Personally, I am happy for the fall rains and the change of seasons. It takes me indoors and I start reading more, have time to paint and cook with research of new recipes.
The Resilient Gardener is written with a west coast gardener in mind but it would provide wisdom for every gardener regardless of what zone of the world they live in. Carol Deppe, the author, explanation about global warming, climate change, weather pattern shifting are the best words on the subject I have ever read. Because she is well educated and has a deep sense of history she does write with clarity that is not often seen. Few authors have such a depth of gardening experience and her strong personal opinion, I find that the most charming part about this book.
I have skipped around a lot with the book so far but what I find is the theme that if we have a few springs that are too wet, too dry or winters of this sort, one should be prepared and have the knowledge to survive the unusual. Deppe explores what is best to plant for food value, how to store and preserve the harvest best and why seed saving is very important. This book is way beyond the magazine pretty picture garden or two pots of tomatoes on the patio. This book is about taking charge of food needs as most of our ancestors did. Even if one is not at the stage thinking or have the time to focus on growing that much food, it is still a read that worthy of your time. She is uniquely aware person that only occasionally we have a chance to meet, even if it is on the printed page.
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Monday, October 25, 2010
China
Ken, my son, has returned to China for a couple weeks to study at a clinic of acupuncture. Return is loosely used term, his first trip was as part of a family trip in 1983. We went right after it was open for general tours, that was after the medical doctors and teachers and before McDonald chain restaurants got there. My curiosity was enough that I took three semester of Chinese culture and history at the local college before we went. My husband was not the less bit interested but did not want to be left behind, both children would rather we do a return trip to England. After our three week grand tour of that year, I have to say it was one of the smartest travel decision I ever made.
Shanghai Ghetto is a documentary that I got from Netflix last week. It was well done and reminded me so much of that first trip to China. Some German Jews realized early on that they were not safe in Germany, a few thought all of Europe was not safe and then there were a group that had no passports. Japan at that time occupied Shanghai and invited them to take refuge in China, where much of the world needed papers or were simply not taking any Jews. The Japanese respected the Jewish culture and were open to helping them.
Shanghai was the financial capital of the Far East in early 20th century, the riverfront was faced with beautiful building of the day and it shipping port was world class. The Germans lived in the poorest neighborhoods with shortage of food, no jobs and lived many to a room. After the war they realized how lucky they were to have left early.
All of Bund was still in place if not a little dusty in 1983. I remember walking by the Peace Hotel for a couple blocks and seeing the only stop light in China. There were only black Russian cars for very high ranking officials, all the populate traveled by bike or bus. Someone's description was "it likes walking in a snow storm", the crowds on the street.
In this area now is a eight lane highway elevated, the city has Ikea, Walmart and Star bucks on all major corners.
Ken's trip to China has made me think about that early trip. John, my husband never thought much about the culture, history or food but he related to the people the best of anyone on the tour. One afternoon in a tea factory he sat in a low stool and took over a guy's job in over a huge steel bowl drying tea leaves. The factory stopped and the laughter of the Chinese could be heard behind their hands covering their mouths. Both of my children learned Asian languages and have traveled in and out of the region their adult lives.
I have, by luck, been back to China every ten years since that first trip but I have to say I appreciate what I experienced on the first trip the most.
Recently, Ken told me that in the next ten years there is a prediction that backpackers will be common in China. The transportation system, the number of people using English as a second language all encourage that future.
Shanghai Ghetto is a documentary that I got from Netflix last week. It was well done and reminded me so much of that first trip to China. Some German Jews realized early on that they were not safe in Germany, a few thought all of Europe was not safe and then there were a group that had no passports. Japan at that time occupied Shanghai and invited them to take refuge in China, where much of the world needed papers or were simply not taking any Jews. The Japanese respected the Jewish culture and were open to helping them.
Shanghai was the financial capital of the Far East in early 20th century, the riverfront was faced with beautiful building of the day and it shipping port was world class. The Germans lived in the poorest neighborhoods with shortage of food, no jobs and lived many to a room. After the war they realized how lucky they were to have left early.
