Millions of people have lost their jobs just in the first three months of this year. The stock market was basically cut in half. How can there possibly be a good side to this horrid chain of events?
To find a positive, we must look at the causes for all of the negatives. One cause among many was the movement by many Americans to borrow where they used to save. This trend was magnified exponentially by the credit markets, i.e. credit default swaps. These devices in simple terms are an insurance policy on an investment, except instead of one individual buying insurance on one investment, anyone could buy insurance on the one investment. If that investment tanked, the insurer would owe not only the original investor, but they would owe everyone who had purchased insurance on the investment. Multiply this by thousands of transactions, and then all of these AAA rated investments tanked.
Lenders also abused their ethics and coerced people (who should have known better) into homes that they could not afford. Many of these mortgages were tied to the aforementioned investments.
So what the hell good could come of this? My faint hope in the darkness of financial doom is that from the root (you and me) to the fruit (our government) we change the way America works. Change it back to a nation of savers, a nation of producers and innovators. If our best minds realize they can’t make millions manipulating the market the way their predecessors did, they will find our alternative energy, our disease cures, and the cultural understanding we desperately need.
Maybe, when the black heart of greed runs dry, the motivation of good will be more appealing.
Monday, March 23, 2009
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
There ARE Atheists In Foxholes
by Benjamin Tupper
Morning Edition, December 9, 2008 · I spent many cold nights in Afghanistan sitting on worn mats in cramped, smoky huts, drinking chai with Afghan and U.S. soldiers. As soldiers often do on quiet nights, we pondered many things, including religion. I was the lone atheist, surrounded by equally convinced Christians and Muslims. There was one thing they all could agree on — that I was going to hell.
Then there was Fayez, one of our Afghan interpreters, who was the most eloquent in explaining the pillars of Islam. One night, I described my faith — that men could do good deeds without interference from God — and my fear that religion caused much of the strife we witnessed daily in Afghanistan. This was met by a chorus of condemnation. Fayez floored everyone by interrupting to say that they all should consider the possibility that I was right. This was a brave thing to do in a country where, even today, people face death for questioning Islam.
From Joel: This story shows the goodness of understanding, and the purity of youth. The story shows that at least one young man, in a cave in Afgahnistan, can see that there are things to be reconsidered when determining an end to war.
Here is the remainder of the article. It is not a happy ending, but the ideals that Fayez represents are beautiful.
Fayez was a soft-spoken teenager who seemed out of place brandishing an AK-47. In our country, he would have been the kid in the high school drama club, too skinny to play sports and too nerdy to get a girlfriend. But in Afghanistan, his intelligence and proficiency in English meant he was on the front lines in war, earning a high salary to support his large family.
To me, Fayez was a ray of hope for the future of Afghanistan. He was intelligent, tolerant and decent to others in all his interactions. Since my return home, I've gotten e-mail updates on Fayez and the rest of my Afghan colleagues.
I recently received an e-mail from another interpreter. He told me that Fayez had been killed in action. The Humvee he was riding in had been hit by a devastating IED. All of the American soldiers on board died instantly. Fayez survived the initial blast. But he was captured by the Taliban, tortured and killed.
News like this, of a friend cut down in the summer of his youth, shakes your faith to the core. That's equally true for a person like me, who holds no religious faith. I find myself hoping that there is a heaven, and that Fayez is enjoying all the rewards promised to the faithful in the Quran.
It would be dishonest to say that, in the shadow of his tragic and cruel death, I'm now a believer in the afterlife. But I can say, if there is such a thing as heaven, Fayez surely belongs there.
Commentator Benjamin Tupper is a captain in the Army National Guard. His unit was embedded with Afghan troops in Afghanistan a year ago.
Downloaded from: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=97992274
by Benjamin Tupper
Morning Edition, December 9, 2008 · I spent many cold nights in Afghanistan sitting on worn mats in cramped, smoky huts, drinking chai with Afghan and U.S. soldiers. As soldiers often do on quiet nights, we pondered many things, including religion. I was the lone atheist, surrounded by equally convinced Christians and Muslims. There was one thing they all could agree on — that I was going to hell.
Then there was Fayez, one of our Afghan interpreters, who was the most eloquent in explaining the pillars of Islam. One night, I described my faith — that men could do good deeds without interference from God — and my fear that religion caused much of the strife we witnessed daily in Afghanistan. This was met by a chorus of condemnation. Fayez floored everyone by interrupting to say that they all should consider the possibility that I was right. This was a brave thing to do in a country where, even today, people face death for questioning Islam.
From Joel: This story shows the goodness of understanding, and the purity of youth. The story shows that at least one young man, in a cave in Afgahnistan, can see that there are things to be reconsidered when determining an end to war.
Here is the remainder of the article. It is not a happy ending, but the ideals that Fayez represents are beautiful.
Fayez was a soft-spoken teenager who seemed out of place brandishing an AK-47. In our country, he would have been the kid in the high school drama club, too skinny to play sports and too nerdy to get a girlfriend. But in Afghanistan, his intelligence and proficiency in English meant he was on the front lines in war, earning a high salary to support his large family.
