was the genetic differences between the groups seem to imply the two groups “diverged at the dawn of humanity.” (J.T. p. 1). “The research suggests that the Hadzabe are the descendants of one of the first groups to split off.” (Pennisi, p.2) Which some estimate to have occurred 70,000 and 50,000 years ago. Alec Knight of Stanford thinks the reason why these click languages survived, while others have died, is the hunter gather lifestyle of the Khoisan tribes because using clicks work well when hunting game. (Pennisi, 2004)

The First Language? By: Pennisi, Elizabeth, Science, 00368075, 2/27/2004, Vol. 303, Issue 5662

African languages Columbia Encyclopedia

DNA hints at origin of all language. By: J. T., Science News, 10/27/2001, Vol. 160, Issue 17

The Return of the Vanished Library

In the old crumbling city of Alexandria, along the Mediterranean, a library is being constructed. Similar to cities in China, Alexandria has decided that its past is may well be the key to the future with the Egyptian government’s attempt to rebuild the Ancient Library of Alexandria. Originally founded by Alexander the Great in 332 B.C. the city was the intellectual capital of the Mediterranean for many centuries only coming to decay as the centuries wore on. The Great Library was built by Ptolemy Soter, a general of Alexander, and his descendants to help legitimize their reign and contained the wisdom of the ancient world. Throughout the centuries the city experienced decay with only a brief renaissance caused by European investment, this ended abruptly with the Nasser Socialist revolution with the confiscation of foreign business. The quote, “The city is like the decaying stage set of a play that closed half a century ago, its actors long dead, their place taken by man and women engaged in a drama with a different plot and characters” best characterizes the present Alexandria.

Today Alexandria is an old crumbling city with similarities to the Pyramids at Giza where politics have taken the place of scholarship for control of the Library. With scholars being ignored concerning the purchasing of books e.g. 30,000 old books were placed for sale at $1 each because the Zahran, head of the Library project, only wanted new books. Originally a dream of both UNESCO and Egypt the Library has become a behemoth without the staying power due to corrupt government bureaucrats. In an ironic twist as the library is being built the Egyptian government his banning books that it deemed against its best interest or anti-Muslim.

In the end the Library is a dream of a few to restore the past glories of Egypt in an environment that places politics over cultural heritage.

Are We Losing our Memory?

How do you preserve the past before the records of the past deteriorates into nothingness? In the bowels of the National Archives’ new building exists the Department of Special Media Preservation. The head of the department is a Charles Mayn, a computer engineer who leads a team in transferring information from obsolete technology to more stable modern formats with the goal of attempting to preserve the past in what has become a futile battle. At issue is the stability of modern information storage. With the technological advancement of storage devices the information contained has become less stable, ancient clay tablets that were used to write information are on display in museums where as today’s digital storage devices need to be replaced within 20 years.

Hampering this preservation is the fact that government agencies use different formatted computer systems for database storage causing a logistical nightmare for the Archives, including the National Military Command Center NIPS database that is no longer supported by IBM, which contains herbicide records related to Agent Orange. The present Archives systems were not made to handle the amount of data presently being produced, e.g. 6 million electronic files a year from the White House alone. All the additional data coming through could lead the Archives system to crash; a system designed to handle 10,000 messages a year without the ability to upgrade to the needed minimum of 1 million.

Another issue that plagues the department is that everyone wants the data preserved but no one is willing to pay to do it. Though decisions will need to be made about what data should be saved and what should be allowed to deteriorate in oblivion. In the end the decision of what to preserve may depend upon popularity such as with Homer.

Living with a Dead Language

What is the future of a language that is no longer used? Since Vatican II the usage of Latin has declined from a common language used throughout the Catholic Church to a dying language on the deaths door. Enter Reginald Foster, a Carmelite monk from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Foster has been the Latin Language Department of the First Section of the Vatican Sectariat of State since 1969. Foster is a man with more passion toward Latin than for his religion, though his religion appears to be Latin, a passion he developed while attending St. Francis Minor Seminary in Milwaukee, Wisconsin when he was thirteen. A man who can best be described as a loud arrogant know it all who prefers wearing a blue jumpsuit from JC Penny’s above his religious garb.

Foster was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and for as long as he can remember he wanted to be a priest, when he was six he would pretend he was a priest. When he was twelve he spent a time being overly religious, counting all sins, etc; a stage many people experience in life. When he was fifteen he had decided he wanted to be a teacher of Latin and join a religious community ending up as a Carmelite monk. Foster has lived for 40 years in a monastery, isolated from the real world, on Rome’s Janiculum Hill.

Foster teaches Latin to anyone willing to learn using Latin from throughout the centuries, so students could be reading Cicero, Augustine, etc while learning as compared with the technique most textbooks use by making Latin seem as much like English as possible. With no textbook Foster writes study lessons (ludi) for every class on a typewriter with only capital letters.

At the end of each year Foster takes his study lessons and burns them forcing himself to rewrite each year and losing for history a wonderful study aid created by a lover of Latin. Though today there are websites with him material. In many ways the future of Latin no longer exists in the confines of the Catholic Church but in teaching students the use of Latin to help better learn the English language.

War of Words: Oral Poetry, Writing and Tape Recorders in Somalia

As with the newfound power and the present battle over control of the internet in the United States Stille uses tape recorders in Somalia to discuss how technology can be used to change the world. The man Stille uses to discuss this is a famous Somali poet named Hadrawi who currently resides in northern Somalia. Hadrawi is used as a backdrop to show the history of modern Somalia under the corrupt regime of Siad Barre and how tape recorders were used to spread the poetry of anti-government poets throughout the land.

Throughout Somali history the poet has been a revered individual because of the oral tradition and the lack of a written language. This power was used effectively during the regime of Barre who attempted to use Latin to base his new written language. As an example of the power of the poet Hadrawi and fellow poet Gaariye launched a poetic duel called the De-ley poems that questioned corrupt government practices, In “Debatiel,” Hadrawi wrote: “Where does all this money come from?” In the end sixty poets joined in producing 120 poems. The result was that the poetry helped weaken the state eventually helping to cause the overthrown of the Barre regime in 1991. “The poetry was more important to us than guns and cannons,” once again showing the power of words in creating lasting change.

