Sunday Psalm: 13 - "I Have Trusted In Your Loving-Kindness

Image via Wikipedia

Psalm 13

New Life Version (NLV)

Psalm 13

Prayer for Help in Time of Trouble

 ¹ How long, O Lord? Will You forget me forever? How long will You hide Your face from me? ² How long must I plan what to do in my soul, and have sorrow in my heart all the day? How long will those who hate me rise above me? ³ Look on me and answer, O Lord, my God. Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep the sleep of death. ⁴ Or the one who hates me will say, “I have power over him.” And those who hate me will be happy when I am shaken.
 ⁵ But I have trusted in Your loving-kindness. My heart will be full of joy because You will save me. ⁶ I will sing to the Lord, because He has been good to me.

New Life Version (NLV)Copyright © 1969 by Christian Literature International


credit: http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=psalm%2013&version=NLV 


The Lord responds to the deepest longings, and deepest needs, of our hearts. He is not found at the end of a logical argument; he is found at the point of your deepest need.  Have a good Day.

Nurturing Little Newfie Cheaters

Image via Wikipedia"Earlier this month, Eastern School District along the east coast of Newfoundland unveiled a new evaluation policy that said teachers should not give a student caught cheating a zero, but an “alternate appropriate assessment.” The student’s mark should be “derived from the second assessment” with no academic penalty for having been dishonest in the first place."

So,  we're penalizing the teachers instead of the students (by making teachers do extra work). And what's with the author's funny use of the term "bluff" as a synonym for cheat (see below)? Nothing wrong with bluffing on an answer, is there?

Newfoundland’s largest school board is “enabling students to cheat” with a new policy that requires teachers to let students caught bluffing on their tests get a second try with no academic penalty, the province’s teachers’ association charged this week in a complaint that echoes frustrations in other school districts across the country that are rethinking the way they discipline student cheaters.

PS -- It's OK to say "Newfie", I hope? No disrespect intended!

Did ABC News Really Say This?

At a million-dollar San Francisco fundraiser today, President Obama warned his recession-battered supporters that if he loses the 2012 election it could herald a new, painful era of self-reliance in America.

Did ABC News really say this? Apparently so.

h/t Mark Steyn

The Occupiers Speak (You Can't Make This Stuff Up)

You can't make this kind of stuff up.

During the final session reserved for comments, discussions became somewhat heated when a man stood and said through the “human mic,” “We are all God’s children. We should not label each other.”  Another man responded, “Issues of inequality should be at the center of discussions." A woman added, “Don’t mention God.  It makes me feel like I have to hide my agnostic beliefs.”

One's head spins.

Mark Steyn's Best Line Ever: The body count at Kingston is "29 per cent of the Montreal Massacre"

The body count at Kingston is "29 per cent of the Montreal Massacre", but the feminists who happily used Gamil Gharbi/Marc Lepine to indict the massed ranks of Canadian menfolk are disinclined to dip their toes into the waters of the Rideau - even though this mass murder is far more telling about a culture of misogyny. -- Mark Steyn, here.

Where have all the feminists gone?
Gone to boardrooms, everyone
When will they ever learn?
When will they ever learn?

To The Occupiers: My First Job Was Shovelling Gravel, What Was Yours?

My sympathies do not lie with the Occupiers. However, there are some systemic problems in the US worth addressing. I suspect the Tea Partiers will do a better job than the "give-us-free-condoms" Occupiers at addressing these, but I'll leave that for you to decide.

Here's my list:

1. US federal government "equity" policies which required banks to throw money at anyone with a pulse -- even if that pulse was sustained by welfare cheques. This was a flight from conservative fiscal reality with devastating consequences. Home ownership is an earned right, not a birth-right.

2. The federal government's aiding and abetting of the banks by easing good-sense policy constraints, etc. in the name of fuelling an artificial prosperity.

3. The immoral and unethical if not illegal actions of the banks in milking the real estate bubble for all it was worth, including creation of those slice-and-dice mortgage instruments. When scouting for real estate in Phoenix, I came across one property where the purchase price was $285,000, and the mortgage was for... $300,000. That's right, folks. The owner had negative equity in the property from the get-go.

4. The federal government's bailout of the banks, unaccompanied by censure and restrictions going forward. "All gain, no pain".

5. The federal government's student loans program which has apparently enabled universities to charge ever-increasing  tuition fees, leaving graduates deeply in debt and, in this economy, with no viable game-plan to pay it off.

6. The assumption that life should be easy and "meaningful" jobs plentiful. To the Occupiers: My first job after university was shovelling gravel. What was yours?

Has the US passed its tipping-point? Probably. Because the tipping point is moral, and those with power have lost the moral restraint necessary for good governance. Much easier to live the good life now at taxpayers' expense. Kick the consequences down the road. The US needs a religious awakening, at just a time when Christianity is oozing out of American life and consciousness.

And that's the way the Ball bounces.

