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Saturday, February 08, 2020

News Weakly - 2/8/20

UnChristian
It appears that an entire church entity has decided to jettison Christianity in favor of the world (1 John 2:15). Archbishops for the Church of England released a statement apologizing for their ridiculous earlier claim that sex was only for heterosexual married couples ... you know, like the Bible says ... you know, repeatedly. That statement, they said, "jeopardised trust." This one, on the other hand, crushes any trust in the Word of God. Good luck with your new religion, whatever it might be.

What's Right is Right
At an elementary school "parent's night out" fundraiser, a dad brought The Lion King to show the kids while the parents played. Disney apparently objects. They've demanded their $250 fee for illegally screening the movie. Lessons learned. Be careful about the laws around screening movies ... and don't expect Disney to care in the least about your kids or their education. Certainly not in the way you are. (Remember when "Disney" was synonymous with "family values"? No more.)

Contradiction
A heart-warming story about an 8-year-old boy selling keychains to raise $4,000 to pay off lunch debt for other students has drawn criticism, it seems. While we're not paying teachers enough and while we're funding excessive educational administration without sufficient ... anything else for schools, people are miffed that the school system isn't paying for all kids to eat for free. We were taught "There's no free lunch," by which we were to understand that you need to earn your way. The twittersphere finds that concept appalling.

The State of the Union
Trump gave his State of the Union address which was a self-congratulatory event ... no news there. Nancy Pelosi gave hers by ripping up his speech afterwards. In other words, I'm not at all sure that "union" is an apt description of this country. (And, please, Congressman Gaetz, don't get all huffy because Pelosi has "some real impulse control problems." That is a double standard when you look at the president's Twitter feed.)

Big Brother IS Watching
This is a bit of a disturbing story to me. An artist in Berlin took a wagon full of cellphones on a walk and convinced Google Maps that there was a terrible traffic jam because, "Look, there are 99 phones moving slowly on the city streets!" On the surface it's mildly amusing, but then you consider that Google is tracking individual phones so carefully that they can tell where they are and how fast they're moving. Do we really want Google to have that information on each human on the planet with a phone?

The News That Isn't?
It was a foregone conclusion. The House would impeach the president. Done. The Senate would acquit the president. Done. So here's what we know ... not much. Neither side made a convincing case. That is, neither side made a case that made the opposing side change their minds. So you're likely still convinced ... that he's guilty ... or he's not. That's what we know, thank you very much. Now, when O.J. was declared innocent by a jury, we were cautioned not to question it further. In the eyes of the law it was done. I'm pretty sure that won't be the case here.

And so Trump was acquitted and he thinks the right response is to rant about it at the National Prayer Breakfast ... you know, instead of praying. The Babylon Bee hit the nail on the head with their headline, "Trump Irritated As Some Jesus Guy Hogs All The Attention At Prayer Breakfast." And this troubling Trump quote: "I don't like people who use their faith as justification for doing what they know is wrong." Way too close to some pot making a remark about some kettle. And it is ironic that the wife of the former president who was one of only three that have faced impeachment and who, herself, appears to have violated federal laws in her own service to the country, decided that she would take the moral high ground on this and assure us that any Republican lawmaker who believed Trump shouldn't be removed from office betrayed the Constitution. Even closer to that pot-and-kettle concept.

5 comments:

Marshal Art said...

UnChristian

Is it wrong that I'm not surprised? Is it me, or is this part of a sad trend?

What's Right is Right

I thought this was only prohibited if the one who is screening it is charging people to view it. He could've screened it in his home for the same group of kids and it would just be a sleepover. Even by the words of the Disney legal team, they're using the term "public" rather loosely. Despite the location, the man with the film is just babysitting. Shame on Disney, especially with regard to the bit about them paying taxes according to 1978 property values. And yeah, Disney's gone off the rails a couple of decades ago at least. Very sad.

Contradiction

So apparently, some people feel that the government SHOULD feed everyone. Am I correct in this interpretation of the criticism? When was it no longer the parents' responsibility to feed their kids?

The State of the Union

I don't think I've ever seen a SOTU address that wasn't self-congratulatory. It can't be helped given the administration at the time had something to do with the state of the union as reported during the address. There's also the tacit acknowledgment of the voters' part in making it happen by electing the President, and thus tacit congrats go with that.

I certainly think that it's a legitimate concern that we are not all that united. The question is, are we less so than in past years, or does it just seem so because we're living in it and experiencing it right now? It's kinda the same with the common "this might be the most important election in our history (or lifetimes)", which I'm pretty sure I've heard, if not personally felt, for the last several elections, maybe going back several administrations. But yeah...now seems worse than ever.

As to impulse control, hissy fits all around. Good gosh! But then, without Trump being petty, there wouldn't be much about which his detractors could whine.

Big Brother IS Watching

Despite their many positive attributes of which I avail myself, I really hate the damned things. Worst invention ever. I recently saw something that spoke to the rudeness of always having one's phone out, even if laid on the table face down, as if one couldn't possibly survive if a call or text wasn't acknowledged in some way the moment the phone gives the alert. It really shows great disrespect for the other person, as if they aren't as important as whatever might pop up on that phone. Most of the time I'm out with someone, like the wife, I usually only pull it out of the pocket because it's more comfortable to unburden myself. But the comment hit home and I leave it in the coat. Might leave it in the care from now on. As the Eagles said, "We are all just prisoners here of our own device".

The News That Isn't?

It's my understanding that the House must but up the question of impeachment to a vote before sending anything to the Senate and that was never done. So I don't understand how the Senate even bothered to give it the time of day, rather than send it back until they do it according to the rules.

But then, the president's side didn't need to make a case. In this country, except that we're apparently ignoring rules and precedents until most convenient, a defendant isn't required to prove himself innocent, but the prosecuting side must prove guilt. That never happened, so... And since he didn't actually do anything wrong anyway, proving his guilt would have been impossible regardless of how the Democrats tried.

Yeah, Trump was Trump at the Prayer Breakfast. He could have scored more points by simply giving a prayer of thanks that the ordeal came to a happy conclusion to the relief of most.

By the way, are you suggesting that Trump used his "faith", such as it may be, to justify doing wrong? I may have missed something notable. Can you elaborate?

Gotta love the Bee!

Stan said...

I said that it was really close to the pot and kettle scenario. Trump hasn't used religion to cover his sins. When caught in joking about feeling up women, he just said, "Hey, that's just the way I am." Not justifying by religion, but certainly justifying.

Marshal Art said...

But he was justifying the joke, then wasn't he? Bad enough, but it should be clear that what he was caught on tape saying had nothing to do with what he actually does, but with what he believes some gold-diggers would let him do. This may be no news for you, but for certain people, it's necessary to make this clear every time that incident is mentioned.

Stan said...

Trump has justified his sexual immorality. It's not illegal, but it's not good.

Marshal Art said...

Maybe I missed him doing that. Don't recall such a thing. Unless you're referring to expressions like "can't help myself", which I doubt he truly means. At least when I use it, it's more of a punchline than a statement of fact. Don't get me wrong...I'm not defending any of it. But it's truly of no consequence at this point in time, and may never be again given his age.

I've been hearing this other expression about him that I believe comes from one of the many superhero movies...which does little to lessen the truth of it: He's may not be the hero (in this case, president) we want, but he's the hero we need. I think that conveys the truth of the situation, given his excellent record as a president, if not a moral man.