Northern Somalia is a clan based society the new state of Somaliland was formed in northern Somalia. The central government is small outfit with easy access by all civilians; hence the jamming fax machine of the nation’s president. The new republic has moved into a market based economy that appears to be benefiting the people. Elected officials need a least 20% of the vote from each region (clan) of Somaliland, taken from Nigerian law that was found on the internet.

Hadrawi is not all together happy with the results of technology despite the fact the he himself has written a book and allowing his wedding to be videotaped he talks in romantic, Luddite terminology. The future for Somaliland like United States is new technology that allows the power to exist with individuals over the powerful elite which includes something as simple as a tape recorder.

Is AIDS of animal origin?

The tragedy of AIDS is destroying nations in Sub-Sahara Africa with 30% infection rates and leaving behind orphaned and infected children. A debate is ongoing about whether AIDS is a zoonosis, a disease of animals that may be transmitted to man under natural conditions.” The New York Times ran the headline, “Chimpanzee meat blamed for AIDS epidemic.” The problem with the headline is that humans have been eaten SIV infected meat for thousands of years but only with the 20^th century had AIDS emerged. In fact, over the last 50 years only 11 cases of SIV infection has been recorded in humans.

The source of the HIV-2 virus has been identified as the Sooty Mangabeys (monkey). Five criteria were used to determine this:

1. HIV-2 has an identical genome structure as SIVsm.
2. The two strains are phylogentically (evolutionary development) are closely related.
3. Sooty Mangebeys are numerous in the HIV-2 infected region of West Africa.
4. Geographic coincidence.
5. Sooty Mangabeys are hunted for food.

“Evidence of simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) infection has been reported for 26 different species of African nonhuman primates. Two of these viruses, SIVcpz from chimpanzees and SIVsm from sooty mangabeys, are the cause of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) in humans. Together, they have been transmitted to humans on at least seven occasions.” The virus for which the majority of HIV infection in the world is believed to have occurred is the result from just one cross-species transmission.

http://web.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.metrostate.edu/ehost/detail?vid=6&hid=120&sid=dc68a5e2-a84a-4000-9371-7db2b083f24f%40sessionmgr104

Journal of Medical Primatology:

http://web.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.metrostate.edu/ehost/pdf?vid=7&hid=108&sid=d9b5b547-d595-4516-8adb-335cd3fb20d0%40sessionmgr102

Reindeer

The reindeer’s ancestors were hunted by the Neanderthal during the Middle Paleolithic era. Herding in Alaska was started in 1892 (first importation of domestic reindeer from Russia) by the Native population as a means of combating underdevelopment. In 1902 the Russian government stops the exportation of reindeer to Alaska. During the 10 years a total of 1280 reindeer are shipped to Alaska.

By 1968 an estimated 30,000 reindeer exist in Alaska with 11 privately managed herds, ranging in size from a few hundred to many thousand. Today there are an estimated 463,000 reindeer in Alaska. One threat reindeer herders have is the comingling of the herds with Wild Caribou with some herds losing 75-100%.

http://web.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.metrostate.edu/ehost/detail?vid=5&hid=115&sid=350c7cde-ecd8-4281-84c1-12097f666e4d%40sessionmgr103

http://www.alaskool.org/projects/reindeer/history/iser1969/RDEER_1.html

http://web.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.metrostate.edu/ehost/detail?vid=7&hid=115&sid=350c7cde-ecd8-4281-84c1-12097f666e4d%40sessionmgr103

Reindeer meatballs with a cold beer:

http://flickr.com/photos/oliverw/240889181/

Saving Species in Madagascar

Madagascar is an ecological masterpiece that has been brewing for 160 million years. Sitting between the continents of Asia and Africa the people’s heritage is a combination of both. Madagascar has become a symbol of the struggle that exists between the best way to save endangered species and the struggle of local people who depend upon the land to survive. The center of this story is the Ranomafana National Park with the main character being a American Patricia Wright. The park was created, with USAID money, to protect the various species of lemur that live in the area. The conflict arises due to the fact that after many years of being controlled by a socialist dictator Madagascar is one of the poorest in the world. The locals view the parks as an empty promises the have benefited the rich while leaving the poor even worse off including the spread of disease that is killing as much as 10% of the population of some villages..

Stille uses the crayfish to show the catch-22 nature of the Madagascar experiment. The forest has been closed to logging and other economic uses so the locals need to find income from another source. The locals began harvesting the crayfish which the ecotourists enjoy eating. The result has been the endangerment of crayfish. As a local villager Nobert Butovao says, “For us, the park means death.”

The thought that came to mind as I was reading was Kipling’s poem,” The White Man’s Burden.” It is the self appointed “burden” of Americans to know what is best for these people even if it kills them.

The Ganges’ Next Life

How best to clean up the Ganges River in such a manner that will not create a conflict with the people’s Hindu beliefs is the essence of this chapter. Stille is exploring the conflict that exists between religion and science using a Hindu setting. Presently the river is dangerously high in fecal coli form caused by the dumping of human waste directly into the river by Varansi and other major cities along the river. The Hindu views the Ganges as a goddess “Maa Ganga.” Located on the river is the holy city of Varansi, the “chief center of Hindu learning and culture”. The story centers on a man by the name of Mishra who is both a holy man of one of the principal temples of Varansi and a professor of hydraulic engineering at Baharas Hindu University.

Because the river is viewed in such a holy way people journey to the river to dip themselves and drink from it to cleanses their sins. This is causing major health concerns due the dumping of human waste. Recently the Indian government has made attempts using European technology to clean up the sewage. The problem was that the technology used only makes the water livable for fish not humans. Add to the sewage is the human pollution caused by the dumping of dead bodies and cattle the river creating a potential crisis. A new proposal is being made to use a pond system to clean the waste water from Varansi. The Indian government is considering the idea but of concern is how to explain it the people using “Ganga is our mother. Come and see what is being thrown on the body of our mother – sewage and filth” as compared to “Ganga is polluted”.

