tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post5990327625741365503..comments2024-03-28T21:41:52.558-04:00Comments on The Elephant Bar: Is Nato Setting Up a New Market in Libya for the Chinese?Deuce ☂http://www.blogger.com/profile/13472858446242700869noreply@blogger.comBlogger56125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-45926559768477085132011-08-25T14:52:11.315-04:002011-08-25T14:52:11.315-04:00Gag Reflex,
Forgive me. In my haste to answer I o...Gag Reflex,<br /><br />Forgive me. In my haste to answer I omitted a thank you for your civility and comity. Although this site seems to plunge quickly into the dark abyss of ignorant bloviating when much more than the mundane is offered for discussion, our conversation has been quite the opposite, and I appreciate that.<br /><br />In no way do I blame Deuce for the above. He is stuck with the neighborhood regulars. His work, however, often shines until tarnished by stupidity.allenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01798524644256471907noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-26486001665492619432011-08-25T13:08:20.448-04:002011-08-25T13:08:20.448-04:00Gag Relfex,
"Live and let live" should ...Gag Relfex,<br /><br />"Live and let live" should be our motto. And, believe it or not, there have been times when that was the rule. Some of Judaism's best literature, of all genres, percolated like a spring during these brief interludes. At the same time, the cultures of the host peoples did the same. Granada was a Garden of Eden, for example. <br />Only when religion, that most corrosive of all political poisons, came to the fore was Eden trampled, burned and abandoned. <br /><br />Far too many people do not understand that religiosity and spirituality are NOT the same thing. The first leads men to chains, serfdom and barbarity; the latter to the full measure of the stature of men. <br /><br />Do not misunderstand: I am religious in the sense of regular synagogue attendance and following a code of conduct singularly Jewish. That said, I know that my greatest growth arises when my behavior allows my G-d to touch my life. That can only happen when my fellow human beings touch and can be touched by me.<br /> <br />To summarize, a "Confession" is religion at its apogee; gleeful conversation around a bursting wine press in 8th C. Champagne, arranging the marriage of a righteous gentile and his Jewish love is spiritualism. Look to Ruth and Boaz as exemplary - under religious law, Ruth could not enter the covenant of Abraham. That rigid prohibition collapsed before the love of Ruth for her Jewish "mother" and Boaz' sense of duty to a dead kinsman and his spiritual connection to this wonderfully loving woman.<br /><br />Concluding, I share the view of a great modern rabbi who said, “I am tired of hearing of “good” Jews; instead, let me hear of Jews doing good.”<br /><br />Bestallenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01798524644256471907noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-27879108947344826562011-08-24T23:56:20.905-04:002011-08-24T23:56:20.905-04:00Allen
No one I "hang with" in the faith...Allen<br /><br />No one I "hang with" in the faith has anything but total respect for our Jewish brothers and sisters. I grow weary of apologizing for those among us past and present who do not. And I am sorry you have been insulted or vilified by anyone here or else where because of your belief or heritage.<br /><br />I believe the Bible, both Old and New Testament is the Word of God, breathed by Him to those who wrote it.<br />And no one has ever been able to disprove any of it whether it be historical or prophetIc.MOMEhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18307879234693014691noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-27010330093114656832011-08-24T21:25:02.608-04:002011-08-24T21:25:02.608-04:00How do Missionaries Paint Jesus into the Jewish Sc...<a href="http://torahlectures.com/view-214.aspx" rel="nofollow">How do Missionaries Paint Jesus into the Jewish Scriptures</a><br /><br />…a whole series of lectures addressing misquotation etc…allenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01798524644256471907noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-80331949751750419832011-08-24T21:00:50.898-04:002011-08-24T21:00:50.898-04:00Palin Is In Third Place And She's Not A Candid...