To me, Fayez was a ray of hope for the future of Afghanistan. He was intelligent, tolerant and decent to others in all his interactions. Since my return home, I've gotten e-mail updates on Fayez and the rest of my Afghan colleagues.
I recently received an e-mail from another interpreter. He told me that Fayez had been killed in action. The Humvee he was riding in had been hit by a devastating IED. All of the American soldiers on board died instantly. Fayez survived the initial blast. But he was captured by the Taliban, tortured and killed.
News like this, of a friend cut down in the summer of his youth, shakes your faith to the core. That's equally true for a person like me, who holds no religious faith. I find myself hoping that there is a heaven, and that Fayez is enjoying all the rewards promised to the faithful in the Quran.
It would be dishonest to say that, in the shadow of his tragic and cruel death, I'm now a believer in the afterlife. But I can say, if there is such a thing as heaven, Fayez surely belongs there.
Commentator Benjamin Tupper is a captain in the Army National Guard. His unit was embedded with Afghan troops in Afghanistan a year ago.
Downloaded from: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=97992274
Sunday, December 7, 2008
They Don't Want Canday
A blog, written by a U.S. Marine posted this story. You can find it at: http://thunder6.typepad.com/
Travelling at high speed down an Iraqi road, a convoy of HUMVEEs and a supply truck was moving from Baghdad to Mosul. They slowed to dispense the usually candy bars to the children of a village they passed on the way. Some of the adult males were behaving excitedly, this can be a warning sign of violence to come. The convoy's translator eased tensions by explaining that the villagers where trying to point out a possible IED about 1.5 km down the road. On closer inspection, there were two in the same spot. One for each side of the lead truck.
The villagers Had seen some men in an old truck burying something in the road the day before. They commented as they helped the marines find the exact spot: "We don't kill", and were noticeable upset that an attempted murder had happened so near their farm. Thus proving the point, despite the viewing theatres at executions ane the possibility of televised capital punishment, most people don't want to see other people die.
By the way, please check out the blog mentioned above. It is better and more aware than any television news about war.
Travelling at high speed down an Iraqi road, a convoy of HUMVEEs and a supply truck was moving from Baghdad to Mosul. They slowed to dispense the usually candy bars to the children of a village they passed on the way. Some of the adult males were behaving excitedly, this can be a warning sign of violence to come. The convoy's translator eased tensions by explaining that the villagers where trying to point out a possible IED about 1.5 km down the road. On closer inspection, there were two in the same spot. One for each side of the lead truck.
The villagers Had seen some men in an old truck burying something in the road the day before. They commented as they helped the marines find the exact spot: "We don't kill", and were noticeable upset that an attempted murder had happened so near their farm. Thus proving the point, despite the viewing theatres at executions ane the possibility of televised capital punishment, most people don't want to see other people die.
By the way, please check out the blog mentioned above. It is better and more aware than any television news about war.
Saturday, December 6, 2008
Kenya's Prime Minister Raila Odinga says the problem lies firmly with Mugabe.
"Power sharing is dead in Zimbabwe. It will not work with a dictator who does not really believe in power sharing. Therefore, it is time for African governments to take decisive action to push Mugabe out of power," he says.
Source: A New Mood Of Public Anger Hits Zimbabwe by Ofeibea Quist-Arcton downloaded from: http://www.npr.org/templates/story /story.php?storyId=97843588
This is good news because it means that the leaders of African nations are beginning to exert some pressure on Mugabe. Mugabe has enjoyed if not support, at least noncomment by other African heads of state out of a post colonial pride. Mugabe was one of the first Black heads of state on the continent. Tabo Mbeki has supported Mugabe against what seems to be his own good judgement for years, but the Kenyan leader's public denouncement of Mugabe is a hopeful sign towards the end of suffering in Zimbabwe.
Mugabe has given Zimbabwe ethnic cleansing, inflation over 1000 percent, and an unemployment rate of 50 percent. I hope other African leaders will follow Railoa Odinga's lead.
"Power sharing is dead in Zimbabwe. It will not work with a dictator who does not really believe in power sharing. Therefore, it is time for African governments to take decisive action to push Mugabe out of power," he says.
Source: A New Mood Of Public Anger Hits Zimbabwe by Ofeibea Quist-Arcton downloaded from: http://www.npr.org/templates/story /story.php?storyId=97843588
This is good news because it means that the leaders of African nations are beginning to exert some pressure on Mugabe. Mugabe has enjoyed if not support, at least noncomment by other African heads of state out of a post colonial pride. Mugabe was one of the first Black heads of state on the continent. Tabo Mbeki has supported Mugabe against what seems to be his own good judgement for years, but the Kenyan leader's public denouncement of Mugabe is a hopeful sign towards the end of suffering in Zimbabwe.
Mugabe has given Zimbabwe ethnic cleansing, inflation over 1000 percent, and an unemployment rate of 50 percent. I hope other African leaders will follow Railoa Odinga's lead.
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