Domesticated Animals – Llama

Llamas (Lama glama) and the alpaca are two species of four species (guanaco, vicuna being the others) of New World camelids located in the South American Andes. Originally located in the North Amercian plains the ancestor of the camelids migrated south due the Ice Age and inhabited the Andes. Domestication of the guanaco, from which the llama descents, began in Peru about 2000 B.C. and became a “silent partner” to the Incas. The llama was used as a food source, a beast of burden; its wool was used for textiles, for building bridges to roofs to clothing, and worshipped (and a nice golf bag carrier).

The alpaca (Vicugna pacos) is descendant of the vicuna and was domestication may have occurred as early as 4000 B.C. The alpaca was associated with the goddess Pachmana, Mother Earth, in Andean mythology. “It was believed that alpacas were loaned to humans, to be left on earth for only as long as they were properly cared for and respected. According to this legend, alpacas were given as a gift at the mountain Ausangate in Peru.” The animals are similar to the llama but the wool was also used as currency in the Andean regions of South America.

The Spanish conquest brought a systematic attempted to destroy these animals. The result was that only those llamas and alpaca located in the highest reaches of the Andes survived, some estimates is that 90% of the alpaca were destroyed.

Today these animals are used as pack animals and their wool continues to be used for textiles in South American.

http://www.llamapack.com/text/history.html

http://www.llama.org/history.htm

http://www.gatewayalpacas.com/alpacas/history-of-alpacas/alpacas-history.htm

Looting History

The looting of ancient cities has become big business for the poor in the area of ancient city of Mortgantina. Located on the island of Sicily, Mortgantina was the last Greek hold out on the island against the Roman armies in the 3^rd century B.C. The city lay buried for 1900 years until Princeton University began excavations in 1955. The contrast that exists is shown by a chance meeting in 1968 between Mascara, a tombaroli (tomb raider) who was raiding a site and Malcolm Bell, an American archeologist. Mascara has been arrested many times attempting to loot antiquities. What has been created is a black market in ancient artifacts that involves museums throughout the Western world including even the mafia. Stille goes into great detail about Cammarata who was arrested for smuggling trafficking of antiquities including to private collectors inside the United States. able.

In 1972 the United States ratified the UNESCO treaty making the smuggling of antiquities illegal. Museums, i.e. Getty and Metropolitan, have spent millions of dollars to purchase these artifacts. And in only the last few years have these museums become interested in helping to deal with this illegal smuggling trade.

Should these museums be required to return these artifacts being if not for the smuggling of these items they may never have been discovered. Some believe that the restrictive Italian laws are part of the problem. The laws have created fear among Italian collectors about purchasing illegal artifacts thus the items are sold overseas. Another question arises because the city of Mortgantina was a Greek city not Italian. Should the artifacts be considered Greek or Italian?

Have you ever looked at yourself and realized there is more important things in life then your petty problems. When I hear about the people who need help I understand who Christ wants me to help. There are children dying of malaria and starving. These are the people Father has called me to help. Compassion International

The Culture of the Copy and the Disappearance of China’s Past

The chapter is about Western man’s attempt to preserve the historical Chinese culture. It is a look at a trip that he took to China with an Italian named Cordaro. Historically the Chinese have a cyclical view of time. This view allows the Chinese to continually copy and rebuild the old with the new. The Chinese even have a word for this type of copying called Fu Zhipin. The view is in contrast to the traditional Western view that time is linear. During the Cultural Revolution Mao made an attempt to destroy the past with the destruction of several thousand monuments. This view of the past has forced many western museums to cancel exhibits of Chinese artifacts because the Chinese will send copies instead of originals. The preservation of the past has taken a backseat to the rapid modernization effort that China has been going through. In the city of Xi’an a school of art preservation was created to train Chinese students. The key word from the students was to make money. An exception was at Luoyang were it has been realized that the old cultural heritage of the region could be used to attract tourism dollars.

One are that the chapter touched upon was how the Chinese have traditionally placed more importance of the whole (i.e. The Great Wall) versus the Western view of placing the importance on the individual (i.e. Michelangelo’s David). This view is seen in the rewriting of ancient Chinese works throughout history. This view influences how the Chinese view a wholistic medicine compared to the Western symptom oriented view. The road ahead has tremendous opportunity for the future of Chinese archeology which is still considered in it infancy.

The Sphinx – Virtual and Real

How should the modern view the past? The chapter talked about a conflict that exists concerning the view of the Great Pyramid and Sphinx. The scientific community looks at the evidence using technique like carbon dating and concludes that the structures were built during the Old Kingdom. A second group based on the teachings of Edgar Cayce and similar types believe that the structures were built by descendants of Atlantis thousand of years earlier. What the chapter brings out is the conflict that exists between the modern and the past. There are groups of people who view the past as superior to the present, modern world. These people look to the ancients as the source for life’s problems. The Cayce group would be those people who believe the pyramids hold secrets to the universe. The scientific community is represented by men like Lehner who base the arguments on the evidence found at the sites.

The problem for the scientific is that in order to continue the restoration and preservation projects they are depended upon those who visit the monuments, who provide needed revenue, many of whom are there because they are adherers to Cayce or Graham Hancock types. Also, the merchants that surround the Sphinx are depended upon those same people for their livelihood.

Living with a Dead Language

What is the future of a language that is no longer used? Since Vatican II the usage of Latin has declined from a common language used throughout the Catholic Church to a dying language on the deaths door. Enter Reginald Foster, a Carmelite monk from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Foster has been the Latin Language Department of the First Section of the Vatican Sectariat of State since 1969. Foster is a man with more passion toward Latin than for his religion, though his religion appears to be Latin, a passion he developed while attending St. Francis Minor Seminary in Milwaukee, Wisconsin when he was thirteen. A man who can best be described as a loud arrogant know it all who prefers wearing a blue jumpsuit from JC Penny’s above his religious garb.

