Reading the Koran at the Vatican

Reading the Koran at the Vatican -- is this passes for "contending for the faith" these days? Does the present pope really believe that the Koran is an authentic revelation from God, or is he just playing nice, some kind of evangelism-by-stealth?

Apparently Francis -- if that's his real name -- said: "It is my hope that this meeting will mark the beginning of a new journey where we seek the things that unite, so as to overcome the things that divide".

What divides Christianity and Muslims?

* The divinity of Christ
* The saving death of Christ
* The resurrection of Christ
* The inspiration and reliability of the Old Testament
* The inspiration and reliability of the New Testament
* Christ, Saviour and Lord, 
* Christ the fulness of God's revelation, i.e., no need for a Mohammed.

Sure. Let's set all this aside -- the guts of the Christian faith -- and focus on what unites Muslims and Christians. Which would be what?

Pan Am Tickets? -- Fuggedaboudit.

I thought since I was in Toronto I might as well check out Pan Am tickets for tomorrow.
Went to the main site.

As far as I can tell, it is impossible to know what events are on tomorrow -- the ticket site simply won't cough up this information. Must have been designed by someone who doesn't stand to lose or gain based on ticket sales.

Guess I'll just stay home.

And that's the way the Ball doesn't bounce.

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The British Legal Mind -- a Dying Breed?

A woman in the UK gets jail for distracted driving that killed a cyclist. Here's the UK judge's reasoning:

… Judge Lord Kinclaven said driving while using a mobile phone "has the capacity to wreck lives and literally kill". 

 Check.

He said: "Use of a hand-held mobile phone is in itself an unlawful act. 

He says "unlawful act" as if it were a bad thing?!

"The fact an offender is avoidably distracted by the use of a mobile phone when committing an offence of this sort will always make an offence more serious."

Check.

This judge thinks the way I do. I attribute it to my Canadian British Judeo-Christian upbringing, rooted in the notions of personal responsibility and respect for the law.

Compare/contrast this with the wooly thinking that passes for left-wing compassion these days in much of the west. Illegally in the country? No prob. You're just "undocumented". Committed several crimes/felonies? No prob. We feel your pain. Catch and release.

Can a nation that jettisons its own Judeo-Christian roots and despises its own Law long survive?

We'll see.

And that's the way the Ball bounces.

My Big Fat Greek Crisis

Coat of arms of Greece since 7 June 1975. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Crises like this one usually have one of two root-causes: structural or moral. Greece has both.

Structurally, it leans towards communism/socialism. Retirement at 50. Socialism is de-moralizing; it sucks the moral fibre out of people.

Morally, Greece is a de-moralized, corrupt country. Dishonesty and evasion are the norms -- everyone's on the take, and no-one's a giver. Well, the countries that loaned Greece money were givers. That's about it.

Here's a great example of Greece as a structural/moral problem that I came across in The Telegram:

I am 52 years old, and get a Pension of €1,400 per month, and dont know if i will get the next payment. I would vote NO, i have been retired since the age of 50 and get the money sent from Greece, and can use the council Gyms in London for free, free meals on wheels from Hackney Council, it is a good life.

Free, free, free. A good life = one that someone else pays for.

Greece's problem is not financial; it is moral. It never had a Protestant Reformation.

It needs one.

And that's the way the Ball bounces.