All of Bund was still in place if not a little dusty in 1983. I remember walking by the Peace Hotel for a couple blocks and seeing the only stop light in China. There were only black Russian cars for very high ranking officials, all the populate traveled by bike or bus. Someone's description was "it likes walking in a snow storm", the crowds on the street.
In this area now is a eight lane highway elevated, the city has Ikea, Walmart and Star bucks on all major corners.
Ken's trip to China has made me think about that early trip. John, my husband never thought much about the culture, history or food but he related to the people the best of anyone on the tour. One afternoon in a tea factory he sat in a low stool and took over a guy's job in over a huge steel bowl drying tea leaves. The factory stopped and the laughter of the Chinese could be heard behind their hands covering their mouths. Both of my children learned Asian languages and have traveled in and out of the region their adult lives.
I have, by luck, been back to China every ten years since that first trip but I have to say I appreciate what I experienced on the first trip the most.
Recently, Ken told me that in the next ten years there is a prediction that backpackers will be common in China. The transportation system, the number of people using English as a second language all encourage that future.
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
the planet and different places
The blessing about getting older is that the end of learning doesn't stop. I have been encouraged by my daughter to see a film COVE for over a year and I resisted all this time because of the violence I thought I would see. Finally tonight I saw the film. It was an education about dolphins and Japanese culture in general. It was mostly about a group of individuals that came together to show the world about the value of sea life. I would say that anyone that doesn't see this film is missing something deeply sacred about this planet and uniquely beautiful about dolphins.
http://www.rpi.edu/~eglash/eglash.dir/afractal/afbook.htm
So often I believe western intelligence as being so superior. As I grow older I understand a world of views that are different and totally centered from a place I do not recognize, cultures strange to my heritage. There are places of equal genius and if I was more open, I probably would smile and even laugh at the wonder of it all. The above site was passed on to me by my son, some woman were just lucky in who they know.
http://www.rpi.edu/~eglash/eglash.dir/afractal/afbook.htm
So often I believe western intelligence as being so superior. As I grow older I understand a world of views that are different and totally centered from a place I do not recognize, cultures strange to my heritage. There are places of equal genius and if I was more open, I probably would smile and even laugh at the wonder of it all. The above site was passed on to me by my son, some woman were just lucky in who they know.
Sunday, October 17, 2010
Gourmet Peasant Food
I have spend most of my afternoons in recent weeks when there is sunshine cleaning up the garden for winter which means I am harvesting the last of what is out there, saving seed pods and planning for the winter survival of my greens mainly kale and a few root crops.
As I slowly move from picking the green tomatoes to taking down the bean vines to pulling a few carrots or beets, I imagine how I will use the items at dinner time or lunch the next day.
Three ideas I recently used, in this pursuit, I will share here. Boiled beets sliced with roasted walnuts and blue cheese with a touch of olive oil and a splash of lemon juice. Another luncheon recipe is black bean soup, I always soak my beans over night and then it takes less than twenty minutes in a small Indian pressure cooker to thoroughly cook them. Add chopped onion and garlic after a little sautéing along with roasted tomatillos, sea salt, cilantro and you have a flavorful meal. I use the Cuisinart to make the whole soup creamy. But my recent best is a meal of goat cheese on Artisans bread with a drizzle of good honey on the cheese, a hand full of grapes and a half of pear, it was over the top. Now is you add a rustic table or a street cafe scene with a glass of wine you could be in Paris or on a small Greek isle. The food is so simple, fast to make and rich in flavor.
As I slowly move from picking the green tomatoes to taking down the bean vines to pulling a few carrots or beets, I imagine how I will use the items at dinner time or lunch the next day.
Three ideas I recently used, in this pursuit, I will share here. Boiled beets sliced with roasted walnuts and blue cheese with a touch of olive oil and a splash of lemon juice. Another luncheon recipe is black bean soup, I always soak my beans over night and then it takes less than twenty minutes in a small Indian pressure cooker to thoroughly cook them. Add chopped onion and garlic after a little sautéing along with roasted tomatillos, sea salt, cilantro and you have a flavorful meal. I use the Cuisinart to make the whole soup creamy. But my recent best is a meal of goat cheese on Artisans bread with a drizzle of good honey on the cheese, a hand full of grapes and a half of pear, it was over the top. Now is you add a rustic table or a street cafe scene with a glass of wine you could be in Paris or on a small Greek isle. The food is so simple, fast to make and rich in flavor.