Foster was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and for as long as he can remember he wanted to be a priest, when he was six he would pretend he was a priest. When he was twelve he spent a time being overly religious, counting all sins, etc; a stage many people experience in life. When he was fifteen he had decided he wanted to be a teacher of Latin and join a religious community ending up as a Carmelite monk. Foster has lived for 40 years in a monastery, isolated from the real world, on Rome’s Janiculum Hill.

Foster teaches Latin to anyone willing to learn using Latin from throughout the centuries, so students could be reading Cicero, Augustine, etc while learning as compared with the technique most textbooks use by making Latin seem as much like English as possible. With no textbook Foster writes study lessons (ludi) for every class on a typewriter with only capital letters.

At the end of each year Foster takes his study lessons and burns them forcing himself to rewrite each year and losing for history a wonderful study aid created by a lover of Latin. Though today there are websites with him material. In many ways the future of Latin no longer exists in the confines of the Catholic Church but in teaching students the use of Latin to help better learn the English language.

The term used to describe the transmission of disease from animals to humans is Zoonoses and it has a fascinating history.The best know diseases are rabies, anthrax, tuberculosis, plague, yellow fever, influenza, and certain zoonotic parasitic diseases. The most famous plague, also called the Black Death, was caused by the fleas being carried by black rats. In 1346 the plague entered Constantinople and by December 1348 London. By the end of the outbreak “The death toll throughout Europe was at least 25 million out of a total population of 40 million. (In warmer months and in southern Europe, at this time, there was at least one family of black rats per household and an estimated average of three fleas per rat.)” http://uhaweb.hartford.edu/bugl/histepi.htm#plague

Another transmitted disease is Yellow Fever. Yellow Fever is caused when a mosquito bites a human after it has bitten an infected monkey. Located in Western Africa this disease became know as “White Man's Grave” after killing colonists by the hundreds. http://www.cbwinfo.com/Biological/Pathogens/YFV.html

The diseases continue to infect humans as we move closer to wildlife areas. Between 2000 and 2005 and estimated 50 million people where infected with zoonotic diseases causing the death of an estimated 78,000 people. “For instance there has been a global resurgence in the Dengue virus – which is transmitted between monkeys in the jungle by the mosquitoes that feed on them. The cycle can move into nearby urban areas where it can then be transmitted from person to person by mosquitoes” says Dr Jonathan Heeney, Chair of the Department of Virology at the Biomedical Primate Research Centre in the Netherlands. http://www.innovations-report.de/html/berichte/medizin_gesundheit/bericht-73607.html

The rise of zoonoses as even produced an article “Zoonoses Likely to be Used in Bioterrorism” by C. Patrick Ryan in Public Health Reports, May-June 2008.

The Man Who Remembers

What is the future of cultures that use oral traditions to pass down myth from one generation to the next when the influence of another culture is introduced? The essay centers on an Italian anthropologist by the name of Giancarlo Scoditti and his travels to the island of Kitawa in order to study the culture of the native people. Give the name Toruruwai, “the man who remembers” by a local sorcerer Scoditti is being sought after today by the natives to help revise some of the old customs that are being forgotten. Stille bases this essay upon discussion he had with Scodotti without ever visiting the island to verify the information he received.

Scoditti’s first visit to Kitawa was in 1973 when he was able to find passage with an Australian official abroad an old motorboat who left him on the island promising to return in one month but never came back. An experience he describes near the beginning of his island adventure was the spiral dance which led to a “nights of love” by the unmarried men and women. A contrast exists between the colorful description of Scoditti versus earlier “grayness” writings of Malinowski.

After the experience with the dance Scoditti began a period of depression in which time he was bitten by thousands of bugs, suffered protein deficiency and experienced illness. He was treated by the local sorcerer who packed his legs with paste to cure the bug bites and met Towitara, a master canoe craftsman. He was aloud to watch the creation of a ceremonial canoe including who a canoe is cut down and transported to the beach without touching the ground; reminiscent of Kula Ring, the myth of the flying canoe. Towitara would come to his dwelling at night and teach him the ways of the Kitawa and after much convincing the witches and sorcerers also began meeting him at night.

The Kitawan culture has been in decline. In the past the changes were gradual but today, like so many throughout history, the change is taking place in a more rapid fashion causing concern that the Kitawa culture will be lost. The man who remembers has become the recorder of a dying culture.

I found an interesting website which I highly recommend. I even bought a t-shirt.

http://who-would-jesus-kill.blogspot.com/

I was thinking about what is know in the Club as Heresy Hunters. These are the people who have committed themselves from clearing the religious landscape of all heresy by their definition. The question is always asked at what point do they disagree with my beliefs. These are the dangerous people within the club. Most Bible teachers either teach prosperity or politics but these man teach that you are all wrong if you don't agree with them. If you don't have it right your damned. I use to be one of these fools until I realized that I was hurting the body of Christ but I had the "right" doctrine.
Today the club in America has degenerated into nothingness and I think I may understand why. I have struggled with porn for 30 years and there are books out there to help the club doesn't real want to deal with this. I understand the 50% of Christian men and 20% of Women are trapped in this area. I also have heard that 50-60% of ministers are in bondage to porn. How can the body of Christ help others when they themselves are trapped. I understand this, the need to point fingers against people because not relationship with Father exists. My desire is to have that relationship and to walk away from the dangers of religion that effect the club.

I had to write a short note about Social Darwinism for a Geography class I have so I thought I would attached it for your reading and comments. A note the book we are reading for the class is Jared Diamond's Guns, Germs and Steel so this looks at a comment he made.