Sunday Psalm: 12 -- "I Will Rise Up To Rescue Them"

Psalm 12

New Living Translation (NLT)

 ¹ Help, O Lord, for the godly are fast disappearing!

      The faithful have vanished from the earth!

 ² Neighbors lie to each other,
      speaking with flattering lips and deceitful hearts.
 ³ May the Lord cut off their flattering lips
      and silence their boastful tongues.
 ⁴ They say, “We will lie to our hearts’ content.
      Our lips are our own—who can stop us?”

 ⁵ The Lord replies, “I have seen violence done to the helpless,
      and I have heard the groans of the poor.
   Now I will rise up to rescue them,
      as they have longed for me to do.”
 ⁶ The Lord’s promises are pure,
      like silver refined in a furnace,
      purified seven times over.
 ⁷ Therefore, Lord, we know you will protect the oppressed,
      preserving them forever from this lying generation,
 ⁸ even though the wicked strut about,
      and evil is praised throughout the land.

New Living Translation (NLT)

http://www.biblegateway.com

Mark Steyn Interviews Paul Simon: Still Crazy-Good After All These Years

Mark Steyn's two-part musical interview with the incomparable Paul Simon.

Parts one and two may be found here.

Well worth a listen.

Can Greece Be Saved?

The National Post is featuring TVO's ‘The Greek Collapse’, calling it "a must-see special". The show is hosted by the incomparable Steve Paikin. Experts bat around what to do about insolvent Greece.

The elephant in the room is corruption. The Greeks are dishonest. Tax evasion and bribery are the rule rather than the exception. Steve Paikin raises the issue at about the 29 minute mark and it is discussed for all of about 90 seconds. The guy's answer is incomprehensible.

There's a lot of discussion in the show about the rich EU countries stepping up to the plate and supporting the poor. Here's my question to the participants: Why would successful taxpaying societies spend their tax dollars propping up a dishonest, tax-evading one? 

What is needed in Greece is a deep-rooted cultural repentance -- the kind of fundamental reordering of society that in the past has been associated with the leavening effects of evangelical Christianity. The kind of self-regulating reordering that characterized Great Britain, spread to North America, Australia, New Zealand and beyond, and unleashed the greatest prosperity the world has ever seen.

And that's the way the Ball bounces.

Related articles

• 'The Greek Collapse': a must-see special (opinion.financialpost.com)

The Occupyification of St. Paul's Cathedral

Image by jimmyharris via Flickr

St. Paul's Cathedral supports the Occupiers !!!  (in a wish-you'd-all-go-away-now kind of way).

Meanwhile, a protester insists that Jesus would be outside with them (hopefully without the defecating-on-peoples' doorsteps, flashing, and pleas-for-condoms bits).

The protesters do fit the profile of the kinds of people Jesus sought to win and save, though...

Related articles

• St Paul's Cathedral becomes focal point of Occupy London protests (100gf.wordpress.com)
• St Paul's Forced To Close Doors Amid Protests (news.sky.com)
• Occupy Protests Close St. Paul's Cathedral (online.wsj.com)
• Occupy London: Protesters Remain Outside St. Paul's Cathedral (huffingtonpost.com)

h/t Drudge

A Good Question To Ask "Occupiers"

This is what journalists should be asking occupiers: "Did you vote in the last election?"

I would be interested in knowing the answer.

Who's Fault Is It BC Alberta and Ontario are growing and Quebec Is Not?

Ontario, BC, and Alberta communities are seriously under-represented in Parliament. Parliament feels the need to tip-toe around the issue because Quebec will lose clout if the government does the right thing and increases representation in these provinces.

Question for Quebec:  Whose fault is it that other provinces are growing and you are not?


Related articles

• B.C. could get five more Commons seats (cbc.ca)
• Under-representation of B.C., Alberta, Ontario in Parliament violates rights: report (canada.com)
• Ontario, B.C., to get fewer new Commons seats than expected: Reports (theprovince.com)
• Fewer new House seats than expected for Ontario, B.C.: reports (news.nationalpost.com)

Sunday Psalm: 11 -- In The Lord I Put My Trust

                               Image via Wikipedia

Psalm 11

 ¹ In the LORD I put my trust;
         How can you say to my soul,
         “Flee as a bird to your mountain”?
 ² For look! The wicked bend their bow,
         They make ready their arrow on the string,
         That they may shoot secretly at the upright in heart.
 ³ If the foundations are destroyed,
         What can the righteous do?
       
 ⁴ The LORD is in His holy temple,
         The LORD’s throne is in heaven;
         His eyes behold,
         His eyelids test the sons of men.
 ⁵ The LORD tests the righteous,
         But the wicked and the one who loves violence His soul hates.
 ⁶ Upon the wicked He will rain coals;
         Fire and brimstone and a burning wind
         Shall be the portion of their cup.
       
 ⁷ For the LORD is righteous,
         He loves righteousness;
         His countenance beholds the upright.^[a

New King James Version (NKJV)Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.