Why states must take the lead
I never heard of the man until he died, Hermann Scheer.
He was one of the people responsible for all the solar panels on homes in Germany. Completely organized, paid for and creating more energy that the country did ten years ago without going in debt on a national scale. Scheer help organize world wide education on the subject of energy and did his last interview with Amy Goodman days before his death. It is worth reading because he highlights the problems that the United States has with progressing into the future on this front.
Scheer understand American politics probably better than most of us. He points out that three presidents have tried to change our energy focus but have been stopped, Carter, Clinton and Obama. On the federal level, the oil companies along with coal and nuclear corporations stop it. They are the ones that say they are researching the future available options, fund the research and then delay the progress for their own greed.
The only way this country can move toward energy efficiency is for states and large cities to act independently and start their own programs. It will always be blocked on the national level. Teddy Roosevelt was the last president that have the power to break up a corporation when he broke up Standard Oil. Obama is not working with a majority (southern Democratic are the same of GOP) and in Washington money rules. If we all understand that 36,000 lobbyists (up from 350 at the start of Reagan years) write the laws and finance our elections we grasp the nature of politics.
He was one of the people responsible for all the solar panels on homes in Germany. Completely organized, paid for and creating more energy that the country did ten years ago without going in debt on a national scale. Scheer help organize world wide education on the subject of energy and did his last interview with Amy Goodman days before his death. It is worth reading because he highlights the problems that the United States has with progressing into the future on this front.
Scheer understand American politics probably better than most of us. He points out that three presidents have tried to change our energy focus but have been stopped, Carter, Clinton and Obama. On the federal level, the oil companies along with coal and nuclear corporations stop it. They are the ones that say they are researching the future available options, fund the research and then delay the progress for their own greed.
The only way this country can move toward energy efficiency is for states and large cities to act independently and start their own programs. It will always be blocked on the national level. Teddy Roosevelt was the last president that have the power to break up a corporation when he broke up Standard Oil. Obama is not working with a majority (southern Democratic are the same of GOP) and in Washington money rules. If we all understand that 36,000 lobbyists (up from 350 at the start of Reagan years) write the laws and finance our elections we grasp the nature of politics.
Saturday, October 16, 2010
Tomatoes
The last two years I have grown my own tomato starts partly because I have found an easy method and this enables me to purchase any variety that appears special on the page of a seed catalog. The end results is that I have more plants usually that my garden can really handle or that a harvesting person in the fall wants to deal with as in freezing or canning.
My screening process of picking the seeds in the spring include lists of other's favorites particularly list from people and site that are in the Pacific Northwest. Our summer's are too cool to really grow tomatoes so it is a challenge most summers but last summer even made that scale lean more to the impossible. Sungold is always the exception, it comes though, sweet as candy and first to ripen.
Now the physical problems of dealing with 75 or more large green tomatoes faces me. My tiled widow ledge in the dining room is covered with piece of cardboard and unripened tomatoes with a new box of tomatoes picked yesterday. I will roam around the internet to find out the last thoughts about dealing with these green balls.
In August when I saw this problem coming I decided that next year I will built a hoop house over a couple of my raised beds and create the warm temperatures for this vegetable to grow. The secret about tomatoes is the night temperature. Tomatoes grow at night along with egg plants and corn, night shade plants. The little secret about corn is it grows day and night. I am not interested in corn!
I did have enough tomatoes to can and freeze some of the winter. With some help of the greens ones I may even make it to part of spring. I have found an Italian store in Seattle that sell tomatoes sauce in glass jars as I have stopped purchasing anything in cans and grocery store tomatoes are tasteless.
My screening process of picking the seeds in the spring include lists of other's favorites particularly list from people and site that are in the Pacific Northwest. Our summer's are too cool to really grow tomatoes so it is a challenge most summers but last summer even made that scale lean more to the impossible. Sungold is always the exception, it comes though, sweet as candy and first to ripen.
