Author: eejoseph

Transitions and Terminal Troubles

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The saying goes “Happy New Year” but even the 10-second rush as one year ends and another begins is not always happy.  One may be dragged into the transition by tradition or a zealous partner.   Some people saying “Happy New Year” are known to be struggling with bereavement and a host of ills.  Transitions, like New Year celebrations, provide an opportunity to hope and plan for better things, but hiding in the corner are the terminal illnesses that have restrained human progress for centuries.

Perhaps the most famous transition is the “War to End all Wars”, a disappointing turn for sure.  A close second is the creation of the League of Nations (the predecessor of the United Nations).  I recently came across a turning point in the return of the Hebrew people to Palestine.  The leadership was as zealous as can be, but a terminal illness was shaping the transition into a fatal venture.

In my recent essay Ezra, Scribe and Zealot I uncovered a maze of inconsitencies and a web of injustices.  The treatment of aliens hit a new low, as Ezra forced Jewish men and women to divorce their alien spouses.  To add insult to injury Ezra ordered the children “sent away”. 

The inability of the leadership to speak to and care for the alien spouses and their half-breed children shows  an incredible lack of vision, absent initiative, and an unsepakable low in interpersonal morality. 

Since Ezra’s appeal was to the constitution of the Israelite nation one has little to hope that transitions guarantee security and progress, especially when one is constrained to look back to traditions and sources of reliable guidance.  His zeal for the Law blinded him to common decency and stymied any chance that relations with Gentiles would ever take its place at the centre of Abraham’s vision for a global family of faithful.  Ezra’s campaingn for Jewish racial purity put him in a sobering conflict of interest with the Persian government.  After all, it was a Persian (Gentile)  monarch who had responded to God’s call to restore the Jewish exiles to Palestine, complete with financial and military support.  The Jew-Gentile worldview held by many observers is still a fatal illness which, if allowed to persist, will further corrupt the goowdill that should be at the core of revolutionary thinking, renewal movements and transitions.

Hallelujah Hallelmejah. Praise with understanding

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One Hebrew word has found its way into English usage apparently without much regard to its meaning.  It appears frequently in the Psalms (104:35 105:45 106:1,48 111:1 112:1 113:1,9 115:18 116:19, 117:2 135:1,3,21 146:1,10 147:1,20 148:1,14 149:1,9 150:1, and 150:6).  Another is “Amen” which is now used to express appreciation instead of agreement or verification, i.e. saying “I agree”, or “Let it be so”.  “Hallelujah” has also become popular through George Friderich Handel’s oratorio, Messiah.  The use of  it in churches as a term of praise to God is misguided, because the word is a command or exhortation, not an expression of praise.
When a worship leader (song leader as in the Psalms) says “Hallelujah” the response should be “I praise you Yahweh”.  What is happening is that worshippers are simply passing on the exhortation.  Imagine a military drill officer saying “Attention!”, and the troops under his command responding “Attention!” instead of standing at (coming to) attention. 
 
The proper answer to “Hallelujah” is “Hallaltika ***“, meaning “I praise you ***” and the worshipper may replace the “***” with the appropriate name of God.  Hopefully, instead of mindlessly repeating the word “Hallelujah” the worshipper will respond in their own language with phrases like “I praise you Jesus”, “I praise you Father”, “Thanks so much Holy Spirit”, or “I praise/love/adore you Lamb of God”, and the leader should also join in the offering of praise.
 
As a result of this misunderstanding there are many hymns which contain the phrase “Praise the Lord” and few which have the praise “I praise you Lord”.   Understanding the intent of the Hebrew word makes for a much more meaningful conversation between the leader, the worshipper and God.

For God is the King of all the earth: sing ye praises with understanding (Psalm 47:7)

 

The Corruption of Violence. Talking about Eight foreign medics shot dead in north Afghanistan – Yahoo! Canada News