<a href="http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2012/president/us/republican_presidential_nomination-1452.html" rel="nofollow">Palin Is In Third Place And She's Not A Candidate Yet</a><br /><br />bAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-30934673725946025002011-08-24T20:51:26.677-04:002011-08-24T20:51:26.677-04:00I may have misquoted old Walt a bit a little earli...I may have misquoted old Walt a bit a little earlier -- so here --<br /><br /><i>4<br /><br />Trippers and askers surround me; <br />People I meet—the effect upon me of my early life, or the ward and city I live in, or the nation, <br />The latest dates, discoveries, inventions, societies, authors old and new, <br />My dinner, dress, associates, looks, compliments, dues, <br />The real or fancied indifference of some man or woman I love, <br />The sickness of one of my folks, or of myself, or ill-doing, or loss or lack of money, or depressions or exaltations; <br />Battles, the horrors of fratricidal war, the fever of doubtful news, the fitful events; <br />These come to me days and nights, and go from me again, <br />But they are not the Me myself. <br /> <br />Apart from the pulling and hauling stands what I am; <br />Stands amused, complacent, compassionating, idle, unitary; <br />Looks down, is erect, or bends an arm on an impalpable certain rest, <br />Looking with side-curved head, curious what will come next; 70<br />Both in and out of the game, and watching and wondering at it. <br /> <br />Backward I see in my own days where I sweated through fog with linguists and contenders; <br />I have no mockings or arguments—I witness and wait. <br /> <br />5<br /><br />I believe in you, my Soul—the other I am must not abase itself to you; <br />And you must not be abased to the other. <br /> <br />Loafe with me on the grass—loose the stop from your throat; <br />Not words, not music or rhyme I want—not custom or lecture, not even the best; <br />Only the lull I like, the hum of your valved voice. <br /> <br />I mind how once we lay, such a transparent summer morning; <br />How you settled your head athwart my hips, and gently turn’d over upon me, <br />And parted the shirt from my bosom-bone, and plunged your tongue to my bare-stript heart, <br />And reach’d till you felt my beard, and reach’d till you held my feet. <br /> <br />Swiftly arose and spread around me the peace and knowledge that pass all the argument of the earth; <br />And I know that the hand of God is the promise of my own, <br />And I know that the spirit of God is the brother of my own; <br />And that all the men ever born are also my brothers, and the women my sisters and lovers; <br />And that a kelson of the creation is love; <br />And limitless are leaves, stiff or drooping in the fields; <br />And brown ants in the little wells beneath them; <br />And mossy scabs of the worm fence, and heap’d stones, elder<br /><br /></i><br /><br />When ya got that, faith as usually understood is no longer of any great concern.<br /><br /><br /><i>Only the lull I like, the hum of your valved voice.</i> :)<br /><br />bAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-31607551875108216212011-08-24T20:38:15.889-04:002011-08-24T20:38:15.889-04:00Steve Jobs: iResign
Cheney: My book will have ‘he...Steve Jobs: iResign<br /><br />Cheney: My book will have ‘heads exploding’ in D.C. (presumably his book will have a built-in shotgun)Teresitanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-62814104640277087472011-08-24T20:29:59.903-04:002011-08-24T20:29:59.903-04:00Bloomberg Bans Clergy From 9-11 Ceremony – Pushes ...<a href="http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2011/08/bloomberg-bans-clergy-from-9-11-ceremony-pushes-ground-zero-mosque" rel="nofollow">Bloomberg Bans Clergy From 9-11 Ceremony – Pushes Ground Zero Mosque</a><br /><br />Scientists: 3/4 of earth's species have yet to be discovered. (And they all taste like chicken)Teresitanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-70224653074780480982011-08-24T20:03:18.500-04:002011-08-24T20:03:18.500-04:00Gag Reflex,
re: examples
Please, recall: I did n...Gag Reflex,<br /><br />re: examples<br /><br />Please, recall: I did not start this. My purpose was to bring order to chaos as that relates to Judaism in the debate. If the usual suspects will cease and desist, I will gladly follow.<br /> <br />No, but I would recommend to any interested party to google Isaiah 7, in the Jewish Publication Society version (JPS) and compare this to the Christian translation. Go to any good translation of Romans 9:24-29 (personally, I prefer the KJV because of its beautiful use of the English language) and compare this with the original snippets taken from Hosea and Isaiah in the JPS. Finally, and most importantly, try this without fail:<br /><a href="http://www.outreachjudaism.org/" rel="nofollow">Outreach Judaism</a> This gentleman's site will address the issues raised.<br /><br />Finally, four Roman Catholics (one a retired USA Chaplain of 35 years) held up the canopy under which my wife and I were married. Invited to the wedding were Hindus, Buddhists, Protestants (of several varieties), Roman Catholics and Jews. The wedding took place in the Emory University Hillel facility, which is run by Orthodox Jews. The officiating rabbi (mine) is an Orthodox Jew. Jews have no problem embracing others. Others have clearly had a problem reciprocating.