The prime reason why right wing populism has risen in the United States has been greed or the very least extreme self interest. When the Internet made it easier to ship jobs outside the United States the management class did not think of the consequences., although Ross Perot warned us! The primary message from half the United States is, “get a job” and yet most of that half worked hard to take jobs away. The same thing is now happening with AI. Rather than ignore the consequences we need to make fundamental changes to how work is viewed in the United States and what enables a sound society. I am thinking about things like changing the definition of full time employment to 20 hours a week so that the number of the original pool of limited jobs doubles. It is drastic thinking like this that is going to be required because we are seeing the results of the current way of thinking.
Christian Nationalism Did Not Save Rome
For me the fact that “Christian Nationalism” exposes is that so few people know the history of Christianity nor really try to understand it. All of Christian doctrine relies on freedom. Whether it is to repent, to say the “sinners prayer,” or to open our eyes and change our mind we think we have to be free to choose because we do not know love. Even if Christianity is seen through the lens of love, true love is not forced, it is fallen in to. Therefore, using laws to enforce any part of Christianity upon anyone is to take away freedom and antithetical to Jesus. It’s a denial of Christ crucified and to resurrection.
Christian Nationalism exposes Christianity to what it is, a religion founded on empire. Jesus did not establish a religion, for religion is a part of the norm of civilization for which Jesus told us to change our minds about. (Repent, metanoia).
The Roman Empire fell even after the Christian religion was created to become the religion of the empire for the sake of saving the empire. Likewise the Christian religion, “Christian Nationalism,” will not save the United States.
First day on the patio when it’s cool enough to need a hoodie. Still the cicadas that are in the sun are making their sounds of summer.
Introducing Mythos Theme | Matt Langford
I am currently using the Tiny theme here but will check out Mythos.
Browsing through some old posts here using Surprise Me and I think this picture is really good.
Google launched the Pixel 10 series this week, and there are several things about it that I like but I would prefer to not spend more than $500 on a phone even if I can get $200 in trade-in for the Pixel 7a. I am leaning toward getting the Pixel 10a when it comes out next spring, particularly if it has the Pixelsnap charging and the Tensor G5 processor. I might consider buying a Pixel 10 later in the year if Google (or Amazon or Best Buy etc.) has a sale that can be combined with a trade-in that gets the price closer to $500. I do like that Lemongrass color.
I like collecting and looking at data about myself and I have been using Exist.io for many years now. Today I learned about the update they have made to their mobile apps and web site, which looks very nice. At one point in time it appeared the app was going to be shutdown, so it’s nice to see the improvements being made.
Turns out that Kyle Tucker had a small fracture in his hand, which likely the cause of his broken mechanics at the plate. It seems to me the job of a baseball manager is to prevent players from being their own worse enemy. No matter what the player is saying, the manager has to make the right decision and I don’t think Counsel did in this instance. Further, the GM and President have to also know this is happening and step in when needed. A total failure by the Cubs organization in my opinion. Ricketts must have also known this and still rewarded Hoyer with an extension. I am sure the hope is that by sitting Kyle now he can be right for the push to the playoffs in September.
Workism is idolatry. The Jewish commandment to practice sabbath is intended to protect us from this idolatry and thus protect us from ourselves. I am coming to the end of my career in IT and honestly struggling in my mind between doing what I want to do that I believe is the right thing to do and the fear of doing it. One thing that I think would help society is to learn the difference between happiness and joy. Most in the United States is in constant pursuit of happiness, heck that is even written in one of our founding documents, but happiness depends on external factors. Joy is a state of being, a choice that one makes in how they view the world that comes from within. Joy is what makes one appear to be happy even when they live by the world’s definition of poverty.
Finished reading: Sabbath as Resistance, New Edition with Study Guide by Walter Brueggemann 📚
That Christianity has almost entirely equated sabbath with worship may be amongst the reasons why it has so completely failed in the United States.
During our staycation this week we have been going to restaurants that we have never been to before. Last night we went to Mother Handsome for pizza. While there are many carry out pizza places near us, there are not many pizzerias, this one was ten miles away.
I think staycations are the only real vacations.
In what way does a military occupation of a nation’s capital project an image of freedom? What does the United States stand for today?
Talk about the current state of affairs needs to place the reason behind them on Republicans and not Trump. Our problems are really not because of one man but because of an entire party that allows if not embraces what is being done. Whenever there is a federal election the debate needs to be framed in the context of a clear difference of what is America between the parties. A person’s affiliation with the parties means that person stands for those things because they choose to run as a member of the party.
The best thing about baseball is that until playoff series deciding games there is always tomorrow and a chance for the team to redeem itself. Yesterday the Cubs won and continued to avoid a three game series sweep and thus keep avoiding long losing streaks, which are the real deal of a major league team. The team’s weaknesses are real and could be exposed in the playoffs, but avoiding being swept and winning a majority of the season series ought to be the path to the playoffs. On August 18 the Cubs will play their last four games against the Brewers for the season, and in some ways that will be their last best shot at controlling their own fate.
I wonder if Tom Ricketts can be embarrassed? First he extends Jed Hoyer’s contract before the trade deadline, then the lone pitcher Hoyer trades for to help a severely depleted starting rotation pitches two innings before being injured, and there were concerns about that pitcher’s velocity decrease prior to the trade. Finally, the Cubs hitters have gone cold as ice and have dropped to four games behind the Brewers for the NL Central lead. In fact, the Cubs now only have a 2.5 game lead in the Wild Card. Most likely Kyle Tucker, for whom Hoyer traded away a top prospect to the Astros, will leave at the end of the season. Factor all these recent events with the over all failure to win the National League or the division under Hoyer’s leadership sums up the very questionable decision by Ricketts to extend Hoyer before seeing whether the Cubs win the NL Central this year. Instead Ricketts rewarded mediocrity and sent a message to the team that he is not committed to winning.
The wild fire smoke moved in late yesterday creating this sunset like view.
Same Old Cubs Ownership
Hoyer can rationalize his trade deadline decisions all he wants the bottom line is he did not get the job done, and no improvement to the starting pitching rotation has been done. Assad better perform when he makes it back to the team after being out all season. I don’t doubt that the additions that he made will help, but it was not enough.
Truth is, the real failure was made during the off-season by not signing more high quality players. I doubt that Tucker wants to stay in Chicago, in fact if I were him the lack of signings sealed the deal of going to another team; the Cubs can and will be outbid for his services . The consequences of Hoyer’s failures is he lost one of his top prospects while getting no closer to the World Series just to make the playoffs.
Yes, the Cubs likely will make the playoffs as a wildcard team, but they probably will not advance out of the divisional round and winning championships is the measurement. Why Ricketts extended Hoyer before seeing how the team ends up this season tells me that he is more concerned about making money than winning a World Series. An owner expecting nor less than championships would not reward mediocrity.
So far, not impressed by the Chicago Cubs trade deadline deals. Ricketts extending Hoyer before the deadline and not at the end of the season tells me all I need to know, the problem is ownership. Cubs ownership is reverted to being happy enough in collecting the money off the team than in demanding championships.