Now the physical problems of dealing with 75 or more large green tomatoes faces me. My tiled widow ledge in the dining room is covered with piece of cardboard and unripened tomatoes with a new box of tomatoes picked yesterday. I will roam around the internet to find out the last thoughts about dealing with these green balls.
In August when I saw this problem coming I decided that next year I will built a hoop house over a couple of my raised beds and create the warm temperatures for this vegetable to grow. The secret about tomatoes is the night temperature. Tomatoes grow at night along with egg plants and corn, night shade plants. The little secret about corn is it grows day and night. I am not interested in corn!
I did have enough tomatoes to can and freeze some of the winter. With some help of the greens ones I may even make it to part of spring. I have found an Italian store in Seattle that sell tomatoes sauce in glass jars as I have stopped purchasing anything in cans and grocery store tomatoes are tasteless.
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
things just get stranger in the world
Gore Vidal has a interesting piece over at RAWSTORY. Of course, some will find it uncomfortable to read it or will simple go for a personal attack about the man. Sadly, he is not taken seriously by the majority of Americans, he can write and think at the same time. This article is followed by some thoughtful comments.
"Even our Army marches in Chinese boots" that pretty much sums up our present day America and our state of affairs.
The $144 billion bonuses given out to men that work on Wall Street that created nothing, the computers moved money faster this past year so the men paid themselves higher. The piece of 60 minutes last Sunday night showed the works of the computer and any investor, any retiree, any stock holder surely now knows it is simply a matter of time and it will all crash to nothing. The computers know nothing about the product of the stock, the CEO, the earnings, the competition and the future.
The Jews of Europe developed the habit of owning jewelry in the form of gold and diamonds because they realized they were always at risk and had to be able to run and had to have something of value to survive. In my heart and head I listen to that piece Sunday and felt the senseless nature of today's investment chatter. Most of us are like the Jews of the '30's in Europe, we are at risk.
A number that is not recorded is that of people leaving the United States. It would be interesting to see that figure for the last 25 years. I can not help but think that more and more people with means has to have overseas homes.
"Even our Army marches in Chinese boots" that pretty much sums up our present day America and our state of affairs.
The $144 billion bonuses given out to men that work on Wall Street that created nothing, the computers moved money faster this past year so the men paid themselves higher. The piece of 60 minutes last Sunday night showed the works of the computer and any investor, any retiree, any stock holder surely now knows it is simply a matter of time and it will all crash to nothing. The computers know nothing about the product of the stock, the CEO, the earnings, the competition and the future.
The Jews of Europe developed the habit of owning jewelry in the form of gold and diamonds because they realized they were always at risk and had to be able to run and had to have something of value to survive. In my heart and head I listen to that piece Sunday and felt the senseless nature of today's investment chatter. Most of us are like the Jews of the '30's in Europe, we are at risk.
A number that is not recorded is that of people leaving the United States. It would be interesting to see that figure for the last 25 years. I can not help but think that more and more people with means has to have overseas homes.
Sunday, October 10, 2010
New Trends, Good and Bad
Some of the things that is happening with the computer age is positive but it is balanced by trends that spread things quickly that are false and then are made believable.
I enjoy the truly rich availability of reading about gardening and hints that others post about their successes and methods of they use in different parts of the country. Now it is also not unusual to read about a person in England or Australia. Kitchen International, Mother Earth plus many individuals blogs constantly encourage me as a home gardener. It adds to my knowledge that I get from my local gardening group and all the library books I page though.
The many food blogs make owning cookbooks almost out of date. I gathered a couple new site from this morning's NYT, food52 and Smitten Kitchen are two such blogs. After clicking around them a few minutes anyone would be inspired to get cooking something more than ordinary for dinner.
My daily routine on the computer is also to read a few national and international news reports and commentators, that sort though the world out there for me.
This morning on http://www.countercurrents.org/polya101010.htm
which I check four or five times a week gave out numbers that would embarrass even the devil if he read them about the evil of war in the last ten years. War is old, it has gone on as long as humans walked the earth, the difference is the machinery that is employed now. A graduate from West Point on C-Span talked about it a couple weeks ago. Eye ball to Eye ball, 10% soldiers in WWI could kill, jumped to over 50 % in Vietnam currently US soldiers will kill over 90 % now. The difference is training. The other difference is the distances and the speed add to the bombs from the sky.