<br /><br />When my wife and I were staying outside Epernay, France at a bed and breakfast, we met some wonderful French families (Roman Catholic). Among other rewarding experiences, we were invited to and attended a wedding in a small village church built in the 11th C. While the priest was off-put, the scores of people in attendance were not. We laughed, drank champagne in copious amounts and had a great time. Oh, and the lady of our bed and breakfast informed us that her great-grandmother was a Jew!<br /><br />Jews do not care what others believe as that relates to Heaven. In our faith, all persons of goodwill have a place in the World to Come. As our prophet aptly put it, "What does G-d require of thee, O man, but to do justice, love mercy and walk humbly with your G-d."allenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01798524644256471907noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-91116244594323521812011-08-24T19:10:23.626-04:002011-08-24T19:10:23.626-04:00Sorry, but Paul (Saul) among others took unconscio...Sorry, but Paul (Saul) among others took unconscionable liberties with their use of Hebrew Scriptures - misquoting at length.<br /><br />Care to give some examples, Allen?<br /><br />On another but similar note. The "faith without works, faith with works" is a tricky thing. I believe Jesus died so us Believers can be forgiven our sins in order to have fellowship with our Holy Father. Believing that is faith. We believe we can not earn our way to Heaven (works), but we do works, not to earn but because it is the goodly thing to do. That is, feed the hungry, help the less fortunate, etc.<br /><br />I have no intention of swaying any of you away from your current beliefs or lack there of. I am merely stating mine.MOMEhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18307879234693014691noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-73666042986752547152011-08-24T18:01:02.583-04:002011-08-24T18:01:02.583-04:00I have a problem with folks who start these argume...I have a problem with folks who start these arguments and then get their knickers in a knot when they are embarrassed.allenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01798524644256471907noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-32276669965224452582011-08-24T18:01:00.507-04:002011-08-24T18:01:00.507-04:00If You Like Stained Glass Go Here
b<a href="http://church-stained-glass-windows.com/z.php?cmd=recently-completed-stained-glass-window-projects&resultpage=1&AID=" rel="nofollow">If You Like Stained Glass Go Here</a><br /><br /><br />bAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-6868511219728092012011-08-24T17:57:22.174-04:002011-08-24T17:57:22.174-04:00Torah charity founder accused of fraud over lost s...<a href="http://news.yahoo.com/torah-charity-founder-accused-fraud-over-lost-scrolls-194642386.html" rel="nofollow">Torah charity founder accused of fraud over lost scrolls</a><br /><br />This is our burden.allenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01798524644256471907noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-32126329440000584822011-08-24T17:52:53.249-04:002011-08-24T17:52:53.249-04:00:)
heh
At the Moscow Episcopal Church there was...:)<br /><br />heh<br /><br /><br />At the <a href="http://www.stmarksmoscowid.org/" rel="nofollow">Moscow Episcopal Church</a> there was a fine stained glass above the outside door that depicted Christ with his hands in a perfect 'boon bestowing, fear dispelling' gesture of the Buddha.<br /><br />It's gone now and I couldn't find a picture of it, but I always liked that instance of cross cultural influence, intended or not.<br /><br />I believe the ELCA and the Episcopals can give one another communion these days.<br /><br />bAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-36859813207491352282011-08-24T17:48:11.133-04:002011-08-24T17:48:11.133-04:00Bob: Go ahead and make it Raca, then. Whatever tha...Bob: <i>Go ahead and make it Raca, then. Whatever that means.</i><br /><br />Let me do a "Navy" translation.<br /><br /><b>If you call your shipmate "shit for brains" you'll get twelve strokes of the Cat O' Nine Tails, and it will be richly deserved. But your Father in heaven sees your interior motives. So even if you call your shipmate a lunkhead, God isn't sure he can work with you in his kingdom.</b>Teresitanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-28901779609448624322011-08-24T17:35:24.420-04:002011-08-24T17:35:24.420-04:00I've read, though don't really know how mu...I've read, though don't really know how much stock to put in it, that it was when the Christian main symbol became the cross, with the emphasis on suffering, death, blood, and the Trinity, that things took a turn for the worse, behavior wise, among some of the Christians. Earlier on the symbols had been more of the Good Shepard, a youthful Christ with a lamb on his shoulders, images of the Garden of Eden, peaceful rural stuff, maybe Christ turning water into wine, Christ with that old symbol, the bunches of grapes.