Social Darwinism is social theory created from the writing of Charles Darwin, Thomas Malthus and others that can be defined “to describe the idea that humans, like animals and plants, compete in a struggle for existence in which natural selection results in ‘survival of the fittest.’” http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761579584/social_darwinism.html

The idea is based upon Charles Darwin’s work The Descent of Man as applied to human society. As Darwin himself wrote in the Descent of Man, “at some future period, not very distant as measured by centuries, the civilized races of man will almost certainly exterminate, and replace, the savage races throughout the world.” http://www.reference.com/search?q=social%20darwinism

Social Darwinism gave permission to the European powers to conquering the “savages” located throughout the world because these people were inferior to the white race as Rudyard Kipling called it the “The White Man’s Burden.” Throughout the nineteen and first half of the twentieth century it was used to justify the elimination of less desirables from society. Social Darwinism lost favor after World War One as anthropologists started emphasizing culture or biology. http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761579584_2/Social_Darwinism.html

For Diamond the less fit are eliminated by a high murder rate from New Guinea thus producing a more intelligent population. Diamond makes the impression a high murder rate can be good because it eliminates those misfits from society. I think what he is trying to show is that those who are being murdered in New Guinea are the misfits who are the burdens on society, such as law breakers, who are causing the problems. I think Diamond’s main point is that the traditional Western way of defining intelligence is not the world’s way.

I was listening to a podcast called The God Journey this morning. Wayne Jacobsen read a letter from a lady about how torn she was between freedom and grace and at the other end of the religious dial performance based acceptance. For most of my Christian walk it has been based upon performance, I belonged to a Word of Faith club for 17 years before the ministerial temper tantrum make me leave. I understand that conflict within. On one side the Freedom and Grace Christ purchased and on the other having to do something to earn favor with God. I would confess the word so I could get stuff from God. Make sure you do all these things or else. And God forbid bad things will happen if you leave the club. I left the club and I am waiting to see what Father has for me. My goal is to discover how much He loves me and to experience that love.

Yesterday I talked with a friend about the spiritual abuse that has taken place. He is a member of the same group. His counsel was helpful. Christ has set each believer free from the law. We died to the law. There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Christ has given no one permission to use their "anointing" to spiritually abuse his body.

I grew up Baptist and went to an Assembly of God church for several years. For the last 17 years I attended a fellowship that met at a Lutheran church. When I started the group had 40 to 50 people. My last class where the abuse occurred maybe 15 including the teacher and family (6). I never realized it but he had done this same thing with many people. We have had many people come through which he made sure he drove away.

I stared reading Grace Walk by Steve McVey this week. I am also going through a Grace Walk workbook for daily morning devotions. I do it because I want to not because I think I better or else. I want to experience the Journey Father has for me not some religious system that makes me fell empty at the end of the day.

I experienced an attack this past week that has me deciding my "church" life, aka the club. The who leads this group for which I have attend for 1 years was teaching about using Grace to obey the Law, Old Testament. I asked a question and I thought was given a poor answer. He was raised Catholic so works and obedience are important. I thought it was done but at the end of class he threw a temper tantrum like an 8 year old. He left the class and would not acknowledge me in the parking lot, he was hiding in his truck.
This is not the first time this has happened. I remember golfing with him and he was about to begin teaching the Word of Faith spirit man teaching. I made the comment that I was convinced yet about the teaching. For five holes of golf he gave me the cold shoulder. He never once came to me about this issue to talk to me about him. I've concluded that he is a typical Charismatic teacher were the world circles around him. Any way back to the original story.
I went home thinking about all the ways I could talk this out with him but I realized that he will never come to me and talk about this. He thinks he has special anointing from God to be a teacher so anyone who disagrees is anathema. When I first joined that group he taught there was probably fifty people involved. Today a good day is 15. Why?
I have decided to listen to Wayne Jacobsen at Lifestream.
The Journey Father has for me looks like, I don't know but I have started using the material of Steve McVey "Grace Walk."

Over the years I have listened to Talk Radio. The evil ones on the radio. I remember listening to Rush back when he first came on the air. Why I would waste my time is beyond me. These days I listen basically to the local guys. Just another set of wind bags. So I have decided to try an experiment. I am going to give up listening to talk radio and talk TV, you know crap like Morning Joe on MSNBC. Why does everything have to be so confrontational these days is beyond my way of thinking. Even my minister teaches that way. Winds bags all around these days. I will keep you posted if I can achieve inner peace of mind from disavowing myself from talk radio and talk TV.

I don't think I have ever written it before but I think Sean Hannity is a perfect example of what Jesus had to deal with when we confronted the Pharisees.

Have you ever weight so much that you no longer weight yourself? I walk through life with this melancholy attitude toward everything. I have decided that it is time to lose the weight. I have decided that it is not a run to be thin but a journey to be healthy (borrowed from someone). I know for me that if I stay away from sweets and refined carbs the weight will come off. I weigh close to 400 pounds. It is insanity that this has happened. I should weigh about 200. Every so often I question what I am doing. I have belonged to this little bible study group for about 16 years. I no longer feel it is interesting and I fear the leader is getting a cult like mentality. It is now us against the world. God is going to judge the world but we will be fine. That is a dangerous thought pattern for a leader to have.

I am looking forward to the future as I take one day at a time to lose this weight. Also, taking one day at a time with my....

I have found an issue that American Christianity does not want to deal with, Pornography. I have struggled with it for over 30 years. I once was part of a group but it died. I feel there is no beliver in my life I can discuss this issue with in my life. Why? If this problem effects 50% of Christian men and 20-30% of Christian women and 50% of pastors then should not this be the number one issue being dealt with within the church. All politics and theology should be set aside to discuss this one issue. As long as the American church refuses to deal with pornography and other sexual issues it will continue to decline. I need help as do millions of others in this area.

Why is this being ignored?????

Just when I thought I had it the posting system failed me. Hahah, here I am trying to feel sorry for myself and I can't get anyone to listen. I was talking about depression and the holiday season makes me very sad because of it all. I don't know I lost the old post so I guess I can't get it back.

Christ In you the hope of glory

I have been thinking of late about the relationship Father wants to have with each believer. I have an open invitation with Father to talk through my problems but why do I find it so difficult to just sit down and talk. I was in church on Thursday night and my pastor made a comment that made me uncomfortable. He writes out his notes ahead of time and goes through them. His comment was the notes were as if Jesus was talking to us. I feel like the class I have been a part of for 16 years is becoming a cult with the whole shebang even with word of prophecy about the future. Everyone else will go through hell but we will be ok because we are following God. I feel bad about this stuff as I hear more of this crap.