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So we have made another discovery to add to what we know the Taliban to be proud of.  Murder, misogyny, child-abuse are written in the taliban psyche.  Killing soldiers whose mission is as sacred as moms’ breasts,  kidnapping teachers whose duties are aimed at lifting the veil from secret Islamic learning, are all common and welcomne.  Taliban claims to have killed eight missionaries, and what did they expect?  Were Christians expected to break out into demonstrations and violence against mosques?  When will they ever learn?   What school did they attend?
When was the last time anyone heard the Islamic community lamenting the cruelty of the Taliban and the shrill hatred of Pakistani tribesmen. Now that the two-faced Musharraf (of Pakistan) is gone, there is a chance for  the people of Afghanistan and Pakistan to free themselves from religious bigotry and the abomination of violence.  Centuries of isolation have created the illusion that their culture was a divine gift taht needed to imposed on others.  The Jews had the same idea and ended up in exile.  A similar fate awaits the Islamic states that encourage the oppression of widows, orphans and aliens. Impossible you think?   Men have been able to turn deserts into oases and poverty-stricken tribes into tycoons of oil, and Giod is able to turn the dreams of Islamic wanna-be emperors into useless bits of dandelion flowers.   Regime change is not over!  Obama is a welcome respite from the hardball of international politics.
By any analysis, it was violence that constituted the corruption at the time of the flood.  Violence against the Christian chuch only made it expand and grow.  Violence against women only makes them more skeptical of the love that men say they have.  Violence against “infidels” ony shows the bankrupt state of Islam.  It is not only Taliban who encourage violence against Muslims and non-Muslims and it is not the United States and Christians alone who know that Islam is a scourge, a caricature of Judasism.
The western powers are prone to and very likely to annihilate the Taliban and what will be left of them will be of no consequence.  The efforts of decent people will ensure that regimes like the Taliban will never gain a foothold anywhere on this planet again.  The western military minds are this hour planning how to subdue terror practiced by Islamic states and activist groups.  It will happen.  The guardians of global security will not allow Muslims to turn around centuries of real libeery and dignity for men, woman and children, and they have no illusions about the virtues of a “religious state”.
Those who are quick to take sides in the fight will have a great deal of re-thinking to do.  Support for the Zionist State,  participation in the real estate market, over-crowded jails, inordinate violence by law-enforcement, and the abuse of immigrants are the pandora’s box of our times.  Men who seemed to be beyond reach, reputable and reliable leaders of religion, will fall like meteors, crashing into the atmosphere.  Violence is everywhere!
With this kind of violence – against western non-combatants – increasing a new regime-change model is about to be unleashed.  Weapons of war wll be useless.  People had better get ready for some real soul-searching and be willing to adjust their lifestyle to something more natural and simple.  The race to be incharge is almost over.  Bye, bye, Taliban and company.
 
 

Republican senator calls Obama ‘timid and passive’ in response to protests in Iran – Yahoo! Canada News

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Warmongering Republicans Critics of President Obama

Elbert Joseph, Sunday June 21, 2009

Republican senator calls Obama ‘timid and passive’ in response to protests in Iran – Yahoo! Canada News

Thanks to God, the Republicans still have their venomous throats and fangs!  Why don’t they just use them or call on the great GW of the Outhouse or Dick de Haliburton to voice their outrage at the Mad Mullahs of Iran?

Always outraged.  President Obama has embarked on a repair mission, something that the Republicans have not acknowledged, because they have not seen the damage that the last "’AD’ministration"  has done to not only the US but to the whole world.  They still think of their role as putting out ‘ads’ for the next election.   Just wait ’til then.  The world will see just how evil the Bush government was and the Republicans’ silence over GW Bush during the election is all the proof.   The Us cannot stand another governor – not after  GW Bush and the ill-fated Palin run.  The US needs a peacemaker, and I do not mean a revolver or some new-fangled firearm or weapon.

Democrats in the Senate say Obama has struck the right balance.

"He’s got a very delicate path to walk here," said Sen. Chris Dodd of Connecticut. "You don’t want to take ownership of this."

"The worst thing we could do at this moment for these reformers, these protesters, these courageous people in Tehran, is allow the government there to claim that this is a U.S.-led opposition, a U.S.-led demonstration," said Dodd, emphasizing Obama’s longer-term goal of engaging Iran over its nuclear program.

Will their next ad call for invading Pyongyang or China?  The Republican hordes need to revisit their schools and especially Sunday school so they can reorient their ads and attempts at policy  making to better reflect a nation under God.  Perhaps then they will see that regimes like Iran are in need of help and dialogue, not hateful and ineffective criticism.

South Africa hails ANC poll lead, pressure on Zuma – Yahoo! Canada News

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Good news from South Africa!

South Africa hails ANC poll lead, pressure on Zuma – Yahoo! Canada News

The South African people now have someone from whom to demand answers, according to Marius Bosch’s article.  It does seem that voters are purposefully  united to join “change of government” with “change of fortune”.  If life needs to change at the level of who governs the state; the producer, then there needs to be a change – for the better – in the product.

The Call for change by voters across the globe has consistently gone out.  Voters are being franchise (wise) about what their politicians say and do.  US President Barack Obama is now walking the tightrope between change and reality (things as they are).  In Israel, Pakistan, Iran, Canada, the UK,  all are expecting change and are discovering that some things resist change.

At the demise of apartheid all south African people became stakeholders in their nation’s wealth.  The wealth has not reached the masses of the people.  Some changes are inevitable. The sharing of earth’s resources should NOT be the a hindrance to solving the globe’s dilemmas.  A change is long overdue in some aspects of human life.

Christian people understand this need for change.  In their repentance,  they surrender to God’s view of things.  In real life they say “Amen” to and thank God for life’s fortunes,. Without the ladder experience one gets bogged down in endless flaming of this and that.

