Persecution in Pakistan

https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2023/4/9/how-death-and-despair-haunt-pakistans-christian-minority

When it comes to the Subcontinent, most in the West are likely to think of the troubles that Christians face under Narendra Modi's BJP government in India. And indeed, Christians continue to face threats and harassment by his administration and its paramilitary proxies such as the RSS.

Problems with the Evangelical Abortion Narrative

https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5502785

Abortion is murder and sin. This needs to be stated in unqualified terms. The point of this inquiry is not to argue otherwise or muddy the waters on the core ethical points surrounding the practice.

However when abortion is considered in its political and social context, then the truth demands a wider discussion and necessarily a more complicated one. Again, this is not to give credence or standing to those who promote and defend abortion. Rather it is necessary as Christians to be honest with regard to how the issue has been framed and utilised, and to consider the narratives attached to it.

The Real Economy

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-45442596

The economy is booming we're told. It's the best ever, the president assures us. Of course economics is hardly an exact science. Or some would argue it is no science at all. Even many of the markers, statistics and concepts used to illustrate and explain it are in many cases subjective.

I drive around and see a lot of 'Help Wanted' signs and indeed a lot of people seem to be upbeat about the economy. The stock market has certainly climbed to unprecedented levels.

But does this really mean the economy is booming?

The Establishment's Pro-Robotics Propaganda and its Manipulation of the Political Spectrum

http://www.politico.eu/article/germany-should-welcome-robot-overlords-global-policy-lab/

We are told in this article to welcome the robot revolution and to not be concerned with either the technological implications... which are not really addressed... or the social impact.

In fact robots replacing workers are viewed as a solution to workplace problems and by implication it could even help with the social tensions regarding immigrants!

What we really have here is a Right-wing piece that's meant to promote the interests of the capitalist class.

Indian Cotton and Farmer Suicides

Some will stumble because this link is to a documentary produced by RT. But if you can get past that, there's some helpful information and certainly some contextualisation with regard to GMO cotton and its place in contemporary India.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XlYzd8bM9xg&index=2&list=PLCFZLyInePaw4h8dGnwPXrgY1AFus62tI

No doubt at this point many have heard about the thousands of farmers committing suicide. While this phenomenon antedates the Modi administration, his market friendly policies if anything are exacerbating the problem. It's a controversial issue and a great deal of ink is spilled arguing over statistics and causes.

Health Insurance: Risk or Access?

As it would seem Obama's Affordable Care Act (ACA) also known as ObamaCare is under attack and faces repeal, I've noticed a certain way of speaking is starting to crop up once again.

Insurance is being referred to as a question of calculated risk and this definition is being used to discredit concepts like comprehensive coverage and even the idea of access.

And yet it must be remembered that the latter is actually the key issue. For the working class and the poor, health insurance is not a question of calculated risk. This is how the upper class and some of the middle class approach the question.

A Vision of China's Future Crisis

This is a link to a somewhat heartbreaking 25 minute video about the children in China that are left behind in the villages while their parents go off to the city for work.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MM7BS271jUg

The United States has been in the process of destroying the family and thus the foundation of the social fabric for more than fifty years. China has unintentionally embarked on the same project since the 1980s and yet with far greater zeal. In both the United States and China, the quest for money has played no small part in this unintended consequence and China has yet to really reckon with the fruit of this awful and immoral mistake.

US Nativism and China

I've mentioned this before but I keep hearing variations of this argument, and I find it striking how misled so many people are.

In just the past couple of weeks I have either participated in or overheard conversations where the Chinese are invoked as a source of anti-American scheming. People seem to believe the Chinese have conspired to destroy American manufacturing and enslave us to their cheap goods.

Orban and Reagan: Drug Testing and Loyalty

Hungary's Viktor Orban has made the news a couple of times recently. The Budapest government has been increasingly moving toward the 'Right'... though no one on the American Right can seem to agree on what that term means.

Through the Looking Glass: A Journey into the Fantasy World of Thomas Sowell (7/Final)

Sowell:

It would never occur to the busybodies that multinational corporations are expanding the options of the poor in third world countries, while busybody policies are contracting their options.

Through the Looking Glass: A Journey into the Fantasy World of Thomas Sowell (6)

Sowell:

That arbitrary and unsubstantiated assumption underlies a wide spectrum of laws and policies over the years, ranging from urban renewal to ObamaCare.

Through the Looking Glass: A Journey into the Fantasy World of Thomas Sowell (5)

Proto:

As the Church continues to apostatize my hope is that the Remnant will come together with a real sense of community. The Amish figured this out long ago. It's not due to their stance on technology, though that is a factor, but they do hold common values. They're not the same values as the Jews or Armenians, but their community has common values. Right now American Christians are still enthralled with the possibilities of American cultural success. This vision and the ethics that go with it are individualist and won't allow such people to function within a community. There has to be some self-denial. Americans aren't good at that and at present there are numerous popular theologies which reject the very notion.

Mortgage and Debt Relief: A Middle Class Subsidy

In financial circles there are rumbles concerning the extension of the Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act. Normally if you're granted relief, the amount that you were forgiven is counted as a loan, as income and thus is taxable.

Through the Looking Glass: A Journey into the Fantasy World of Thomas Sowell (4)

Proto Cont...:

People caricature the poor and speak of multi-generational poverty. There are some women who keep having kids in order to stay signed up for subsidies and they're pretty wicked for doing that. But for others, and let's face it, most people don't want to have a bunch of kids, as soon as their kids are school age, you must enter a job seeking programme or you get cut off. And at that point if you're eligible for a job and you turn it down, you're cut off.

Through the Looking Glass: A Journey into the Fantasy World of Thomas Sowell (3)

Sowell:

The political left has long claimed the role of protector of "the poor." It is one of their central moral claims to political power. But how valid is this claim?

Leaders of the left in many countries have promoted policies that enable the poor to be more comfortable in their poverty. But that raises a fundamental question: Just who are "the poor"?

Social Darwinism and Detroit

I've seen numerous videos on the downfall of Detroit. This one is brief and to the point. I enjoyed the guy by the burn barrel. He knows more about economics than Thomas Sowell does!

The Capitalist system is little more than Social Darwinism and these are the people marked for extinction. They're a mess but they've also been wronged. Just because some of them have turned to bad behaviour doesn't mean the corporate criminals are off the hook.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CrUFZrWQRhE