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What I have observed about Bible teachers and ministers over the years is that they really don't know much of the Word og God. What these men and women know is a theology or religious system that masquerades as the Bible. Todays teachers are teaching or defending a system that they have learned or created. When comparing these different systems what is discovered is that each one will defend the system based upon the Bible. The heresy is rampant in the 21st century Church. These systems must manipulate the Word. Walking trying to fulfill the Law is lifeless as a building is lifeless. Abandon the lifeless church and discover the Love Father has for you.

These institutions no longer encourage believers to walk with Father in a loving relationship that can only exist with a Triune God. I hear only a few talking about the indwelling life of Christ that each believer has within. Historically the church buildings are the sign of death. I recently heard that millions of beleivers are abandoning the buildings for the relationship with Father. This is only a bad thing to the power pastors that exist within the walls.

The goal of all these religious systems created by man is twofold. The first is power over people. The Power religion is best represented by Pharoah in Exodus. The other thing these systems seek is money. Look at the fame and fortune that has been created by these ministries. Each believer should discover the value of the storehouse principle but not at the expense of manipulating other believers.

Last year I was golfing with my pastor. He was telling me about some Bible teaching he was learning from Charles Capps about the inner man. I made a comment about I wasn't convinced about the teaching. What I got in return was the silent treatment. The teaching is Christianized Napoleon Hill teaching. Subconscious mind stuff using the inner man(spirit) instead of the mind.

I have pretty much given a cold shoulder to this teaching and I hope he never asks what I think about it. This little fellowship I have been a part of for about 16 years. I am ready for it to end. I have grown tired of the b.s. that is associated with it. I wish the group would end.

What I wonder is, is the cold shoulder I got last year causing me to reject this teaching as just some stupid heresy that has been floating around the church since the heretic EW Kenyon came on the seen in the mid-20th century.

I have been learning about the indwelling life of Christ so my excitement is based upon the living Christ not what can I get out of Father. The self centered gospel that I hear today is sad. I want to experience a relationship with the Triune God and everyone else just want more junk to toss when they die.

Historically the worldwide wage rates have been equal throughout the
earth. The only reason it changed over the last two centuries was the
industrial revolution. The problem today is the industrial/information
revoultion has come to China and India. The end result will be towfold,
real wages will decrease in the West caused by lower wages in the East.
Second, production will always seek out the lowest cost producer
including R&D. Wal Mart has said this year they will start bypassing the
US middlemen and buy directly from Chinese producers. Good bye front
companies. China is willing to give companies 20 years tax free to build
a factory. Just to stay even the US (DC idiots) must also. As for
protecting shipping lanes. Historically people have always been willing
to take the risk in order to get foreign goods, aka Lloyds of London. As
for the world being safe, since WWII the totals days of peace on earth
has only been one week. Perpetual war for perpetual peace. The 'Third
World" also has something that the West lacks, Belief. In Europe it is
the Muslims who are the future. In China Confucius is leading the way.
Never forget that something will always defeat nothing.

New Year New You

I have heard this many times every year. I stopped making resolutions because I prefer goal setting. The chief desire this coming year, Intimacy with the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. What else can I desire. I want to experience the Divine Romance I hear talked about. I have also choosen to read several books covering this topic. Wayne Jacobsen's book He Loves Me and Jennifer Kennedy Dean's study The Life Changing Power in the Blood of Christ. I think this is a good start to the new year. May the Father touch your life this year in a new and intimate way.

Storehouse Principle

Recently I have been struck by the Biblical concept of the Storehouse. In the Old Testament the LORD continually promises to fill our storehouses and barns to overflowing. Proverbs says our barns will be overflowing and our presses with burst forth with new wine. What is the key concept laid out here? Stewardship is required to achieve this promise. It first requires giving to the LORD. I think the Father accepts you to tithe to what is important to you. So it you go to church or give to the poor the LORD still blesses this. This is also a New Testament teaching. The great Apostle taught that if you sow bountifully you would reap bountifully. In studying the concept of the tithe I have learned that both believers and unbelievers teach this as a way to blessing. The second step is building the storehouse or barn. I find that the secular word teaches this concept much better than the church. In George Mason's book, The Richest Man in Babylon the foundation principle taught is that "a part of all you earn is yours to keep". This idea has been borrowed by many within the financial communtiy as the starting point in achieving financial freedom. These two ideas make up the Storehouse Principle. Begin small and watch Father make the blessings grow. If you suffer under the burden of debt might I suggest picking up a book by Dave Ramsey called, Total Money Makeover.

How does Religion defile Christ's Teaching?

A song came to mind today about welcoming the Holy Spirit into our worship service. I thought about how this is a religious song not based on the Bible but man made. The Holy Spirit dwells within each believer so He is always with us. What religion has done to Christianity. I heard that a new mega church was being added every two days, a mega church is defined as having over 2,000 members. 2,000 seems like a small number. I gave up on the church 15 years ago and I have been happy with that decision. No politics. No religious piety. I can be myself. Something I was never able to be when I was a church member. I was raised Baptist and chose the Assemblies of God as my personal torment center. Trying to live the life that was preached was trouble from day one. I lived with a tormented soul trying to be obedient. I never realized that the goal of the Christ Life was was to be loved by the Father. To be brought into the relationship of the Triune God. I have been learning that I have died in Christ thus I am raised in Christ. I want to experience true itimacy with the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. This is my heart's desire. Nothing else can satisfy the longing of the soul.

An Open Letter to Laurence Vance

Mr. Vance In response to your column on Lewrockwell.com about Pat Buchanan I would like to say a few things. First, I have concluded after reading Pat's material for many years that when it comes to war the Vietnam influence is great. He saw what happened to our ally when we refused to honor the obligation we made with South Vietnam. This I believe has influenced Pat's thinking greatly regarding this war.

Second regarding your comments about who continues to support this war. As a Christian I have great dislike for the so called leaders within the Christian circles. I have decided that power is the game here. Mr. Bush did and continues doing a wonderful job deceiving these people, but as the saying goes "you can cheat an honest man". I think the unbiblical teachings of these men and women have caused tremendous damage to the Church.