<br /><br />On the other hand it must be easier to put up a stiff resistance to say the moslems if one has a more severe, militant outlook.<br /><br />A change of metaphor is a change of meaning, and has real world consequences.<br /><br />bAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-49083319606193976452011-08-24T17:35:02.121-04:002011-08-24T17:35:02.121-04:00On the other hand, our canon seems to have been se...<i>On the other hand, our canon seems to have been set much earlier (say, two thousand years, give or take) and has not been amended.</i><br /><br />You have the same problem of authority that Protestants have. Who says what the Jewish 'canon' is? Rabbi A? Talmudist B? Who says what the Protestant canon is? Pastor X? Parson Y?<br /><br />The Eastern Orthodox Church has always used the Septuagint and the Roman Catholic Church uses Jerome's Latin translation of the same. I suspect the Protestants use the Masoretic text (39 books vs 46) just to be different. <br /><br />The questions about James in the history of the development of the NT canon parallels the questions about Daniel in the Hebrew bible, but the Apocalypse recieved far more scrutiny. <br /><br />Luther was in error to say James was a Jew and not a Christian. A Jew would never say a man's sins would be forgiven through the intercessory prayer of another man, like James teaches.<br /><br /><i>JAMES 5:<br /><br />[14] Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord:<br /><br />[15] And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; <b>and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.</b></i>Teresitanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-31669422361085928042011-08-24T17:25:15.195-04:002011-08-24T17:25:15.195-04:00:)
Go ahead and make it Raca, then. Whatever that...:)<br /><br />Go ahead and make it Raca, then. Whatever that means.<br /><br /><br />In all this talk about works and faith, there is a third way, that of the great Hinduland (at least in the common understanding).<br /><br />Basically, it's "You slug, why should I help you. You are in the pickle you are in because of your misbehavior in your last life. Suffer, it's good for you."<br /><br />bAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-22669023831216321642011-08-24T17:24:50.017-04:002011-08-24T17:24:50.017-04:00T,
I am simply quoting recognized authorities, li...T,<br /><br />I am simply quoting recognized authorities, like the founders of Christian creeds. Now, if you disagree, you disagree with them. Think of me as the weather man. I report and you decide whether to take an umbrella out.<br /><br />Sorry, but Paul (Saul) among others took unconscionable liberties with their use of Hebrew Scriptures - misquoting at length. That's good work if you can get it, but it was also why Christian leaders had to persecute Jews: We held the real deal - a terrifying threat. Wherever we were not oppressed by Christians, say among the early German conquerors (Arian Christians) we lived in peace. Only with the domination of the Franks, Trinitarian Roman Catholics, did we and our German neighbors across the length and breadth of Western Europe begin to taste the whip, the rope and the fire.<br /><br />I am willing to cease anytime you all quit misrepresenting both the Jewish and normative Christian positions. You will find me more than competent in the defense of both.allenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01798524644256471907noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-78324873912226081122011-08-24T17:21:42.183-04:002011-08-24T17:21:42.183-04:00.
What if Obama Isn't That Smart
...And if O....<br /><br /><b>What if Obama Isn't That Smart</b><br /><br /><i>...And if Obama is brilliant, and Bush is an imbecile, how come the genius kept most of the things the dolt set in motion: the protocols for fighting the war against terror, the surge strategy, the timetables, and even, in Robert Gates and David Petraeus, some of his main appointees? Why couldn't the genius improve on the idiot's handiwork?<br /><br />Maybe he isn't that bright.</i><br /><br /><br /><a href="http://washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/columnists/2011/08/what-if-obama-isnt-so-smart#ixzz1Vz2TLqQe" rel="nofollow">Not Too Bright?</a><br /><br />.Quirkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00272168240606512672noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-42590566677950141232011-08-24T17:12:45.044-04:002011-08-24T17:12:45.044-04:00You can go ahead and call Allen a fool now, Miss T...<i>You can go ahead and call Allen a fool now, Miss T.</i><br /><br /><b>"Whosoever shall say to his brother 'Raca' shall be in danger of the council, but whosoever shall say 'Thou fool' shall be in danger of hell fire."</b> -- Jesus of NazarethTeresitanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-83995455376947776302011-08-24T17:11:56.221-04:002011-08-24T17:11:56.221-04:00.