What the hell are the voters in this country thinking?I have given much thought to it and I believe it is brainwashing what else can explain the power.
A gathering of old bachelor men, for example, who lie and cover up some of the most public exposed crimes of the last forty years of the Catholic Church still put out table in the back of the church spreading instructions on how to vote. In the current situation in much of the country this Church is telling people how to vote! For starts, it in itself is against the constitution and who would look to such a corrupt organization for guidance?
It is politically using religious institutions to sell their point of view, the right is making fools the people that most need protection from our government and strong laws in place to protection them. These chaste "virgin bachelors" get up there and talk about sex -- weather it is birth control , abortion or gay people. Sex is the subject. Thinking people have to ask is this any different than in a fundamentalist Arab country? Same goes for the Southern Religious groups. That lot have a real problem with fidelity. Sex is always the sin not poverty, not war, not injustice for the less fortunate, just sex. I live in a country that votes on sex and believes in greed and war!
Last weeks news had a man running for office in Ohio that plays games in Nazi uniform, a face book bimbo in Delaware going for the Senate and a fire chief watches as a man's house burned down with three of his animals in it.
All three of these individuals want less government in our lives.
I guess we need more people in suburbia with food stamps, more closed libraries, less police and fire departments. Look to California for a picture of our future.
I enjoy the truly rich availability of reading about gardening and hints that others post about their successes and methods of they use in different parts of the country. Now it is also not unusual to read about a person in England or Australia. Kitchen International, Mother Earth plus many individuals blogs constantly encourage me as a home gardener. It adds to my knowledge that I get from my local gardening group and all the library books I page though.
The many food blogs make owning cookbooks almost out of date. I gathered a couple new site from this morning's NYT, food52 and Smitten Kitchen are two such blogs. After clicking around them a few minutes anyone would be inspired to get cooking something more than ordinary for dinner.
My daily routine on the computer is also to read a few national and international news reports and commentators, that sort though the world out there for me.
This morning on http://www.countercurrents.org/polya101010.htm
which I check four or five times a week gave out numbers that would embarrass even the devil if he read them about the evil of war in the last ten years. War is old, it has gone on as long as humans walked the earth, the difference is the machinery that is employed now. A graduate from West Point on C-Span talked about it a couple weeks ago. Eye ball to Eye ball, 10% soldiers in WWI could kill, jumped to over 50 % in Vietnam currently US soldiers will kill over 90 % now. The difference is training. The other difference is the distances and the speed add to the bombs from the sky.
What the hell are the voters in this country thinking?I have given much thought to it and I believe it is brainwashing what else can explain the power.
A gathering of old bachelor men, for example, who lie and cover up some of the most public exposed crimes of the last forty years of the Catholic Church still put out table in the back of the church spreading instructions on how to vote. In the current situation in much of the country this Church is telling people how to vote! For starts, it in itself is against the constitution and who would look to such a corrupt organization for guidance?
It is politically using religious institutions to sell their point of view, the right is making fools the people that most need protection from our government and strong laws in place to protection them. These chaste "virgin bachelors" get up there and talk about sex -- weather it is birth control , abortion or gay people. Sex is the subject. Thinking people have to ask is this any different than in a fundamentalist Arab country? Same goes for the Southern Religious groups. That lot have a real problem with fidelity. Sex is always the sin not poverty, not war, not injustice for the less fortunate, just sex. I live in a country that votes on sex and believes in greed and war!
Last weeks news had a man running for office in Ohio that plays games in Nazi uniform, a face book bimbo in Delaware going for the Senate and a fire chief watches as a man's house burned down with three of his animals in it.
All three of these individuals want less government in our lives.
I guess we need more people in suburbia with food stamps, more closed libraries, less police and fire departments. Look to California for a picture of our future.
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
In the garden
Warm sunny fall days are the best days of the year. Somehow I know no matter how great the light is, how comfortable the skins feels at the moment this are treasured times because in a week, in a day or for sure in a month there will be a new weather pattern and it will be very different. The mornings are beginning to be foggy and darker. The evenings are most often clear and the sky bright with stars.