Mr Zuma may very well falter at the wheel and lose an election to his rivals because he did not make a change.  Five yeas is all he has.  We should all have some one who can answer the call for change when we make it. 

The Canadian Government Fails Its Citizens Again

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Why was it necessary for Canadians to raise their voices over the detention of Omar Khadr in the US torture camp on Cuba?  Why did the Canadian governemnt not spring into action when it learned that Mr. Khadr was in US custody (one should hesitate to call what is happening at the Guantanamo Bay detention centre custody).   The US is certainly not a custodian of the human lives at Guantanamo.  Humans and their extended entities do not abuse or neglect the legitimate needs of people in their custody.  Those who do are liable for prosecution: so are government operatives who torture and fail to support citizens.
 
The US however claims to have the right to go beyond abuse and neglect to inflict sufferuing on teh detainees in teh name of defending the American people.  Canaduianbs are at war, and the legacy of the G.W Bush administration – financial and legislative exploitation of war time – has been at the heart of the Harper Government’s agenda.
 
Mr Khadr is paying the price for his racial (and perhaps religious) identity. while Canadians consent to the erosion of own human rights right here in Canada under the guise of hunting down and destroying terrorists.  There isn’t enough slight of hand to cover the violence and destruction of lives by police and armed forces.  Mr. Khadr should have long been repatriated (for all the reasons put forward by experienced jurists), and just because he is a Canadian.  The recent case of Ms. Martin, repatriated from a Mexican jail, shows us that governments will not stand up for us without being pushed.
 
 But the Canadian Government  is intent on showing its adulterous and perverse character.  Sharing a bed of imperialistic errors and paranoid xenophobia is far more important to some well-placed Canadians than the maintenance of our rights.  This is no surprise: Canadians seem to be silent about justice when they have to share country and resources with all the people in this great land.  A government that thinks that justice comes out of a reliance on force (police and amed forces) and the shifting pronouncements of the Supreme Court cannot but fail its citizens again
 

Multimedia Madness

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Multimedia Madness.
Messages and images in the media can only affect those who listen to and view them.  That explains
why I do not watch CNN.  The facts of human destiny seem to elude the anchors even when the
reporters in the field report the same thing repeatedly.  There is one message that dominates the
airwaves and printed media:  a power-hungry and callous minority are still trying to manipulate the
majority.
The flavours of 21st. century multimedia madness can be traced to centuries of religious bias, racism,
autocracy and imperialist endeavours.  In some cases the two have been blended into a maddening
mix of superior attitude.  When one places Jewish, Muslim and Christian history under the microscope
of civil achievement there is only one conclusion.  They have failed.  More surprising is the discovery that
the views that facilitated the trail of murder and oppression remain at the centre of these three religions.
Even when they claim to have genuine brotherhood as their priority what emerges is a thirst for domination
and a huge campaign of disinformation.  The madness of religion today is that it claims to be able to do a
better job at governing the planet han the civic and political powers that we have seen over the last 6 millennia. 
Only the blind and malicious seem to have any stomach for handing the reins of political power over to those
guided by religious rules.  The creation of Pakistan, the rise of Zionist Israel and the disarray of the Islamic republics
illustrate the  madness perfectly. 
There is no spirituality in the platforms of any of earth’s ruling powers, and, sadly, neither is there much divinity in
the activities of any of these religious bodies.  Madness rules in the denial of human dignity, in the creation of mindless
robots, and in the pursuit of power over one’s fellowmen. 

Economic Justice

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     The Canadian loonie (dollar) is nudging up to parity with the American dollar.  On THurday September 2oth, the Candian dollar reached 99.87 cent in value.  Consumers have long lamented the disparity between two very competitive neighbours’ dollar value.  If the rich have anything to say or do about this recent development they will deny the average consumer this taste of justice.

      The US government and a few of its global allies have long dominated global economics matters with their stock market shenanigans, trade imbalances and consumer goods price manipulation – all in the name of good citizenship.  Gone are the days when the right to violate national sovereignties of others and hijack are exclusively European or American.  Somewhere a tycoon is weeping because the Canadian dollar have risen to new and threatening heights.  Somewhere a tired labourer is rejoicing and hoping that prices on both sides of the US-Canada border will stabilize.

     Economic power is in a new era with the rise of China and the organization of new alliances.  The Euro has consistently outperformed the US dollar and African nations may soon rise from the pits of nepotism and greed to empower their populations.  Justice (American) usually calls for retaliation and retribution, but this is something we will never see, at least not as an American initiative.  We can safely assume that the rich wil not begin distributing their wealth to the poor, and the poor can hardly wait to plunder those who have long oppressed the.  Let the plutocrats beware!  All those who have suffered deprivation and violence should be ready to receive their just due.  Economic justice is just as important as criminal justice.

     Where, oh where, is Robin Hood when we need him?