I agree with Barry Ritholz in his discription o....<br /><br />I agree with Barry Ritholz in his discription of what has happened since the bank bailouts in 2008:<br /><br /><br /><br /><i>Consider what was actually done in 2008-09, and you will understand why none of the underlying problems have been repaired:<br /><br />• Bank holdings: Remain stuffed with declining assets, primarily in Housing and Derivative holdings. Another leg down in Housing could be nearly fatal.<br /><br />• Transparency: Balance sheets are unnecessarily Opaque; Eliminating Fair value accounting via FASB 157 did not fix balance sheet problems, but instead allowed banks to hide them.<br /><br />• Capitalization: Remains too thin; leverage should be mandated back to the pre-2005 rule change of no more than 12 to 1; As we have learned, management does not keep adequate capital unless mandated to do so (sufficient capital reserves cuts into profits);<br /><br />• Misaligned Incentives: Compensation and bonus schemes were not significantly changed after bailouts, except during loan repayments. Thus, management and traders still have the same upside to roll the dice, but do not have the downside risks, which remains on shareholders and taxpayers;</i><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Barry suggests that the banks should have been nationalized, rationalized, and then spun back to the public.<br /><br />While I agree the nationalization of the banks would have been cathartic for most Americans, I am still unsure as to whether it wouldn't have resulted in more problems worldwide because of the interconnectedness of the financial world.<br /><br />Ritholz is correct in saying the problems haven't gone away and it is likely we will revisit where we were in 2008.<br /><br />However, as long as the GOP is in the ascendancy, talk of nationalizing the banks is off the table. That leaves us with us with TBTF vs classical bancruptcy.<br /><br />Anyway you look at it there is no good option.<br /><br />.Quirkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00272168240606512672noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-9759593127834216362011-08-24T17:11:24.645-04:002011-08-24T17:11:24.645-04:00bob,
I do not intend to worry about Luther; he wa...bob,<br /><br />I do not intend to worry about Luther; he was what he was. If you care to tackle his other phobias and obsessions, go for it.<br /><br />Luther detested St. James the Just and the eponymous book in the canon. He and many other Christians believed that James was a Judaizer. That is not my opinion or interpretation; those are the facts. James (the book) did not become safely planted in the Christian Bible until the mid-16th C. for Roman Catholics and the mid-17th C. for many Protestants. At this writing many Eastern creeds are still not satisfied.<br />On the other hand, our canon seems to have been set much earlier (say, two thousand years, give or take) and has not been amended. For those who would disagree, take care: The Dead Sea scrolls etc are rattlesnakes.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PK2HANwsUWg" rel="nofollow">link</a>allenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01798524644256471907noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-78783938260596664532011-08-24T17:11:02.855-04:002011-08-24T17:11:02.855-04:00Which is at least more energetic than the --
Gian...Which is at least more energetic than the --<br /><br /><i>Giant Pandas<br /><br /> According to keepers, the giant pandas did not appear to respond to the earthquake.</i><br /><br />:)<br /><br />bAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-52174854185112542432011-08-24T16:55:51.010-04:002011-08-24T16:55:51.010-04:00Government officials, community and business leade...<i>Government officials, community and business leaders joined in a dedication ceremony for First Solar’s thin-film solar PV module manufacturing facility in <b>Mesa, Arizona</b> last week. Investing $300 million to build the four-line factory, it will employ some <b>600 full-time associates</b> and is designed with the capacity to produce 250 megawatts (MW) worth of thin-film PV modules per year.</i><br /><br /><a href="http://cleantechnica.com/2011/08/24/local-leaders-join-first-solar-in-dedicating-250mw-thin-film-pv-factory-in-mesa-az/" rel="nofollow">Solar Factory for Mesa, Arizona</a>Rufus IIhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05297231055991566183noreply@blogger.com