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17th
December
2009
Ob1 posted a link to this video on his blog, and I agree it is a scary thing to watch…
Similar thing in yesterday’s local paper here in Rockingham… they have photos about a bunch of people they asked what they thought about Rudd’s proposed ETS – almost all didn’t have a clue, and another said she thought it would be good for “jobs and young people”
Personally if I was so ignorant about an issue I wouldn’t want my photo in the paper proclaiming my lack of knowledge.. I wonder what the paper’s editors are getting at here (because they do this every week – people showing how little they know on various issues) – are they purposely trying to demonstrate how ill-informed and indifferent our community is? Because if they are, I don’t think the message is getting through… The difference between the Palin video and Australia is that these people in the video are passionate about their ignorant opinions, whereas ignorant Aussies could care less… both are a bad thing, but I think the Palin fans are more scary…
Tags : ETS, Palin, Politics
Categories : Politics |
31st
October
2008
If The World Could Vote
I really feel like the result of next week’s US election will have a profound effect not only on the USA but on the entire world. After watching Obama’s inspirational “infomercial” today on You Tube I am even more convinced of just how important this election is. Wish I had a chance to vote myself, but I’m afraid the closest I might get is the website above, which gives people from around the world a chance to vote, and then tallies the votes by country… and the results are overwhelming as to who the world’s choice is. Check it out, and cast your vote!
My only question is – what’s up with Macedonia? Perhaps next Wednesday John McCain may be considering retiring there…
Tags : obama, Politics, usa
Categories : Politics |
2nd
September
2008
I’ve seen noted before the eerie similarities between the current US presidential race and the final season of The West Wing (my all time favourite show). Today I discovered an interesting Australian blog about US politics, Kan Da Shan, who in this post, goes into some detail listing the similarities…
Tags : obama, Politics, the west wing
Categories : Blogs, Politics, Television |
27th
August
2008
Always a sucker for a good quiz, Christianity Today have put up a Church & Politics Quiz. Many of the questions are very specifically geared at the USA and are fortunately issues we don’t seem to ever encounter here in Australia (like having national flags in the sanctuary and the notion of our nation as being somehow “chosen by God”) but it’s still very interesting and worth doing.
For the record my scores were :
- Part 1 Politically Engaged or Disengaged : 29 – You scored between 10 and 32, which indicates that you believe the church ought to be Politically Engaged
- Part 2 Chaplain or Prophet : 27 – You scored between 10 and 32, which indicates that you believe the church should take a prophetic posture toward the government.
This all puts me close to the centre of their grid, but within the “Quiet Critic” quadrant, which I suppose is fair enough. Not the most precise quiz of this sort I’ve ever seen but still worth a look. The Out of Ur blog is hosting a discussion of people’s results but there’s not much there as yet.
Tags : Church, Politics, quiz
Categories : Church, Politics, Quizzes |
8th
August
2008
The Global Ambition of Rick Warren
this is a great article from Time about Saddleback megachurch pastor Rick Warren, author of the Purpose Driven Life. Warren cops a bit of flack on the Christian web, both from conservative dogmatic types and from some emerging types, for being a bit of a lightweight, too compromising, not conservative enough, not liberal enough etc etc – but perhaps this is part of his success. He has managed to present the gospel message in a way that connects with the average person in a real and meaningful way. Although a very smart guy, he keeps his message simple and direct so as not to overwhelm people.
So I’ve always kinda liked Warren, but his story gets better. Not content with having a massive church and being a best selling writer (who gives away most of his earnings though), Warren is now moving more into the political sphere. Fortunately he’s not just becoming yet another of the divisive, condemnatory Religious Right – rather he seeks a more conciliatory, unifying approach to Christian involvement in politics. He seems to see the role of the church as being a force for good, making positive changes in the world, rather than just a defense against bad.
He says he is more interested in questions that he feels are “uniting,” such as “poverty, HIV/AIDS, climate change and human rights”
Interesting article about Warren, his global PEACE plan for Christian mobilization, and his upcoming political forum where he will have both Obama and McCain together for one of the first times this campaign.
Tags : Church, Politics
Categories : Church, Links, Politics |
27th
May
2008
On the Trail, One Aide Looms Over Obama – NYTimes.com
For a young, single, athletic, educated guy, this would have to be one of the best jobs in the world. This story from the NYT looks at Reggie Love, 26 year old personal aide to Barack Obama. If you’re a West Wing fan think of Charlie and you’ll get a rough idea of this guy’s job – assistant, friend, training partner. Better yet, read the article.
And not only does he have a cool job but he’s got a pretty funky name – Reggie Love. Speaking of cool names, another good one I heard last week is the Australian Indy car driver Will Power. I once worked with a doctor who’s surname was Power – now that’s a name you can get creative with. I think if it were me I’d name one son William and the other Max. Anyone else got any naming suggestions for the Power family??
Tags : names, obama, Politics, power, usa
Categories : Cool, News, Politics |
6th
May
2008
One thing you could say about the Howard government is that they were generally positively disposed to single income families and stay at home mums. Unfortunately our new, left(ish) Labor government does not seem to share the same priorities – they are all about trying to encourage mothers to get back into the workforce as soon as possible by focussing on child care and tax structures for double income families. I don’t have a problem with mothers going back to work if they want or need to but I do believe that those mothers (or fathers) who desire to remain at home with their children during those early years should be encouraged and supported in that choice. Sadly it seems the philosophy Rudd government is quite different. [Howard's high earners to face cuts - National - theage.com.au]
Tags : howard, Politics, rudd
Categories : Australia, Politics |