I built the first hoop house over one of the raised beds doing in a way that allows more room for the kale to grow this winter. There is no reason not to try another bed to provide spinach and other winter crops so I will be doing that in the next day or so. If all the current kale varieties survive the winter we will have all we need.
Surprisingly, the apple were better than I first thought. They fill two pile so I got well over 10 gallons of apples of about three or four types. Liberty is my favorite eating apple this year. I have some apple scab but it is simple to peel and the favor is all there.
I was told that if I staked up the potatoes plants the potatoes will continue to grow and since there is no hurry to take them out of the ground in the climate I will harvest as needed until the weather turns really wet and cold. I made up some shoe strings for the grandchildren one noon and it proved to be a master hit, must double the amount. I added a little Hawaiian sea salt and herbs and it was as good of food I have ever tasted.
The tomatoes are coming in and every third day I pick enough that I have to figure what to do with the cherry size. I have canned some pint jars I have dried some and put them in olive oil and this latest bunch I think I will put on a cookie sheet and freeze them. It has been a record poor year for tomatoes.
I built the first hoop house over one of the raised beds doing in a way that allows more room for the kale to grow this winter. There is no reason not to try another bed to provide spinach and other winter crops so I will be doing that in the next day or so. If all the current kale varieties survive the winter we will have all we need.
Surprisingly, the apple were better than I first thought. They fill two pile so I got well over 10 gallons of apples of about three or four types. Liberty is my favorite eating apple this year. I have some apple scab but it is simple to peel and the favor is all there.
I was told that if I staked up the potatoes plants the potatoes will continue to grow and since there is no hurry to take them out of the ground in the climate I will harvest as needed until the weather turns really wet and cold. I made up some shoe strings for the grandchildren one noon and it proved to be a master hit, must double the amount. I added a little Hawaiian sea salt and herbs and it was as good of food I have ever tasted.
The tomatoes are coming in and every third day I pick enough that I have to figure what to do with the cherry size. I have canned some pint jars I have dried some and put them in olive oil and this latest bunch I think I will put on a cookie sheet and freeze them. It has been a record poor year for tomatoes.
Saturday, October 2, 2010
'tis election season
""Champions of globalization like Thomas Friedman tell us that in a few generations these workers will have a standard of living similar to ours in the United States. But ecological footprint analysis shows it would take more than six Earths to give everyone in the world the level of consumption Americans “enjoy.” Of course, we have only one planet, and this one is overheating.""
Thomas Friedman has spread the gospel well. Ship jobs overseas and all can live like Americans. I guess, I want him to define which Americans he is talking about.
The strangest collusion this election season of " no tax wealthy" group and the Christians that would like to rewrite the Constitution of the United States is beyond my understanding.
At times, developed societies are pointing fingers at the birth rate of of the undeveloped world and concluded that to save the planet, birth rates have to change in other parts of the world. There are too many people to feed and there is not enough land, water and land to produce the food.
There are many ways to look at the birth rates. The birth rate of toasters, refrigerators, computers, i-phones, cars, aircraft carriers, mega-houses show a birth rate that is just as important as human reproduction. These rates of human consumption is destroying our planet at a faster rate with no attention being paid to use of minerals, labor or capital. The me society that has created a wall of protection for consumption is ignoring the facts and are self servicing.
The capitalistic system does not work-- it is the arm band of the 'no tax wealthy'. The world of money/banking/hedge funds were not allowed to fail in the fall of 2008. Case closed.
By definition, Capitalism is to increase proportionately to the accumulation and reinvestment of profits. They did not manage that and it has failed as a form of economic system in this country. Wall Street capitalist say that the world economy will be shut down in three days and the government bailed them out to save them. But now these same wealthy individuals believe we should not raise their taxes and the nation should continue to go in debt for them.
Thinking about reinvestments, a new code on taxes much like the '50's would help that situation for the middle class in these United States and stop the shipping of our resources in R & D, manufacturing and capitol beyond our shores.
The other half of the political side are the Christians. They ignore the fact that is not a Christian nation but a secular nation. All religions are welcome and practice here, we do not have a state religion. Therefore, their moral codes are theirs to practice but no one is free to force others to follow your personal beliefs. I don't want any of their moral code in my country's constitution. The Golden Rule is enough for the majority.