Third, I have opposed this war from day one. I was called unAmerican because this. What I have discovered is Americans no longer understand the concept of Liberty for which our founding fathers fought to preserve. The Constitution is a document in word only. I doubt if any member of Congress or the Supreme Court has ever read it. I made a pledge to myself that I would return to the writings of these great men and rediscover this concept called Liberty.
Fourth, as for mocking Bush. What else is there to do with a fool who happens to be king. He and his croonies have made a mockery of this nation. Like no other leader in modern times the corruption within this administration far surpasses anything thought of by Johnson or Nixon. The problem today is journalism is dead having been replaced by big media.

have been thinking much about Bible teaching available to the body of Christ. I find there are some excellent Bible teachers but only a few Major Leaguers. I live in Minnesota and there are three levels of baseball played in this state. The first is what I call Miesville baseball. It is made of a part time amateur players who play because they love the game. The second level are those I call minor league. It is made up of the St. Paul Saints. The game is played at Midway Stadium. It is fun to watch but exciting at times but not much substance beyond the present. The third level is the Minnesota Twins. A major league baseball team. Though at times it may seem minor league in the end the team is usually in contention. You can go to the Metrodome and watch the Yankees or Red Sox play.

In the same way there are different levels of Bible teaching. Let me say I have no fault with anyone on any of these levels. The great majority of teachers are like the team in Miesville, fun to watch but amateurish and lack substance. They do it because they want to teach. I am not using as a marker the number of students or were a teacher is teaching. These students teach the denominations teaching. These teachers never move beyond what they started with. I find this the saddest thing of all, getting locked into one subject and spending your days because that is all the teacher knows.

The minor league Bible teachers can be seen on television or listened to on radio. This group is off teaching there own thing without being help accountable by anyone. They too have a message they will continually pound on. Like the amateurs from Miesville growth is very limited. Though you may feel you are growing. You really don't.

The last group are the major league Bible teachers. In baseball teams have scouts to go out and find these players. Like baseball each believer needs to be a scout. These teachers are not easy to find without the guidance of the Holy Spirit. These teachers are the diamond in the ruff. Hold these teachers in high esteem. What do these teachers teach? The Gospel of Jesus Christ, which is the Cross of Christ.

Colossians 3:1-4 1 IF THEN you have been raised with Christ, aim at and seek the [rich, eternal treasures] that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.
2 And set your minds and keep them set on what is above (the higher things), not on the things that are on the earth. 3 For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, Who is our life, appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.

Paul says in Galatians 2:20a That I have been crucified with Christ, it is no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me…

You are dead. You died with Christ on the Cross. Rejoice because you are dead in Christ. Now what, the Christ-life (who is our life). Christ in now your life.

In 2 Timothy the Apostle was writing his goodbye to Timothy he talks about all the churches having forsaken him. What happened? The churches turned their backs on the Christ-life (Christ in you the hope of glory Colossians 1:27) to move into some form of legalism (works religion). The farther the church as moved away from the Grace of Christ Jesus the more legalistic is becomes. Liberal churches have abandoned Christ Jesus altogether thus I no longer consider them Christian thus no longer an aspect of the Church. The Gospel is about a relationship with Father God. It is not about me doing anything but God doing it all. What do I do in this relationship? TRUST!! (A learning process involved here folks)

The United States, as a nation, as it has moved further away from Jesus Christ has moved into greater forms of legalism. Laws controlling every aspect of life has been created to control the masses. This is the essence of the culture war being faught within our borders. Only in Christ is true freedom (liberty) to be found.

“The conviction of the Holy Spirit always comes packaged in the comfort of God’s love and acceptance, the hope that you can and will change and the power to make it happen.”
Gary Kinnaman
Experiencing the Power of the Cross

I have heard Neal Anderson talk about the walk a believer has with the gentle Jesus. As Joyce Meyer says “I’m not where I need to be, but thank God I’m not where I used to be, I’m ok and I’m on my way.

The Christian walk is a process that begins the day we come to Christ. No one is perfect when he is brought into the Kingdom. The Church makes people attempt perfection so people are not allowed to grow but must put on the “smiling” face whenever he/she is around other believers. I attended an Assembly of God church for several years and the whole time I was under self imposed condemnation because I was not perfect. The process will continue through out the life of the believer never reaching perfection in this life.

Rom 5:10
For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. NKJ

More to come…

I read that Empires do what empires do. Perpetual War for Perpetual Peace, bread and circuses, etc. But what do Republics do? What was life like for American's back before the visions of Empire started dancing through Teddy Roosevelt's fat head. I realize the beginning of empire started long before TR but he made it fashionable to attack poor and weak nations. I realize some might say the Spanish-American War was probably the best starting point. I agree. But, Woodrow Wilson made it American foreign policy. Throughout the 20th century America has sent soldiers into poor nations so business would be protected. What has been the result? Empire.

An Empire has a calling. Empires do what empires do. Continual was must be fought. This Empire is different than past because ours is built on debt. Dependence upon the kindness of strangers is no way for a nation to exist. The media plays to game so they continue to get stories to tell from the Empire personnel. All empires die, so this Empire will also go the way of all empires.

In regard to Pat Buchanan’s column “What are the Darwinists afraid of?” I would like to point out a few things. I consider Pat Buchanan one of only a handful of columnists worth reading anymore. I am a believer in Intelligent Design. Looking at the universe God created leaves no doubt in my mind that evolution is a farce created by unbelievers as a way to avoid Final Judgment, if God does not exist then how can a final judgment exist. The debate about origins is the most important debate that exists. For if God does not exist than anything is permissible, holds true. The basic foundation of the culture war rests upon this one subject. If man is created in the image of God than life has meaning thus to destroy life is immoral. But if man is descendant from lower life forms than life has no meaning. Without God than life is existentialist meaninglessness. But if God exists than everyday has meaning. Life has meaning.