A key interpretive issue with this psalm is how far the quotation in the first paragraph goes. Compare the above with the NASB below:

 ¹ In the LORD I take refuge;
How can you say to my soul, “Flee as a bird to your mountain;
² For, behold, the wicked bend the bow,
They ^[a]make ready their arrow upon the string
To shoot in darkness at the upright in heart.
³ If the foundations are destroyed,
What can the righteous do?”

I favour the latter interpretation. Have a restful day.

source: Biblegateway.com

Overread in a Trip Advisor Restaurant Review...

"Lovely ship, nice tex mex food, v filling. Lamb chop's good."


Is it really too much trouble to spell out the word "very" when doing a restaurant review? What happened to verbal spit and polish? Can't be bothered? English writing skills are in decline. V much so.

Green jobs! Green jobs! Green jobs! Green jobs!

"The City Council voted 4-3 to seek bankruptcy protection for Harrisburg, which has a debt burden five times its general-fund budget "because of an overhaul and expansion of a trash-to-energy incinerator that doesn’t generate enough revenue"


Another well-meaning leftist initiative gone horribly bad...

Related articles

• It Begins: Harrisburg Files For Bankruptcy Protection (zerohedge.com)
• Pennsylvania Capitol To File For Bankruptcy (thedaleygator.wordpress.com)
• Pennsylvania Files for Bankruptcy - Bloomberg (livingstrongandhappy.blogspot.com)
• Harrisburg Council Approves Bankruptcy Filing (huffingtonpost.com)
• Harrisburg Files for Bankruptcy on Overdue Incinerator Debt (businessweek.com)
• Harrisburg, Penn., to file for bankruptcy protection (bottomline.msnbc.msn.com)

Barbara Kay's Insights Into The Supremes InSite Ruling

The Canadian Supreme Court recently added being a drug addict to its list of human rights. They argued that drug addiction is merely a sickness rather than a moral failing and that drug addicts are sub-human (in that they lack willpower and the ability to make rational choices).

The left offered its usual hearty hear! hear! Facts have triumphed over ideology. In fact, it appears that ideology -- leftist ideology -- was slathered on rather thick in this ruling.

While no-one wishes drug addicts further harm neither do we wish to see their addiction trivialized as a mere illness nor supported in perpetuity by government as a fundamental human right. As for the Supremes pronouncements that InSite "saves lives" (which Barbara Kay challenges), I wonder if a study was done on the criminal harm committed by drug addicts being aided and abetted by InSite -- in which case, shouldn't the motto be "InSite causes harm"?

Barbara Kay offers her insights.

Related articles

• Friday Sept 30, 2011 at Insite; 6:30am - Be among the first to hear the results of the Supreme Court Ruling in Vancouver Downtown Eastside (DTES) (ahamedia.ca)
• An Insite-ful Decision (addiction-dirkh.blogspot.com)
• Supreme Court of Canada (lighthousescribe.wordpress.com)
• The Supreme Court of Canada Strikes a Major Blow Against Prohibition and For Harm Reduction (slog.thestranger.com)

Sunday Psalm: 10 -- God Gives Courage

Image via Wikipedia

Psalm 10 - A Prayer for Justice

    Why are you so far away, O Lord?
      Why do you hide yourself when we are in trouble?
 2 The wicked are proud and persecute the poor;
      catch them in the traps they have made.

 3 The wicked are proud of their evil desires;
      the greedy curse and reject the Lord.
 4 The wicked do not care about the Lord;
      in their pride they think that God doesn't matter.

 5 The wicked succeed in everything.
      They cannot understand God's judgments;
      they sneer at their enemies.
 6 They say to themselves,
         We will never fail;
      we will never be in trouble.
 
 7 Their speech is filled with curses, lies, and threats;
      they are quick to speak hateful, evil words.

 8 They hide themselves in the villages,
      waiting to murder innocent people.
   They spy on their helpless victims;
    9 they wait in their hiding place like lions.
   They lie in wait for the poor;
      they catch them in their traps and drag them away.

 10 The helpless victims lie crushed;
      brute strength has defeated them.
 11 The wicked say to themselves,
         God doesn't care!
      He has closed his eyes and will never see me!

 12 O Lord, punish those wicked people!
      Remember those who are suffering!
 13 How can the wicked despise God
      and say to themselves,
         He will not punish me?

 14 But you do see; you take notice of trouble and suffering
      and are always ready to help.
   The helpless commit themselves to you;
      you have always helped the needy.

 15 Break the power of wicked and evil people;
      punish them for the wrong they have done
      until they do it no more.

 16 The Lord is king forever and ever.
      Those who worship other gods
      will vanish from his land.

 17 You will listen, O Lord, to the prayers of the lowly;
      you will give them courage.
 18 You will hear the cries of the oppressed and the orphans;
      you will judge in their favor,
      so that mortal men may cause terror no more.

History is pressing on to its fulfillment -- the kingdom reign of God in Christ. So, lean in, and press on!