Then they is the idea of going back to the founding fathers. Are they including the slaves, the child labor, the lack of rights for women? Back to 1776 is what this would mean.
A little humility is in order here--all the KKK were Christians if history is correct. Are the children of these Protestants and Catholics now worried about the Muslims terrorists?
That one percent that get 99% attention?
Many Catholics today fearing Muslims, that same one per cent of radical Muslims, they must think for a moment.
Historically speaking, Catholics are ones that have to remember their cooperation with the Nazi during WWII turning over birth certificates, marriage information knowing fully that information was used against innocence people that resulted in their death. In Italy, in Poland, in France, in Spain the church knew about the Jews being taken away, where was the courage of speaking out? Moral courage is the stock and purpose of religion. A review of history would teach humility and less finger pointing.
Socialism is a negative term in today's elite society. All Christians know that Jesus was a socialist, if it is defined by caring for those in society that are hungry, ill or lacking skill sets or of humble means. So is this the group of Christians are uniting with the 'no taxes for the wealthy' group to spread the true spirit of Jesus in the current political scene in America.
I just don't get it!
There may not be a great choice in this election but there is a better choice.
Thomas Friedman has spread the gospel well. Ship jobs overseas and all can live like Americans. I guess, I want him to define which Americans he is talking about.
The strangest collusion this election season of " no tax wealthy" group and the Christians that would like to rewrite the Constitution of the United States is beyond my understanding.
At times, developed societies are pointing fingers at the birth rate of of the undeveloped world and concluded that to save the planet, birth rates have to change in other parts of the world. There are too many people to feed and there is not enough land, water and land to produce the food.
There are many ways to look at the birth rates. The birth rate of toasters, refrigerators, computers, i-phones, cars, aircraft carriers, mega-houses show a birth rate that is just as important as human reproduction. These rates of human consumption is destroying our planet at a faster rate with no attention being paid to use of minerals, labor or capital. The me society that has created a wall of protection for consumption is ignoring the facts and are self servicing.
The capitalistic system does not work-- it is the arm band of the 'no tax wealthy'. The world of money/banking/hedge funds were not allowed to fail in the fall of 2008. Case closed.
By definition, Capitalism is to increase proportionately to the accumulation and reinvestment of profits. They did not manage that and it has failed as a form of economic system in this country. Wall Street capitalist say that the world economy will be shut down in three days and the government bailed them out to save them. But now these same wealthy individuals believe we should not raise their taxes and the nation should continue to go in debt for them.
Thinking about reinvestments, a new code on taxes much like the '50's would help that situation for the middle class in these United States and stop the shipping of our resources in R & D, manufacturing and capitol beyond our shores.
The other half of the political side are the Christians. They ignore the fact that is not a Christian nation but a secular nation. All religions are welcome and practice here, we do not have a state religion. Therefore, their moral codes are theirs to practice but no one is free to force others to follow your personal beliefs. I don't want any of their moral code in my country's constitution. The Golden Rule is enough for the majority.
Then they is the idea of going back to the founding fathers. Are they including the slaves, the child labor, the lack of rights for women? Back to 1776 is what this would mean.
A little humility is in order here--all the KKK were Christians if history is correct. Are the children of these Protestants and Catholics now worried about the Muslims terrorists?
That one percent that get 99% attention?
Many Catholics today fearing Muslims, that same one per cent of radical Muslims, they must think for a moment.
Historically speaking, Catholics are ones that have to remember their cooperation with the Nazi during WWII turning over birth certificates, marriage information knowing fully that information was used against innocence people that resulted in their death. In Italy, in Poland, in France, in Spain the church knew about the Jews being taken away, where was the courage of speaking out? Moral courage is the stock and purpose of religion. A review of history would teach humility and less finger pointing.
Socialism is a negative term in today's elite society. All Christians know that Jesus was a socialist, if it is defined by caring for those in society that are hungry, ill or lacking skill sets or of humble means. So is this the group of Christians are uniting with the 'no taxes for the wealthy' group to spread the true spirit of Jesus in the current political scene in America.
I just don't get it!
There may not be a great choice in this election but there is a better choice.
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