The question is "Why in a nation that is supposedly a majority Christian is this debate raging?" What happened to cause the cultural withdrawal of Christians to occur? I believe two things happened to cause this withdrawal. The first was the rise of eschatological defeatism, i.e. premillianialism with the idea of a pre-tribulation rapture. The attitude of defeatism was created. The second was the Scopes Monkey Trial. An external defeat of an internal defeatism.

Legalism, liberalism and religion. I could also toss in penance. All false beliefs created by man to keep men in bondage. Why? In Christ has occurred the divine exchange. Christ took our Sin Nature and gave us His righteousness (2 Corinthians 5:21). Bondage with the gift we receive from our father Adam. Through the First Adam sin (Sin Nature) entered the world and death through the Sin Nature. Freedom is a gift we received in Christ. Outside of Christ is nothing but bondage though the world may think it's freedom but each one is trapped in sin. Walking dead men or non-life. The Law of Biogenisis states that only life can produce life, thus non-life cannot produce life. In the same way we have The Law of Spiritual Biogenisis. Only Life can produce life. Only Christ who is Eternal Life can produce life. Thus when we died with Christ the life we now have is Christ's life living within. Our non-life has been replaced by Christ's eternal life.

I have been thinking about the 3 Billion New Capitalist that the United States is currently facing. China, India, Thailand, Malaysia, etc. Think about the potential that these people have. Then you have Japan. Basket case Japan, A nation that is so rigid that new ventures are terribly hard to get moving. A rigid self imposed system of mass control. Then you have the United States, an dying Empire growing deeper into debt everyday and is dependent upon the kindness of strangers to allow it to continue. We fight foreign wars created by deceptive means without asking what is our mission, oh wait wasn't it because of WMD's, no wait isn't it to create democracies. Deception has cost the lives of 1,800 soldiers and how many hundreds of billions of dollars. Have you thought about the chief proponents of our foreign wars. Usually people who have never encountered warfare first hand. Easier to send people to die if you yourself is a coward.

I have been thinking what is worth reading. I read several e-letters weekly. I read the Daily Reckoning. It is old fashion in its approach. How do you achieve prosperity? Save don't spend, invest don't speculate, avoid consumer debt, etc. It reminds me of The Richest Man in Babylon approach to finances. Another one I read is Gary North's Reality Check. North has been around many years. I first discovered him through his non-profit Institute of Christian Economics. He was writing a series of commentaries on the Bible from an economic stand point. He was also considered a cofounder of the Christian Reconstructionist movement. I considered myself part of it until I met the offspring it produced. I have never seen such hate filled people within the Church before. No love or mercy toward outsiders. If you disagreed you were a heretic and start the executions asap. I have since turned my back on the movement. I continue to read North's economic writings. Insightful but always leaning toward gloom and doom. Nothing has changed since I first read him 20 years ago. We continues to say the same things. .

An interesting website worth checking out is lewrockwell.com. Lew is a libertarian in the Murray Rothbard strain. In my opinion the best strain of libertarianism. Avoid the nutcase Randians, greedy and hating people. Check out Lew's website to get another perspective on the world. Pat Bucahan, the only remaining Conservative in America, has a website theamericancause.org. His magazine he help found The American Conservative is the only conservative publication worth reading. The Conservative movement lacks intelligence and independence. It has been absord by the GOP. When a movement is represent by windbags like Sean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh a movement is dead.

The debate going on about the Iraq stupidity is a debate that should be fought but what about the larger issue. The tenacles of Empire that U.S. politicans dream about in their sleep. Since the end of WW II the Empire has spent hundreds of billions ot dollars potecting the world from itself. What has been the return on our investment? The death of how many American men and women. A total debt burden of how many trillions of dollars. Debt that will never be repaid. The borrower is servant to the lender. We as a nation have become servants to nations like China and Japan. Government debt does not promoted long term growth within an economy but slows growth as the savings are used to promoted government growth instead of economic growth. Savings is the key to long term growth.

What keeps people from saving? Government taxation and consumerism has destroyed savings in this nation. People are cashing in their 401k's to pay off debt, creating a future crisis when retirement comes along. I have learned many years ago that the best way to save is by taking the money out before I see it. The reason the 401k is such a great idea is because you never see the money. The problem with the 401k is that people are not trained in investing. Everyone is a genius in a bull market. Very few people are genius in flat markets. The problem I have with most investment books is that they are based on the premise that you can get unrealistic returns for long periods of time. Usually when people get unrealistic returns on investments the bubble will usually bursts causing wailing and nashing of teeth.

So what is the long term solution to the Empire's problems. First, bring the troops home. Stop being the protector of the world. The world doesn't want your protection. Begin to dismantle the military-industrial complex that Eisenhower warned us about. Second, eliminate the income tax and replace it with sales tax on all finsihed goods. This would encourage savings instead of spending. No nation can maintain and grow an economy based on consumerism. Savings allows a nation to build it's industrial base by investing the money into research and development of new equipment and products for export. Third, begin the dismantling of the welfare state of all kinds. A nation on welfare is a nation enslaved.

I recently read an article about the demise of modern conservatism. It was something I have thought about much lately. Though I consider myself a libertatian more than a conservative I feel much with conservatives like Pat Buchanan. When I look over the landscape of idealess modern conservatism I weep. Today the movement is pro government intrusion into people's lives. It no longer is idea driven but Republican Party driven. Listening to the hot air on cable news channels as "conservative" voices have replaced liberals shows the barrenness of the movement. It is about defending government policies and wars that once would have create debate within but today only contempt for anyone who disagrees. I have been labeled un-American because I opposed the invasion of Iraq. A war based on deception by the ruling junta.

The debate is no longer about Liberty but democracy. Objectivists are driven by greed instead of idealogue and power drives modern conservatives. Idealogue is dead within modern conservativism. The attacked used against liberals also afflicts conservatives. No new ideas. Lord Acton said "power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely." I disagree with this statement but I do believe that with the exception of God power tends to corrupt and the more power the greater the corruption. The motto of the Republican party is borrow and spend for tomorrow we die. Corruption is breeding corruption within the Republican party and the conservatives are enjoying the ride.