Can you think of a single time when a national government responded to a natural disaster to their constituency’s satisfaction? I can’t. Refer to Typhoon Morakot (last month, Taiwan); Cyclone Nargis (May 2008, Burma);  Hurricane Katrina, etc. What is it about aid that always takes at least a few days to a week, or more, to mobilize? Meanwhile, government heads are rolling in the administration. There must be a better way…

I noticed the very first verses in James (after the greeting) go: “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”

So does this apply during the job market downturn? I feel it’s less relevant than I’d assume. Nobody knows what percentage of people who were laid off deserved it, but it can’t be zero. And yet, the cultural norm is to be sympathetic and pet people’s egos when they talk about getting laid off and not being able to find work. That’s fine. But I wonder if it ever gets to our heads – that we really start believing nothing is our fault, and that we can justly blame everything on Wall Street bankers and the past Bush administration. If I hadn’t jacked around in school so much, would I be in a better situation right now? If I had been more prayerful in decision making, would I be in a better situation right now?

If all the shit you’re in right now happened because you said “No” to God, then sure, I guess you could count your trials as joy. But then, you’d feel pretty stupid too. So that’s where I’m at.. cf 1 Peter 3:20

I wonder if anyone’s written an article like this for the layman, except for the entire Western economy, from cheap food & clothing on up.

Correspondent detained in Iran

Between Roxana Saberi, Euna Lee, Laura Ling, and now Shane Bauer, our journalists are on a freaking roll for the past six months. Has it always been like this? I think obtaining American correspondents has officially become the new obtaining nuclear weapons.

In other news, former president Bill Clinton (wife of our current secretary of state; former immediate superior of Al Gore (founder of Current TV (employer of Laura Ling and Euna Lee))) made a surprise trip to North Korea, for a meet and greet session with the dictator. He supposedly secured a pardon for the journalists.You’re such a stud, Bill.

At this point in time, news agencies are reporting conflicting stories about whether or not Mr. Clinton flew out of NK yet, which makes me wonder: what if, in a bizarre turn of events, the dictator kidnaps Bill Clinton, too? This in turn begs the question: who would win in a brawl (firefight?) between Kim Jong Il’s bodyguards and the United States Secret Service? Better check the sources!

I’d say the North Koreans leave me a little unconvinced.

Even though it would be the wrong reaction, I laughed out loud when I read this. I mean seriously, who says these things to little kids?? What a gangster.

What shall we do about these tortures? Will we be able to bear them? If I do not bear them I put in prison another fifty or sixty men whom I know, because that is what the Communists wish from me, to betray those around me. And here comes the great need for the role of preparation for suffering which must start now. It is too difficult to prepare yourself for it when the Communists have put you in prison.

I remember my last Confirmation class before I left Romania. I took a group of ten to fifteen boys and girls on a Sunday Morning, not to a church, but to the zoo. Before the cage of lions I told them, “Your forefathers in faith were thrown before such wild beasts for their faith. Know that you also will have to suffer. You would not be thrown before lions, but you wil have to do with men who would be much worse than lions. Decide here and now if you wish to pledge allegiance to Christ.” They had tears in their eyes when they said yes.